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Interview by amie Henderson
The prospect of avoiding all motorised transport for the whole of 2021 seems unachievable on the face of it. We live in the mountains, 20cm of snow often falls overnight, people have jobs, commutes, friends to see, shopping to do. There are hills, many hills, to overcome. “This year I have taken the leap to completely cut out all motorised transport and only travel where my legs can take me,” explains Camille Robson. “This means only going places on foot, by bike and occasionally on skis - though ski touring only, as the ski lifts are motorised and therefore out of bounds!”
I can and can’t do based on distance. I try to be more organised in my shopping to avoid having to go too often. I set off for work earlier than I would if I had a car and I take a change of clothes with me. There’s also some extra organising to be done each evening, but that’s all mostly become a normal part of my day to day routine now.”
Living in Morzine and working a 9-5 in Les Gets, Camille had already accepted her commute would be by bike during six months of the year. “The busses don’t run between Morzine and Les Gets during the interseason,” Camille explains. “And then I realised that it wasn’t actually that bad!” But ultimately, it was feelings of guilt that that inspired Camille to fully commit and ditch all mortised transport this year. “I didn’t feel like I was playing my part in bringing around the change that is needed in our society to help curb global warming. I wasn’t able to be involved in protests easily or often, I didn’t have the time to commit to volunteering in an association. I didn’t feel like my small lifestyle changes carried enough weight by themselves.” But how does this work in practical terms? For me, the prospect of snow clearing to get the car out is bad enough - imagine cycling between Morzine and Les Gets early each morning in the snow and sub-zero temperatures! “Somehow my legs seem to be recovering without me having to do that much so far. That might change once I’ve taken on some slightly bigger adventures this summer!” Camille explains. “But for everyday life, it means changing my perspective as to what 32
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It’s mid-March when Camille and I meet to talk about her ‘experiment’. The days are getting warmer and longer, it hasn’t snowed for a little while. I wonder what was the worst day? “On the whole, I’ve been surprised by how relatively easy and painless it’s been so far,” she tells me. “Except
for the days with strong winds or heavy snowfall, it doesn’t feel much different to any other time of the year,” she believes. “Some mornings it got close to -12 degrees on my journey to work, I’d be all wrapped up then melting half way up the road to Les Gets!” “The hardest day was actually just before I started the challenge. I tried ski touring over Pleney and down into Les Gets as my commute to work. Between 40 and 50cm of fresh snow had fallen overnight, so this ended up being a four hour struggle on ungroomed pistes and the descent was just as bad! Needless to say I was late for work and have now taken up snowshoeing to work on those really snowy days!” Camille isn’t doing this for the good of her health. She’s raising awareness and funds for three causes “as they represent the three levels I believe we need to act on to effectively bring about the change we need in our lives and society to actively tackle climate change and curb global warming; individual change, national change and global change.” Our valley’s very own Montagne Verte is a charitable association with bold objectives to provider greener solutions to the residents of our local towns and villages. “They are working with local government, businesses and the community to make Morzine and the area a more environmentally responsible destination.” Secondly, les Amis de la Terre France works at a national level, fighting some of the systemic issues relating to global warming. “As well as raising awareness and educating, they also partake in peaceful protests, encouraging politicians and industries to implement impactful change.” The
// © warren munson
