Snowshoeing in Italy / France: Preparations

It’s 2018 so I can start final preparations for the first  trip of the year … Exodus’ Transalpine Snowshoe Week.

Kit

The kit list is ready. I have a spreadsheet with tabs for kit list, itinerary & flights, insurance & emergency contacts and money. The kit list lists everything I usually take on a trek/trip, right down to extra plastic bags (always take more than you think you’ll need), which I use as the starting point for each trip. Based on the Essential Equipment given in the Exodus trip notes, I’ve added “sit mat” and removed “thermals” and a few other camping/trekking-related items.

Map

I asked Exodus if there were any maps that cover the area we’ll be in. No joy, so I revisited Google and unearthed a few more the places mentioned in the trip notes, and made a Google map – click on the blue pins for more detail:

Weather

I also found a couple of key places on Yr – “a joint service by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation” – which is my go to resource for weather forecasts:

Update 23 February 2018

I’ve found the YR forecast for Thures, which is where we actually are at the start of the trip.

Insurance

The last piece of prep, other than packing, will be to get my annual travel insurance. Probably go with LV* again as they’re still rated as the best value policy on MoneySavingExpert, and their Premier level insurance covers “Trekking and hiking and fell walking up to 6000 metres“.

Logistics

Steffi, Dave and I have been coordinating our Friday rendezvous, and the plan is food followed by the Thameslink down to Gatwick for our night in the Premier Inn.