Living the Dream - Jerry Gore

I asked Jerry to explain why he and his family wanted to move to France in the first place, his experiences in moving, and how it has affected his quality of life, this is what he had to say:

I suppose the first point to make is that because the climbing here in the Hautes Alpes is so accessible, and the weather so stable, it means that I can climb pretty much any day of the week if I want to, 12 months of the year. This is very important for me as in order to keep active I need to get out regularly, a luxury denied me in the UK. Consequently instead of accepting my fate and a steadily declining grade I can now enjoy increasingly harder routes as my fitness level improves. As I once read, the only way to keep climbing with a family is to live close to a crag. I would add that living in a dry climate helps immeasurably as well.

We left England for good in April 2003, and since then we have enjoyed a really outdoor life, including many family climbing days out to the 40 or so crags that we have in this area. From April to October I can now get out on average 2 days a week, and with the family at least one day a week. This is often on a Wednesday when there is no school - this applies to the whole of France - very French, very civilised! With crags literally on our doorstep and the boulders of Ailefroide only 10 minutes drive I can also easily make half days, without interrupting my work schedule too much.

Being in a mountain national park (Les Ecrins) means that any form of planned commercialisation is scrutinised in detail. Unlike Chamonix this region has official park status so building work is heavily controlled, and constructions such as telepheriques are in very short supply. People are also much more laid-back about life in general, and I am happy to say that from the day we arrived we have encountered nothing but smiles and support. And if any Brits dare to mention to me about how unfriendly and hostile the French are I simply spit in their faces, you 'orrible eenglish dogs! But it really is our experience - the French are not the problem. That, like everything in this article, is our experience, I know it is not everyone's.

As regards how we chose our new home, Jackie actually bought our chalet in Vallouise after 2 months of Internet searching, and a frantic 3 day, 13 house recce in November 2002. I did not accompany her on that trip, and I never saw the chalet or our village until the day we actually bought the place in February 2003, although I had visited the Ecrins before. Officially signing for the property, I was as far outside my comfort zone as I have ever been, even with 20 international expeditions under my belt. But wow what an adrenaline boost!

I guess the first thing to say is that Ecrins Massif (or L'Oisans) is big - like 30 times bigger than the Chamonix Valley. The region hosts the southern most 4000m peak in the Alps, with a great collection of slightly lower peaks around it. You get pretty much everything from classic Alpine ascents of all grades to modern bolted routes both on single pitch sport crags and longer modern 'sub Alpine' rock routes. In fact you will find all types of climbing here, with the exception of the long steep ice faces found in the Northern Alps. With this wide variety of climbing in a small accessible area, and weather that is much better than the main Alpine chain, the Ecrins is a perfect spot for the climber with limited time and unlimited energy. No rest days here I'm afraid!

For the visiting Brit the Alpine Club's "Ecrins Massif 2002" (by John Brailsford) guide provides an introduction to the range, describes many classics to the main summits, and a few of the more modern routes. However, for the keen rock climber more up to date information is needed and is available locally, as well as in some of the better UK climbing shops. This includes the two Jean-Michel Cambon guides 'L'Oisans Nouveau Oisans Sauvage (East and West) which detail the fantastic long modern rock routes both on the high mountains and on the 'sub alpine' multi-pitch crags and summits. Beware when using Cambon's guides that 5 stars means very badly protected and not as we assumed highly recommended! You should also arm yourself with the sport climbing guide "Grimper dans le haut-val Durance" by Yann and Rolland if staying on the Ailefroide side of the range where we are.

So with 300 days of sunshine guaranteed, 4 different rock types including Granite, Limestone, Quartzite and Conglomerate, spread over 40+ crags, all less than an hour's drive, and all fully bolted, where do you start in this mecca of rock? Hopefully the following notes will provide some pointers to get you going.

Multi pitch 'modern' rock routes

Aiguille de Dibona

Loads of good options on this beautiful rock spire, from VS to E5. You can stay in the hut at its base or easily do a route from the valley and back in a day. Not to be missed.

The high valley between Briancon and the Col du Lautaret

This area contains many limestone peaks with fully equipped multi pitch routes to true summits with big Alpine views, without the need for Alpine gear! Try Le Fue Sacre on the Tour Termier which is fantastic and goes at 6c/7a. Les Beaux Quartiers on the Aig. Du Lauzet also gives a good day out at about 6b. Carry your approach shoes on the route to make descending the Via Ferrata more fun.

Tete D'Aval de Montbrison (2600m)

Only 5 minutes drive for us here at AlpBase.com and a showcase of the area when it comes to long hard limestone. Great exposure, abseils over huge roofs and a beautiful one hour approach. There are over 30 great routes here, many of them 500m or longer. Good hard ones to tick include Le True Noir (Fr 6c max), Les Elfes (Fr 7a/A1 max.) and Rank Xerox (Fr.7a max) but there are also many easier routes in the Fr 6a and 6b categories.

Granite

The high valleys at both Ailefroide and La Berade provide many excellent multi-pitch, well equipped granite slab routes with great views.

High mountain 'modern' rock routes

These routes require a little more commitment and the use of some mountain gear to get to them, but once on them you're cruising on mainly fixed gear with rap descents back to your sack.

Aig. Du Sialouze

A steep granite face with a short easy angle snow field (and maybe a 'shrund) to reach it. One of the very best of the routes is La Diagonal du Fou at 6c/7a (about E3/4 6a) with a couple of steep pitches and a wild traverse. In most years you need boots but not axe or crampons to reach the base.

Pic Sans Noms

This big serious North face has a bolted route up the middle of it to a tiny peaklet at mid height. Aurore Nucleaire is 6b (about E2) with 15 pitches of good granite and a fine ambiance. Or try "Big Tower is watching you" (F6c max - 25 pitches, 500m) on the less serious NE Pillar. I did this the first summer we arrived in France, leaving our chalet in Vallouise, and getting back dead on Midnight! A good day out, and every pitch bolted to the hilty! After this I realised how European climbers get to be so fit and so fast.

Classic high mountain routes

The Ecrins has a reputation for bad rock on its mountain routes, and this can be the case, which is no doubt why the modern rock routes are now popular! However, sticking to a few classics will avoid most of the problem. It should also be mentioned that the Ecrins forms the predominant part of the Hautes Alpes, so called because it has the largest concentration of three and four thousand meter peaks in the whole of the French Alps. There are many many peaks to choose from but probably the two classics of the region include:

La Meije (3982m)

A fantastic peak. The two obvious classics are the Traverse, and the Allain route on the South face. The Allain route is a little difficult to follow exactly but has good rock and a great summit. Probably VS/HVS depending on the line followed.

Barre des Ecrins (4102m)

The other great peak of the area. The classic four thousander in our area, and one for the aspiring alpinist in search of AD Grand Voies.

So that is it - the secret is out of the bag. This place rocks, and if you don't believe me ask yourself why do people like Jerry Moffatt, Manu Ibarra and Isabelle Patissier climb here regularly, and why do the likes of Francois Legrand, Stephane Troussier, Lionel Daudet, Murray Hamilton, Francois Lombard and Carol Nash live here permanently? As John Brailsford says in the preface to his guidebook "Ecrins Massif" - "There are some of the most gifted alpinists, rock and ice climbers in the world operating and living in this region. The standard of climbing is consequently high!"

Bear in mind also that I have not even talked about the world-class ice venues we have on our doorstep, and the 1400 km's of pisted terrain for skiing and snowboarding spread across 5 major resorts all less than 1 hour away, as well as La Grave, off-piste capital of the world. Did I mention the mountain biking? Check out the Gallery section on our website and you can see for yourself.

Anyway, all I can say is that living in the Alps has quite simply improved my family's quality of life 100%. For me, a mid forties ageing diabetic, it's been a fantastic antidote to mid-life crisis. It has, without doubt, delayed the early onset of senility that office-life in Swindon was rapidly forcing upon me. And above all it has meant that even when I am reduced to mundane chores like playing Ponies with my two young daughters I can handle it far better; somehow role-playing in the Alps it far more preferable than in the Cotswolds!. Even better I will never have to suffer the embarrassment of another weekend trip to Legoland ever again. In addition to all the outdoor action, we don't sit in traffic jams anymore, we don't grouse about the weather, we don't bitch about the train system, and we don't have many dreams. But there are drawbacks...

French bureaucracy is incredibly tiresome; it is overly complicated and there are no clear rules. Taxation is high, and living costs are at least the equivalent of those in the UK. Not everyone who crosses the Channel stays. We know an English family similar to ours who upped sticks in search of paradise. Within 2 months the wife became heavily depressed with her inability to make friends locally and they are now organising an early return. Life en France is definitely not for everyone, that's for sure. Like all good things it takes a lot of hard work, careful planning, a fair degree of luck and endless bottles of vino.

Having said that for us it seems to be working fine and more importantly it feels right. Honestly there is not one thing that I miss, and I know now that I could never go back to British suburbia. Every morning Jackie and I look out of our bedroom window straight up a forested alpine valley with rocky, snow-clad ridges cutting in from both sides. Our eyes are led inexorably upwards towards Le Bon Voisin (The Good Neighbour - very appropriate I am happy to report!), a typical alpine three thousander lying in awesome isolation at the valley head. We watch as early morning colours range across the rock and ice slopes and wonder why we waited so long.

For more information please visit www.alpbase.com
To contact Jerry directly, please email jerry@alpbase.com