I always look forward to the next trip to the Les Gets Bike Park, hot sunny days, hard baked berms and swooping down through the trees. The drive from Morillon is about 30 minutes so I needed to pack the bike into the back of the car and get all my stuff together.
The last trip to Les Gets was good but didn’t quite go according to plan thanks to the ever present Gremlins in my life. I had planned to video the runs for the YouTube channel so that people planning to visit could get a little insight into what awaited them.
top of Les Gets bike park
Last time I arrived at Les Gets I put the bike together and got to the top of the Chavannes Express lift, only to discover that the battery in my Go Pro camera was flat. I decided to go back down and try and buy a battery, which wasted an hour and produced no new battery. I had a great day on the bike but no YouTube content, even worse, I had a crash and smashed the camera mount anyway, so that was the end of that.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake this time, double checked all the gear and packed it into my rucksack, packed the bike, made sure I had all the tools and repair kits, and off I went. In the underground car park I assembled the bike, put all the gear on and the last job was to attach the Go Pro. To my absolute horror the little bolt that attaches the camera to the mounting wasn’t there, how could that be?
View from the Triple 8 run
Gremlin attack
I had used it on the previous day on the Morillon runs, it couldn’t have disappeared from the mount, but it had. I searched the car, all the bags but nope, it wasn’t there. That meant it must have come off back in the garage and I had a spare in the apartment, but it meant a 1 hour round trip, that damned Gremlin. I didn’t bother stripping off padding, just jumped in the car and high tailed it back to Morillon, thank God for air conditioning and the patience of my wife to listen to my woes.
Just over 1 hour later, I was back in the same car parking bay, in exactly the same position I had been before but this time the camera was attached the bike, and I was ready to. I wasted no time getting out of there and up on the Chavanne Express lift for the first run and to make up for the hour I had wasted.
Some of you may have read the blog about my winter season in the Alps, when, after 65 years, I had concluded that quite randomly, I would have a quite irrational approach to risky situations at times, in fact I concluded I had a personal Gremlin living in my head that was trying to kill me.
View from La Nauchets lift, Les Gets
Risk Aversion
In response, I had decided that for my summer season mountain biking I needed to be a bit more grown up. Unlike snowboarding which happens in the ski area near our apartment, I had to drive to the bike parks so if I got injured, I would not only have the problem getting me down with not help, but getting the car home car as well, something as simple as a dislocated shoulder would be a disaster.
I made a rule, not just a promise, that I would only do blue runs, they are hairy enough at times and I still have crashed on them. However, as I had done most of them before. I knew where most of the dangers lay, so that is why the videos supporting this story are of the blue runs, for once in my life, I stuck to my rule.
The ride up on the Chavannes Express took me over the jump park and the Foue Libre trail, which is the run home, not only that, but you also get glimpses of some hairy looking black trails lurking in the woods. When I arrived out at the top of the Chavannes Express, I was ready for action and unhindered by mates.
Les Gets bike park top section
On previous trips my mates, notably The Chemist and The Mechanic have accompanied me. Despite explaining the routes to them they either shoot off in the wrong direction or just shoot off anyway and I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to work out where they have gone. When I eventually find them, they are normally going on about a Strava time rather than the hassle they have caused me, I have even found them in the undergrowth after crashes.
I checked the camera, and everything was working so it was time to go. At the top of this lift you can head back into Les Gets, head round the mountain to Morzine or head over to the Nauchets chair lift that takes you up to top of the mountain and the really steep runs, naturally I headed to the Nauchets lift.
Panoramic views and exhilarating rides in Avoriaz and La Chatel
The Avoriaz and La Chatel bike parks have the most spectacular scenery of all the bike parks I had the pleasure of visiting, maybe Queenstown in New Zealand is at the same level. When you head here for a ride it is easy to focus on the trails and miss the wonderful environmental setting around you, so for me, taking time out during the day to just absorb the views and beauty is such an important part of the days here.
My personal Gremlin took quite a low profile on this trip, and most things went according to plan, but it made a late bid to ruin my day. When I got back to the car, I found the zip pocket where my car keys were living. Now I clearly remembered pulling the zip up after my coffee break, so the despicable Gremlin went for a big one late in the day, so I got away with one there.
On my original visits to the La Chatel Bike Park I headed up the Super Morzine lift and either pedalled up the gentle slope along the ridge to the Avoriaz or did a couple of runs and used the lift system. The problem with this route is getting back in time for the last lifts back.
On most occasions it was down to my numpty mates deciding not to follow instructions and to take a different route thus losing time, but on another occasion, there were lift issues out from Lindarets as well. If you are staying in Morzine that is still probably the best route but this year I’ve driven a bit further to the Ardent lift to remove the risk, though just not having my mates with me was probably enough anyway 😊.
To be fair, when I was last here on my own, I still had lift issues because in my life nothing is ever simple. After the exhilaration of flying down the Serpentine run I found myself in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm which had two dramatic impacts.
Firstly, it ruined the trails as they became instant rivers and the berms became mud slides, and secondly, they shut the lifts because of the lightening. I sat for an hour wondering how long it would take me to push the bike up the fire trail to the top of the mountain in the absence of motorised transport. In the end the lightening passed, and they opened the lift to let us back out of the valley.
La Crosets ridge
In the excitement to get to La Chatel it is easy to miss a very special route that takes you to the Mossiettes lift up to the La Crosets ridge. It provides an unbelievable 360-degree views into Switzerland and back into France, in the winter, skiers use this route for the Swiss Wall.
The thing that hits me each time is the altitude and rarified air which speeds up my heart rate, but it could just be the vertical drops down the side of some of the paths. The ride back is old school cross country and involves a climb out of a valley, so you need an enduro bike for this spectacular ride back along slate trails inhabited by giant cows who assert priority when they feel like it!
Avoriaz Bike Park
Whether you arrive from Morzine or the Ardent lift you are almost certain to do the Avoriaz Bleu des Brochaux run, you head up on the Prolays lift out of the Lindarets valley and gives you a great warm up before heading over to the Chatel Bike Park or you peel off on the bottom part of the trail to get to the Mossiettes lift.
The top section is very exposed to the sun, so it was very hard baked with tons of big berms and steep drops before you reach the lower section that takes you into the forest. I had the pleasure of being overtaken by the Swedish downhill racing team in the top section, which didn’t help my Strava time, but I guess I should see it as a privilege.
Avoriaz Bleu des Brochaux run top section
The lower part of this big run takes you into the forest and runs you back into the Lindarets valley and down to the lift up to La Chatel. The lower section takes you through the trees and is protected from the sun, so tends to be a bit softer and certainly wetter. It’s a great run but in the middle, there seems to have been some work that has damaged the trail, so it is easy to run into a bog and lose the best line through the berms. If you decide to go to Mossiettes watch out for the branch off in the woods.
Avoriaz Bleu des Brochaux run bottom section
The final run down to the Chaux Fleurie lift is fast, so if that is your thing you will love it, but there are lots of trenches across the trail so make sure you are ready to jump, or alternatively, take the little bridges.
Panoramique is an amazing trail. It starts out being a green at the start where all the spectacular views down the valley towards Lac Montriod, I never get bored looking at it.
La Chatel Panoramique Trail
After that it you need to get the speed up and pedalling legs on to get over the ridge to start the mighty blue that takes you into the La Chatel bike park, after you come around the bend you get another eyeful of views down towards La Chatel and all the infrastructure in the valley.
La Chatel Berms
These La Chatel berms are bigger than anything I’ve seen elsewhere and are mixed with a good helping of table tops, drops offs and various other obstacles along the way, consequently you need to do this run two or three times to get used to us, if your arms can take it!
You will need to use your legs to keep your speed up to keep the momentum so it is more Enduro than pure downhill and at the end you get a fast and nasty run over lose gravel that lands you at the gate into the bike park.
After a breather in the café/bar at the top of the park, which is a good place to get your head and arms together before the next challenge. Now it’s time to enter La Chatel bike park,
When you go through the bike park arch People is the first blue run you come across, for the Serpentine you just keep going along the ridge, and I’d suggest you do exactly that while you’ve got the energy.
La Chatel Serpentine run
The ride along the ridge starts with a nasty little tabletop that has a real kick to it if you aren’t prepared and throws you up. You pass a few red and black run entry points on the right and then you need your pedalling legs on to get over a couple of ridges, but after that it is downhill all the way. You pass through a jump park area with lots of options for leaving planet earth if that’s your thing, and if it’s not, then they are just big and fast rollovers.
Once that is out of the way there is an endless series of big berms that have you snaking your way down through the valley with lots of trees and rocky outcrops to negotiate on the berms and loads of fun. This is probably the best run for everyone unless you’re a black run snob.
It feels like the run is endless and it is a bit of a relief to get to the end and do the run down to the lift, so you can go back to the top and do it again!
When you get back to the top of the lift, it is time to go through the gate again and give People a go. Initially it feels a lot more rugged and more like a red. It steep and it is probably the first blue run you will do on your first trip (unless you take my advice). There isn’t much difference between the blues and the reds, it normally means there will be some additional technical challenges to negotiate, probably a few more drops offs than you get on the blues.
La Chatel People trail
Unfortunately, the lower People run was shut for maintenance which spoiled the run so I took the Fluid trail is really good but runs beside a red and a black, and to be honest, I just got confused and ended up back on the fire road with no option other than to run down to the lift.
There are only three blues, the other one is called the V Line Blue, This is a shorter trail and runs from the car park near the lift, it takes a different scenic route down the edge of the steep valley and lands at the same spot as the People blue. As with all the runs it is getting a bit battered at the end of the season but it is still a fast and exciting alternative, at the bottom you can join the lower People or Fluid blue runs or pick up the V Line Green.
La Chatel V Line
With the lower People run closed the V line green is the only option to get from the bottom of People or V Line to return to the lift without using the fire road. Being a green, I had expected it to be a gentle roll through the valley, but this is La Chatel, and it was nothing of the sort. It was a really fast flowing set of berms and table top roll overs which were loads of fun, in fact, I have no idea why it is a green and not a blue, maybe it didn’t have the very steep berms, but in every other way it was great fun.
With the runs at La Chatel bike park done, it is a long run back down to pick up the car at the Ardent lift. Arriving out of La Chatel there is a run under the Chaux Fleurie lift which doesn’t seem to have a name, and yet it is probably the longest run in the Avoriaz bike park. It is mainly in two sections, the top section is exposed and meanders around the mountain with a range of challenging sections and takes you down to the a plateau, the main problem coming down is keeping on the berms because a few short cuts that have been worn into the turns so you can lose the line if you aren’t concentrating.
The bottom section is pretty good as it carves along a ridge with plenty of tabletops and humps to get over as well as providing some steep drops to navigate. The problem with this lower section is that about half way down you pick up a very steep fire road back into the Lindarets valley, if you like going at break neck speed on lose gravel with culverts across the road you will love it, but I don’t.
On the way back to the Ardent lift you pass through the Lindarets village, it’s famous for it’s goats, which seem to live in, around or on the houses so it is a bit of a tourist attraction, there was also a local copper on a bike, who seemed to be chasing the goats, but that’s life in France I guess.
La Chaux Fleurie trail
There isn’t actually a path down to the lift, so sensible people go back down the road. I thought this seemed dull, so I picked my way down a mountain pasture that acts as a red run in the ski season, to be fair it wasn’t much fun either but at least I did it.
The story of a runaway dog, an imitation Porsche and stunning views
There aren’t many downsides of owning a Porsche, but the cost of servicing is one of them, so at the 2 year anniversary if owning the car and the next service came around, it was the time I was dreading,
The car reminded me about the service every time I sat in it, so a few calls to different types of specialists produced a range of quotes, all of them unpalatable, but the specialist garage that I bought it from offered the best deal.
It was a weird coincidence, that when I was hunting for a very specific model, the best option came up in my home stomping ground of Plymouth rather than around the bit cities which I’d expected. The specialist garage I had bought it from had been very good to deal with, so when their quote was the best, it gave me an excuse to turn the trauma of the car service into an opportunity for and adventure.
I’d had been a previous issue with the car, and the dealer had provided another Porsche as my loan car. So, when I booked the service, I requested the loan car and booked myself into a little pub in the village of Cawsands just outside Plymouth. I was looking forward to a blast through the Cornish lanes in a different model for a change.
Cawsand Bay had a special place in my life. It is a little village in one of the bays off Plymouth Sound, every Janner knows where it is but very few people go there once they grow up. As a kid, the treat with my gran was the 30-minute ferry ride across Plymouth Sound and then a day on the beach swimming and pleading for ice cream.
Then there was Maker Camp, an old military camp on top of the cliff, that had been converted into a school adventure camp. All the schools in Plymouth were allocated their week each summer, so from the last year of primary school and for the first 2 years of secondary school, we would be packed off to camp, where we played football, walked for miles doing orienteering, climbed rocks and cliffs and generally burned off all our energy before it was restocked at the tuck shop,. The food was shocking, even worse than school meals. For most kids it was their first experience of being away from home as well, so there always some grizzlers at night.
As we grew up, the 4 pubs in the village provided a great place for a day out and drinking on the sea front. As we got a bit wealthier and could afford a boat, it became the place to go on a Sunday, normally with a bit of water skiing in Cawsand Bay or maybe fishing before visiting the pubs and catching up with mates.
Nowadays on a Sunday, the bay is full gin palace type launches that have blasted their way over from the Barbican and bob around drinking cocktails or going ashore for a beer and then heading back, so not much has changed over the last 50 years, the village hasn’t grown much and even the ferry still runs to Plymouth as the best link with civilisation, 30 minutes by ferry or 90 minutes by road to a city you can see from the beach.
I was really looking forward to the trip back to the village for the night as there are stunning views and walks, old pubs and a little walk down memory way. After a good trip down from Bristol I dropped the car on time and was looking forward to the loan car, they gave me the keys and told me it was down the road. It took me a while to work it out, then I discovered why the loan car was “down the road”, it was not a Porsche, it was a Skoda. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Imitation Porsche
Now there is nothing wrong with a Skoda, smashing little cars, very reliable etc, but not what you expect from a Porsche specialist, especially while they are charging a fortune for an oil change. So a disappointing start to my treat, but Tess the Dog seemed happier in the little two door runabout, she took up residence in the back seat and off we went for 50 minute drive to Whitsand Bay, the beach haunt of all Plymouth teenagers once we had access to transport, and the first destination of my trip down memory lane. With the stunning views out to Rame Head. I stopped a few times to take in the views along the cliff road and eventually I arrived in Cawsand Bay and was unexpectedly greeting by a drop of rain, the first in 8 weeks, this was a development I hadn’t expected when I packed for the night.
I parked the car where I wouldn’t be noticed, walked to the pub, checked in, put the walking boots on and headed along the coast path to Penlee Point and on to Rame Head. Initially it was dry and very windy as we reached the first headland at Penlee Point, with stunning views back toward the Plymouth Hoe and the enormous breakwater built by French prisoners of 200 years ago.
I sat and ate my pasty enjoying the views back towards Plymouth and my spiritual home. Tess the Dog was more interested in the contents of my pasty to be honest and was cringing in the gale. we walked towards Rame Head along a stunning bit of coastline on the most easterly point of Cornwall, with the steep cliffs covered in gorse bushes. As a kid I dreamed of fishing on the rocks below, with their deep water and array of species, but now I realised there was no way down to those rocks, and pushing through the gorse might have incurred an unwanted meeting with adders which are abundant.
As we arrived at the Rame the clouds turned grey and as we got to the little church on the headland, why ancients civilisations would want to build a chapel out there I have no idea, but as we got there the clouds opened. Worse than that, it was accompanied by thunder and lightning, the thing in the world that Tess the Dog hates most.
The walk back to Cawsand wasn’t easy, dodging between cover from the showers along the cliff path and finally we made it back to Penlee Point. 1 mile path back to the village and Tess was in a rush, at this point, there was a loud clap of thunder, and Tess the Dog unexpectedly bolted along the path.
She is normally very good off the lead so I wasn’t expecting this reaction, as she got to a bend in the path, she looked over her shoulder and gave me a look, one that I now realise meant “I’m out of here”.
I trotted along the path, whistling, expecting to see her waiting somewhere, but as I closed in on the village, I realised this could be more serious than I thought, she hadn’t run off in her previous 11 years. However, one thing to remember about Tess the Dog is she is a very resourceful girl and attracts attention.
The pub where Tess took refuge
As I arrived back into the village I noticed a group of people outside a pub, crowding around something fury. They were crowding around Tess the Dog. Apparently, she had bolted along the coast path, into the village and straight into the nearest pub where she knew she would find safety. The locals had adopted her and were feeding her bits of their tea, little did they know she was interested in their beer too.
Having solved the mystery of the runaway dog, she was put on the lead, and we went for a stroll around the pubs and the back streets. I had forgotten what an absolute gem of a place it is. As a kid you don’t really think about narrow streets much, and when you arrive by boat I didn’t really ever get past the pubs on the waterfront.
I have been to Cornwall so many times, but it had never occurred to me to spend time here in the village, by road it is a totally remote backwater. All the cottages are beautifully maintained, and probably available on Airbnb, one pub had burned down and has re-opened as a community centre. I would imagine the inhabitants must total less than 200 but somehow the other pubs seemed to be doing fine.
The most amazing thing, was that the shops were exactly the same shops that had been there when I was at Maker Camp as a kid, the little dairy now sold coffee instead, the gift shop still sold the same sort of stuff we used to buy our parents as our gift from Maker Camp, it was as if time had stood still, it was quite amazing how little had changed in 50 years.
I spent an evening in the Halfway House pub, eating fish and chips and drinking beer which is quite a treat to be honest. I would normally have had company, but Tess the Dog was still traumatised and had taken up residence under my bed, and I couldn’t be bothered with Tess being a Moody Mary being needy in the bar.
Next morning, it was back to the hidden Skoda, a drive back to the garage hoping that their car didn’t run out of fuel and to pick up my car. It was a then time to head into the Barbican to see my oldest mate, we went to school together when we were 6, and it was a chance chew over our memories of Maker Camp as kids.
It’s not easy to turn a car service into an adventure, but I reckon I did a pretty decent job.
A story of Chalet hosting, Gremlins and climate change.
In my first winter of “not working” I’d hoped to have lots of trips to the Alps, but it didn’t work out that way. Unpredictable weather forecasts and unusually poor snow led to leaving decisions late and often not going and missed opportunities for fun.
However, talking to the other Brits in our resort, they had been down there for the winter and it seemed to have had plenty of good snow and generally a good time all round. So, this year I took a different approach, I decided to base myself down there and take it as it comes, I mean, why hang around in Portishead in January.
For those snow lovers, young and old, the idea of spending a winter in the mountains, on the piste everyday on fresh snow, is the stuff of dreams. As we were lucky enough to own a place, then why not live the dream, what’s the worst thing that could happen?
The decision to go for the winter
In October, when I explained to my wife (Wooksie) that we would be spending the winter in the Alps, she corrected me and said, “That’s nice, you can, I’m not, a long weekend is enough for me and I’m not being dragged around the slopes all winter by you”.
A bit disappointing, but undeterred I made plans to head down in January. A pre visit to sort out the apartment in December, for the opening of the slopes, with my mate The Mechanic didn’t go off without incident, so it wasn’t a good omen (insert link). On the bright side I did invest in a new mattress (what works for 3 nights won’t work for 3 months) along with some cunning ideas to create more storage space, like beds on stilts!
We were there for the opening weekend of the season and it was awesome, huge snowfall in the days and The Mechanic and I were in the first lift up and after putting lines down the fresh snow on the open pistes, we then ripped up the steep unpisted runs that were covered in deep, soft and untouched snow.
Any doubts I had about committing to the winter in the Alps were gone, but then we headed home for Xmas and New Year with friends and Mother Outlaw.
We drove down on snowy night at the start of January; with an agreement Wookie could go home after a week. We expected our little resort to be quiet after New Year, but none of it, it was packed. It appeared that an entire generation of people “of a certain age”, that had had a similar idea to me. Many were still employed or running their own businesses and were just stretching the “working from home” definition.
The British winter invasion
The snow was good enough to be having a good run around of the area each day followed by an alarming amount of “bonne Ami” apres-ski with our British brethren. After 5 nights of beers, vodka redbulls and the local free local aperitifs in the bars we started to wane, I have to confess that we started to sneak past the bars or take the long way around to avoid rapturous welcomes from the crew. Wooksie insisted it was time for her to go home, enough was enough.
Snowboarding alone on the pistes
So, I ended up on my own for the second week of January. Various friends and family were scheduled to visit and keep me company, but for the first time in my life I was alone on the piste. It’s a strange experience when you are normally with pals. No one to chat to at coffee time; no point in stopping for a lunch time beer on my own; no one to show around; similar route most days; no one to wait for at the bottom or top of the lift and no rush to get up there in the morning or get back at night. What would normally take 4 hours was only take 90 minutes.
I set myself some targets to keep me focused, I wanted to do a 50km ride. I avoided speed records because there was this continual worry about what would happen if I had a bad fall and I was on my own and breaking speed records was fraught with danger.
The first day on my own the weather was perfect sun and blue sky, the snow was great and after 5 hours of riding without a break, the 50km target was achieved. I decided I would leave the black runs until I had some company so ended up cruising around the mountains on my own, enjoying the scenery, trying not to hurt myself and it wasn’t long before I started to get bored.
The thing that you miss if you only go for a week is the chance to just enjoy the scenery, so apart from belting around the mountain on a snowboard, I also did a lot of walking and just enjoying being there, living in the snow (when it was around).
The Chalet Hosting treadmill begins
Anyway, this solitude only lasted a week because the visitors started to arrive and in fact I started a new career as a chalet host. I’d clean the apartment, make the beds, drive to Geneva Airport to pick them up, cook them meals, go snowboarding, show them around mountain, drive them back to the airport, clean the apartment, make the beds before the next lot arrived. If I was lucky, they would organise their own transport.
Don’t get me wrong, it was great having company, it was just rather exhausting, as a person to which cleanliness, order and routine doesn’t come naturally. My friends didn’t expect a chalet service, but in the absence of much else to do, why not do it. There is no fun going up on the mountain on a miserable day, let alone doing it on your lonesome.
In late January, we had a “full house” of family, we also had the kind of day snowboarders dream of. It snowed all Saturday afternoon and night, and we woke up to fresh snow all over the mountain and bright blue sky. The snow had fallen on the bashed pistes, so it was a bit treacherous but off piste it was perfect, these are days that other people talk about, but I never got.
The second half of the season lasted until the snow started to really deteriorate in mid-March, so I had the long, lonely drive home to Bristol. but it wasn’t without surprises, Calais beach sea front is really nice (not the town you understand).
We have a monster black run down under one of the chair lifts that I see most days, I hadn’t t done before because we had never had good enough snow, but in the company of my eldest lad, who I taught to snowboard 22 years ago, we had the most amazing run through miles of fresh snow, it will never be that good again and those of the memories I was looking for.
Back in time for historical Argyle games
I lasted the whole of January but headed back for February when the French school holidays begin and to see Argyle beat Liverpool in the FA Cup.
Our resort in Morillon is massively popular in February with families, no place for a man of my age for sure and most of the expats bailed out as well. 3 weeks back in the UK rekindled my enthusiasm for the mountain life and I headed back just as soon as Argyle lost to Man City in the FA Cup.
I arrived back in early March with a new schedule of pals to look forward to hosting. I still had one more thing on my to do list, a rather intimidating black run. Even though we have been coming here for 8 years, the family mostly ski on piste, so I don’t get to do this kind of run, and it was inviting me to have a go every time I saw it across the valley, not to mention intimidating me.
Gremlin brain attack
I had planned to do it when some of my snowboarding pals were with me but for some reason the “gremlin” got inside my head when I was on my own. A day when the visibility on the mountain was varying from poor to complete white out (invisible), depending where you were on the mountain, conditions when you should really just go home and get a book out.
I was in the lift that runs over this part of the mountain, the visibility seemed OK and there was fresh snow to help with the inevitable moguls and “Gremlin” was in my head saying “you’ll be fine”, “what’s the worst thing that can happen”, “if your mates were here you would do it, so what is stopping you”. I gave in and decided to do it and get it the “monkey off my back”, or maybe the “Gremlin out of my head”.
Initially (the bit I could see from the lift) the ride it was fine, but then it went super narrow with massive moguls and the visibility reduced to just a few yards as it dropped into a gorge. It wasn’t long before I was on my backside with a jarred elbow, bruised buttock and with no clear way down through the moguls with what seemed an almost vertical drop.
It was then that reality hit me, there is no one around because only a mad person would be doing this black run in these conditions, I don’t know the route down, I can’t even see the end of the piste, and the run is probably the toughest I’ve come across with moguls and ice. “What the hell am I doing here?”.
Survival mode kicked in, if in doubt sit on your ass, leaf the board, forget style, fall when you need to (no one is watching) and obviously I got down in the end, and even more oddly I did another 50km that day in awful visibility, almost to get over the trauma.
This was a bit of an epiphany in some ways, there are lots of dangerous things that I would never consider doing that are way beyond my level of competence. However, I have got myself into all dangers, scrapes, and injuries over the years which I’ve struggled to explain how or why it happened. Now I know, when “Gremlin” gets inside my head I just don’t see danger, so in future the alarms bells will be ringing, a sign of my increasing maturity, I hope.
Something you don’t realise until you live in the mountains, is how totally unreliable the weather forecasts are. When you go for a week, you normally get a bit of a mix anyway, but it is really volatile. The previous year I was basing my visits on the forecasts, but they are hopeless. This winter I was probably lucky because it was cold, and the pistes were maintained with manmade snow.
Global warming
It is difficult to know whether it is global warming and what is just cyclical. Last (23/24) winter was described as the worst since so and so. Therefore, it has been this bad in previous winters, but there does seem to be a trend now. We used to look forward to spring and light evenings at Easter in April, now it is running out in mid-March. On the other hand, the opening weekend in December had the best snowfalls of the year.
So, I have now “done a winter season”, that is off the to do list. I guess I’ve learned that being there alone isn’t much fun after a couple of days and there are only so many times you can do the runs in a ski area.
Living in France and only having very limited language is OK until you try to communicate beyond a bar or a restaurant. I read a lot when I was on my own but never got around the French language lessons (sorry Dave Padfield), and it was good to have the company of my friends and all the expats, but not every night!
Looking forward to January already. Next winter I will spend more time commuting to the numerous other resorts within an hour of our place for a bit more variety and challenge.
We have finished our romp around Costa Rica, covered nearly a 1000km in total, and dropping in on the main attraction centres, so here is a quick run through the main towns we stayed and what we thought of them.
Costa Rica is a really young country, unlike other countries it didn’t have a notable civilisation like Aztecs, Mayans or Incas, without a civilisation with an abundance of riches to plunder, the Spanish conquistadors didn’t show it much interest and neither did the Catholic church.
Consequently, there isn’t much history to look at anywhere, but its attraction is the biodiversity and coastline. There is hardly anything over 150 years old, so in some ways it is like being in the United States or Australia, but their indigenous people still have a deep relationship with nature, hence their strong commitment to conservation, a little bit similar to New Zealand and the Māori tribes.
The Costa Rican people are very friendly, helpful and they are proud to tell you they are one of the happiest nations on earth. With this in mind I was a bit perplexed as to why their homes all seem to have quite extreme levels of security. Nearly all of their homes have bars on their windows or bars around their walls. It isn’t uncommon to see broken glass on the tops of walls to stop people climbing over them or even razor wire along the tops. The only place where I have seen security like that was in South Africa and it transpires that the petty crime rates are high and tourists are the main targets, or anyone who is perceived to have wealth. With this in mind, we shouldn’t have been surprised to have all our money stolen on the beach at Uvita.
First stop was San Jose, the capital, most people land and move on, but we decided to give it a day to see what it was like. To be honest, everyone else was right as there is nothing much to see here at all, other than wandering around two dull markets to get over your jet lag. We chose a hotel halfway between the airport and the city centre called the Country Inn Radisson. I thought being halfway between the city centre and the airport would give us the best of both worlds, but it just gave us heavy traffic in both directions. Having spent our last night at the airport Hilton I’m glad to report it wasn’t such a bad decision, Hampton by Hilton San Jose Airport was very poor for our last night, rubbish breakfast and very basic.
Verdict – don’t bother and avoid
Second stop on the itinerary was Porto Viejo. This is in the far southeast on the Caribbean coast on the border with Panama. You will not end up here unless you are heading to Panama or make a conscious decision to go out of your way to see it. About an hour away the highway hits the Caribbean and runs alongside it for the rest of the journey.
At this point you start to relax and feel the vibe, there are the odd small settlements along the way that sets the scene but when you arrive in Porto Viejo you feel like you have arrived on a little Caribbean Island, there is just a rough road through the town, a few beach shops, cafes and bars on one side with palm trees and a surf beach on the other side, it was like my idea of heaven.
We stayed here for 4 nights at the Cariblue Beach and Jungle Resort which was the real deal in terms of environment impact. Everything was built from wood, it processed its own water, and the lodges were surrounded by jungle, Wooksie was alarmed being that close to nature as it bites, but decent insect repellent kept things under control. Within the resort we had Howler Monkeys screaming over our heads and all sorts of other creatures around us, not to mention the amazing moment when we found the sloth on the ground outside our lodge.
Our view from the bedroom window – real jungle
We did the jungle kayak ride and walk, and to be honest, we saw more animals on this cheap half day trip than pretty much all the other trips put together. We also did the Cahuita National Park which was disappointing as we only saw a couple of Cappuccino monkeys but the thing that kept me most entertained was walking along the deserted beach, admiring the jungle on one side and surf on the other side, then finishing the day in the bar on the beach drinking cocktails and waiting for the torrential rain that arrived every night.
Verdict – A wonderful place, an idyllic Caribbean beach vibe but off the beaten track
Next stop was La Fortuna. This was a long trek and from the Northwest from the Southeast of the country. La Fortuna itself is a bit of a one horse town that has been growing, apparently the tarmac on the roads was only laid recently. There is a main street with bars and restaurants for travellers but that is about it, so people are here to do fun stuff not to see the town.
The main attraction is the Arenal Volcano, but also the Rain Forest and a range of activities that have built up around them. Trekking on the volcano is limited because it is active, so you have just got to hope you get lucky and have a decent view, which we did. We also did the hanging bridges, which are a really impressive piece of engineering, the extreme zip wire tour, the La Fortuna Waterfall and volcano hike.
The only thing we didn’t do was the hot springs, but as our second hotel had a swimming pool heated by the hot spring we don’t feel we missed out on much and we happen to own a Hot Tub at home!
We had a dilemma regarding Monteverde, which is the other main town which we wanted to visit in the region. It is a very difficult route from La Fortuna, and we didn’t have a 4×4, it offers almost the same types of activities but at a higher altitude in Cloud Forests, based on chatting with local guides, we decided to give it a miss, and I think we made the right decision on that one. To be honest the jungle walks were disappointing to be honest but that is nature. We did all the activities we planned at La Fortuna in 1 ½ days, so 2 days is enough here, and I spent the third day catching up on blogs ½ creating videos.
Lots of traveller’s head for Manuel Antonnio, which is at the southern tip of the popular tourist route. We drove through it on the way to Uvita. It seemed busy and congested but it was difficult to tell, there was lots of tourist activity going on as it is a major centre for travellers. We, however, were heading to Uvita to spend a week with our daughter who was volunteering in a hostel.
We stayed at two different hotels. The first was the Secreto La Fortuna, which was tucked away in one of the side streets and offered really good access to the town and tour pickups. It had a nice pool and even had its own resident sloth in the tree above reception.
The second hotel was Hotel Lomas del Volcán which was recommended by a friend. It was a totally different resort experience outside of the town, it even had Its own nature walk in the surrounding jungle. The problem with a resort is that you need your own car to get to town, or you have to stick with the resort facilities. I wasn’t too impressed with the building noise but that’s life. What was impressive was the hotel swimming pool that was heated by the volcanic streams, it is the hottest pool I have ever been in.
Verdict – Essential as part of any Costa Rican holiday
Next stop was Jaco Beach. After Porto Viejo this was our favourite resort. It is the closest resort to San Jose, so it is very popular with locals rather than tourists, though it is also popular for US short breakers. It is little more than a busy high street; it was the only place we saw the big US food chains like KFC in Costa Rica.
There is a fabulous sandy beach that is around 5km long and has surf breaks and board rental stalls on the beach, various beach bars for watching the beautiful sunsets and kids playing football on the beach. It was at Jaco we realised that nearly all the resorts seem to have the same offerings in terms of trips, zip wires, nature, quad bikes, white water rafting and waterfalls.
We stayed in the resort twice on our trip. The first time going south, we stayed at a lovely place called Hotel Ibiza which had a mock Greek feel to it, was located 100m from the northern end of the beach and was very friendly. On the second visit we stayed at the south end of the beach because the surf breaks are better, and I didn’t want to have to walk the length of the beach to go surfing.
The second time we stayed at the Laguna Resort and Beach Club. Talk about a fantastic location, I walked out from the hotel, picked up the board and walked straight into one of the best long board waves I’ve ever surfed. If anyone wants to learn to surf this is the place to do it, the conditions are nearly perfect. The hotel wasn’t as nice as Hotel Ibiza but for location, wow.
Verdict – make it a priority – a wonderful beach and plenty of things to do
Uvita is nothing more than a pit stop on the way to Panama and not a normal traveller location. It is about an hour south of Manual Antonio and is a mecca for whale watching scuba diving and surfing in the Uvita National Park. It has a huge beach, and a unique headland called the Whale Tail due to its shape, so people tend to come here from other resorts for the activity and then leave again. Hence it is quiet in the evenings but at least there is space in the little selection of restaurants.
The major blot on our Uvita visit was having all our money stolen from our bag on the beach, in hindsight, we had to take a lot of responsibility for our own stupidity, and we were very lucky not to lose a lot more than cash. Our robber was clearly benign because he left everything other than the cash, if he (or she) had taken the cards and phone we would have been in serious crisis.
We were here for 6 nights at that Yuli Hotel, which was very nice and happily very reasonable as well, with a nice pool and friendly staff. Some nights they also had a lively restaurant with great chilled house music playing. There is a lot of development work going on and I suspect 3 years from now it will have expanded a lot and will grow like La Fortuna.
Verdict – it’s a one night place if mixed with an activity like whale watching
Our last stop was Porto Jimenez on the OSO peninsula. This was another 2 hour drive south and around 25% of the Costa Rican biodiversity is on display here, if you can find it. We planned to take the road around the peninsula, but when we got arrived it became obvious that we needed a 4×4 to get anywhere, and we had a Nissan saloon, so it didn’t end well.
The peninsula is big, and the roads are rough and full of big potholes, so we gave up, we had hoped to walk to the national park along the coast from Port Jiminez but there was no route through the jungle, so again we were stumped.
The thing about this area is that hotels on the peninsula are hugely expensive, most of them are around £1000 per night but that wasn’t an excuse for our hotel, which wasn’t cheap, but hotel was a shocker, Cabinas Agua Luna Frente al Mar as well.
The roads were impassable, there were no nature walks from the town and the hotel was at the end of their little airport runway, so the whole thing was looking like a disaster. However, it was saved by a little beachside restaurant where we were treated to the best meal of the holiday and when the dogs woke us up at 530am we had a great experience watching parrots and toucans on our beach sidewalk.
Verdict – research and plan your trip.
I hope this summary of our itinerary proves a useful reference point if you chose to do a similar trip, if we can provide any more help, please contact me on email fun@rarefutures.com
