2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 9 Sunday: Lower Durance by Nick Coughlin

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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 8 Saturday: Option A Glacier Blanc by Oscar Kelly, Option B Lac de l’Eychauda by Stuart Toulson and Option C Briançon by Sara Gille

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 7 Friday: Gyronde by Roy McHale

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 7 Friday: Middle Durance by Helen Siertsema

Saturday morning beginners/confidence booster session TNR Outdoors by Chris Marsden We arrived at TNR for our session around 9.30. The weather was dry but a bit overcast but quite warm. I was joined by Eamon and Dave. It was Eamon’s second or third go on moving water and although he seemed quite nervous, I knew he was looking forward to gaining more experience and knowledge of paddling on moving water. Dave… Read More »Saturday morning beginners/confidence booster session TNR Outdoors by Chris Marsden

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 6 Thursday: Slalom Course and Rescue Sessions and the delightful Upper Guisane 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 6 Thursday: Slalom Course and Rescue Sessions and the delightful Upper Guisane by Keith Bold

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 5 Wednesday: Lower Gyronde by Elliot Bold

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 4 Tuesday: Lower Durance to Embrun by Andy Garland

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 3 Monday: Gyronde to the campsite by Stuart Toulson

2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France 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… Read More »2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France Day 3 Monday: The Durance from the campsite to St Clement by Nikki Aldridge