First of all I wanna give you a little impression of my office, where I wrote this article.
The idea of my first Tree-Athlon started in March when I got for my birthday a book with 40 great trails around the globe. I had already experienced some of those trails but this book got me excited to get back on the trails and get there by my own manpower. However, I had to be patient as most countries just announced their lockdown and borders between countries were closed. There were two trails which gave me itchy feet, the GR5 form Lake Geneva to Nice and the Arctic Trail (Nordkalottleden)crossing Lapland through Finland, Sweden and Norway. I could not make up mind, so I threw a coin and pointed South to the GR5.
The idea was to ride my road bike to Switzerland and start running for some trees from there but unfortunately my road bike broke down and I could not get the right spare parts in time. I had been using my grandma’s Albatros in town for a while and I wanted to give it a shot and see how far I can get with it. It is a great bike as long as it is flat but every small hill feels like you are climbing Alpe d’Huez. On my way south I visited a lot of friends who I had not seen for a while. It is always such a fantastic feeling sitting in the saddle all day and knowing to see some people who mean a lot to me in the evening, It gave me a lot of smiles and joy for the ride and on top of it I was spoiled with exceptional plant-based food every evening. I am extremely grateful for this amazing hospitality I received from you all.
Along the way I spoke to some people and did some more research on the trail which I wanted to jump on from Biel where I parked my beloved Albatros at the del Tongo gang. I integrated some variations with some technical mountain passes with parts through the Mercantour National Park and the Grande Traversata delle Alpi (GTA) and planned to finish the trail on the GR52 to Menton instead of Nice as I heard that this ending is a lot more spectacular.
I don´t wanna bore you with a standard 5 page long report, because it is hard to express my experiences in words and I rather let some images and a brief fact sheet speak. Just a small side mention, a big thanks and hug goes to Bademeister Rolf who jumped through the Alps and picked berries with me, showed his heels to some other trail runners without a 10 kg backpack tied to their back and spoiled me with delicious vegan food all the way from Les Houches to Vallée Étroite. By the way he donated one tree for each of the five days he was out with me.
Tree-Athlon
1st Discipline
1st Discipline – Low impact transportation to trail head: Bike:
Braunschweig . Hamburg – Bremen – Uslar- Köln – Koblenz – Frankfurt (Bad Vilbel) – Ostheim – Würzburg – Ostalp (Essingen) – Kempten – Immenstadt im Allgäu – Oberstdorf – Konstanz – Gottlieben – Biel
18.07.2020 – 01.08..2020
Distance: 2,468.9 km (and 785.4 running KM)
Elevation: 14,598 m (11,901 m)
Activity Time: 113h44m (70h42m)
2nd Discipline
Active & Natural Lifestyle: Run
02.08.2020 – 20.08.2020
Distance: 804.3 km
Elevation: 40,355 m
Activity Time: 146h45m
Biel – Noiraigue – Lac deJoux – Lausanne – St Gingolph – Les Houches – Pas de la Cavale (GR 5) – Refugio De Alexandris – Foches al Laus – Cascade du Boréon (Macantour NP/GTA) – Menton ( GR 52)
Trail Name: Jura Crest Trail, Via Francigena (around Lake Geneve), GR 5, The Balconies of the Mercantour Route & GTA and GR 52
Funny stuff:
On my way back from Biel my handle bar broke off 300 km before Braunschweig and in the middle of nowhere. I pushed my bike to the next village a few km down a dirt track and spotted a couple of bikes in the backyard of a house. I rang the bell and when I explained my dilemma and asked where the next bike store is to the lady who opened the door her husband rushed passed in the shed and said wait a minute. He came back with a bike that looked even older than my Albatros and was full of hay and dust but had a functioning handlebar. He started fiddling around with my bike immediately while her wife got me a cuppa and some homemade and fresh out of the oven energy biscuits. After about 30 minutes I was set to go again when the two offered me some big bowl of spaghettis before I would take off again. I certainly enjoyed the unexpected warm meal but it was even nicer to spend a little more time with this lovely farmer couple and have some interesting talks. I left with huge smile and these are the moments when I feel “this is why I am doing it all” and it pays off for all the efforts.
Distance and Elevation: 812 km and 40,000 m of elevation
Time: 18 days. I did between 40 and 60 kms every day with 2,000 to 3,000 m of elevation.
Terrain: Most of the trail was technical but runnable. Only the few variations I did from Pas de la Cavale to Refugio De Alexandris – Foches al Laus were partially badly marked and involved some scrambling and I was happy when I had left those parts behind me. However, there were always easier alternative routes which are better marked and a lot less technical but slightly longer in terms of distance but a lot shorter in terms of time :).
Weather: I had pretty stable and great weather, with only two rainy days and two short thunderstorms. In between there was one week where it was very hot under 2,000 AMSL.
Flora and Fauna: An incredible flora of diversity and animals in their natural environment can be found along the way. The French Alps are home to more than one third of all flora species found in France. This exceptional diversity can be seen in countless different ferns and allied plants, conifers and flowering and berry plants. You could actually smell the constantly changing vegetation.
The fauna diversity is not as extensive due to the alpine habitat but on the first half I saw many many Alpine ibexand theywere not too shy that I could observe their amazing mountaineering skills from near. On the second half I spotted more chamois instead. A bit smaller but as beautiful I spotted countless Alpine marmots and enjoyed their whistling every morning and evening. Otherwise I was surrounded by deers, vultures and plenty of other birds and one of the highlights was a herd of beautiful wild black horses.
Camping: Every night I found a great spot. When the nights were calm and warm I found nice spots with stunning views for sunset and sunset. I often didn´t even pitch the tent and just slept under the open sky. As it was still quite warm most nights I tried to sleep as high up as possible to enjoy the silence and views. However, there were also a few windy nights and predicted thunderstorms and those nights I always found some shelter in a barn, at a lift station or an empty house for wind protection.
Food: There were so many berries on the way that I struggled to make progress. I munched every day on blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Otherwise I fuelled on cereal, nuts, bread, peaches, nectarines, beans/chickpeas, dark chocolate, etc.
Water: There was plenty of water along the way in the mountains with fresh water streams and in the towns with drinking water fountains. Only the 30 km before Sospel and 50 km before the end at Menton I could not find a drop of water and I had to ask some dairy farmers with a portable milking machine at 2,500 m above mean sea level (AMSL) for some water. At least they gave me water and no milk 🙂
Specialities: I have never been so clean on a long-distance trail. There are countless mountains lakes on the way and I jumped in plenty of them to refresh, wash, drink or just relax. Especially in the mornings and evenings I was amazed by the beautiful reflections on the water of the breath-taking panoramas.
Equipment: Ultimate Direction Fastpack 45, Nature Hike 1P Ultralight Tent, The North Face Blue Kazoo (sleeping bag), Nature Hike Ultralight Sleeping Mat, Altra Viho, Re-Athlete Shirt and Shorts, Olympus TG 6 Camera and a bamboo toothbrush 😉
Trees: I covered more than 800 kms only on this trail and I will plant these 8 trees and many more during the Bergwaldprojekt’s Neihaufescht in Wurmberg on the weekend of the 17th and 18th of October. We will plant 2,500 trees per hectare and you could make me, the Bergwaldprojekt and especially the Harzer forest very happy if you match the 8 trees I ran for and donate these on my website www.tree-athlete.org
1st Discipline
Low impact return transportation: (Hitchhike) / Bike:
Menton – Biel – Braunschweig – Aarhus: 1,350 km
23.08.2020 – 31.08.2020
I hitchhiked from Menton to Biel (1.5 days and 620 km), where I jumped back on my Albatros.
Distance: 1,373.5 km (and 31.6 running KM)
Elevation: 5,961 m (239 m)
Activity Time: 65h48m (2h39m)
