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Cross of the Red Peak

I had already covered about 20 km of cross-country skiing, but since I was in the resort at Chamrousse, I decided to combine it with a ski tour afterwards.
2026-04-03 12:15:34

Windy Arselle

Before heading out on my ski tour, I covered around 20 km on the plateau d'Arselle loipe, a bit of a return to Wednesday’s “scene of the crime”.
2026-04-03 09:43:41

La Feclaz

Today’s outing took me to La Féclaz, in the Bauges, better conditions compared to l’Arselle yesterday. The snow was faster, more consistent, and overall better to ski.
2026-04-02 09:40:20

Chamechaude: an evening ski tour between two seasons

After a morning spent gliding along on cross-country skis, legs already a bit worn but motivation still high, I finally took advantage of a break in the weather.
2026-04-01 17:34:38

Aprilfoolski Arselle

On the Plateau de l’Arselle the season is stretching on a little longer than usual.
2026-04-01 10:26:41

Under the shadow of Chamechaude

After the ski touring, I took the opportunity to test a new pair of classic skis, slightly longer than my previous ones (201 cm vs 196 cm), with the hope of improving glide.
2026-03-27 12:09:21

Back to the roots

I had initially considered heading up to Chamechaude, the highest summit in the Chartresue, but the avalanche bulletin (Thursday and Friday), combined with poor visibility and continued strong winds
2026-03-27 10:43:29

Chamrousse Plateau d'Arselle

Took the train up from Lyon on Wednesday morning, so I didn’t get going until around 10am.
2026-03-25 10:53:14

Gravel to Miribel Jonage

I went out for a gravel ride from central Lyon towards the Parc de Miribel-Jonage. I followed the right bank of the Rhône, riding out past Saint-Clair towards Miribel.
2026-03-23 10:28:06

Valloire and Valmeinier

Saturday at Valloire was one of those pleasingly quiet ski days that feel better than the forecast or the piste map might suggest.
2026-03-21 15:42:42

Col de la Ramaz

It was the final day of my three-day trip, and I decided to return to the Col de la Ramaz.
2026-03-20 09:44:47

Pras de Lys to Sommand and back again

I set out from Praz de Lys at 9.10am, heading off on skate skis in the warmth of an already sunny morning.
2026-03-19 13:01:18

Plateau des Glières; Bornes; French Alps

Resort DescriptionThe Plateau des Glières is one of the most distinctive Nordic landscapes in the French Alps: a high pastoral basin of open meadows, forest margins and enclosing limestone slopes, whe
2026-03-18 11:58:21

The terrible Courzieu switchbacks

Yesterday I went out for a ride in the Monts du Lyonnais, an area I know fairly well, but I have never actually ridden the famous lacets de Courzieu which have a certain reputation among local riders
2026-03-13 14:44:28

Mont d'Or in the Spring

Although I cycle every day I'd not been out for a longer ride for a month due to skiing but the weather was spring like today so I decided to get in a short tour after doing some admin chores.
2026-03-08 17:03:55

Spring 7 Laux

Day trip to the 7 Laux with skimania from Lyon to show the mates my local ski area.
2026-03-07 15:16:56

A small part of the Grande Traversée du Jura

I wanted to explore further along the GTV trail compared to last year when it had not been pisted. Today the prep was excellent.
2026-03-06 11:23:23

Giron; Jura; France

Tucked away in the far southern reaches of the Jura Mountains, the Nordic ski area of Giron is situated at around 1,000 metres above sea level, the small mountain village of Giron offers sweeping view
2026-03-01 10:03:01

Spluttering Heights

Not great skating conditions. It seemed ok at 9.
2026-02-27 11:36:23

Horrorday madness

Plan A had been to spend a morning in les 7 Laux.
2026-02-21 11:23:02

Lans en Vercors

Where to go? Another avalanche alert, resorts and pistes shut. Clearly we'd need to stay below 2000m and given the claggy cloud somewhere with tree line skiing.
2026-02-20 15:41:59

Afternoon Allevard

Due to the weather we had to reign in our ambitions. Finally a trip up to Allevard, 40 minutes from home. Road were clear to resort. We parked at the bottom at the Grand Paul lift.
2026-02-18 16:01:21

Combe de Bedina

We decided to head up to the Sept Laux despite the holiday crowds.
2026-02-15 12:07:21

St Hills

Trip to St Hilaire du Touvet for a bit of ski on a very cloudy day. The snow on piste was ok but off piste it really depended. The Gelinote had not been pisted and was heavy powder but skiable.
2026-02-14 11:42:22

Cols de Malval and Luère

No snow for cross country so a little cycle ride to blow out the work cob webs.
2026-02-13 14:16:20

Montée des Carrières Monts Verdun and Narcel

I currently have a my winter bike - an 8 sp Giant, a bit heavy at 14kg. I don't really understand how it is so heavy really. Clearly aluminium frames are not that light.
2026-02-06 15:55:01

Les Plans d'Hotonnes Retour

Return to the Plan des Hotonnes. It is a pretty flat ski area and you don't really have any long runs like some other small ski areas. Great for families. However no stones this time compared to 2023.
2026-02-01 10:26:47

Plateau de Retord small tour

Return to le Retord as tot wanted to do a bit of alpine skiing but didn't want to stay too long either.
2026-02-01 10:22:13

Death watch at le Bessat

Snow is back. I heard that le Bessat, around 65km from Lyon, was open but wasn't sure about the snow. In fact pistes were well prepared, especially on the main trail.
2026-01-30 10:46:38

Pea Souper

The snow all melted during the week (in the Jura/Massif Central) so back to bike.
2026-01-18 15:53:01

Les Deux Alpes Whiteout

We set out from Lyon at 6am and arrived just after 8. We had expected more traffic, we were always with cars on the way up but things were moving. None of the snowmaggedon of the last weekend.
2026-01-17 15:23:16

Back on the snow at the Plateau de Retord

Classic skiing. The return of snow at the Plan des Hotonnes / Plateau de Retord this Sunday after about a month.
2026-01-11 11:16:00

New Year's Cindre

A very cold ride to run in my change of tires from some commuter stuff to Michelin Lithion 4s.
2026-01-04 15:53:37

First 7 Laux of 2026

Last Sept Laux of the holidays and first of 2026. We skied fairly cool as the snow was pretty hard in places but if you ski from the top of the Oursiere to le Pleynet it is grand.
2026-01-02 11:43:35

First cross country ski of the year

Normally I've done a month or more nordic skiing  by the end of December but this year there has hardly been any Christmas snow and conditions in resorts that are open are reported as stony and i
2025-12-30 13:31:00

Festive Col d'Hurtieres

I left a little late, but I wanted to try out the new bike path between Crolles and Tencin.
2025-12-28 16:41:50

Saint François Longchamp; Maurienne; French Alps

SFL is located in the Maurienne valley in a large, south facing bowl just below the Col de la Madeleine. The resort is about 1 hour from Chambery and 2 hours from Lyon.
2025-12-27 15:28:43

Afternoon Alpine Allevard Ski

Christmas day potter around the Allevard pistes. The Caran main lift was closed so we couldn't access the main bowl. The rest of the open slopes were in good condition.
2025-12-25 14:04:44

First 7 Laux of the season

I'd skied a bit on the sept laux pistes yesterday when I was skitouring and things didn't look that great.
2025-12-23 12:32:42

Col de Bedina; Belledonne; France

I had to go to the 7 Laux ski resort as I had something to pick up. I decided to arrive early and do a small ski tour.
2025-12-22 09:55:51

Mont Cindre / Thou

Trying to make 50K meters for the year but still 1000 meters short and weather has been a bit chill for getting out.
2025-12-13 15:35:55

Pas de la coche

A quick outing to test the November powder before heading to work in the afternoon. I had considered Grand Rocher, but decided that Prabert would offer better conditions.
2025-11-28 09:51:24

Col du Ban and Col de la Luère

After a failed outing yesterday. Every time we gained a little altitude leaving Lyon, we ran into blizzards of snow, but today the weather was clear, sunny, and cold. Very cold, with a breeze.
2025-11-22 16:28:38

Lion King Rock; Beaujolais

It has been quite a while since I've done over 100km. Lack of time. Lack of motivation. Concerns about form. Excuses, excuses.
2025-11-14 13:59:38

Mont d'Or figure of eight

Another way to explore the hills of Mont d'Or. This time, forming a figure of 8 loop.
2025-11-11 16:22:11

Mont d'Or quarries

Return to the Mont d'Or quarry road but with a slightly easier start than the one I took the other day even if there was a bit more gravel.
2025-11-08 16:43:40

Mont Thou Variant

Slight variant to the summit of Mont Thou via la Dargoire. It's an 8km direct climb around 6%. Today's vam was 700m/h which is not bad on the roads around here.
2025-11-05 12:34:23

Gresivaudan Foothills

Bike ride during my lunch break. I left late, so I only had an hour to ride, so the three hills in the middle of Grésivaudan seemed like a good choice.
2025-10-28 13:01:28

It's snow good

The idea was to do a bit of vertical in the weather window. Unfortunately the window slammed shut 1.5km from the col. The sleet/snow was so heavy I decided it would be foolish to go further.
2025-10-26 11:17:25

Golden lanes on the Gold Mountains

I had spotted another climb on the Mont d'Or: the Carrières. Apart from 100 meters of gravel (why?), it is covered with rough concrete like a Belgian motorway. You can ride it with a road bike.
2025-10-24 15:13:38

Monts d'Or half tour

The aim was to do 1000m of V+. Promise made, promise kept, as politicians like to boast. Although in my case it really was kept. 3 climbs of 300 meters plus 100 extra meters at the end.
2025-10-18 16:39:54

Foglia morta

Very rusty on the rollerskis as I'd not been out since the spring due to a tendentious in my leg. I decided to do a small run on the Miribel Jonage cyclepaths east of Lyon.
2025-10-17 14:15:31

Col du Joly / les Saisies / Bisanne

The plan was to go over the Mont Joly pass, then come back via Les Saisies and Bisanne for a total elevation gain of 1,900 meters. But that was without taking into account the road works.
2025-10-03 12:12:43

Mont Thou via la Croix Rousse

To vary things a bit I took a new road over the Croix Rousse / Calluire et Cuire: the Montee du Petit Versailles, actually I thought it was the Montee de la Soeur Vially but I was on the wrong road.
2025-09-27 17:04:59

Col de la Croix de Presles; Lyon

Quick run following the epic Col d'Areches last week. Must better times on the climb with a VAM around 700m/h - difficult for me to do better as the gradient is very uneven.
2025-09-24 18:01:01

Cormet d'Arêches - Cormet de Roselend loop

I wanted to do the Cormet d'Arêches again, but this time to complete the circuit with the Cormet de Roselend. Last time, I didn't do the second pass. It was going to be difficult.
2025-09-19 13:41:05

Croix Rousse - Fourviere; Lyon

The aim was to climb a bit but not go too far. The first climb up to Croix Rousse was pretty tough to be honest.
2025-09-15 11:17:05

Mont Verdun; Lyon

It had been raining all day but finally it stopped in the late afternoon.
2025-09-14 16:43:49

Ride Swim Ride

I swam a bit at La Mama Beach in some very pleasant water before a 10 ride back to pick up my car from where I'd left it in Villeurbanne. 3000 m V+ for the month now.
2025-09-12 15:23:09

Mont Cindre afterpub

A quick trip to Mt Cindre but difficult to find any V+ around Lyon without a lot of riding. I'd been to the Wallace pub for a late breakfast but only had a pint of their weakest beer - the IPA.
2025-09-07 16:49:56

Col des Mouilles before lunch

Went via the Church, which was a bit unusual as it is very very steep but I'd forgotten the correct turn, anyway it was shorter. Climb took 56m29 for a VAM of 822, which seems ok.
2025-09-06 11:17:16