French Alps

Welcome again to another Stuff The Consequences blog post. It has been a while, but this is the first of a few posts about Stu, Jonny and my (Rob H.) kayaking trip to Briançon area of the French Alps.

The drive down to the south of France was uneventful; Jonny drove through the UK to Dover, whilst Stu and I took all of the driving in France. Although it seemed to take forever, we got to the campsite to where Cardiff Uni set up at half one in the morning. Driving to the campsite, we caught glimpses of the rivers, and at midnight they were all stonking.

The first Day’s boating (Monday) consisted of the Briançon Gorge and the Upper Durance with the club. The Gorge was pumping. There was more water than I have ever seen, I’m pretty sure that if Noah had been around he would be screaming about the need for an Ark. The Upper Durance was also fast as I have seen, and the Uni did well with the run. The evening was spent with a lot of testosterone, as the fresher lads were wrestling to show who was the greatest. The unfortunate reality was that none of them were, because I’m the f**king greatest! A few beers and a good meal down, we headed to bed ready for the following day.

Tuesday was spent on the Upper Guisane and the Gyronde. The Guisane was rapid, and with a few swims down everyone made it to the bottom in one piece. Then a few of us headed to the Gyronde to check it out and see if the club would be OK on it. The answer was a clear and resounding NO. The run was too fast, and there is a weir about ¾ down that would have been a fresher eater, without anywhere to stop above. So the next day’s boating was to be decided by higher ups. Luckily not being a Uni student any more means that I do not need to deal with the politics of running the club, and just come in as an awesome boater; my speciality. There is one thing I have omitted thus far about today’s events, and that is about the ‘nature poo’ that Jonny had. On his return from this toilet break, he told Stu where he had gone so that Stu could find the place which had best cover. However Stu returned to say that when he bordered the fence that Jonny had climbed, a Gent was there tending to his garden. Yes, that is right. Jonny defecated in some poor man’s garden. He later went on to say he thought it weird that there were gnomes and porcelain toadstools in a wild rosebush!!!! I hate to think of other things Jonny has done in his lifetime that he never realised.

Wednesday was our day to go out and hit up the harder stuff together, along with Duncan and Simon. Heading to Briancon Gorge for a warm up, we found this:

Briancon Gorge Slide

Apparently the gate being open isn’t that unusual at this level, but not something I have seen before. Not knowing what would be coming up inside the gorge, I would be more willing to play a game of pick the prostitute without Aids to ride bareback. Luckily the decision was to go do the Lower Guisane, and this was quality. The holes/stoppers were nice and big, with Stu taking a unexpected surf, and I took a back loop in another. At the bottom there were smiling faces on everyone. Tomorrow is Initiation for the Cardiff Uni Freshers, and hopefully there will be some stories to tell.

Appologies if this first post seems ruched, but I wanted something early to set the scene for everyone. There will be another shortly to give you an update.

Till then…