Campervan Adventures: Hiking In Chamonix, Barberine To Emosson Dam

Starting a hike of 1km vertical ascent up a mountain at 3pm when a storm is forecast might not have seemed like the best idea to some people. But when we saw the Emosson dam looming above us we just had to get up there to check it out – and I’m so glad we did! We’d driven to Chamonix in the camper van, had some work meetings in the morning and taken the advice of a local client to take a short waterfall hike from the little hamlet of Barberine. We reached the waterfall in 20 minutes and the signs directing us to the 2hr trail to the dam were too much to resist, so on we marched with one eye on the gathering clouds.

Surprising Facts About Skiing

It’s been a while since I blogged, as my rural idyll was shattered when my life took another unexpected turn last year – I moved to a ski resort in the Alps, launched a resort magazine and basically did my first ski season! It’s been quite a change of pace and my experience of French life is radically different up in the mountains. Instead of digging in the garden flower beds, I now dig my way out of the house through snow drifts, and due to all the fondue and raclette my cheese intake has exploded. Typically a “gap yah” student’s game, doing your first ski season at the age of 34 – and with no prior experience of skiing, glacial temperatures or apres bars – is an eye opener to say the least. In case you’re thinking of doing something similarly bonkers, I’ll share with you some of the things I learned…