NEPAL 2013, the results (videos, photos and testimonies)

To allow you to relive this exceptional adventure, here is the video of the report "13h15 le samedi" broadcast by France 2 on 14 December 2013.

Material balance

As you may have noticed by following the news on our website, the trek organised by Samoëns-Handi-Glisse in Nepal was a great success. We are proud to have contributed with the Quadrix to the good progress of the adventure.

On the way up, each Quadrix with its pilot was pushed and pulled by 5 Nepalese. On the way down, the rider took over on the gravel roads to the great pleasure and admiration of the Nepalese.

This 3 week trek around the Annapurna Mountains went perfectly and the Quadrix bikes, which were subjected to extreme conditions, proved to be up to the task!

None of the spare parts carried were used and no mechanical problems interrupted the trek. The only puncture that occurred did not need to be repaired as the preventive product sealed the leak.

The Quadrix parts have held up well despite the extreme temperatures and altitudes.

The 4 Quadrix were checked on their return and despite the stresses of the most difficult climbs and descents, the chassis are as good as new.

Aesthetically, the Quadrix are very little marked despite the dust, the transport in the plane's hold, on the roof of the bus, the ford crossings, the stone projections...

You may come across these 4 Quadrix easily recognisable by their red colour on the roads of Haute Savoie or why not on a new destination far away...

A wonderful experience that demonstrates the reliability and robustness of our products.

Testimonies of the Trek participants

Michel Veisy, Mountain Guide and Trek Organiser

The Annapurna tour took three weeks. First of all, it required a great deal of logistics and confidence in our partners. An important part of this is due to our Nepalese friends.

The choice was essential to allow our friends in wheelchairs to have access to this trek, without forgetting however a small passage in the hosts (basket) of our porters for our friends who were not expecting that.
We covered about 200 kilometres, climbed almost 7000 metres of positive difference in altitude and 7600 metres of negative difference.

The weather was also on our side and we were able to climb this Thorong pass 5416 metres with a superb weather and especially without snow.

All these days were moments of sharing with each other quite exceptional. Adaptations were necessary to organise our stages and rest periods (even if they were few in number). ....
A beautiful expedition that will remain in our heads for a long time and we will often relive these Nepalese days.

Dominique ANDRE (leg amputee)

"Travelling the mythical mountains of Nepal" A dream come true!

A lot of excitement when I get on my QUADRIX, my travel companion. It allows me to ride through the hills, to cross the highland villages, to meet the local population with whom I exchange glances, signs, smiles... I soak up the atmosphere of the country.

The emotion is at its peak at the arrival of the THORONG LA pass, 5416 meters high. The descent that follows in this oversized mountain environment gives me shivers of pleasure.

An unforgettable human adventure! A successful adventure thanks to :

They cross rivers, suspension bridges, stony, muddy and sandy terrain, carry us in certain situations! Nothing stops them, convinced they will go all the way, determined to please us.

A team of trekkers (with people from very different backgrounds, in a convivial, jovial, friendly, united and determined atmosphere...) who are proud today of the outcome of this ambitious project.

Séverine TORCHEN (paraplegic)

An exceptional adventure, I would never have believed it possible to fly to Nepal in order to carry out a trek in Quadrix of almost 200 kilometres and to cross a pass at more than 5400 metres of altitude. The Quadrix really allowed us to go everywhere, even in the most difficult passages, whether in water, in mud, on suspension bridges, or even on very steep slopes. This trek in an all-terrain wheelchair allowed me to discover magnificent landscapes, impressive by their variety and size
It was also a very beautiful human adventure full of beautiful encounters. I am happy to have been able to share it with Mathieu, my companion and the whole group.

This will remain an unforgettable experience for me. It was made possible thanks to Michel Veisy and his association Samoëns Handi-glisse; but also thanks to Mont Blanc Mobility and its Quadrix. I'm ready to go again!

Serge MARTINATO (progressive disease)

With these few lines, I come back to my trip to Nepal "the Annapurna tour".

After x hours on the plane, including a 5-hour night stopover in Doha, it was a real pleasure for me, even if there were some bad days:

The cold when crossing the pass, the fatigue during the long stages, the backache during the transfers and the portages on the back of our sherpas, the absence of my wife...

But what emotions when we crossed the faces of his children along the paths always smiling and surprised to see us pass with our funny machines without engine with 4 wheels.

"They are called Quadrix", said Purna, our Nepalese guide, in their language.

There were tears and emotion as we crossed the Thorung pass at 5416m.

It was a pleasure to start the descent to Muktinath with 1600m of negative altitude difference, although the paths were very rocky and not very easy to walk on.

It will be followed by another day of descent (1100m) very rolling but well stoned in places which allowed me to thumb my nose at the bikers and the tractor I was passing by shouting at them "go and see Jean-Luc and buy a Quadrix" but I'm afraid they didn't understand!

Then another long and big one on Tatopani, that day after having softened the shock absorbers of my racing beast, the pleasure and the joy was immense that I forgot to stop at the place where we had to take the lunch, fortunately 400m further a landscape under a waterfall was splendid, I decided to wait for all my tribe. Half an hour later, there was still no one, and some 40 minutes later I saw 3 sherpas arriving to look for me, telling me how I had taught them "yum-yum" and making me understand by showing me the opposite way that I had to go back up. When I saw Michel, I admitted that I was not very proud of my attitude, but deep inside I was already looking forward to doing this part of the descent again.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart Michel the project designer, Jean-Pierre my guide, Purna for guiding us throughout this journey and a BIG THANK YOU to our sherpas and porters who without them the adventure would not have been possible and without forgetting Jean-Luc and Benoît the inventors of the Quadrix.

BLANC JEAN- CLAUDE (paraplegic) President: Handiski Club Loisirs

In the 1990s I was preparing to climb Mont Blanc. But unfortunately the path of my life changed my dreams.

When Michel Veisy (Samoëns Handiglisse) and Jean-Luc Fumex (Mont Blanc Mobility) proposed to organise an expedition to Nepal with 5 people with reduced mobility, I had a moment of hesitation. Is it possible to climb 600 m higher than the roof of Europe with the Quadrix?

Will these all-terrain wheelchairs, which have already been tested on many mountain trails, stand up to this "Annapurna tour"? After the first few days on this magnificent route, the Quadrix proved to be an all-rounder with our Nepalese porters. With complete confidence we climbed up the long Marsyangdi Nadi valley, admiring the different types of vegetation up to apple trees in an orchard at 2750m, not forgetting the many domestic and wild animals.

What emotions and immense joy during the mythical passage of Thorong La (5416 m) were felt by all 19 trekkers and Nepalese porters!

The descent into the Kali Gandaki valley to the village of Beni put the 4 disc brakes of our machines to the test with some technical passages (narrow footbridge, crossing in the torrent beds and stirring up the dust on the paths).

After a few weeks of recuperation, the photos, videos and the France2 film, take us back to the atmosphere of immensity and above all to have shared and accomplished a wonderful adventure.

Thanks to the porters, to the people of the group who helped us, looked after us and supported us during this trip. A little wink to Arnaud for the personal help he gave me during 3 weeks. And above all, a huge thank you to my friends Michel and Pascale who believed in this crazy dream of having 5 handicapped people climb close to the stars and the highest peaks in the world.