RoosterBooster
Observer
cleaning out a long forgotten box of Slides i started to scan them and figured some of you guys may enjoy to see them 
the pics are from several trips between ~1989 - 93
... at this time my brother and i (and sometimes a bunch of other enduro bike friends or strangers we met along the way) enjoyed to explore the rich WorldWar I & II history of the Italian/French Alps.
i will try to post a series of "trip reports" on some of the most interesting "explorations" we made ...
however, the text is mostly from memory (whatever i can remember from 20+ years ago ) and English is not my native language (so please excuse the somewhat bumpy read)
i start with Fort Malamot ; it used to be a Italian installation, but the border was relocated after WWII so that the Fort is now actually on French ground.
the Fortresses on top of mount Malamot (located at a altitude of 2913 meters) was build in late 1891.
it consisted of a large fortified Caserne near the top, several small gun placements as well as several MG "pillboxes" ... all connected with a spiderweb of tunnels
two large 3-gun artillery batteries have been added in 1897
like many other Fortresses of that time Malamot was strategically placed to overlook (and shell) an important and rare Alp crossing road, in this case the passage along Lake Mont Cenis
at the time of construction the mountain top Forts have been considered untouchable;
no enemy artillery could get close to reach up to the mountain top without being shot to pieces by the downwards firing heavy guns of the Fortress.
however, advances in gun/ammunition power & precision as well as the invention of aircrafts made them completely obsolete and sitting ducks.
to supply the Fortress with solders (and the guns with ammunition) roads have been carved and blasted into the side of the mountain (mostly hidden from enemy fire).
the Fortress in the background of the first pic is located at the summit of the colle de Cenis (~2000m) and housed additional troops and amunition
some of the fortifications in that area date back to the roman empire
winter in the Alps are very harsh ... i bet troops had to be rotated down from the peaktop Fort very frequently.
at the summit we left the paved road
the lower part of the supply road to the fort was an interesting and fun to drive array of endless switchbacks
but soon the higher part of the road started to show some damage from 100 years of rough winter and the force of the resulting summer melting water
easy for my brothers enduro bike ...
... but starting to get a little more challenging for my typical "Euro" Jeep (any larger lift/tires than that are next to impossible to get street legal )
to be continued...
the pics are from several trips between ~1989 - 93
... at this time my brother and i (and sometimes a bunch of other enduro bike friends or strangers we met along the way) enjoyed to explore the rich WorldWar I & II history of the Italian/French Alps.
i will try to post a series of "trip reports" on some of the most interesting "explorations" we made ...
however, the text is mostly from memory (whatever i can remember from 20+ years ago
) and English is not my native language (so please excuse the somewhat bumpy read)i start with Fort Malamot ; it used to be a Italian installation, but the border was relocated after WWII so that the Fort is now actually on French ground.
the Fortresses on top of mount Malamot (located at a altitude of 2913 meters) was build in late 1891.
it consisted of a large fortified Caserne near the top, several small gun placements as well as several MG "pillboxes" ... all connected with a spiderweb of tunnels
two large 3-gun artillery batteries have been added in 1897
like many other Fortresses of that time Malamot was strategically placed to overlook (and shell) an important and rare Alp crossing road, in this case the passage along Lake Mont Cenis
at the time of construction the mountain top Forts have been considered untouchable;
no enemy artillery could get close to reach up to the mountain top without being shot to pieces by the downwards firing heavy guns of the Fortress.
however, advances in gun/ammunition power & precision as well as the invention of aircrafts made them completely obsolete and sitting ducks.
to supply the Fortress with solders (and the guns with ammunition) roads have been carved and blasted into the side of the mountain (mostly hidden from enemy fire).
the Fortress in the background of the first pic is located at the summit of the colle de Cenis (~2000m) and housed additional troops and amunition
some of the fortifications in that area date back to the roman empire
winter in the Alps are very harsh ... i bet troops had to be rotated down from the peaktop Fort very frequently.
at the summit we left the paved road
the lower part of the supply road to the fort was an interesting and fun to drive array of endless switchbacks
but soon the higher part of the road started to show some damage from 100 years of rough winter and the force of the resulting summer melting water
easy for my brothers enduro bike ...
... but starting to get a little more challenging for my typical "Euro" Jeep (any larger lift/tires than that are next to impossible to get street legal
)
to be continued...
