Sunday November 4 2007. On the road Col de la Joux Verte warning sign ‘verglas’ - ice on the road. Park car at small village of Lindarets 1467 m. A low cloud passes this altitude. There are also hunters heading same direction and I meet an other group of them later. The forest road is easy to follow to 1540 m. There are warning signs of avalanches on the way. After the road turns down again, there is no path any more and walking in hay is not so easy. I pass the cabins of Ptecro. Orienteering with the IGN map becomes more difficult, either I do not understand the relief or the map is not exactly correct here. The map does not give any route for this summit neither for walking nor for skiing.
The Pointe de Chavache 2080 m from this side is fairly safe, but the hay is slippery and I fix my rucksack with a tent guy anchor before putting up the antenna. At 1114 UTC Roy G4SSH replies on 10116 kHz and promises to spot me. Other countries HB9, LY, GM, DL, MW, HA and EI. I try more ‘contest style’ operation. It saves time, but does not create a pile up. On 7031 kHz, 3561 kHz and 14060 kHz no QSOs. I find JA1FNA from 18080 kHz, but no reply from there. Finally QRT 1150 UTC.
Radio: FT817ND, 2.5 W cw, 2 x 12 m loop, T1 ATU
Packet: VX-7R, OT1x, Garmin 60CS, 2 m dipole
Map: IGN 3528ET
Photos: http://sral.fi/oh7bf/Chavache/