Alpine walking

In winter there is controlled access into Arc1800 but now we are between winter and summer, we found we could drive through open barriers and across this ski village. It provides cost effective accommodation in multi-apartment blocks and if you can’t afford the alpine chalet village experience, this is a very good ski-in ski-out option.

We were thus able to drive over Arc1800 and then down a blue-run road into Vallandry, where I have also been based for skiing. From there we drove further along the valley and camped at Peisy-Nancroix, camping Les Lanchettes.

From our pitch you can look right up to the glacier on Mt Pourri (3,779m) and all around are snowy peaks and the sound of cascading water.

We met Peter and Carol here, who wanted to see the Landy but then showed us their homebrew Transit van conversion. This was very impressive, not for the quality of a professional custom fit-out but for the shear practicality of the layout and homemade installation they have created, for year-round campervanning. That gave us lots of food for thought.

Just above the campsite is Les Lanches and it has a number of lovely chalets.

Wikiloc suggested a walk up the valley to a lake, Lac de la Plagne, where there’s a mountain refuge. It appeared to be a good stretch for our acclimatising legs and the refuge would make an ideal turning point 

Unfortunately the valley buses, like the ski villages, are on holiday, so the walk to the path started with a couple of miles on the road. Not so bad at the start but hard at the end.

Then we started to climb up the steep side of the valley and this was a stretch. It seemed to go on for ever and of course the sun was streaming down.

The views up and across were rewarding but once we had ‘done’ most of the height, the upper valley opened up and we got the reward that always awaits.

The lake reflections were good…

The refuge opened for the season the day before but was well stocked with beer, ice cream and also provided salad-based lunch. We had food with us and so had beer with it. It would have been rude not to.

It was a long walk back and the downhill was a staircase in parts. Marmots kept us entertained though.

We covered 13.4 miles and 781m elevation gain and fairly quickly too.

The funny thing was, that a Dutch couple of similar age to us, had arrived and asked about the walk. They had planned it anyway but were asking about the distance and time it took. They did the walk the next day but were a few hours slower.

The following morning they were peeling veg and cooking a fine meal. I was so impressed with this early day food preparation, that I went and told them. They laughed and said that they were so tired after the walk, they had no energy left to cook dinner that night and were about to eat it for breakfast!