Climbing the 3 Évêchés! - Snowkite Session 33

The forecast for last tuesday was: 20cm of fresh powder, sunny and a perfect southeast wind at the Lautaret Pass... We couldn't ask for better conditions to climb up to the "Trois Évêches" (the 3 bishops, a group of mountain peaks to the left of the "White Peak" of the Galibier), a mythical spot and a "meca" for all snowkiters of the French Alps!
It was a first for me, but not for Damien and Cyril, the first one to reach the top after leaving us behind and speeding like a rocket on his 6m kite!

 

With the wind a bit too strong for our 8m kites, me and Damien decided to wait a bit before the climb, since the beginning of the ascension is particularly steep and quite impressive, especially for "first timers (you can actually see the wind blowing the snow hard over the right side of the hill on the photo below, which is where we needed to pass to start the climb).

After waiting for about an hour, taking that time to draw lines everywhere on the Lautaret Pass, we finally could go up (check Damien's GPS track)! What an amazing experience! I had never climbed such steep slopes snowkiting, so I was exhilarated but at the same time felt really small in this impressive mountains. It was definitely one of the best kite sessions I ever had and one that I (and the rest of the group) will remember for a long time! If you have any doubts, just take a look at the happy faces below...

 

I finish of with a panoramic view of the top (if you want to see it larger than the blogger viewer option, just click here), but I'll have a surprise soon... I filmed all the way up with a GoPro and, after taking the first look at the rushes, I guess I'll be able to edit a nice video for you!

Béal - Snowkite Session 32

Sun and strong wind for a super day! Despite all the snow melting away with the unusually warm temperatures, there was still plenty of space to fool around. Great freeride session with a super fun jump session as the sun was going down. Big up for Telma, doing her first good runs up and downwind, with Fred looking proudly at his girlfriend's exploits!

Lelex - Snowkite Session 31

With the wind forecast saying that it would blow only in the afternoon, we decided to arrive at 13h30/14h. As soon as we got our kites from the bags, the breeze started to come and transform into a gentle, regular wind... That must have given the other 3/4 kiters on the spot (waiting for 2 hours already) reason to badmouth us a little bit!

(click on the panoramic to enlarge)

We did about 4h30 of ride, going all over the spot (even if the domes lacked snow, we could pass everywhere and there was even fresh powder in some zones) and it was the first time I had a 180 degrees change in wind in the same afternoon (north at arrival, then turning to west during most of the day and finally south as we where returning to the point of departure). I must have accidentally turned off my GPS at some point and it was only about 2h later that I noticed, so there's a big part of the track missing...

This really is one of my favorite spots... The terrain is a real playground, allowing for freeride along a big distance, flying off from the domes (of all different shapes and sizes) and a lot more, between the giant natural halfpipes, quarterpipes and natural kickers!

Béal - Snowkite Session 30

A cool day finding lines between the patches of grass! It was probably the last day this spot was still explorable, at least until it snows again (the unusually hot temperatures of the last days have taken it's toll). It was still a lot of fun, especially following Steph around to find small lines of snow between grass, trees and rocks (thumbs up for the little river covered in glass and snow; it required some technical kite flying to follow the stream). And the stronger wind in the morning allowed me to use my 8m Manta, that doesn't come out of the bag often (I think I use the 12m one 90% of the time)!

 

You can find a part of the GPS track here (I forgot to turn it on after the lunch break, so there's a part missing).