Skibiker Skibike Blog Tour 2013 - Conclusion

With no plans for further snow based adventures this season (but I am open to offers) it is time to take stock of how the 2012-13 skibike season has turned out.
Things started off somewhat shakily as my car developed mechanical ailments with just days to go before my Christmas Eve departure. Some of them continued to plague me on route, I even ended up doing some MacGyver car park repairs on Boxing Day that, luckily, kept me going for another 1000 miles.

MacGyver car parks repairs worked for another 1000 miles

Upon my arrival to rendezvous with Carl Day for a few days warm up session, although there had been a lot of pre-Christmas snow, there was somewhat of a heat wave, it was even raining on day one, I was wetter than an otter's pocket. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles lead to some brutally icy runs down to Les Carroz and I had some quite unerving falls including one that really nerfed my wrist badly. There were no such problems for Carl Day who was having a ball on his Lenz Brawler. We met up with Mel who had bought Carl's old skibike and a couple of days later we managed to ride en masse with local skibikers Serge Mermillod and Thierry Avrillon.

Rain day - wetter than an otter's pocket

After Carl's return to the UK, I took some time off for good behaviour to give my body a chance to repair. Then I stayed local to Geneva and enjoyed some great riding in the Jura mountains to the North of Lac Leman. I had the chance to give my original DIY skibike a test at Le Grand Bornand, but found some aspects of the recent upgrades to the conversion sadly lacking. I had to work hard to find the sweet spot where my riding skills would work homogeneously.

Tested to breaking point - chinese made saddle failure

Staying in the Jura mountains, I visited the pleasant runs to be had at the Col de la Faucille. But then switched to skis for a loop around the Roc d'Enfer loop in the Portes du Soleil and switched back to the skibike for a terrifying descent down its face. Exploring the South side of Lac Leman it was a skis only day at Thollon les Memises with some stunning views over Lac Leman. I eventually reached breaking point, finding the limits of both myself and some of the components I use on my skibikes.

A relaxed afternoon in the Jura mountains

I made a few attempts to rendezvous with skibiker Fabrice Mercier and twice had to make a change to plan B, including an unexpected return to Avoriaz. I was starting to become frustrated by 10 things I absolutely hate about France. But on a stormy day, I crossed the snow line and Fabrice and I rode together at Les Carroz. Switching back to skis, I visited Bernex and the Dent d'Oche. After that I decided "Ca plane pour moi - That's enough for me" and headed home, but it was not to be for long.

A rendezvous with Fabrice Mercier - finally!

Back in London, I had a chance to consider 10 things I truly love about France, I rode my RetroBike around London on the snow, did a little urban skiing and organised a complex plan for February, I love it when a plan comes together.

A little late night urban skiing

I met up with Carl Day and Andy Upsullon in Flaine for a few days of non stop skibike riding in all types of weather. Old skool met new skool when SAGB chairman and skibob rider Ric Platt joined "the weirdos who ride without footskis" for a tour around the Grand Massif. But I think LenzSport skibikes are for fair weather riders, as the boys chickened out when the weather got really rough!

SkiBikers - Old Skool vs New Skool

After that I moved down the hill to a rented flat in Cluses which I shared with my cousin Paul starting his retirement. He thought he could take it easy, but on the first day of his holiday he had to hang out with the crazy skibikers at Avoriaz.

Crazy skibikers at Avoriaz

With the arrival of much colder and stormy weather we struggled through a foggy day in Praz de Lys and discovered that you have to know your Onnions! when it is snowing like La Glappaz.

I took part in the first SnowBike Race Night at Notre Dame de Bellecombe and both Paul and I liked the area so much that we came back the following morning and skied Praz sur Arly and the Val d'Arly loop. I had a family reunion with my sister in law and niece and the next day the SkiBiker turned into a ski instructor.

SnowBike Race Night

This lead to a crisis of confidence about my desire to continue skibiking, but my cousin Paul's first skibike lesson turned things around and I got my mojo back. I then revisited Les Contamines and managed some great riding till the piste patrol pointed out that it was a forbidden practice, oops!

Les Contamines - skibiker breakin' the law yet again

The following day I revisited Praz de Lys and Sommand, found that they are still skibike friendly, even if the liftie thought it was dangerous to ride without footskis and enjoyed some of the best off piste riding of the season.
My final visit to the Grand Massif invloved an epic ride along The Cascades 10 mile skibike run, possibly the first freestyle skibike ever to make the run? Then it was a switch back to skis to do the Val d'Arly loop once again, but this time in the reverse direction.

Les Cascades - the first freestyle skibike ever to make the run?

It would have been a dull experience without such good company, so my thanks in no particular order go to:
Carl Day for his relentless enthusiasm, Andy Upsolon for sagely advise, dry humour and a very neat "I love skibikes" T-shirt and ro Ric Platt for some great stories from back in the day. To Serge Mermillod and Wayne Richards for pushing me into the whole pegger/freestyle method, Thierry Avrillon for heading first down the "cacahouettes" Crazy Crozats run, Fabrice Mercier for getting back on his skibike in spite of what happened last season and to Mel for giving it another go on one of the busiest pistes, on one of the busiest days of the season.

To James Mollier, Vincent Berod and the other Brenter riders of the Val d'Arly for letting me have a go at their race in my own unconventional manner.

To the "clan" members who took part; well done Sofia Kinnon for making it down 500m of vertical drop in total whiteout using just the snowplough ski method, thanks for the yummy Bolo Rei to her mum Isolette and  thanks to my sister Colette Kinnon for the use of Geneva base camp alpha and use of a spare car at a second's notice. Lastly, to my cousin Paul for some fantastic high speed ski cruising and for keeping both feet on the pegs whilst trying out one of these skibike things.

My cousin Paul - keeping both feet on the pegs

Could next season be any better?

Every season there is one track that you hear played everywhere; in the bars, supermarkets and on the radio constantly. This time it was "Shine bright like a diamond" by Rihanna.

 

Moving Day

Today it was time to leave our SkiBiker SkiBike Blog base camp in Cluses and start heading for home. I saw Paul off onto the Geneva express coach then returned to the flat to clear out my stuff and pack the car. I then spent a couple of hours doing a top down tidy up before the landlady arrived to collect the keys. I have an overnight stay in Geneva, then tomorrow it's the long drive home and then the painful return to my "real" life.

Goodbye Cluses - tomorrow it's the long drive home

The Val d'Arly Loop - In The Opposite Direction

Paul and I discussed options for the last day of the season, he wanted another mile eating run. Having consulted various piste maps and consumed two Gin & Tonics he decided that, given a free choice, he would like to do the Val d'Arly loop again. I suggest we do it "back to front" or anti-clockwise relative to the piste map.

It turned out to be perfectly feasible, although we noted a couple of disadvantages to this choice of direction. Firstly, you run along a lot of cold, North facing runs early in the day and get to see the South facing runs later in the day when they could be prone to slushiness. Secondly, a lot of the flatter, interlinking runs, are actually uphill in this direction, so extensive poling, walking or skating are involved.

Val d'Arly - some of these little hills have a 1000m of vertical drop

The Val d'Arly really is a gem, the piste plan makes the area look like a selection of little interconnected hills. But the reality is that some of these little hills have a 1000m of vertical drop and getting from one to the next can take up to an hour, even skiing at a good intermediate/expert skier speed. It might not be quite the scale of the 3 valleys, but it is close.

The infrastructure is quite heavily biased towards drag lifts and the majority of chairlifts are somewhat vintage in nature. To a reasonable skier these lifts would present no problem, but for a ski novice, Brenter or SnowScoot rider they could be a bit of a challenge. Although freestyle/pegger skibikes are not currently allowed in the Val d'Arly, even if they were, the choice of runs would be somewhat limited by the infrastructure.

Flaine - The Cascades 10 Mile SkiBike Run

Paul has a jinx, every time he has visited the Grand Massif misfortune has befallen him, first it was the flu, then it was an awkward fall, so today it was time to remove the curse and do some mileage eating of epic proportions across the Grand Massif domain.

Starting from the base station at Morillon, we were to make the grand tour through Les Carroz, Les Molliets and Flaine taking in all the many long cruising blue runs available. Then from the top of Les Grandes Platiers we were to follow the 14km Cascades run to leave us on the very limit of the area in the rustic town of Sixt.

I had been pre-warned to expect a lot of flat sections and even some uphill. With this in mind, I chose to make the skibike my weapon of choice, if there was walking to do, let it be in my comfy snowboard boots.

Heading left from the top station of the Grandes Platiers cable car you need to go flat out without making any turns along the Serpentine piste. Should you have to make an emergency stop you will have a lot of walking to do.

The Serpentine piste - you need to go flat out without making any turns

After a mile or so the sign appears for the start of the Les Cascades run. This is it, you are committed to a 14km run with no reasonable option of turning back should you change your mind, no alternative chairlifts or drags, no buses, no first aid posts, nothing, nada, diddly squat.

Les Cascades - a 14km run with no option for turning back

The run starts in an immense bowl that gradually narrows as you progress, simultaneously the gradient increases as you are funnelled into the start of a deep gorge. I did some off piste and was surprised to find myself quite a long way above the piste in no time at all.

Les Cascades - the run starts in an immense bowl

Having rejoined the piste, I discovered that if you moderate your speed on one section, you are stuck with an uphill march to the next section. But the piste is twisty and with a roller coaster quality, it became apparent that most users were adopting a gung ho, attitude to avoid any walking. Like many others, I was caught out by a sharp right hand 90 degree turn, with a sudden drop off. Paul, who was some distance in front, told me that he arrived to a "yard sale" with family groups spread all over the place. I missed the spectacle, but went splat sideways into the netting, on arrival at the same spot.

Quite a long way above the piste in no time at all.

There were a few more such surprises to come, grim looking signs appeared warning you to not leave the trail under any circumstances and when a section of safety netting appeared alongside the trail I realised why. The piste was now following a narrow ledge with both cliffs above and a vertiginous drop into the gorge below.

With Sixt coming into view the final section was a pretty horrible, narrow, icy descent for the last mile. It caught me unaware and I had to resort to side slipping for the last bit. Not good form, but I didn't want to collect any more bumps or bruises.

An icy descent with a frozen waterfall alongside

Safely back at the free shuttle bus stop with a few fresh scrapes, Paul and I calmed our frayed nerves with a vin chaud and discussed the folly of Les Cascades being marked as a blue run. Red or black would be fairer according to the state of snow, etc. However, it was a great experience, I imagine I might have been the first freestyle skibike to make the run and would gladly repeat the experience. However it is not the best run for nervous beginners or those with low intestinal fortitude.

Safely back at the shuttle bus stop