2015 was a great year to be on the Alps trip! Wonderful weather, stunning scenery and lots of fun all round!
The trip started on 29th June and began with a flight from Liverpool to Geneva and what a difference in temperature! After a three-hour journey to the Fres Jue hotel we were fortunate enough to witness a number of breath-taking landforms, such as pyramidal peaks, before arriving to warm food and welcoming smiles.
Key activities during our trip included a walk up to the top of the ski piste L’Aravette which turned out to be a much longer distance than expected. However, we managed to reach the top with help from our packed lunch and motivation from our fellow geographers, who we got to know more over the course of the trip. When we reached the ski café part way up the slope, we began to use various geographical equipment to measure soil compaction and wind speed for example, that we could later use for our A level fieldwork. Whilst completing our tasks on piste wasn’t too challenging, off piste turned out to be more difficult due to the ants that lived in the woodland. They didn’t seem pleased with us throwing quadrats around.
Another great part of our trip was when we took the bus to the Col du Lautaret and took a short walk to see La Meije. Afterwards, we visited Briançon, a lovely French town where we completed our Bipolar survey sheet and had the opportunity to buy an ice-cream and souvenirs. There were lots of marmot toys and we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a real marmot within the few days spent in the Serre Chevalier region.
One aspect of the trip involved us being given free time to walk around the old town of Serre Chevalier in the afternoon and evening when we visited a selection of French cafés.
The last landforms we visited were the Glacier Noir and Glacier Blanc. Glacier Noir was covered in ablation moraine compared to Glacier Blank which appears pristinely white. This was one of the hottest days of the trip.
Overall, my geography classmates and I thoroughly enjoyed the French Alps trip because everyone got on well and whilst the teachers made the trip very educational, it was great fun to learn in the outdoors with friends and see glacial landforms for ourselves instead of pictures in a text book.
Eleanor White
Year 13
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