I'll keep this short and sweet. Tony and myself left it quiet late to head for the Alps this year. We set off on the ferry on June 17th and were glad to arrive in the paddling mecca of l'Argentiere after 3 months of no water at home. The weather in France had been hectic in the weeks before we got out but levels had returned to almost normal in most rivers bar the Guil and a few others. We hooked up with our good friends in UCC and paddled a few rivers and shared more than a few beers each night. The first week was bitterly cold and sleep was pretty rough we were glad when the weather cleared and we got to work on our tans.
After the lads left us to head home we headed up to the Ubaye Race Course where we spent a few days running the river and hanging out in La lauzet which is the nice small town and the get out of the race course and get on of the gorge, the pub there had some "interesting" Ruby Leffe on tap and the line of credit the bar tender gave us made for a very interesting night . On our last run we decided to bust out the new WITKC Club water proof camera, we fashioned a rig of sorts made up of a tripod and two roof straps fastened to the back of my lovely new Jefe Grande (see below). The footage came out pretty well but the file sizes are huge to stay tuned for that footage later.
Luckily I didn't have to roll on the race course but the following day on the Slalom Course in l'Argentiere I went over and took three attempts before I managed it and took a fairly hefty blow to the back of the head. Feeling a little groggy and at a loss for what to do for the next few days we headed over the mountains in search of a river Colin Wong had told us about one night the Germanasca. The river was just about 2hrs max up and over the mountain into Italy and well worth the spin thanks wongy!
We spent the last few days camped up beside the Gyr in Vallouise, enjoying some normal Leffe in the local hotel by night. The campsite there is much nicer than the one in Argentiere minus the slalom course and worth a stay for a night or two in future. All in all it was a very good trip,nothing crazy and I will look forward again to my return to France. For now its summer and I'm home so the heavy rains can't be far away, so bring on the summer paddling season, I'll be guarding the waters in Clonea for the summer if anyone is around say hello. Stay tuned for video to come soon............
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