Tour de la Meije

06/05/2013 - Montee au refuge Adele Planchard

Montée au refuge Adele Planchard sous la Pluie et dans une neige pourrie.

Faut avoir confiance dans la météo qui annonce du beau-temps. Nous 

croisons seulement des gens faisant demi-tour. Ca met en confiance...

07/05/2013 - Traversee Grande Ruine Promontoire

La météo avait raison. Grand beau au petit matin sur fond de la Barre des 

Ecrins.

Sommet de la Grande Ruine. Martin: victorieux.

Sommet de la Grande Ruine. Elise: contente.

Martin dans la descente de la Grande Ruine - godilles.

Elise dans la descente de la Grande Ruine - poudre et beau temps.

Traversée du Col des Neiges au Col de la Casse Déserte.

Arrivée au Col de la Casse Déserte.

08/05/2013 - Tour de la Meije

Lumiere du petit matin sur les Ecrins.

Aube sur le Mont Blanc.

Elise a la Breche de la Meije.

Breche de la Meije et Rateau.

La Meije. Pause pour mettre les crampons avant

d'attaquer le Passage du Serret du Savon.

Dans le Passage du Serret du Savon.

Elise arrive a la sortie du Serret du Savon.

En route vers le refuge de l'Aigle.

Refuge de l'Aigle. Un autre groupe monte, - nous filons vite, le soleil 

commence a chauffer l'entrée du Glacier de l'Homme.

Martin dans la descente du Glacier de l'Homme.

Col Claire. Une autre fois peut être. C'est raide quand même.

Martin devant le Glacier de l'Homme. Hop! On a

bien mérité la pizza, la bière et la glace...

Finse 2013

Some pictures form our annual kiting week in Finse, Norway 02-09/03/2013:

Panoramic view. Click to enlarge.

Mika with a Beringer Skisail 8 m2. Skisails don't have lines. The bar is mounted

directly to the bridles that define the canopy.

Carving on Finsevatnet lake in great conditions! There are  three groups of

bridles: leading edge (yellow),  center  (red) and trailing edge (black). 

The bar acts directly on the angle of attack of the skisail.

A great day for skisailing.

The direction is controlled by twisting the bar with respect to the canopy. 

Now, where is that loose line going?

One of the great things about the skisails is that they are quick and easy to

set up, land, secure and take down, making them very comfortable and safe

 to handle, even in strong conditions. 

Mika with the all new Flysurfer Speed 4 10m2.

Thierry on Ozone.

Mika enjoying the new Speed 4 10 m2 on the slopes.

The Speed 3 19 m2 is huge!

Thierry on Ozone.

Mika making his way up the slopes of Hardangerjokulen.

Ronny and Mika on the summit of Hardangerjokulen.

Take-off of the mighty Flysurfer Speed 3 19 m2. This kite kite fetures textile

(tube) valves (appearing as black rectangles in the chambers to keep the

canopy stable once the chambers are inflated. This is great in particular when 

restarting the kite in weak conditions.

Speed 3 19 m2 on the slopes of Hardangerjokulen.

More Speed 3 19 m2.

Riders perspective of this exceptional kite.

Eastward view form Hardangerjokulen.

Hidden Couloir - Couloir Caché

Aiguille du Midi.

Ambiance matinale, Massif du Mont Blanc.

En route vers le Couloir Caché.

Dent du Géant.

Entrée du Couloir Caché.

L'entrée du couloir est défendue par un rappel en traversée.  Cette première
pente doit pouvoir se skier - mais pas pour nous. Pas droit a l'erreur. Elle se
termine dans le vide. Le entrée Couloir Caché se trouve sur ma gauche.

Versant italien du Mont Blanc.

Le rappel est tiré, le retour coupé. Premier virage dans le couloir. Il a été
skie la veille par une autre cordée.

La brume monte, amplifie l'impresion fuyante et

nous isole dans un univers vertical sans issue.

Glacier de la Brenva. Fin de la traversée - encordée...

Retour a Chamonix par la Vallée Noire, moyennant une petite remontée en

benne a Courmayeur.

Lumiere du soir sur les Drus.

Finse 2012

There are many reasons to go to Finse. One of the reasons is the spectacular 

landscape,  an enormous playground, right at the doorstep of the appartment 

we had rented.

Another one is the necessary space and wind conditions to take our 

beloved Beringer Skisails for a spin.

Mika gets airborne.

Kiting paradise in the backyard.

At the foot of  Hardangerjokulen.

Tour du Neron

The 'Tour du Neron' has long attained the well deserved status of an all-time classic for cyclists around Grenoble.

My second try in geolocalized videos:

Why classic?

There is the fact that its a beautiful itinerary around one of the most emblematic mountains that dominate Grenoble: 'le Neron', also called 'le casque de Neron' which translates roughly to 'Neros hat'! The meaning of this lesser known nickname became obvious in 2003, when lightning struck and the mountain was on fire for weeks.

Le Neron: one of the most emblematic mountains dominating Grenoble.

Seen from the top of Chamechaude another all time classic - on skis.

There is the reasonable distance: 27 km in the mountains are just right. Enough to get really going, but short enough, not to be discouraging for a short spin after work.

There is the reasonable elevation gain. Barely more than 600 m. And the nice elevation profile: 400 m from Grenoble to 'Col de Clemencieres', and another 200 m from 'Pont de Quaix' to 'le Gua' after a short descent.

There are the small backroads with very little traffic once beyond Col de Clemencieres.

There are the nice little villages of Quaix and Proveysieux along the way across the Chartreuse Mountains.

And there is the cycle path along the Isere with the an almost guaranteed tailwind to push one back the last 8 kms of flat in the valley from St. Egreve to Grenoble. Just right to relax the muscles after the climbs.

Effortless coasting back to Grenoble from St Egreve on the cycling path

along the Isere river.

Grenoble Chambery by bike

One of my first experiments with geolocalized videos: a crossing of the chartreuse mountains by bike.