Geoff Jones

Inveterate dabbler in business, travel, gadgets & life

Author: Geoff

60 year old walks across the Alps on the GR5 trail

More interesting statistics from my GR5 walk across The Alps last year:-

GR5 Data from Memory Map
Date Place Ascent (m) Descent (m) Distance (km) Time Av.Gradient
02/09/06 Saint Gingolph
03/09/06 La Chapelle 1929 1306 14.9 05:53 22%
04/09/06 De Chesery 1750 764 17.5 06:04 14%
05/09/06 Samoen 500 1700 19.8 11%
06/09/06 Les Gets
07/09/06 Moéde Anterne 1894 620 18.4 06:28 14%
08/09/06 Les Houches 1043 2020 14.7 04:23 21%
09/09/06 Chalet Nant Borrant 1447 962 19.3 05:52 12%
10/09/06 Chalet de la Balme 2193 1683 23.4 10:40 17%
11/09/06 Refuge de Rosuel 1369 1801 21.8 09:11 15%
12/09/06 Val D’Isére 1401 1149 21.3 08:04 12%
13/09/06 Lanslevillard 1361 1732 29.3 10:26 11%
14/09/06 Modane 1005 1409 28.5 09:09 8%
15/09/06 Refuge étroite 1558 830 16.2 06:53 15%
16/09/06 Montgenévre 1800 1741 27.3 10:48 13%
17/09/06 Chateau Queyras 2012 2462 33.6 13:30 13%
18/09/06 Ceillac 1097 821 12.5 05:26 15%
19/09/06 Fouillouze 1703 1474 21.9 09:13 15%
20/09/06 Bousieyas 2201 2211 30.9 12:54 14%
21/09/06 Auron 1652 1915 20.9 09:42 17%
22/09/06 Roure 2299 2813 32.4 14:21 16%
23/09/06 Dalmas-Valdeblore 1321 1105 13.8 06:32 18%
24/09/06 Utelle 1737 2228 23.4 10:48 17%
25/09/06 Nice 1640 2438 32.9 10:19 12%
34912 35184 494.7
Number of Everests 3.9

As you can see the walk nearly equals climbing 4 Everests from sea level in 22 walking days. Hoping to make a youtube video of a 3D fly through of the walk….

A long days walk..

After doing my warming up exercises for the GR20 at the weekend with Sally. I thought it might be interesting to have another look at my GR5 walk last year.

Day 7 was one of my longer days. I left the excellent Chalet de Nant Borrant (1460m) at 07.45. By 10.43 I was atop Col de la Croix-du-Bonhomme (2483m). I negotiated the very narrow path on Crete des Gittes and arrived at Refuge du Plan de la Laie (1815m) which was going to my finish at 12.28.

Since it was a pleasant day and still so early, I thought, I would do the next day as well. The thunder clouds were forming as I arrived pretty exhausted, after all the bouldering, on the Col de Bresson (2469m) at 16.37.

I raced down the other side to arrive luckily at the Chalet de la Balme (2009m) at 17.10, just before the storm broke. A lucky escape.

Total ascent was 2193m and descent 1683m in a 23.4km route. according to memory map.

Here is the route plotted in google earth:-

     
     

Silva Pedometer / Step counter Instruction Setup

For those that are like me and can never find instruction manuals. Here is the setup sheet for the Silva Step Counter (56012) , Pedometer (56013) and Pedometer Plus (56014). Click on the image to get the full size.

I’m now on my third one. The internal pendulum seems to only last a million steps, which for me is about a years walking or a stroll down The Camino from SJPP to Santiago de Compostella.

Other than that they are very reliable and good value. Important usage information :-

  • Always attach to your belt with a lanyard (latest models have a small hole to thread a cord through).
  • If they get wet, the displays stops working. However, they still count OK – just put near a radiator and the display will start up again.

Happy walking – they are surprisingly accurate when compared to a GPS typically to better than 1%