Summer Reset - Part Six

Hi everyone, and welcome to another post in the 'Summer Reset' series direct from Méribel. Realistically it will more than likely be the final one before Harriet and I leave in a couple of days time. I've made this a slightly longer post compared to the others, just to try to cram in a few days worth of activities from the week. Last weekend Harriet fancied hiking for fitness, but to take a change of scenery from the Vallon du Fruit which has featured in the previous post. I suggested going up to the Col de la Loze, via the Altiport and Fontany forest.

It's a beautiful walk up through the forest, and along a ridge that borders Méribel and Courchevel La Tania. During the winter it's one of my favourite views on skis, and it certainly doesn't disappoint in the summer either. Col de la Loze is one of the two links to Courchevel on skis.

There's more of the Col later in this post, featuring two wheels instead of hiking boots. It was a lovely hike, a very decent workout, and a great exposure to our wonderful ski area. We occasionally took in the views below us, something tricky to do when sliding down the Boulevard ski piste, towards the Altiport ski area which is part of the 18 hole golf course.

For a few weeks I'd been planning a new route with my road bike, away from the Méribel and 3 Valleys area. It was a route I had spotted on Strava, and was very keen to give it a go. I popped my road bike into the car and drove down to Bozel in the bottom of the valley. Once there, after parking up, I got sorted and straight away started to climb up the mountain towards Champagny en Vanoise.

This is a village that can be seen from the Courchevel Valley from certain positions. Champagny by itself is a small family-friendly ski area. But it also has a link into the huge Paradiski ski area, best known for including the Les Arcs and La Plagne ski villages. Anyway, I cycled past the tourist office and ski lifts, and continued climbing higher towards the Vanoise National Park.

My first goal was to reach the beautiful tiny hamlet called Champagny le Haut. I will often visit this beautiful spot at the end of each ski season, and occasionally post about these experiences, including seeing the wonderful bouquetin creatures. Here's a link to one of these posts if you are interested.

Once I arrived at the hamlet, I popped into the refuge and grabbed a quick thirst-quenching Coke. Sat outside under some shade, it was an amazing experience checking out the scenery, including the Grande Motte glacier which is part of the Tignes ski area. After ten minutes, I jumped back on my bike and started to aim for my next destination, another ski area called Pralognan. I won't bore you with the details about this part of the ride, but it was a grind up in the increasing temperatures. Pralognan was still open as a summer destination, unlike Méribel which had closed the previous week. This time on arrival, I found some shade in town at a bar and enjoyed a celebratory coffee.

After the coffee I didn't stay around for too long, feeling a little self-conscious in my lycra!?! My ride back down to the car in Bozel was brilliant fun, and a real buzz on the long downhill alpine roads. I enjoyed my visit to Pralognan so much that I suggested to Harriet when I got home, that we should visit Pralognan the following day. And that's what we did, with my decent camera this time.

The following day came and it was another beautiful weather day so we aimed for some altitude. It was a kind of a rest day for me after a few sporty days, and we took the cable-car up to one of the ski areas of this resort.

We were proper holidaymakers for the day, and treated ourselves to lunch up the mountain. Harriet ordered a cheese and mushroom crozets (small diced pasta) dish. Sometimes during the winter, you will see a dish called croziflette, which is a pasta version of the famous tartiflette favourite. I ordered a caesar salad which was huge. Followed by ice cream for pudding. We were completely stuffed. After lunch we waddled back to the top of the cable car, where the lift attendant said to us 'c'est fini'. We assumed she thought that we had a finished a long hike and hence were looking so knackered. We didn't own up to the fact that we could barely move due to being in the middle of a calorie coma!?!

It was a great day out and nice to see different views not that far from Méribel. If you are familiar with skiing in Courchevel, it is the other side of Courchevel Moriond (formerly known as 1650).

Back to road cycling. Ever since the cyclists' road between Courchevel and Méribel up to the Col de la Loze was built a few years ago, I aim to climb up it at least once each summer visit. It featured in the 2020 Tour de France, and is rumoured to appear again soon. I'm not going to lie it is an absolute brute of a climb, not especially long, but very very steep in places. During the main summer season it is a popular challenge.

Yes, strong cycling legs help propel you up, but one of the hardest things is getting enough oxygen into your lungs especially above 2,000 metres. For me, this seems to be what I call the 'cyclists death zone', similar to Everest's death zone where oxygen tanks are required. I'm not suggesting for one moment that I need an oxygen tank strapped to my back, but it does feel like a significant level of change. If you are familiar with the ski area in Méribel, the top of the Altiport chairlift is at approximately 2,000 metres.

The final part of this cycle road up to Col de la Loze is the blue ski piste called Boulevard, which brings you back from Courchevel to Méribel in winter. It's very pretty, and very steep on a bike. I even spotted some wildlife.......

Is it a cycle route that I enjoy? I guess so in a really strange way; the sense of achievement is undeniable. I summited at the same time as another chap did from the Courchevel direction. Once our breathing calmed down enough to be able to chat, it turned out he was British and came from East Sussex, not far from where I grew up. We took it in turn to take photos of each other, before layering up for the speedy descent.

That's pretty much it from me during this amazing summer trip. Harriet and I leave Méribel very soon, we will be staying overnight a couple of times before reaching the English Channel. I'm looking forward to breaking up the long drive, and visiting a couple of new destinations. I hope you enjoyed this 'Summer Reset' series, and I might squeeze in another related post after reaching Leamington Spa. Stay tuned, and in the meantime.......Live. With. Passion. Martin.