Alpine Dreaming: Sun, Mountains and Whitewater
Not quite Mr. Beans holiday to France, but not far off. 7 dirt bag kayakers alpine dreaming, in search of sun, mountains and whitewater.
After paddling the steep Italian creeks, but not having much luck with sunshine, it didn’t seem right to head back to the UK without at least a little time to chill out and work on our tans. French lifestyle is ace, laid back and no rush to do an awful lot. Get what you need to do done early and then do not a lot else.
River levels in the French alps tend to be higher later in the day, after the snow covered areas have seen plenty of sunlight. The more sunlight and warmth, the more snow melt, meaning more water in the rivers. So by this logic, our days were a bit back to front – chill out & do nothing all day… then smash the kayaking later in the day.
L’Argentiere-la-Bessee, just outside of Briancon is one of the more popular centres for French alpine kayaking in the Haute Alpes. Somewhat busier and more crowded than the remote Italian equivalent, the cosmopolitan ski resorts of the French Alps certainly have a charm of their own. The French ski resorts are in recovery mode after a hectic winter, almost littered with unnecessary snow, whereas the quainter alpine villages over in the Italian alps seems to carry more character and individual beauty in the changing spring weather.
The French alpine rivers aren’t as steep as those in Piedmont, they’re more like continuous boulder garden rapids. Predominantly easier grades, but a completely different style of paddling.
Chateau Queyras and the Middle Guil were personal highlights, the epitome of Alpine dreaming. Decent volume river running, with insane alpine scenery. The Chateau Q gorge is one I’ve wanted to tick off for ages, so I was super stoked on how smoothly that one went down!
With plenty of enthusiasm we fired up many more French classics – only after or in between topping up on tans and drinking beer. Priorities were much more straight for this leg of the trip!
That said, there’s only so much nothingness I can do before I go stir crazy.
Guess what you find in mountains… well, er mountains? You bet. And what rhymes with mountains? Running. At least in my world it does. Like kayaking grade 4/5 rivers wasn’t enough adrenaline, I packed my bag, laced my shoes & headed towards the Serre Chevalier ski station in Briancon. I had Sommet du Prorel in mind and a vague route on how to get there. Ground temperatures were still searing, so despite setting off in shorts and skins, I knew I would need layers.
Running up ski resorts sounds stupid to most. I had to agree, when looking at the clearly marked piste and thinking ‘this was made purely for coming down, on skis… fast!’. At no point was this, or my legs, designed for running up! Still, at least there was method in the madness…
Why do I do this to myself? I guess I just love a challenge. That and the views… as you might have noticed! Perhaps this photo my shed some light on why I love this form of medieval torture! Alpine dreaming turned into Alpine Reality.
With one more night to BBQ, enjoy the sun and some cheap French wine, this pretty much brought France and the Euro trip to a close. But heading home is never that bad, not when you’ve created plenty more memories; had plenty kayaking & adventuring.
Safe adventuring! Regards, Callum
Couple of insider tips…
If you’re planning to head to the alps this time of year, there’s no need to worry about snow chains. But be prepared for getting cool in the evenings. Also go prepared for changing weather in the shoulder seasons.
Check out these for guides on alpine kayaking;
- Uk Rivers Guidebook
- Whitewater South Alps Guidebook, Third Edition by Peter Knowles & Ian Beecroft
- Local weather forecast
- I found google maps to work better than sat nav, for live traffic updates.
