…Laverie du Lyret à deux pas du téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi…. Oh man, this French stuff!... Sure, it sounds très magnifique and all that. Purse your lips and just savour the melody of the French language like a boeuf bourguignon par excellence!... OK, enough of these clichés,..excuse me again…trite phrases: If you can speak French, you know where the GORE-TEX “laundry party” at the Arc'teryx Alpine Academy took place. For everybody else: Laundrette Lyret was right across from the base station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. Hmm, doesn’t sound quite as poetic, does it? No matter.
Basically after participants in the Academy spent the day all over, up and around Chamonix defying the rain and braving other inconveniences, they could leave their dirty GORE-TEX jackets and pants in the laundrette, getting them back later fresh, clean and dry. The experts who were there for the event had more than 40 outfits professionally cared for and ready for pickup just 90 minutes later (yes, of course, the wash and dry cycles take a little time!).
“It’s totally beading up!”
Many were simply amazed at the results, like for example James: “Wow, this thing looks like new. Did you also restore the water repellency? The water is beading right up!” No, we hadn’t: When it comes to jackets that are pretty new, the warmth of the machine drying (a warm iron works too if needed) reactivates the original water repellency. Without any additional waterproofing agents. For many avid users, this was still a new bit of information – something that hopefully leads to them washing, drying and taking better care of their GORE-TEX garments more often in the future. This keeps them performing well and helps them last longer, which of course then also leads to a less frequent need to get rid of an item. That is more environmentally sound, not to mention money saving too. We learned all kinds of things at this Academy and not just how to put on crampons, mountaineering techniques, and tips on big wall climbing. From Gore’s viewpoint, the weather was perfect for long-lasting impressions. A waterproof set of clothes was pretty much a requirement at this year’s Academy: It rained plenty every day. All the better to experience the performance of water repellency, be it a brand-new test jacket handed out by Arc’teryx or a freshly laundered item.Edurne Pasaban in Chamonix
Internationally renown high-altitude mountaineer Edurne Pasaban, a GORE-TEX athlete, was also in Chamonix as a laundry and sustainability ambassador. The Spaniard has gotten used to Alpine air that is a bit more oxygenated than her habitual location for 10 years on 8,000ers. At last year’s GORE-TEX Experience Tour in Switzerland – of course, also including mountaineering Edurne and Gore had already stressed the importance of proper care for functional apparel. In Chamonix, she did that again, and quite charmingly, not only telling participants, but also giving them real information. [gallery ids="889,890,883,888,887,892,893,896,894,897"] On Saturday, select Academy participants had the pleasure of taking part in a “Basic Mountaineering Education” workshop with Edurne Pasaban. Up they went in the cable car, up the Midi and then by foot across the narrow ridge down to the glacier at an elevation of about 3,500 meters. That morning, we could actually rejoice a bit over a little sunshine, but by noon, it clouded back over and light precipitation started to fall. Up top, of course, there was still snow (about a meter of new snow fell just in the few days before the Academy and during it too), but once back in the valley, it was immediately clear what GORE-TEX means with “Guaranteed to keep you dry”.“Oh my God, she is famous”
“Eso es Edurne, hola”: As soon as we were on our way up in the Gondola, several Spaniards addressed Edurne. This woman in her home country is a total star, although she is a little less well known here. Olena, one of the participants, was on Edurne’s rope team and Edurne gave her a little extra alpine coaching. Olena could hardly manage English and didn’t get a lot of what had been said by the guides and participants. Later, down in Chamonix, I met up with Olena again. She clapped her hands together and was totally excited: “Oh my God, Edurne, now I know, all 8,000er, she is famous, oh my God…”.Use, care, wash, repair
Among alpinists, it’s a badge of honour and a bit of a hero’s calling card to have injuries, battered clothing and dirty boots. But holes in the functional jacket are something that even the cool kids don’t find cool. Therefore, Gore offered a repair service in addition to the instructions offered on the care label. Small damaged spots such as the typical “crampon gash” were dealt with on site and made waterproof again with stitching and tape. Thanks, Gore: My Beta AR pants are again ready to go. One participant wasn’t a cheapskate and immediately handed off her apparel newly repaired by Gore to the Gore laundry service. But that wasn’t really necessary. Still, “guaranteed to keep you dry, but also happy. Or, in French: Maintenir au sec et heureux. Not sure if one or the other sounds better to you. You decide.
