What a Scorcher - July 2008

Registered Company No 2612775

First of all I have to say it’s good job the Alps are as far away as they are, or the rivers would be full of Brits having discovered just how perverse the weather is for paddling back home. We are used to complaining about the weather, but a spot of alpine paddling puts it all into sad perspective.

Fact 1 –UK rivers are best for paddling in the winter months when it has been raining, still is raining and is cold, often very cold. Medical conditions to watch out for - hypothermia.

Fact 2 – Alpine rivers are best for paddling in the summer months when the sun is shining. The rivers build up to a peak in the afternoons as all the snow and ice melt has made its way down. Medical conditions to watch out for – sunburn. If it is a dull or cool day or if it is raining, rivers are lower so find something else to do.

Out of the seven full days that Matt and I were there only one day was dull, the others were in the high twenties and a couple reached 32. Factor-30 weather, and keep to the shade when not paddling. When paddling you need the splash of the cold water to keep from passing out due to the heat.

Got you jealous yet? Never mind, here’s a bit about what we did when we were there.

Friday night and Saturday was spent travelling, and we arrived at the chalet in Le Monetier les Bains at about 6pm. A beautiful location which looked out over meadows and mountains at the back. A meal at a local Italian pizza place rounded off the day. It is generally expensive to eat and drink out so we resolved to cook in the chalet for the rest of the week.

Sunday was an introduction to the local rivers and a warm up for the week. It was a beautiful day and we did the lower Clarée in the morning. This is a grade 2/3 in a lovely setting to the east of Briançon which is the main local town, full of history and medieval fortifications. The whole of the area had seen very high river levels a few weeks before and it was important to check ahead for blockages particularly trees. The afternoon saw us at the slalom site on the Durance. The river there is a big and bouncy grade 3 with a few surfing and play waves thrown in. I spent an hour or more practicing my roll in the lake next to the river. (As an aside, I do NOT recommend the Plas y Brenin Roll Reconstruction course, but that’s another story).

Monday - another hot day, needless to say. In the morning we did a couple of stretches of the Durance. The Briançon Gorge is a stunningly beautiful section that runs through the town, and we followed that by continuing onto the upper Durance. The gorge is a technical grade 3+ with a tricky weir with bouldery rapid toward the end to catch the unwary. The next section is a 2/3 stroll, and together they took about 3 hours including play time on the shoot by the get on point. Many of the rivers have dams which the French call barrages. There is one at the get on for Briançon Gorge and they have kindly put in a wooden shoot with a ski-jump thingy at the bottom for kayakers to play on. Odd I know, but I can’t think of any other reason for it to be there. We got out and inspected the weir rapid and Andy (one of the leaders) pointed out the line to take. We watched while he demonstrated it and showed us a boulder to avoid by bouncing upside-down over it and a couple of the following ones (Ouch). We learned the lesson well and got down without further incident.

Monday afternoon was the middle Clarée, grade 3/4. Mark, (from Leicester) who was paddling a play-boat, was surprised by a pour-over which grabbed him into a front vertical for several seconds until he moved and then it spun him into a back vertical for several more seconds before spitting him out. By the end of this run everyone was suitably ‘tired’.

Tuesday was – you guessed it – scorchio! The morning river was to be the Onde. Steep and rocky it needs a good flow to run. This day it was flowing fast, the water an opaque sludgy grey colour as it was full of silt. The problem with this is that you can’t tell what are merely waves and what are rocks, and the river had me not far from the get in. I was flipped and bounced upside down over rock after rock until I’d had enough and bailed out, thankful for the padding on the back of my buoyancy aid. My boat was recovered after an epic 1k chase but paddles were gone, together with my dignity and my leg was sporting a huge bruise. This river also did for Ian(from Exeter)’s boat, requiring a repair to a wide gash under the seat.

The afternoon’s paddle was down to three paddlers - Andy, Col (the two leaders) and Matt as the rest of us were nursing injuries, loss of or damaged kit, or mere exhaustion. The dynamic trio tackled the Gyronde which is formed from the confluence of the Gyr and the Onde and flows into the Durance Southwest of Briançon. They kept claiming it to be the best paddle of the week but we have to take their word for it!

Wednesday was a day of rest, and as it was superb weather five of us decided to do a Via Ferrata at Les Vigneaux. This is like rock climbing, but with a permanent wire cable that you attach to with a pair of cow-tail like ropes with karabiners, to prevent an unplanned quick descent. The route, which was about 380 metres of vertical ascent but with lots of traverses and diagonals, took us about 2 hours, and in the scorching sun the odd breeze was a welcome relief. Ian and Andy are also climbing instructors so they took it in their stride. On the other hand Mark, Matt and I were not too good with heights, and the air was full of things like, “Oh Dear!”, “For Heaven’s sake!”, “Which kind person thought of this then?” when we encountered new and cunning twists in the route. After a while the vertical sections are not too bad as you are looking up all the time, but the traverses are all a bit scary. From the top (1630m) there’s an amazing view and a path to take us down to the village pump for a much needed cool off.

Thursday was two sections of the Guisane, which runs down our local valley into Briançon. A very picturesque grade 3/4 with some canalised sections where it runs through the villages. Ian’s boat had been repaired and I had dusted off my spare pair of traffic-light paddles, and we all in action again.

Friday was a couple of sections of the Guil – a 2 hour drive away along some spectacular mountain roads. The water was a beautiful alpine green in the bright sunshine and the road largely followed the river, which allowed us to look at some of the more massive rapids. The high waters earlier in the year had significantly altered some of the features. In one case a huge boulder the size of a large garden shed had been completely removed and had dropped it from a grade 5 to a 4. In another case, a siphon now absorbed 95% of the water flow. It just goes to show that you need not just local knowledge but up to date local knowledge.

Saturday morning was a revisit to Briançon Gorge and the play shoot. The water level was a lot lower than earlier in the week despite the heat of the day, and the drops seemed steeper and bonier but with more eddies to break out into. Nevertheless quite enough water for it to be a memorable final paddle of the trip. The tricky weir and bouldery rapid nearly got me – but dynamic posture together with a well controlled reverse descent did the trick.

After a pootle around the old town of Briançon we set off back home dodging hundreds of kamikaze cyclists in a rally over the mountain passes towards Grenoble, and thence to Calais to catch the early morning ferry.

To summarize – fantastic, will definitely go again, and 1) Renting an out of (ski) season chalet can be as cheap as camping or bunk-housing and is infinitely more comfortable, 2) beware of opaque rivers where you can’t see the features, 3) if you get additional dangerous-activity insurance make sure it covers you for loss of equipment too (bah!).