(VIDEO) Mont saint Jacques & Bellcotte - THE ALPS

[Mikeyboy]

A couple of Videos from our visit to the French Alps in August.

The first video was our very first walk in the Alps on the first full  day. We hiked it up Mont Saint Jacques. ( Height 7874 feet )
The second video is our visit to the summit of Bellcotte to see the Ice caves and have a walk across the Glacier. This was our last day in the Alps.

MONT SAINT JACQUES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66yFfv2G8VA&list=UUIP3TQ7gGmCJmw0p31yt24Q

BELLCOTTE GLACIER & ICE CAVES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jPx4Adndsw&list=UUIP3TQ7gGmCJmw0p31yt24Q

Mont Saint Jacques was a great walk. Woodland and Pine trees sheltered us for most of the walk with only the very mountain tops exposed to the elements. We had a nice surprise coming across a Chalet serving drinks as we didn't take any coffee or hot drinks out with us. The route was sign posted all the way so there's not much chance of getting lost and it was easy enough to navigate. There's a chapel on the summit which was quite a surprise as we don't see anything like that in England. Also notable was that there was still plenty of grass and flowers on the summit. The weather in the Alps was quite changeable with a thunderstorm and rain on the journey home.

Bellcotte was something else. A great day out and nice to finish the Alps on a high note. We caught a ski lift up there and had a walk round on the tops and across the glacier. It was hard work walking in the snow at reasonably high altitude. The snow was soft and your legs often sank down to your knees. You could hear the sound of running water beneath your feet in the snow which was a bit scary. The Ice Cave was Brilliant. All in all a good day out & we were glad we didn't have to walk it up there. I considered walking it all the way back down but after a few beers at a Chalet we kicked that idea into touch

Hope you enjoy the vids
Mike
 

[altirando]

Enjoyed the walk.  Could not place the mountain though/ is this the Bellecotte glacier with an e?

[Mikeyboy]

Enjoyed the walk.  Could not place the mountain though/ is this the Bellecotte glacier with an e?

Both those videos were taken near to where we were staying at Les Coches which is a Ski Resort. Chamonix was a two hour drive away to the North so that should give you some idea of the location.
You can see Mont Blanc from Mont st Jacques on a clear day but it was obscured by cloud on the video. Bellcotte should have been spelled Bellcote.

[beefy]

great stuff mikeyboy, 
ice caves looked amazing

i always enjoy ya vids keep them coming ...

[Mikeyboy]

great stuff mikeyboy, 
ice caves looked amazing

i always enjoy ya vids keep them coming ...

Cheers Beefy

The vid of the Ice Cave didn't do it justice. I had to cut out a whole load of the ice carvings out just to make the video fit the backing track.  You can get lost in there mate. A lot of work went into those carvings.
One of these days I'll upload the full walkthrough.

I've also got some footage of the young lad going through the snow up to the top of his leg. The snow was crunchy but not really that compressed so there were plenty of hollow pockets just waiting for you to tread on

[April]

Hi Mikeyboy
 
I'm having a few techy trubs with my ancient laptop   
 
I have managed to watch the first video. Wow, them hills are a bit bigger than in the Lakes    Lovely footage and stills.    I will have to wait to watch the ice cave vid at work tomorrow because my computer said no   

[Mikeyboy]

Hi Mikeyboy
 
I'm having a few techy trubs with my ancient laptop   
 
I have managed to watch the first video. Wow, them hills are a bit bigger than in the Lakes    Lovely footage and stills.    I will have to wait to watch the ice cave vid at work tomorrow because my computer said no 

The hills are a lot bigger April- that one was 7800 feet or so and that's a little one.

The amazing thing was that there was plenty of grass and flowers at the summit. Back home - it would be barren rocky crag at that height. The nice thing is that we started the walk at about 3400 feet so we really only did 4400 feet of accent which is about the size of Ben Nevis. It took about 15 mins to drive half way up the mountain to the start point.  I really wouldn't have fancied walking all the way up from the valley.

[April]

Just watched the vid of the ice cave  with no sound though with being at work  . Great stuff mikeyboy. It seems strange seeing mrs mikeyboy in shorts in the snow    It is a different world over there in the Alps 

[Mikeyboy]

Just watched the vid of the ice cave  with no sound though with being at work  . Great stuff mikeyboy. It seems strange seeing mrs mikeyboy in shorts in the snow    It is a different world over there in the Alps 

It's mad - the weather was so changeable even on a hot clear day. We had a thunderstorm on the way down from St Jacques which went as quick as it came. We had snow and a hailstorm in Chamonix. When it rained your clothes didn't get wet cos the humidity dried the rain as soon as it landed. You really had a job predicting the weather for the day even if you had clear blue skies in the morning.