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Stone Stacking in the mountains

Cairns

A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: c?rn (plural c?irn)

The Purpose of Cairns

Cairns, traditionally, have stood at places to mark particular spots. They have prehistoric origins as landmarks and marking burial sites.

In a walking or mountaineering context they are used to help navigation or route-finding in poor visibility. They are frequently erected at summits or key navigational points. Unfortunately they can morph into stone stacking.

Contrast this purpose with the stone stacks in the photograph below I took in the Vanoise National Park in the French Alps. They serve no purpose. In poor visibility they can (and do) lead to confusion and route-finding mistakes.

Stone piles in the Vanoise — Stone Piles in the Vanoise National Park

Why Stone Stacking Should Stop!

I believe stone stacking or “rock balancing” should stop for the following reasons:

Stone stacking takes away from the sense of wilderness or wildness. The feeling that no one has been there before.
It robs subsequent people of the feeling of wildness.
It’s like an animal marking it’s territory, “this is mine”.
It’s self-absorbed and narcissistic. It’s a form of “natural graffiti”.
Nature doesn’t need to be embellished; it speaks for itself!
Stacking stones goes against the principles of “Leave No Trace“.

A Phenomena Fuelled by Social Media

It’s is a plague propagated by Instagram and other social media platforms. It has become a type of “natural grafitti”! A search for #stonestacking on Instagram yiels over 30,000 results!

“Rock balancing” – it’s got out of hand.

?Please, enjoy the park but leave rocks and all natural objects in place … a curious but destructive practice … stacking up stones is simply vandalism”.
Post by Zion National Park Social Media Co-ordinator

?Social media has kind of popularized rock stacking as a meditative activity, and you used to have a handful of people doing it, but it has really escalated over the past few years on public lands,?
Wesley Trimble, the American Hiking Society

A demonstration of how social media can give rise to an exponential increase in an activity.

Environmental / Ecological Concerns

The movement of stones can cause erosion especially in fragile environments. Small animals have their fragile ecosystems damaged. The undersides of stones provide a cool, humid environment for invertabrates.

?Rock stacking is a way of quickly making your mark and having an image of it. People are posting pictures of them on Instagram, saying, ?I?ve been here and I made this? ?
John Hourston, the Blue Panet Society.

He first noticed the boom when he visited remote beaches in Orkney, Scotland, and found them littered with rock piles. He said,

?It struck me as a real shame, because there are very few places where you can still find solitude and seclusion, and here they were absolutely covered by the footprint of man.?

Isle of Skye, Scotland

In 2018 local residents on the Isle of Skye on the west coast of the Scotland have had enough. They dismantled more than 100 stone piles in the world-famous, Fairy Glen, near Uig and transported them back to where they belong. They claimed, in my view rightly, that it robbed the glen of its natural beauty.

Links to other articles

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/people-are-stacking-too-many-stones

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/17/stone-stacking-instagram-environment-adventure-tourism

Rock-stacking-denies-people-the-experience-of-wildness

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/30/ben-nevis-visitors-urged-not-to-build-mini-cairns

Autumn via ferrata trip to the South of France

Finally the time came to run my first via ferrata tour in the South of France!

Saturday, 28th September saw me leaving my home near Albertville to head for the South of France.

I joined the motorway and headed first for Grenoble. Happily it was Saturday and so the typical early morning queues were absent. Looping around the by pass I soon picked up the road South. After a short section of motorway it was on to the twisty road through the Trieves and past the Mont d’Aiguille. Over the Col de la Croix Haute and the countryside changes. Soon I drove through Laragne and on to the another section of motorway near Sisteron.

I met Mark (who had been on two other via ferrata holidays with me) in the arrivals area of Nice airport. Soon we were in the car and out on to the motorway. Our destination for the night was Tende and the easiest way to get there saw us cross the Italian border before heading up the Roya valley.

We arrived at our hotel, an old Priory, for the night and checked in.

Day 1 – Tende

The following morning a 5 minute drive took us to the village of Tende itself. A quick stop to buy some sandwiches. We parked up by the railway station and walked up through the village passing the cemetery perched on the hillside. Soon we were at the start and looking at a Nepal bridge.

Across this we climbed a steep wall with increasing views over the valley in the clear autumn air. Soon we arrived at the first of the tyrolean traverses. I set off carefully as out Tandem Speed pulleys. Safely across we reached the chapel and a break for lunch. The next section, Les Heretiques, was sadly shut by an ?Arete Municipale? (local byelaw).

Back down in Tende we wandered through the amazing old streets.

Day 2 – La Brigue

Less than 10 minutes in the car saw us pull up in the village of La Brigue. The Tourist Office was open and I paid for two access passes for the via ferrata and got the key to the gate across the river.

A short steep approach through old terraces brought us to the foot of the route. A steep wall led to a even steeper or slightly impending wall that gave the arms a work out. The ground eased and a final short wall took us to the start of the 120m long Tyrolean.

Drive. We headed for the Col du Turini by a very winding road. There was no point in trying to rush it and it was best to ?take a chill pill? and enjoy the view. Next year’s Tour de France has this col on the itinerary – bonne courage!

We arrived at the St Sebastien Hotel near Roquebilliere. After the via ferrata and the journey it was great to chill out in the heated outdoor pool!

Day 3 – Lantosque

Lantosque. The via ferrata was ?shut? i.e. there was no one at the start collecting money and only a couple of chains barred access to the start. So we hopped over the chains and set off. The first section was very tame and we meandered down the gorge of the river. This section came to an end with a down climb and a Monkey bridge before crossing an enormous jammed boulder over the River Vesubie. The area weather the via ferrata local patrimoine accommodation restaurants / bars Tende

Day 4 – The Baus de la Frema at Colmiane

This was an outstanding day. We drove up from Roquebilliere to the Col de Colmiane. A short drive up a forestry road finishing as a track took us to a parking place. There was a hut that was clearly used as the “pay gate” but was un-manned.

A walk along the track and then a footpath took us on a descending path to the “Les Aiguillettes”. The highlight here was the large Nepal bridge. From here a short ziz-zag path through open pines brought us to the start of the next section; the Rochers de Miejou. In the first few metres a short traverse led to a short strenuous overhang. Above was steady.

At this point there were two options. Mark was not so keen on the harder one so we climbed the steep wall before traversing left above the lip of the cave. Here a ladder was climbed, facing out, with a squeeze to pass between the top and the cliff.

The following part was the “Arete des Calanques” on beautiful sculpted limestone. A real joy to climb. We then followed a short path to an exposed Monkey Bridge and I whipped round to photograph Mark crossing the bridge with the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes behind.

Monkey Bridge on the Baus de la Frema Via Ferrata Colmiane — Mark crossing the Monkey bridge on the Baus de la Frema

The culmination was the stunning Pilier du Soleil and an exit close to the summit of the Baus de la Frema at 2246m. A orientation table pointed out the surrounding summits.

Finally it was time to descend first on a good path and then threading our way down via various short cliffs, protected by cables. A brilliant day.

Day 5

A steep drive up narrow roads brought us to the tiny village of Roubion. A quick visit to the Tourist Office to pay our dues and a cafe. The approach was on part of a GR through alleyways that took us out to the open hillside.

A path cut off towards the cliffs of the Balma Negra and we were soon at the base of the cliff gearing up. A short wall to a cave ensued before a steep climb in a fine position. From here the route traversed right on the lip of the huge cave. Onward along a steady traverse before a final Monkey Bridge.

French Soldiers on a via ferrata — French soldiers on the via ferrata Balma Negra at Roubion.

As we were coming off a group of 30 odd French soldiers all kitted up for climbing started up the route. It was quite a sight seeing them dotted along the length of the route.

Our hotel for the night was in the village of Puget-Theniers and due to roads being closed we took a picturesque route via Valberg and Guillaumes and an impressive gorge.

Day 6

We woke up to another day of blues skies. 5 minutes in the car brought us to the parking place. There was no one at the entry hut but I phoned the guides company that managed the via ferrata and a monster 450m tyrolean.

Via Ferrata Demoiselles du Castagnet — Mark crossing the monkey bridge on the via ferrata Demoiselles du Castagnet

The Demoiselles du Castagnet, so named for the three pinnacles that formed the line of the route. The start up a steady wall brought us to a Nepal Bridge that gave access to a steep climb to the crest of the ridge.

A short down climb and a Monkey bridge in an exposed position. Another climb with the option of a more strenuous traverse took us to the tyrolean. This was a single cable and I was soon whizzing across the gap with only a slight brake necessary to arrive comfortably at the far end.

A final climb down saw in the woods and a pleasant footpath wending its way down to the valley.

Day 7

We left the hotel after a 7 o’clock breakfast and headed down the Var and Nice airport.

Join me on this trip!

A Brief History of Via Ferrata

The first generation of Via Ferrata began in the Dachstein alps of Austria in 1843 with the first equipment installed on the normal route on the Hocher Daschein. This was equipped by Friedrich Simony.

In 1869 it was the turn of Studli on the arete linking the two easy summits of the Grossglockner, the highest summit in Austria.

Via Ferrata were born in the Dolomites in Italy during World War I (1914 ? 1918). They were constructed to help get men and equipment into strategic positions in the mountains. These via ferrata are now used for tourist purposes and maintained by the local communes and volunteers.

The local Alpine clubs equipped them with more equipment making them accessible to more than just pure mountaineers.

In the 1930’s and then again after World War II the Italian Alpine Club with the Societa Alpinista Trentina began to improve certain via ferrata in the Brenta Dolomites. They equipped them with steel cables, iron bars in order to make the access to some summits easier. One of them, the ?Via de la Bochette? became very popular. This route was equipped with a certain ethical standard in that only the parts with no or little holds were equipped.

From the 1950’s up until the 1980’s became more and more popular under the name ?Via Ferrata? as an activity in its own right.

From the 1990’s the popularity of ?via ferrata? boomed and they were soon to be found in France and Switzerland. Some of the routes became more and more sporting. More spectacular sections, overhangs and monkey bridges of wire cable. Via ferrata became very much an activity in its own right.

Via Ferrata in France

The first via ferrata in France appeared in 1988 in the Haute Alpes. The first route bearing this name appeared in the valley of Fresissiniere. A short time later another appeared in the nearby valley of Vigneaux that sees up to 15,000 people complete it each year. Shortly after the alpine valleys behind the coast at Nice followed the lead.

Grande Fistoire Via Ferrata France — On the Grande Fistoire via ferrata in France

Now there are more than 150 throughout the Alps including the mountain ranges bordering the Tarentaise, the Maurienne, the Bauges, l’Isere, l’Oisans, the Pyrenees, the Loire, l’Auvergne and Corsica.

One of the reasons for the growth in via ferrata in France is the desire of the ski resorts to diversify. Once the winter snows have gone the resorts are always trying to offer more opportunities for families and those looking for more adventures.

The via ferrata come in all forms. Some routes make enormous use of a variety of ironmongery to allow progression whilst others just use man-made holds when there are not sufficient natural holds. Of course there’s always the presence of the steel cable for security!

Occasionally you will come across ?Via Cordata?. These are routes equipped with intermediate anchors for the rope but no other equipment for progress.

Equipment

The equipment for via ferrata has developed over the years. Salewa developed one of the first karabiners designed for via ferrata and a shock absorbing system based on the rope being able to slip under load to absorb the shock. In France the company Petzl are probably the leaders for innovation.

The via ferrata in France are regularly inspected and maintained. The company Prisme has probably put up the most in France and Switzerland.

Read my other articles or find out about my guiding:

Via Ferrata Tour de la Jalouvre - Aravis - Alps - France

Guided Via Ferrata Holidays

A Beginners Guide to Via Ferrata

Is the Tour du Mont Blanc Sustainable?

The Sustainability of the Tour du Mont Blanc in Question

I guided several American groups hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc during the summer. The amount of people on this classic trekking route is amazing. It is clearly a great success however is the Tour du Mont Blanc sustainable?

Key Issues

Toilets

Look behind any large rock or amongst the trees close to the path and you will come across human waste and toilet paper. It’s hideous.

Erosion

The path is severely eroded. Given the many years that the Tour du Mont Blanc has existed you can expect erosion however walkers need to be educated.

Hikers on the Tour du Mont Blanc need to be educated to avoid taking short-cuts especially where paths zig-zag. These short-cuts create more channels for surface run-off that is quickly eroded after heavy rain. The fragile soil and plant life are unlikely to ever recover.

Walkers also need to learn to avoid walking immediately to the edge of the existing path. Walking immediately parallel to the path simply spreads the erosion in a ?ribbon? effect.

Mountain bikes, or as they are known in France VTT (Velo Tout Terrain) exacerbate and accelerate the rate of erosion. My observations show that they frequently avoid the drainage channels and rocks designed to take water off the path. By doing so they create a new channel for the water that simply by-passes the channel making it redundant; unable to do its job.

Watching a group descend from the Col du Grand Ferret they clearly had no regard for the erosion they were causing and spreading it across the mountain. I feed that mountain bikers are similar to downhill skiers; not real mountain lovers but those in search of an adrenaline buzz in a man-made environment.

Etiquette in the Mountains

In the mountains the etiquette has always been that those going up have priority over those going down. It’s common sense and courtesy really as it’s harder work going up hill. Whilst guiding an American lady this summer finding it hard going I was setting a slow pace for her. An American coming down the path indicated that I should move out of his way. I just stood there and politely reminded him of this mountain etiquette to which he said I was the first a***hole he’d met on the Tour. Charming.

Drones on the Tour du Mont Blanc

I can see the attraction of a drone and the amazing footage that one can obtain. However for those in the vicinity the buzzing like a demented bee is very intrusive. During a Tour du Mont Blanc this summer I was sitting with the group at the Col du Grand Ferret when a group of mountain bikers arrived. One of their number then got out a drone and launched it.

Potential Ideas for Improvement

Dry toilets

Putting in place dry toilets in locations where, currently, there are no toilets could help. There needs to be a move to construct bio matter type toilets in places where people tend to congregate e.g. the Col du Bonhomme (where there’s already a wooden shelter); Col de la Seigne or just below adjacent to the Casmatte; Col du Grand Ferret; Col du Tricot.

Leave No Trace

The use of zip-lock bags for toilet paper and / or human waste should be encouraged.

?Tourist Tax?

A levy for companies with groups on the TMB could be used for putting money back in to provide additional facilities and provide money to pay for ?wardens?.

Create the ?Mont Blanc National Park?

Despite its world renown the Mont Blanc massif has no special protection. National Park status would bring with it a level of regulation backed up by national park wardens. Yes, the TMB passes through Italy and Switzerland as well however even if the other countries did not agree, it would create an upwards pressure.

Wolves in the French Alps

The wolf is now well-established in the French Alps. Locally, in Savoie, two wolves were seen at the ski resort of Courchevel. They were spotted and photographed after dark by one of the ski resort employees whilst driving a piste machine. Earlier in the winter ski patrollers came across the remains of a deer surrounded by wolf foot prints.

The wolf (Canis lupus) lives in a wide variety of areas in the Northern hemisphere from wooded plains to the mountains.? The wolf is adapted for running and long journeys. It weighs around 35kg for a male and 25kg for the female. Wolves are social animals and live in family groups. Within this group is a dominant couple and this year’s off-spring and sometimes one or two from the year before. In France the packs range from two to six at the end of winter, rarely more than eight. The packs territory depends on the amount of potential prey.

In the French Alps a typical territory is in the order of 200 ? 400 km². Young wolves typically leave the pack when they are between two and four years old. These wolves account for between 10% and 40% of the wolf population. At this stage they are vulnerable with little experience as they hunt alone in an unknown territory.

What the Wolf Preys On

The wolf eats a wide range of food including insects and fruit but typically it will prey on hoofed animals like deer and sheep. It will also feed on carrion. The wolf is very adaptable to its environment but to survive needs reliable food source year round. Wild animals typically chamois, deer and wild boar make up its principle prey and help to control these populations when they become too abundant. The wolf population self-regulates (according to certain observers) as the mortality rate of young wolves increases when there is not enough prey. However the wolf will try to take domestic animals mainly in the spring and autumn. In the French Alps farmers use ?patou? ( Pyrenean mountain dogs) to protect flocks and herds from predation.

History of the Wolf in France

At the end of the 18^th century there were 10, 000 ? 20,000 wolves in France, present from the shores of the Atlantic to the high mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees. After a well-coordinated effort of extermination the wolf disappeared from France in the 1930’s. The last of them were found in the Dordogne, Charente, Vienne and the Haute Vienne. In the Alps it had disappeared thirty years earlier.

The Return of the Wolf

The first indications of the return of the wolf to France was in the Southern Alps in the late 1980’s. There was a confirmed sighting in the Mercantour (Alpes Maritime) in November, 1992. They had not been re-introduced but had come from the Abruzzes mountains of Italy.

The return has been helped by wolves being a protected species (the Berne Convention); an abundance of wild hoofed animals and previously cultivated ground being abandoned and becoming wooded again. In Europe the wolf has benefited from the increased population of roe deer and wild boar. Wolves are not afraid to cross urbanised areas and transport infrastructure like railways and motorways. A few yeas after this first sighting wolves were observed in many areas of the Alps and other mountainous areas including the Vosges, Jura, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees. There’s no reason why they will limit themselves to just mountainous areas and are quite capable of colonising most regions in France. The wolf only needs a good population of prey.

The French Wolf Population Remains Precarious

At the end of the winter of 2015 the wolf population in France was estimated at 282 (source: ONCFS). By way of comparison in Spain and Italy there were 2000 and 1000 ? 1500 respectively.

Recent Wolf Encounters with Man

Encounters with man are relatively rare as they are unobtrusive, fearful and cover vast areas. In France the fear of wolves seems be instilled in the collective memory despite the only attacks on man being linked with rabies.? Protection dogs (“Patou” / Pyrenean Mountain Dogs) are being used by farmers to protect flocks from attacks by wolves. Studies have shown these dogs to be very effective if used properly. http://www.observatoireduloup.fr/

Why NOT to go to a ski resort in summer

If you are ever planning to enjoy the French alps in summer my recommendation is NOT to go to a place that is principally a winter ski resort. Why?

“Ghost Town”

The place can be like a ?ghost town?. Many of the big resorts make their money in the winter and the summer is sadly just an after-thought. This is clear when you find that most of the shops and cafes are all shut or at best just open from early July to the first week of September. I remember starting out from Val Thorens one August and couldn’t find a single cafe open for a coffee!

Do you enjoy living in the midst of a building site? Another reason is that summer is just about the only time the resort can do construction and maintenance work. The result is sprouting cranes, concrete mixers and builders working frantically to complete new projects while the weather makes this feasible. Dust and noise may be your constant companion.

Industrialisation

Do you enjoy unspoilt nature. Ski lift pylons sprouting amongst the alpine pastures or the bulldozed ski runs partially partially covered with the grass that may have survived being covered in heavily compacted snow. Artificially produced snow from the ?snow cannons? lining the side of the winter ski runs has a averse effect on the types of grass and flowers that will grow. Bull dozed tracks criss cross the ski area to allow maintenance of the ski paraphenalia. The only ?developpement durable? here is the copious amounts of concrete.

Up and down! Ski resorts may be high up with only one road up and down connecting them with the valley bottom. If you want to do anything else than stay in the immediate area of the resort that may be great but otherwise you will find yourself driving up and down the switch back roads to and fro from the valley bottom before being able to visit other neighbouring areas.

Prices. As they say here the prices inflate along with the altitude. The ?Huit a huit? superette, if it’s open, has a very limited stock along with high prices.

Amusement Park in the Mountains

The ?Disneyland des Alpes? – to me Disneyland would be hell on earth and yet many ski resorts seem hellbent on the ?Disneyfication? of the mountains. Sadly the winter ski clientele are largely composed of the ?want it now?, ?instant gratification? generation with no real ?feeling? / connection with the mountains that need no man-made embellishment necessary. The epitomy of this ?enfer? is the ?Folie Douce? – outdoor discos on the ski slopes with pounding music with a bass that can be heard across the valley. This leaves aside the alcohol fuelled debauchery. No thanks.

Recommended Places

Here’s a few of some of my favourite places. Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Beaufort, Areches-Beaufort, Talloires.