Well, where did the time go? Let Loose with Adventure has had a great season with lovely clients, loads of snow and wall-to-wall sunshine. Thanks to everyone who came out and played.
Some of the days were magical, especially with the early morning mist lifting as the sun broke through.
We found new routes this year, the benefits of getting to know the area more and more.
Great wildlife as always with a couple of close encounters with a Golden Eagle and a Lammergeirer.
We also had our usual night walks with sitting outside the hut watching the sun go down and the stars come out. Some spectacular sunsets and Jupiter and Venus side by side were in the night sky this week.
Then, to finish off, some friends came out to stay and we had time to relax with some skiing and even a trip to the thermal baths.
So, that’s the end of the season and in fact, Let Loose with Adventure is going to be taking a bit of a break. The website will be off-line from April 30th as Kevin is taking some time out with some personal projects and travelling. We shall still be running the hut to hut challenge for Charity Challenge in 2013 and in the meantime we’ll be having an opportunity to think up some new exciting challenges to come back with. So, as they say, watch this space!
Let Loose with Adventure arrived in the Pyrenees the day before the big snowfalls, which is just as well as I had to unload the car. We stocked up with delicious food for the guests, checked out some new routes and met up with some old friends. Then the guests arrived and what a lovely bunch of people we’ve had so far.
Fine weather too with blue skies and sunshine and with a cold snap to keep the snow in excellent condition. We’ve been lucky with the wildlife, Griffon Vulture and Lammergeirer as well as fox out on the snow hunting for its dinner.
We had a memorable night walk with the setting sun and the moon delayed long enough to get a black sky punctured by stars and planets. I think we could have stayed out all night if it hadn’t been for the minus 12 degrees C so we dropped down the steep snowy slope and home for dinner and wine.
We’ve had our customary training with transceivers and avalanche risk assessments and without having to bury anyone.
There’s more snow coming this week and the half term has started here in France so there’s a real buzz around the cafés and restaurants in town. Today we walked up onto Pic de Cagire for some spectacular views and then finished in the Auberge with a vin chaud. Can’t be bad.
We’ve had an early build of snowman, I think it’s a good contender for last year’s efforts. Tell me what you think.
There has been some interest in the hut to hut expeditions we are doing next year in Spain. Drop me a line for details and I’ll be looking for another leader to work with me.
Now for a big announcement – in 2013, Let Loose with Adventure will be providing a daring and exciting snowshoeing expedition for the World’s leading fundraising challenge operator, Charity Challenge. For the last five years, we’ve been spending our winters in the Pyrenean mountains running snowshoeing holidays. The Pyrenees because they are less commercial, with stunningly beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife, which can be often seen as there are less people here than places such as the Alps. Where we operate, the area around Bagnees de Luchon, is ideal as it has good snowshoeing terrority and with easy access into Spain.
The expedition will be a three-day a route in the high mountains of the Aiguestortes National Park staying in mountain huts. There will be a day of preparation before we leave where we shall learn about snowshoeing, the winter environment and avalanche assessments and include training in the use of avalanche transceivers.
The area is remote and we shall be supporting each other while walking over frozen lakes and crossing high mountain cols. The area is also exceptional. There are few words that will describe the experience of being in these mountains with your companions, your snowshoes and your life in the rucksack on your back. That is until we make the mountain hut where we can count on some fine, filling meals and a warm bunk to sleep in. Then it’s out again the next day to experience the very best that Nature has to offer.
This trip is not for the faint hearted but equally if you are a reasonable summer walker with the keenness to push yourself a little with the duration of the day and some basic living conditions, the rewards will be exceptional. And it’s not all hard work! You’ll be staying in a luxury Chambres d’hote for the first and last night, Le Chalet Chapeau Bleu, with fine cuisine and comfy beds and where we shall celebrate our success.
The motivation for putting yourself through such a challenge? Raising money for other people. That’s what Charity Challenge is all about. Here’s what they have to say about the expedition. http://www.charitychallenge.com/expedition.html?id=1650
‘Life is all about experiences,’ it says so on the Let Loose with Adventure website, and last November, my 7-year-old son, Nathan, was found to have insulin-dependent diabetes. It was a real shock as we went through the process of trying to understand and get to grips with his injections and treatment. he seems to have taken it all in his stride and anyone who knows him, won’t be surprised.
I have now read a great deal on the subject and it seems to me that research really is the key to finding better treatments, especially in preventing complications later on in life, or maybe even a cure. This is from the website of Diabetes UK‘Scientists agree that research will lead to a cure for diabetes and recent breakthroughs suggest we may be closer than we thought.’
So, to add to life’s experiences, I am going to take on the Raid Pyrenean to raise money for Diabetes UK. It’s a cycle challenge from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, covering the high cols of the mountains between France and Spain. It is 710 kms long, 11,000 metres of ascent and according to the official rules needs to be done in 100 hours!
Yes, it’s winter again and Let Loose with Adventure is back in the Pyrenees. Same excellent gite as last year, exciting walks planned and already loads of snow, in fact it was snow as we arrived.
It’s good to be back and I say that but of course I have been here several times throughout the year doing other things but winter time, when everything is covered in snow and the air is cold and crisp, is just one of the best seasons to be here. The gite is looking good with new facilities in the kitchen and a new boiler, so lashing of hot water for when we return from our day’s snowshoeing, and the log fire is burning away as I sit here typing with a glass of wine. Cheers!
My first guests arrive on Saturday, I’m looking forward to meeting them, and that gives me a couple of days to get out and check snow conditions and to look at some new routes. Just before Christmas, I treated myself to a Trap Camera so as well as looking at animal tracks and signs I’m intending to have some fun taking photos as well. Here I found out who was raiding the bin and captured a visitor to the barn.
I have to confess, I’m writing this post event, and by a long way as I have now left the Pyrenees and I am back home in the Deux-Sevres. What a brilliant time it’s been. All the guests have been super and we’d had great weather, with lots of wildlife sightings. The snow was a little thin at times but the last two weeks, we were on snowshoes everyday.
We did our usual evening walks on Mt Monmajou. Spectacular evening skies, naming stars and constellations, and spotting satellites. On one such trip we met a man called Patrick Palosse – Bonjour Patrick quand vous lisez ce blog, ca va bien? He was out walking on his own and staying the night at the hut. He shared some fine Armangnac with my group. Anyway he writes an account of his travels, and very fine they are to, worth a read. The accounts are in french but google translate is always available. Here’s his link. http://www.trek-passion.net/cabanedesauneres/cabanedesauneres.html
So, at the close of the season – was it a success? The Pyrenees are still one of the best places to visit. Less crowds, outstanding scenery and plenty of wildlife. I think we saw a bearded vulture every week. The snow was a little unreliable but we walked every day and everyone said they were happy with that. To be honest, the World’s weather is up in the air these days – excuse the pun. Many clients had great days off with parapenting, skiing and the relaxing in the thermal baths. I’ll have plenty of new photos up soon on the website www.letloosewithadventure.com The catering was good fun, I’ve always enjoyed cooking and it was great to get back into it again, and although tiring after guiding all day, all the guests pitched in and made it a real laugh.
Will we be back in the Pyrenees again next year. We might have to advertise as Winter Walking with snowshoeing when there’s snow but absolutely, it was a lot of fun. Ideas for next year will be a hut to hut route in Spain, and a winter skills course. Check out the website or register your interest and I’ll keep you informed. My sincere thanks to all my guests. All the best, Kevin
Brilliant couple of weeks, especially for the bird life we’ve seen. New guests had a rare day where we started with half a dozen Griffon Vultures first thing in the morning. As we stopped for a snack and I was talking about the Lammergeier, one flew overhead. An hour later, we were watching an eagle through the binoculars. That’s the Pyrenees for you.
And how about this? Andy, from week 4, and I were both born in the same London hospital. I might even take a pssing interet in QPR from now on!
We’ve had plenty of snow this week, which has allowed us to get out on snowshoes and do some avalanche transceiver training.
No snow but that hasn’t defeated us. We’ve moved from snowshoeing to winter walking and been blessed with another great week of wall to wall sunshine. Speaking to local French residents, they’ve never known a winter like this one. This week we have seen flowering snowdrops, and a whole assortment of animals including some great sights of lammergeier – the bearded vulture.
We did manage a day snowshoeing in the Vallée Blanche where we covered avalanche transceivers and found plenty of animal tracks. The clients are equipped with charts from the Field Studies Centre, and had fun identifying the tracks.
We came across some bones of a cow, and as we had a physiotherapist in our group, we enjoyed her describing how the bones went together. Some had been smashed and broken open, undoubtably the work of the bearded vulture, and then we found the rufus coloured feather confirming our thoughts.
This was the work of the black woodpecker in search of carpenter ants.
We managed our usual night walk, stopping for hot drinks at a hut above Luchon and watching the setting sun. We also studied the moon with binoculars, the half moon creating better shadows on its craters than a full moon would.
“As I enter the world of bloggers wondering who on this planet might read this, I remind myself that this is a way of promoting what I do for a living, and what I have to offer – to experience the magic of travel and adventure.”
So, have you booked yet? A snowshoeing holiday with me in the Pyrenees, the exciting mountain range between France and Spain. We are based in Eup near to Bagneres-de-Luchon, which is right in the heart of the mountains. Holidays run every week throughout January, February and March, and prices start from £710pp for a weeks accommodation with meals and five days out on the mountain on snowshoes. Not sure what snowshoes are? Think tennis rackets and Eskimos (Inuit).
How do you book? Simply
What do you get on a snowshoe holiday? A choice of accommodation, seven nights bed and breakfast, five exciting days out in the mountains on snowshoes with your guide (moi), five packed lunches and six evenings meals with wine. Snowshoe, walking pole and safety equipment, and an airport transfer if you need one. Our days are spent out exploring hidden valleys, pine forests and mountain tops. We will see some stunning scenery, learn about snow and avalanche forecast, and track wild animals.
Do you know what creature made these marks?
… and how dangerous was this avalanche?
You’ll get a free day so you’ll have the chance to relax perhaps in the thermal baths in Luchon. You could try another sport; there are three excellent ski resorts near us, parapenting, dog-sledding, cross country skiing. Some fine restaurants, and I’m sure we’ll sample a few vin chauds as part of our aprés-snowshoe!
Finally, why book with Let Loose with Adventure? Well, there are two qualifications that allow the taking of clients into the French mountains snowshoeing. Alpine Guide is one, and the other is the International Mountain Leader Award, which is the one I hold. I am a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders, long title so BAIML for short. I hold liability insurance, first aid trained to expedition standard, and I am registered to work in France.
That’s all the legal stuff. Consider also that Let Loose is a small company with a very personal service. I am passionate about what I do, and all my work involves people. People having a good time; people learning new skills, sharing great experiences, and getting out there to see what the world has on offer; and the world is a pretty special place.
End of the first week and it’s gone well.
Clints have arrived. True, there’s not much snow but the views, the weather, and the company have been outstanding.
Well, where did the time go? Let Loose with Adventure has had a great season with lovely clients, loads of snow and wall-to-wall sunshine. Thanks to everyone who came out and played.
We found new routes this year, the benefits of getting to know the area more and more.
