Mont Pelvoux

Posted on by
1

Les Ecrins

I was cleaning up my photo files, and came across these photos from a trip in September 2012 to Les Ecrins, the southernmost part of the French alps, about 100 km south of Grenoble. There are a number of peaks over 4000m but our objective was to climb Mont Pelvoux, just below 4000m at 3946 m (12,946 ft). Bad weather in the Swiss Alps had led us to flee southwards looking for better weather. There was heavy rain all the way to Briancon, so we stayed down in the valley for the first night rather than climb to Refuge de Pelvoux in the rain. But that meant a big day the next day with a 2700 m climb to Pelvoux. We left at 3.30 am, amd climbed the 1200 m to Refuge de Pelvoux in about 3 hours, arriving just as the sun was rising. Continue reading →

Admiration: a post from Irene Waters

Posted on by
2

My Dad is a person I have admired from before the time I first knew him. My Dad had a wonderful sense of humour. His childhood and university days were full of harmless pranks and the nicest sound I can remember is my Dad reading or listening to the radio when something would tickle his sense of humour making him laugh out loud, infecting anyone within hearing.

Source: <a href=”https://irenewaters19.com/2016/04/30/admiration-weekly-photo-challenge/”>Admiration: Weekly Photo Challenge</a>

 

 

 

Skiing Mont Fort near Verbier

Posted on by
1

I chose a day with perfect weather to go up to Verbier to do some skiing. I did not have the boys with me and took the opportunity to go up to the summit of Mont Fort (3330 m) and ski down the Mont Fort Glacier (about a 400 metre descent to Col des Gentianes. From there its another 1500 vertical descent to Verbier. The glacier is usually well covered in snow and crevasses are not a problem as long as you don’t stray too far off the main route. But it is very steep and develops large moguls, that can be icy. I’ve done this descent several times, but never too gracefully. On this trip, I was skiing above 3000 m in brilliant sunshine, about zero degrees, no need for gloves or too many layers. In fact, I was sweating and got sunburnt.

Following are a few photos from the same trip.

Continue reading →

Skiing in the French Juras mid-March

Posted on by
Reply

The Jura mountains lie about 15 km west of Geneva in France. Lower than the Alps to the east of Geneva, but they still have great skiing in winter if there is enough snow. The following video was from a trip mid-March 2016 to Le Crozet, less than half hour drive from Geneva. If had snowed the day before, and the pine trees were covered in snow, incredibly beautiful scenery in the sunlight. Up on top, it was quite windy and got colder as the clouds came over. We had trouble staying on our feet, until we could ski below the crest of the range. To the east we had spectacular views across Geneva to the Alps, with Mont Blanc lit by sunlight about 100 km away.

Sit with me among the white clouds

Posted on by
Reply

                         Who can leap the world’s ties
                         And sit with me among the white clouds.

                                                           –    Han-shan
Cold Mountain Poems
Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, 1990, p.46
Translated by Gary Snyder

190-9089_IMG

Continue reading →

Bungee jumping at Victoria Falls

Posted on by
2

When I was in Harare in April 2000, I  took a day to go to Victoria Falls (victoria-falls-and-the-zambesi-river). When I saw the bungee jump off the bridge across the Zambesi Gorge below the falls, I had to do it. This is arguably the best bungee jump in the world, with a 111 metre plummet (nearly 400 feet) towards the Zambezi. The short video below is taken from an old VHS tape of my two jumps. That’s me after the 15 second intro.

Continue reading →

Victoria Falls and the Zambesi River

Posted on by
10
00968_n_10af2g2zzb0968

Victoria Falls

Some years ago, I was in Harare, Zimbabwe, for a WHO meeting and took the opportunity to make a flying visit to Victoria Falls, about a one hour flight away. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is classified as the largest, based on its width of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) and height of 108 metres (354 ft),[ resulting in the world’s largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of North America’s Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls.

01060_n_10af2g22v41128

Continue reading →

A footnote on Princess Budhson

Posted on by
11
Shahu II

Shahu II

In a recent post, I described the descent of my great-aunt Boodie (Florence Teasdale Smith) from an Indian Princess. Princess Budhson (was the daughter of Raja Shahu II Bhonsle (1763 – 3 May 1808), who was the titular Chhatrapati (emperor) of the Maratha Empire, and his third wife Rani Shrimant Akhand S Gunwatabai.

The Ancestry database India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947 (1) contains an index entry for the marriage of Henry Crawshay Teasdale to “Native Woman Buh’Hson”. The same name is cited on the birth certificate for her daughter Emma. Her name is also variously given as Budhson or Bakshan in various sources and family trees. I did a google search for names in the district of Satara in the Maharashtra state in Western India and found “Bakshan” but no mention of the other two variants. So perhaps Bakshan was the currect version of her name.

Ellen Teasdale

Ellen Teasdale

Emma Mary Teasdale

Emma Mary Teasdale

Major Henry Crawshay Teasdale(1801-1843) and Princess Buh’Hson (1803-1831) had three children Ellen Teasdale (1825-1895), Emma Mary Teasdale (1825-) and Henry Jackson Teasdale (1830-1870). As Emma was born in May 1825, it is likely that she and Ellen (from whom my Aunty Boodie is descended) were twins.

 

A trip to the Monte Rosa – Matterhorn region of the Swiss Alps

Posted on by
1

Below are some photos from a trip to the Monte Rosa – Matterhorn region of the Alps in late September 2011. Our plan was to climb the main Dufourspitze peak of Monte Rosa. At 4,634 metres (15,203 ft)，Dufourspitze is the highest peak completely inside Switzerland. Our start was delayed three days by bad weather, with heavy snowfalls and we no longer had enough time for this trip. So instead we set out to climb Pollux, which involved around 5 km travel on a glacier at close to 4,000 m.

Yannick breaking the trail in about 50 cm fresh snow.

Yannick breaking the trail in about 50 cm fresh snow.

Continue reading →

Boodie and theosophy in Australia

Posted on by
2

My great-aunt Boodie (Florence Teasdale Smith) was born around 1892 in Melbourne and was descended from Irish quakers and an Indian Maharajah (see ancestral-tales-a-theosophist-a-thief-and-an-indian-princess).

Boodie and her mother were theosophists, and Boodie was a vegetarian who never ate meat. She was involved in funding the construction of an amphitheatre at Balmoral to watch for the coming of Krishnamurti. Another family recollection was that “her money bought a house in Balmoral for the theosophists”. This note gives a brief overview of theosophy in Australia and sheds some light on the “house” and amphitheatre in Mosman.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Florence Teasdale Smith (Boodie)

Continue reading →