In the spirit of DIY with the likes of the haute route post , here is a description of the DIY Campervan we created last summer.

Helen and I went on a trip to France this summer past, starting in Nottingham and finishing in Inverness after a nice tour of France and parts of the UK.

Wild camping is banned in France along with a few of the other central european countries. Meaning that if you want to be ‘out in the nature’ you need to stay in a campsite or hotel.

However, there is a big campervan culture in France which means that campervans are accepted all over the place and there is a network of aires which provide essential services such as water and waste disposal.

The downside of campervans is that they are very expensive to buy and hire .

Famous refuge and gash

If you want to spend time in the alps or the pyrenees a good way to do it is with a DIY Camper™

There are some amazing Van conversions out there which take a lot of time and money to create. This is not one of them. This conversion can be done for minimal funds and in a couple of days.

Vehicle

Buy a van, max 2m high as this means you can park in regular car parks. Features to look out for are low mileage, ply-lined, carpeted. without bulk head, turbo diesel, side and back doors. Buy something which has a decent resell value as you will likely want to sell the van on after your trip.

As of 2011 £2000 would be a good budget. We started with a Mercedes Vito electricians van purchased from Autotrader vans.

Post training lunch in the heat.

Sleeping

You can pick up an IKEA sofabed for about £100, this acts as both a sofa and a bed! Jobs a good un!

High altitude camp spot.

If you have more time / expertise an mdf sleeping platform design is far superior as it allows you to store luggage underneath the sleeping area when you sleep.

Mods

Solar Shower in Action

• Inverter for a DC power supply (Laptop and Mobile) – sourced from Maplin.
• Large water container. You need a lot of water storage as often days can pass without water. – sourced from Decathlon.
• Solar shower. A large black back with a nozzle attached was excellent for cheeky washes. – sourced from Decathlon.
• Seat organisers, these clip onto the back of seat.
• FM transmitter, good way to listen to Ipod / Phone in the car without modifying the stereo.
• Screw hooks on the ply lining for organising stuff.
• Cooking was done outside with an MSR Whisperlite International stove running on petrol.
• Take a basic tool kit for repairs. Our main issue was the back section of the exhaust needed tied onto the chassis for most of the trip. If you get a good van you will hopefully escape mechanical issues.
• Curtains for the back doors with velcro attachments. Well made by Mrs Palmer.

Tips

• Use the aires in villages for services (but buy something in the village!). You can also sleep in them as well.
• When driving long distance we split the driving and did 2hr efforts, which can be maintained.
• The pyrenees is a lovely area.

4×4 intervals followed by Barbeque

Disclaimer

You should really have been ski touring for a few years, have mountain experience, be able to navigate in the mountains, have glacier experience and be willing to plan a bit beforehand.

If in doubt, hire a guide.

Paper goods

• Buy Peter Cliff’s book – The Haute Route a guide for skiers and walkers
• Buy 1:50000 Maps (Martigny and Arolla (Winter 1:50000 maps, they have ski routes marked on them.))
• Buy 1:25000 Maps (The required maps are mentioned in Peter Cliff’s book.)
• Buy Glacier Mountaineering (good book for glacier travel)

Work out a version of the Haute route that suites your group.

Get a group together

Ideally all of similar ability and maximum 6 people. If possible, go ski touring with the group and meet a few times before the trip to go over plans, shared equipment etc.

Make sure you have the right equipment.

Sort out your equipment beforehand, make sure you have tested everything; make sure your boots are comfortable and dont give you blisters!

Haute route equipment list

Book the huts

Erik Vignettes

It is possible to get email addresses and phone numbers from the Swiss Alpine Club Website attempt to use broken french and book them quite long in advance. It might be worth joining one of the affiliated clubs as this results in cheaper lodgings.

Pick a time to go

We went at the very beginning of April and this was a really good time to go in that the snow was still good and it wasnt too busy on the route. Slightly earlier (maybe a week or 2) would work but you will have to check that the huts are open. Later would also work but you run into issues on the last day with being able to ski out to Zermatt depending on the snow year.

Have a wee bit of leeway in your travel plans

Bad weather may hit when you are on the trip; try to have some extra days in your travel schedule to accomodate this.

Have fun!

Any top tips or questions? Add them below.

Glacier du Mt Collon

Day 5 – Arolla, Pas de Chevres to Pigne D Arolla to Vignettes Hut

We had 2 options on this day.

1. Ski direct to the Vignettes hut, same as the guided groups.
2. Rejoin the original route by crossing the Pas de Chevres, climbing the Pignes Des Arolla and then descending to the Vignettes hut.

Option 2 seemed a lot more exciting and the weather forecast was good to we decided to go for it.

Left the old school hotel last with Johan. Bought ski passes for a long poma which saved us a couple of kilometres and a few hundred metres ascent. Cheating?

Skiers on Montagne d Arolla

Roar took a cheeky line up an extra poma and did a sweet traverse to get ahead of us by like 10 minutes. I caught him on the way up the Pas de Chevres and cained all the Norwegians to the top.

Roar and old sun avalanche

Watched the Dix hut being serviced by heli which was cool, it kept swooping over my head at the top of the Pas de Chevres and down toward Arolla. Happy we bypassed the Dix as the guardian had given me an earful for not cancelling in time the day before!

Rigged up a rope and we downclimbed the ladders onto the Glacier de Cheilon. Was fun to get some ladder action with the skis on the back.

Pas De Chevres

We continued up the cheilon glacier in the heat and up to the Col de la Serpentine where the wind got up considerably.

Lone Skiers

The Pigne d Arolla stretching out before us and the Mont Blanc de Cheilon behind. This looks like a very impressive mountain and seems to be climbing possibilities and skiing possibilities on it.

Mt Blanc de Cheilon

Pigne D Arolla

The conditions were deteriorating slightly so there was a real feel of commitment and challenge in the air. The steep slope to get up to the Col du Brennay looked quite icy so it was time to get the crampons on and skis on the back and ice axe out.

Felt quite exposed on the way up, here is one of Johan getting buffeted in the wind. (hard to show in a photo!) We didnt think we were going to make the Pigne d’Arolla summit.

Johan on the windy icy section.

We got to the top and started skiing again. Eivind and I pushed on ahead, curled round some crevasses and headed toward the Pigne d Arolla summit. Amazingly the wind dropped as we approached the summit and all were able to summit. There was a guide with one client already on the top and he took some nice photos of us. They had climbed up from the Vignettes side.

Looking back the way we came

View from Pigne D Arolla Summit

Some photo taking, then an amazing descent towards the Vignettes hut. One of the best ski views I have ever had.. snow was a bit wind affected but still an amazing descent. Could have been the best descent of the trip.

Erik, Roar, Alastair, Pigne D Arolla Summit

For some reason we were greeting like heroes by the Americans and some of the guides for going the long way round. Was a great feeling to get to the hut and it is potentially the best hut we came across.

Erik Vignettes

Pigne des Arolla descent

Before taking our skis off Johan and I spotted a huge powder bowl down the other side toward Arolla so hit that before retiring to the hut. Really good powder. Johan had left his Thermos in the hotel at Arolla and was seriously considering skiing back to get it. Luckily we managed to talk him out of it!

Glacier du Mt Collon

Most groups were continuing onto the Bertol hut; but we wanted to stick to the classic route so planned to ski direct to Zermatt the next day.

6.5 hours skiing.

Day 6 – Vignettes Hut to Zermatt

Leaving the Vignettes Hut at Dawn

Excitement was high in the night which meant little sleep and we had an early rise for the ‘biggest’ day of the haute route.

The day started sourly as we lost Roar and Erik at Vignettes due to illness. It would be a team of 4 instead of 6 which was a bit sad. The plan was for them to stay in Vignettes for an extra day; luckily there were 2 places left for them!

Glacier du Mt Collon

Glacier du Mt Collon

We eventually got away from the hut at about 7am, just as it was getting light. A cruisy ski down to the Glacier du Mt Collon and on with the skins for the first of 3 cols. Medium length skin up to the Col d Eveque, passed some groups that were in front of us (we were last to leave again). We got stuck behind a guided group on the way up the skin track. Passed them at the top however and we were in concentration / speed / being ‘effective’ mode as we knew the day was a biggy!

Long line of guided groups to overtake!

Skied down the other side of the Col d Eveque, snow was a bit bind affected but nice swooping turns anyway. We then caught up the American group, got a bit of banter with them then passed them on the way up to the foot of the Col d Mt Brule. Got the crampons out again to climb this, my Camp XLC 390 crampons were excellent and was fine with pure aluminium. If going later in the season it might have been a different story.

Col du M. Brule

Col du M. Brule

Col du M. Brule

Pulled away from the stars and stripes and caught up a group of italian stallions all wearing the same closes and using similar skis! A small traverse led us onto the Glacier de Tsa de Tsan were we stopped for a spot of lunch. The climb up to the Col de Valpelline is desceptively long and we worked hard to get there.

Boys up the final glacier

Eivind and his fishnet thermals

Upon arriving we were greeted with an amazing view of the Matterhorn as we left Italy. Time to take the skins off for last time and take some photos.

Me and the matterhorn

Matterhorn (from italian side)

We proceeded to descent the heavily crevassed Stockli Glacier. It wasnt over yet. The great visibility and abundance of ski tracks made it slightly easier but you still needed to watch where you were skiing. It would have been a different story if the weather had been bad and we may have had to ski roped up!

Skiing round some crevasses

Johan and Ice

Snow conditions on the glacier were excellent spring conditions as it was approximately 1130 am when we skied it. If done too much later in the day I doubt it would have been so fun.

Sweet tele turn

Took the right fork and skied directly under the Matterhorn which was extremely cool. Johan smacked his head on a rock due to rotten snow. The dangers of telemark skiing; wouldnt have happened if his heels were attached! I also wiped out here and my bindings DIDNT release when I came over the top, which is actually just as sketchy really.

We just hit this old glacier in time as apart from a little walk we were able to ski all the way to the afterski at 2300m!

Supposed to take 8:30 to 12 hours in the guidebook. Rando racers could so it a lot faster but we were pretty happy with 6 hours!

We met a dutch group who had skied from the Bertol that day. A tasty celebratory beer was consumed.

Relaxing after haute route completion

We advised the young waitress that when the Americans arrived she was to tell them the Norwegians (and scot) had been waiting for ages and had to ski down!

Band playing at 2200m below matterhorn

Skied down to Zermatt from here on long cruisy Cat Tracks.

The fun did not end there.

Chez heine for world class lamb, afterski bar, la poste nightclub, climbing rafters and to out delight there being no bouncers, stage dancing.

I had to make it to Scotland the next day nursing a killer hangover but it was worth it!

We made it! Haute route complete!

Sunglass photo

Excellent weather again, up early and onto the Col des Chaux, felt strong and did it in one go. A good hard start to the day.

Leaving Mont Fort Hut

Top of Col des Chaux

Switched to clothes for warm weather which helped massively. Eivind got his fishnets out, something which an English woman found very exciting.

Towards Rosablanche

Pushed onto the Rosablanche (3336m).

The slope of the Rosablanche is north facing which meant nice dry snow. Dropped the sack and did an extra round along with Eivind and Johan.

Johan Rosablanche

Afterwards we had a tasty lunch on top of a rather large cornice (we didn’t realise this at the time) and then wandered up to the top and took some photos.

Rosablanche

Learnt 2 new Norwegian words, both which translate to bitch.

Next skied all the way from near the Rosablanche summit to the Prafleuri hut. Snow at the top was amazing but it got a bit wet towards the end. Rosti and beer was waiting with the others who got there before us, as our skiing laps took more time.

Johan, Rosablanche Summit

You have to be careful about when you approach the Prafleuri hut, as late in the day there is high avalanche risk.

Some guy broke his ski and a helicopter delivered him a fresh pair en route to a helibombing mission. Only in the Alps!

Helicopter Ski Delivery

A group of plucky Americans arrived late in the day having skied from Trient and an hour or so after they arrived the approach was avalanched.

If you are a strong group I recommend skiing from Trient to Prafleuri in one day if you are doing the Verbier variation, just make sure you keep good time.

Day 4 – Prafleuri – Lac Des Dix – Prafleuri – Pralong – Arolla

Johan and Prafleuri

Started early, weather wasnt ideal with snow and bad visibility. However, the main problem was an overcast night meant that the snowpack didnt refreeze overnight. The snow was completely rotten right to the ground and skiing was challenging.

Col de Roux

All of the guided groups made the decision to turn around, we deliberated for a while but decided to also turn around as it may have not been possible to skin up the Pas du Chat. (It transpired later that a german group without a guide carried on but had to turn around due to snow conditions.) We made the right choice.

We went back the way we came over the Col De Roux to the Prafleuri to look at our options. Apparently the avalanche danger directly below the hut was too high despite the previous days helibombing. Luckily there was a 1.6km disused tunnel under the hut which would pop us out further down the mountain!

Dude in tunnel

There were loads of weird and wonderful ice structured in the tunnel. We walked with some of the guided groups.

The avalanche danger was still relatively high after the tunnel experience. When then relied on the guides to check the slopes and set off a controlled avalanche to evacuate their clients. We potentially would have been faster without the guides (and a swedish prafleuri hut guardian told us about a safer route further to skiers’ right.) but we kept with them.

We finally got to a road but unfortunately this road was closed, lots of large avalanches were funneling into the valley off a huge cliff at regular intervals. To get to civilisation it meant skis on the back and a 6km walk in ski boots to the hamlet of Pralong. Safety!

We eventually squeezed ourselves into a taxi (guided groups had priority) and drove all the way to Arolla. We stayed in the hilarious, ancient Hotel Mt Collon. The food was great, the hotel itself was a blast from the past!

Eivind and his norrona boots

Johan in ancient bathroom.

Hotel Mt Collon

Looking down to Argentiere Glacier and Col du Chardonnet

Managed to actually get the first lift from Argentiere due to taxi and good organisation. We stayed at the Hotel L’Arve in Chamonix, which I recommend.

Rolf and Roar were a bit behind us in the lift line so we managed to have a cheeky expresso at the grands montets cafe.

We got going an headed down towards the Argentiere glacier via the Rognons glacier. Some crevasses but excellent visibility. Long descent to get the skiing legs back. I had done minimal downhill skiing this season, mainly snowboarding and xc skiing.

Rognons descent

We switched to skins on the Argentiere glacier and onto the Col du Chardonnet. On the way up we used ski crampons. I used mine for the first time and learned that skiing downhill on them is not a good idea when there is rocks around. I ripped off the dynafit plastic mount. Bindings were otherwise fine.

Chardonnet Ascent

Looking back to Rognons Glacier

It flattened off then we got to the abseil over the other side. We had 2×30m ropes with us and rope-round-the-back side slipped down the col. This was fine and exciting, potentially later in the season we would require more rope to do this. Also we relied on the next party to unclip rope for us.

Chardonnet

Skinning up chardonnet from Argentiere Glacier

Chardonnet crew

Johan waited for rope release and skied down the last section with the rope, as he arrived at the group he had a very impressive wipeout.

Col du Chardonnet

Next a traverse ski and then up over the Col de Saleina; Skis on the pack for this one and the thin air took a bit of getting used to; tough times.

Fenetre de Saleina

On the other side of the col we saw both the Trient hut and some sexy lines above the Col du Tour. I was persuaded by Johan and Erik to hit this, so off we went for an extra tour.

Eivind

Unfortunately the turns were not as nice as they looked; the snow was breakable crust! So we had to do Italian style turns to make it down.

Food at the Trient was excellent, portions slightly small however and the guardian crew not the most friendly. The main guardian was nice though.

Norsk Crew

Important to drink a lot of water at altitude and to rehydrate in the huts. Water, Coke and Beer all have their benefits!

Heineken and Girl

6hrs 40min

Couloir Copt (Xavier de la Rue hit this.)

Saleina Dusk

Day 2 – Trient Hut to Mont Fort Hut

Up quite early, we were the second last group to leave the hut. Down the Trient glacier where there were quite a few holes.

Col des Escandies

Over the col des escandies, with skis on back and ice axe, no crampons.

Smiling Col des Escandies

Peein Col des Escandies

Nice skiing down the Val D Arpette into Champex ski resort. Saw the point d’orney couloir over the backside of the Trient hut which we should really have hit as the conditions were good for it.

Val d Arpette

Val D Arpette

As we arrived at the ski resort we were lucky enough to arrive around 10:10am when there was a bus at 10:25am which took us to Osieres. From here we got a train to Le Chable via Sembrancher. From Le Chable you can get a cable car to Verbier. Maybe a taxi would be faster but not sure how much it would cost.

Val D Arpette

The boys carried on up to the Les Attelas restaurant for some tasty food. I went to Mountain Air in Verbier and got my binding spacer replaced by a friendly dude for a reasonable price.

Chilled out at Attelas restaurant and hoovered up leftovers, then onto Mont Fort hut for more beers, wine and chilling out.

A funny moment was witnessing a group of yah’s skiing down from the Mont Fort hut half cut in the pitch dark without headtorches at 11pm. Hope they made it safely back without getting buggered!

2 hrs 05min skiing!

As winter comes to an end, its time to get back out on the bikes! My commuting bike (called the bus) has taken a hammering over the winter months and the chain is not in a good way.

Sheldon brown shares a good tip on cleaning chains. Sometimes when you think that you should buy a new chain for your bike, all that it needs is a good clean.

Drop the chain into a plastic Coke bottle with a couple of ounces of un-diluted citrus degreaser, cap it, and shake thoroughly. Fish the chain out with a spoke, rinse in water, and you are all set! (I am told that Pepsi bottles also work, and are easier to remove the chain from, because they have a wider mouth…but I’m a Coke guy, not a Pepsi guy.)

I have had ok results with this method. I only managed to get solvent based degreaser which is horrible smelly cancerous stuff. The bottle top was pretty wee so a larger one in future will be better. It also only worked quite well and not as good as I thought.

I will need to try with real citrus degreaser in the future and see how that goes.

Here is a list of what I took on the haute route. We were a group of 6 without a guide and shared the safety equipment between us.

Generally go as lightweight as possible with everything on the list. Get the lightest possible as in the end it makes your skiing a lot more enjoyable and your skinning easier. Light is right.

Dynafit Bindings seem to be the way to go.

Technical Equipment

• Skis (w/Dynafit TLT Speed)
• Boots
• Poles
• Skins
• Tranceiver – Fresh Batteries
• Shovel
• Probe
• OMM 35L Pack (Maybe 40L would be better)
• Straps for skis
• Harness (Black Diamond Couloir)
• Ice Axe (As light as possible)
• Crampons (Lightweight Aluminium)
• Ski Crampons
• 3 locking carabiners
• 2 non-locking carabiners
• 1 Ice Screw
• Prusik cords (2 times 5m length of 6mm cord)
• Belay device
• 1x dyneema sling (120cm)
• 1x dyneema sling (50cm)
• First aid (blisters, duct tape, sports tape roll (important for blister prevention), plasters)
• Ear plugs
• Wee Headtorch – Fresh Batteries
• Survival Bag
• Compass
• Maps (Martigny, Arolla 1:50000, Missed 1:25000 maps would be good to take these)
• Route Guide (Scan and print out relevent parts from Peter Cliff’s Book)
• Watch
• Victorinox Knife
• 500CHF – get from Geneva Airport
• Toothbrush + Paste
• Mobile Phone
• Silk sleeping sheet (wool covers and pillows are provided by the huts)
• Passport
• Sun Glasses (Category 4 Important)
• Sun screen and lip protection
• Goggles
• 1 liter Water bottle.
• 500ml mineral water bottle
• Pen + Wee Book
• Medication (if applicable)
• Lunch and Snacks – Day 1
• Insurance Docs
• Zip-lock bag for wallet etc.
• Camera

Clothing

• Shell Jacket
• Waterproof Trousers
• XC Ski Bottoms
• Pertex Windproof
• Primaloft Insulation Jacket
• Light Fleece
• Down Vest
• 3 x thermal tops (1x synthetic, 2x merino)
• 1 x thermal bottoms
• Insulated Mitts
• Light semi waterproof gloves (use these most of the time)
• Liner gloves
• Buff x 2
• Sun hat
• Hat x 2
• 2 x Thick Socks (Merino)
• 1 x Thin Socks
• 3 x Boxers

Group

• Skin wax
• Stove + Pan
• Rope x 2

Erik, Roar, Alastair, Pigne D Arolla Summit

Day 10

Today we were feeling quite lazy and did an easy jaunt through the jagged mountains of Lofoten (Austvågøya) to the town of Solvær (capital of lofoten). Solvær as OK and we had a tasty snack and bought some delicious bread. (Vestfjordbrod from Kringla Bakeri in the main square.)

Climbers at partywave

We continued onto hip and happening Henningsvær, the climbing captial of Lofoten. We relaxed in the climbing cafe over some Nordland Pils and partook in a magnificent shower. Finally we retired to PARTYWAVE the cool climbers wild campsite and evaded the clouds of angry mosquitos.

Helen reading the girl with the dragon tattoo

I tried to get a pair of Norrøna Lofoten ski pants for cheap (RRP circa £400) but the climber dude wasnt having any of it. Note to self: when haggling its better to make sure it is a one on one haggle and there are no other advisers in the vicinity.

Sunset at henningsvær

Sunset at henningsvær

Stats

63.82km
19.9 Avg
49.6 Max
980 kcal
3:11:55 ptime
960.6km fae NK

Day 11

Day 11

Woke up to find out that a beast of some kind had got into our tent porch in the night and eaten most of our food!!

Looking across to henningsvær

Very picturesque beautiful cycle on one of the recommended motorbike roads. Finally got my ipod out and have started listening to music when I am cycling.. pumpin!

Helen had a dark day today.

Found a ‘mall’ and had some tasty ice cream. Tried for find a some snow and ran to a white patch on some hillside. Unfortunately it was a very white stone slab . This ends my 32 month stint of being on snow every month!!

Attempting to find snow

Stopped off at a proper campsite and made some funny sunset pictures.

jumpin team

wicked air

sunset

Stats

90.79km
20.5kph Avg
57.0kph max
1434 Kcal
4:24:23 Ptime
1051.4 km fae NK

Day 12

Day 12

A slow start to the day at Ramberg Gjesthus Campsite but a heart warming story of a 90 year old Australian man who had been in nearby Skelfjord aged 19 and returned to witness the opening of a war memorial. He has been reunited with a 76 year old man whom he gave a box of delicious chocolates to 71 years ago.

break time

We cycled the remaining length of flakstadøya to Moskenesøya and all the way to the famed å. We spent the rest of the gloriously sunny day relaxing and pottering about in å and moskenes.

end of the road

Lofoten Hills

At the ferry port we met a kiwi / south african couple who were driving an insane mercedes camper van. (something similar to “this”“http://www.flickr.com/photos/cinemadreams/3027634842/in/photostream/”) They were driving it around the world and had heaps of good chat.

Our time in Lofoten was coming to a close as the sun went down behind the jagged peaks. We munched on our final wild dinner, washing it down with some Nordlands Pils.

Lofoten Dusk

Lofoten Dusk

Stats

45.85km
20.6 kph AVG
58.5 kph MAX
731.8 kcal
2:13:23 ptime
1097.2 km fae NK

FINISH!

*å*

Day 7

day 7 map

Weather good / amazing! Had the best ferry waffle experienced so far. (Brensholmen -> Botnhavn). Staying at obscene hut called Senjabu. Buily in 2002 it is in very good nick and seems like someone’s own house.

Senja view

Did a beast of a shop and cooked mince n tatties for dinner. Bought some beer to drink despite the weight!

Senja view again

Welcome to the hut.

Brushing the teeth at senjabu dnt #2

Stats

81.87km
19.6 kph avg (NR)
54.4 kph max
1235 Kcal
4:10:13 ptime
699.4km fae NK

Day 8

day 8

Water and hills

Sensational senja

Left senjabu and had a beautiful and amazingly fun circa 2 hour ride to Gryllefjord. Saw lots of jellyfish, trucks and shags. One moderate mountain pass.

Arrived at 11:43am to find out that the ferry had gone ar 11. Next one was due at 7pm!! We spent several relaxing hours reading and fishing. (fishing with rudimentary equipment didnt work out too well.) Went to shop for dinner at 5pm and found out that the evening ferry to Andesnes was cancelled!! Bad weather apparently.. but I think it was a Birthday Party as the weather was lovely.

Basically we have been proper winging it with the ferries so far on the trip. Just rocking up and waiting a short time for a boat. This was the first time that the flying by the seat of your pants approach has bitten us in the bum after years of success. So the jury is still out… fly by the seat of your pants or plan?

Cat

Preparing the mobile kitchen

Biked a few kilometres back up the fjord and found a stony campspot. Enjoyed a delightful beach dinner in textbook sunset conditions. (Prawns, salmon, sweetcorn, cheesy pasta, Tuborgs.)

Helen tucking into a tuborg at dinner time.

(started the regular consumption of beer)

Sunset gryllefjord

White women can jump

Stats

42.11 km
20.3 kph avg (NR)
59.1 kph max
777 kcal
2:04:09 ptime
741.5 km fae NK

Day 9

day 9

Bye bye gryllefjord

Finally escaped from Gryllefjord in a ferry that should have been in a museum. Rip off costs for shitty coffee (30kr (£3) + 5kr (50p) for a refill!!) We spoke to the captain about the previous days cancellation and it was clear that they just couldnt be f*cked the previous day. Annoying to say the least!

Due to the pitiful distance covered the previous day we decided to pound out a big one.

Rest

After some choppy seas we made it to Andøya (Awesome Andøya). Andesnes is a surprisingly big place and with the wind behind us we smashed through 50km in 2 hours.

Went for a 1hr effort, 10 min break schedule for most of the day, grinding out 6hrs of cycling effort in this manner. Sunshine and obscene views most of the time!

Helen and Bridge

At the ferry to get to lofoten.

Arrived at Melbu and didnt like the look of it so decided to go even further than planned at get the last ferry to Lofoten. Possibly the best sunset I have ever seen was experienced as Helen danced to some attrocious pop music on the ferry. Would have been better without the pop music!

Stats

155.21 km (NR)
23.4 kph (NR)
56.4 kph Max
2588 Kcal (NR)
6:37:34 ptime
896.8 km fae NK

Day 4

day 4

Glorious blue sky weather. Three mountain passes. Longest day so far. Cycled until 9pm.

Lunchtime

Hills n water

Getting more mountainous as we leave alta

Self portrait

Hammering it down a mountain descent in the dying light, racing a jeep, with the majestic tops of lyngen is what its all about.

Stayed in our first hut! Shock! Was top class to have a shower and wash away the filth that has accumulated when wild camping.

Stats

137.61 km
17.8kph avg
58.7 kph max
2283 Kcal
7:42:16 ptime
440.3 km fae NK

Day 5

day 5

From Rotsundelv late start, all clean after shower and bed sleep in a hut. (luxury) Chillaxed 31km to Olderdalen where we had a delicious ice and caught ferry to Lyngseidet.

Fixing helen’s bike for her

Fish drying

KIOSK

Amazing sunshine and views of lyngen alps’ glaciers all day. Cycled past Svendsby and round the top of Jægervatnet. Bit of a dirt track into forest then hike into Jægervasshytta in fierce evening sunshine.

Lyngen alps and Helen

Maxim and Lyngen

Relaxed night in gorgeous and well equipped hut with a calm watery view. Ahhh! Deilig? Ja.

Stats

67.43 km
18.0 kph avg
61.2 kph max (equal best)
930 kcal
3:43:35 ptime
507.7 km fae NK

Day 6

day 6

From Jægervasshytta we walked out to bike transition then back to Svendsby to catch another ferry. German tourists.

Met kjent mann at Fagernes and he showed us some quite back roads into Tromsø. Also cycled part of the Tromsø marathon route.

jægervasshytta

Old school advert – before the internet

jægervasshytta dnt #1

Tromsø

Demolished a monster of a pizza at Peppes Pizza in Tromsø. American tourists. Kjent mann #2 helped us out of Tromsø. There was an incredibly steep hill to cycle over. Got filmed by the google maps street view camera for the umpteenth time this trip.

Onto kvaløya (whale island) and eventually found a mosquito-rich camping spot. Made a fire to scare them away.

Welcome to our campsite.

Stats

109.82 km
19.8 kph avg (new record)
63.7 kph max (new record)
1729 kcal
5:36:07 ptime
617.5 km fae NK

Day 1

day1 map

After building the bikes at Nordkapp. We bought the most expensive sandwiches of our life (circa £9 each) and headed off south in gale force winds.

We cycled past some reindeer who looked at us strangely. The weather was rough with it feeling like winter and almost sleeting. The leaves were turning brown on what trees we could find.

What finnmark is all about.

We had to cycle through an obscene tunnel that was 7km long and went 208 metres under sea level. It was actually good to be out of the wind.

At one point we had to walk with the bikes it was that windy. The campsite was super bleak and it was great to get into our sleeping bags and warm up. Dinner was replaced by salami sandwiches as it was too wild to get the stove on the go.

Exceptionally bleak and cold campsite #1

Stats

72.18km
18.6kph Avg Speed
61.2 kph max
1348 kcal
3:52:39 pedal time.

Note: the stats come from Helen’s bike computer. I am certain that throughout the trip I broke 70kph on some descents but cant prove it as I threw my computer away before the trip.

Day 2

day2 map

First use of the stove today allowed us to eat some tasty pasta. First use of the statoil cup got us some free coffee at a statoil petrol station. We saw a library bus:

Its a library bus!

We bumped into a guy from Belgium who had been cycling for the last 3 months. He had a youth hostel key for Alta which we are going to pass tomorrow. We promised to hand it in for him.

Found a nice campsite next to a salmon river.

Sink your farts it might rain

Stats

109.07 km
18.1kph Avg
52.8kph max
1421 Kcal
6:00:23 ptime
181.2km fae NK

Day 3

day3 map

Started badly. We left the wire lock at camp 2 and Ally had to cycle 5.6km back to fetch it. Helen felt weak for the first 1-2 hours. Met loads of cyclists heading North. Had fun in the Metropolis of Alta, visiting a supermarket and another Statoil (free coffee). Handed in key for Belgian dude at Youth Hostel.

The sun is out!

With the evening came our first sunshine and we caned it well past the target campspot of Talvik, mainly because campsite searching took so long as finding spots in farm areas at the side of fjord can be tough.

Cool sunshine shot

We found a sweet spot in the end so it worked out well.

Campsite nearish Talvik

Stats

121.45km
18.2kph Avg
56.8kph Max
1851 Kcal
6:38:56 Ptime
302.7km fae NK

Im just back from a 2 week cycle touring trip in the North of Norway.

Below is an equipment list which lists individual items and shared items for 2 people. Having more than one person is great because it allows you to shared items and therefore carry less. Lightweight is the way to go here, we even threw things away and Helen sent stuff home to minimise weight.

Bike specific

spare inner tube
spare brake blocks*
Bike lights for tunnels.
2 water bottles (litre each)
helmet
bike shoes
neoprene booties

Clothes

bike shorts
lycra leggings
cycletop
sunglasses + case
bike gloves
semi waterproof gloves
thin gloves
windproof jacket
waterproof jacket
waterproof trousers
light insulation jacket (eg. primaloft)
2 buffs
lightweight shoes
pants x1
boxers x2
tshirt x1
small towel
thermal x3 (long sleeves)
leisure trousers (lightweight)
sawn off toothbrush
hat

Stuff

phone
mp3
book
passport
watch
credit cards
cash
medication (eg. inhaler)

Sleeping

Down Jacket
Sleeping bag
Thermarest
Wee pillow

Shared Items

bike lock
sun tan cream
Stove + Lighter
Pans
Tent
Tent footprint
Cooking Oil
Washing up stuff
Mugs
Spoons
Pen knife
wee book + pen
wee bit of shampoo
toothpaste
first aid
survival bag
puncture repair kit
pump
multitool
maps and route info
compass
flight documents
camera

Bikes

Basically all the other cycle tourers we met had much much more stuff than us and were on slow bikes.

heavy bike

My Bike

I went for an approach of converting an actual racing bike for cycle touring on which went really well. It was essentially the same setup I used for credit card touring through the alps a couple of years ago with the addition of an alpkit drybag on the back which held the tent and 2 thermarests.

Speeding along on the cannondale caad5

As a side note, often when saving weight people scrimp on underbody insulation. This is a bad move as it can make sleeping really uncomfortable. Therefore we decided to take the thermarests which ensured for a cosy nights sleep. They also pack down relatively well when wrapped round a tent.

The bike was very fast and once up to speed would cruise at 25 – 30 kph no problem. The downside is that it is a bit of a weak bike for load carrying so you have to be nice to it when it comes to bumps / gravel / curbs etc. The wheels have not that many spokes so will buckle easily.

Helen’s Bike

Tour tastic

For Helen’s bike we went for a more solid solution. A burly cyclocross racing bike with a rack and some carradice waterproof panniers. This setup is a reliable setup for touring as the frame and wheels are strong with high gearing for when the need arises to go fast.

The downside is that the panniers end up holding more stuff, dont have very good handling and are not as aerodynamic as the racing bike bags I was running. This meant that on downhills my bike was a lot faster. As it cut through the air a lot better.

In general I think the best solution would have been for both Helen and I to use similar equipment as often it was hard to stay together as my bike was that much faster.

The plan was to take a trip to the Stockholm archipelago and experience ‘endless islands’ in the most simple form of sea transport.
The sea kayak. We wanted to go as wild as possible so made the decision to try and get kayaks from as far out as possible in the archipelago
so that we were in the wilderness as quickly as possible.

I had only been in a sea kayak once before going on the trip, but had done a wee bit of freshwater kayaking. This proved to be enough, but I was glad
that I had been taught some paddling technique from former world adventure race champion Chris Forne.

Other preparation was to get a few drybags together and to test out some kit which we plan to use on a slightly bigger expedition later in the
summer.

Day 1

I woke up in a large ferryboat approaching Stockholm having been in Helsinki the night before. The last thing I could remember was
doing klinsmans over a bunch of swedes laid out in the corridor. Too much high quality russian vodka had been consumed!

After arriving in Stockholm, priority was to stock up on food. We bought food for the whole trip in one go. There is a wee bit of thinking required to
do this, but its much better having all the food sorted in a oner. Cost about £60 for all the food.

A bus, then a slow ferry took us to the town of Berg on the Island of Moja. From here, it was time to sort out all our stuff and leave the beer soaked
jeans and smelly orienteering shoes behind!

Getting our shit together

After getting maps from the kayak guy, fixing a broken rudder and getting everything packed, we were on our way. We paddled for about 2.5 hours through beautiful thin waterways in the evening sunshine.

We randomly picked a little island that looked like a good starting point for the next day and went about getting out of the boat. Turned out there is a lot of bare rock in the archipelago which has a slimy covering. This means you have to pick out inlets and grassy areas for landing the kayak. We found this out the hard way. First, I got out of the boat and proceeded to fall over and swim in the deep water. Next, I held onto the boat and ‘helped’ Helen get out of the water. The result was she went swimming too!

Sunset with the Kayak

We setup campsite and for the first time felt the sense of peace and chilledness that was to set the tone for the next few days.

Tree Banter

Day 2

The plan for day 2 was to do an 8km open water stretch to reach the Store Nåsa nature reserve. A collection of wild islands in the outer archipelago.

Wilderness

For some reason I was crapping it, the idea of falling out of the kayak in open sea seemed daunting. Luckily nothing with awry and we made it to the islands in the mid afternoon. We setup camp then I tried some fishing with the rudimentary fishing equipment I had taken along. I was unsuccessful but luckily we had enough food to get by.

Jarlsberg and Wine

Day 3

Bantered about the outer islands looking at the protected birdlife and lazing around in the sunshine. We went swimming in the afternoon sun and got attacked by a couple of arctic tern birds.

Arctic Tern

The wind dropped so we decided to make the open water paddle back to the moja reserve. Quick dinner and wine, then hardcore paddling. Open water navigation is difficult, you really need to trust your compass and not your eyes!

We found another top class little island, with a top view and no mosquitos. Best of the trip.

Sweet campsite

Day 4

As we had been carrying all our drinking water (cooking with sea water however) we were running a little low so decided to try and take a detour via a well to get some more water.

Cooking equipment

We hunted for a bit, then had lunch, then tried again and managed to find it! Cold fresh water on a hot sunny day was ideal.

Well

A couple of hours paddling and later we started looking for an island to setup camp. The first one I was attacked by another arctic tern, then at the second one I disturbed a family of toads sheltering in a drying up bog.

We managed to find another camp spot which was pretty sweet.

Sweet Campsite

Day 5

This was the last day of the trip, we left relatively early for us (9:30am) and proceeded back towards berg to return the kayak.

We stopped at a wee town for some lunch then made the paddle back to Berg. On the way we nearly hit a ferry head on and the result was the we had to ride the wake! We hit is straight on a were happy we had spray decks!

When we arrived back in Berg it was midsummer, a big party in Sweden; especially big in moja. There were loads of fast speedboats with noisy engines. I have decided that if I had the pleasure of being able to decide between getting a yaught, or getting a speedboat, I would go for a speedboat any day! Those things are PHAT.

Ended up in 747 that night. (converted into a hostel at Stockhol Arlanda Airport)

Jumbo Hostel

Doing it yourself

Can fully recommend this trip, it was pretty relaxed with not a great deal of physical effort. You could have gone more full on and did bigger kayaking distances than us if you like.

Hired the kayaks from Möja Havskajaker

• Remember you need all your water so make sure you have enough vessels. 2l per person per day is enough.
• Buy all your food before starting the trip. There is a supermarket in Berg but recommend just buying all of the stuff you need in Stockholm as there is more choice in the supermarkets there.
• You can get petrol in the islands so a liquid fuel stove works quite well.
• Watch out for mosquitos as there were quite a few at night so you need a mossie proof tent and the ability to choose good campspots.

Walking into the sunset

Here in Kazakhstan the ski patrol might have had one too many vodkas as the avalanche control didnt go so well!

In my continuing quest for not being as slow to pack for weekends away I have included a packing list for a weekend ski touring trip.

Equipment

• skis
• boots
• skins
• transceiver
• shovel
• probe
• map + compass in map case
• food (enough for tour plus a little extra)
• strap (for attaching skis together on back)
• poles (collapsible)
• ski leashes
• rucksack 35l

Tour Dependent

• crampons
• ice axe
• walkie talkies + charger

Clothes

• jacket lightweight
• jacket beefy
• waterproof trousers
• thermal bottoms x2
• thick gloves
• inner gloves x2
• ski socks
• goggles
• sunglasses
• hat x3
• buff x2
• sun cream
• waterbottle
• thermal tops x3
• down jacket
• lightweight fleece
• watch
• first aid (incl compeed)
• survival blanket
• knife
• small headtorch w/ spare batteries
• mobile phone

Civi Stuff

• toiletries + personal medication (eg. asthma inhaler)
• trousers x2
• boxers x3
• socks x3
• tshirt x2
• towel
• sleeping bag + pillow case
• trainers

I am really slow at packing. In an attempt to reduce the time spent here is a list of stuff I took to Verbier.

• Snowboard
• Boots
• Bindings
• Thermal tops x4
• Thermal bottoms x2
• Jacket
• Salopettes
• Large Hip flask (full of Bowmore)
• Small Hip Flask (full of Bowmore)
• Snus
• Wax + Scraper
• Passport
• Tickets
• Phone + Charger
• Walkie Talkies + Charger
• Snowboarding Socks x2
• Normal socks x5
• Boxers x7
• Tshirts x3
• Petzl Tikka + Spare Batt
• First Aid inc Compeed
• Knife
• Spoon
• Cup
• MSR Whisperlite Stove + Fuel Cannister
• Pan
• Slippers
• Jeans
• Lightweight Trousers
• Food
• Towel x2
• Down Jacket
• Insulated Lumberjack Shirt
• Shovel
• Probe
• Avalung
• Tranceiver
• OMM Jirichanca Rucksack
• Snowshoes
• Poles
• Helmet
• Googles
• Shades
• Buff x3
• Hat x3
• Gloves x2
• Inner Gloves x2
• Sleeping Bag
• Pillow Case
• Fleece
• Ipod Shuffle
• Camera x2
• Waterbottle
• Book
• Sun Protection

Verbier Piste Map (click for full version)

Places to ride

There is a lot of terrain on offer and we only managed to scratch the surface in the week that we rode there. It would take a few seasons before you could really become familiar with this ski area.

Note: If you are riding / skiing off-piste you do so at your own risk and should be using the necessary safety equipment and know how to use it.

If it is snowing and visibility is bad head to Bruson. This little area which is accessible by bus will show you a good time in the trees.

Picking a route

Virgin lines above the trees.

If the snow conditions are good you can ride from Bruson to Le Chable.

When the snow is good head to the controlled off-piste runs. These give an off-piste experience with some avalanche control and preparation. Vallon d’Arbi and the Col des Mines offer some great riding. Watch out for the long ski out for the Vallon d Arbi.

Riders after the storm

roof drop

Higher up there is the genitals run which has a lot of nice varied terrain and a lot of vertical. There is the Mont Gelé cable car which takes you to the top of Mont Gele. From here there is only off-piste runs! The front side is relatively fierce with the back side offering a slightly easier route with the beginning being the most technical.

The highest lift in the resort is the Mont Fort cable car. This run takes you on a glacier so be careful to watch out for crevasses if you are venturing off piste. The snow here can be very, very lush.

For a day trip head to the top of the left Tbar which takes you to Greppon Blanc and there is a long offpiste run which takes you to a road at the edge of the 4 vallees ski area. There is a caravan here which sells tasty food and snacks. From here you can get a free bus to les masses then spend a chunk of the day getting back to Verbier. Nice open bowls followed by tight tree runs.

Places to stay

If you have a group of 6 or more I would recommend getting an apartment in Verbier village. You will have easy access to the lift system and to the afterski. The afterski access may or may not be a good thing ;-P

If you are on a budget then you can, like we did, stay in the village of Le Chable below Verbier in the valley. It is linked to the Verbier by a Gondola which stays open to 1830. We stayed in a ghetto hostel called Le Stop . The owner is friendly and it is in a old bomb shelter with 3 a piece bunk beds. The breakfast is relatively good and worth paying for. There is no luxury here however, it is cheap but also pretty extreme with no kitchen etc. Take your own stove!

Chillin at le stop

Places to party

Pub Mont Fort and Farinet are the best places to go for apres ski. Pub Mont Fort also livens up later at night as well with a couple of happy hours happening, one and 4pm and one at 10pm where beers are half price.

We were to focused on skiing to go out clubbing!

Rating out of 10

If you hit it right this is one of the best places to ride in the world. 10/10.

On the pistes for once.

Roof drop

Boulder drop

The Crew

Outdoor equipment of some kind is a pre-requisite for doing most outdoor activities. Jackets, bags, bottoms, shoes, gloves, hats, skis, crampons, ice axes, bikes, ropes, wax, tents, stoves, sleeping bags, pans, food, maps and wetsuits to name but a few.

It is easy to let all this equipment get out of control, spend too much packing for a weekend away, take far too much equipment or replace equipment that doesn’t need replaced.

This is where making and mending comes in. Here are a few core elements to this philosophy.

• quality – this relies on the equipment being of good quality that can handle many years of use. Cheap throwaway equipment is a false economy, and may let you down in times of need.
• minimalism – take and keep around the best tools for the job, get rid of the chaff.
• making – improve your tools to make them even better. This could include modifying a rucksack to better suit your needs, custom upgrades to bikes and general small improvements to existing setups. You could even attempt to make your own equipment.
• mending – when stuff is used it gets damaged. There is no way around this and it should not be tiptoed around. Not skiing a line because there might be some base scratching rocks is lame. To keep your equipment in good working order you should repair problems when they occur yourself. This will make your expensive equipment last longer. This could include base repair and ski servicing, mending holes in clothing, washing ropes etc.
• your tools – think of your equipment as YOUR equipment. Something you have chosen and created rather than just a collection of brand names.

Making and mending is best done when there is unavoidable downtime. Snowed in and got nothing to do for 12 hours? Pap on the telly? Do a bit of making and mending.

Got any making and mending experiences?

Silk liner
Silk pillowcase
Down jacket
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof trousers
Light fleece
Thermal tops x2
Torch
Spare batteries for torch
Thermal bottoms
Leisure sock x1
Hiking socks
Blister prevention and treatment
First aid
Camera
Indoor shoes (slippers)
Boots
Compass
Map
Toiletries
Book
Key
Hat
Gloves
Buff