Out of Italy & Crossing Borders ...

As the forecast had predicted, day two of the #trailteam2014 training trip dawned grey with the mountains above Chamonix shrouded in cloud. Normally, this would have been less than ideal but it gave us a chance to test our Berghaus shell jackets. Over breakfast, Julia gave a brief of the route we would be taking over the following two days, which pretty much followed the CCC race route from Courmayeur to Forclaz via Champex with an overnight at the mountain hut at La Peule.

We made the short transfer over to Courmayeur via the impressive Mont Blanc tunnel by minibus. Here, the conditions felt very “Scottish”…mild with drizzle! We delayed our departure a bit with an excellent cup of coffee in a small café before getting the shell jackets on and starting the first and long climb out of town. I was wearing the Vapour Storm which was a tad on the heavy side for the conditions with the rest of the guys all raving about the Vapour Light Hyper Smocks they had on. I’ll get a full review of the Storm once I’ve had a chance to use it more back in Scotland.

The climb was a long one and en route we discussed different ascent styles. Used to relatively short steep stuff here in the UK, I tend to adopt the classic fell running style of bent over with hands on knees pushing up. This works well for shorter fell races but on a prolonged climb leads to a sore back. A few of the team used lightweight running poles and this seemed more effective both in terms of reduced pain and effort …something for me to think about when making training specific for longer mountain-based ultras.

With the first climb pretty much done, we had a route choice just above the Refuge Bertone, continue higher and into the cloud or traverse high above the valley on yet another stunning bit of balcony single track which led to the Bonatti Hut and more coffee. With no debate whatsoever, we opted for the staying out the cloud! The majority of the team enjoyed what looked like the world’s best hot chocolate but I stuck with an equally impressive Americano (you may have guessed coffee is important to me).

The descent down to the valley floor started well on gravel trail but the lower sections were extremely slippy mud. It’s worth noting the Berghaus Vapour Claw trail shoes coped pretty well in terms of giving traction on the mud but without the tread clogging up. Nice wee run up the valley before another climb up to the Refuge Elena and aye, …another coffee! Here, Kirstie mentioned that today’s high point of the Grand Col Ferret was literally the highest altitude she had ever been at, sitting at 2,409m above sea level. This point also marked the border between Italy and Switzerland. The climb was on a lovely gravel track with a series of switchbacks and it was very special standing at the Col looking behind us back into Italy and forwards into Switzerland. It also made the whole concept of borders, passport control and nationality seem meaningless. The trail under our feet didn’t differentiate between the two …and in fact the only noticeable change (other than the flag flying outside the huts) was great coffee had been replaced with great cheese!!!

Grand Col Ferret

All that was left was the run down to the hut at La Peule which was non-technical, allowing the brain to switch off and simply relax and enjoy the trail and company. Wee highlight was practicing descending on snow – living in Glasgow with easy access to the mountains, snow running is something I maybe take for granted but it was fun seeing the smiles and hearing the whooooops of enjoyment from my teammates as techniques were explored. We finished the day with another 26.5km and 2,067m of climbing in the legs.

On the descent from the Grand Col Ferret

#brawtimes indeed