Tours In Vanoise or Gran Paradiso

Hi,
I'm looking for info regarding hut touring in Vanoise or Gran Paradiso from
Val D'Isere. We'll be there late April & early May. What are the logistics
of getting into Gran Paradiso from Val D'Isere? Are there good ski-tour
maps available in Val D'Isere? How long in advance do we have to book huts
in April/May? Any/all info is most welcome!
Thanks
Linda

Linda wrote:
Are there good ski-tour
maps available in Val D'Isere?

The French 1:25000 IGN maps mark popular ski touring routes with dashed
blue lines. I can't tell you about the Italian maps but I'm told they
are not as good. The French maps stop quite abrubtly at the border and
only fuzzy details are shown on the Italian side.

How long in advance do we have to book huts
in April/May?

In general you should be able to turn up. This French site gives a lot
of useful information about refuges: http://www.refuges.info/

The French Alpine Club (CAF) also has many refuges, this link may be useful

http://www.clubalpin.com/fr/presrefuge.html

Should be a great trip although the weather can sometimes be a bit
unstable at the end of April

David Off wrote:

Linda wrote:
Are there good ski-tour
maps available in Val D'Isere?

The French 1:25000 IGN maps mark popular ski touring routes with dashed
blue lines. I can't tell you about the Italian maps but I'm told they
are not as good. The French maps stop quite abrubtly at the border and
only fuzzy details are shown on the Italian side.

On a related subject, a noob question re GPS:

I know that a GPS works world-wide, but can I obtain maps of Italy and
France for a GPS that is bought in the UK (like I can buy OS maps etc),
or is there something that would prevent that ?

Any recommendations for a top-class GPS that is suitable for both skiers
and walking ?

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:06:25 +0000, BrritSki
wrote:

I know that a GPS works world-wide, but can I obtain maps of Italy and
France for a GPS that is bought in the UK (like I can buy OS maps etc),

Yes, but they're not cheap. Last time I looked, Garmin were still
charging something like £60 per map for their Mapsource software.

or is there something that would prevent that ?

Just the size of your bank balance.

Any recommendations for a top-class GPS that is suitable for both skiers
and walking ?

Out-of-date now, but I have a Garmin GPS3+, with scrolling/zooming map
display, which is v. useful for such things, as well as sailing. Some
of the cheaper ones still only give you a read-out of your
coordinates, so are probably not what you're looking for.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

Ace wrote in
:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:06:25 +0000, BrritSki
wrote:

I know that a GPS works world-wide, but can I obtain maps of Italy and
France for a GPS that is bought in the UK (like I can buy OS maps
etc),

Yes, but they're not cheap. Last time I looked, Garmin were still
charging something like £60 per map for their Mapsource software.

or is there something that would prevent that ?

Just the size of your bank balance.

Any recommendations for a top-class GPS that is suitable for both
skiers and walking ?

Out-of-date now, but I have a Garmin GPS3+, with scrolling/zooming map
display, which is v. useful for such things, as well as sailing. Some
of the cheaper ones still only give you a read-out of your
coordinates, so are probably not what you're looking for.

Note that the Mapsource maps are essentially just road maps, and they're
the only maps you can put in a Garmin GPS (I think there's an equivalent
product, and an equivalent limitation, for Magellan equipment, but I
have no personal experience here).

For skiing and (especially) hiking it is occasionally convenient to have
the Mapsource data for the region in the GPS - mostly to navigate from
home to the car park! Once you're on foot the GPS is a useful adjunct to
your paper maps, but doesn't replace them.

You can get 1:25000 IGN maps of France on CD (see www.ignrando.com and
www.bayo.com - of these IGN Rando has altitude data and is much the
cheaper, but doesn't cover some areas covered by Bayo). You can't
download the maps into the GPS, but you can use the maps to prepare
routes and waypoints which you can then download to the GPS. I don't
know whether the equivalent exists for Italy.

I have a Garmin Etrex Vista, which I would recommend with reservations -
it is physically robust and has a reasonable amount of map memory, but
tends to switch itself off and eats batteries, and has a very slow
serial interface. It is however a good choice for outdoor activities -
it has a compass and altimeter, and it's very small. If I were buying
now I would definitely look at the Garmin GPSMap 60CS.

Jeremy

Ace wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:06:25 +0000, BrritSki
wrote:

I know that a GPS works world-wide, but can I obtain maps of Italy and
France for a GPS that is bought in the UK (like I can buy OS maps etc),

Yes, but they're not cheap. Last time I looked, Garmin were still
charging something like £60 per map for their Mapsource software.

But what is a "map" ? All of Europe, 1 country, a region of a country
???

or is there something that would prevent that ?

Just the size of your bank balance.

It may be a company purchase as I obviously need it for navigating to
new clients...

Any recommendations for a top-class GPS that is suitable for both skiers
and walking ?

Out-of-date now, but I have a Garmin GPS3+, with scrolling/zooming map
display, which is v. useful for such things, as well as sailing. Some
of the cheaper ones still only give you a read-out of your
coordinates, so are probably not what you're looking for.

No, I was thinking of top end like the Garmin GPSMAP 60CS with
electronic compass and barometric altimeter.

Jeremy Mortimer wrote:

Ace wrote in
:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:06:25 +0000, BrritSki
wrote:

I know that a GPS works world-wide, but can I obtain maps of Italy and
France for a GPS that is bought in the UK (like I can buy OS maps
etc),

Yes, but they're not cheap. Last time I looked, Garmin were still
charging something like £60 per map for their Mapsource software.

or is there something that would prevent that ?

Just the size of your bank balance.

Any recommendations for a top-class GPS that is suitable for both
skiers and walking ?

Out-of-date now, but I have a Garmin GPS3+, with scrolling/zooming map
display, which is v. useful for such things, as well as sailing. Some
of the cheaper ones still only give you a read-out of your
coordinates, so are probably not what you're looking for.

Note that the Mapsource maps are essentially just road maps, and they're
the only maps you can put in a Garmin GPS (I think there's an equivalent
product, and an equivalent limitation, for Magellan equipment, but I
have no personal experience here).

For skiing and (especially) hiking it is occasionally convenient to have
the Mapsource data for the region in the GPS - mostly to navigate from
home to the car park! Once you're on foot the GPS is a useful adjunct to
your paper maps, but doesn't replace them.

You can get 1:25000 IGN maps of France on CD (see www.ignrando.com and
www.bayo.com - of these IGN Rando has altitude data and is much the
cheaper, but doesn't cover some areas covered by Bayo). You can't
download the maps into the GPS, but you can use the maps to prepare
routes and waypoints which you can then download to the GPS. I don't
know whether the equivalent exists for Italy.

I have a Garmin Etrex Vista, which I would recommend with reservations -
it is physically robust and has a reasonable amount of map memory, but
tends to switch itself off and eats batteries, and has a very slow
serial interface. It is however a good choice for outdoor activities -
it has a compass and altimeter, and it's very small. If I were buying
now I would definitely look at the Garmin GPSMap 60CS.

Good choice ! That's the one I was thinking of.

Thanks for the info re map loading into GPS. Anyone know of any similar
units where I can load maps of France, Italy (and UK) walking areas ?

David Off wrote:
Linda wrote:

Are there good ski-tour
maps available in Val D'Isere?

The French 1:25000 IGN maps mark popular ski touring routes with dashed
blue lines. I can't tell you about the Italian maps but I'm told they
are not as good.


Confirm. Stay on the IGN or the LDS topographics as long as you can.
Italy is third-division when it comes to maps and mapping.