- our destiny
While on the Fabian4 website entering an event I noticed the French OMM advertised, curious I clicked on the link and was surprised to see that it was being held over the last weekend of our holiday in France, plus it started in the resort just up the valley from where we were staying. Mon dieu, I exclaimed, sacre blue, obviously we were destined to do this event......
Having done the UK OMM we understood the format of the event and were able to put together 2 rucksacks full of kit. There was some discussion over what we might need, our experience of the UK OMM held in October led us to pack warm sleeping bags, down jackets, hats, gloves, over-trousers etc. However the French OMM was being held in July so probably wouldn’t be too cold, in fact, it could be really warm, so out came the down jackets, gloves and woolly hats and in went sun hats and sun cream. Further discussion followed - Avoriaz is at 1800m and the weather could be misty, rainy, even snowy.... back in with the gloves and warm hats, hey-ho!
This is a small event which offers just 2 courses, a Short Score - 4hrs 30mins each day and a Long Score - 6hrs both days. Eamon and I decided to compete in the short score with only 2 other teams. The long score had but only 25 teams and a large chunk of those were from the UK. The whole weekend was wonderfully relaxed, there was a mass start at 10.30am for the long score and we started 15 mins later. We had a bit of a surprise when we opened our map – no north south lines, apparently this is normal and you just assume north is the top edge of the map. The control circles were marked on the map and had different values. We planned our route to maximise our score and reach the overnight camp within time.
The Saturday was warm and sunny and we had amazing views across the Alps. We crossed the border into Switzerland for some of our controls, I did have to suppress the urge run over the hills, arms open wide, singing ‘The hills are alive with the sound of music...’ for Eamon’s sake really! The overnight camp (D on the map) known as the bivouac, was in a meadow next to a small bar & restaurant which was hosting a Swiss style tea dance when we arrived. To reach download we had to dodge the waltzing ladies and while drinking our beer we were serenaded by yodelling – yes, we were able to buy beer! From our tent we watched a large herd of goats being brought down the mountainside by a dog and the cows wander in for milking. Later in the evening a huge bonfire was lit, we all gathered round and chatted and, as if we weren’t relaxed enough, the organiser of the event produced a bottle of Chartreuse to share. (It’s definitely not like that on the UK OMM!!)
The weather on the second day started fine but soon it was drizzling, then it started to rain and by the time we crossed the col at 2219m, (control 78) the mist had come in. A big change from the previous day. Most of the controls were worth 10 points on Sunday plus there was an optional ‘sector’ which we chose to visit. The optional sector was on an additional map at 1/5000 scale, given to us at the start. The 5 controls in the sector were trickier to find and, interestingly, were on the golf course. We crossed several fairways – looking both ways in case of flying golf balls and climbed over many electrified fences with only one shock. Fortunately, because the weather was so wet, there were very few golfers out! The lines on the map that look like telegraph wires are actually ski lifts.
It was 24°C when we left Avoriaz on the Saturday and when we got back to Avoriaz on Sunday it was down to 12°C, so we didn’t hang around at the finish but headed back to car, got changed and drove down to Le Gets for warmth and a lovely meal.
Next year’s French OMM is being held in the Vosges, an area of lakes and small mountains north of Mulhouse. It is much closer than the Alps and probably a 6 hour drive from Le Harve. I would recommend this event as a good introduction to mountain marathons, it is a serious challenge (we climbed nearly 1000m on both days) with a wonderful informal atmosphere, but with a few quirky bits that make it fun.
Kirsty and Eamon Staunton
