Category Archives: E-Bike

Fantastic Multi-Sport Corsican Ski Safari during lockdown

Ski Safaris are always a super exciting time for me. Before leaving, I would have spent days researching and planning the trip. Most often, we’re heading to an area I’ve never been to before, so I’m as amped as my clients to discover new horizons. The forecast was calling for heavy snows in the Alps, and variable weather in the Mediterranean. So we thought we’d take our chance and head south!

This trip to Corsica in the middle of the pandemie was even more tantalizing! We knew we could travel to Corsica after getting a PCR test. There were no quarantine restrictions going to or returning back home to Switzerland. Whether or not we would actually be allowed to waltz right back in across the border in a week’s time, left me with a tiny morsel of curiosity.

Nearing Corsica!

Arriving at L’Île-Rousse on the ferry from Livorno, Simone and I were gripping the Ferry handrails, craning our necks to study the wind force and direction. We planned to start the trip with a little afternoon kite surfing since we had just the half day. Simone had brought his foil board, which turned out to be a bonus. The winds were light in the little bay of Algajola, a 20 minute drive from L’Île-Rousse. He had a good full-on session, while I flailed with my North 12m kite as it slowly deflated with a faulty airport valve. I’ll be getting on a foil next so I can ride with him in lighter winds!!!

Simone on his foil, enjoying the light winds of Algajola.

We drove south to Corte to base ourselves in the Restonica valley for some ski touring. The valley was insanely beautiful to us, coming from the Alps. The road weaves and winds its way up the valley, way, way above the steep river below. Cows were leaving a country style mess on the road . It was a challenge to not drive off the cliffs as I drove, wanting to see all the sights. We skinned right from the the van, up through sparse woods, then put on ski crampons to get over the frozen spring snow to Lac de Melo below the Breche de Gloria. Above, the sun started heating the snow, making the last climb to the Breche very agreeable indeed. Standing on the main east-west ridge dividing Haute Corse felt inspiring. The ski down on mature spring snow was a blast! It’d gotten warm in the Alps earlier, but there was nothing like flying down these vast couloirs, skiing mature spring snow on all aspects. This snow had been sitting there since October so it was super nice to get on such fine corn snow.

Over the next 7 days, we meandered up and down the valleys of Haute Corse near Corte and discovered the wonderful granite, climbing, e-biking and kiting on the beaches near Calvi. We used the e-bikes on our last day to approach Monte Cinto, the highest peak on the island.

Ski Safari, gotta do it!

Electric Mountain Bike access Mountaineering

I’m completely enamored with my EMTB. I’ve been riding mountain bikes since bringing mine to Verbier with me in 1983, but these electric bikes have opened up a whole new world. It truly is like skiing off-piste in winter. The ride we do in a few hours now, used to take days. I’m getting a fantastic work out, even more than my non Ebike because I love the speed! I just want to go faster uphill because it’s such a new, and literally uplifting feeling.

Last week, we rode to the head of the Val de Bagnes to the Mauvoisin Dam. That’s usually it for the day’s activity. Ride back down and recover. Instead, we then did a via Ferrata while recharging the batteries, had a nice lunch, then rode to the head of the valley to the Chanrion Hut.

We climbed the lovely Ruinette the next morning. The climb starts with a beautiful, remote hike through fields of edelweiss, to some lovely steep moves on gneiss, up onto a tiny glacier, then 45 minutes of rope work along the ridge. We spent an hour on the summit, enjoying what is perhaps one of the nicest views in the Alps. Especially if you live in this Bagnes valley! The next morning, we rode back down the valley in a surreal ambience of drizzle, fog, and mist over the Lac de Mauvoisin. Being on a bike, rolling along, left me to enjoy the scenery as I’ve never done before. Though I was moving quicker, I was taking in more, somehow quite in the present, being more aware of the fleeting moments I was living. There were waterfalls everywhere, sometimes thundering underfoot, sometimes rolling through. We got back to Verbier and still had time for a tour of the Pierre Avoi on dirt and single tracks.

EMTB at its finest!