It was an idea that was always there really.
Living in Geneva, Switzerland for 7 years in the late '80s and early '90s satisfied a great deal of my lifetime obsession with the alps that started with a grammar school ski trip to Sedrun in the Grisons region of Switzerland when I was 12. Once I had the cash as a commodity trader in the city, the ski holidays just multiplied and the career opportunity of moving to Switzerland with a young family in 1986 proved a logical next step.
Of course we skied whenever we could. Both my children pretty much loved ski-ing from the first tentative outings. Val d'Isere became the place for "holidays" and Megeve, St. Gervais and Les Contamines became the place for saturdays in winter.
But the alps in summer? I hadn't really thought about it much back then. By the time we "repatriated" in 1993-4, I knew that the "alpine playground" had far more to offer in the summer months than it ever could in winter. And it was cheaper, less constrained, somehow. The attraction of ski-ing is still there of course - not least to escape grey and wet U.K. for a chance for some thrills in a soaring and pristine white environment. But the cost! And the cold.
Summers were pretty warm in Geneva and I soon realised that the mountains provided good opportunities for somewhat cooler exercise. Cycling over a high pass was truly something to be proud of, and going for a swim with mountains all around became something we all enjoyed. Occasionally we would get a hike in, but the age of the kids meant this was not an obvious day out. Just the smell of the alps after a summer shower is something to be experienced.
Trail running, as it is known today, hardly existed in 1993. Hiking seemed to be for the oldies
So I left Switzerland with a slight feeling that I might have missed opportunities somewhere, and 2 weeks from today, and some 23 years later, I am about to set off to take up one of those opportunities. What makes it even better is that my eldest daughter, Lisa, and my best mate, Trev, are going to be part of that experience. Somewhere along the road we became oldies.....
Ten days from now, Friday June 24th, I fly to Geneva and then travel on to Les Houches in the Chamonix Valley. Lisa, Trev and 5 others will be joining me over the next few days, and we intend on various schedules to walk all, or as much as we can of the famous 100 mile circuit of the Mont Blanc Massif, the Tour du Mont Blanc. The route is the classic anti-clockwise version starting in Les Houches, via Les Contamines, val des Glaciers, Val Veny, Courmayeur, Val Ferret (Italian and Swiss), Champex Lac, col de la Balme and back to Les Houches via the "southern balcony" of the Chamonix valley. Lisa and I will be trying to complete as much of the last 3 legs before the others arrive on June 27th as we have to come back earlier. We also want to do some trail running as well as hiking and each have packs to allow that and a pack weight of 5 kgs or less. We have foregone the traditional high sided heavy boots for Salomon Trail running shoes, and are even weighing our limited supply of underwear!
It promises to be a fairly exciting week, as right now the abundant late spring snow on the Mont Blanc Massif is refusing to melt at the normal rate. This means that most sections of the TMB above 2200 metres have sections of snow on them. The 5 passes above 2400 metres promise each several hours of trudging through "neve" or wet spring snow - an adventure in fine weather, an ordeal or danger in poor visibility or bad weather. We even have fall back plans in place for two sections where we may not be able to pass. Thank goodness for the Mont Blanc road tunnel. We may need it.
Evolved to run. Born to run. Older, greyer, still running.
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