Flooding in Europe

[Miguel Arboleda]

After the news for the past few days of the worst flooding in history in Central Europe I'm really worried about what the weather will be like in the Alps for my trip coming up in two weeks. Has anybody heard what is happening? Are the Alps safe to walk right now? Is transport working for getting up to the Alps? Two years ago there was bad flooding in Switzerland with trains being shut down. How are conditions this year? If they are bad I'm going to have to rethink my trip and find some other place to spend a month.

[carlos fernandez rivas]

miguel some friends spent the last 4 weeks in the alps climbing and until now (6 days ago) except the storms and some really bad weather days everything was ok (in fact one of my friends make one alpine climbing route with maximum grade 8a and other group climb the mont blanc two weeks ago)

If they did that with this weather… i suposse that you can go… ;-)

And don´t forget that alps are one favorite holiday spot for french german an italian turists

everything must be ok in august

[Miguel Arboleda]

Thanks Carlos. It's always nice to get such information from people who are close to the locales. I feel more confident now. Looking forward to arriving there!

[Jeroen Wesselman]

Hi Miguel,

already decided on your shelter for your trip.

Jeroen

[Miguel Marcos]

I've been tracking the weather for the last 3 1/2 weeks for the eastern French Pyrenees. It was typical occasional rain but the forecast for the next 10 days says sun, sun, sun! There's been no flooding in France, Italy, Switzerland or Spain. I certainly haven't heard of anything. It's been localized in the British Isles.

[Miguel Arboleda]

Hi Jeroen,

I keep waffling about this. I still may take the Akto, just to be sure in bad weather, but if possible I want to go lighter. I've been setting up my SpinnShelter and Rainbow in the rain and wind here for the last few weeks and am seriously thinking of taking one of the two. I've been finding the SpinnShleter hard to get up when the soil is soft and it's raining and windy at the same time, and just wonder how I would do when I'm tired and it's snowing. Though for weight and versatility the SpinnShelter can't be beat. I also like that it doesn't stretch when it's wet. Mostly I'm leaning toward the Rainbow, which I hadn't seriously considered in the beginning, but with a few modifications, like a zippered door, pullouts at the apex for guylines, grommets at the apex for hiking poles, an added skirt at the bottom of the doors, and a light tyvek liner for inside the tent, perhaps it will be the best choice. I just don't like carrying a tent pole plus hiking poles. Just seems like redundant weight. I have a week more to consider.

By the way, does anyone think it's silly to consider bringing a light down jacket (MontBell UL Down Jacket) instead of a synthetic fill jacket (MB Thermawrap). I just love the weight and packing size!

[Jeroen Wesselman]

Well good luck with the shelter choice, to me it looks like the rainbow is the best compomise.

I dont think bringing a down jacket is silly instead of a synthetic jacket. For almost a decade I bivied in the alps with a full down set up an d a bivy bag (and sometimes a BD Megamid). For Mountaineering i used a down jacket all the time. It was only when i was introduced to UL backpacking that i began considering synthetic insulation clothing. Although i think they are the most useable in a broad range of conditions i find myself coming back to down again. I even bought a Nunatak Shaka Plus (with hood!)and i love it for it's weight and packing size.
Especially in the summer period backpacking in the mountains down has it's place. In all those years i never managed to soak my jacket and there will be plenty opportunities to dry your jacket if it becomes wet.
For a longer trip where i have to carry all my gear all the time i would take the down jacket to save weight and space.
Since i bought the Nunatak i am looking differently at my synthetic jackets. They are not the first choice anymore if i need extra insulation.
For your trip in summer i would go for the down jacket, nothing will beat the warmth when you are camping somewhere high on the Tour de Mont Blanc and the Haute Route (hint, hint..)overlooking all those beautifull mountains.

[carlos fernandez rivas]

Miguel your problem is that you have too much gear ….

I think that the rainbow is the best compromise too..

The jacket…. its your choice … i been using my syntetic pullover (berghaus) and my down jacket (WM flight) and i never find problems with both. (but i prefer the down jkt to be honest)

gear excesss ……..

[Miguel Arboleda]

Carlos, you are so RIGHT! Yes, I do have too much gear. That's why for the last few months I've been slowly getting rid of things, trying to bring it all down to a few things. I've already gotten rid of most of my old, heavy gear that had been taking up the closet for so many years. But in truth the only things that I have too much of are shelters and packs. For clothes I only have at most two of each kind of item, only two kinds of stoves, a few shoes, three sleeping bags (very light, mediu weight, and heavy winter). As a serious amateur photographer I've managed to cut my formerly heavy photo kit to just one camera and one lens. I've found I don't need more than that. The only real trouble I am having to decide are with the shelter and pack. I hope with more experience using what I have I can winnow this gear down to the simplest, most efficient set up.

The other problem is that I am a designer and I love tinkering with designs. Anyone here who is a designer will understand the lure of precedents. As a former architect shelters hold a special place in my heart, so it is so easy to fall into the trap of purchasing new forms. Of course that leads to my present dilemma, as you pointed out Carlos. Still, I think I have a lot less gear than most of the people here, and I nearly always buy carefully, with a lot of research, with long-term use in mind. I rarely use something only one time and then throw it away or sell it.

I'm reaching a point where I'm beginning to get tired of talking about gear all the time. Sometimes I think that BPL makes it seem as if the only important thing about getting out there to walk is to evaluate gear, but this something I really don't care so much about once I am out there. I want to get back to immersing myself in the mountains and forests with as little distraction with thoughts of gear as possible. That was the problem I found with my photo equipment (and one reason why I may even go simpler and leave my camera behind and just bring my sketch book… though I know I'll regret that later)… the constant thinking about adjusting the camera rather than seeing.

I believe that is the next step one must take in the development of ultralight: to get to the point where the "weight" of thinking about gear is also eliminated.

[carlos fernandez rivas]

Im happy to read this because there are one year ago I was exaclty in the same situation. I sold most of my "closet collection" (i sold 5 packs 2 tents and LOTS of gear and my closet still full of stuff)

and i tried focus myself in my walks and climbs instead of gear ….. but is a hard process…. ;-)

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