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2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance
Region in France |
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News items or reports on club
activities should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk |
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We set out with news of major port disruption in Dover. We had hoped that the M20 would settle down after midnight and we could just drive straight onto our waiting Eurotunnel train. Oh well, the best plans! Most of us ended up in a queue on either the M20 or one of the adjoining slip roads. With a 5+ hour delay, we were driving down to our stop off just outside Lyon. Some had now decided to just plough on and get to the campsite. Those that had travelled either before or after the Friday night carnage sailed straight through with no issues on either the Ferry or Eurotunnel.
Stuart T, Roy Mc, Keith S, Sara B, Maria S, Steve G, Noah G, Gabrielle G, Oscar K, Nick C, Steph B, Leanne M. The annual Alps Holiday has been running every year since 2008.
Day 1 Saturday: Espace Eau Vive de l'Isle de la Serre
We had decided to stop en route just outside Lyon at the artificial (but natural-looking) L`Isle de la Serre White Water Centre. This provided excellent camping, showers, a café and a restaurant nearby. It is only a short walk into the local town.
We arrived at 3 pm but still managed 4 runs. It was a great little course with lots of waves and fun features. The water was 26 degrees C so no need for a cag. We dodged the hydro speeders and a few practising slalomists but had plenty of the river. We were pretty tired at the end; the showers were great and there was even a restaurant on the island.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.8517716,5.4241953,14z
The Whitewater Stadium offers a 600m long river course. It recreates a succession of more or less technical passages: rollers, surf waves surf, smooth waves, eddies and technical breakouts etc.
Its major advantages:
- Its S-shaped layout reduces portages.
- Its water quality is good, located upstream from the great Lyon metropolis.
Day 2 Sunday: The Durance from the campsite to St Clement
by Roy McHale
For the people who
travelled directly to the L’Agentiere les-Ecrins
campsite Saturday was a day of traveling and paddling only started on Sunday.
The day started at a leisurely pace with the people who had arrived chilling
out, eating breakfast and chatting to each other with the main topic of
discussion being who had waited longest in the queue for the Euro Tunnel safe
to say the award for longest wait goes to Nick & Oscar, well done lads 😊
So around mid-day I
decided it was time to do a few runs of the slalom site, reports of low water
seemed to be true with the Slalom section looking a bit lower than in previous
years when the water was higher. The lower level made the features on the site
more friendly than when the water was is higher.
I did the first run
on my own and the boat did feel a bit twitchy on the first few rapids but as I
neared the end of the slalom course the moves were getting smoother and more
familiar. When I’d finished the run down
the course, I bumped into Keith and Elliot, and they said they wanted to join
so the three of us did another 2 runs of the slalom course doing as many moves
as we could highlight of the run was surfing a pretty decent
green wave halfway down the course.
Following the completion of the 2nd run with keith and Elliot
the rest of the group were ready to paddle so a shuttle was arranged down to
the rafting base at St Clement and following what seemed quite a long shuttle 9
LCC paddles embarked from the beach at the bottom of the slalom site.
The water was low
but not as low as I’d imagined, and it turned out to be a lovely trip,
combining fantastic weather and beautiful alpine mountain vistas. These were
complimented with a warm breeze blowing up the river that counter acted the
chill of the water as well as the, there were waves to surf, rocks to boof and
some submerged trees and shingle banks to avoid.
During the flatter
sections I was also enlightened on the history of Pyranha’s Burn and BTwo
series of boats.
All in all, a great
first day, the paddlers were, Roy Mc, Stu Toulson, Martin & Nicky, Keith
& Elliot, Oscar, Nick and Andy.
Day 3 Monday: The Durance from the campsite to St Clement
by Nikki Aldridge
With the arrival of the rest of the group,
who had stopped in various places all over France, today was the first day
everyone was present. Unfortunately, after an incident with a car key and car
boot, Nick and Oscar were not able to join us on the river.
We planned to repeat yesterday’s trip to show
the newcomers how it’s done. An intrepid few, Roy, Sarah
and Helen, did a run down the slalom course planning to meet us at the bottom.
However, Keith had different plans and when they weren’t quick enough down the
slalom course, we had left without them… apart from Stuart who was nice enough
to wait behind for them. After passing a couple of German groups of paddlers,
and Fiona attempting to pull rank on Keith, the slalom-runners finally caught
us up.
It was a fun filled day with plenty of easy
waves, beautiful scenery and glorious sunshine. Just
as everyone was relaxing into the flow of French waters, Andy did a quick
riverbed inspection, but had rolled back up almost before anyone noticed. This
was soon followed by Helen taking a swim on a weir, which provided an ideal
opportunity for some people to eat some lunch.
As we approached the infamous big undercut
rock, most of the group opted to follow some OC1s down a safer route on river
left.
We then came to the St Clement slalom course.
Most of the group spent a while playing on the top wave, backwards, forwards,
upside down, sideways, you name it, it was tried, with just a short pause to
let the OC1’s pass through and to watch one lone Stand Up Paddleboarder showing
off on the middle wave. Elliot was paddler of the day, quickly mastering the
top wave, much to the annoyance of his dad!
Paddlers today were:
Keith S, Sara, Martin, Nikki, Stu, Roy, Sarah, Helen, Fiona, Andy, Keith B
& Elliot
Day 3 Monday: Gyronde
to the campsite by Stuart Toulson
Roy and I decided to head up to this section
for a quick blast down at the end 
of the day when the water would be higher.
We parked near the small village of Les Vigneaux just downstream from the garage on the entrance to
the woods. We quickly changed and carried the boats down to find a
good point to get on. The level was high with the creamy-coloured water
covering all but the biggest boulders.
A group of German paddlers just disappeared
around the corner, so we gave them a few minutes whilst we finished setting up.
We chose the lines we would take and look for the next eddy, there were not
many.
We took turns leading and hopped from eddy to
eddy as we worked our way through the complex maze of boulders. On
one section Roy was leading about 20 meters in front, when he caught a boulder
that flipped him backwards, catching an edge, he capsized. After a few bounces
over rocks and to the cheer of the onlooking Germans Roy managed to roll up.
After a quick chat with the other kayakers, we headed downriver as the grade
eased off.
We scouted the broken
weir, shooting it about 1m from the river right rocks. We finally joined the
river Durance, ran the campsite slalom course and
arrived back at the campsite.
Day 4 Tuesday: Lower Durance to Embrun by Andy Garland
Another glorious day
of paddling big and bouncy Alpine rivers.
Today we returned to the Durance to run the section from St Clement to
Embrun, a distance of around 18km. We all convened at the extremely convenient
get-in at St Clement, with its associated bar, loos
and slalom course (the French really have got kayaking sussed). Those people that were educated to PhD level,
and therefore understood the shuttle logistics, did the shuttle. The rest of us relaxed in the shade (it was hot)
and had an early lunch. Once on the
water we progressed through a succession of entertaining wave trains, welcoming
the opportunity to get a dousing to cool down.
In the few intervening flat bits it was great
to idly float down the river and take in the amazing scenery – pointy peaks
everywhere!
Before long we were
at the highlight of the trip – the renowned Rabioux
(‘Rab’) Wave. We ran it one by one, with Keith
standing on a rock and pointing with his paddle at the line that people should
take to provide the most entertainment!
My run went extremely well, right up to the point when a wave slammed
into my side, and I capsized. I
perfectly executed the first 180 degrees of my roll, but soon realised that the
next 180 degrees might be more problematical.
I quickly ran through the ‘Andy Garland List of Things to Do When
Things Get Stressful’: Item 1…’have
a puff of an e-cig’ (not really practical,
considering the circumstances); Item 2…’Panic!’ (OK, I could do
that). I let go of my paddle with one
hand to pull my deck and then realised that a swim would likely overwhelm the
waterproof capabilities of the Aquapac holding my
e-cig. Desperate situations demanded
desperate measures! so I managed to effect a basic pawlata roll and came back upright.
We took lunch beside
the beach café beside the Rab wave and watched the
entertaining spectacle of people running and playing in the feature. The final leg down to the get-out at Embrun
consisted of more fun wave trains, a slightly more technical run beside some
cliffs and the Enbrun Wave – a smaller version of its
big-brother at the Rab. We egressed at Embrun and finished another
fantastic day…what a great place.
Day 5 Wednesday:
Lower Gyronde by Elliot Bold
Yet another day on the rivers in The Alps.
Today we had a change of pace as we went from larger volume, wide rivers into
one quite the opposite, steep, narrow and very
technical.
Once everyone was ready and the faffers had 
faffed, Keith gave us a grave talk about the
dangerous weir that was to come, telling us to go river right, follow the flow
but point left in order to avoid a piton. Then we were
split into three groups of five.
Getting on it was evident that the levels
were indeed very low, much lower than when Roy and Stuart completed their
descent a few days prior. This made for the constant noise of plastic painfully
scraping along what seemed like never ending rocks, as I led the scrape I saw a
change in elevation in the distance, this, I assumed was the weir. Our group
made an eddy just above the weir on river right. Roy was the first to go over,
then me. As I paddled, rather frantically up to the drop and, 
just as my bow started to lower following
the gradient of the river, I saw what could be described as a small stream of
water being funnelled down a channel not much wider than the width of a kayak.
I think I can talk for all of us when I say that I trust Keith, however I did
think to myself, what was he on about. Although after looking at some photos of
Roy and Stuart’s trip, at higher levels I do believe that Keith would have been
correct in his statement. This was the main event of our run, after the weir it
was mainly just an exercise in not getting pinned and looking for the deepest
flows of water, However, once The Gyronde led into
The Durance things got more interesting.
We all eddied out just above the slalom course, Keith (Bold) somehow managed to capsize while sitting still in an eddy but he pulled off a clean roll.
The now reunited group started our descent through the slalom course, with about half of us “boofing” over the first drop and landing in an eddy, while the others took a different line down a rock drop. After this, and as you can imagine there was chaos, it turns out that having fifteen people all trying to catch eddies, surf waves and just survive does not always conclude in the best result but, despite odds being against us there were no swims, only a few minor collisions. At the bottom of the WW course, we all got out and went back into the campsite for lunch and to prepare for the afternoon’s river.
Day 5
Wednesday: Upper Durance by Oscar
We were floating down the river
When
Oscar became all of a tither.
On a water flow ever so flat
A very sneaky rock made him go splat.
Embarrassed by the pin he got in a bit of a
flap
Yet Sara rode in and gave his boat a mighty
slap.
With a little wriggle, he
was on his way,
Whence we could all enjoy a lovely sunshiny
day.
Day 6 Thursday: Slalom Course and Rescue Sessions by
Keith Bold
The morning saw the majority transporting kit to the top of the slalom course next to the campsite. The plan was to complete a few laps and add in some white-water rescue practice. A couple of rescues in the preceding days had been lacking in efficiency! A refresher was needed. And we saw Keith swim.
But first, a rundown. This section of the Durance looks innocuous from the bank, especially at the low water levels right now, although this is my first time out so comments regarding water levels are based on the observations of others. But it doesn’t look too difficult. On the water though, that perception changes. The flow is fast and powerful. The eddy lines are sharp, and the eddies are dynamic grade 3 eddies! It isn’t to be underestimated. Minor errors can quickly see boat and paddler following different lines. I had some experience of this today. Most though ran down well and are acclimated to the speed. Elliot, my son, is really annoyingly doing much better than me, it’s really annoying.
The rescue practice was completed on the last stage of the 
slalom course, a big beach and good-sized
eddy made it an ideal location. So we all jumped in
and practised defensive swimming and leaving the flow into the eddy. Line
throwing practice on the beach was followed by practice using the lines to pull
in a swimmer. It was a useful refresher.
Then another descent of the slalom course. I was attacked for walking too close to a wasp nest and now sport some decent-sized lumps on my head and hand. If Putin ever did launch his often-threatened missile attack, the positive take home would be no more wasps. Then I swam halfway down after messing up a break-in just after the biggest drop. Andy’s e-cig was nowhere near, so I elected, like him a few days earlier, to panic. The river is fast and shallow in some sections and rolling is difficult. I was counting rocks with my head. Thanks to Roy, Steph and Elliot who rescued my boat, made more difficult by one of the airbags being deflated.
Day 6 Thursday: the delightful Upper Guisane
by Keith Bold
After lunch, the scenic drive to the get-in for the Guisane. This was a river with a character different to those we have paddled so far. Fast and tight with few opportunities to stop, any eddies that were present wouldn’t hold more than one paddler. So we split into four groups, Keith ensuring a decent mix of ability in each. It was an on and away river. Each group dropped in and were quickly swept away. A warning to avoid a potentially nasty boulder with an undercut was heeded and a great run was experienced. Clean, fast, and frothy water my favourite river so far.
Sometime later, after a spirited run-on continuous rapids, we grouped and inspected
from the bank. S bend rapid, graded at a 4-, was filled with opportunities for
pinning and a nasty experience. Maintaining a line around closely grouped rocks
was required, with potentially unpleasant consequences if missed.
One group walked around, and although we watched a local (possibly) drop down the rapid and almost reconsidered, he made it look easy. As we reached a point at which we could get in, we saw Nicky in a horrible situation, pinned sideways with her cockpit almost submerged. She kept her cool and was able to rotate the boat so that she could get out and emptied it. Keith and a number of others were on in and helped get the boat across to safety using a line with Nicky following. It had the potential to be serious.
Groups disintegrated a bit after that. We missed the beach where we intended to regroup but eventually, we did find each other. Definitely a river where looking out for a smaller number of paddlers is important. The boisterous rapids pushed us on ultimately to the get out. A splendid day on a rollicking river.
Day 7 Friday: Middle Durance by Helen Siertsema
After a leisurely lunch, and once the shuttle was completed, with the cars going down to Embrun, we set off down the Durance heading towards the Rab wave, encountering loads of big bouncy wave trains, Choo Choo!
On approaching the Rab wave we took the kayak line down the left of the island and all broke out above to analyse the wave and determine the line that we were to take. We had a quick briefing on the perfect line, avoiding the rocks and passing through the left of the main wave and then he proceeded to go straight down the centre.
The 2 more river leaders followed on to ensure there was safety at the bottom of the Rab wave in case anyone got into any difficulties. As it happened, most got through safely and only a few rolls. Some even tried to surf the powerful wave only to be spat out upside down. Sarah managed a spectacular stern dip in the wave pulling a cheer from the crowd. After we had played enough we stopped on the bank and took a leisurely lunch stop ensued in the burning hot sun and café spot next to the wave.
We then pushed on down the Durance, heading for Embrun enjoying the numerous wave trains. I was put on a lead by Keith to keep me in check and to keep the group together. After learning my lesson, I was released and we Choo Choo’d our way to the get out at Embrun and the end of another fantastic day on the river!
Day 7 Friday: Gyronde by Roy
McHale
Whilst the rest of the group paddled the Durance down to Saint Clement, Stu and I decided to run the upper Gyronde from the barrage which is not far below where the Gyr and Onde meet to create the Gyronde.
We set off from the camp around 2pm hoping that the river
would be as full as it had been a few days earlier, but we drove up we started
to get glimpses of the upper section it soon became apparent that the river was
extremely low, too low to paddle. We inspected the get in and both decided that
it wasn’t worth it. So, we 
decided to go and look at the Gyr.
The Gyr is a glacial-fed river that is steep and very fast. There was plenty of water in the Gyr which meant most of the water from the Gyr was being diverted away from the Gyronde into the dam and the only water flowing down the Gyronde was from the Onde and that’s why it was so low.
Both the get in and get out of the Gyr look fast and pretty easy but it’s the middle section of the run that is the steepest and most committing, Stu and I deliberated whether to put on but decided against it and decided to come back down and play on the Slalom course.
On the way back down, we scouted the Grade 6 section that separates the upper and lower Gyronde. We also looked at the Grade 4 section directly below it. The grade 4 section is situated in a beautiful steep sided gorge which can be viewed from the roadside just across from a Renault garage. Even though it was low the steep section of river look very appealing, the sunlight was reflecting off the water as it cascaded in shoots over and between the granite boulders, so we decided to do the run even though there was plenty of pin potential due to the low flows.
We kitted up and got on the river, it was low, but we started to pick our way down choosing our own lines between the boulders and trying to avoid the small, submerged rocks that send you off course and put you where you don’t want to be.
Due to the pin potential on the run, we left plenty of space between us so we wouldn’t pile into each other if one of us got pinned. Not long after the start where the run is steepest, I flared off a boulder and attempted to go between two other boulders, unfortunately the kayak was slightly wider than the gap and I got stuck fast. With no chance of escape whilst sitting in my kayak there was no option but to pull my deck and step out of the kayak onto the larger downriver boulder. I attached my sling to the rear grab handle and jumped to shore and tried to pull the kayak out but to no avail. I signalled to Stu who came up from where he was eddied out about 20m down river, and we set up a 3 way drag system to get the kayak free. Once we were both in our boats, we continued the run with no other incidents all the way back through the slalom course to the campsite get out.
All in all, a great mini adventure.
Day 8 Saturday: Option A Glacier Blanc by Oscar Kelly
Day 8 and the mountaineering stage of the LCC Alps trip was upon us. A merry band of intrepid explorers set out at 0700 from base camp at L’Argentiere la Bessee, with only a few minor grumbles about the ungodly hour. After the obligatory stop at a patisserie for a healthy breakfast of chocolaty croissanty goodness all 13 travellers congregated at 0800 at the renowned French toilets at the start of the Glacier Blanc trail.
When we reached the plateaux with the famous glacier view from the bridge, 9 determined hikers smiled for the obligatory LCC Glacier photo. Tragically the glacier is evidently retreating due to global warming. LCC photos from as recently as 2008 clearly show the glacier retreating by as much as a kilometre over the last 14 years. The effects of recent high temperatures have also been observed in the low water levels in the rivers.
After the photo shoot 8 daring souls continued up the mountain side, these brave men and women were: Leanne, Steph, Nick, Noah, Sara, Keith S, Nikki, and Oscar. We wound our way up to the refuge with only a minor delay when Sara managed to get lost on the flattest straightest part of the route. Once at the refuge cold liquid refreshments were giddily brought and consumed with a lovely picnic. (2 lunch) Nick Coughlin, not wanting to miss out on his routine and in spite of already demolishing a jar of pate and half a baguette, knocked back a fromage omelette and half a lager. Said omelette was clearly more cheese than egg and had everyone else salivating.
After much discussion, and no little peer pressure, all 8 of the refugees decided to scale the full mountain for a second photo shoot standing on the glacier. After a hard hours climb we made it, touched the ice, and smiled for the camera. Only down was left to go. Finally, after 8 hours on the mountain and a very hot and sweaty descent all the explorers were reunited with their loved ones at the bottom. Despite the sad retreat of the glacier, it was an excellent day out with everyone enjoying a well-deserved beer and rest back at base camp.
Special note to (non)paddler of
the day – Noah Gavin – to make the day even harder Noah eschewed traditional
mountaineer footwear and scaled the heights wearing just a pair of knackered
old Vans.
Glacier Blanc (like 90% of the worlds glaciers) has been
retreating (Shrinking) over the last 100 years due mainly to global warming.
Glacier Blanc is on the east side of Barre Des Ecrins the southernmost of the 4000 m peaks in the Alps. It is the largest glacier on the peak. The glacier began a sustained retreat after 1870, that ceased in 1895-1900 , 1915-1920, 1935-1940 and 1980-1990 (Cossart et al, 2006). The glacier has shrunk by 5-10% of the total glacier volume during 1981-2005 (Rabatel et al, 2008). The series of images below are used to examine the retreat over the last 12 years of Glacier Blanc. The first image is a 2008
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2022
Day 8 Saturday: Option B Lac de l'Eychauda
by Stuart Toulson
Lac de l’ Eychauda 2514m
I first had the idea for the walk during lockdown, whilst
looking through the Camping Les Écrins website. 
Lac de l’ Eychauda
is an azure blue glacial lake or Cirque.
Roy and I set out for the 30minute car journey, calling at the supermarket on the way. Driving up the Vallouise valley we headed towards our start point of Chambran.
The small, free car park held about 30 vehicles; next it was a small wooden cafe with shaded seating areas. After loading up the rucksacks and applying copious amounts of sun cream, we headed up the valley cooled by the gentle breeze.
In the valley lived and worked a shepherdess who looked after large herds of local sheep, living in a tiny stone building. We followed the waymarked path towards the wall of the cirque which seemed quite near at the start. However, as we progressed the wall became further and further away. Getting gradually steeper the rest periods became more frequent. Roy mentioned that the few people that we met were very friendly and all said good day.
We finally made it to the lake after 2 1/4 hours, we found a suitable sheltered site away from the wind and settled down for a long-awaited lunch.
The descent took only an hour, and we were relieved to have a cool drink in the cafe in the car park.
Day 8 Saturday: Option C Briançon
by Sara Gille
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNqBuyL5/?k=1
Day 8 Saturday: Climbing Competition
In the evening some of us wandered up to the town to watch the finals of the weeklong boulder competition.
https://www.toutablocs.com/en/
Day 9 Sunday: Lower Durance by Nick Coughlin
Another
lovely day here in the Southern Alps and while there is a bit less water than
usual the lower Durance is always paddleable.
Fifteen
LCC paddlers decided to run the 18km from St Clement to Embrun. Most people eat
their lunch whilst the shuttle was conducted and then we got on the water in a
big group using the buddy system.
As
usual, we bounced through big wave trains on the way to the famous Rabioux wave. We all eddied out just before it to let Keith
go down first to set up his camera and point to the line. We then went down one
by one and everyone made it down in one piece.
It
was now time to play on the wave. Most people had a go with varying degrees of
success and a few rolls. I was struggling to get on it from river right so
decided to ferry over to the other side where it was much easier to drop in. I
managed to get a fairly good surf going but then
leaned forward making my boat dive and stick the back up in the air. I managed
to hold this for a couple of seconds before being shot out by lovely Mrs Rab. I was canvassing names for my, now signature, move and
think I prefer “King Neptune’s Banana” over things like “The Tombstone.” [Edit - old school name was Pop-out or
loop]
After
people had finished their lunch and coffees, we set off again down to Embrun.
As I bobbed along chatting to “Mao”, I was surprised by a rock at the cliff
face turn. I tried to roll up but only managed to punch the edge under the
surface which moved me away to where I could roll. I think Fiona managed to hit
the same rock but skilfully kept her boat the
right way up.
The
rest of the trip was fairly uneventful for us with
everyone trying to catch Helen before she got to the end of the river.
We
got down to the Embrun wave and did a bit more surfing before floating down to
the get out and pulling the boats up the steps.
It
was another fine afternoon paddle with a bit more action for me than usual.
Day 10 Monday: Château Queyras
Via Ferrata by Keith Bold
The team left the campsite headed for Chateau Q to determine if there was sufficient water level to paddle. Several stopped at an inspection point for the triple step rapid and were optimistic. Upon arrival at the riverside beneath the impressive edifice of the Chateau, it was clear that paddling was not possible after all. We wandered over the bridge so that those of us, me included, who hadn’t seen it, might enjoy a look into the gorge through which we’d hoped to float. A bit intimidating was my initial impression, but hopefully next year we will experience the view from the water.
A group decided to rent a harness and helmet and set off on the via ferrata, clambering above the river in the shadow of the mountains. Several years ago I managed to overcome a fear of heights, this was an opportunity to discover if it had returned.
The twin karabiners provided enough of a sense of security and the view of the river below and the intricate shapes carved into the gorge sides were a great distraction form dwelling on that. A couple of sections, vertical climbs, felt a bit exposed but weren’t too long.
This was a worthy alternative to paddling the gorge and was enjoyed by all who undertook the challenge.
Day 10 Monday:
Upper Gyronde by Steve Hitchen
Although this river was short (5km) and a bit fast it was at a brilliant level. After not being able to paddle in the morning as most of the group were climbing in the gorge at Château Queyras (Via Ferrata), we headed back closer to base camp and made our way up the valley to the upper Gyronde. Stopping along the way to check the levels and taking a look at one very notable feature. Levels were fine so we set off to the get in just after the barrage at Valouise.
When we arrived, we realised the barrage was now open and had put another foot or so on the level as the glacier up in the valley was melting fast with the rising heat of the day. It was now a fast moving, eddy hopping river of fun. However, the best bit came when we arrived at the feature that we had scouted from the bridge earlier. Keith went ahead to take photos of us missing the bolder feature. The feature had now changed into a huge left sided wave that dropped you into a hole on the right. Brilliant fun and definitely the best river this paddler went on this trip.
It only seemed to take 20 minutes or so until we arrived at the get out above the grade 6 part.
Many thanks to the river leaders for getting us all down in one piece as usual.
Day 10
Monday: Wakeboarding by Noah Gavin
This year we were
looking to do some activities as a family, and came across l'ancre
bleue, a watersports place
with wakeboarding, rafting, canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding. Me, my dad and sister went wakeboarding twice during the trip and
were completely stunned by the surrounding views the whole time. Although the
water in the lake was low, the staff there did their absolute best to keep
things running as normal and we had a great experience!
The guy driving the boat was incredibly supportive, even through my dad completely face planting on his first couple
tries! We had loads of fun during the wakeboarding and would love to go back
next year!
Afterwards, me and my sister went on the ringo
(a round floaty behind the boat) and definitely did
not expect what we got! We were expecting a calm, nice ride looking at the amazing
views surrounding the lake, but not so lucky. Me and my sister were thrown
around and fell off several times, and went absolutely
flying off the wake when we 
bumped into the
other ringos! Although very fun, definitely
not for the faint of heart or anyone who wants to keep their joints
intact!
Contact Information for the Facility:
· Website : https://www.ancrebleue.fr/
·
Phone number : 04.92.44.20.57
If you do
want to do it, suggest booking well in advance. Wakeboarding is in the morning
as water calmer and ringo/ bouee
in the afternoon. Ask for Norah if you don't speak French!
Embrun is
about 40 min drive south of the campsite
NB the ringo is called a bouee in
French!
Day 10 Monday:
Lower Gyronde by Elliot Bold
The team left the campsite headed for Chateau Q to determine if there was sufficient water level to paddle. Several stopped at an inspection point for the triple step rapid and were optimistic. Upon arrival at the riverside beneath the impressive edifice of the Chateau, it was clear that paddling was not possible after all. We wandered over the bridge so that those of us, me included, who hadn’t seen it, might enjoy a look into the gorge through which we’d hoped to float. A bit intimidating was my initial impression, but hopefully next year we will experience the view from the water.
A group decided to rent a harness and helmet and set off on the via ferrata, clambering above the river in the shadow of the mountains. Several years ago I managed to overcome a fear of heights, this was an opportunity to discover if it had returned.
The twin karabiners provided enough of a sense of security and the view of the river below and the intricate shapes carved into the gorge sides were a great distraction form dwelling on that. A couple of sections, vertical climbs, felt a bit exposed but weren’t too long.
This was a worthy alternative to paddling the gorge and was enjoyed by all who undertook the challenge.
Day 11 Tuesday:
Upper Guisane (take two) by Steph Blissett
We had pre
paddle lunch at the get in whilst checking out the retro gear the huge pack of
German paddlers had. We waited for them to leave, finished off lunch and got
kitted up. We split into groups of 4
with no shuffling of people needed this time and launched off the bank to get
on our way. I’m no expert but the river seemed lower than the previous
trip and my boat let me know this for sure!
After a few
smatterings of rocks there followed a few thousand more and it became clear to
me that this was the best river to practice my stern rudder.
Almost all
paddlers today attempted the S bends which was reportedly a pinball from top to
bottom. A few pinned boats and the word carnage was mentioned by more than one
paddler and there was a set or 2 of wet ears but all was well when we re-joined
the pack at the bottom. I’m quite glad we chose the long, horrible portage instead!
The meet back
at the beach was much more disciplined than last time and we continued onwards
in our small groups.
The rest of the
way had a bit more water so made it a bit faster and splashier through the
little village and under the bridges.
No sign of any
deer today but there were a few little birds to chase down river. I also did
not see the globe in the house but that’s perhaps because Nick had stolen it
already the previous trip out? [Edit, unfortunately after 20 years the
globe has now been removed – the end of an era.]
We all made it safely
to the get out carpark and sorted the drivers back to cars and headed to the
shop for a dinner run.
Stuart, Sara,
Roy and Keith continued on for the lower Guisane
but I chose not to consider this option as despite my drunken state the night
before, I firmly still remembered Stuarts warning about the lower section.
Day 11 Tuesday:
Lower Guisane
After safely negotiating S-bends on the upper Guisane
we were keen to paddle something a little more technical. The river was lower than normal and would be
more difficult with many exposed boulders and tight turns between each feature.
We set off from
the car park with Fiona in still in her “Bio Pool” (baignade bio chantemerle) and were soon
going under the bridges used by the main ski runs back to the valley. The second of these, Shelob’s
Weir can be sneaked on river right, but it is manky and has debris at its
base. It is frequently run using hotdogs
and rafts but watch out for frequent pinning.
We paddle on
down through several bouncy rapids passing a couple of commercial groups and
soon ventured on the new weir. Last
time we were out we inspected the new rafting / kayaking shoot, so we paddled
down carefully avoiding the portage signs of old and one by one shot the
right-hand channel. This was a blast and
boats quickly gained speed to skim over the water below. It is almost worth driving up the gravel road
on river right just to shoot this feature several times.
We paddled on down
through steeper territory, a sharp left hander gave excellent sport and several
big stoppers with very large boulders on either side. More rapids ensued. Roy took the lead and the inevitable happened
to the pin king. The ripper is not an
ideal boat in this sort of river running territory (then again it is not the
place for playboats either but at least I could spin into the small eddies).
Stuart to the rescue and Roy was lifted off the rock to safety. We continued down past the site of previous notable swims. A right-handed corner had numbers large but rounded boulders making choosing the line difficult. A group of German paddlers caught us up and we let them go first. They bounced over numerous lines and we decided on a route to the left of one of them. Most of us ended up being thrown onto a submerged rock requiring a brace with the left arm. (I now know why Roy and Stuart had several bits of paddling armour covering their elbows etc.)
All
successfully down we paddle on to the end of the river under the two road
bridges and past the gondola ski tow in the town. A final weir and a few interesting rapids
let to the rafting get out and the conclusion of another successful day. I topped off the day with a quick cycle
descent down to Briançon and then back to the
campsite.
Day 12 Wednesday: Romanche
by Graham Devaney
Wednesday morning 5 of us got up early and left the site at 8.30
to head around an hour up the valley and into the next valley to paddle The Romanche.
I, Keith, Roy, and Stu had never paddled the Romanche
before, so we were relying on beta from Sara who had paddled it earlier in the
year.
Arriving at the put-in, the river was steep, fast, and
intimidating. Set in the shadows of the Meije
mountains the excitement (and nerves!) grew as we waited for the shuttle. The
river was clearly meltwater straight off the glacier, but I foolishly decided
to risk it in just a rash vest and no cag - a move which led to me having cold
shock for the first 500m paddling haha.
Keith took the lead, followed by Sara, then Roy and me with Stu
at the back. On the river and we were straight into continuous quality grade
3/3+ paddling with no flat sections between. The first few hundred metres we
just paddled through without stopping, everyone getting back into the groove of
ditch boating. Eddies were small and shallow, only really big
enough for one maybe two boats.
This led to about 3km of eddy hopping and fast-paced read/run
boating until we reached two large boulders in the river. Here we jumped out of
the boats onto the river’s left bank and walked down to inspect. A 250m grade 4
rapid looked really intimidating from the track high
up the bank so I was a little unsure about getting back into my boat. Keith
peeled out the eddy first, followed by Roy, then me and Stu at the back again.
(Sara had decided to walk this rapid as she was in a playboat). Dropping in I
had a clean line through the first couple of features only to look up and see
Roy 50m downriver stuck on a rock, the feature he had just gone through had
grabbed at the slicey tail of his boat and sent him
offline. I pulled into an eddy and Roy sorted himself out and was back on the
way. Stu passed me and I peeled out of the eddy a few boat lengths behind him.
An excellent rapid that blew the cobwebs out and left everyone high and smiling
at the bottom.
Another 300m or so below this rapid was a large pour over rock
in the middle of the river, Keith leading went over this and had an unexpected
roll. This left the rest of us upriver, sat in various eddies, slightly
apprehensive - turned out it was a relatively straightforward line and Keith
had just been unfortunate in his playboat.
That was the last fun of the river and 500m of easy grade 2/3
rapids took us to the barrage and the get-out.
An excellent, small group, fast-paced, alpine river which had
everyone on a high for the rest of the day.
Keith, Roy and Stu headed off to paddle
the lower Durance, Sara rode her bike back to the campsite and I headed back to
the campsite to relax and soak in the morning’s fantastic alpine boating.
A new river for the clubs’ alps holiday and one I would definitely recommend.
Day 12
Wednesday: Lower Durance by Nikki Aldridge
After a
leisurely morning we made our way to St Clement for a late elevenses. We were joined
at 2pm by the hard-core paddlers who had paddled the Romanche
in the morning. We set off toward
Embrun. Martin and I left first as I was on my SUP and being as it was my first
time doing white water on a SUP, Martin was my safety.
The first few
rapids, I was wobbly but amazingly stayed upright. This spurred me on, and I
was delighted to make it all the way to the breakout above the Rabioux Wave without falling in and I only had to drop to
my knees once when a line of rocks blocked my path.
We had been
wondering why the rest of the group hadn't caught up to us yet, but they caught
up at the break out and regaled is with stories of
lost bungs and a split kayak. Apparently, the Romanche
claimed casualties!
We ran down
river right to the Rab wave for a change today and in
one big group. The right is less rocky and has some bouncy wave trains.
Unfortunately, the second of these knocked me off my perch atop my SUP! I
managed to climb back aboard before the Rab but not
to my feet. So on my knees, I made it, much to my
surprise, through the first wave but was not ready for the second wave... having never expected to get that far! I
found myself deep beneath the waves trying to find my way to the surface.
Still, not bad for a first try.
The rest of the
group made it through without incident.
After
re-energising with some chips from the café, and watching some other SUPs do a
better job than me, I went for a second run.
This time, I
approached on my feet, I dropped over the top and as I hit the first wave, I
landed with a plop on my bum. I had a moment of thinking I might be able to
ride it out before I plunged into the water again.
The rest of the
river presented more bouncy wave trains, that seemed to get bigger and bigger
the further downstream we got. After some fairly miraculous
balancing, the river beat me again. The rest of the trip was somewhat wetter
than the start had been, but it was all great fun.
I was exhausted
by the end, but I think I wasn't the only one! 4 hours after we left St
Clement, we finally emerged in Embrun.
Day 13
Thursday: Le Vénéon by Leanne Murray and Steph
Blissett
Whilst enroute
to campsite number 2, a select few paddlers were keen on Keith's plan to run
the river Vénéon. After the beautiful drive into the
valley a few decided to ditch the river and go straight ahead to the Isle de
Serre White Water Centre leaving Keith, Sara, Nick, Oscar, Roy, Stuart, Leanne and Steph to paddle the Vénéon
which has never been descended by LCC before.
The get on was
a little spicy looking but it turned out to be nice drop round a right-hand
corner with an eddy halfway down. This river was the best short river section
of the trip with plenty of friendly, large bouncy water. An unexpected rock caught Nick out and Sara`s
shoeless feet caused far too much trouble than good for a swift boat rescue.
Unfortunately, Nick's Pyranha sponge was set free into the Vénéon,
never to be seen again.
There was a
beautiful waterfall on river left and we stopped off to jump in with an
obligatory LCC bridge picture. The water was freezing, and Roy complained about
certain parts of his anatomy shrinking but it was well worth the stop.
An ice cream
and a beer in the sun at a cafe up the road ended the river trip nicely before
heading off to the campsite and white-water course on the “surface of the sun”.
Perhaps if the others had joined us on the river, they may have survived longer
than 15 minutes at the new campsite before sacking it off to go to swiftly
booked hotels!
For some of the
group the most memorable bit was the herbal essence waterfall moment. Keith
said it was his best river of the trip but for Roy the best part happened whilst
the shuttle was in progress. He managed
to spot Nouria Newman and gave her a whistle and a
wave. For those that don’t know, she is a world-famous kayaker. Some in the
group doubted this sighting. However,
this was later confirmed at dinner, after a few glasses of wine and Steph’s use
of Instagram direct messaging. We believe she's become an honorary LCC member.
Roy still hasn’t quite recovered!
Overall, a
great day was had by all and a good story to tell, we think we will be
back.
Day 14 Friday: Isle de Serre White Water Centre by Fiona
Barry
3 of us decided to try out hydrospeeding on the white-water course. Steph, Sarah and I donned our wetsuits, BAs and helmets before
receiving the fastest lesson ever from the hydrospeeding expert instructor!
It's quite straightforward once you learn how to turn and edge! The hardest part is walking along the riverbank in the flippers! The best part is surfing in the waves... At one point all three of us were surfing the same wave at the same time! Hydrospeeding (or “sperming” as we nicknamed it 😂🙈) is absolutely hilarious and amazing fun. I can strongly recommend it!!
The rest of the group just paddled around
and around the course until their arms became too tired. There were two big features. The first was a
hole or friendly stopper just after the first tongue (a large green wave that
needed a long boat to surf it). Most of
the playboats congregated here and surfed, did spins
and loops all day long. The water was
still 27 degrees and clean and refreshing.
The second major feature was a large drop or Vee into a surfable; if
bouncy wave. The water pulsed here so
you could not just sit in the eddies and watch.
This wave was similar to the last wave at the
Cardiff WW course, except with much more water. The final runout of the top section had 4
stoppers or mini holes and provided good sport if you could catch them on your
descent. The Hydrospeeders
were able to jump in and catch them from the large, rounded boulders on either
side.
Espace Eau Vive is an excellent warm-up or play site – an excellent find and well worth the slight detour on either the way out or way back. We will be returning in future years.
Day 15 Saturday: Isle de Serre White Water Centre
We did not have to leave until the middle of
the afternoon so while some rushed to pack up and try to get an earlier train
or ferry we took our time. Stuart and
Roy walked into the town for Breakfast while Sara and Keith went for a bike
ride to explore the area. They found
small French towns, boulangeries and a medieval fort and chapel.
When back at the WW course we thought we would hire Hydrospeeds and take on the course from in the water – after all how hard could it be as Fiona, Sara and Steph made it look easy the day before.
We kitted up and after a very short briefing we took to the water. Our first run was just a taster and we drifted down through most of the waves, made a few eddies but it was really hard work kicking those flippers and trying to make the moves of a kayak.
Our second run meant that we could try to surf the waves, Stuart made it look easy and once Roy had mastered the float, his energetic style had him flying around the river like an angry wasp. Sara managed some excellent surfs in the bottom wave. All too soon our hour was up, and we returned to the office area for an ice-cream or ice lolly. Totally exhausted we took our time to pack up the rest of the tents and headed off on our journey home. Keith and Sara took to the N roads and quaint French villages to join the motorway at Dijon leaving the others to chug along the autoroutes and the port of Calais. Steph and Leanne reported that they had managed to stock up by buying out the wine hypermarket in Calais.
Thank you to all the club members that made it out to France this year to make it another fab holiday in the sun.
Liverpool Canoe Club Alps Summer Holiday
Trip 2022 video – 8 minutes
