As part of our P.R.I.C. project (Produce Research Inform Consult) together with Studio Temp we designed a small capsule called SAXIFRAGA for Dolomite redesigning some items from their collection.
We have rethought their shoes in two colors by adding Vibram® no-oil soles with traction lug technology, the upper is in GORE-TEX® with ripstop fabrics and TPU embossed reinforcements.
The jackets are 3-layer lightweight (20,000 g/m²) fully taped and use a PFC-free DWR.
The SAXIFRAGA capsule includes jackets, shoes, shorts, socks and tees.
When we started talking about producing clothing independently we immediately encountered several problems. From the beginning we had various ideas in mind of how we wanted the products we designed to be, with what materials, with what workmanship and at what prices.
The reality is quite different however. We encountered the various issues that production presents, and how creating clothing is a complex process and dependent on numerous factors that together influence the final product.
First of all is the question of suppliers (mainly those who take care of the manufacturing). We live in Italy, one of the most industrialized geographical areas of the world when it comes to the textile industry. It is possible to create any type of product (in theory) just a few kilometers from anywhere, except that this is only valid when talking about “traditional” clothing and accessories (such as jersey, leather goods, knitwear etc.). The discussion regarding what is defined as “technical” is rather different and of a high level only for limited product categories.
Several embroidery trials with different threads and fabrics
Furthermore, it is difficult to access suppliers who want to follow an independent project, based on small quantities and on which there is no guarantee in terms of numbers and sales. And when it is necessary to work on garments that do not fall within the classic product categories of traditional clothing, it requires further effort and personnel dedicated to the development of the techniques suitable for its creation. And this happens every time we talk about technical materials, specific hardware and unusual processes. The only way to overcome these obstacles is to cultivate a relationship of mutual trust between those who design the garments and the suppliers. This relationship must be cultivated both in the work and personal fields.
The design must also make compromises required by production capacity. From certain points of view, this can be a limit, but also an opportunity, as a simplification of patterns is required, a reduction in waste, and the search for easy but functional solutions that are easily implementable with the resources available.
The sourcing of materials is equally complex. Paradoxically, it is easier to have access to a few meters of fabric for micro-projects rather than quantities of between 50 and 300 metres. In the first case you have access to the leftovers and stocks of retailers who often have excellent products but hardly guarantee resupply in the event of exhaustion. In the second case you have to deal directly with the producers where 300 meters is the MOQ (sometimes 500m) to be able to start production unless you pay huge increases on the price of the fabric. One way to get around this is to try to work with raw fabrics as much as possible. The further back you go in the production scale, the more likely it is that there will be greater quantities available ready (often undyed, untreated, uncalendered, etc.). We worked alot with fabrics that are ready to be dyed, which we can sell by dyeing the fabric ourselves or giving the consumer the chance to dye it themselves.
It therefore came naturally, when we entrusted ourselves to laboratories, to start from simple paper patterns, materials and processes as it was the only way to not sacrifice quality and try to introduce technological improvements along the way.
We started by focusing on a few designs such as the Fubar pants which perform in all outdoor activities (until you reach the aerobic phase) but up to now we have not been able to offer “active” equipment.
Now that the times are more mature we have started to introduce the first garments that are designed for sporting activity, i.e. with a high heart rate and with a high need to manage sweat.
We have defined these garments within our label XFORMANCE (:pəˈfɔːməns).
A set of repair patches for broken garments (available on our webshop)
Within this category there are Polyester and Nylon shirts (to ensure they dry quickly) with UV100 sun protection, Head gaiters, Mirage jackets and socks available with both recycled and biodegradable fibers (the synthetic fiber used AMNI Soul Eco® allows the garment if placed in an anaerobic environment to COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR after 4 years).
Next Wednesday we will be guests of OPENDOT and we will talk about how fablabs have influenced our production and creative process.
Ever since we started they have been essential in allowing us to use otherwise inaccessible technologies: laser cutting, CNC mills, 3D printers, heat presses and much more (as well as opening our third eye).
After the talk the machines are available for use, furthermore if you bring a blank t-shirt there will be an opportunity to make it a souvenir with the machines on site.
To participate, register on the eventbrite link HERE.
The talk is only available in Italian.
Over a year ago now, we started work on the second capsule collection. As with the first, we tried (and succeeded) in producing the collection entirely within a radius of 200 km from our workshop. It was a new challenge for us to start working on more complex garments such as jackets.
Starting from design, through development, testing and production. The collection contains several garments of which Mirage Jacket, Tomcat Jacket etc. are new designs entirely.
Here are the campaign photos taken by Sofia Blu in the Orobic Alps.
For this collection, we started working with some fabric manufacturers in our area, in particular Olmetex, and chose their GRS-certified recycled fabrics.
The very first prototype of the Mirage Jacket sewn in Aquabahn by Emilia
Andrea adds the finishing touches to Mirage Jacket production
A detail of the adjustment on the back of the hood of a prototype Mirage Jacket.
A picture of our improvised showroom set in an apartment in Paris.
We also published the book of the Lapland expedition and presented it at the first Outdoor Community Day. An open day in the city organised by Slipmode. Where people could exchange their gear, repair it or buy it directly between the various independent companies in the area. The book contains photos of all participants, a map, a diary and some tips for walking the trail.
Few Pictures about the Outdoor Community Day. Pictures by Nico Rombo
The second capsule garments ready to be shipped to our retailers around the world.
Last autumn on a night hike on Mt. Cornizzolo LC (1241m) during a rainstorm me, Andrea, Anna and Misha found an ancient relic.
How many millennia has it been on that mountain to reach its present form? Where did it come from? The only thing that was clear was the message written indelibly on it.
A picture of Andrea some minute after the “OG Rock” found under a heavy rain.
After it was found, we brought it into our workshop, scanned it in 3D and had Maria Vittoria make some vases, the vases are made of a clay called stoneware with coarse and rough chamotte. The casts were made from a 3d model of the “OG Rock” with a technique called molding. They were then fired at 1300 degrees Celsius at the Bochaleri Venetian Ceramists Association
The “OG Rock” on the way to be 3d scanned to create the OG molds.
We then made a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, a longsleeve, a hat and three sewable patches in collaboration with Perks and Mini. The overall concept is based on the signature motto “You Get What You take”, a reminder to those who will come after us: as Robin Hood teaches in life you will get what you take and not what you are given. But remember that when another Robin Hood knocks on your door you must be ready to part with what you have collected so far.
During our last trip to Paris in June, we met up with Misha, Shauna , Nick and their Perks and Mini team to take photos of the collaboration. Our guide Ruben led us on a night hike in a forest south of Paris belonging to the Chateau du Meudon park, where we visited an OG menir and some dolmens brought by some monks 150 years ago for their nightly rendezvous. All the pictures has been taken by Sofia.
We made a pair of sunglasses from scratch. A year and a half ago on Valentine’s Day we got a message on instagram from a Canadian guy called Spencer.
As soon as we read the message we were blown away, we had never even considered making sunglasses and now this opportunity made it possible. We immediately went to check out his profile and there were hundreds of proofs of 3D printing of frames, proofs of dyeing lenses, screen printing on fabrics and cardboard, light colour tests and much more that we could barely understand.
We immediately got in touch and started exchanging references, he sent us his first prototype (The Temple Frames) and we realised the scope of his work. From that moment on, a constant relationship was born, mainly via the Internet and a couple of times also in person, marked by the various stages of the creation of the first Abicsi & Rayon Vert Sunglasses.
We have always used sports glasses on our travels, especially in the mountains it is almost obligatory to protect our eyes. For years we have used vintage Oakleys (which we are aesthetically in love with), which in addition to the excellent quality of the lenses have a proven sturdiness. The price, however, continues to rise steadily and the plastics are unfortunately starting to arrive close to their expiry date, and more and more often they break unexpectedly.
We therefore started to put down on paper what we wanted for our glasses.
As for the frame:
– We wanted eyewear that was first and foremost sporty, so very durable, with strong (and snap-on) hinges that would fit securely on the face.
– We wanted it to be full-frame (actually we didn’t have much choice as the material wouldn’t otherwise hold the lenses)
– We wanted eyewear that was not too wraparound so that it could also be used with prescription lenses and more.
– We wanted it to be a sports goggle that had the opportunity to have an integrated back lacing system, that it would be immovable if needed, and that it wouldn’t collapse whether the wearer is running down a mountain or bunjee jumping from a cliff.
– We wanted it to be lightweight
As for the lenses:
– We wanted lenses that were high quality, safe and tested.
– We wanted them to have good sun protection (especially designed for mid-mountain) but not to be too dark that they couldn’t be used in dark areas.
– We wanted them to have good contrast when used in natural environments (forest/trail)
One of the very first sketches concerning the sunglasses.
We then started sending each other sketches from one side of the globe to the other and, after buying a 3D printer, we started printing prototypes in our studio in PLA (a biodegradable plastic made from renewable sources, it is the main polymer used for home 3D printers).
Here is the slicing of one of the first versions (you can see that all the lines are smooth and the hinges are missing).
We used to print these versions in our workshop in Milan, Italy, and they helped us to understand the fit of the sunglasses in the first phase.
One of the first versions with hinges, printed with an additive 3D printer in Toronto, Canada.
After the first few months in which we worked on the shape of the glasses and the fit, we started to produce some glasses with the final material and processing (the only way to test them with the lenses inserted). The material we chose to produce the definitive glasses that would give us the right balance of strength, lightness, flexibility and dyeing possibilities is Nylon 12 powder, the same material used in the clothing industry. To process it, a special 3D printer is used that employs a technique called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). The operation of this machine is quite simple, the nylon powder inside is hardened only at the determined points by a high powered laser, thus allowing many glasses to be printed at the same time, in very high quality, without the need for supports (and having the possibility of re-using part of the non-hardened powder for future projects).
After sintering, the frames are batch dyed, under pressure, to maximise colour fastness. The nylon of the glasses is dyed in the same way as the nylon used for clothing. Each pair of frames is then individually finished by hand.
Detail of the Rayon Vert logo on the arms of the glasses, you can see the high quality of detail given by this printing technique.
This is one of the first SLS-printed prototypes we tested (dyeing is still missing, the nylon looks rough)
For the lenses, we decided to use CR-39 lenses, which are among the most popular in the sporting environment (CR-39 stands for Columbia Resin #39. Its recipe was the 39th formula of a light weight thermosetting plastic developed by Columbia-Southern Chemical Corporation in 1940). This kind of lense offers superior optics, comparable to glass, at approximatly half the weight.
When it comes to lens characteristics then there are two factors to keep in mind:
– The first is sun protection, we have used UV400 lenses, meaning that the glasses protect against UV-A, UV-B and intense sunlight. It absorbs more than 90% of the light itself; the glasses can therefore be used for outdoor sports on sunny days (for high mountains, however, we recommend even more protective lenses).
– The second is the contrast of the lenses. The colour and its intensity influence how and what the user sees when using a particular pair of glasses. The lenses are tinted in a two-stage dying process in Abicsi’s workshop in Toronto. First, the lenses are dyed red. Red was chosen as a base colour due to its ability to absorb green wavelengths of light. By absorbing green light, the lenses enhance contrast of green and brown tones. Next, the lenses are over-dyed with grey to bring down the overall visible light transmission to 33%.
Above is the light permeability test performed on the Rubidium Red lenses used for the Wormholes Sunglasses. As you can see the green frequencies are among the most clipped, this means that reducing these frequencies results in the highest contrast in areas of forest undergrowth, meadows etc… making it easier for our eyes (and later our brains) to recognise e.g. safe hazards while running or the best line while riding a singletrack on a mountain bike.
Andrea looks at the sun through his Rubidium Red lenses from Rayon Vert headquarters.
We’ve always been accustomed to adding a drawstring behind the temples of our glasses so that we have them firmly fixed on the temples at the most challenging times. So when it came time to design our sunglasses, we wanted them to have this feature built in. We therefore designed the temples so that they are hollow and a thin dyneema cable can pass through them and can be secured simply with a knot near the hinge. On the back of the head there is a cordlock so that it can be adjusted as desired. The cord, as it is only locked with a knot, can be removed in case someone prefers the goggles without it.
Detail of the knot on the inside of the temple in one of the early prototypes (missing logos on the inside of the temple and an additional window showing the passage of the lanyard)
Aaaand, the Wormholes Sunglasses weigh 22.8 grams without lanyard, 24 grams with it!
Just 24 grams for a pair of full frame sunglasses is astonishing!
And here is the result of these months of work:
The glasses come with a drawstring bag made of ECOPAK™. ECOPAK™ is the world’s only composite fabric made with 100% recycled fibre and film, it does not contain toxic solvents or VOC’s and the outer film lasts 5 times longer in the sun than conventional film used in other fabrics. The box they come in is made of recycled cardboard, hand screen printed in Abicsi’s studio in Canada using only water based ink produced using only solar energy.
The glasses and lenses were tested according to CE regulations and in May 2023 we received the results. The Wormholes Sunglasses with Rubidicum Red lenses passed every test.
We presented the glasses in Milan on 17th June 2023, here are some pictures of the night by Bico.
We would especially like to thank Alibi who took care of all the renders and the video. Dario Sbattella who was the operator for the video. Vieri dalla Chiesa who coloured the video. Nicolò Barbieri who did the 2D animations. Sofia Blu for acting wonderfully. Alek Mari for the makeup. Mino Luchena for creating an incredible scenery to present the sunglasses.
Dany Bar (Ragno) for allowing us to use their space.
The glasses are available from July on our website, soon new updates.
I haven’t written here since this summer, so it’s time to catch up on a few things.
It’s been 5 years now that Rayon Vert exists as an entity, it all started in two sewing some belts, bags and printing a T-shirt. A lot has changed since then, we have learnt how to sew, made the first backpacks and marketed them by tailoring them one by one. We have taught many friends how to sew their own and thanks to this project more and more people have approached our world. We also took over a studio in which we invest most of our time and energy, making Rayon Vert our full-time commitment.
Production managed in our studio, new labels for all new products. All bags that look like they are made of plastic are instead made of PLA (which is a thermoplastic monomer derived from renewable, organic sources such as corn starch or sugar cane) that must be thrown away with compostable waste.
As an independent and self-financed brand, our income has always come from consulting with external figures, with whom we will continue to collaborate, but which leaves little room for extensive planning regarding the future. Because of this, we are limited in the production of clothing, as we do not have sufficient liquidity, and we are not able to enlarge the operational team. After the experiment of creating a proper collection with Slam Jam, albeit a small one, we came into contact with different figures in the clothing industry and started to come into contact with the processes that are needed to professionally produce clothes and accessories.
Dealing with the Middlemans
We therefore decided to focus our energies throughout the past year on creating a small capsule that could not only be sold on our website but also in physical locations around the world.
This has several advantages for us:
– It allows us to have the liquidity we need to work on more complex projects, invest in research, hire staff and allows us to make longer-term plans.
– Trying to work on the Open Manufacture concept on a larger scale.
– Having locations in other countries and continents relieves the expenses of buyers who would love to buy products but are stopped by shipping costs, customs etc.
– Having physical locations around the world allows us to be able to use their spaces for collaborations or events in countries that we would otherwise have difficulty visiting.
The shops we have considered are few and selected according to what we consider to be ‘cultural shops’, i.e. shops that in their ethos have to do with a policy we respect. We did not rely on any showrooms for sales but decided to knock directly on each of these shops so as to have total control of the supply chain, personally explaining to them our credo and how our garments are conceived and designed.
Left: T-shirts with the Lizard Backpack graphic. Right: a detail of the Fubar Pants, with their label, the pendant and a pair of optional drawstrings to be used at the bottom of the trousers in order to tighten them up (for use e.g. on bicycles or in territories with a high density of mosquitoes).
Speaking of production
– All garments and accessories were made in an area 200km from our workshop when it was not possible to make them in-house.
– All fabrics used (with the exception of ECOPAK™ and Dyneema®) are produced within the area mentioned above.
– We have included in the collection (as a test but in the future we would like to expand this to more and more garments) a pair of Fubar Pants in the ‘Ready To Dye’ version. That is, trousers that appear white but are made of raw fabric ready for dyeing. In this we would like to encourage, whoever does not want white trousers or whoever is not satisfied with the available colours, the natural home dyeing of the product and thus avoid enormous water consumption and pollution caused by industrial dyeing.
A dyeing test made with colours bought in a convenience store. There are many ways to dye textiles and you can decide to do it in a more or less environmentally friendly way, you can use everything from kitchen scraps to plants of all kinds. There are numerous ideas on the web.
Our first capsule includes:
A shirt, the Fubar pants, a skirt, some t-shirts, a sweatshirt, Ladderlock Bets, an Internship sacoche and a revival of the first Wrap Bag.
The capsule is available both on our website and physically in:
2000 METRES OF CLIMBING, FANTASTIC BIVOUACS AND AN ABANDONED RAILWAY LINE The brew of this track is by Trauzl
The season is starting again and for the occasion we have chosen an exceptional trail: the Valle dei Ratti! The trail is easily accessible by train (or bus at off-peak times), the loop we propose starts and returns to Verceia (Province of Sondrio), but if you wish you can draw a higher (and more challenging) variant that ends in Dubino (the following train station). The route is steep and the altitude difference is quite demanding, but the distance is short. There are two extremely well-equipped bivouacs on the route that will repay your efforts and make it unnecessary to carry anything but a sleeping bag and some food.
You can get there comfortably by train via the Colico-Chiavenna line (Trenord regional line R11). There are no other public transport facilities along the route.
Season: This is an easily passable route from spring to autumn. Due to the altitude and location, there is a lot of snow in the winter months and mountaineering equipment is required.
Language: Italian. A basic knowledge of either definitely comes in handy. The Frasnedo refuge (1280 m and slightly off the route) is the only place where you might meet someone, buy food and ask for information. When we went there, however (early April) it was still closed.
Cell/Mobile Phone Coverage: Above 1000 metres the phone stops working.
Resupply: It is important to buy all the food before arriving in Verceia, there is not much there except a couple of bars, and there are no resupplies of any kind on the trail. There is only the Rifugio Frasnedo just off the trail but which we found closed.
Water: There is water on the entire route and also at the refuges. At low altitudes, however, we recommend using a water filter.
Overview: From the train station you can, via Verceia village, take the path directly. From there, a steep ascent begins, which meets the road several times and lasts approximately four and a half kilometres. It is then necessary to take the restricted access road on the right and follow the old railway line.
Following the railway tunnel, you come out at the Moledana dam (909 m), which you have to cross to get to the other side of the Torrente Ratti. Continuing on, you pass through Moledana village and come across some pasture houses and a few ruins. Once past the tree line, the route becomes more arduous and you climb up through a landslide; in winter and early spring there may be several icy sections.
If you are the first to arrive at the Capanna Volta (2212m), you must open the gas cylinder at the back, turn on the water (if it is winter, it will probably be frozen) and connect the electricity. The bivouac is practically an unmanaged refuge. There are about 30 beds (with blankets too), emergency food (always remember to bring something to leave), crockery and wood. If you use the bivouac, remember to leave it as you found it and it is a good idea to leave an offering.
Proceeding towards the Bivacco Primalpia (2476m) there is a short stretch on the coast, there is also a small chain (3 metres long) which is a little more challenging in snow, but nothing to worry about. The Primalpia bivouac is also quite large and well equipped, despite being only one large room (there are 18 beds inside, it is heated and cooking is possible).
The return path continues into the forest on the other side of the stream and rejoins the first path at the Moledana dam (909 m), to re-divide and continue within the forest to Verceia.
All that remains of the collection is now available and free to download from the website: www.wisdom.slamjam.com (or clicking here)
What a long journey!
A lot has really happened in this year-our first collection came out and it was disassembled! Many people bought the garments and sewed them around the world. It was really amazing.
Now unfortunately our domain is about to expire and we have decided to end the collaboration project with SLAM JAM open sourcing all the materials used to create this collaboration.
In the folder you can find all the instructions, patterns, videos and more to assemble the garments in your area, the only thing you need to find is the fabrics!
To celebrate the end of the collaboration we also rented a repair shop and asked the owner, Zhao, if she felt like sewing kits for people who weren’t feeling up to it, and she did! For a whole day we were there and presented the Fanzine: WISDOM! (also available in the downloadable folder).
In the evening we then held a pre-Christmas party in SPAZIO MAIOCCHI set up as a club for the occasion. There local legend DEEPVISION played first with his hybrid DJ set followed by FULCI who blew the place away.
We have decided that in order to best satisfy our customers, the most functional way is to proceed with the sale of Lizard Backpacks by pre-order. In the last few months we have started working with a manufacture, in northern Italy, that meets our requirements and the quality we expect for our backpack, this has given us a chance to work on some upgrades to the structure and construction of the Lizard that implement its toughness and durability. The main solution we have included are bar tacks at the highest stress points of the backpack.
The second important piece of news is that we have developed a variant called the Mutated Lizard Backpack that introduces new shoulder straps with pockets that are perfect for having everything you need at hand while on the trail.
The pockets are compatible with most commercially available 0.5-liter flasks. We have used them with both Salomon speed 42 and wider versions, including from other manufacturers, as well as with 0.5-liter plastic bottles. The bottles can be secured in place by a bunjee cord and a cordlock.
Having as many things as possible at hand makes breaks less frequent and consequently increases the speed at which a trail travels. In addition, having the bottles at hand (and eyeballs) allows constant control of the available reserve, makes the speed of refilling fast without the need to take off the pack, and makes it convenient to use salts or carbohydrates.
We decided to change the material once again regarding backpack accessories, falling back on the choice that we believe is most ethically and technically right. We will therefore start working with ECOPAK®.
What made us choose to work with them are this set of advantages that make them different from other materials generally used in the ultralight industry:
– All components of the ECOPAK™ laminates are made from 100% recycled polyester. This means that metre for metre, over 20 plastic bottles are recycled and more than 450g of carbon dioxide is saved.
– The outer fabric is made from REPREVE® yarns collected in the ocean, all other components are made from used PET bottles
– Only FC-free C0 impregnations are used.
– No VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are used in the production of ECOPAK™, all adhesives are solvent-free
– Thanks to an innovative production process, energy-intensive drying processes during lamination are reduced
– ECOPAK™ lies very flat when cut and has a very uniform CrossPly fibre from edge to edge – this prevents waste when cutting to size
– The polyester outer fabric used is similarly abrasion resistant to fabric made of nylon and is therefore very durable
– Because ECOPAK™ is made from 100% polyester, it is recyclable
This first batch will be made in Black epx 200, for those familiar with X-pac it is comparable to VX21 but even stiffer.
ECOPAK® EPX200 combines a 200den recycled polyester with a 70den ripstop lining. In between, at a 45° angle, are the blue CrossPly fibres.
The packs come in two sizes:
Small/Medium: 43cm/17″
Large/X-Large: 48cm/19″
Classic Lizard weighs 444gr/15.6 oz
Mutated Lizard weighs 525gr/18.5 oz
From 18 to 22 May we are in London! We haven’t left the country for a long time, mainly because of the pandemic, and it’s finally happening! We’re going to meet some people we haven’t seen for a long time and others we’ve only seen online. On the day of arrival (the 18th) we’re doing a Pub Crawl with the guys from The Trilogy Tapes starting at The Approach Tavern and going around the Hackney area. With them we designed some t-shirts that will go out on Wisdom‘s website (via Slam Jam) and theirs.
On the 19th we’re guesting on the TTT show at NTS Radio, we played a bunch of songs we like throughout the first hour of the show.
You can listen to the recorded show here if you were unable to hear the live broadcast.
For Saturday the 21st we thought we would organise an event to bring as many people together as possible. So we thought of a new format that if it works we would like to repeat in the future, we decided to call it ‘Chattin’ Walks’!
The idea is to trace in each city we go to, and of which we have enough information because of the locals who live there, a path to walk along with anyone who wants to participate. The crossing points may be more or less famous and may have different reasons of interest. the route is designed by looking for the most beautiful places to walk in the city (or the least ugly!).
In order to be as inclusive as possible the route is announced through our channels with the start time, end time and time gates of all intermediate points so that even those who do not want to do the whole route can still meet the group on the way.
The route of the London Chattin’Walk traced by Pietro is as follows:
The Nags Head SW1X 8ED at 2pm
John Snow Water Pump around 2.40pm
Smithfields Market around 4pm
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground around 4.30 pm
Liberty of Norton Folgate at 4.50 pm
Pettycoat Lane Market at 5 pm
Hermitage Basin at 5.40 pm
Blyth’s Wharf Jetty E14 8BF Around 6.30 pm
For more information here is the track: komoot or directly the .gpx file.
The Sentiero del Viandante (Wayfarer’s Path) is an easy path that can be reached from all over Italy (and also from Switzerland!) by train. The trail runs around the east side of Lake Lecco and Lake Como. There are many train stops around the trail which allows even the least trained hiker to complete it in sections. The main challenge is to complete it in one go, but splitting it up is quite easy.
You can arrive to Abbadia Lariana, Colico and every checkpoint by train (Mandello del Lario, Olcio, Lierna, Fiumelatte, Varenna-Esino, Bellano-Tartavalle Terme, Dervio, Dorio, Piona, Colico).
Season: You can go almost in every season, You can find snow during the colder months near the higher points.
The Sentiero del Viandante is always well signposted and in excellent condition, the path can be tackled in several sections or along its entire length, always benefiting from stunning views.
The best time of year to ride the trail is in spring and autumn when the temperatures are not too high.
However, it is also an excellent winter training circuit, since it does not reach particularly high altitudes and it is rarely snowy.
The “Hiking Trips and Tips” is a Rayon Vert project powered by ACG.
A few months ago, a French guy called Léon wrote to us saying that he was looking for a place where he could do a three-week internship through his school. After a few months we managed to make it happen, he arrived from Nice and we immediately tried to figure out what he could do during these weeks. Why not make a bag together using all the waste materials we produce? Making mainly backpacks we always had small cuts of very valuable materials (Dyneema, Xpac, Liteskin…) and so it happened!
In his own words:
“I discovered rayon vert through Teho, a friend of mine from school. I instantly liked it as I was seeing a very similar way of working in both of our works. In need of an internship and willing to see how working on bigger scale projects was like . I messaged them through instagram asking if by any chance they were looking for an intern, which ended up working. Visited them once before then came back for the official internship for three weeks during february.
My work is mainly sewing so the first thing that we looked for was how to make a project together that involved both of our domains. We did 2 or 3 prototypes and we had the final design of the pouch. During my stay, i managed to make 30 of those using various materials from the leftovers, as well as many other activities like sorting out packaging in the factory, taking the pictures of the bags, help setting up the Slam Jam event, doing a prototype for a quilt sleeping bag, among various other things…
Thank you to the Rayon Vert people, let’s make more stuff, hope you like the bags 🙂
Léon”
Léon preparing the set for the bag still-life. Photography by Matteo Bico
After the first week about 30 bags were ready, and in the following weeks we worked on Wisdom and other projects that you will see soon, a little preview below.
We wish you good luck Léon and hope to see you soon!
Léon showing his sleeping bag. Photography by Miguel Servera
As the guys from TTT have the same attitude as us and are really good guys (after a year of zoom calls we hope to see each other in real life soon!), we decided to sew some of our belts and Rave (Neck) Bags for them!
You can find them on The Trilogy Tapes website from Saturday 29 at 11:00 GMT
Over the past month we have been contacted by P.A.M. @perksandmini to contribute to their Positive Messages blog. So we recorded a live-session by our friend Dj Barefoot as a continuation of his project of research and dialogue between music, nature and the status of human being.
The natural delay effect perceived in the artificial environment of the Ambria dam (IT) inspired Dj Barefoot to use it as the largest pedal known in modern history.
Therefore, he developed a conversation between the artificial amplification interacting with the surrounding environment. The sonic power that returned from the huge dam to DJ Barefoot, influenced his DJ consciousness, adding a natural feeling to the synthesised sounds.
This video portrays the moment when DJ Barefoot realises he is an artificial instrument in a natural environment, where man-made structures and synthetic sounds melt together, challenging the boundaries between the two worlds.
First of all, since we can’t make all the backpacks to measure we decided to drop them in batches. And the first one is made in Liteskin and X-pac!
The reason why we choose to stop making them customisable is because we simply can’t keep up with all the orders anymore. Obviously those who have ordered their custom backpacks will receive them on time, but from now on we will try to drop them more and more often and try to leave the site with more material available for everyone.
This first series of backpacks comes in two sizes:
Small/Medium: 43cm/17″
Large/X-Large: 48cm/19″
The backpacks go on sale here on the site from 7P.M. CET. on Tuesday 21st 2021.
We have been using Liteskin® for a number of projects for internal use for some months now. We started six months ago to use it for bikepacking bags to follow our GGGG BICI friends on their adventures.
Yuri‘s bicycle after the Sicily trip with the (almost) full set of Liteskin® Bike bags.
After months of trouble-free use, we started to test it on backpacks, bags, etc. And we must say that it is a really interesting material, in some ways better than Dyneema® in terms of quality/price!
So when Simona Vanth asked us to add a new material for the three peaks bag, we didn’t hesitate to use liteskin®!
“Instead of a fabric we use a non-woven polyester with an additional, pigmented polyester-resin on top. This makes a non-textile surface with a appealing marbled colour. A C6-impregnation improves the already good water- and dirt repellant properties.”
“Originally created for Sailing, Lite Skin®, was designed to protect sails against UV degradation, abrasion and shrinking. Like many products developed for the sail making industry this one has caught the eye of many outdoor product manufacturers.” (like Six Moon Designs)
Let us know if you have also used this material and what you think of it!
There are two events this month, we definitely still have a lot to learn about how to create a proper schedule! One from Assab one and the other from TARFU studio, we hope soon to be able to organise public events also in the new space we got.
The first one is:
As part of the ‘hiking trips and tips’ format, RayonVert presents the first in a series of travelling outdoor-themed talks.
Focused on climate change and outdoor education presented by Rayon Vert in collaboration with Terraforma and supported by Nike ACG. The talk will be followed by Fritto FM Showcase: a music selection by DJ Ndooya, Ascot/WW and Oree.
MICHELE FREPPAZ is a pedologist and snow scientist with a PhD awarded in 2001 at the University of Torino. He is Associate professor at the Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences Department of the University of Torino. Among his present-day teaching activities: mountain soils, snow ecology and principles of alpine meteorology, soil survey laboratory, prevention of soil erosion, landslides and snow avalanches, applied pedology. His research focuses on the genesis and functioning of mountain soils with a special interest for the processes at the snow/soil interface. Moreover, he works on the impacts of cryosphere degradation on soil and surface water properties. He has current and past research activities in many of the mountain ranges throughout the world, including the Rocky Mountains, the Andes and the Himalayas.
NEUNAU, artist name of Sergio Maggioni, in 2015 returns to live in Valle Camonica, where he comes from, and he founded the NEUNAU as artistic research project. This ancient name was found carved on a rock surface in the LOA area, an Iron Age sacred place of recent discovery. The project is carried out through an archaeological and musicological approach to the sound research. NEUNAU’s sound investigations develop from the smallest details conveyed by a sound source, capturing and studying these sounds, searching for their musical potentiality, with the aim to produce audio tracks and documentary clips, where the main character is the sound itself, used to tell its own story. In 2020 he created the research project “UN SUONO IN ESTINZIONE” which aims to monitor the implications of climate change on alpine glaciers through artistic and scientic exploration, in collaboration with universities, institutions and partners.
To partecipate to the evening talk panel and/or the showcase please register here.
The second one is:
With more than a year’s delay we finally managed to release ‘MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP 3’. Needless to say, the pandemic helped to make the process leading up to the completion of this release even slower. The great news about this publication is that Teo is not the only photographer! Bico took a series of portraits of the expedition participants and so his photos have been included within, making this the first collaborative fanzine in the series. During the trip we filmed almost continuously with go-pro, handycam and phones, so we will also be releasing a testimonial video about the expedition (as when we walked the GR20), also signed by Bico.
For the event we also prepared some merchandise to celebrate the end of the year and the new headquarter that we have been preparing for some time now (more news about that soon!).
As always, we would like to thank NOMOIRE, which has been with us for many years now in printing this series of publications.
We would also like to thank the guys at Tarfu Studio, Dali, Luca and Silvia, who are very dear friends of ours and we are very happy to finally be able to do something together.
The fanzine will be available in the online shop from 21st December.
Hi everyone, here is the “Hiking Trips and Tips” advertising video.
We started the first guides a bit slow but we plan to do more in the next year and support the project with some sewing workshops, some outdoor lessons and some collective trips for anyone interested.
If You haven’t seen the previous guide yet, you can find them here.
We thank all the participants in the video, all those who made it possible (specially CD) and the RayonVert team.
For the second OUTDOOR GUIDE we have chosen an easy route that can be reached in less than an hour and a half from Milan. We opted for this one because the Resegone, one of the most interesting peaks in Lombardy, it’s usually crowded due to the eastern chairlift and the people coming from Erve. This path that we propose it’s not so famous which allows you to see Resegone from a different point of view.
Language: Italian. A basic knowledge of either definitely comes in handy, however, there are no huts along the route!
Cell/Mobile Phone Coverage: The phone coverage is quite bad especially on the peaks but you can have chance to reach signal inside the woods at low altitude.
The path is always well signposted and in excellent condition, in the first part it’s surrounded by trees with a soft soil and in the second one, after “La Pasada“, it becomes more rocky and exposed on the ridge. It’s not difficult, but especially near Cima Quarenghi, it could become more challenging due to longer steps and a small chain (via ferrata). It’s also a good choice for running because of the large trail and the not so technical ground.
For the first OUTDOOR GUIDE we have choosen an easy one, reachable in less than two hours by train and bus from Milan. We thought about this one because we always heard about Val Codera, a mythical valley in the Italian Alps close the Swiss borders, which can only be reached on foot, by bicycle or by helicopter as there are no tarmac roads. We did the journey in two days but obviously anyone can make it at is own speed.
You can reach the starting point, Novate Mezzola by car or by train and bus. Taking public transports is actually super comfortable, you can take the train to Colico Station (LC). Once there, exit and after 50 m on the left there is the bus station for Val Codera. The journey takes about 20″ untill Novate Mezzola.
Season: Mid-May to October. it’s not rare to found lot of snow, even in late spring, in the valley.
Informations:
Permits: no permits are required
Language: Italian. A basic knowledge of either definitely comes in handy, however, most of the locals along the route know at least a little English.
Cell/Mobile Phone Coverage: The phone coverage is quite bad in the valley. However an increasing number of huts now offer Wifi for guests.
Cash or Card: We did’t pay with card during our journey but be sure to have enough cash for emergencies. In our experience not many huts accept credit cards.
Resupply & Water:
Resupply: The valley is full of Rifugi (mountain huts), at which you can purchase meals, snacks and sandwiches to go. Note that if you are interested in hiking out of season, you either have to carry all your own food from start to finish.
Water: During the route there are always regular drinking spots except near the bivouac, we suggest to bring with you a water filter to purify the water coming from the mountain.
The path is always well signposted and in excellent condition, after the village of Codera the path turns into a long but pleasant dirt road. This road will take you to the Luigi Brasca Refuge which rises in a basin of meadows and woods at the end of the wild and unspoiled Val Codera. Surrounded by grandiose peaks, such as Ligoncio and Punta Sfinge, it is the first stop on the famous “Sentiero Roma” trek that leads to the heart of the Masino-Bregaglia massif.
The long walk to get to the refuge from Novate Mezzola shows the mountain enthusiast a variety of remarkable flora, combined with the discreet and unprecedented presence of mountain villages now lived only in summer.
On the right side of the refuge begins the path which, skirting the two fascinating Ligoncio waterfalls, will take you to the Carlo Valli bivouac.
Sleeping:
Wild Camping: Officially speaking, “camping” – which is apparently defined in Europe as staying in the same tent site for more than 24 hours – is strictly prohibited. On the other hand, the “overnight bivouac” – setting up late and leaving early the following morning is allowed (or at least tolerated) as long as you practice LNT principles, we suggest to do it as stealth as you can.
In recent months we have been contacted by Nike ACG®, the Nike’s outdoor line since the early 90s, to start a common project.
We always indirectly collected and gathered information about their past collections, during the years many of the research Nike ACG did about materials and manufacturing has proven to be futuristic. If we think about it, we remember some of the first shoes produced on a large scale with an hemp upper and the entire Nike CONSIDERED project (which was absolutely ahead). If we nowadays reflect about it, it was one of the most sustainable and ethical systems available, even right now. Imagine that a leading shoe manufacturer produces soles, uppers etc. and sells them on the free market disassembled. Suddenly anyone could participate by selling shoe parts made by them with the materials available in their area, investing in durability and engineering. Anyone could choose who to buy from or simply adapt what exists on the market to their need. Thus extending the life of the products and reducing the costs of transporting raw materials. It was something similar to the modular smartphone project but many years before.
When Nike asked us to collaborate together, because they were interested in our approach to the outdoors and the self-production idea behind Rayon Vert, We were enthusiastic. The idea of being able to reach as many people as possible with this project and maybe, through our experience, inspiring someone to unlock his hidden abilities and to dream of a desire for autonomy, has thrilled us. Our common point is certainly the passion for the outdoors, the idea of the exploration of the wild could be a parable of a soul searching aimed at improving everyone’s skills. If the cities provide everything we need (or maybe not) with its market rules and capitalism, the outdoors symbolize anarchy and independence.
We therefore decided to start from a series of guides, and expand the concept more and more in the future (with workshops, collective journeys…), with all the information that can help anyone who wants to start approaching hiking, bikepacking or in general looking for something beyond their habits. We are going to start with a series of small guides and routes in the landscapes we know best (northern Italy and the Alps), hoping in the future we’ll be able to expand the area more and more. We will also try to make guides as diversified as possible, both in terms of difficulty level, duration and reachability so that they can be accessible to as many people as possible.
We hope “HIKING TIPS AND TRIPS” could be a small seed which could inspire anything that starts from small and becomes something big.
“Dj Barefoot is an experienced technician, a listener of the sounds of nature and a man.
Loneliness is dear to him, all he needs is his music setup.
His synthesizer is programmed to play alone, it just needs to be taken into a place where it can express itself.”
Our collaboration with Vitelli continues, we have been sharing the same laboratory in Milan for a year now and we decided to co-operate to create a small capsule in support of Dj Barefoot.
The items are: a backpack/stool in Doomboh® (the x-pac version is for the exclusive use of Dj Barefoot), a Doomboh® jacket, a foot-printed t-shirt and the music cassette.
“Pitch a Tent Poles started because some of my friends said I should try and sell a pair of poles I had made myself.
They’re quite expensive for hiking poles, but I’d like to think that they’re the only poles you’ll ever need. If you’re good to them but they break I’ll repair them for you for the price of postage.”
In the past few days we stayed up all night to record some answers to the questions we were asked by C41 magazine. In case you too find talking to a computer quite hard, covering the screen with your notes and turning the brightness down to zero does the trick pretty well, thank you Andrea Cippo Rosso for the good tip. You can find the video here or on C41’s website with the full transcript of the interview.
If you have any ideas about what we’re talking about do leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you.
In response to the COVID – 19 Pandemic, in collaboration with Elliss we have designed and open sourced a set of instructions to make scrubs at home and send them into hospital where they are most needed. The process can be carried out by anyone, novices or professionals and you won’t need to print them out, the files contain instructions to draw the pattern and assemble the scrubs.
It doesn’t matter whether you make one pair or a hundred, healthcare services are under serious strain and need all the help they can get.
The Scrub Up project is based in the UK and we are currently aiming our help towards the NHS but we are keen for it to travel if there is a need in other parts of the world. If you have information regarding your health care services abroad please get in touch with us and we will do everything in our power to extend the reach of the project.
Before you get started please read the fabric guidelines and hospital requirements in the two google docs linked below, it is essential that you do this to provide hospital workers with the right equipment and avoid sending contaminated garments to the wrong place.
These can also be found at our Facebook page which is continuously updated with live information: Scrub Up!
Davide “Dicor” sewing for the first time his own Lizard backpack.
In the past months we have realized that while Rayon Vert is intended as a research line, and therefore is meant to be made up mainly of prototypes and editions of one, we still want to provide a series of constantly available products without compromising the time we dedicate to experimentation. To do so without a production line is difficult so we sat down and wracked our brains and clenched our fists really, really tightly, in the hope that a good idea would burst out, fingers crossed it might have worked.
Between the late 1700s and early 1800s clothing production started moving from cottage industry to large-scale industrial production. By the late 1800s it had reached a level that, system wise, was relatively similar to the one we rely on today, however for many reasons still distant from fast fashion or other less harmful modes of production employed at present. As a result people’s perception of clothes, their manufacture and their value have since changed greatly.
Our main workhorse the “Old Bessie”
It would seem that the bigger the retailer, the greater one’s detachment with the item of clothing becomes, consequently shortening its life span. It has become cheaper and more convenient to dispose of an item of clothing than it is to repair it, furthermore, the know-how to repair clothes, which in many cultures was passed down from generation to generation, is slowly disappearing.
In addition to this, it is not only a question of price, the growing pace of the clothing industry has inevitably affected the quality. While well made garments are still produced worldwide, the unprecedented speed with which new trends are set has made even these items obsolete as they are subjected to a system based on quick turnover, therefore not allowing them to serve their purpose.
The result of these circumstances raises the question of why one would want to repair an item of clothing that has been designed to last as little as possible, be it due to bad quality or passing trend. To do so would be pointless and the effect of this is clearly visible in the slow decline in popularity of alteration and repair shops. These businesses are manned by workers whose expertise is often widely under appreciated, despite having skills that reach far beyond their job title.
In recent years, whilst this has been happening, developments in technology have made procedures and processes which were previously unapproachable, available to nearly anyone. This happens in Fabrication Labs, often referred to as FabLabs.
FabLabs are becoming increasingly popular in cities around the world. For a reasonable monthly fee they provide services such as 3D printing, CNC routing and laser cutting, in addition to having other machines employed in various fields of production, all of which are available for anyone to use. These places are populated not only by technicians who are familiar with the machines, but also by armies of nerds willing to help and school beginners on the wonders of personal production. Chances are that if you search FabLab and the place where you live, one won’t be too far from you.
It follows that newly available technologies, aided by local businesses (FabLabs and repair shops), can allow the user to perform the same tasks the manufacturer would but at a fraction of the cost, learning new skills, with the added bonus of being able to tweak and adapt garments to personal needs.
As a result of these developments we would like to suggest a shift in the way gear and clothing are supplied, to cut out the middleman and avoid having an unnecessary production line, starting from material suppliers, through our designs, in order to deliver a final product that is completely adaptable and fully satisfies the needs of different users, reaching them directly.
To do this we intend to offer two different options to manufacture each of our products.
Option 1.
We will provide a package containing all the pre-cut fabrics and components to put together the item, this will contain the instructions to assemble it as well as the details of all the necessary tools and machines.
Fabrics and components would vary on the basis of specific needs and conditions, advice as to which one to choose will be available in the product description.
It will work as follows:
-Choose item, fabric and components.
-Order the item.
-Receive the package.
-Take it to a local seamster to be put together or assemble personally, at home or in a local FabLab.
Option 2.
The pattern for each item will be available for free download, as a vector file, to be used to cut personally sourced fabrics (this can happen by using the file to laser cut the fabrics at a local FabLab or by printing it and cutting the material by hand), choose parts and components and develop the garment based on specific needs.
In the case of further development of the garment (adding\removing pockets, adding zips, altering the fit) we advise the user does so with the help of a local seamster.
This option will also include instructions as well as tools and machine lists to assemble the item.
It will work as follows:
-Choose item.
-Source fabrics and components
-Purchase and download pattern and instruction file
-Laser cut material at FabLab or print pattern and cut fabrics by hand.
-Take pre-cut fabric and components to local seamster or assemble personally, at home or in a local FabLab.
To facilitate this process a list of fabric suppliers will be made available on our website and all the products will be graded based on the skill required to assemble them.
In addition to this we plan on working directly with FabLabs and Repair Shops on a membership basis. We will provide FabLabs with a basic line of clothing to test our process, users will be able to follow and practice the process with the help of technicians and members of the FabLab therefore facilitating the procedure of personal fabrication. By doing so we intend to increase the attendance of FabLabs and bring the necessary attention to personal fabrication to a wider public.
If you are a staff member of a FabLab or Repair Shop and would like to participate in our initial testing phase get in touch with us at rv@rayonvert.international !
By adopting these methods we encourage repairs. It is much easier to repair an item that one has built or to establish a relationship with a local business that can take care of manufacture and maintenance.
While one may rightfully argue that the levels of detail and refinement reached by the highest end of the clothing market can’t be matched by self-production the outcomes are not far off, often even surpassing regular market standards and definitely the ones of fast-fashion. Therefore the production system we depend on is on the way to becoming obsolete, a good reason to not sleep on Open Manufacture, and as Italians we know a lot about sleep, we’re experts at it, so it must be a good idea to get even us out of bed.
For the past four years Filippo Moia and Pietro have organized Feet First Fair, an independent publisher’s fair that took place in London 2016, in Milan 2017 and in Brussels and Oostende 2019.
The aim of the fair was to give an affordable place and time to the people they knew, and had researched; to exhibit, sell and trade their work as well as extending the reach of their work which would have otherwise been minimal. This was done by cutting the costs for the exhibitors to a point where the only things they had to take care of were reaching the location and eating. Lavish and free accommodation was provided by FFF, on friend’s sofas, floors and for some, even inside the location of the fair. No fee was demanded to participate.
During the fair and for the few days previous to it, exhibitors would gradually arrive, advice as to what to do in the evening, food and sightseeing was given by highly informed locals, the whole event was routinely topped off with a party hosted by carefully selected djs.
The outcome was pretty good, it seems like everyone had a good time.
Having been a vital part in the organization of and participation to this event we share its values and we see the importance of carrying them forward so, as it’s not unusual for independent projects to live in a box and get forgotten about, in an effort to support the work of the people around us, we are opening a platform to insure this does not happen.
Being very witty, we have decided to call it SocialFabric®.
SocialFabric® collects the work of the people around us who wish to sell it and expand its reach. We only stock some of these items to avoid unnecessary shipping, those that aren’t available for direct purchase will have a link to contact the maker who will take the payment and send it personally.
We do not take a cut of the profit from these sales.
We asked one of our closest friends and collaborator Andrea Cippo Rosso to be the first to list something on Social Fabric®. We also asked him to explain it himself because he is much better than us at it.
Andrea Cippo Rosso:
When Pietro and Yuri asked me to design a t-shirt for this forthcoming launch on Rayon Vert’s website I didn’t think I was the most appropriate person to do it. I could see Rayon Vert as an ultra-light outdoor garments line, and any type of natural environment has always been a no-no for me.I had a cup of tea and a couple of cigarettes with Pietro then, and I realized that maybe there was a reason why I’d been asked to be the first one to release a product for the launch of SocialFabric®.What we’d shared together, me, Pietro, and Yuri, wasn’t something related to the outdoors, it wasn’t related to hiking or to the latest technical gear, but it was about a personal journey we experienced together.
It was about travelling, but not on any path. It wasn’t about any breath-taking landscapes, but about the non-places we’ve been passing through together in the years.
So I collected some pics from my phone, the ones that physically and emotionally represented our landmarks from my past and my present, and put them on a t-shirt.
Looking at these places geographically located in Milan, my hometown Conegliano (a small city near Venice), London and Berlin now solely in the space of a t-shirt, the words to write next came to me spontaneously.
Those memories aren’t strictly related to the places where the photos were shot, but to the place I was in at that moment, and the people who were experiencing that by my side.
And the love I’ve received from them is the most valuable coin in the journey, the only thing I’ll bring back home.
Wherever my home is.
This is what I brought to the table for Social Fabric®, I’ll raise a glass for any of you.
On Friday the 29th of November 2019 we will show Teo Giovanni Poggi’s new zine.
For the occasion we have decided to inaugurate a series of itinerant markets called “Rayon Vert – Distro and Supply” where we will sell backpacks, accessories and other material related to Rayon Vert.
Our publication is heavily supported by Nomoire, print and consulting agency based in Milano and ON/OFF Gallery that believed in our project and made it possible.
Here the video recap of the route, we apologize for the too many shots of our feet but this is the video recap of the route, and being the trail 95% rocks, feet is pretty much all we saw.
As we stumbled around Chamonix last year, holding greasy slices of focaccia, on our way back home after the TMB, we received a series of texts from a guy who was interested in what we’d done for the past week and the things we’d recently put out.
Pietro had lived in London for the better part of four years at that point and during that time had come across this guy a number of times, in Pietro’s own home as a part of a wider courier circuit, at some events and walking around town. Their relationship didn’t really extend beyond a polite hello.
Weeks after Pietro had returned to London after the TMB he met up with this guy at his house and they had long chats about travels and music, they then met up with another friend of his to start planning future trips more in detail and have become good friends since.
The guy’s name is Dan Stewart and he came with us on the GR-20 trip this summer, he is a vital part of Rayon Vert and lives every day with the same excitement he puts into all of his work. The account of the trip is his.
Thanks for everything Dan!
RV
PRELIMINARY
[Friday 12th July]
I started out on the bus from Paris to Milan, overnight, to meet the rest of the guys. Balanced equal parts with determination and excitement as with nerves. I knew Yuri beforehand, and Teo through word of mouth and the internet but I didn’t know what to expect from the trip, regardless of our research and preparation. It felt like as much a mission to get from Paris, to Milan and then to Genoa, Bastia and to Calenzana just to start the trail, as it did completing the GR20. I fractured my ankle two months before I got on the bus, it was a minor fracture but mild pain had resurfaced on and off in the prior weeks due to my want to get back into exercising. I thought I need to work through it a little in the leading weeks, trying to get back into running and doing mobility and strength exercises. I did what I could to feel prepared but naturally there’s something that eats away at your mindset when you sit on a bus for thirteen hours. I had just bought a beautiful second-hand pack from Z-Packs, that added to the equation. I was confident with the pack, but weighed by the saying ‘All the gear and no idea’ as this was going to be my first long-distance trail and not an easy one to start with.
[Saturday 13th]
After an egg sandwich, some chocolate and the last of my smokes I arrived in Milano and met with Yuri. We did some prep-chores and met with Teo and Endo in the evening to do our food shopping. We sat, had a beer, got to know each other a little bit and I bought some more smokes on Yuri’s suggestion that quitting wouldn’t be as rewarding as smoking at the end of a long day on the trail. When we roamed the aisles for dehydrated meals, nut butters and all the bits we needed I started to finally feel excited in the company of the team. The guys seemed confident and calm and that tipped the scale a bit further in the right direction. We spent the night at another friend’s place, Leo, drinking beer, organising our packs and drilling me a new supercat stove. We said our goodnight’s and met at Milano Centrale at 1215 the next day for the train down south to Genoa.
[Sunday 14th]
The plan from Genoa was to take the ferry overnight to arrive in Corsica and then make our way to the start of the trail to begin walking on the evening of the 15th and to get at least half a stage in before camp. We had a lazy afternoon eating and drinking in Genoa waiting for the ferry to leave at 21:00. Quick negroni as we pulled out of the port and put Italy behind us and we set our mats up on the floor and slept inside the ferry.
Endo is trying to sleep on the ferry to Bastia.
[Monday 15th]
We arrived early in Bastia moving straight for the train station to work out how much time we had before the next train to Calvi (where we could get a bus to Calenzana), which turned out to be eight minutes. Three hours later we were in Calvi, having some lunch, buying some capri’s and getting a short bus ride over to Calanzana where you begin the trail.
The GR20 and its 15 stages.
Hitting the GR20
Monday 15th — From Calenzana to Bocca u Saltu (1250m)
We were walking from 1500 in the afternoon and sweating like piglets as some clouds rolled in and we started to gain altitude. The trail is famous for wild evening storms, isolated as the mountain ranges wave and dip through the centre of the island. 17:30 we are watching a gnarly storm start to brew and crackle to one side of us, crawling along and getting gradually larger. As we walk the next hour of uphill dredging, thick, dense clouds start covering the trail all around us. Not far from the skyline we knew we would level out sooner or later, but visibility was very low and we were fearing the tales of Corsica’s mountain storms would prove to get the better of us on our first day. We top out onto a ridge, flat and grassy. Patches of thick dark clouds cover the mountain in all directions, with visibility being short and jagged through gaps in the clouds we could see what looked like a perfect spot to set up camp. The storm rolled through quickly and we started to set our tarps up in a grassy area established by free-campers with a small rock wall. We all fit in perfectly, counted our blessings and cooked our first night’s dinner. Around sleep-o’clock however the wind picked up and the rain started again, this time substantially worse than before. For half an hour we lay there, waiting for it to pass, until the wind collapsed the tarp Endo and I were sharing and blew Teo’s almost completely off the mountain. There was frantic movement outside as Yuri and Endo tried to re-pitch our tarp (whilst I remained sprawled underneath holding a walking pole to stop the tarp from completely collapsing) and Teo was diving in to bunk with Ricky. Shouting over the wind and the rain at each other with frustration and panic. After fifteen minutes, we all lay under our tarps, getting pummelled by the rain, in soaking wet clothing and sleeping bags. We lay like this most of the night, unable to sleep due to discomfort and the fear of our tarps collapsing again. We remained cold and miserable until around 0200 when the storm decided to leave us, for which we then faded to what was a few hours sleep.
Tuesday 16th — From Bocca u Saltu (1250m) to a bit before Refuge de Carrozzu (1270m)
Waking to the fact that the storm was over was enough to push those thoughts of quitting to the back of our minds. The mountains just wanted to tell us on our first night not to fuck with it, it is in charge here and we are lucky to get through each day warm, dry and safe. We moved our wet stuff to the ridge-line to lie facing east and try to catch another hour of sleep. The first rays of sun hit our sleeping bags and started to thaw us out like frozen prawns in a plastic bag.
A late start and we begun the first full day on the trail. Enough hours of clear sky for us to bury the trauma of the night before and start to think about enjoying ourselves once again. This was the first day we were exposed to technical terrain; crossing some boulders, traversing some steep edges and moving, jumping, crawling over rocky terrain. We found an easy free-camp spot with the small built-up rock walls about a thirty minute walk before the refuge at the end of the first stage and decided to call it a night. We set up camp, we cooked, we smoked a little and looked at the stars on our first clear night and after our first full day.
Dan Stewart waiting for his cat stoved meal.
Wednesday 17th — Before Refuge de Carrozzu (1270m) to a bit further Refuge d’Asco Stagnu (1422 m)
We started what would end up being a well respected tradition by the end of the trail, by beginning the day with an omelette and a coffee. Although we ate our space-rations at camp, after packing down and walking the thirty minutes to the refuge (Refuge de Carrozzu) we couldn’t resist the idea of getting our bowels moving from some eggs and coffee (and for me a cigarette, it is like clockwork) before the day’s walk ahead. The refuges are semi-glorified mountain huts that have a series of basic amenities like showers, toilets, places to cook and eat but also serve as a ‘shop’ for hikers on the trail. If ten euro’s for some cheese doesn’t sound too outrageous, consider burning more than 3000 calories a day and being on the trail for a week and a half. Every time you get to a refuge you have polished off the cheese from the last one and the bread, the chocolate, the meat and the snacks that you bought, plus you want your omelette if it’s the morning, an espresso regardless of what time of the day it is and definitely a coca cola if it’s too early for a beer in the evening. Expensive to say the least… but over the next week these refuges truly saved us from turning into primates.
The terrain was beautiful, we crossed rivers, winded along peaks and topped Col de Stagni (2010m) all with the ocean on the horizon, as we were still close enough to the northwest of the island. We slept that night in a beautiful wooded area by a river, just a long stone’s throw to the left of the trail before the end of the second stage. There was no line of sight to the trail, so we lit a big old fire and cooked our dinners on the coals, sitting around drinking some grappa and whiskey and chatting away. Avoiding camping at the refuges lead us to some beautiful spots and I was starting to feel the sheer isolated beauty of Corsica. By the third night Endo and I had graduated tarp-pitching-school and slept in nothing but the peace and quiet of each other’s company. Good-timing because the next day was supposed to be the most amount of ascent and descent in one stage.
Thursday 18th – From a bit further Refuge d’Asco Stagnu (1422 m) to half stage after Refuge de Ciottulu di i Mori (1991 m)
The day started with a 1200 metre ascent up to the highest point of the day Col de Minuta (2218m) , followed by a half descent and re-ascent and then a final descent back down to finish the stage (Refuge de Tighjettu 1683m), shaping in altitude like an ‘M’. The climb was steady and hot, taking us just over an hour as opposed to the two and a half that the guidebook said. The terrain was the usual semi-scrambling ascent, walking both on loose and fixed rocks ranging from the size of peas, to watermelons, to small automobiles. A few large granite slabs had fixed chains for hauling oneself up, these are very awkward to use so we only used them when we couldn’t climb or traverse with our poles or hands. We sat at the top for an hour, snacking, rehydrating, smoking and enjoying the views and company of other trail-goers then we decided to do another stage till Refuge de Ciottulu di i Mori (1991m). The terrain continued for the half descent and re-ascent ranging from awkward crumbly rock sections to technical movements over large, smooth slabs of granite with drops on one or both sides. We maintained a good pace through the walking sections but quickly found the technical parts to require total concentration and physical and mental focus. Arriving at a refuge at 1900, we rested, snacked and drank some Colas. Motoring on for another half-stage into the valley before finding somewhere to camp in the evening.
Friday 19th — From half stage after Refuge de Ciottulu di i Mori (1991 m) to a bit before Refuge de Manganu (1601 m)
This is one of those walking days I barely remember and of which I have few photographs from to which to recall our experiences. All I know is two things, firstly we took a slight morning detour and we walked for what seemed like forever throughout the day to arrive at Lac De Nino (1760 m) for a late lunch. The detour took us up to a different plateau in the mountains to a public café where we bought some bread and saucisson for breakfast and looked on a big map how far we had come in three days. Just when we thought we would never arrive at Lac De Nino, the heat taking it’s toll on our endurance and patience, we topped a ridge and saw the lake below us. Lac De Nino is a lake inside a valley basin, surrounded by wet grass and wild horses and cows. Interesting to see the Corsican horses (cavalli) roaming around and being friendly with people, but all in all a pretty underwhelming location compared to the rest of the stunning landscapes we walked through or had the chance to look out to. We ate lunch in the shade of some trees, topped up our water at a source guarded by horses and cows and motored on to the next refuge, something like another four hours walk away. We arrived at the Bergerries de Vaccaghja (1621 m), separately, and I found out over some beers that Ricky didn’t think he could go on, after re-initiating an old injury in his knee. There was some sad deliberation, another beer, and we asked for some (what turned out to be ineffective) instructions from the refuge owner as to how Ricky could get from this part, about a third of the trail length in, (now totally surrounded by mountains and with the coast not visible at all) by himself, back to Milano. We couldn’t wait too much longer at the refuge with the thought of everyone having to get enough distance from the refuge to camp. Ricky wouldn’t part ways until the morning, so he had a full day of light ahead of him. The refuge looked out over a valley and the trail continued from the refuge directly through the valley floor, so as remaining in the line of sight of the refuge for a few kilometres. We had to be somewhat cautious of this as the refuge owners aren’t allowed to let you free-camp, so if you’re going to do it nearby, it needs to be totally out of sight. We looked for a spot for camp as we moved along the valley floor for about an hour. We couldn’t find anything secluded enough and out of sight of the refuge, but as the light was starting to fade Endo found a miraculously flat and spacious area tucked in behind some trees. This was invisible to both the trail and the refuge. This was our first night of cowboy camping. Three days of perfect weather after the initial storm, a clear night’s sky and the fatigue starting to settle in, it was easier to risk cowboy-camping and save fifteen minutes putting tarps up in the evening and packing away in the morning. This was when I fell in love with cowboy-camping. A tarp can offer you protection under specific circumstances, but with low wind and warm weather we thought we would take the opportunity to fall asleep under the stars.
Saturday 20th — From a bit before Refuge de Manganu (1601 m) to near Refuge de l’Onda (1430 m)
We woke to the sad reality that Ricky was parting ways and going to struggle his way on a series of alternate trails and roads back to the coast. We exchanged some hugs after breakfast, checked over Ricky’s navigation instructions and started to move in separate directions. Sleeping did us the favour of processing his departure a bit better. He knew he should go, and we knew he had to leave. So taking his spirit with us we set our sites on Vizzavona. The halfway point. 90km in, 90km to go. A town, with maybe a restaurant, a shop, more smokes. We knew we couldn’t make it today as we had two big stages to do, and a third one to get to Vizzavona. We woke up to heavy condensation on our sleeping systems, so hung them politely over nearby bushes to soak the sun while we ate breakfast and got ready for the day. The first section was more of the same, mixed sections of long and short ascents and descents over technical and semi technical terrain. Some more scrambling with hands and fixed chains, and some more beautiful mountain tops and cigarette rest-breaks. At 1400 we were most of the way through the first stage and midway through a slow ascent of two hours through increasingly high rock formations. We plateaued in a semi-grassy area, surrounded by big white and green boulders. Perfect for lunch. We rummaged through packet noodles, peanut butter, energy bars and chocolate, taking the opportunity to get our hands and feet on some boulders without our packs on for the first time.
We stopped abruptly. Teo asked us if we all heard that. We waited and heard nothing and conversation continued. The next time, we all heard it, some screaming of some description coming from a part of the trail we had passed already but not sounding far away. It stopped, and continued, and stopped and continued as we analysed whether it was a distressed scream, a joke, or someone enjoying themselves. We decided pretty quickly it didn’t sound like a joke or cries of joy and we leapt up to see what was going on. We found a young French boy, maybe nine or so. I asked him if he was okay and he looked at me like I had asked him the strangest question on earth, replying ‘oui’ and walking onwards. Our hearts sank with relief, but we walked back to our lunch spot confused as he continued up this daunting section of the trail alone and relatively content. Maybe ten minutes later as we were packing up from lunch a middle-aged man passed by who turned out to be the boy’s father. His family were all about ten minutes apart, communicating with a series of shrieks and shouts as they ascended slowly. Whoever thought that was a reasonable way of communicating on the trail with two children, is a stranger to me.
Teo and Dan before descending to refuge Pietra Piana.
A two hour push, summiting and descending to reach Refuge de Pietra Piana(1842m) for about 16:15. This was a big day, we were feeling it. We slumped off our packs and had a Coca Cola, some bread, and some cigarettes. Talking amongst ourselves about the next stage we had to complete today. Luckily, not as long and tedious as the stage we had just completed, but still with six hours of walking to reach the next refuge. Teo asked the refuge owner if there were any alternative trails to arrive at the next refuge, (looking to shave any time off of our day) having clocked seven hours of walk time already. He prompted us to a section of ridge lines that cut across the valley we had to walk through. Saying this section was more difficult, more beautiful and would take our walking time from six hours to four or so. The decision was easy and unanimous. We were going ridge walking. As we shouldered our packs again, and moved through the refuge grounds to reach the start of the trail, we struck up a conversation with a middle-aged man from South Africa. Through the process of a few minutes he had motored through two Mars Bars and a can of Coca Cola, telling us he had started the trail yesterday and was planning to finish in forty-eight hours from now. He was going to run this ridgeline route that we had been recommended by the refuge owner. We paid him our dues and started the trail.
By the time he ran passed us, we had gained a few hundred metres of altitude and were watching the landscape drop increasingly on both sides. Besides the trailrunner, we passed a few solemn cows and saw no one but ourselves until we reached Refuge de l’Onda (1430 m). This section was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. With the sun dropping towards our waists as we followed this elevated path through the valley. You could see in every direction except for behind us, where a mountain lay between us and the refuge we had come from. Dropping altitude for an hour it hit 2100 marking 13 hours on the trail that day, and we could see an assortment of tents below us about eight-hundred metres.
Sunday 21st — From near Refuge de l’Onda (1430 m) to Vizzazona Grand Hotel (920 m)
The arrival at Vizzavona was nothing but sweet. We had an easy six hour stage arriving in town around lunchtime. When I say town, it’s a train station, with two bar-restaurant-shop-cafe’s opposite one another. That was all we needed. Buying new packs of smokes, using our newly found phone-signal, eating pizza, drinking beer and knowing that the hardest half is over. This was the sixth day, little did we know we’d finish the remaining stages in the coming three days. Ricky was supposed to have made it to the coast by now and yet we hadn’t received any confirmation that he was okay. We sat in a dreamland for hours at Vizzavona. Slowly as the town cleared out we became the only hikers left at the bar, sitting outside, drinking, smoking and talking. We checked our phones every hour or so to see if something had come through from Ricky. Unlike all the other hikers that had populated the town during lunchtime and the early evening, we weren’t in a rush to set up camp because the Ragas had spotted an abandoned hotel on the road that leaves the trail and winds down to the Vizzavona. Less than five minutes walking, we knew we would have a roof over our heads and realistically the longer we sat and drank and relaxed for, the easier it would be to commandeer the neglected hotel without causing any ruckus amongst the townspeople (all be them very few).
Monday 22nd — From Vizzazona Grand Hotel (920 m) to half stage after Bergeries de Capannelle (1586 m)
Today was more of the same. We left Vizzavona, feeling ambitious and re-energised at the idea of starting the second half. In the evening we reached Bergeries de Capannelle (1586m) about two hours before the end of the stage. Same situation as the trail certified ones, except a bit more expensive and a little bit nicer. We had passed a very comfortable looking spot only a few hundred metres previously before the refuge, where we thought we would back-track to cowboy camp when the sun went down. We took the opportunity to have a few beers and recalibrate. Endo took the moment to freshly shave his face, using one of the twenty razors he brought with him. As the light was fading we tried to retrace our steps to get to our intended camp site, but the refuge owner was onto us. Technically you can’t sleep outside of the confines of a refuge. When you’re far enough away (or haven’t just been sitting and buying beers from the owner) you are likely to have no problems.. out of sight, out of mind. However he knew the direction we’d come from and we couldn’t find an excuse to why we might be walking in the wrong direction to the next refuge. We told him we intended to walk through the night for an hour or two to finish the stage, so he redirected us on course and watched us walk away. We climbed through the dark for an hour with our head torches on, getting further away from our glorious camp spot that we left behind and moving into super uneven and bushy terrain, based on an steep incline. We followed the trail slowly and irritated, looking with our torches for any sign of a clearing or plateau. Eventually, we found something, on the rounded section at the top of a hill, a few metres to the side of the trail. It would have to do. After Yuri and Teo scared off a family of boars that were in the neighbouring bushes, we tied our food up to some tree branches, scrawled out our mats and bags and fell asleep to the stars.
Tuesday 23rd — From half stage after Bergeries de Capannelle to a bit after Refuge d’Asinao (1530m)
We woke early and ate and packed efficiently, knowing we had two big stages in front of us. We’d been walking less than twenty minutes before Yuri’s pack broke. It was a Ray Jardine Ray-Way pack that Yuri had sewn himself. It had seen Yuri through many expeditions and many days, it was just the Ray-Way’s time to retire. He rigged up a couple of small body bags and a belt and we portioned out the remainder of his gear. If we hadn’t come so far already, Yuri most likely would have had to pull out after unsuccessful attempts at repairs with needle and thread. We faced four stages left, ranging in difficulty. Looking at each other, we were growing tired of the trail and hoped to finish in two days of walking. That meant covering three or four days of walking in two, to finish the trail and arrive in Conca. I have no photographs on my phone of this day until 20:00. That tells me I was trying to save battery, or we did nothing but walk. I remember it being long, tedious, and repetitive. The taste of finishing the trail had entered our mouths early and seemed to curb the feelings of fatigue. It made putting one foot in front of the other surprisingly easy. We are now at day eight. Although we reached some sort of elevated efficiency from the accumulation of repetitive days walking and camping, we were letting the mental demands of the GR20 trail affect us after all this time. The trail requires almost total concentration, almost the entire time. Not only were our bodies getting battered by the repetitive climbing and descending, but as our minds fatigued it was harder to concentrate on foot placement. The path is a minefield mostly. It was this day we started to note how we were becoming more clumsy with our feet as the idea of finishing was only a day away.
Yuri’s Ray Way Backpack.
After more than twelve hours on the trail we summited an amazing section of rocky terrain that looked like a moonscape. It was 20:00 and we had panoramic views beneath a huge wooden cross, as the light started to diffuse. Teo and I slumped our packs off, rolled a smoke and fired up a coffee. We knew we had at least an hour to the refuge before we could sleep and Yuri and Endo were out of sight behind us. They summited, we relaxed and we set off just as the sun was dipping into the horizontal belt. This was one of the nicest landscapes and by far the greatest light we experienced in Corsica. One of those nice moments that symbolises why you’re there. Unfortunately short lived as we knew we had an hour’s descent ahead of us. It was a very difficult section of mountain. Dropping a lot of altitude in an hour whilst moving downwards over choppy granite blocks. This might not have been so tolling if we hadn’t walked twelve hours already that day and were attempting the descent in total darkness. We had our head torches on. Slipping on smooth surfaces or loose rocks, and scrambling down metre gaps between slabs. What should have taken us an hour, took us two in the dark. Now it was late, we were pretty exhausted and we passed the second last refuge to find somewhere to camp. We found no where for half an hour as the trail moved over large boulders and cut through dense bushes, so we agreed just to shack up on a boulder, in the middle of the trail. We didn’t care any longer, we were out of sight of the refuge and we were buggered, we cooked on the trail and lay down to get some sleep.
Wednesday 24th — From a bit after Refuge d’Asinao (1530m) to Conca (252 m)
We woke just at first light, cooking and packing quickly so we could get off the trail and out of people’s way. Knowing we could be in Conca tonight, with this whole thing behind us. 180 kilometres of trail and 15 kilometres worth of altitude gain and loss. In order to finish we had two six hour stages to do, which early in the course of the trail would have been fine, but the fatigue had caught up with us pretty good and all of our bodies hurt from the descent the previous day. It was in some sense the hardest and easiest twelve hour day we did. We finished the first stage at around 14:00, arriving at the last refuge (Refuge de Paliri 1055 m).
We had our final Coca Cola of the GR20. We felt no more pain or fatigue either. We laughed a lot, smoked a lot, and cooked in the sun for an hour before deciding to get this thing over and done with. It’s bittersweet, those moments. That last six hour stage. No more refuges, no more camping, no more climbing, no more progress. The finish was upon us. We found a waterhole for a bath around 19:00 and around 20:45 we peaked through a natural rock gateway that signified the start of the descent into Conca, just as we rounded a bend and could see the town lying amongst the mountains in front of us. Less than an hour later, we put our hands out and touched the plaque that signifies the end of the GR20 trail and the arrival in Conca. After many hugs this overwhelming feeling of satisfaction started to build within us. The plaque is on a brick wall that is the side of a bar. This bar must hold so many significant celebrations, both personal and communal and it was the host of our celebration that evening. Endo went off down the road to book us a room in a hotel (fuck camping) and we sat until early in the morning drinking beer, eating mediocre panini and feeling like kings. I said it many times throughout the trip as it seems to have become an emblematic motto to my life, so I said it again as we sat there and did a cheers with our beers and congratulated each other. “What a time to be alive.” Albeit good or bad times, we are lucky to be alive and it’s just right to take any moment and appreciate it for what it is. We were to start the long and slow slog back to Milano the next day, but for the meantime we tried to live completely in the moment, nurturing the last parts of being away from work, our families, our friends and everything that makes up the day to day life of living in a city. These small trips symbolise the whole experience of life, compressed into a short, contained period. You travel every spectrum of emotion, and nature gives a sense of perspective on life as a human being. Mix this with a sense of community or companionship and overcoming physical and mental challenges and you’re left with a highly fulfilling experience. Something that gives you clear, defined and measurable purpose – something that the ‘real world’ doesn’t let you have so easily. Thank you to Yuri, Teo, Endo and Ricky for a great trip. What a pleasure to walk with you all for the first time and thank you for your guidance both in the lead up to and whilst on the trail. Rayon Vert GR20 Corsica, 2019 Report officially finished. What a time to be alive.
Dan Stewart
The team (without Riccardo) at the end of the trail.
In March 2014, Pietro, a few weeks after he had moved to London and started working as a push-bike courier, was sat at The Corner (between Lexington street and Broadwick street in Soho) silently enjoying his morning cup of tea, on his way to waking up, unaware that today wouldn’t be a day like any other.
As he absentmindedly stared into the the misty morning, the radio clattering away in the background, Leo pulled up having just finished his morning run. They’d met a few days earlier, Leo is a Brazilian courier\frame builder (Dmenor Bikes) based in London. Still in a haze Pietro handed him his cigarette accompanied by a welcoming morning grunt and as pleasantries led to conversation Leo started telling Pietro about this other Italian courier that had arrived in London not so long ago: “He wins every race he gets himself into, he’s a nice guy! Maybe you know him, maybe you’ve seen him!” Leo says in a cheeky grin. The stories about this guy seem to never finish, one minute it’s the way he rides, the next is the things he’s done and Leo shows no sign of stopping. It’s then when a loud rattling sound echoes from the East side of the street from behind a lorry, as if someone was pulling a dozen trollies across a gravel path. As both of them turn around a figure on a bike emerges from behind the lorry, the only visible part of him a few black curls coming down from his hood and two bloodshot eyes, bag full, arms spread open to the extremities of his handlebars, balancing three cardboard boxes between his hip, his stem and his chin, charging the loud cobblestones. In crossing his eyes with Leo his left hand leaves his bars and starts waving mid-air in a “What the hell is going on” kind of way, coupled with a stereotypical Italian “eeehhheee!!”, Pietro and Leo don’t have the time to start replying before he disappeares into the next street.
This is how Pietro met Teo Poggi, soon to be: avid travel partner and annoyingly-very-good-at-any-physical-activity-he-ever-tried, friend.
It was no surprise that when the idea came up to hike the TMB Teo became aware of it and joined in. More interestingly, aside from being faster, stronger and fitter than any of us, therefore giving us hours of distance on many sections, he is also a very good photographer. Rayon Vert collated a selection of the pictures that were taken by Teo on the trip into a small zine which will be presented on the 21st of December, in Milano, at the Birrificio Lambrate in Via Adelchi 5.
Come and meet our superhuman friend and have one last beer all together before we all retire to our obligatory family commitments on the Christmas Break.
Our publication is heavily supported by Nomoire, print and consulting agency based in Milano.
With the confidence of the extra miles we had done the day before we got up quite late, simply to realize that we had no reason to celebrate, all we had done was catch up with where we should have been originally. In addition, we got easily discouraged by the cafes in town where we stopped more than once, firstly to try to say goodbye and thank you to Samuel because we hadn’t seen him at home in the morning and secondly to prepare some sandwiches and have a coffee with a croissant or a pain au chocolat. It was in one of these cafes, talking to an elderly couple that had travelled the TMB before us, that we understood that the deviation for Lac Blanc was close. Yuri had insisted multiple times on taking the detour and after showing us the pictures of the lake it didn’t take long for us to give in so, after a few miles on a semi busy road, we took a sharp right and, with the massif behind us, we counted the hairpins we could see before starting our uphill march, arms and legs in sync, facing the floor and eyes on the prize. Once again, we had no idea what was in store for us. The feeling we all experienced on our way up was simply that it was never going to end, every time we got to what we thought might be the end of the climb we got given more, the stone and sand steps that we were following upwards slowly got steeper, the water got warmer and then started finishing, the trees got scarcer and the sun stronger until after a few hours there were no trees left, the water was finished and we were sunburnt. I’m not sure what we would have done if at that stage we had known that we were only half way up to the lake, hope and inertia were the only things that kept us going at this point (A short video of us Walking near Lac Blanc). After another two hours of uphill ridge walking with the whole Mont Blanc massif in full view on our left and a series of small lakes dotting the mountainside on our right we turned a corner and arrived at Lac De Cheserys, Teo’s eyes glistened while he undressed until nothing was left and ran into the water. We washed our faces and had our cheese sandwiches, which during this whole time had been sweating in our bags and, after a short break, headed up to Lac Blanc which was only another forty five minutes away.
We definitely weren’t ready for the scenic intensity of the place and trying to put it into words would only be a waste of time, all you need to know is that that evening we didn’t walk a single mile more, we followed the lake round to the back of the plateau where a little stream fed into it on a massive gravel delta estuary, we set up camp next to four curious ibex that inquisitively sniffed us out before strutting off into the sunset. Here we had our noodles and risottos, made a cup of tea and laid down under our tarp with menacing clouds clearing into a pitch black star lit sky.
We gradually woke up to the sun rising behind Mont Blanc and its image reflected in the stone still lake in front of us, by far the most scenic awakening of the whole trip. We slowly crawled out of our tarps to sit on a rock, gradually undress as the sunlight warmed us up and start having breakfast until, without warning, a middle aged looking mountain man came down the hill and before we could even begin to understand what was happening he had already spouted: “Put your tents away” in a tight French accent. We were obviously too far from being awake to realize what was going on but it only took another three words from the man for us to exit our dream state: “I’m a Ranger” he said coldly. With our tarps packed, the ranger now in the distance and our water bottles refilled we headed for Chamonix where we would have an unplanned lunch with a friend of Teo’s and Pietro’s from Pescara, who happened to be spending the week in an AirBnb directly above the place we had chosen to get our sandwich.The remaining part of the day was majorly uneventful until we touched the feet of Col de Voza where we were stormed on, not in a dramatic way or at least not in hindsight, seeing as we had no idea what was coming. Two minutes hadn’t gone by since we’d got to the top of Col de Voza when, whilst catching our breath under a small train line on top of the mountain, a group of black clouds came in from north-west and swallowed the tip whole. For the following hour we sat on the terrace of the Villages Vacances Col de Voza (a place that serves bottled spritz and entertains its guests with Bingo Wednesdays and Kindergarden Disco) in the middle of a raging storm some of us sipping hot tea and some of us straight vodka. Glad that we hadn’t been obliged to spend the night in the hotel we set off as soon as the sky cleared only to walk another twenty minutes and camp right next to the train tracks, after all we are city boys.
Day 6, Bellevue (Col de Voza) – Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme.
Waking up on the sixth day had a certain twist to it, it felt like we’d got into the right rhythm, we looked at the map and determined that we would need two days and a half, including that day, to get back to Courmayeur, have lunch and take the bus back to Milan. So, with the right attitude we waved goodbye to Bellevue and made our way to Les Contamines after which another great climb was waiting for us. After a quick resupply in town we headed for Refuge Nant Borrant, there we had a sandwich, we charged our phones, dried our sweat drenched clothes under the beating sun and as soon as Pietro had finished the last sip of his after-lunch ritual mint tea we headed towards the second half of the climb up to Col du Bonhomme, this, we were soon to discover, would not be an easy one. Soon the vegetation line was crossed and all that was left was us, again, minuscule on the mountain side, spread on rocky steps, across short grass paths, into snowy patches but, this time it seemed, part of a rhythm that would have taken us safely to the top of the pass. This conviction rung true between the three of us until Pietro turned around to look at Teo who, with a surprised tone, told him that he looked slightly paler than usual. Pietro isn’t one to control his fears well when they concern his body and in the feeling of faintness that had suddenly grabbed him he lost his speech, in broken grunts he told us to carry on and that he would meet us up top and so we did, in the meantime he slowly reached round the back of his pack and with worryingly trembling hands he picked out a scrunched up pack of black chocolate, broke a bit off, shoved it in his pocket and, rapt by nervous tics, he turtle paced up the last bit of the climb. He surfaced stone faced half an hour after the others had reached the Col du Bonhomme, chocolate wrap clenched between his hand and his walking pole, pupils dilated with terror and not much to say. It took him another half an hour of deep breathing and religious silence to come back from where he’d gone off to but it was soon after that the realization of where they were swept the remaining anxieties from his mind countless valleys opened up in front of them and the mountains on the west horizon looking into France cut sharp lines between rock and sky, the sun setting behind them.
Teo and Yuri near Col du Bonhomme’s very top.
It took us another hour to reach the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme where, at nine pm, we were greeted by a common room full of hikers, a vegetable soup, a plate of polenta and some bollito misto. Eternally grateful to the refuge managers we walked a few minutes east and pitched our tarps, a more scenic goodnight could not have been asked for and a few hundred meters from the tallest point of the tour we slept undisturbed until the first lights of the morning after
Day 7, Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme – Courmayeur.
As the sun shed first light on the surrounding valleys Pietro and Yuri cleared their swollen eyes with cold knuckles and slowly bent upwards to look at the view only to realize that Teo’s tarp, that was pitched just in front of them, had blown five or six meters to the right, his stuff distributed in the surrounding area but, most importantly, he was gone. Still stirring out of the night haze we half slipped-on our shoes and ungracefully stumbled across to the refuge to see if we could find him and, as we had hoped, as soon as the terrace was in sight we spotted him, wrapped up in his sleeping bag, sat on a pic-nic table. When we reached him there wasn’t a pretty sight waiting for us, Teo was gazing fixed into space, hair stuck to his forehead with morning dew, fire like eyes but without anger in his look, a half-smoked unlit cigarette in his hand, a cold cup of coffee in the other, veins pumping and forcefully deep breaths. After a few more minutes to pull himself back together Teo told us that around one am the wind had taken his tarp away, a few times he unsuccessfully tried to re-pitch it and then, blinded by the freezing gusts, decided he would go to the refuge to seek asylum in the dining room. Here, not happy with his already tiring performance, his fears compounded by the dark night, he convinced himself that the rest of us had gone into hypothermia in our sleep so he ventured out into the cliffs to come and check that we were still alive only to find us all in quiet peaceful sleep. By the time he had reached the refuge again it was around three am, this meant that flustered with the recent events Teo would only enjoy a few hours sleep on the hard tiled floor before management started setting up for breakfast when, full of resentment, he would retire to the terrace where we would have found him an hour or so later. After laughing about the whole ordeal and having breakfast we, once again, got our stuff together, filled up our water bottles and headed towards Col de Fours, the highest point of the tour at 2665m. An hour on: orange, unstable, rocky territory separated us from the peak but the feeling of touching the summit bore the efforts of the past six days and did them perfect justicein theory from here, it would be all downhill.
Col de Fours summit
After enjoying the view with a cigarette and a on top of Col de Fours we headed down for Refuge des Mottets where we faced the last big climb of the Tour, the climb up to Col de la Seigne that marks the border between France and Italy. At the feet of the Col we behaved according to the routine that we’d adopted in the past week: count the hairpins, decide where to rest, where to have a snack, squeeze walking poles, start walking (all apart from Teo that is, he just goes, even with two hours sleep). When we got to the top and saw home spreading out in front of us things changed, up to that point having lunch at Rifugio Elisabetta seemed an unreachable goal but from where we stood it was just at the bottom of a two hour downhill walk, we put our packs back on and privately played with the idea that we might even be able to be in Courmayeur by The end of the day, a whole night and half a day early. At Rifugio Elisabetta we ate and stared at the map, we knew it was possible, we just didn’t want to say it out loud. Pietro set off immediately because he was having trouble digesting his ham and cheese sandwich, he was reached by Yuri and Teo at the feet of the very last climb, here we received the confirmation we needed, on the right side of the path, hidden between some bushes, lay a sign pointing north-east, Courmayeur five hours, we looked at one another and with no further hesitation we stated that we would spend the following night in Courmayeur. At the top of the last climb Yuri and Teo waited for Pietro who still hadn’t completely recovered from lunch, as he surfaced, last of us, he asked with loud but firm voice: “Is this the last one?” and when a choral yes reached him from the other two it was collective excited bliss, Pietro’s poles flew forwards on the path and laughter echoed through the valley beneath, from here it really was all downhill. Things get a little blurry from this point onwards for all of us, it may have been how tired we all were or the fact that the prize was by now in plain sight but suddenly all inibitions were lost, we had let go to the folly we had been holding back for the past six days and now, all was allowed. We ran, fell, laughed, in a constant downwards direction towards the bottom of the valley, Yuri shouting at large crows telling them to shut up, as if we had happily and consciously regressed to three giggling six year olds. The last thing we hadn’t confronted was a small piece of path that connected the last bit of downhill to Courmayeur, on the altimetry it looked like a vertical wall, going down nearly 800m in the space of 200m horizontally. This was something else we hadn’t talked about collectively so it happened that Pietro came round a corner and fifty meters further he saw Yuri and Teo standing still as if they were looking down at something from the top of a wall or a cliff, when he reached them the scenario wasn’t so different from what they’d imagined, the path went down, sandy, half meter stepped hairpins, for an hour and a half, through a forest, straight into Courmayeur. From there we could see it, nearly touch it and definitely taste the drink we would have at the Baretto in the Piazza. This was undoubtedly the hardest part of the whole tour, the combination of hard sweat and orange dust created a gritty patina over our bodies, we didn’t speak a word unless it was to curse the path in a loud whisper and the only audible sound was Teo’s distant moaning and shouting.
As we emerged, orange and broken from the forest, Courmayeur laid spread out in front of us and we aimed straight for the Piazza to touch the yellow kilometer zero plaque. To crown the ending of the trip twenty meters from the Piazza a little girl stepped out of the family car and stared at us walking closely by, she then turned to her father with a perplexed look on her face, turned back to us and said:”Where did you come out of?”. We laughed hard and walked up the stairs, from here we could see it and the next thing we knew we all had our hands on it, we laughed more, kissed the floor and lay down, we had finished. In a semi conscious state we stumbled over to a bar and toasted with a drink, Yuri and Teo took it well, Pietro had one sip of his amaro and was drunk, in seconds Yuri had booked a hotel room for all of us catching a last minute offer, we headed there to realize that we could not have been more out of place, three dirty, smelly, now retarded hikers in a four star, ski resort hotel filled with pensioned white collar couples. Obviously we got assigned a room in the far depandance, in a basement two floors down but we were far from caring about the quality of the room, that night we ate out, washed off the orange dust in a real shower and slept on a hotel mattress, we hadn’t slept that well in years.
Exhausted at 0 Kilometer in Courmayeur
The way back to Milan.
The breakfast was included in the deal with the hotel and we weren’t about to let that slip so, still semi in the hiking routine, we woke up at half eight and headed down to the dining room where all sorts of delicacies were waiting for us, ham, cheese, all sorts but, most of all, a wide dish at the end of the room filled with croissants. When we approached the dish we were all slightly disappointed to find that they were all empty, we soon enquired with the staff that told us they were plain so that one could stuff them with their preferred filling, we quickly regained our high opinion of the hotel catering by having ours filled half with custard and half with chocolate (in one croissant that is). At eleven we parted ways to get back home, some by bus and some by train, both solutions turning out to be pretty hair-raising for various reasons.
That same evening we rejoined with our departed companions, all six of us (one had fled to the seaside) at Moscow Mule, a legendary bar in Milan. Here we recounted the stories and drank and laughed into the early hours of the next morning. Often at the end of a trip one expects a grand finale but like in most of the cases the greatness of the experience lies in the trip itself and our memories are in the huts, on the paths, by the lakes and under the rocks while we slowly head back to normal life.
Orange dust washed off of us for the following three showers, Thanks TMB, Thanks friends xxx.
Out of all the things we have underestimated in our lives the Tour de Mont Blanc is definitely the most recent and one of the most glorious. With the idea of testing out some gear as well as our selves on one of the most famous trails in the world we found ourselves sat in Pietro’s lounge, fitting noodles into plastic bags and mapping out the refuges on the course, unaware of the fact that we had no clue what was ahead of us.
The TMB was established in 1955 after a series of modifications and improvements to exhisting trails, 170 kilometers of paths with several variations and deviations and more that 10,000 meters of climbs and descents. The route crosses Italy, Switzerland and France ad can be walked clockwise as well as counter – clockwise. Kilometer Zero is placed in Les Houches, on the French side of the massif, but we’re Italian so we thought it would be more fitting to start from home and walk back home. We arrived one day before set-off in order to gather our last bits of gear, get a good night’s sleep and reconvene in front of a nice plate of food at Maison de Filippo, a traditional Aostan chalet restaurant tucked away in the backstreets of Entreves, a fraction of Courmayeur.
On the morning of the 27th of July at sunup while some of us were heading into their last half day at work and some of us were asleep, in Courmayeur you could already find Yuri and Riccardo, childhood friends, they’ve been travel partners for some time, raced alleycats and played Magic The Gathering. Riccardo is apparently calm and quiet but his power is unprecedented. Shortly after they were reached by Teo and Pietro the first of which, fresh back from Australia, Tasmania and Sri Lanka, had to run home for dear life to cure the Dengue Fever he’d caught on his travels. He is now in better shape than any of us. The last to reach us in Entreves while we were sipping an Alpine Liqueur were: Momo “The Architect”, our web designer, he is also a childhood friend of Yuri’s and Magic The Gathering avid player. Lapo, very talented sound engineer, producer and push-bike courier with constant Tinnitus, a recipe for success, and his friend Giovanni with the heaviest backpack but no fear in it whatsoever.
As we licked the remaining amaro off of our lips and finished greeting each other with the ominous Mont Blanc Massif staring at us we settled into our Air Bnb for our last night inside four walls, we found a nice restaurant to treat ourselves to a proper meal and ecstatic with the prospect of the following days we headed into the center where the celebrations for the town’s patron saint were waiting for us. An eclectic mix of music ranging from gabber to alpine folk accompanied us trough the windy streets of Courmayeur which had turned into a town-wide bloc party. Here, baffled by how surreal the place that we’d been dropped in was, we served ourselves to beers and silently marveled at the event unfolding before us. Of all the places we had visited in our life none of us thought that Courmayeur, known as the dainty and upper class Italian retreat and ski resort, now populated with sweaty drunks and teenage looking go-go dancers, was going to be the one that would have made us ask ourselves if we had seen it all. Shortly after a slow walk up to the house ended the difficult digestion of polenta and Courmayeurtense Soup we each retreated to our beds and, without too much fuss, fell into a deep peaceful sleep.
Around seven o’clock the undisturbed ringing of alarm clocks colored the rooms of the house where with our respectively slow rhythms we all pulled ourselves up to start our morning routines and it wasn’t long before the majority of the tasks had been absentmindedly completed leaving the most important one left, Get out. Around nine o’clock after having filled up our water bottles, a few croissants and a Bombardino (classic italian trail drink) we were ready to join the path that we would follow for the following seven days and so, laughing and joking, we all slapped the yellow kilometer one plaque that signals the beginning of the walk and we headed on into the woods.
DAY 1, Courmayeur – Gran Col Ferret.
The sun was high already and as we walked through patches of dense forest and no forest we could feel it beating on our untanned necks and ears and legs. The first section up to Rifugio Bertone was not forgiving and we soon realized, in the quiet of our own privacy, that as much as we may be able to reach our goal we certainly weren’ t ready for it. We didn’t have time to reach Rifugio Bertone that we were swallowed by a thunderstorm so we took the chance to have a cigarette and eat an energy bar while we waited for it to blow away and a few minutes later we set off, into the mist, towards Rifugio Bonatti. Aside from the breathtaking views the way up to the next rifugio was widely uneventful until a loud thud followed by a disappointed groan echoed across the mountainside but, because we were all well spread out along the walk, five of us continued on without stopping convinced that there was nothing to worry about. When we reconvened at Bonatti an hour or so later we realized how wrong we’d bene, Giovanni had twisted his ankle and it was now the size of a small melon. Half way through day one we had our first casualty and Giovanni went home, sad and in pain, but still noble enough to take some excess gear that a few of us had back home with him. That night we camped at the feet of Gran Col Ferret, with the range in front of us and Rifugio Elena beneath us, heavily aware of the fact that we were half a day behind on our original schedule.
After the first escalade, full of dreams and hope.
DAY 2, Gran Col Ferret – (Somewhere above) Som-La-Proz.
Summiting windy Gran Col Ferret with blue skies, decent temperatures and after a small rifugio breakfast was quite the treat for our second day and it lightened our hearts before we headed into what would be our first serious descent, up to that point we had cursed steep uphill climbs and wished for a cartoon like downhill run but things were changing before our eyes without us even noticing and apart from the odd snow slide the way down was hot sweaty and painful. We reached La Fouly for lunch and allowed ourselves an hour to pull ourselves back together, have a sandwich and refill our water bottles; the divide between Italy and Switzerland had at this point become sharply clear: mountain huts looked like they had been laser cut into shape, supplies had become uncommonly expensive and everything around us was postcard beautiful. After our short break we got back to the path and headed for Champex – Lac where we were looking forward to a quick cool down in the lake, however, it was this fairy like, seemingly unharmful stretch of path that took its toll on another one of us. Momo “The Architect” has nordic blood flowing through him and that day as well as not restoring his periodic sun cream supply he’d neglected his cap, this resulted in what at first looked like a common sunburn but which slowly developed, throughout the day and following night, into a full blown sunstroke. He could be heard muttering incomprehensible curses to himself through his teeth and and twitchingly look at his direct surroundings with mad, bloodshot eyes. That night we camped under a small crag, one hour away from Champex – Lac. There, when we took off our bags, Teo decided that after a good ten hour walk it would be the case for him to free solo a ten meter 5A sport climb, we sat and watched, silent, marveled and terrified.
In the morning the two things that had become apparent were that the lactic acid stagnating throughout our legs and backs and arms had reached its concentration peak, turning the following day into the most (in theory that is) physically demanding of the trip. The other, that Momo had reached a parallel dimension which, it seemed, he had no quick way of coming back from so, absorbed in the concern we collectively felt for him we packed our stuff, filled our water bottles and headed for Champex – Lac through a chilly, freshly lit, elf like pine wood. We were caught by surprise by the beauty of the scenario on arrival at the lake but we knew things were soon to change when we turned around to watch Momo enter the square making precious use of what looked like his last breaths. We hugged kissed and waved goodbye to our friend who gradually became smaller and smaller as we walked further until the last we saw of him was his figure reflected in the lake walking into the gap between the Mont Blanc Massif and the opposite mountain range which would have slowly led him home, later to find out that he was to spend three days in bed with a temperature. We still didn’t know but it wasn’t going to be a smooth path for us either, in front of us was Col de la Forclaz, one of the hardest climbs of the tour (the map said). We have seemed to identify two types of climbs on this walk: in the first scenario you can look at the face of the mountain, count the hairpins and plan it out in your head, this makes it a lot easier to deal with the workload. The other scenario is more disconcerting, you follow the path with your eyes and watch it disappear into the bends and cracks of the mountainside unaware of what waits for you round the next corner but, most importantly, without being able to see the end. It took us four hours to climb up to La Bovine, the refuge at the highest point of the ascent, across rocky stepped paths, across streams, across jungle like patches, on sand and water, through forests and high grass, over the vegetation line, under the beating sun, round the last corners and finally in sight of a cooked lunch. I won’t over bore you with the digestive difficulties which some of the components of our team were experiencing, but it is important to know that this was an integrating part of our routine for you to understand the terror that those same members experienced when they were told that the only available food at the refuge was the meal that the locals, somewhat over confidently, just called tranche. A tranche is a small piece of white or wholemeal bread under a slice of ham which is then placed into a deep plate filled up to the brim with cheese, the whole dish is then placed in the oven to melt. The result, as you will imagine, is interesting, reminiscent of those bucolic vignettes depicting a fisherman fishing for something in a very small pond and, no doubt, very very hard to process. After a mint tea we left the refuge headed for the descent that would lead us to Col de la Forclaz, needless to say that the gradient of the path was unforgiving and that once reached the next checkpoint we were in plain sight of the bottom of the barrel. It took Yuri and Pietro three hours to reach the bottom where Teo had been waiting for them for at least forty minutes, however, it was Lapo and Riccardo that we were wondering about because it took another hour before we saw the two of them emerge from the last patch of bush. Now, there had been signs to warn us, but it was still a shock when after a short sit down and a cigarette the debate started between the two of them as to whether they should abandon ship and go home. Despite our efforts to focus on the bright and beautiful sides of the trip we didn’t succeed and so, once again, we hugged and kissed our friends goodbye and walked off, decimated, into the woods towards the not so distant border with France. It was at the bottom of the valley facing the next bifurcation in the path that we looked at one another and, seeing as we were still half a days walk behind schedule, we decided to take the lower, quicker route, to secure some miles under our belts. Milking the last drops of fuel we had left we arrived in Le Châtelard-Frontière, the bordering town between Switzerland and France, where the feeling was a lot like walking through a village in the Far West: shops closing as we walked along the main (and only) road, very few people in sight who would look at us with enough vigor to burn holes in our t-shirts and only one place left open which was, of course, a pizzeria. Here we decided to treat ourselves to a cold drink and a cigarette and while doing so we started chatting to an italian truck driver sat directly next to us who insistently remarked the fact that we weren’t in the company of any girls and that a few kilometers on there were some huts on the side of the road where we could spend the night for free. Pietro, his mind clouded by the circumstances, convinced himself that the intentions of the italian truck driver weren’t clear and convinced the others that they should stay well away from the road side huts. It resulted so, purely by chance, that we headed up into Vallorcine, not long after the border, and read on one of the small village’s wooden doors a notice that said: “Free access, shower, hot meal, cold drinks”. Not entirely clear as to what was going on Pietro entered the front garden and, followed by the others, went round the back where Samuel, in his mid forties, and his son greeted us and invited us to pitch our tarps in their garden, have a shower and relax. We could not have been more grateful. After a long moonlit chat with Samuel we were reached by another small family of campers who pitched their tent right next to us, Samuel was clearly more of a celebrity than we had imagined.
First and only christian night with: “Free access, shower, hot meal, cold drinks” in Vallorcine
When me and Yuri set out to start this project we realized that we clearly didn’t have the know-how or the experience to create a competitive product right from the start, what we did have were the obsessive approach that characterizes us in each of our endeavours, the will to learn from any possible source but most of all the pleasure that doing so gives us.
Not only, it is clear to us that because progress in outerwear is (and has been) making major steps daily, the marked is flooded with mass-produced products that might be essential to the fuelling of this constant innovation but they are also an extreme expense of energy and resources.
The other aspect that caught our attention was the short life of clothing (not just outerwear in this case) or better, the vision that a majority of us have, partly a result of the culture we’ve been brought up in, partly imparted on us by a consume-led industry, that once an item has expired its prime state it is to be thrown away.
Obviously in making these statements we are aware that other companies are making great efforts to provide services that repair their items when possible and encourage the recycling of old garments but we believe that while this is an approach restricted to outdoor companies the rest of the industry has to catch up.
It’s with these ideas in mind that we decided to open Rayon Vert BETA, a line of prototypes, handmade by us in short batches, so that we can experiment freely but most importantly gather the observations of the users in order to gradually create a better product without creating unnecessary waste.
In addition to this we’re currently providing (until the demand doesn’t render this impossible) a lifetime warranty on all of our BETA products, that way when you burn a cigarette hole through your bag you can just send it back to us to patch it up, unless you want to do it yourself.
Me and Yuri have since had our first BETA weekend, he came over from Milan on a Thursday evening and we worked day and night through to Monday morning to make our first batch of prototypes, only leaving the studio to go to Popular Café (our local greasy-spoon where Memhet and his family, come what may, bless us with their best cooking).
It’s common, in our group of friends, to refer to a piece of clothing as “definitive”; this is a symptom of the constant research that we’ve always put in looking for a garment that requires no betterment.
While we have realized that in the world that we live in this is (thankfully) impossible we strive to chase the better option through time and continuously upgrade it as well as ourselves in the hope that what we enjoy doing most also becomes what we do best.
I met Pietro in 2013 during a bicycle trip organized by him.
10 days to cross Italy from north to south with tents, clothes and sleeping bags. I was in the first year of university and he was in high school when, through a mutual friend, Lapo, I joined the expedition. We were ten boys and most of us did not know the others, but later we became great friends. The first night was the only night we pitched our tent and the following nights we slept on a tarp under the sky, we didn’t know at the time but that would come to mean a whole lot more to us in the future. The trip as planned did not have a hitch and, back in Milan (the city where we both lived at the time) after getting tattooed by him, we started hanging out more and more often. With the need to always go further. We parted physically, Pietro moved to London, he’s half Londoner, initially working as a bike messenger later studying Product Design in a famous school. I stayed in Milan completing my degree in graphic design and working from 2014 in the street-fashion-world.
But, we never stop to make adventures together, and dream about them.
During the Interrail of 2015 (NDR. The Interrail Pass is a railway ticket available to European residents that allows unlimited rail travel in and between all of 30 participating countries for a certain period of time. The main exception is that high-speed trains and night trains often require a paid seat reservation.) At the border between Spain and France we met The Rayon Vert and after many dreams and ideas we began to really think about a project together.
We thought about how we live our lives and our travels, mostly in our city and those in which we moved, and we would not have made it to travel and survive without the help of all the people who helped us, hosted or supported both in everyday life and in journeys around the world. An Interrail in particular, that of the following year, opened our eyes. starting without a precise destination and without contacts we have traveled around Europe hosted only by people contacted via Instagram even just a few hours before.
The impact this trip had on us was incredibly deep, especially for Pietro who in a few months created together with Filippo Moia (The Man) a zine fair, FEET FIRST FAIR, where all the people we had met in our travels and in our lives or even through social media were invited to participate.
The first edition took place in London in 2016, the second in Milan in 2017. The vibes after these events were formidable. A group of globetrotters all together, in the same buildings, for three or more days together sharing ideas, experiences, etc. Was mindblowing.
For us, Rayon Vert is the idea of bringing together three important things that are essential for us and I believe also for the human being:
— Being together and interacting
— The movement, in the sense that everything that remains immobile dies
— And the creation of ideas.
We want to create things, wearable or not but that carry with them the idea of movement and network.
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The very first prototype of the Mirage Jacket sewn in Aquabahn by 
A detail of the adjustment on the back of the hood of a prototype Mirage Jacket.
A picture of our improvised showroom set in an apartment in Paris.
Few Pictures about the Outdoor Community Day. Pictures by 
Some of the weird stuff 
The Abicsi-Rayon Vert Pact celebrates the union
One of the very first sketches concerning the sunglasses.
Here is the slicing of one of the first versions (you can see that all the lines are smooth and the hinges are missing).
One of the first versions with hinges, printed with an additive 3D printer in Toronto, Canada.
Detail of the Rayon Vert logo on the arms of the glasses, you can see the high quality of detail given by this printing technique.
Detail of the knot on the inside of the temple in one of the early prototypes (missing logos on the inside of the temple and an additional window showing the passage of the lanyard)
Just 24 grams for a pair of full frame sunglasses is astonishing!
Production managed in our studio, new labels for all new products. All bags that look like they are made of plastic are instead made of PLA (which is a thermoplastic monomer derived from renewable, organic sources such as corn starch or sugar cane) that must be thrown away with compostable waste.
Left: T-shirts with the Lizard Backpack graphic. Right: a detail of the Fubar Pants, with their label, the pendant and a pair of optional drawstrings to be used at the bottom of the trousers in order to tighten them up (for use e.g. on bicycles or in territories with a high density of mosquitoes).
A dyeing test made with colours bought in a convenience store. There are many ways to dye textiles and you can decide to do it in a more or less environmentally friendly way, you can use everything from kitchen scraps to plants of all kinds. There are numerous ideas on the web.
The crew passing through the Moledana Dam (909 m). Picture by 
The pack heading to the Bivacco Primalpia (2476m). Picture by 
