Alps diary
ALPS 2007 - DAY 1The pupils arrived last night in great spirits. Most of them slept peacefully in their beds as an impressive electrical storm raged during the late evening. Today all the children have been kayaking on the Durance River, starting near Tallard where Stage 10 of the Tour de France begins next week.
First swimmer of the day was Joshua Prest who blamed Charlie Norrel, then it was Emily Quick who blamed Amelia Blenkin (“I’m not blaming her it definitely was her fault”). Mrs MacDonald then decided to test just how waterproof her camera was and finally Amelia Blenkin who had been paddling really well all day fell in with just 10 minutes until the end (Emily looked a little smug in the background).
At 6pm a tired but content group finally got off the water, loaded the kayaks onto the vehicles and were then putting on sun cream at 7pm. After a 10 minute drive we were back at base. As the children enjoyed a well earned hot shower, a delicious home cooked stew is being prepared and a toast has been made to absent friends, the spirits of Big Cook and Little Cook live on. It was nice of the old lady in the village to turn up with some fresh fruit.
Blue skies have arrived this afternoon and the forecast for the rest of the week is excellent. Everybody is excited about the Via Ferrata tomorrow apart from the early start required (some were heard to mutter, “I don’t think so”).
Alps Day 2
Today the group travelled to Motte De Caire to take part in Via Ferrata. To start off with , after an initial safety training talk and guidance on where to use our karabiners on the wires that were on the mountain, our two French guides Pierre and Bernard took us up a steep path to the start of the scamble. We split into two groups each led by one of the French guides. Where there were no footholes or handholes, metal bars had been cemented into the rock face to help us with the ascent.
We then spent 6 hours working to get across the mountain. At times we were negotiating overhangs and having to work as a team in very difficult and challenging conditions, It was a fantastic team building exercise as we moved along the cables together. After 4 hours we reached the top of the mountain but the best was still to come. We had to cross a gorge on a Nepalese style suspension bridge, which was like walking the plank suspended 600 ft in the air. After crossing this we had the option to finish and walk down but some wanted to carry on and put themselves through more torture and do the cable bridge and climb the 150ft to the top, up steps which pushed everyone to their limits especially after such a long, hard day!
It was a hard fought task for all the pupils on the trip. Juliet took some time to work out that we were actually moving higher with each step! Lauren followed this by pointing out the obvious that we were going upwards! All Charlie Norrell was concerned was practicing his disco technique!
Seven hours after starting the climb we were back down having lunch (5pm) and that was followed by a cheese fondue in the evening and a relatively early night! Mr Ferrier excelled himself in organising such a fantastic day (as well as cooking the excellent Fondue).
Alps Day 3
Today we had a lie in and set off to go climbing at Segottier.
When we arrived, there was a 30 minute walk to the starting point. Mr Ferrier and Mr Cole set up 3 climbs; easy, intermediate and difficult. Everyone got up the climbs fairly easily and were encouraged by everyone still on the ground. After 5 hours climbing those who still had some energy had a go at lead climbing and Lauren led an 80 foot climb.
After climbing there was time for a swim so while Mrs Cole and Mrs MacDonald went to the supermarket, Mr Ferrier and Mr Cole took us all swimming to the nearby Gorge de la Meouge. It was great fun and we really enjoyed spending an hour jumping in off the rocks! It was an idyllic spot and we only came out because the water was too cold and it was 8pm!
It was quite late when we got back to the house but there was still time for showers while Mr Ferrier, Mr & Mrs Cole and Mrs MacDonald prepared an enormous BBQ with everything from salmon & prawns to chicken, steak & all kinds of salad. This was all some light relief after several nights of “healthy vegetarian options”. We saved the leftovers for lunch on Thursday!
Alps Day 4
The plan was to get up early this morning but as usual we all stayed sound asleep until the adults woke us up! The boys had to wait 20 minutes for the girls to come down to breakfast, which was then eaten rather quickly. We left the house about 8.45am for our journey to the Lower Guil which took us about one and a half hours.
We were split into two groups; the first group paddled from the Lower Guil to the Upper Durance. The road down to the first drop off point was a challenge in itself but the view at the top was spectacular! We paddled 7km of continuous grade 3 water which was icy cold.
We broke off for lunch of bagettes, hard boiled eggs, cold sausages (from last night’s BBQ!) and fruit. While sitting on the beach over lunch time we saw one group of people preparing to go Hydro speeding - watched all the more enthusiastically because that is what we are doing on Saturday!
The river was running very fast and the last rapid before the lunch stop, it was agreed that only Mr Ferrier and Mr Cole should attempt it!
After lunch the second group got kitted up and set off the same starting point as the first group. This year was a much longer paddle than last year and everybody completed it successfully after 2 years of preparation. A tired and very content group then returned via Tallard to collect well earned pizzas for tea.