La Grave Summer Report
Submited By ptor On 2008-10-09
Ptor's summer update from La Grave.

La Grave Summer Report

Summer here in the Alps began as snowy as ever. June was a month for steep skiing enthusiasts to go off as the high peaks were plastered by intesne May/June storms. Some big descents were done here in the Parc des Ecrins as well as the Mt Blanc Massif. Everbody missed the 2 day window that the Gravellotte Couloir on La Meije was in condition. The north face of Mt Pelvoux was skied by a local guide and a new variation of the Nant Blanc face of the Aiguille Verte in Cham was gang shredded by Tardival and company. The beginning of the summer was also marked by the loss of Jean-Noel Urban, probably the most prolific Himalayan skier ever, when he fell into a bottomless crevasse on the Gasherbrum Glacier in Pakistan.

Myself, I had to sit by and watch my usual partner Colin Samuels solo the big lines here in La Grave as June for me marked the beginning of life on two legs again. Colin made some sweet descents that I could watch with binoculars from the terrace, like the North Face of the Meije Oriental and the North Face integral of Le Rateau. Despite not being able to participate, skiing vicariously was still good for the spirit and motivated me to keep on the rehab and training program. My downtime was also a blessing for my growing relationship with my significant other Karin and one fine June day over pizza, I asked her to marry me.
And.......she said yes!!!! Yeeeeeee doggies.

By July I was walking kind of normally again and I began riding the bike tons. Keeping on the smooth and mellow program, I put slicks on my mountain bike and began hammering up and down the big paved mountain passes. When the Tour de France passed in July, I went to watch and got further inspired by those insane athletes. Later, I put the nobby tires back on and began to enjoy all the amazing mountain biking here in the La Grave area. This place is a paradise for cross-country riding with big descents in the mix.



Needless to say, the biking was great therapy for my leg and I made great progress. I would ride to my physio appointments which was a 60km round trip with 1400m of climbing involved. At the end of July, a milestone arrived when I got a job shooting pictures of the Dutch National Snowboard Team at the summer skiing mecca of Les Deux Alpes. To do the job I had to put on skis to get to where they were training. My first turns were feeble but I managed a few groomers after doing my job in the noon-time corn snow. It was a big thing for me and my leg and I went from just glad to be walking again to, hey, skiing looks probable.




As August rolled around, the conditions up high weren’t deteriorating much. Regular storms came through and with Global Warming on the fritz, the glaciers kept their snowcover and crevasses remained closed. One mid August morning I woke up to parting clouds and a solid 20cm of pow down to below 3000m. With my buddies Joost and Frank also motivated, we took the lift up to the glacier and skinned up right outside the lift station. Two 300m laps touring on the glacier and I was blissed and worked. The ski-touring action was a great workout for my still feeble leg and the creamy snow was no stress glory for the knee. I can’t say how much of a joy it was to simply ski powder again. That was a big step.






Then I was hungy for more skiing but I had to wait untill mid September on the last day of the gondola summer season to get the fix again. Same scenario, a fresh 20cm and a psyched partner to rope up with and ski tour a couple glory laps on the glacier. This time I was much stronger and Kurt and I pulled another couple sweet ski-touring laps, even busting the move up to the Col de Girose and skiing the sweet skiers left line back to the flats just as the clouds moved in. That afternoon while passing by the gondola midstation, I was grabbed by the lifties, some locals and even the mayor and obliged to drink some fine Bordeaux red in honour of my upcoming wedding. It was a couple of hours beore I could finally stumble out of there and try to get something to eat but it was worth it to yet again be part of the local ambience that makes this place so special.






Anyways, that was the beginning of the week of festivities and preparations leading up to Karin and I’s wedding. Next thing I knew, Troy Jungen and Pierre Bernier arrived from Golden and we set out to climb La Meije for my bachelors party. What a classic and historic route on the South Face of this French giant. It was actually the last major peak of the Alps to be climbed and when you experience the route, you understand why. Impressive!!
We never made the summit as we had snowy icy conditions despite the perfect weather but it was an awesome outing with my close bros. Way better than just getting wasted and acting silly for a bachelor party!





The best day of the summer and maybe ever was actually the last day of the summer. That day was my wedding day. It was a feeling I could have never imagined. Surrounded by close friends and family, the day was perfect. I even flew my paraglider right from La Chaumine down to La Grave to the ceremony and my awaiting bride. Then we returned to La Chaumine to drink fine champagne, eat the best food ever (we sacrificed 3 local lambs) and dance the night away to the sounds of Gary Bigham and the Crevassholes along with 2 DJs. It took a whole week just to ease out of it and decompress.

Launching into married life.


Freshly Married!


I can now kiss the bride (all the time!!!)


After it all, Karin and I decided that it wasn’t quite time to move back to Canada yet. A sweet apartment was available for us to chill and enjoy eachother and La Grave for a winter without the obligations of living and working in a hotel. Honeymoon winter so to speak. It’s very difficult to leave this place! Now it’s fall. We’ve had our first snow in the valley and town is quiet. I still have a ways to go with my leg, but the next phase of rehab is going to be on snow. Bring it on!!!