Day Off 6: "The conditions are perfect..."

In my first blog Day Off 1: Expecting the unexpected... the plan was to go parapenting. Whilst the sky was blue and the sun was shining, it was just too windy down in the valley to do it. 

Today, Benjamin tells me "the conditions are perfect!"

Day Off 6: Parapenting!

As Benjamin said, the weather is as perfect as you can get. Hot, sunny and not a cloud in the sky! With plenty of snow about and hardly anyone on the mountain this day off is off to a good start.

Having previously arranged to catch first lifts (impressive after a night out), Abbie and I headed up the mountain to make the most of the predicted weather and to book the parapenting before everyone else had the same idea. After chatting with Benjamin, we agreed to meet up at midday - plenty of time to get a few cheeky runs in!

The view from Benjamin's hut

After a few hours cruising around Les Arc and Peisey, it was time to part ways with Abbie and make my way to the take off point.
As mentioned in my first blog, Benjamin unfurled the parachute, set up the equipment and strapped us both into the harness. After a refresher on how we would take off, we got into position...

...and then the wind picked up.

ONLY KIDDING!

We set off down the piste gaining more and more speed, felt a yank on the harness (the parachute inflating) and then we were up!

Gliding over the resort that I've snowboarded in all of last year and this year was surreal. Seeing the runs from a different perspective and the mountains stretching for miles into the distance was absolutely amazing. We flew over the ski area and then over the trees to try and catch some thermals to give us a higher boost. Then, once were away from the mountainside, I was allowed to 'pilot' the parapente! This consisted of pulling both handles down to break, easing them off to pick up speed and pulling down left or right to send you in that direction. 

Cheeky selfie over Bourg Saint Maurice

After a good 20 minutes of flying, Benjamin asked if I wanted him to send us spiralling down into a spin to the landing spot. Sure, Why not? - was my reaction at the time. In hindsight, probably not the best idea after a heavy night out - but it was still awesome!

Now it's all well and good me explaining what it was like but for you to get a better idea, take a look at the short video clip I made. The flight was about 20 minutes in total but the video is only about 1 and a half.

Click full screen and watch in 720 or 1080p for the best quality

So there you have it. If anyone gets a chance to go parapenting I'd recommend it! You're sat down (except for take off and landing) and the views/experience is amazing.

Day Off 6 is definitely up there in the top days off so far!

Day Off 5: The Quest of the Mountain Burger!

A month has passed since I first posted the introduction to my 'Richard's Amazing Days Off!' blog. Originally a way to keep my friends and family at home up to date with what I've been up to, it's received just shy of 1,000 page views! So thanks for the interest!
This past month I've had a look at parapenting, hiked up to a fort, visited 7 stunning views and stood in a glass box... All brilliant days off in themselves with plenty more to come!

This week's day off is centred around the reason I'm working in France this winter... Snowboarding. 

Being based in the little town of Bourg Saint Maurice has it's benefits. Aside from being the final stop for the Eurostar with excellent rail access to most places, it's also pretty central to most ski resorts. Located about 1.5 hours away is the world's largest ski area - The Three Valleys.

The Three Valleys

The Three Valleys ski area is linked together by 600km of interconnected slopes, 180 ski lifts and is made up of 8 resorts! These resorts are Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Brides-les-Bains, Les Menuires, Saint Martin, Val Thorens and Orelle. 

Needless to say we didn't cover the whole area but we did do 4 of the resorts!

Now for my friends and family back home who have only visited Xscape and the Chill Factore, the ideal conditions for skiing and snowboarding is a blue sky day after a night of heavy snow fall. Now, I know what you're thinking, surely I couldn't be that lucky. Well coincidentally my day off just 'happened' to fall on a clear blue day with loads of fresh snow... ahem. 

Abbie and Maria

Myself, Steve and Abbie spent most of the day following Maria who's based in Courcheval. I can honestly say I couldn't tell you where one resort finished and another started but I'm assured we did Méribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and Orelle.

"But where is the Mountain Burger?" I hear you cry! Well, Maria informed us, at around midday, of this monster burger that's served up in Méribel. After careful consideration (by Steve and I) we ended up changing the rest of our day, possibly even missing out a couple of resorts, because we embarked on a quest for this mystical burger. 

After many runs, loads of off-piste and a few chairlifts later we took the final cable car which set us up for our journey to Méribel...

Will, Finch, Q, Mike and Rich

...So imagine our surprise when we bumped into these familiar faces from summers and winters gone by! 

After a quick catch up with everyone, we explained our quest and made our way to the final chairlift to the snow park above Méribel. We had a quick play on the kickers (jumps) and made our way through the park and down to the little burger bar to order our Mountain Burgers.

Mountain Burger time!

Covered in raclette cheese, bacon, pickles and greens and a side of chips for the lads, the Mountain Burgers didn't take long to demolish. As expected the girls didn't finish there's so I ate some of theirs too.  

With this entry being more about the snowboarding rather than visiting specific locations it makes it a little harder to get across the excitement of speeding down the piste - especially for those of your who haven't been skiing or snowboarding before. Luckily for you, throughout the day I was filming with my GoPro so here's a short clip of one of the runs.

Click full screen and watch in 720 or 1080p for the best quality

So after a perfect day of the mountain with amazing weather, fantastic company and great food, The Quest of the Mountain Burger was complete.

Feel free to comment and share and click here for more photos!

Day Off 4: Step into the Void...

In my last blog Day Off 3: The 7 Wonders of Paradiski! I wrote that this day off might just top it.

Well... it did.

A location that kept popping up on various travel and photography websites whilst I prepared for these days off was L'Aiguille du Midi.

L'Aiguille du Midi

For those of you who haven't heard of it, L'Aiguille du Midi is a mountain in Chamonix, France with a summit of 3,842m - accessible by the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi cable car. The summit has several terraces that offer a 360° view of all the French, Swiss and Italian Alps but most notably, the highest mountain in the Alps and the European Union, Mont Blanc (4,810m).

With all of that in mind, I was keen to visit L'Aiguille du Midi on a clear day and, after chatting with my friend and colleague Michelle, eager to visit a new attraction that has only recently been unveiled. An attraction called 'Step into the Void'. 

At 3,842m, the 'Step into the Void' is a glass box built on the side of one of L'Aiguille du Midi's viewing platforms. The box, comprised of three glass walls, floor and ceiling panels, allows visitors to stand above the 1035m drop to the peak beneath their feet in total safety and admire the views from a dramatic perspective.

Standing above the 1035m drop

Each one of the glass panels is custom built to the highest standards for safety and clarity. The five glass panels (12mm thick) consist of three layers of glass binded together allowing the structure to withstand winds of more than 220km/h and a maximum temperature of 60°. You also get given a pair of weird shoe/socks to wear over your boots so the glass doesn't get messed up!

Once we'd entered the box a couple more times and took more photos we made our way back down to Chamonix to board the snow train to the Mer de Glace - another point of interest I've been meaning to visit.

Upon arriving at the mountain station, we made our way to the cable which took us down to the stairs leading to the glacier and the stunning view below.

Mer de Glace in the background

The Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) glacier is located on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif. At 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 200m (660 ft) deep, it is the longest glacier in France.

Stairway down to the glacier

From the cable car it took about 10 minutes to walk down to the glacier. At various points down the stairs are signs of where the glacier used to be but is gradually retreating year on year. 

Once at the bottom of the stairs we entered the glacier through an ice cave that has been carved through it. The inside was decorated with old photos and mannequins depicting the early days of mountaineering. Lights had been installed in and around the ice but for the most part is was a natural blue.

Entrance to the ice caves

Although the entrance to the ice cave was pretty immense, the sculptures in the caves were pretty crap compared to others I've been too. The highlight of the Mer de Glace, as you've seen, are the views of the landscape. Once we'd had a short look around the caves we made our way back up the stairs, onto the cable car and boarded the train back to Chamonix. 

I took too many photos in Chamonix to put in the blog but I've put together a gallery of over 100 photos which can be seen here which is well worth a look!

To Day Off 4 up, it has been without doubt the best day off so far and will be a difficult one to top (but I'm still going to try)!

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Day Off 3: The 7 Wonders of Paradiski!

Happy New Year!

The first day of 2014 is Day Off 3 and this particular adventure is something I've been looking at doing since I was first introduced to the Paradiski area last year. 

With 425km of pistes spread over 14390 hectares, Paradiski is the 2nd largest linked skiable domain In the world. It is comprised of 3 resorts; Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne which are linked by The Vanoise Express, the largest and most modern cable car in the world.

Across Paradiski there are 7 points of interest which range from rock formations, scenic views, panoramic views and really high peaks - The 7 Wonders of Paradiski. The aim of this day off is to visit all the 7 Wonders in one day. Challenge accepted!

My tatty 7 Wonders piste map (click to enlarge)

With timing being the main issue I decided that doing the 7 Wonders in reverse would be best, that way I wouldn't to get stuck over in La Plagne once the Vanoise Express had stopped running.

With the timing in mind, I departed Bourg Saint Maurice at 10:00 (well it was New Year's Day), got on the funiculaire up to Les Arc 1600 and boarded all the way to the Vanoise Express for 11:00. From there I made my way over to Plagne Centre (in La Plagne) and eventually over to the 7th wonder.

Fornelet Summit - The 7th Wonder

From the Fornelet Summit I headed down the tree lined pistes to the Rochette lift and headed back to Plagne Centre. From there I caught the Funiplagne cable car up to the 6th Wonder!

Grande Rochette - The 6th Wonder

At this point time was getting on and the 5th Wonder was going to take longer than I thought. With all the New Year's holidaymakers about, everyone wanted to get to the highest point in La Plagne. An hour and a half later I made it to the top of La Plagne - Wonder number 5 at a height of 3417m!

Bellecote Glacier - The 5th Wonder

With time getting really tight (the lift for the 1st Wonder closes at 16:00) I made it down to the Vanoise via the most cut up black run I think I've ever been on (Chlaupe) and down some black Natur' runs which weren't any better (nice views though).

I arrived back in Les Arc via the Vanoise and reached the viewing point for Wonder 4 at 16:30. 

Peisey Summit - The 4th Wonder

From there I made it down to Arc 1800 where a fit ESF snowboard instructor let me jump the queue for the Transarc Express with her so I didn't have to queue with everyone else! Due to this I arrived at the 3rd Wonder earlier than expected at 16:40 - but not early enough.

Col De la Chal - The 3rd Wonder

Now at this point I have to point out that the next wonder I'd planned on visiting was number 1, however due to time restraints I made the decision to miss it out rather than try in vain and also end up missing the last lift for wonder 2.
 
Nevertheless, here is a photo of the 1st Wonder - The top of the Aiguille Rouge at 3226m (it's worth mentioning I have done this before though).

Aiguille Rouge - The 1st Wonder

From the 3rd Wonder I boarded down to Les Arc 1950 and got on the last running lift (Bois de l'Ours) to the final stop. Now and I went past here on the journey through Les Arc to the Vanoise Express but thought I'd leave the photo until last. I'm glad I did. I didn't really rate this as a wonder but after climbing to the viewing table, I've changed my mind - here's the sunset from the the top of Wonder number 2.

The Arpette Summit - The 2nd Wonder

Although I only managed 6 of the wonders, Day Off 3 has been the best one yet. A full day of snowboarding with perfect conditions and great views and runs I would otherwise not have done. With the wonders being spread out across 14390 hectares it was as if I was in 6 different resorts. A great day off...

..and Day Off 4 might just top it!

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