Alpine Digging & Mountain Bike Riding with Ben Miller

by Nick Drew | Tue 26 Jul 2016

Alpine Digging & Mountain Bike Riding with Ben Miller

Reader’s digger related holiday photos have always been popular on the blog, although we have not had so many in recent years for some reason. I was delighted then to receive a batch from well-known owner operator Ben Miller on his return from the French & Swiss Alps.

Ben is a keen mountain biker and has been out in the French & Swiss Alps with some of his mates on a mountain biking holiday which in my mind sounds too much like hard work! But there is no denying the scenery at these locations is stunningly breath-taking and there is something magical about venturing into these mountainous regions that can only be explained by the experience itself. Of course being a self-confessed digger nut Ben was still on the look-out for any plant and machinery that was working in the area. It wasn’t long before Ben spotted some ADT’s working in the off season on a new piste for skiers.

Ben commented that it was amazing to see where they were actually taking these trucks, with many of them working on incredibly steep inclines! Ben also said that the TAB two piece boom set up is as popular as ever in Europe, a fantastic option offering unrivalled flexibility which as regular readers will recall, Ben has opted for on his new Volvo excavator. This venerable Volvo A25C, often regarded as one of the finest ADT models ever made by the Swedish manufacturer, was busy on the day of Ben's visit.

The off season is historically a very busy time for the construction and maintenance crews who work on the mountains, preparing new slopes and repairing any weather damaged existing slopes before the skiing seasons begins again.

A classic Caterpillar D6H was also spotted by Ben taking a well-earned rest in the glorious sunshine. For its age the machine looked incredibly tidy too, as is so often the case with machines in Europe.

Talking about two piece booms and machines at rest, Ben came across this nice looking Hitachi Zaxis 225US LC excavator parked up with the stunning mountains as a backdrop.

Let’s face it it’s is not very often that you can venture up a mountain in Europe without spotting a Menzi Muck or Kaiser Spyder excavator in action. The mountains are these things playground, having been specifically designed to work on remote mountain locations. On this occasion it was a Menzi Muck A61 model working on a more conventional flat road breaking down a concrete barrier.

There was still time to spot another couple of machines which appeared to be working on a house extension, a classic Case 580G and an early Volvo mini excavator.

With that Ben was back on his bike and away down the mountainside, which I’m sure must have been a bit of a white knuckle ride at times!

The Digger Man Blog thanks Ben for sharing these photos with us here on the blog.

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