I’ve had a great sleep and I’m feeling good this
morning. I head down stairs and it’s the
usual dance and step, moving around each other as we all get breakfast and
drinks, lunch gets prepared for the car fridge, boats are moved around and kit
organised in to cars. Chucky, Keith and
I head to get some shopping while the others head to St Clements get in for the
obligatory Sun Run. After dropping the
food of at the house we go to meet them, and get changed while the shuttle is
sorted. There is a fete/car boot on so
the car park is chockabloc!!! Alex and Dylan also meet us with two paddling friends,
so it’s a big group!
We get on at the beach below the Slalom course as the Leat
has been drained, so it’s a bit of a carry with the boats. I’m feeling a tad nervous. After a jump in at the deep end in Austria,
and some mostly tame paddling in Slovenia over the last week, I’m wondering
what the Alps is going to have in store for me.
The last time I did this run I was a very new paddler, so my
recollection is hazy and can’t be relied upon anyway, a lot has happened in the
last year and I’m a different paddler, and probably a different person than I
was then anyway. The water levels are
also a lot higher than last year too. We’re
sure of some fast water and big wave trains this week.
Once everyone is on we start to make our way down
stream. The ‘start of paddle’ nerves
start to fade and I begin to enjoy myself.
After paddling in such a small group over the last week and a half
though, it’s strange to be on the water with so many people! I don’t settle 100% and there is an odd
moment or two where the waves get a little choppy, that my adrenalin has a
little spike. One wave train heads down
towards a rock face and then, after a wave over a rock in the water, the water
flow tracks along it, and I have to put in quite a bit of effort to paddle the
Mamba to stay away from the stopper there.
I’m missing my little bath tub of a hero which seemed a little easier
for me to steer most of the time. I won’t
give up on the Mamba just yet, but it’s not giving me the same ‘safety cushion’
type of feeling the hero did.
We are very quickly down to the beach where we get out to
inspect Rabioux wave. The higher levels,
means faster water, and quicker runs. I
join the others for an inspection and I’m undecided but leaning towards giving
it a go. Chucky and Bill have gone
straight down in the boats to give it a run through, and Chucky says the ‘diagonals’
(sideways waves) on the lead in to it are quite strong. This makes me decided, I’m walking today. The others get back in their boats and get
sorted in to smaller groups to run the wave while I carry down to the
bottom. Everyone comes through without
incident, and with some woop’s and wahoo’s on the way through. Sam decides to quit while she is ahead
here. Her back had been causing her
issues after the driving yesterday, and she didn’t want to tempt fate by
pushing it on the first day. I could
give you any number of reasons why I decided to join her and shuttle Keith’s
Car back from St Clements to take down to Embrun at the end, but I don’t really
feel it needs justification, I decided to get off here too.
The others headed on down to the end get out, after having
decided to push on rather than stop for lunch.
Sam and I went back to St Clements and picked up Keith’s car so we had
some extra seats, and then drove down to Embrun just in time to see all the
paddlers arrive through the main wave.
Sam got video and I got pictures.
Rob had a roll, and Trevor took a swim.
Both were fine though, and all the others came straight through and ‘tits
deep’. It had started raining as we left
Rab wave, and was now raining heavily at Embrun so we all opted to get changed
and take the lunch back to the house.
The earlier thoughts of going to paddle the Onde this afternoon had
faded, as it was going to be at a stonking level, and with some good heavy rain
would be higher still.
Even though it’s a late lunch (nearly 3pm by the time we get
back to the house) the day isn’t over yet.
The groups are split again this afternoon; Rob, Jamie, Sam Matt and I
are going to do the Via Ferrata in the Park at Briancon, Keith, Ali, Chucky,
and Trevor go to bike round the lower Guisane and take a look at the levels
there on the way, and Bill and Gregg stay at the house.
The Via starts in the Park and is gated so you have to pay a
small entry fee, but it’s an excellent training ground and small test run for
Jamie to see if he enjoys it, and a nice little Via for us to get back in to
the swing of using the Via ‘cow tail’ equipment. Once paid and kitted up, the Park guys take
you to the gate, and once we are all on the way he locks the gate behind you. I imagine this is largely to stop any
children wandering up there, but as it’s a well maintained route, it will also
be to make sure you pay to use it. The
start takes you out off the edge of the river bank, and around a rock face that
is above the Durance river which passes through the edge of the park. It then begins to climb up the other side of
the rock here, then zig zags a bit as it climbs, so you look out over the park
on one side and the gorge on the other.
Even this small Via has enough elevation to allow you an excellent view
down the gorge, along the river, and then on over the town. Rob had gone first with Jamie behind
him. As the most experienced member of
the group, Rob could then show Jamie what to do as we tracked the cables bolted
to the mountain. Sam and Matt followed
and I went at the back. I’m not very
experienced with Via’s specifically, but I’m a confident and reasonably
experienced climber. There is one spot
where Sam struggles to figure out how to get off the ledge we are on, and up
the rock to the next set of metal staples.
The obvious direct route ahead is quite a step up, so I ask Matt to swap
to being behind me (figuring out how to do this on the small ledge, with both
of us remaining clipped in at all times) and go to help Sam with those first
steps. Once she’s got past this one step
up she is fine, and makes the top easily.
At the top we comment on how well Jamie has done. He and Rob have created a good distance
between themselves and the rest of us, so they have been moving quite
swiftly. Jamie replied that ‘the quicker
I’m up, the quicker I can get down’. He
wasn’t particularly comfortable with it all, and has said he would do another
simple one again, but wouldn’t go for anything that is any more difficult or
exposed than this one. The walk out from
the top isn’t the easiest. Although it
is gravel tracks now, it’s narrow and fairly steep, so still takes some time to
get down. We are soon at the bottom and
when we check the time, we have only been a couple of hours all together.
Back at the house I quickly jump in the shower, and while I’m
in there the biking group arrive back.
Keith says they have had a nice ride, and everyone is feeling that their
‘bike fitness’ is going well. The river
is looking high though, and although it makes some sections of the river look
nice to paddle it makes others look messy and ‘meaty’, so it’s possibly one to
leave for a few days until the levels drop just a little. Chucky then makes a start on dinner, it’s
Fajitas for tea and there is plenty of it! We still have plenty left too!! Over dinner we’ve had the usual discussions
over the house stuff (the bins are full, does anyone know where to take them?,
and with cherries on the tree make sure we are leaving outside shoes downstairs),
who’s cooking over the next few days so that shopping can be arranged, and what
activities are we planning tomorrow?
It’s an early night again for some but here I am still
typing these notes, and I might even do a little pilates before
bed. I won’t be outside tonight though,
as it’s gone dark and there is a chill in the air.
No comments:
Post a Comment