The possible line-up would be Paris for a few days at either my friend Alyce's or a hostel, then maybe Berlin on my own for a few more days, possibly over to Cologne to stay with my friend Tanja I met in NZ, then even to Amsterdam to catch up with my cousin. All that could result in some good picture opportunities.
Today Sam and Calum are off to climb a big route up in the Argentiere Basin - The NE Spur of Les Droites Direct, with a view to descend the other side toward the Mer de Glace and be back down on Monday evening. It has an alpine grade of ED1, and is considered to be one of the finest climbs in the Alps. Around 1000m of vertical rock and ice for them to bash at, with a bivvy somewhere and summiting at around 4000m.
Al and Alex have packed up camp and possibly relaxing again due to Alex possibly having a mild strain to his knee too, and an interview looming on Monday. For now here is the last few days in a nutshell, a few of the better photo's of the last few days will be up soon...
Weds:
Got a few jobs done and booked a physio appointment finally after toying around with insurance and getting in touch with various private physios. I was going to goto the state hospital but by many accounts they'd just charge me for a consultation and then recommend private.
Wasn't expecting Sam back but he arrived in the afternoon looking knackered, having climbed the Swiss Route on the Grand Capucin with Calum. Looked great, I think it took them about 4 hours to climb, then about the same time to abseil back off. Turn out Calum is Calum Muskett, a sponsored athlete by Rab, DMM and Boreal. Really nice lad, lots of experience and climbs to a very high standard, really is one to watch and could be the next big British climbing star having already been to El Capitan, Dolomites, Alps and climbed lots of super-hard stuff in Britain I could only dream of and has only just finished his A-levels.
I've got a couple of pic's from Calum so here's one to show the abseils on the Grand Cap. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can get back up to speed and be up there with my DSLR to get some great action shots with the guys.
Thurs:
Very hot. I finally got to see a physio in Les Houches, if anyone in Cham is ever having issues then checkout Physi. Kirsten is great, really really helpful and informative. It seems I've a little tear in my collateral ligament and possibly to the meniscus on my right knee. The verdict was to rest for a few weeks, stretch and strengthen. She also gave me an amazing massage to the leg to help loosen it up, felt painful but pleasurable!
Headed back to camp. Sam, Calum and I headed to Barborine near the Swiss border. Was expecting to get lots of photos but in the end the guys did 1 route and we just lazed around. Headed back later to find Ally and Alex set up near us on the campsite. Sounded like they had a scary time walking back down the Mer De Glace with lots of zig-zagging around cervasses and walking over ice-bridges that they could later hear collapsing behind them. I've never heard Ally used the word 'terrified' before. They managed to reach a hut that was full, so slept in a near-by cave. A relaxing night of beers and sillyness ensued at our camp.
Fri:
Very nice lazy day, lots of food and sun with the boys at camp. Sam's folks arrived too, nice to see them, they're treating us all to a real meal soon too! :) Got a few interesting pics that night in Argentiere when there was a quirky little french band playing...
No comments:
Post a Comment