The Idea
Stand-up paddleboarding on the highest possible, hardest to access, Alpine lakes has been a recurring dream of mine, which I’ve been unable to shake. No one has ever paddled on these lakes, so they should be the most untouched, pristine pools in the world, but is that the reality? This venture is not just about experiencing the unknown, but also about understanding just how pure these lakes are. Have they been impacted by human activity in the same way that many of the other lakes, rivers and oceans I have paddled have?
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/3833103991.jpg]
Are the Alps Plastic Free?
The plan was to sample the water we would paddle on. To make the most of the opportunity I needed to find a partner for the journey. Sydney was the perfect candidate. We didn’t know each other yet, but she is also a member of Protect Blue, a community of ocean ambassadors and she has lots of experience working with plastic waste, so that was a good start.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/8881811380.jpg]
Testing and Preparation
A trip like this requires a lot of equipment: two SUP boards, tents, clothing and sample materials are just the top of the list. How do you get all that gear up the mountains?
So began the research and testing phase… it did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. It turns out a duffel bag is not ideal for long distances. A SUP gets wet, not to mention heavy, after being on the water. And where do you put glass, so it doesn’t break? Yes, we used glass for our samples because plastic bottles cause immediate contamination. Clothing, tents, mats, and sleeping bags also require valuable, limited space. Normally when hiking, you want your luggage to be as light as possible, but with so many essentials for this trip, a lightweight backpack seemed unlikely. Managing the weight of all our gear was our biggest challenge to figure out, and believe you me, it caused a lot of struggling with plenty of puzzles to try and solve. Eventually, with the help of a carrying rack, duffel bag, hip pouch, and some well-positioned straps, we had luggage that, while not light, was at least manageable.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/9380838138.jpg]
For the sample research, I visited CMK, Bitelab University in Hasselt, Belgium, who specialise in this kind of research. Although the combination of hiking, standup paddling and collecting data was new to them too! During my visit I learnt how to deliver clean samples and we discussed at length how to keep the results as accurate as possible. I left the university with a cart full of boxes filled with glass bottles, filters, plus much more, so my immediate thought was, “How am I going to get all this up the mountains?”
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/1827082938.jpg]
The Journey
DAY 1: LOCAL PREPARATION
We begin our journey in the Italian Alps. The dam lake, Lago di Place Moulin at 1,900 metres, looks stunning with snow on the slopes, several waterfalls, and crystal-clear blue water. It’s an ideal setting to test all the equipment one last time, which we do while paddling. With some adjustments, we are completely ready for the coming week. We fill a few litre bottles with water from the lake - gathering our first samples.
DAY 2: DAY TRIP TO OUR FIRST LAKE
The sun is shining, and the weather is beautiful. It snowed the previous week, but according to the locals, this route is doable. With a 500-metre elevation gain over just 2.5 kilometres, we have a challenging climb to start the day. After some climbing, we see the first patches of snow. Wow, will we be able to paddle between the snow? During this time of year, there is usually vey little snow, but the higher we climb, the more snow we see on the paths and slopes. Occasionally, one of our leg sinks substantially into the snow, which becomes thicker and thicker, meaning we have to be vigilant about the genuine threat of avalanches. Is the destination even achievable, I wonder? Moreover, if the lakes turn out to be frozen will we have climbed all this way for nothing? We decide to fill the glass bottles we carried up with snow, hoping they can still conduct some tests before descending back to the car.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/0001821338.jpg]
DAY 3: CLIMBING UP AND SETTING UP CAMP
We wake up early and head towards Madonna di Campiglio, which is our starting point for a three-day trek. Packed with everything we need to last three days, we start our journey. It’s drizzling, but since this part of the route mostly goes through the forest, it doesn’t bother us too much. We enjoy the forest’s scent and the fresh air. Before it gets dark, we find an ideal spot to set up our tents. It’s still raining, but the breathtaking view more than makes up for it. We prepare some meals from packets before the downpour kicks in. By the way, those Trek’n Eat packets continue to amaze me.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/3787108011.jpg]
DAY 4: DESCENDING THROUGH SNOW AND RAIN
I barely slept due to the howling wind, the driving rain and the snow which battered the sides of the tent… I had left the SUPs and paddles outside as obviously getting them wet wouldn’t harm them. However, it was so windy, or at least it felt so windy inside the tent, that I doubted if the paddles would even still be there by the morning. Should I risk it, or should I go out and get soaked? I decided to risk it. Throughout the night it kept raining, but we had to get up eventually, which was easier said than done as our tents were full of ice.
We finally decided to pack the tents while they were still wet and skip breakfast. Within the space of just a few short minutes we were soaked as we continued our hike towards the beautiful lakes. The higher we climbed, the wetter the paths became, and more ice covered the paths and large stones, making walking treacherous as even the slightest wrong movement could result in a nasty fall. The rain continued and the forecast wasn’t in our favour, unfortunately. As you are taught with any expedition, safety comes first, so we somewhat begrudgingly decided to descend.
On our descent we stumbled across a restaurant called Malga Ritort, which despite being closed, kindly let us inside to dry off inside and warm up. After a delicious coffee and cake for breakfast, we continued our descent to the car, which felt like a retreat. Since we made it back down early, we could also visit the garage as one of the car’s brakes had been making a scraping noise for two days. As it turns out that was a good move as the local mechanic advised us not to drive the car any further. In the meantime, we would have to wait for the spare part to arrive, whic...
Stand-up paddleboarding on the highest possible, hardest to access, Alpine lakes has been a recurring dream of mine, which I’ve been unable to shake. No one has ever paddled on these lakes, so they should be the most untouched, pristine pools in the world, but is that the reality? This venture is not just about experiencing the unknown, but also about understanding just how pure these lakes are. Have they been impacted by human activity in the same way that many of the other lakes, rivers and oceans I have paddled have?
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/3833103991.jpg]
Are the Alps Plastic Free?
The plan was to sample the water we would paddle on. To make the most of the opportunity I needed to find a partner for the journey. Sydney was the perfect candidate. We didn’t know each other yet, but she is also a member of Protect Blue, a community of ocean ambassadors and she has lots of experience working with plastic waste, so that was a good start.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/8881811380.jpg]
Testing and Preparation
A trip like this requires a lot of equipment: two SUP boards, tents, clothing and sample materials are just the top of the list. How do you get all that gear up the mountains?
So began the research and testing phase… it did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. It turns out a duffel bag is not ideal for long distances. A SUP gets wet, not to mention heavy, after being on the water. And where do you put glass, so it doesn’t break? Yes, we used glass for our samples because plastic bottles cause immediate contamination. Clothing, tents, mats, and sleeping bags also require valuable, limited space. Normally when hiking, you want your luggage to be as light as possible, but with so many essentials for this trip, a lightweight backpack seemed unlikely. Managing the weight of all our gear was our biggest challenge to figure out, and believe you me, it caused a lot of struggling with plenty of puzzles to try and solve. Eventually, with the help of a carrying rack, duffel bag, hip pouch, and some well-positioned straps, we had luggage that, while not light, was at least manageable.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/9380838138.jpg]
For the sample research, I visited CMK, Bitelab University in Hasselt, Belgium, who specialise in this kind of research. Although the combination of hiking, standup paddling and collecting data was new to them too! During my visit I learnt how to deliver clean samples and we discussed at length how to keep the results as accurate as possible. I left the university with a cart full of boxes filled with glass bottles, filters, plus much more, so my immediate thought was, “How am I going to get all this up the mountains?”
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/1827082938.jpg]
The Journey
DAY 1: LOCAL PREPARATION
We begin our journey in the Italian Alps. The dam lake, Lago di Place Moulin at 1,900 metres, looks stunning with snow on the slopes, several waterfalls, and crystal-clear blue water. It’s an ideal setting to test all the equipment one last time, which we do while paddling. With some adjustments, we are completely ready for the coming week. We fill a few litre bottles with water from the lake - gathering our first samples.
DAY 2: DAY TRIP TO OUR FIRST LAKE
The sun is shining, and the weather is beautiful. It snowed the previous week, but according to the locals, this route is doable. With a 500-metre elevation gain over just 2.5 kilometres, we have a challenging climb to start the day. After some climbing, we see the first patches of snow. Wow, will we be able to paddle between the snow? During this time of year, there is usually vey little snow, but the higher we climb, the more snow we see on the paths and slopes. Occasionally, one of our leg sinks substantially into the snow, which becomes thicker and thicker, meaning we have to be vigilant about the genuine threat of avalanches. Is the destination even achievable, I wonder? Moreover, if the lakes turn out to be frozen will we have climbed all this way for nothing? We decide to fill the glass bottles we carried up with snow, hoping they can still conduct some tests before descending back to the car.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/0001821338.jpg]
DAY 3: CLIMBING UP AND SETTING UP CAMP
We wake up early and head towards Madonna di Campiglio, which is our starting point for a three-day trek. Packed with everything we need to last three days, we start our journey. It’s drizzling, but since this part of the route mostly goes through the forest, it doesn’t bother us too much. We enjoy the forest’s scent and the fresh air. Before it gets dark, we find an ideal spot to set up our tents. It’s still raining, but the breathtaking view more than makes up for it. We prepare some meals from packets before the downpour kicks in. By the way, those Trek’n Eat packets continue to amaze me.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1350921236/1723190107/articles/7wDDytnvZ1723205893910/3787108011.jpg]
DAY 4: DESCENDING THROUGH SNOW AND RAIN
I barely slept due to the howling wind, the driving rain and the snow which battered the sides of the tent… I had left the SUPs and paddles outside as obviously getting them wet wouldn’t harm them. However, it was so windy, or at least it felt so windy inside the tent, that I doubted if the paddles would even still be there by the morning. Should I risk it, or should I go out and get soaked? I decided to risk it. Throughout the night it kept raining, but we had to get up eventually, which was easier said than done as our tents were full of ice.
We finally decided to pack the tents while they were still wet and skip breakfast. Within the space of just a few short minutes we were soaked as we continued our hike towards the beautiful lakes. The higher we climbed, the wetter the paths became, and more ice covered the paths and large stones, making walking treacherous as even the slightest wrong movement could result in a nasty fall. The rain continued and the forecast wasn’t in our favour, unfortunately. As you are taught with any expedition, safety comes first, so we somewhat begrudgingly decided to descend.
On our descent we stumbled across a restaurant called Malga Ritort, which despite being closed, kindly let us inside to dry off inside and warm up. After a delicious coffee and cake for breakfast, we continued our descent to the car, which felt like a retreat. Since we made it back down early, we could also visit the garage as one of the car’s brakes had been making a scraping noise for two days. As it turns out that was a good move as the local mechanic advised us not to drive the car any further. In the meantime, we would have to wait for the spare part to arrive, whic...
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Sup International (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 44 - Mid Summer 2024