Search Results

Filter

Immersion

A col du Baure from home. It is only possible every 2 or 3 years and you have to seize the day.
2015-02-04 21:20:10

Emeindras - Eynard

Skate from le Sappey to Emeindras. It is quite a long climb but not too steep. The snow was good, a bit soft outside of the village runs which made climbing hard work at times.
2015-02-03 21:43:33

Le Sappey Nordic Ski Area

42 km of trails from le Sappey en Chartreuse for all levels.
2015-02-03 20:17:10

Valdez

Classic ski tour when it is high risk in the mountains. The day started at 9am with 400 vertical meters of trail breaking in snow up to my knees and at times much higher.
2015-01-31 16:59:54

St Hilaire off pistes

We decided to head up to the local ski area on Sunday morning. It had snowed around 15cm overnight but the weather was threatening to close in.
2015-01-29 01:09:23

Before the storm

A rapid ski tour before stormaggedon (well according to the forecasts) with a blistering climb to the Aulp du Seuil then a quick ski to the foot of the Mallisards.
2015-01-28 16:16:05

Pea-souper in the Venetiers

Low cloud was clagging up the valley but a quick check of the les 7 Laux webcams revealed sun from somewhere around 1800 meters. I spoke to Mike who'd wanted to go to the Belle Etoile.
2015-01-23 19:01:51

Chardonnet in the mist

After a night in the Argentiere refuge we got up at 5.00 am and fetched snow from outside. It was still dark and the snow took ages to melt.
2015-01-22 21:39:04

Le Col du Chardonnet SW side

Descent to the glacier d'ArgentièreFrom the col des Grands Montets ski down to the glacier d'Argentière.
2015-01-22 21:30:32

Les 7 Laux Nordic Ski Area

The nordic ski area extends over an altitude from 1400 to 1500 meters. There are 22km of runs for nordic skiing plus marked snow shoe trails.
2015-01-22 21:12:01

Année des vaches maigres

Despite three snow episodes (dumps as they are called on the anglo fora) over the last week the conditions are not great and a couple of days of foehn could wipe out any gains.
2015-01-21 20:59:33

Bec Charvet at Midday

I took advantage of a weather window just after lunch to tour to the top of the Bec Charvet from les Meunieres.
2015-01-19 17:33:35

Start of winter?

A morning session to take advantage of the 60cm of fresh snow that fell in the Chartreuse (ok more like 20cm at 1000m altitude) with a tour of the off pistes of our local ski area at St Hilaire.
2015-01-18 19:54:52

Charmont Som by the road

Skating session from the Col de Porte. The first 1500 meters were hard, old snow, frozen in places but the slope isn't too steep here so not a big problem.
2015-01-15 17:49:47

Charmant Som, Canaple Loop

From the hairpin by the Pont des Cottaves (bridge 1110 meters about 2km on the n. side of the Col De Port) follow pylons to the bottom of the Chamont Som chair lift.
2015-01-15 17:28:13

Winter of discontent

This is the winter of our discontent. Or so it would seem reading ski forums given the very poor snow conditions.
2015-01-09 00:05:16

Aulp du Seuil

Climb to the summit of the ski pistes by the snowshoe trails (avoid walking on the cross country ski runs as this ruins the tracks) from the top of the runs climb behind the drag lift then follow a fo
2015-01-08 23:51:44

Exploration

La Mure des Molles - The Wall of the Softies.
2014-12-29 21:53:03

Phantom Village

We had cleared a lot of brushwood this autumn so a little off piste skiing to test our hard work through the phantom village.
2014-12-29 21:49:24

la Mure des Molles

Starting from les Bletieres (or the Col du Lauteret) climb the trail to les Fournelles then the Rau (river) de Pre Boutey to the Col du Lauteret.
2014-12-29 20:04:29

Tour of the garden

Quick tour behind the house of the Côte Borne and the Champ Bertin. Surprisingly dry in the woods and quite warm given it is boxing day.
2014-12-28 17:31:37

Côte Borne

From the hamlet of le Civet climb the route de Bois to les Massons then the reservoirs of St Ismier. From the reservoirs take the right fork towards the Col de Faita.
2014-12-26 21:24:12

By fair means

My idea was a cime de la Jasse "by fair means" that is, under human power from the valley 25km below.
2014-12-24 12:14:13

La belle reprise

A little afternoon tour to test the fresh snow and gear. There is no base in the snow pack below 1700 meters but still some rocks below 1900 meters.
2014-11-19 22:53:25

Raiders Lost on the Arch

Day of exploration for the Tot and I. We decided to have a look at the Pas de l'Arche. It was fairly easy to find and the small arch complex is interesting to visit. We didn't go to the cave.
2014-10-28 16:11:43

Chamechaude - pas de l Arche

http://www.bivouak.net/topos/course.php?id_course=3849&id_sport=2Comments on route: Care needed on the sections above the Arch Passage when it is humid as they are above cliffs.
2014-10-28 16:03:16

Pravouta Tour

Start at the Col des Ayes car park after the final left hand hair pin about 400 meters before the col.
2014-10-24 09:33:06

Discovery channel

An afternoon discovering a few singles above Bernin and St Ismier. I followed the route: Crolles -> Ch.
2014-10-02 19:01:34

Pierre Champ Bertin

From the Reservoirs of the Fontaine Bonnet on the St Nazaire -> St Hilaire road follow the Chemin de la Communeaux unsurfaced road downhill for a couple of hundred meters.
2014-10-02 18:54:56

Le No Name

From the reservoirs follow the broken tarmac road towards the Tour d'Arces. The track is very steep, around 15%. Continue past the tower and continue to the Pierre Grosse.
2014-10-02 18:45:06

No Name + Pierre Champ Bertin

No Name: From St Ismier climb to the Tour d'Arces (medieval watch tower) then take the Pierre Grosse trail. After the Pierre Grosse the "No Name" is on the left.
2014-10-02 13:16:19

Col de la Madeleine South

There are four routes up the Col de la Madeleine on the south sideThe normal route from la Chambre - 19.5km with some 40 wide hairpins.
2014-09-25 15:10:45

Torrent de Corbonne

Follow the Pierre Grosse trail. At the end of the 33 hairpins take the right fork rather than crossing the torrent on the left. After about 20 meters of descent cross the Corbonne stream.
2014-09-23 17:59:35

Col des Ayes x-press

42 minutes for the whole Col, that's a VAM of 959, 17m15 for the part Theys -> Col des Ayes for a VAM of 1043. I obviously took the first part of the climb easy leaving it for the second section.
2014-09-18 16:33:01

Pierre Grosse

Afternoon ride from home to tackled the famous Pierre Grosse singletrack. It consists of 33 very quick and short switchbacks but relatively easy. See map for other trails used.
2014-09-17 17:44:31

Pierre Grosse

From the Massons car-park follow the signs to the "La tour d'Arces" then "Pierre Grosse"; carry on past the Pierre Grosse on the left to the end of the trail.
2014-09-17 17:40:09

Tour des Monts d'Or, Lyon, France

Les monts d'Or is a small range of hills to the north east of Lyon about 15km long.  The high point is Mont Verdun at 626m.
2014-09-13 10:05:13

Lunch ride in the heat

Climb via the road, 55 minutes on an MTB, descent via the trails from the Col du Lauteret, rode through village via Mt Fallet track then back to la Roare.
2014-09-08 13:35:30

Vercors Tour, French Alps

A serious tour along the cycle path to St Gervais then up and over the Rencurel pass before dropping down to take the Gorges de Bourne but as you can see from the GPS map they were closed.
2014-09-07 13:05:57

Col des Mouilles north side

Climb from Brignoud to Laval. The first part of the climb to the hairpin is quite steep then it flattens a bit up to Laval and there is some tree cover in places in the summer.
2014-07-24 10:41:20

Superga, Torino, Italy

Direct climb to the Superga from Turin in 25m53, a long way from Thibot Pinot's race winning time of 13m38 and he'd ridden from Milan! The climb is 450 meters at 9% with a couple of ramps en-route.
2014-07-13 06:52:39

Alpi Ompio, Verbania, Italy

DescriptionSouth east facing but quite a bit of shade as you climb through the woods. The climb to Alpe Ompio is 7km at 8% giving 550meters total from the village of Bieno.
2014-07-11 07:02:56

Baveno Levo, Lake Maggiore, Italy

DescriptionClimb from Baveno to Levo and then to the end of the surfaced section of the Via Mottarone.
2014-07-09 12:59:19

Mottarone Loop, Lake Maggiore, Italy

50km loop linking the lakes Orta and Maggiore via the summit of the Mottarone mountain. The Orta lake road is u quite busy as is the road from Lake Maggiore to Gravellone Toce.
2014-07-08 08:13:12

San Salvatore, Lake Maggiore, Italy

I took this climb by error. From Lesa it is a hard 5.75km at 9% covering around 550 vertical meters. The road ends at a monastery and there is a very good trattoria with lake views.
2014-07-06 07:58:36

Two cats and a lake (Relais du Mont du Chat, Jura South, France)

The Relais du Mont du Chat is 1266 meters of climbing at just under 10%. There are a few ramps of 12% and sections of 11%. It is consistently hard, without ever being too extreme but it is long.
2014-07-01 12:16:35

Ride with Mike (& Colin)

We spent the first half of the ride dodging showers then decided to turn around where we met Colin, a Scots guy who'd punctured and had some issues with his tires.
2014-05-22 12:22:31

Tour of the Lacets de Montvernier, Col de la Croix de Fer and Glandon

Lacets de MontvernierThis hairpin road connects the mountain villages of Montvernier, Montpascal and Montbruna.
2014-05-10 11:41:37

St Jean le Vieux, Belledonne, Alps, France

The climb to St Jean le Vieux starts in Domene. It is a 500 meter climb at and average 9% over 5.8km with a few ramps and flats en-route. At about 3.
2014-05-05 07:40:13

Fête du Travail on the Belle Etoile

Reunion of Team Bivouak for a Belle Etoile, well in fact we started with no fixed objective but decided that Prabert was nearest to home and with least portage (5 minutes from the car).
2014-05-01 22:05:35

Pic de la Belle Etoile south couloir from Prabert

From Prabert climb to the habert d'Aiguibelle (1740m) then to the NE to the Col de l'Aigleton (2266m). Remove skins and descend East into the Riviers valley to 2140 meters.
2014-05-01 21:38:25

Manival with the Croix de Trousset

Tour behind the houses. First of all climbed to the Rock of Champ Bertin - a huge stone in the fields behind Bernin. You can boulder and climb on this rock which is about 20 meters high.
2014-04-24 00:08:45

Tour of the Gorge de Manival

Climb the left bank of the Manival stream following a good jeep track to the to the Manival Forest Cabin (open, unguarded) at 870m. The track is very steep for 50 meters.
2014-04-23 21:06:23

Coming of age

21 years since I first toured to this iconic summit in the Belledonne range. The gear has certainly evolved in that time...
2014-04-17 22:35:49

Ski Sea and Sun

Swimming and skiing in the same day, well the sea was pretty rough in April and not that warm, around 16C.
2014-04-09 18:33:51

Cime de la Valette de Prals from Fenestre

Climb the road towards la Madone de Fenestre to the Vacheries de Devanse, just after (WP 353) take a walking trail that climbs to the SE through the woods to the Plan de Prals.
2014-04-08 14:24:22

Rainforest

Little late afternoon tour to check out the Cascades d'Alloix. The route is easy to the first waterfall and gets progressively more difficult.
2014-04-08 00:32:39

Cascade Alloix

From the carpark climb (yellow markings, signposted Les Chemin d'Autrefois) climb to a hairpin and reservoirs on the Gorge road or descend through Montalieux to climb a path by the side of the Allo
2014-04-07 18:36:05

Moon Landing

"We do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one
2014-03-28 17:03:58

La combe de If

A confidential route in the Chartreuse that holds snow well and is very skiable in the lower woods.
2014-03-28 16:36:47

Charmant Som North-West Couloir

Follow the les Cottaves route to the summit. http://pistehors.com/charmant-som-from-les-cottaves.
2014-03-28 16:26:47