Blatant Escapism
26/01/07
Nothing quite like
running away from your problems to be guaranteed not
to fix any of them. It can mean a week of actually
smiling, a week of rubbish food and too much beer, it
can even mean a week of stress not acting like a
tourniqet with your Crohn's. So in the spirit of all
things temporary, I ran.
The forecast for Chamonix was for a good snowfall during the week, so the bags were packed, the board was serviced and off I trotted. Having learned from the Gatshit experience of the summer I flew Bournemouth-Geneva for the porta-cabin airport experience.
The weather for the week turned out to be a real mixed bag. Fog, heavy cloud, blue skies, freezing rain, heavy snow. You name it, we seemed to have it. I spent my time with friends hanging in a small bar/gite on Routes Des Gaillands called Le Vagabond(Le Brevent) which was somehow aptly named. Happy hour actually lasted two, the menu was small, cheap and very very nice. All in all, a lovely place if you need somewhere cheap to stay in Chamonix.
On Tuesday night I sat with my back against a condensation heavy window with snow falling like burst pillows outside. The bar was full of a mix of Brits, Aussies, Irish, French and a token American (put there I believe for humorous value) and I sat and chatted, made friends, bought a few rounds and watched as the cigarette smoke swirled around the bar, seming to collect like some kind of crazed scientific experiment in the upside down glasses hanging above.
Wednesday dawned quicker than anticipated but I still made the first couple of lifts up to the top of Flegere where I had 30cm of fresh snow and first tracks down a bunch of the gulleys at the top of the little Poma lift. An awesome day, cut short by a sudden drop to 10m or so visibility at about 11:00. Undaunted I retreated to the bar.
Thursday was a picture perfect blue sky powder day, feeling a little shaky on my legs not being young anymore I headed up to Le Tour at the end of the valley for some skate inspired fast-as-balls-out-yeeehaaw riding down the river gulleys. I also snuck in a few hikes up to small stashes, 15-20mins of walk with the cold biting at your lungs can seem like hard work. As soon as you point that board downhill every ache and breathless muttered curse fades away from your lips, leaving you with a smile on your face that hurts your chest.
A picture perfect day to end the week and having ridden from 9:30-3:40 or so with nothing but sugar laden fizzy drinks and a couple of mars bars I was beginging to feel just a tad shaky on my feet.
A trip anywhere wouldn't be complete for any wannabe riverman without a bit of peering under bridges and into pools and I finished of the trip by wondering whether to take the rod back in the summer. The little river is probably a torrent come springmelt time but something tells me it may be a fantastic hike with a small fly rod...
Malcolm
The forecast for Chamonix was for a good snowfall during the week, so the bags were packed, the board was serviced and off I trotted. Having learned from the Gatshit experience of the summer I flew Bournemouth-Geneva for the porta-cabin airport experience.
The weather for the week turned out to be a real mixed bag. Fog, heavy cloud, blue skies, freezing rain, heavy snow. You name it, we seemed to have it. I spent my time with friends hanging in a small bar/gite on Routes Des Gaillands called Le Vagabond(Le Brevent) which was somehow aptly named. Happy hour actually lasted two, the menu was small, cheap and very very nice. All in all, a lovely place if you need somewhere cheap to stay in Chamonix.
On Tuesday night I sat with my back against a condensation heavy window with snow falling like burst pillows outside. The bar was full of a mix of Brits, Aussies, Irish, French and a token American (put there I believe for humorous value) and I sat and chatted, made friends, bought a few rounds and watched as the cigarette smoke swirled around the bar, seming to collect like some kind of crazed scientific experiment in the upside down glasses hanging above.
Wednesday dawned quicker than anticipated but I still made the first couple of lifts up to the top of Flegere where I had 30cm of fresh snow and first tracks down a bunch of the gulleys at the top of the little Poma lift. An awesome day, cut short by a sudden drop to 10m or so visibility at about 11:00. Undaunted I retreated to the bar.
Thursday was a picture perfect blue sky powder day, feeling a little shaky on my legs not being young anymore I headed up to Le Tour at the end of the valley for some skate inspired fast-as-balls-out-yeeehaaw riding down the river gulleys. I also snuck in a few hikes up to small stashes, 15-20mins of walk with the cold biting at your lungs can seem like hard work. As soon as you point that board downhill every ache and breathless muttered curse fades away from your lips, leaving you with a smile on your face that hurts your chest.
A picture perfect day to end the week and having ridden from 9:30-3:40 or so with nothing but sugar laden fizzy drinks and a couple of mars bars I was beginging to feel just a tad shaky on my feet.
A trip anywhere wouldn't be complete for any wannabe riverman without a bit of peering under bridges and into pools and I finished of the trip by wondering whether to take the rod back in the summer. The little river is probably a torrent come springmelt time but something tells me it may be a fantastic hike with a small fly rod...
Malcolm
Stormy Weather
19/01/07
Another update with no
other excuse than having taken a few photo's in
Dorset. I keep doing this lately, maybe I'll write
something one of these days... Still, day after the
latest storm seemed like a good excuse for a walk at
West Bay.
Actually, one small thing. Checking the web stats for the diary I'm getting hits from the UK, Ireland (hello Pete), Canada, the USofA, Australia, and GUAM.... Who the plums is reading this in Guam? Where is Guam? Please, please, email me and let me know. No, not where Guam is, I can figure that one, but please let me know how on earth, I mean, why, I mean, oh hell, I just can't get my head round it. I'd love to hear how some of the non UK guys found out about my ramblings though.
Malcolm
Actually, one small thing. Checking the web stats for the diary I'm getting hits from the UK, Ireland (hello Pete), Canada, the USofA, Australia, and GUAM.... Who the plums is reading this in Guam? Where is Guam? Please, please, email me and let me know. No, not where Guam is, I can figure that one, but please let me know how on earth, I mean, why, I mean, oh hell, I just can't get my head round it. I'd love to hear how some of the non UK guys found out about my ramblings though.
Malcolm
Nothing like a bit of trauma
11/01/07
It's true, there appears
to be nothing like a bit of personal trauma to
attract people to read something. In the 11 days
since January began my site has had over 14000 hits.
Take away the auto crap that the internet seems to
delight in generating, bots, search engine crawlers
etc and i'm still left with over 1000 people that
have taken the time out to read about my funny old
life. Quite amazing really, or at least it is to me.
Interestingly, the number of people spending over 5
minutes on the site and looking at multiple pages has
increased dramatically. Now if I could just find
someone who would donate me some tackle in exchange
for a link or something. Don't want to raise money
from this site but I wouldn't say no to helping do
some r&d on some tackle (hint hint).
I wanted to take you back to the river today and away from my messy life, which keeps on getting messier. (on the plus side I had a coffee with the estate agent this morning and as I don't normally drink the stuff I've been buzzing around on some sort of crazed caffeine high all day)
I took a walk out along the Nadder at Wilton this afternoon. Just to check how it's holding together really. Dodging the rain showers I sploshed my way through the fields poking my head into every back eddy I could find, looking for tell tale fishy signs. Only the trusty Barbel were in evidence, although I won't tell you where they are, it's a secret!
The river was high, almost to bank height again and flowing well. Things are looking good for this spring if we can just keep the water in this catchment instead of being shipped off to flush toilets in the Bath/Bristol area. The economies of piping clear chalk stream water all that way elude me. I cannot for the life of me see why it is necessary to ship water around the country when they could just fix the bloody leaky infrastructure or encourage people to reduce the amount they use in the first place. Plain crazy.
I was beginning to think that it was getting a tad breezy as I was buffeted so much I nearly slipped. I thought it'd be ok for a few more minutes, just another photo or two, then, BANG. Got hit on the head by a branch. Nothing too big, enough to make me think it was better to get home to the safety of my apple mac.
Just a couple photo's for those of you who have emailed me with messages of support and offers of hit men. Thanks guys, nice to know someone reads this.
Malcolm
I wanted to take you back to the river today and away from my messy life, which keeps on getting messier. (on the plus side I had a coffee with the estate agent this morning and as I don't normally drink the stuff I've been buzzing around on some sort of crazed caffeine high all day)
I took a walk out along the Nadder at Wilton this afternoon. Just to check how it's holding together really. Dodging the rain showers I sploshed my way through the fields poking my head into every back eddy I could find, looking for tell tale fishy signs. Only the trusty Barbel were in evidence, although I won't tell you where they are, it's a secret!
The river was high, almost to bank height again and flowing well. Things are looking good for this spring if we can just keep the water in this catchment instead of being shipped off to flush toilets in the Bath/Bristol area. The economies of piping clear chalk stream water all that way elude me. I cannot for the life of me see why it is necessary to ship water around the country when they could just fix the bloody leaky infrastructure or encourage people to reduce the amount they use in the first place. Plain crazy.
I was beginning to think that it was getting a tad breezy as I was buffeted so much I nearly slipped. I thought it'd be ok for a few more minutes, just another photo or two, then, BANG. Got hit on the head by a branch. Nothing too big, enough to make me think it was better to get home to the safety of my apple mac.
Just a couple photo's for those of you who have emailed me with messages of support and offers of hit men. Thanks guys, nice to know someone reads this.
Malcolm
leisure
04/01/07
What is this life if,
full of care,
we have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
- William Henry Davies 1871-1940
Happy 2007, no really, I mean it. Have fun
we have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
- William Henry Davies 1871-1940
Happy 2007, no really, I mean it. Have fun