Autor: radoslaw.orecki

Włóczykij Trip Extreme 2017

My second attempt in Włóczykij Trip Extreme (have a look HERE if you don’t remember my first one) took place this year. It’s a 50k orienteering march (or run) conducted at night close to Szczecin.
During this attempt we had lovely spring weather and were full of optimism. We walked through Puszcza Bukowa, a beautiful forest full of hills. With height difference between hills and valleys up to 80m we did a bit of hiking but we also were able to see beautiful views, at least till sunset.

After 12 hours of walk we gathered all requested points and reached the finish line. This year result was better then previous and gave us spot in the first half of the ranking. We’ll see the next year 🙂

1st Szczecin MTB Marathon

After a long break from any sport activity (caused by the birth of our daughter) I got back to biking. A good occasion for that was the first Szczecin MTB marathon that took place in the beginning of October. Before that I had done some preparation and got familiar with the trail of race. And it was a good idea. I found out that very close to my place there was lots of hills with quite steep ascents and rough terrain that provide you both excitement and exhaustion.

On the day of the race it became obvious that conditions would be even harder than I imagined because it was raining during the whole day as well as a few days before. The track was muddy, slippery, difficult and full of fun ;-). We checked in at the starting point together with my best friend Michał and managed to get to the end in one piece.

After 1:22:55 I got to the finish line completely covered in mud but with smile on my face. The race was amazing and thanks to a few training sessions I had done before I was able to come as 42 on 163 competitors.

Ps – the authors of the photos are listed, the ones that have no author specified – the credit goes to Magda (Michał’s wife).

Sailing: Dąbie Lake

So the time has come for me to sail for the first time without an instructor. I rented the same boat that I had used for training and with a couple of friends I went to explore Dąbie lake again. We had the perfect weather. Unfortunately it was the perfect weather for swimming not for sailing. So for the most of our tip we needed to use engine. But nevertheless it was lots of fun on water and I did not sink 😉

Ahoy, sailing adventures!

A new chapter in our adventure book has started – sailing. This year for my birthday instead of a physical gift I got a new skill (course of sailing). After 4 weekends on boat and one exam later I became a sailor ;-).  Now I can say that this was one of the best gifts ever.

After getting back to Poland we miss hiking a lot. But living close to see, ravers and lakes gives other opportunities for adventures. Some say that the best way to discover our city is from water. This is especially true during „Days of the Sea”, a yearly celebration when lots of polish sailing ships come to Szczecin to celebrate. Also stay tuned in the next year when Szczecin will host the Tall Ship Races and when the biggest sailing ships from around the world will come to our city.

Skiing in Harrachov

Now when we no longer live close to the mountains we really miss all mountains activities. So when I heard that our friends were going skiing this winter I joined them right away.

We went to the closest skiing resort possible – in the Czech city of Harrachov that is „just” 400 km from Szczecin.

First day after arrival we went to see the city of Harrachov and enjoy the famous Czech beer. We found Harrachov local brewery located in the same building as the glass foundry where you can watch glass craftsmen making beautiful glass while drinking beer and eating „Knedliczki”.

The next morning we headed directly to ski slopes where my friends joined ski school and I checked out my skiing skills to find out that I did not forget anything from the last year. Unfortunately there where just two slopes in Harrachov. Quite few when compering to the Alps resorts but it was OK for the morning skiing and later we went to enjoy more Czech cuisines and beer.  

The next days we spent on skiing and some other tourist activities like visiting Szklarska Poręba, walking up the ski jumping hill, drinking more beer etc. Unfortunately I needed to get home faster than I planned but after all Harrachov was a good trip for a longer weekend. 

And a video:

Lyon in rain

I went to Lyon for the first time since Ania’s stay in Geneva in 2010. I remembered that I hadn’t liked it too much in 2010 but this time I was positively surprised.

Small streets of old town looked lovely in the rain. Though or because of 1st May holiday, streets were full of life with plenty of tourists and shops and restaurants open.

After slow walk through old town, we climbed the hill to visit Lyon’s Notre Dame basilic.

After basilic we took some pictures of Lyon from above and went back to the car. This was a short but really nice visit.

Skiing in Châtel

This weekend I went skiing in Châtel with my colleague from CERN office. Oliver is an experienced skier (CERN level 3.5 when I was 0.5) so skiing with him was a bit challenging. 

He convinced me to go down some black slopes and in the end I had a lot of fan what you can see in the attached pictures and the video 😉

After this crazy tricks I deserved some yummy food.

This day was lots of fun even with mediocre weather and me feeling a bit sick. But what I am really waiting for is skiing together with Ania. Another 3 weeks and we will be able to do that.

Pointe de Tardevant (2501 m)

This weekend Ania planned the last hike before a trip to Poland and maybe even last in this season. She gathered a group of people and prepared for starting early Saturday. Unfortunately she got sick during night and she passed the torch to me.

We started climbing to our first destination – Lac de Tardevant (2110m) where we made a small stop for pictures.

Together with Ania we have hiked a lot this summer but we never had a perfect weather with perfect visibility. This October hike was the firs this year when for all day long there was no even a smallest cloud.  

We had the perfect view – from Mt. Blanc to Jura. Hiking with such conditions is pure pleasure, especially that even though we had full sun it was not hot.

After year of hiking I felt in Haute-Savoie Alps like in home. I was able to recognize lots of peaks around me and that feeling that I hiked lots of them was awesome 😉

Le Reculet Challenge 2014 and Le Reculet at night

This year once again BE-CO group of CERN organized „Le Reculet Challenge” walk, race and party at Le Reculet. Because I know that I have no chance in race, I took a walk and party option. Nevertheless, I still raced against myself and I was able to beat my last year time. I did it in 1:03 (as compared to 1:15 last year).

After everybody walked or run to the summit we went to chalet to eat some raclette and sing some songs.

Also I made 1:03 time to the top but I carried with me very heavy tripod (for some night sky photos). So after raclette I got back to summit and took a few photos like this: