Philippe Gatta stories and photos of Expeditions. Such as Mount Everest, Makalu, Kangchenjunga, K2. Also details about the 7 Summits.
Furthermore, some sotries about desert races. Espcecially the 4 Desert and Marathon des Sables. Also multiples trail such as Tour du Mont Blanc, GHT, Via Alpina. Also multiples posts about rock Climbing and Alpinism.
The Everest Sky Race is probably one of the nicest trail running races in the world. It takes place in the Khumbu regnio in Nepal, around famous 8000 meters; Cho Oyu (8153 m), Lhoste (8501 m), Lhoste Shar (8383 m), Makalu (8463 m) and Mt. Everest (8850 m).
The Marathon des Sables (Marathon of Sands) is a mythic race, a race that all ultra-distance runners must do at least once. Despite its name, it’s not a Marathon but a +200km race with 6 stages, including a 80 km non-stop stage. The race takes places in Morocco in the Sahara desert.
The Himal Race is an extreme running race which starts at the Annapurna Base camp, crosses the Himalayas to finish at the Mt. Everest base camp. The races covers a distance of 1,050 km with 80,000 meters of ascent in 23 days.
Versant Satanique in the South face of Minaret is a classic route, offering some unique wide cracks on a perfect red granite. Preparing the gear
The Aiguille de la Glière can be quickly reached from the Index chairlift. Looking for a more sustained climb than the famous South ridge, we chose the Les Portes de la Chapelle, a TD+ route.
We climbed Acqua concert in Aiguilles de Van (Perrons). The route is not the best we have done but it offers the stunning views.
There are multiple great routes in the Perrons de Vallorcine and A Bigger Bang is definitively one of them with its memorable 7a pitch.
The Kohlmann route is probably less known than the Rebuffat but as nice in my opinion. It is a short route, easy to find, on good granite with a climb mostly on corners.
We did another fun climb in Aiguilles Rouges: the Ravanel route in the South summit of Aiguilles Crochues. 15 pitches/400 meters easy and very scenic, relaxing after the crimps of Aiguille du Belvédère.
Beaufortain is a nice region of Savoie department, South of Mont Blanc massif. With numerous good trails, amazing views over the mountains, large lakes, alpine meadow, it is a great destination for trail running.
After a few nice trails in the Bornes- Aravis Massif, we decided to go back there, this time to run around Sous Dine peak and the Plateau des Glières.
Despite its weird name, the Trou de la Mouche (the fly’s hole) is a very nice “peak” of the Aravis massif. It is actually like a natural tunnel in the cliff of Rocher Perfia peak, at 2,467m.
La Tournette (2,351m), is a very scenic peak of the Bornes Massif. The West side has big cliffs and offers amazing view over Annecy and its lake, while the pastures of the East side are perfect for trail running.
For once, we left the Mont Blanc Massif and went to the Jura for trail in the Valserine area (Crêt de Chalam)
Looking for a nice trail around Aiguille de Bionnassay and Domes de Miage?
This is a very scenic 18 km and +1,760 meters loop..