A traverse in the Alps
After her experience crossing Patagonia in 2013, Anne-Sophie wanted to focus on Mountain Unicycling, her favourite type for riding, for her next adventure. She grew up at the foot of the Chartreuse in the French Alps but moved away when she was a teenager. Now living in Can0 this trip was an occasion to return to her roots and explore the Alps of her childhood via a route leading to Mont Blanc. Then Haute Route, a famous ski traverse from Chamonix-Mont Blanc to Zermatt in Switzerland, had been in Anne-Sophie’s mind for a few years, and seemed like an incredible trail to tackle by mountain unicycle.
Muni Girls Kick Ass
This time, Anne-Sophie was eager to share this trip with another woman so they could encourage each other, push their limits, and inspire other female riders to go on Muni adventures. Anne-Sophie and Kelli first met during the Sedona Muni weekend in March of 2016, where they camped and rode together, and discovered common interests in Muni riding and mountains. Anne-Sophie offered to act as a mentor to Kelli, who had not experienced any trips like this before. Kelli lives in the mountains west of Denver, Colorado and would already ride technical trails weekly at an elevation of 2700m. While she had only been unicycling for 1.5 years at that point, she was quite fit and up for the challenge.
Total was about 500km with 20,000m of elevation (310miles with 65,000 ft of elevation) in 3 ½ weeks. Lots of "hike-a-muni", laughs and saucissons ; some good muni sections, incredible camping spots, and really tired legs; but also a bit of "getting lost" and bushwacking... all-in-all no regrets!
Anne-Sophie and Kelli were honored to be the recipients of the 2016 Kris Holm Evolution of Balance Award to undertake Uni Girls Kick Alps in August that year. The Evolution of Balance Award is a grant supporting mountain unicyclists seeking adventures in remote places around the world.
