Archive for February, 2008

Le Weekend

Against the odds England beat France in the Rugby Six Nations tournament this weekend however my amount of exercise was curtailed by a bacterial growth in my urine requiring antibiotic intervention.  

 I felt fine but it took the edge away from me to be able to go out and do any ‘proper’ aerobic work. I believe having extensive contact with those with spinal cord injury – both at work as clients and as friends – that we all have at least one Achilles heel. That is to say a real weakness that wasn’t there ( or to the same extent) before paralysis that now has a profound, and often acute, impact on our lives.

These weaknesses tend to fall into 3 categories,

  1. ‘Bowel malfunctions’
  2. Skin complaints – pressure sores, skin breakdown
  3. Bladder – in particular urine tract infections, to which I am prone.

With an eye on the 1st National Disabled Triathlon championships in June , despite feeling under the weather, I forced myself to pick up the dumbbells for the first time in years.

La Vallee Blanche

Skiing ‘La Vallee Blanche’ was by far the highlight of this year’s skiing.

The run is probably the most famous off-piste run in the world, down the glaciers of Mont Blanc requiring you to ski around huge seracs, boulders and crevasses on top of glaciers to the Chamonix valley.

I caught the cable car up to the Aiguille Du midi with Lucy and my guide Doume. We then took a lift to a viewing platform at 3880 metres which provides a stunning panorama of all the alps, into Switzerland and Italy.

We climbed down to the start of the run through an ice tunnel and down the Arete, which is pretty hair raising. Crampons were worn as were harnesses and we descended all roped together. The ridge has a 40% incline either side so falling is not a good idea. Doume guided me down the ridge with great skill to start the run down the Geant Glacier.

We all had to have avalanche transceivers which highlighted the dangers of the run, even on such a perfect, cloudless day.

The Geant Glacier turns into the Glacier du Tacul however before this point we traversed the moraine taking us to the Rufuge du Requin for lunch at 2516 metres. It is a spectacularly positioned restaurant above the Valley facing the seracs du Geant, arete des perides, le mont mallet, aiguille du tacul and le dent du Geant.

After lunch we joined the Glacier du Tacul which merges with the Glacier de Les chaux to become the Mer de Glace. The snow although not ‘piste-bashed’ was excellent to ski however constant vigilance was required to ensure we did not fall into the numerous crevasses.

As the lack of snow stopped us skiing into Chamonix itself we took a bubble to the Montenvers railway to drop down into the valley itself…..what a day!

Have a look at the photos page for videos as well as photos!

Skiing

I am back skiing in the French Alps next week. Although paralysed I am able to ski with my family and friends through the use of a sit ski – please see gallery below.

England v Wales

Well the Six Nations starts again!

I drove down to Twickenham on Saturday with my Uncle to meet up with friends to watch the match. Needless to say the drive back up the motorway to Southport wasn’t quite as jovial as on the way down due to the terrible second half performance of England gifting Wales an unlikely victory!

As I have a Welsh mother, went to a Welsh University and my parents and sister now live in Wales you can imagine how many text messages, phone calls and e-mails of condolence I have recieved as a proud Englishman.

At least England got to the final of the Rugby World Cup a few months ago as opposed to failing to get out of their group…………………..!