Off Piste Skiing

Alpe D'Huez wind

2012-02-11T14:51:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was the last day of this year's Off Piste Perfection course.
On Thursday we had returned to La Grave where despite a gloomy morning briefing from the lift staff we managed to find some really smooth 'wind-buffed' snow to ski on. Not powder by any means, but great fun to ski. The wind had done its damage at all the main ski areas, and a final day at Alpe D'Huez confirmed this - the ridge from the Petites Rousses cable car to the Fare area was almost unrecognisable compared to Sunday!

Still, with a bit of cunning we managed again to find some nice smooth grippy snow in the Canyon de la Fare. Jim in the entry couloir, currently quite tight!:

In the lower canyon:

In the early afternoon we headed up Pic Blanc for round 2 in the Combe du Loup. The planned variation was binned due to the boot-pack being stripped & looking very unpleasant but we managed to find some good snow to ski hard left of the bowls while working on short/jump turn technique & tactics.

By the time we had skied back around & up to the Signal de L'Homme for a run the wind was once again howling out of the North & the communal decision to beat a hasty retreat seemed sensible as the temperature plummeted again & extremities started freezing! My thanks to Keats, Tanya, Nic, Jim S, Jim A, Mark, Andy & Nathan for being willing 'victims', and thanks also to my colleague Jim Kerr - a succesful week with good skiing developments from everyone and an enviable list of descents completed in good style - roll on next winter!

Deux Alpes to St Christophe

2012-02-08T18:23:00.004+01:00

Yesterday we took the teams up to Venosc and in to the Deux Alpes ski area. The morning was spent in the Fee area with some coaching on steeper ground with variable snow.

Mark throwing some silhouette shapes:

Andy enjoying some better snow:

James in action:

In the afternoon we took both teams down the descent from Lac Noir to St Christophe - a classic line on an improbable mountainside - viewed from most angles a ski descent looks impossible but nowhere does the skiing get over 40º...

First turns:

Mark takes a rest after some good powder in the first bowl:

A bit of 'technical sideslipping' to rejoin the ridge:

The snow was a bit crusty low down, but still quite skiable:

Great scenery all the way:

Views into the Vallon de la Selle from the final shoulder above St Christophe:

Tania negotiates the 'St Christophe slalom':

A well-earned beer for the team in La Cordee:

Today was another La Grave day, and despite a pessimistic briefing from the lift operators in the morning there was actually loads of wind-buffed, smooth & supportive snow to ski - not powder, but very pleasant!

Off Piste Perfection coaching week

2012-02-07T17:58:00.004+01:00

This week I am in the Oisans area running an Off Piste Perfection course alongside IFMGA Mountain Guide Jim Kerr.
A warm-up day in Alpe D'Huez gave surprisingly deep powder though with a few hidden rocks thrown in. We still managed to fit in some good laps in the couloirs off the Petite Rousses, and finish with a good run off the Pic Blanc in the Combe du Loup.

The last couple of days we have been in La Grave, with exceedingly cold temperatures (-23ºC this morning!) but great snow & visibility. Both days I have been coaching steep skiing technique, with runs down the Couloir Banane and Fréaux couloir yesterday, and today a joint team descent of the legendary Chirouze.

Andy in the Banane:

A short skin back to La Grave from the bottom of the Fréaux:

Getting a tow across to the top lift at La Grave:

Nathan in the Chirouze:

A happy team in the Chirouze exit couloir:

3 more days to go - fortunately the temperature is set to rise a bit, so the expedition duvet jacket may get left behind tomorrow...

Off Piste Improvers

2012-02-02T18:07:00.003+01:00

A great week last week with the Off Piste Improvers team in Tignes/Val D'Isere:

15cm of fresh to start off the week was followed by a top-up on the Tuesday and blue skies for the rest of the week - perfect!

A willing team of 6 clients all made great improvements through the week and we ticked off an impressive list of Espace Killy classics: Telegraphe, Lavancher face, Tufs, Banane, East Face of Charvet, Cugnai, Grand Vallon, Vallons de la Sache amongst others.

A tangential highl.ight to the week was a visit to the Clin D'Oeil - Thierry is a genius and the food produced from their small kitchen is incredible - this year's surprise was a chocolate soup with a foie gras chantilly - sounds bizarre but tastes great!!

More powder was on the menu for the last 2 days of the course, with temperatures dropping fast.

Foglietta perfection

2012-01-26T17:59:00.004+01:00

Wow. What a day!

1100m of perfect powder from top of the Foglietta all the way to the bridge below les Savonnes. Not sure I have ever skied it when it has been so consistently good all the way down...

Off Piste Adventures 2012

2012-01-24T17:58:00.004+01:00

This week I am skiing with a group from the Eagles Ski Club. Alison, Paul, Dan, Rob and Susie were all back from last year, with the addition of David. From a base in Bozel we have been free to go where conditions seem best every day.

La Plagne was our first port of call on Monday and a bit of crust gave way to some perfect powder pitches before a warm and 'interesting' finish down into the valley.

On Tuesday we went back to la Plagne knowing there was a great chance the Traversee chair would open up, giving access to all the Montagne de Bellecote and Friolin runs. A couple of warm-up laps in the Rossets couloirs & Derochoir saw us up on the glacier at 1pm, just in time for the opening of the chair. As if by magic the otherwise cloudy skies cleared for a good hour, giving us some reasonable visibility for a great run down the Creux Bozon, with powder aplenty and a great finish through the trees down to les Bauches.

Today we made the journey to St Foy ("the resort which never fails to deliver") and had a great day despite the poor visibility generally. A brighter spell mid-morning was perfectly timed for a run off the Col Granier and down to la Masure. Acres of untracked snow, still very deep and very fluffy:

A visible measure of the cumulative snowfall this winter was the rooves of Le Crot - absolutely creaking under the weight of snow:

2 more days of adventure still to come!

Epic conditions in the 3V

2012-01-22T14:47:00.006+01:00

Yesterday was a welcome day off after last week's Off Piste Intro course and with heavy snowfall overnight the tough choice between clearing the front & back car parking spaces or skiing 60cm of fluffy powder was quickly resolved.

Here is a sneak preview of yesterday's fun. More to follow when time permits...

Quite amusing to think that in the Chamonix valley everything was shut down barring Les Houches where it was the usual bunfight, and we were lapping untouched powder in the trees all day :-) Sometimes its good to not live in a 'Freeride Mecca'...

Off Piste Introduction

2012-01-18T20:57:00.005+01:00

This week was the first Off Piste Introduction of the winter, run jointly by offpisteskiing.com and Jagged Globe.

Tricky conditions off piste have proved great for testing the team's developing skills. Yesterday we hiked into Les Avals and found some reasonable snow in places, along with particularly fine Diots & Crozets at the Refuge du Grand Plan!

Hiking up to the shoulder:

The team:

Variable snow on the South side:

The reward: diots & crozets at Lionel's.

1 more day to go, and with snow forecast for tonight it might be a powdery finish!

Mountain Safety

2012-01-10T22:59:00.005+01:00

Last week I was in Verbier running a BASI Mountain Safety course (part of the ISIA qualification).
Lots of snow the week previous & blue skies from the Monday meant perfect conditions for skiing and for talking navigation, snow safety, group management etc. Lots of good runs - first tracks in Rock Garden, great snow on backside Mont Fort, East side of Mont Gelé and on the 'secret' slope below Mt Gond...

How much snow?

2012-01-06T10:39:00.004+01:00

People keep asking how much snow there really is - well to give you an idea here is a series of photos taken looking at our terrace here in Bozel at 850m above sea level:

Mmmm, summer:

Good early snowfall:

Wow!

Snowmageddon!

Now its fair to say that on an average winter you can ski down to Bozel for a good 3 months, and there are cross-country tracks down here which normally are good until late-March but this year is exceptional so far.

Bonus trash

2012-01-04T20:32:00.005+01:00

Today turned out much better than expected - had a mid-morning appointment with Jules in Sanglard (boot-fitter extraordinaire) to sort out some boots, and had thrown the rest of my ski kit in the car on the off-chance the morning clag/clouds cleared. A lunchtime coffee with Ross saw us eventually heading up to the Grands Montets for a look at 2pm. A couple of runs off Bochard in variable vis but with great powder were followed by a lavancher in good vis with still plenty of untracked. With the cloud clearing we snuck onto the last Bochard and headed over to the Poubelle which was super-well filled in at the top... 10m or so of side-stepping and you're in:

We had been gazumped by 3 people, but despite the couloir being quite narrow there was still knee+ deep pow to be had on every turn.

Ross getting in about it:

Mel's turn:

Below the Poubelle the snow was almost too deep!

The scenery is alright down here...

Bit of billy-goating in the RH exit couloir but no rap needed (yet)

2 happy campers!

Not too bad for a day when I wasn't expecting to ski at all - nice bonus for the day!

Boxing Day exploration

2011-12-26T15:09:00.005+01:00

With an unexpected (and very welcome) morning off, a quick call to Will set up the fun & games for the day. We had both looked at some local lines over the years which are only skiable round about the winter solstice when the sun doesn't get onto them much, but need a good heavy early snowfall to make viable. Current conditions pretty much ticked the boxes and we managed a couple of laps round despite some heavy trail-breaking on the skin out to get back around to the lift system.

Still good powder on the shadier aspects, even at lower elevations:

Time for some fun:

Good line - can't count how many times I have looked up at this, nice to ski it in good conditions!

Hmm, nice tracks!

There's quite a bit of snow about:

Hmm, maybe next time...:

Round 2:

Snow, snow, snow.

2011-12-18T21:54:00.003+01:00

Well, the snow justs keeps on coming.
Meteo France are reporting 130cm of snow in 48 hours at 1800m, and an estimated 230cm of snow at 2500m in 48 hours! Tomorrow is set to be clearer, then more snow is forecast for Tuesday & Wednesday at least.

Care needs to be taken off piste as the risk of avalanche is still very high, and it is worth bearing in mind as the posted risk level 'drops' that a huge percentage of avalanche accidents occur at level 3 (this is still 'considerable' risk!). The good news is that once all this snow settles down it is most likely going to form a good base without too much facetting at low level which might just increase stability not only in the short term but also for the end of season.

Courchevel news

2011-12-13T13:34:00.004+01:00

Went up for a quick slide in Courchevel to test out new boots & skis today. I can safely say that snow conditions are above average for the time of year (it is only the 13th Dec after all) and with more snow forecast in the next 24 hours it looks like a reasonable base will be starting to form.

The new 6-seater Plantrey chair is up & running & should ease congestion at peak times, whereas the new Burgin Saulire 2 will make the small flat area at the top of the Saulire cable car even busier than it normally is!

Breaking news!

A family of large jelly babies appear to have taken up residence outside the Forum in 1850, and for the skiing car lover the top of Biolley is definitely the place to be!

Did someone say snow??

2011-12-07T09:32:00.002+01:00

Well despite all the doom and gloom (including an interesting piece in a daily rag on how Switzerland was definitely not the place to be the day after I returned from some limited but rather good skiing in Zermatt) it has now been snowing continuously for the last 36 hours down here in Bozel at 845m and MeteoFrance have not surprisingly issued a High avalanche forecast for the next 24 hours...

Precipitation is set to ease up tonight but with cold temperatures forecast for the weekend this should allow alot of resorts to get some base sorted on piste, and might just start to form some natural base off piste.

A glimpse of the rare snow leopard in Bozel:

New snow, new boots and public speaking.

2011-12-05T12:21:00.005+01:00

Well, winter finally seems to have decided to show up out here. Last night it was raining heavily down here at 800m, and webcams are showing a good covering of fresh snow above 1800m. With more unsettled weather forecast for this week this should finally get a base down for the winter!

It is a quiet week here at Offpisteskiing HQ, with a Wednesday trip to Chamonix to see Jules & Damien at the Boot Room for a pair of light weight touring boots to go alongside my Dynafit Titans.

I skied the Titans most of last winter and was extremely impressed. These boots seem to fit & hold my foot really well, and set up with a Palau 'Hard' thermo-formed inner boot I found the performance of these boots to be similar to a 110/120 flex alpine boot, and they were perfectly happy even driving a bigger ski like the Volkl Gotamas (191cm & 107mm under foot).

Dynafit Titans:

At approx 2 Kg per foot they are not the lightest boot around though and I am in the market for a lighter boot for longer days out & mountaineering, but still with good skiability for steep descents.

Obviously fit will be the priority, but on paper the Scarpa Maestrale is looking good, at 1.5 Kg per foot, and with a reputation for very good skiing response. Even lighter weight (approx 1.1 Kg) is the Dynafit TLT5, though the inability to use this with anything other than pin bindings is a slight drawback. I am keeping an open mind, so watch this space...

In other news, anyone in the UK next weekend and at a loose end could do worse than getting themselves to Plas-y-Brenin in North Wales for the 4th Annual Ski Mountaineering Symposium, organised by the Eagle Ski Club, Alpine Ski Club and Alpine Club this features a day of lectures (including yours truly) followed by a day of practical workshops including ski technique, transceiver use, mountain medicine, group management and much more. Should be a great weekend!

Street style

2011-12-04T09:26:00.004+01:00

Came across this short clip from the Sherpas Cinema film All.I.Can - great to see old-school master and New Canadian Air Force veteran JP Auclair still geting creative and it just goes to show - its not how much snow there is, its what you make of it that counts...

Go full screen for best viewing!

Dry start to the winter...

2011-12-01T18:26:00.003+01:00

Well, so far the winter has been noticeable by its absence in France, however this doesn't mean there is no snow anywhere in the Alps...

I am currently in Zermatt, and the snow on piste around the glacier area is good, and the Cervinia side definitely caught a bit more from the last storm 3 weeks ago...
2 days ago we went up the Breithorn (4164m) in perfect weather - great views of the Matterhorn, Dent Blanche, Weisshorn etc from the summit, and reasonable skiing if you stuck to the wind-buffed snow up high, with some softer snow to be found lower down!

Most areas are looking very lean however, but with snow forecast either side of this weekend hopefully this will all change!

Kendal Mountain Festival - behind the scenes

2011-11-23T21:11:00.002+01:00

I have just returned home from a hectic long weekend working at the Kendal Mountain Festival. This is the UK's main gathering of outdoor enthusiasts, speakers and film-makers with 4 days of events based round the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal.

A few years back IFMGA guide and 'Face of the Festival' Andy Perkins roped me in to work on the 'core' presenters team. This involves working long hours on a diet of coffee, pizza and adrenaline, hosting film sessions, introducing guest speakers, liaising with the Technical staff and Festival organisers to ensure everything runs smoothly. I originally accepted this as a challenge to overcome my fear of public speaking, but now look forward to it rolling around each year! Most days kick off around 8 a.m. and generally finish sometime in the early hours in the bar... sleep is for the weak, right?

This year I had the pleasure of introducing my good mate Kenton Cool who was speaking about his 8000m peak skiing experiences to a packed Dojo, and hosted a variety of film sessions - standout films for me were Sweetgrass Productions' Solitaire, introduced at Snowsports Night by the man himself Nick Waggoner, 'Sketchy Andy' which contains some sweaty-palm-inducing moments (see below) and the hilarious XC Snowboarding (an oldy but a goody).

A short clip from Sketchy Andy:

And XC Snowboarding:

Another festival highlight (which I snuck into on a rare couple of free hours) was Nick Bullock's lecture "Must get fitter, stronger, better" (or "fatter, soberer, balder" as per Graham D's intro!) which gave a great insight into the mindset of Nick's climbing, as well as explaining the origins of some of his route names (The Frumious Bandersnatch amongst others...).

Now its time for a couple of days at home, then I am off to Zermatt shadowing a BASI Off Piste & Mountain Safety course next week, as I will be delivering these courses later this winter. All we nees is some snow!

Greenland slideshow

2011-11-11T11:49:00.002+01:00

I have just uploaded a photo slideshow from the 2007 Greenland Steep Ski trip here. Enjoy!

A short history lesson.

2011-11-04T09:57:00.003+01:00

Twin tip skis are taken for granted these days (although 'tail rocker' seems to be the current marketing term :-) ) but I can still quite clearly remember the arrival on the scene of the first ever modern twin tip. Hats off to the NCAF for the vision & persistence!

Huascaran ski

2011-11-01T18:50:00.001+01:00

Stumbled across this nice video of Andreas Fransson having a big day out on Huascaran - good effort that man!

Inspiration

2011-11-01T09:28:00.002+01:00

There are some folks around who push at the limits of what is perceived possible. Antoine Montant was one of those, combining flying skills with skiing skills to open up whole new playgrounds. Antoine was killed last week in a base-jumping accident, but he leaves a legacy of boundaries blown wide open:

Portrait Antoine Montant par AMontant

Ready for winter?

2011-10-26T08:12:00.001+01:00

Itching to get on skis after watching this video - incidentally we are running a trip to Kyrgystan this March...

Course availability 2011/12 & extra dates.

2011-10-24T08:27:00.005+01:00

With a chill in the air and frost on the ground winter is definitely on the way - bookings are coming in thick & fast for the 11/12 season, with only a few spaces left on the first Off Piste Introduction course, the Chamonix Off Piste Improvers course rapidly filling up (possible extra group opening up here) and our Kyrgistan adventure now fully booked.

If you want to get your season off to an early start then there are still some spaces left on our pre-season 'Boot Camp' - 3 days of coaching in Chamonix from 14-16 December. This is a great opportunity to get your ski legs in full working order for the winter, previous seasons have seen everyone from occasional off-pisters to aspirant Mountain Guides enjoying the technical coaching.

Extra dates:

We will be running 2 extra Off Piste Introduction courses based in Brides les Bains in the 3 Valleys.
21-28 January (coach: Neil Milne BASI International Ski Teacher Diploma/IML)
25 Feb - 3 March (coach: Mac Mackay BASI ISIA/IFMGA Mountain Guide)

Please contact us for details.

New website now live!

2011-10-13T12:17:00.005+01:00

Finally, after some delay, the new www.offpisteskiing.com website is now live!

Many thanks to Katie at YakMedia and Ant at Peaco Web design.

Click here to have a look round.

Autumn training

2011-09-27T08:08:00.001+01:00

For anyone looking for ideas for their autumn training regime here is Extreme skiing pioneer Sylvain Saudan with his take on off season training (funnily enough I remember seeing this in 1984 (?) as part of his 'Victoire a Ski sur l'Himalaya film in Courchevel 1650 !! ):

Last dose of the mountains

2011-09-27T07:54:00.004+01:00

With big limitations on free time impending there was just time to squeeze in a day out in the mountains. Gary has recently moved to Chamonix and was keen to get out up high for a bit of acclimatisation/climbing.

As I needed to be within phone range & easy 'turn-around' we opted for a combination of two short, easy routes near to the Aiguille du Midi cable car the classic 'guides-combo' of the traverse of the Pointes Lachenal followed by the Cosmiques ridge back up to the Midi station. The Pointes Lachenal lie a short walk across the Col du Midi, and a short 40º slope takes you up on to the ridge for some spectacular views:

A short scramble over the first summit followed by a short abseil and snow ridge lead to the start of the only 'difficulties' on the route - a short rock step with a few big loose blocks to negotiate:

Gary works his way up the open groove to the main summit:

A quick pause to catch our breath on the main top and then it was off again, with a short descent back to the Col du Midi and a quick trudge over to the Abri SImond at the start of the Cosmiques ridge. Well known as a high altitude queue, the ridge was relatively quiet today, and we gave a trio in front of us a good head start before setting off in pursuit.

On the first high point of the ridge we took a variation which avoids the abseil with a lower traverse at the end of which we encountered that rarest of beasts - a Chamonix Guide who asked if we wanted to pass his (slower) party - I have now seen it all!!

The rest of the ridge passed without great incident, pleasant scrambling with one stiff pull at the crux rock wall (shame about the drilled-out crampon slot for footholds).

Whilst never particularly challenging the Cosmiques ridge offers a more interesting way back up to the Midi station (compared to the snow ridge) with the benefit of finishing directly on one of the viewing platforms!

Unfortunately the weather is now set fair but i cannot get out & make the most of it - frustrating to say the least!

Birthday Powder Turns

2011-09-20T17:35:00.007+01:00

With several days of rain and cold temperatures, a sunny day forecast, and a birthday today there was only one option... Several messages last night lined up a small team of dedicated ski addicts for a trip up the Aiguille du Midi to see how much snow had come down.

A very non-birthday early start from Bozel got me to Chamonix in time for the 8:15 first lift, which sadly was delayed until 9:30 (ice on the cables) - oh well, plus ca change.

Cedric, Martin & Tom trying to wake up in the lift:

The first section took us out of the early morning valley clouds and into clear skies above:

"It's the ridge, Jim, but not as we know it!"

The ridge leading down from the Midi was in 'spicy' mood, properly knife-edged, with snow of dubious quality on either side. Plans to ski it were quite quickly shelved, and we then found a pair of French Alpine Poodles to test out the stability and put a track in for us...:

Below this the snow on the South face looked to be in great shape.
Cedric preparing to drop in:

First turns for Cedric & Tom, good powder all the way down to the Col du Midi!

Early plans to head up the North face of the Tacul had been shelved due to the delayed start, and secondary plans for some Italian coffee were also shelved as it was obvious there had been a lot of wind with the snowfall, and that a lot of crevasses would be very thinly bridged but very well hidden. We settled in favour of some 'mini-golf' runs on the slopes under the Cosmiques refuge.

Cedric skinning towards the Cosmiques refuge:

Tom:

Martin:

Cedric with a Grandes Jorasses backdrop:

Tom in the 'mini-mini-mini Cosmiques couloir':

And again:

Coffee stop at the refuge:

The snow was really quite good on the slopes we skied - good soft powder on a relatively smooth base - not bad for September 20th!

All that remained was a hot skin back up to the Midi ridge, and another airy wander along this to a rapturous welcome by the tourist crowds on the viewing platform...

Not a bad way to spend a September birthday! Roll on next year!

Inspiration

2011-09-12T09:18:00.002+01:00

There are plenty of snowsports videos out there, each one 'radder', badder, more HD, more slow-mo than the last. There are also some videos that stir up emotions or give you hope, maybe change the way you look at things...
This video definitely looks like it falls into the latter category - here's the trailer, looking forward to seeing the full film!

The Freedom Chair - Official Trailer from Switchback Entertainment on Vimeo.

The power of snow

2011-08-19T12:45:00.002+01:00

There is a magical quality to snow, it has the power to mesmerise & fascinate and brings out the inner child in most of us. It's flakes are infinitely varied & complex, and it changes landscapes with its transient beauty.

This video from New Zealand captures this feeling exactly:

Check out more of Ro Tierney's work here.

3 Valley lift changes

2011-08-14T13:20:00.003+01:00

Its all go this summer in the 3 Valleys - work is well under way in Courchevel on the construction of the new Plantrey chair with a fast 6 man chair replacing the fast-ish 4 man which had been in operation for 28 years!

Helicopter ferrying materials for the new lift:

Over in Meribel the top section of Burgin Saulire is being replaced with a new gondola as part of a 2-year plan (2012 will see the replacement of the 1st stage) - the new lift takes a line directly up the Tournier couloir with the top station next to the Saulire cable car station.

Talking of which I recently was sent a couple of archive photos of the Saulire:

You can clearly see the top station & pylon of the old lift coming up from the Meribel side which was subsequently moved down the hill with construction of Burgin-Saulire:

Elsewhere there is a brand new lift going in above Portette in Val Thorens with the top station right on the ridge between the Belleville valley and Orelle. No linking pistes are planned just yet but the lift will open up more runs on the Val T side, and should provide interesting off piste access to the Bouchet valley.

Getting fit

2011-08-07T08:39:00.005+01:00

After 3 months of work, moving house etc and not much time to get out in the mountains I decided enough was enough yesterday and went for a run to kick myself back in to action.
Creve Tete is a hill I have looked at almost every day for the past 5 years (you see it as you drive out of Bozel) but never been up, and there is a convenient loop you can do with bang on 1000m of ascent up a steady but steep path followed by a nice ridge run and a longer but gentler descent back to the car.

Good views of the Nielard:

And up the Belleville valley to Val T:

Looking across to the Cheval Noir - we skied this on last winter's Steep Vanoise week:

Atmospheric clouds on the ridge:

Managed to nail the climb in 1 hour & 20, not quite up to Killian Jornet speeds, but I was quite happy considering how little activity I have managed this summer...

A scenic run along the ridge, Morel valley on the left, and the Tarentaise & Vanoise on the right:

Off to Holland this afternoon to run some IRATA training for Orange Access. Looking forward to working with my Swiss colleague Gilles again. For more information on rope access check out the IRATA website.

Summer break

2011-08-06T10:56:00.003+01:00

OK, it's been radio silence here for some time due to a variety of reasons - work (& lots of it), moving house, preparing for the imminent arrival of Offpisteskiing Jr, lots of family visits and 3 weeks without internet in the new house...
Sadly with all this going on there has been little time to get out in the mountains, particularly frustrating as there was a good window last week, with a few folks sneaking in a descent of the NW face of the Bionassay.

Preparations are well under way for 2012 - check out our course schedule here and don't hesitate to get in touch if you don't see the dates you want or would like to discuss some private guiding.

Kyrgistan 2012: The big project for February 2012 is a week of ski mountaineering based in a yurt in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgistan - there are still a couple of spaces left on this exciting trip for strong ski mountaineers with a sense of adventure!

For those of you in the UK a date for your diary is the weekend of the 10/11 December - the 4th British Ski Mountaineering Symposium is happening based at Plas y Brenin in N Wales, and I will be giving a presentation and also delivering practical sessions as part of this. There is a great line-up of speakers for this weekend so put the dates in your diary now!!

And finally... Sweetgrass Productions have just released the trailer for their latest film: Solitaire - looks great, and if their previous offering 'Signatures' was anything to go by, it will be well worth seeking this out at a Film Festival near you this autumn (more of that later...).

SOLITAIRE: A Backcountry Skiing, Snowboarding, and Telemark Film from Sweetgrass Productions on Vimeo.

News from the Alps

2011-05-07T10:31:00.005+01:00

News from the Alps is that there is still good skiing to be had for those willing to put in the effort.

Ross Hewitt has been busy with descents of the Col des Courtes (Pointe Eales) and NE face of Aiguille de l'Amone in recent days with some good powder:

(Photos courtesy Ross Hewitt)

Cedric Bernardini meanwhile was weighing in with a descent of the rarely skied Coolidge couloir on the Mt Viso - looks like a fantastic line!

(Photo courtesy Cedric Berdardini)

None of which is making me in the slightest bit jealous (honestly!, no really, well, maybe a bit), as this the view from my bedroom window currently:

...not quite in the same league...

Work stops play...

2011-04-29T09:07:00.004+01:00

Well, it looks like work is about to stop play for the month of May, frustrating since despite the 'dry' winter there is still plenty to go at, with some nice lines currently being skied in the Mercantour and Ecrins area in good conditions... lets see what June brings!

I will be updating the blog through the next couple of weeks with some equipment reviews & thoughts from this winter... in the meantime here are a few more photos from the Eiger, courtesy of Cedric Bernardini, Jim Lee and Ross Hewitt:

Haute Tarentaise tour + conditions

2011-04-24T17:37:00.005+01:00

Currently on an enforced layoff from skiing in sunny Tuscany on family-in-law duties, but thought I would post some photos from late last week to show conditions in the Haute Tarentaise - still loads of snow to play on in the Haute Tarentaise/Haute Maurienne/Gran Paradiso area for ski tourers who haven't yet had their fill.

There are also good first-hand reports coming in from the Bernese Oberland area as well as the vicinity of the Grand Combin - the touring season isn't over yet despite the dry winter!!

Ginny skinning round to the Col de L'Ouille Noire:

Nice spring snow on the East facing slopes behind:

A short sin & bootpack took us over the Col du Montet and onto the slopes below the Gros Caval:

Nice dusting of soft snow on a firm base for the first few hundred metres vertical:

Then onto good spring snow:

Great skiing all the way down to the Prariond hut:

Best to take a pair of trainers to enjoy the walk out through the Gorges de Malpasset along the summer path...:

...and not take the 'skiing out through the Gorges' option!:

Eiger West face

2011-04-20T12:38:00.012+01:00

We had a hot tip off at the weekend from friends who had climbed the North face that the West face of the Eiger was in very snowy condition, so a crack team was hastily assembled to go and ski this legendary summit.
Weighing in at 5.2 on the Toponeige scale, and with 1600m vertical, with 1200m at 40º or more and 4/500m of steady 45º high up this is not a descent to take lightly (not to mention the mid-height serac).

Grindlewald grund train station:

On the train up to Kleine Sheidegg

Eiger North face looking moody:

The team contemplating the West face, upper half hidden by the clouds:

Ross Hewitt & Cedric Bernardini at the 5 star bivvy spot:

Sunset on the Jungfrau:

Antigravity chough:

7.30 am, time to climb... only 1600m to go:

A bit of rock climbing for a wake-up call:

A few hundred metres of skinning up the lower apron, then skis on pack, crampons on, and time to start boot-packing:

Cedric approaching the ice runnels that allow you to stay well left (though not completely out of the line of fire of the serac):

Starting up the upper face:

Looking down from approx 3600m on the West face, Eigergletscher station visible 1300m below:

A quick peek down the North face - very good conditions on the classic '38 route currently:

The team on the summit:

French pair coming off the North face:

Dave Rosenberger puts in the first couple of turns down a slightly firm West ridge - 4m wide, 1600m of north face on the right, 1600m of West face below, so slightly 'airy'!:

John Minogue - first turns on the West ridge:

Spot the skier (yes he is in there - dead centre) - Dave ripping the upper face:

Jim Lee high on the upper face:

Ross:

Ross & Cedric below the serac - 100m of mixed conditions - chopped up powder, sluff balls, spring snow & the odd runnel... just where you don't want to be hanging around!

Good spring snow right through the lower slabs - just enough there to get through with skis on...

And ski to within 50m of the Eigergletscher station:

One for the laydees! - The cream of the crop of Chamonix steep skiers flex their pecs in the afternoon sun:

The West face. The line skied started from the summit down the West ridge (left hand skyline), then skiers left through the rock bands of the upper face to join the wide slopes above the serac:

Culture shock - one minute you are in the high mountains, the next sitting on a train full of Japanese tourists!

Legendary summit + great line + good snow + crack team = awesome day out!

Dome de Polset - East Couloir

2011-04-17T13:52:00.007+01:00

A last minute cancellation from a partner for a hit in Chamonix left me with the option of a (relative) lie-in and some steep ski action closer to home.
Word on the street was that the East face of the Dome de Polset was in skiable condition - with a rare direct line through the bottom of the face just filled in.

9.15 am saw me waiting for the lifts in Val Thorens to open, and 3 chairlifts later I was putting on skins on the Col de Thorens for a quick thrash up to the Col de Gebroulaz. A bit of skins on/skins off to get under the Aiguille de Polset, then it was a final 100m up to the Dome de Polset at 3500m:

There were 2 or 3 people on the summit but nobody appeared to be heading Eastwards... as it was almost 11am, and the sun had been on the couloir for a while I figured the entry may be quite hard, but the main couloir looked to be softening already:

The entry was quite narrow, and with 2 or 3 old ski tracks the snow had been vitrified and was definitely on the icy side of firm... a bit of sidestepping axe in hand took me down 10 metres to where the couloir opens a bit, and the snow was perfect as expected... The upper couloir gives 200m or so of 40/45º before narrowing into a runnel which you have to traverse out of to avoid some big cliffs below. 100m of slightly tight skiing then follows, picking a line through some narrows just wide enough for a 184cm set of skis!

Halfway through the tight middle section:

Looking down into the bottom couloir - this often does not go, as the final 20m can be very rocky, but there is currently a snowed up ramp to exit :-) The couloir was perfect, 200m of 50º, again with perfect spring snow!

Exiting the face the good snow continued down towards the Col Superieur de Chaviere, time for a quick look back at the face before the long hot skin back up to the Col de Thorens:

Quite pleased with the 4 hour round trip... a great face, and there are plenty more lines off this side of the range to go at for anyone looking for some steep spring snow action with easy access (just check out the conditions first... not sure the east face direct will be skiable much longer).

For anyone heading out to Val Thorens for some piste skiing here are a few shots from today to give you an idea of snow cover - at 13:00 pm the snow was still firm all the way down to village level.

Top of Col red run (patches of glacier ice coming through in top half):

Moraine:

Looking across to Plein Sud from bottom of Moraine:

Boismint area - thin:

Skis for sale

2011-04-16T17:13:00.002+01:00

For sale: 1 pair Dynastar Altitrail Powder skis (178cm) with Dynafit TLT Comfort bindings (incl. brakes).

These skis have been well used, but also well looked after. The skis are in good condition, the bindings are in very good condition.

Price £250.

The skis are currently in France and a meet-up somewhere in the Savoie or Chamonix area would be possible, alternatively I will be in the UK late May so the skis could be picked up/sent at this point.

Email simon offpisteskiing.com

Pictures below:

Espace Killy off piste

2011-04-16T13:10:00.005+01:00

Mixed conditions in the Espace Killy last week with the Craig & Longney families - Monday started very warm, with good spring snow up high rapidly giving way to breakable spring crust over 50cm of sugar... we did find some nice turns around the Col de la Leisse with a bit of skinning.
Tuesday was similarly warm, and after an epic descent of the Face in knee deep slushy bumps at 10am we headed up the Solaise side of Val D'Isere for a run down the Cugnai valley. This gave some good spring snow, and an interesting & adventurous exit involving a river crossing, breakable crust, and a close call with an early-closing Machet chairlift!

Wednesday came with the promise of a good refreeze overnight, and cold temperatures first thing in the morning at Le Fornet backed this up. we enjoyed a gentle cruise on softening spring snow to the Pont de la Neige and donned skins to go in search of good snow & maybe a summit too.
Leaving the crowds to the Col des Fours we made for the Ouille des Tretetes, and a great panorama from the summit with not a soul around.
The ski down far exceeded expectations, with some wind-drifted powder filling the slight gullies and providing some very pleasant skiing:

Thursday was cloudy & snowy all day, so we had a focussed technical day on & around the Grande Motte area, with the odd foray off piste when the visibility cleared momentarily...

Friday dawned with a mixed forecast, and with cloud, snow & -12C at the top of the funicular at 9.30 expectations were low, but after a warm-up run it was clear there was some sunshine to be found and we set off down through thinning cloud on the Leisse shoulder, finding some great spring snow covered by a dusting of fresh:

Leisse shoulder in the background:

Skinning up to Col 3015:

Trevor, Georgina, Claire, Keith & Pip on the col:

Great spring snow:

And it keeps on coming... 500m vertical down to the valley floor for a picnic in the sun:

A (very) warm skin took us back up to the Leisse chair, to rejoin the crowds on piste down in to Val Claret for a well-earned refreshment!

Summer or Spring?

2011-04-13T18:21:00.002+01:00

Much colder again today, with a proper refreeze above 2000m and a cold North wind all day. We found some good spring snow out behind le Fornet, as well as some nice wind-drifted powder - a pleasant surprise...

Wild weather!

2011-04-12T20:57:00.003+01:00

It has been unseasonably warm this last week in the Alps - the snow has been visibly melting from day to day at resort level, although there is still good skiing to be found up above the 2800m level or thereabouts!

With temperatures in the valley in the mid 20s at the weekend ski boots were shelved & climbing shoes had their first sortie on rock for the summer... shame the fingers/arms weren't quite up to speed yet!

Damien enjoying some sunshine rock at the 'Mont Secret':

Sunday was mostly spent in my late-season ritual of watching the Paris-Roubaix - another exciting race with all the usual thrills & spills, followed by a gentle outing on the road bike to make the most of the early evening sun...

So how are conditions in the Vanoise/Tarentaise?

3 Valleys:
Courchevel is currently reduced to Verdons, Saulire, Suisses, Sources, Chenus & Dou des Lanches lifts, with limited pistes from/linking each.
Runs back down to Mottaret are very thin, though there is still some reasonable skiing to be had on the very highest pistes (Lac de la Chambre etc).
Val Thorens is doing fine as long as you stay above resort level (bottom of Plan de l'Eau was mud/rock 10 days ago already...

Espace Killy:
Tignes - Runs back to Tignes Lac very thin, conditions on the Grande Motte are good, though there has been lots of 'snow farming' work going on either side of the pistes in preparation for the summer season. Links to Val are open (but slushy/thin)
Val - Bellevarde bowl: lots of thin patches starting to show through. Face still open, but only by the skin of its teeth very bumpy/slushy even at 10 am this morning.
Solaise bowl good, runs back to resort slushy/bumpy

Good spring snow to be skied up high, but anything dropping low needs to be treated with caution as you quickly get onto a thin breakable crust over 50 cm of sugar snow.

Paradiski:
Les Arcs, only worth considering the 2000 bowl...
La Plagne, Bellecote Glacier area is th eonly place to go. Links from Champagny allegedly only running until 14H00 (if at all now).

If the cooler weather predicted happens and we get some clear nights then there will be some great spring snow touring to be done up high, but it is worth seeking out areas with high lift access as lower approaches will either require a long walk, or alot of tedious trudging through knee deep rotten snow.

More adventures in the Vanoise

2011-04-06T18:29:00.011+01:00

Day 4 of our week of off piste adventures, location: Val D'Isere...

The team putting the effort in to find some good turns:

Duly rewarded:

Who says there's no powder about?

Top lunching in the sun:

East face of the Charvet, anyone??

Day 5, Val Thorens

A flyby from the "Patrouille de France" (French Red Arrows):

Jack in the Caron South East couloir:

The team let rip on the wide open slopes below:

Nice chalky bumps on the Bouchet North face:

A short skin up the Mt de Peclet:

Mike R, Mike W and Nick on the summit:

Good heavy powder on the way down:

Day 6, back to Val D'Isere for a tour over the Pointe des Fours.

Skins go on at the Pont des Neiges:

Great views into the Haute Maurienne, we managed to lose the company with a cunning diversion to the Pointe des Fours instead of the standard Col route...

The team 'au complet' on the summit:

One short narrow section:

Then great spring snow all the way to the valley floor:

Approaching the Fond des Fours hut:

Thanks to Mike, Mike, Nick & Jack for the great company and for being willing to see "whats round the next corner" all week!!

Off Piste adventures

2011-04-03T18:38:00.008+01:00

This week I am skiing with a small group of diverse 'medical types' - common thread being that they are all involved with the running of a mountain medicine course, which makes me feel vaguely secure (although they did all admit to leaving their first aid kits in the Hotel...).

On Sunday with warm sunny weather forecast we headed for the high ground of Val Thorens & Orelle, where we managed to track down some good spring snow off the Col Pierre Lory, and also in the 'Bouchet shoulder' couloir.

Exiting the couloir:

A happy team!:

Jack pointing out the day's goods:

Yesterday was generally moist, with cloud & precipitation (occasionally snow above 2300m) all day, so a technical day was had, working on various bits & pieces until we all were damp enough to justify an apres ski beer...

Today the sun was shining again, and with a good overnight freeze the game was on to find some spring snow. Emerging from the Caron cable car to a howling wind we battled our way along the ridge into the far side of the Combe Sans Nom and hit it just right - the top inch softening up on a firm base all the way to the exit.

Hiking in the wind:

Great snow on the descent:

A quick lunch stop and we threw a couple of laps off the Bouchet chairs, first down the North side (where the snow was 'interesting' to say the least) and then down the Bouchet shoulder where we really hit the jackpot, with 5 star spring snow all the way, billiard table smooth with not another track to be seen - just perfect!

Bouchet North face:

Mike R on the Bouchet shoulder:

And again:

Mike W showing great form on perfect spring snow:

Everybody happy?:

Loads of wet slides have been coming off E/S aspects in the last couple of days...I wouldn't fancy the Cote Brune couloirs at the moment! :

Tomorrow we are off to the Espace killy for the day, so who knows what we will find there?

Steep Vanoise Tours (part 3)

2011-04-01T21:53:00.008+01:00

Day 5 of the Steep vanoise Tours week saw us heading high again, with a warm-up run down to Plan Bouchet before heading up to the highest lift-served point of the 3 Valleys. The snow on the North face was still invery good condition down to about 2800m.

Jack enjoying some deep powder below the cliffs:

Nick in action:

After a second lap and some transceiver/avalanche training the weather started closing in, and after a short lap in one of the couloirs of the Caron we called it a day.

Day 6 proved to be the highlight of the week, with a good mix of skinning & skiing. Traversing the Caron/Brequin ridge we managed to find some good snow down to the start of our skin track for the day.

Looks wind-affected, but was great to ski:

Great snow a bit lower down for Nick:

Jim matches track for track:

Time for some uphill action, heading for the Mt Brequin:

A short warm-up pitch to get us in the mood for the main event:

The bootpack u to the summit of the Brequin:

Looking into the North Couloir, 2 tracks from this morning... pipped to the post!:

Jack high in the couloir:

Jim drops in:

And opens up the gas lower down:

Nick

Jack leaving great tracks:

Happy?

And the great snow kept on coming...:

600m vertical later, the snow finally started turning:

What a way to finish the week!

Despite the tricky conditions we managed to find some good skiing every day, with the Aiguille de Chanrossa & Mt Brequin the icing on the cake... roll on next year's course!

Steep Tours (part 2)

2011-03-30T18:00:00.005+01:00

Day 4 of the Steep Vanoise Tours week dawned ominously cloudy, and after our epic day on Tuesday it was decided that a downhill only day was in order. With high freezing levels we headed over to Val Thorens and hit the jackpot... lapping one lift all day with barely another person off piste until the visibility lifted in the afternoon!

Poor visibility first thing, but great snow:

Some brighter patches came through & we could enjoy the powder:

After lunch the sun decided to join in.

Amanda making the most of the visibility:

Jim joins in the fun:

Nick:

Amanda leaving great tracks

Nick ripping the soft stuff:

Jack goes in deep:

Jim taking the direct line:

Steep Tours (part 1)

2011-03-27T21:32:00.006+01:00

Tricky conditions for the inaugural Steep Vanoise Tours week, high avalanche risk, very high 0º isotherm, and mixed weather forecast all adding up to a challenging week...

On Sunday we managed to find some reasonable spring conditions in the Combe Sans Nom, with some grass hopping on the lower exit to spice things up.

Some 'Scottish' style conditions:

In the afternoon we went in search of relatively safe powder, looking for steep narrow couloirs where there might be some (but not too much) soft snow.

Jim negotiating the narrows on Petit Valdez:

Day 2 and with bad weather forecast we played close to home again, finding some soft snow in the Plattieres & Mont Vallon areas before going for a skin up to the Col du Borgne in the fog, with some good powder on the descent but no visibility...

Nick enjoying some soft snow off the Mont Vallon on day 2, before the visibility closed in:

With good weather forecast for day 3 we went on a mission to the Aiguille de Chanrossa, where we found perfect powder on the steep North East slope, and also had a triple Lammergeier spotting. No photos sadly as I had left my camera at home. The exit back down Les Avals turned into a mission of endurance, with rotten snow and a long sticky push out past Le Biol...

More to follow.

Spring snow

2011-03-26T10:05:00.006+01:00

With warm sunny days and cool nights the time has finally come to head off in search of velvety smooth spring snow :-)

A long morning with Henry & Gemma on Friday gave the perfect opportunity -

Traversing the Caron/Brequin ridge:

Gemma ripping up the perfect spring snow:

Henry in action:

Good conditions all the way down:

A bit of grass skiing to get out:

Happy days!

Val T to Val D'I

2011-03-24T19:09:00.009+01:00

Last weekend I embarked on a Val Thorens to Val D'Isere ski tour with Mark, David, Keith and Glynn. The plan was to do this over 4 days, with 3 nights in mountain huts along the way...unfortunately the weather had other plans, and high avalanche risk and zero visibility turned Day 1 into a warm up day on & around the pistes of the 3 Valleys, finishing with a road transfer up to Pralognan.

Morning of day 2 and we used the Pralognan lifts to ease the journey up to the Felix Faure hut on the Col de la Vanoise.

Lots of people heading up from Barmettes, mostly out on day tours:

After lunch at the refuge we went in search of powder...
and found it off the shoulder of the Pointe de la Rechasse:

An early start on day 3 to cross the Col de la Vanoise and head into the Leisse valley:

High avalanche risk on north-facing slopes made choice of line a tricky business, but by staying on ridge crests where the wind had stripped most of the snow we were able to weave a safe line up to the Col des Pierres Blanches. South face of Grande Casse in the background looking very thin, next year perhaps?

Some more nice turns:

Approaching the Femma hut - it was at this point Keith mentioned hearing a 'snap'...:

Anyone wondering about the level of avalanche risk need only look at the slopes opposite the Femma hut, pretty much the whole hillside had spontaneously released in several slabs:

A warm welcome as always from Claire the gardienne. Time to rest weary limbs on the suntrap terrace:

It was while putting skins on first thing in the morning on day 4 that the cause of Keith's "snap" became apparent when his whole ski folded in two...oh the joys of ultra-light touring kit!
After some deliberation we decided the traverse of the Col du Pisset back to Val D'Isere was the best option (short of calling in a helicopter) and set off to nurse the broken ski over the Col:

Looking back down the Rocheure valley:

East face of the Dent Parrachee looking a bit thinner than when we skied it last spring...:

At the Col du Pisset, watershed into the Val D'Isere valley:

Having nursed the broken ski down the top part of the Manchet valley it eventually became too tricky for Keith to ski, so to make life easier I set him up on my Gotamas and took his one remaining good ski. 100m later as I gently traversed a powdery slope there was another audible 'crack', and this one had given up the ghost too!
After some cursing and muttering we continued on, somehow managing to make the ski slide occasionally, and resorting to some serious survival one-ski skiing, until eventually we caught sight of some army skiers ahead. David charged off and managed to find the Captain, who agreed to let me use their spare skis (the battalion always carry extras when in the mountains) to get down to le Manchet.
Never been so glad to see a pair of 'snowblades' in my life! Merci!!

Some of the army team on the skate back to Le Manchet:

Keith's 2-part ski, handy for transporting...:

As it turns out, there may have been a mounting problem with the skis, with the wrong glue being used which allowed the carbon weave of the topsheet to fray & create weak points... all this did serve to reinforce my view that ultra-light touring kit simply cannot be as resistant & hard-wearing as a solidly made (if heavier) ski.

Anyone out there thinking of buying Black Powder skis from Alpcontrol think very hard - all they consist of is a carbon weave topsheet, a PTex base, and some (very) soft balsa wood inbetween the two - and make sure whoever mounts them uses Araldite or similar epoxy resin!!!

Les Avals

2011-03-18T20:15:00.002+01:00

An easy-angled wander out the back of Courchevel 1650 today with Ginny to check out conditions. Heavy wet powder on a damp base probably sums it up best. Much care needed at the moment, particularly on steeper slopes - with reports of big avalanches off the back of Mt Vallon, in La Plagne and also in Val D'Isere...

'Keyhole couloir'

2011-03-14T19:55:00.005+01:00

This week I have a few days off, and having had a lazy weekend letting the body recover from a succession of busy weeks, and with a window in the otherwise pretty poor weather forecast, I met up with Will for some adventuring out the back of Courchevel today. Will has been busy as always on skis this winter, and has managed to work out some new lines (probably previously unskied) on some of the peaks out behind Courchevel. He was keen to show me one of his discoveries, involving a bit of alpinism, some mixed climbing, and a short abseil (and hopefully some powder)...

Long distance shot to the 'Keyhole' (on the ridge), more of this later:

A fairly steady skin up on firm spring snow leads to a col on the ridge:

For the full mountain experience we didn't head straight for the couloir and went summit-bagging:

Bit of an airy climb on inconsistent powder with big drops either side:

Tricky skiing back off the summit, with very variable snow, and lots of rocks not far from the surface!

Getting to the 'Keyhole' involves a bit of insecure mixed climbing this winter:

Will at the 'Keyhole':

On the other side it was all looking quite good:

The top section is steep (50º ish) and leads straight into a choke-point - abseil needed this year. Looking back up from below the anchor:

Looking down from below the abseil, mmmmmmm!:

A bit of 'Ambiance':

Will giving his skis a quick grind on the abseil:

Some good snow makes all the effort worthwhile:

Will ripping it up:

Lots of space lower down:

What a great day! Climbing, summit, abseiling, powder... it was all there.

It has to be said that right now powder is hard-won in the 3 Valleys though, the strong winds of the last few days have done a lot of damage, leaving some interesting crust on alot of slopes, and still a high risk of avalanche on certain slopes - the rain-crust from January is still making its presence felt.

Eagles Ski Club training/tours week (Part 2)

2011-03-09T22:28:00.007+01:00

St Foy was the venue of choice on Wednesday, and after some cunning car shuttling we had a few warm up & coaching runs off the lifts, and then set off towards the Pointe de Soliet & Col de l'Argentiere:

Early lunch on Pointe de Soliet:

A hot traverse & skin on the South side took us to the Col de l'Argentiere, from where we got back into some good soft powder:

This route rejoins the steeper North face routes above Les Savonnes before heading down the "icy path of doom' back to La Masure, from where a couple of car laps saw everyone comfortably installed at the Auberge du Monal for some post-match refreshment!

On Thursday we stayed close to home, and took the funicular up into the Les Arcs area. This was undoubtedly the busiest resort of the week so far, with big queues for many of the lifts, even with ski school priority!

The original plan to drop off the Grand Col down to Villaroger was swiftly shelved when soft shady snow was spotted below the Aiguille du St Esprit shoulder...

Rod enjoying some soft snow:

A good steady pitch:

Despite getting afternoon sun the slopes lower down gave good skiing right down to the Commune d'en Bas:

A short skin after lunch took us onto the Crete des Lanchettes, where we found some unexpected bonus turns down to Deux Nants:

Ed does some snowpack exploration:

The week was wrapped up with a trip over to la Plagne and down the North face of Bellecote on good chalky snow (no pics due to camera being left at home!).
Thanks to Rod, Nic, Tania, David, Neil & Ed for their company all week. Lots of good progress all round, and some great snow in the bargain as well...

Eagles Ski Club training/tours week (Part 1)

2011-03-08T19:21:00.006+01:00

This week is a week of coaching + touring adventures for a group from the Eagles Ski Club.
From a valley base in Bourg St Maurice we have been exploring all that the Tarentaise has to offer... a warm-up day in Val D'Isere with plenty of soft snow from the Friday snowfall, followed by a testing day at La Rosiere/La Thuile on Monday, with variable visibiity, but good snow off piste.
Yesterday we went back up to Val D'Isere & headed off down the Pays Desert to the Pont de la Neige for a tour over the Col des Fours. Plenty of space on Pays Desert for freshies still:

Pont de la Neige:

Great views of the Haute Maurienne:

On the way up the Christy Powder Radar (®) kicked in, and we diverted from Plan A and made for the nearby Ouille des Tretetes, with a slope of untouched powder just waiting for us:

It was quite good:

In fact it was very good!

For details of backcountry/off-piste coaching courses please have a look here...

Steep Vanoise 2011 (part 3)

2011-03-04T20:56:00.004+01:00

Last day of the Steep Vanoise course today, and a combination of dodgy weather forecast and the need to swing by a good ski shop drove us up to Courchevel. Patrick at Camp de Base was helpful as ever solving Paul's binding troubles, and on heading up the lifts it seemed we had made the right call with the weather, with dark clouds everywhere except Courchevel!

After a warm-up lap in Emile Allais we wandered over towards the Croix de Verdons couloir - less of a 'wander' than usual with quite a spicy entry into the Curé couloir, and very little snow on the ridge above the CdV...

Hiking up out of the Curé couloir:

On the ridge up to the Croix de Verdons:

Graham in action:

Ian:

Good powder to be found still:

After lunch we made the hike up to the Rocher de la Loze to ski the main couloir on the North 'Freeride' face. Paul in action:

One last ride up the cable car, and the powder radar came into its own as we dropped into a side couloir to the Tournier and found deep (if heavy) powder with not a track in it.

And so another good week comes to a close. Thanks to Paul, Ian & Graham for putting up with my mad plans! We certainly saw a biut of what the vanoise has to offer through the week...

Steep Vanoise 2011 (part 2)

2011-03-03T21:51:00.005+01:00

On Wednesday we went into the Lauziere range, with the target being the North East couloir on the Cheval Noir, a 4.3 rated descent with a top section at 45º.
Cheval Noir from Col des Mottets, the couloir is centre on the face:

A long hot skin up the Combe Pierreuse and some boot-packing (chest deep at times) finally took us onto the summit with a good view into the couloir:

Ian, Paul & Graham on the summit:

Steep upper section:

Graham:

Paul:

Graham again:

Ian:

Paul demonstrating that even Volkls aren't unbreakable!:

Today (Thursday) we switched venues again and made for St Foy and the North face of Fogliettaz. As so often this did not dissapoint, and peering over the ridge to see only 6 tracks in the whole face definitely brought a smile to everyone's face! Great to catch up with Fred from Topski up there too.

Ian on the top pitch:

Graham going in deep:

Paul matching tracks:

Ian does some 'deep snowpack inspection':

Bottom of the upper face, still a long way to go from here:

Nice spot for lunch:

Last day tomorrow, who knows where we will end up?

Steep Vanoise 2011 (part 1)

2011-02-28T18:35:00.006+01:00

What a week so far!

The first of this year's Steep Vanoise weeks got off to a powdery start on Monday, with perfect conditions in the head of the Mottaret valley:

On Tuesday we headed for Champagny/La Plagne and the North face of Bellecote. On arriving at the end of the Traversee chair no tracks were visible heading into the face so for the second year running we got to put first tracks in! Couloir Cairn was looking a bit thin, so we headed on over to Couloir Canadiens to find some good soft snow (if a bit variable in places):

Windy at the top!:

Ian somewhere down the 1000m of Couloir Canadiens:

Ripping up the easier bottom section:

Having made our way back through the lift system to Roche de Mio, a quick lap in the Rossets couloir followed before we went off in search of 'Couloir Mythique' - a line I have often looked at but never had the time to go and ski (let alone find the top of). As it turned out the entrance was easy to find, and gave good steep skiing with great snow:

More to come...

Petit Mont Blanc

2011-02-25T17:46:00.003+01:00

No, not that one... this one is in the Vanoise...

Will approaches the summit, E Face of Aiguille du Fruit behind:

The snow was OK...!

Good turns to be had all the way down to Le Biol:

Another small top-up due on Sunday - looks like March could be quite good!

What a day!

2011-02-24T17:17:00.003+01:00

Wow! Where did that come from?? - Great day skiing powder with Will J-M, with barely another soul off-piste. First tracks in Panoramique, Sous le Tele right hand, Emile Allais, Curé, Col du Fruit (awesome) and just pipped to the post on the Equinox face at the end of the afternoon (still acres of room for freshies though).
Got to love half term weeks !!

Snow & other things...

2011-02-20T19:10:00.003+01:00

I have just returned from a week in & around Samoens for the final assessment of the International Mountain Leader award.
Half-term madness has just begun here in the 3 Valleys, and the good news is that it was snowing today - thought only for a grand total of 10cm or so of fresh at resort level. Still, better than nothing, and it has certainly put a smile on a few folks faces!

As to snow conditions, well we have certainly seen better, though in the Tarentaise it is far from the catastrophe the press would have everyone believe. It is always interesting to hear people's interpretations of the snow conditions however - last weekend, having just finished a 6 day off-piste course in Chamonix where we spent 90% of our time off piste skiing some pleasant chalky snow and some great bumps, I chatted to a Geneva-based Brit who had been up in Chamonix where "obviously there was no off-piste at all"... no powder maybe, but more off-piste than you can shake a stick at! Each to their own...

Off Piste Improvers (Part 2)

2011-02-10T22:12:00.003+01:00

3 more days of sunshine to finish the week with the Off Piste Improvers group.
Wednesday we went back to Les Grands Montets, for some 'coaching on the move' on the chalky wind-buffed snow.
On Thursday we drove back through the tunnel to Courmayeur. A run from the Arp down to Val Veni gave some of the best snow for the last 2 weeks, with spindrift on a smooth base giving velvety smooth & super soft skiing!

Steve with Petit Mont Blanc and Aiguille des Glaciers behind:

John starts the section of great "spindrift powder" - 20 seconds after a skier had made tracks they were covered again!

Yesterday was a 'maximum mileage' day to give the team lots of time to put into action all the developments from the week with a full & varied tour of all that the Grands Montets has to offer with good snow off the top cable car, and even some softened spring snow in the Lavancher bowl!

The team ripping up some smooth chalkiness:

There are still spaces left on the remaining off-piste coaching courses this year, so don't hesitate to get in touch to book your spot...

Off Piste Improvers

2011-02-08T20:33:00.006+01:00

This week is the Off Piste Improvers course, based in Chamonix.

Conditions have been 'interesting', with some spring snow (and some 'mashed potato') at Le Tour, good chalky snow (and some amazing bumps) at the Grands Montets, and some adventure today in Courmayeur...

The team at the top of the Grands Montets:

Great sunsets!

Italy today:

Off Piste Intro #2

2011-02-02T22:50:00.003+01:00

Last week was this winter's second Off Piste Introduction week, based in brides-les-Bains and using the 3 Valleys ski area. Despite the doom & gloom in the press there was still some good skiing to be had both on & off piste (despite internet reports of "offpiste non-existent").

Through the week we skied all corners of the 3 Valleys, finding some powder, spring snow, chalky hard-pack as well as some trickier crust and windblown snow (all educational though!).

Spring snow in the top of Lac du Lou:

And some softer stuff lower down:

Firm windpack in the Combe des Chamois:

The team on the "non-existent" off-piste!:

Some surprise powder:

Off Piste Adventures (Part 2)

2011-02-01T18:43:00.005+01:00

Day 4 of last weeks Off Piste Adventures saw us heading for Champagny, and a trip down the petit face Nord on Bellecote - a great opportunity for the team to hone their steep skiing techniques, and put the previous 3 days work into practice!:

After lunch and the long flog back through the La Plagne lift system we headed for the Combe des Arriérés hoping to find some spring snow:

As it turned out the snow was more powder than spring!:

Friday was our last day and for something completely different we loaded up and set course for Areches-Beaufort. A quick stop in the village to stock up on Tartes au Beaufort and it was up into the lift system. A cold wind was blowing, but everyone was motivated for adventure, so we donned skins, and headed for the summit of the Grand Mont d'Areches:

On the summit of the Grand Mont, Mont Blanc behind:

Good chalky snow up high in the Combe Nord-Est:

Some "creme brulee" lower down - a wafer thin crust with heavy soft snow underneath:

Amazing hoar frost crystals by a rock:

On the ski out:

Thanks to all the team for a great week - hope to see you next year for more adventures!

Off Piste Adventures week

2011-01-25T18:41:00.008+01:00

This week I am skiing with a group from the Eagles Ski Club. Based in Bozel we are travelling wherever the snow might be good, and where we can get away from the crowds.

For the first 2 days we have been exploring the hidden sides of the 3 Valleys, finding good chalky snow on high North facing slopes:

Good spring snow with a light dusting on South facing slopes:

And some 'interesting' crust too!:

Yesterday we made our way right across the Caron/Brequin ridge to the summit of the Mont Brequin. Phil, Susi, Dan & Rob on the summit:

The West facing slopes from here down to the Col de la Vallee Etroite gave some great skiing, with soft snow on a firm base:

Hard to believe it hasn't really snowed for 2 weeks (barring last Thursday's dusting):

More soft turns!:

The rest of the run down to the Lac du Lou was more challenging, but worth the effort for the god turns up high...

Today we headed for St Foy, and the magical North Face of the Fogliettaz did not dissapoint, and delivered the goods yet again!

On the short skin to the Pointe de Fogliettaz, Mt Pourri & Aiguille Rouge behind:

Slightly 'cheeky' entry to the face:

Dan shredding some powder:

Alison picks a tight line:

And opens up the throttle lower down:

2 more days to go, what other adventures can we find?

Off Piste Introduction 2011

2011-01-21T19:45:00.010+01:00

A tough week last week for this winter's first Off Piste Introduction week. Wildly varying temperatures, and a mnix of snow & rain in the week preceding the course had left large quantities of crust off the beaten track... At the very least this provided 'educational' snow for everyone to test themselves out on!

As always though there was some good snow to be found, and a trip into Les Avals revealed not only some good spring snow, but some soft powder very low down (inbetween quite a bit of crust!). Peter, Andy & Sarah enjoy the view:

Lesley nearing the Merlet shoulder, great views behind:

Lunch with a view above St Martin. Some firmer 'spring' snow on this side:

A trip from Olympic down to St Martin gave some reasonable skiing on firm refrozen spring snow, a bit rattley, but better than crust!:

Finally a flurry of snow on the Thursday afternoon turned into the jackpot of the week, with a descent from la Masse into Les Encombres on 10-15cm of good powder on a reasonable base!

Peter testing out his Flyswatters:

Andy shreds the soft stuff:

More powder anyone?:

Plenty of space for fresh tracks when you are first in:

800m of good powder to the valley bottom:

On the way out to Chatelard, for a great lunch at the Auberge Chantacoucou:

Well done to all the team for coping with the challenging conditions! Great to see everyone's skiing coming on throught the week... here's to next year!

Early season steeps

2011-01-14T19:43:00.007+01:00

With a couple of days off remaining before a big stint of work, and word on the street of good conditions on the Argentiere North faces, Ross & I caught first lifts at the Grands Montets yesterday and headed off up the Argentiere basin:

With a fair bit of snowfall in the last week all the faces were looking very white, with the Courtes & Col des Courtes both looking as snowy as they ever get! Not wanting to tempt fate (& snow stability) on properly steep slopes we headed for the Col des Cristaux, a 5.1 rated descent with 400m at 45º:

With so much snow the boot-pack up the face was always going to be hard work, even with our 'secret weapons' the going was tough:

We finally ground to a halt about 100m below the ridge - the top layers of snow were denser and more slabby, and the general feeling was that the nearer to the ridge we got the more risk there would be (lots of South wind a few days back).
Contemplating the scenery:

First turns - feeling the snow...:

Good 'semi-heavy' powder, great to ski, with not too much sluff to worry about:

Ross wishing he had his Kuros:

Ross lower on the face:

Perfect early season training:

A few more turns before the bergschrund:

Setting off on the long slide back down the glacier:

End of playtime now... Saturday evening sees the start of the first of this winter's Off Piste Introduction courses. There are still spaces left on some courses later this winter - check out the offpisteskiing website for details.

Magic Tunnel (part 2)

2011-01-13T10:35:00.003+01:00

After a sociable evening drowning my sorrows over Tuesday's ski incident plans were made for another foray through the tunnel on Wednesday, for some powder action in Courmayeur. Ross kindly sorted me out with some Sanouks (a classic 'early' fat ski, complete with swallowtail), and Jonny & fellow ex-Fort Williamite Rob Jarvis completed the all-star line-up.

The snow in Courmayeur didn't dissapoint - a 10cm fall overnight had filled in alot of the previous tracks, and we found ourselves once again skiing up to 50cm of beautiful fresh powder.

Ross charging into the Dolonne:

Rob enjoying some deep powder:

Ross at Mach 3 on his Kuros:

"Ground control to Major Tom" - Ross goes airborne:

Happy days, back in the bubble for another lap:

5 hours of non-stop powder hunting followed before we collapsed back into the car with aching limbs...

The Magic Tunnel

2011-01-13T10:20:00.003+01:00

With a bit of time off this week, I made tracks for Chamonix to catch up with some friends, ski some good powder and try out my brand new Salomon Shogun skis. With a recent series of Southerly weather systems the South side of the Mont Blanc range was definitely the place to be, so on Tuesday we headed through the ("Magic") Mont Blanc Tunnel to the Punta Hellbronner cable car.

Possibly one of my top 3 'lift systems' in the Alps, the 3 stages of the cable car gradually get smaller and more rustic, with the last being a 6-man sardine can...

Looking down the Aosta valley from the top of Stage 2:

The top cable car at Punta Hellbronner:

I was playing catch-up with Ross & Jonny, having left Bozel early in the morning, and they had already had a warm-up run on the Toula. Ross was keen for the Passerelle couloir, which starts imediately on the left as you exit the lift station, and had only had 2 skiers down it that morning (any more than this & it gets too scraped-off to be any fun to ski...).

First turns of the day on brand new skis down a 45º couloir? Why not!
Ross in the top of the Passerelle:

And halfway down:

Looking back up the couloir:

I got used to this view... having skied the couloir proper, I started to open the throttle on the slopes below, and my right ski pre-released on a small bobble of firmer snow. With steep slopes and soft powder there was nothing for the brakes to get purchase on , and the ski was last seen heading towards Courmayeur at 50 miles an hour...
After an hour of fruitless searching I gave the ski up as lost, and battled on down on 1 ski to the Pavillion through 50cm of powder (you definitely get more impression of depth with only 1 ski on!). A few coffees and a panini helped soften the psychological (and financial) blow, and the news later that day of 4 people killed in an avalanche in Val D'Isere helped put everything into context... the day could have been a whole lot worse.

On a side-note, apparently the Hellbronner cable car is being replaced next summer, by a 2 stage system which will leave from Val Veny (near the cable car into the Courmayeur lift system). End of an era for the sardine cans, and also (possibly) for the cafe opposite the current bottom station, which must take a huge amount of passing trade from skiers/climbers/sightseers heading up the cable car.

Hidden couloirs

2011-01-09T16:30:00.002+01:00

I met up with Al Hutchison today for a ski in the 3 Valleys. The original plan was to head high to get above the 'rain zone' of 2 days ago, but with clouds above 3000m and a worsening forecast we postponed our objectives on the Aiguille de Peclet and stuck closer to home.
Having met at the top of Burgin Saulire it seemed quite obvious to head up the ladders to ski the Couloir de L'Echelle, dropping onto the Meribel side of the ridge. Funnily enough the last time i skied this line was with Al about 6 years ago!

Looking up from Meribel - Couloir de L'Echelle (or 'Death Couloir' as it is sometimes known) on the right, Couloir de l'Antenne on the left.

Despite relatively thin snow cover and a scratchy first few metres, the skiing was actually quite good, with some pockets of soft snow on a firm base.
Al jumping them round in the narrow upper couloir:

Opening up the curves slightly in the lower couloir, snow a bit variable down here:

We then headed for the Mont Vallon, where the gazex couloirs gave a couple of good runs on varying snow - again some nice patches of smooth chalky snow, and the odd pocket off soft powder.
After a lunch stop to catch up with some friends i found myself back at the top of the Saulire and needing to get back to Meribel, so the Couloir de l'Antenne was next on the list. A bit of "ski-rock climbing" for the first 10 metres gave way to some more good chalky snow lower down.

Conditions on the whole are quite spring-like at the moment due to the very warm temperatures. Skiing down into Meribel was more reminiscent of April than January! Meteofrance are calling for 10cm of snow tonight down to 1000m or so, so here's hoping!

Into the wild

2011-01-04T21:51:00.004+01:00

Mont Brequin to Orelle - the Integrale (almost).

I was stood up by clients in Val Thorens today, and with good visibility holding out felt in the mood for some adventure.
The Mont Brequin was beckoning and from the Cime de Caron it looked like the whole of the far side of the Combe Sans Nom was still untracked:

A mix of traversing, sidestepping & hiking takes you along the ridge to the Pas de la Masse. Passing the Pierre Fendue:

At the Pas de la Masse I decided against going right to the top of the Brequin as the 45/50º couloir was looking a bit thin - alright to climb but not great for skiing:

A traverse just below the summit took me onto the wide open slopes of the Combe Sans Nom, not a track to be seen over this side, any previous skiers having taken the first entry at the very start of the ridge + the short exit at Plan Bouchet. Slightly wind affected snow, but great powder nonetheless:

And some more powder:

Lower down the snow was a bit more variable, but a long traverse into the Combe Noire gave yet more powder turns:

And then some more:

Heading towards Notre Dame des Anges the snow was thinner, but still just as soft:

Decision time - cut out here & skin back to Plan Bouchet, or head ever downward to see if the snow would hold out all the way to Orelle. With no-one else in tow to complain if things went a bit pear-shaped there was only one obvious option - downwards!

Approaching the Traverse of Doom, with the critical footbridge below (miss this & you get wet feet!):

The Traverse of Doom - I had to admit defeat just round the corner and take the skis off for 10 yards as the snow had melted & the path was only 3 feet wide):

Traverse of Doom from below:

Huge surface hoar flakes in the valley bottom:

A scratchy ski down a path gave way to a very snowy road down to Bonvillard:

Bonvillard:

Below Bonvillard the skis came off for 5 minutes bushwacking through some trees & scrub, before the road emerged again at La Fusine, with its typical Mauriennais stone-built houses:

Below La Fusine the skis went back on for some careful turns down to Francoz, where the bottom of the lift finally came into view:

An epic descent!! 2200m of vertical, with powder turns all the way down to the bottom of the lift (with some interesting conditions in the middle, admittedly). After a drink in the café it was time to head back up the lifts for some more powder-hunting. Looking back across at the Mt Brequin complete with one solitary ski track - I wonder who that could have been!

The afternoon was filled up skiing lines off the Cime de Caron, amazingly, despite being in full view of the lift, there were still swathes of powder to be found in the Caron couloirs... Happy Days!

Conditions update & course spaces.

2010-12-27T18:07:00.003+01:00

Conditions update 27/12/2010:

The snow in the 3 Valleys is currently in excellent condition - soft, light powder off piste (though still thin in places so watch out for the rocks!), and great snow on piste. With cold, clear weather predicted for the next few days now is a great time to get out & roam far & wide through the 3 Valleys area.

Course spaces:

We still have a limited number of spaces available on the following courses:
Tarentaise Day Tours & Coaching week, 5 - 12 March
Steep Vanoise Tours, 27 March - 1 April

Contact Simon here for details.

Windy weather

2010-12-22T18:18:00.002+01:00

Today I met up with Patch, Sam & Olly for a day's touring.
Despite a forecast of strong Foehn winds the morning didn't look too bad!

With Chanrossa chair shut a detour via a few extra lifts took us to the top of the Roc Merlet chair, where we headed off in search of adventure in Les Avals... With no track in place a short skin took us onto a very windy Merlet shoulder from where we dropped down through variable snow to the Plan du Vah.
Time for a spot of early lunch out of the now strengthening wind:

An hour or so of skinning got us onto the Col des Saulces and we headed off in search of powder (or something!) in the Combe des Roches.
Sam leads the team:

Up high the snow was (not surpisingly) very variable, with some nice wind-compacted snow interspersed with harder patches. As we dropped lower onto more sheltered slopes the snow gradually softened up, finally giving some great powder turns through the trees.
Olly enjoying the soft snow:

Well done to all the team for braving the weather, here's hoping for kinder conditions next time!

Intro to Touring weekend

2010-12-20T18:57:00.003+01:00

This weekend the offpisteskiing.com Intro to Ski Touring weekend, based in Chamonix. With travel chaos in the UK we were slightly reduced in numbers, but Will, Lou & Don braved the cold (very cold) temperatures and we found some great powder while covering the ins & outs of ski touring.
On Saturday we headed to Le Tour, where cold knee-deep powder was interspersed with the occasional patch of windblown hardpack just to test the balance...
On Sunday, with a poor forecast we looked lower and made the short tour up the Croise Baulet from Combloux. The ski down more than made up for the uphill efforts, with great powder turns, all rounded off by a chocolat chaud in Le Plan before using the lifts to get back to our starting point.

Heading towards the Col du Jaillet, Petit Croise Baulet up right:

300m of climbing took us to the top:

Great powder turns on the way down (too much fun being had & the camera was forgotten!). A mid-descent break for food & drink:

Last few turns above Le Plan:

Yesterday's powder turns

2010-12-03T11:28:00.000+01:00

A quick video I knocked together of yesterday's tour above Courchevel, just to give an idea of conditions at the moment:

Courchevel pre-season powder from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

More powder..

2010-12-02T21:08:00.003+01:00

Managed to sneak out for another quick tour this afternoon in the brief interlude between weather fronts.
Great conditions again, with perfect powder, up to 40cms deep in places.

Nice views:

Greg enjoying the soft stuff:

Partial opening of the Courchevel/Meribel lift system this Saturday - should be great conditions (certainly on-piste)!

Early season powder.

2010-11-29T13:43:00.007+01:00

Went out for a quick look around in Courchevel today. The hill seems to be shaping up nicely - looking pretty white for the time of year...

Skinning up the Loze:

A wintery Grand Bec:

Perfect corduroy, ready for the invasion:

Ginny's first turns of the winter:

Soft & fluffy powder, blue skies ... perfect...

Busy times... Kendal Mountain Festival

2010-11-28T12:08:00.004+01:00

Not long back from another hectic weekend working on the presenting team at the Kendal Mountain Festival.

Highlights include introducing a certain Mr Glen Plake to a packed house on the Saturday night - a true living legend of skiing & genuine nice guy:

Also top of the list were the film "A Life Ascending", and Timmy O'Neil's lecture - off the wall, innovative, completely mad, but fantastic!

A Life Ascending trailer here:

Archive footage - Jean-Marc Boivin

2010-11-14T13:30:00.003+01:00

Some classic footage from the French TV archives - they don't make 'em like this any more!

Kendal Mountain Festival update

2010-11-06T15:12:00.002+01:00

'Tower Gully - A summer ski descent' will be showing at the Snowsports Night at KMF, on Friday 18th November in the Dojo as part of 3 hours of films and presentations. Also featuring are the legendary Glen Plake, and snowboarding photographer Dan Milner.
Tickets can be purchased online here.
The film will also be showing in the Ski & Board film selection throughout the weekend.

Tower Gully ski film at Kendal Mountain Festival

2010-10-25T17:36:00.002+01:00

Breaking news:
The Tower Gully ski film has just been selected for this year's Kendal Mountain Festival, running 18-21 November. No details yet on which slots it will be shown - will update as soon as the schedule is finalised...

Tower Gully ski film

2010-10-24T11:03:00.002+01:00

Following last night's premiere of the Tower Gully film at the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival it is now live online:

Enjoy!

Tower Gully - A summer ski descent from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Tower Gully film at Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival

2010-10-20T08:07:00.002+01:00

Just a quick reminder that my film from this June's descent of Tower Gully on Ben Nevis is showing at the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival this Saturday. The session starts at 7pm and also features several other films + a lecture by legendary British alpinist Mick Fowler.
Tickets still available here.

Cave-skiing video

2010-10-02T10:01:00.001+01:00

And finally, after some delay...:

Cave-skiing from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Mad? Probably... Fun? Definitely!

Tower Gully film @ EMFF

2010-09-30T19:07:00.002+01:00

An update on the Premiere of my Tower Gully film at this year's Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival - the film will be showing as part of the Saturday evening session - 7pm, October 23rd.
The session also features climbing & kayaking short films, as well as Dave Macleod & Andy Turner's recreation of Marshall & Smith's epic week of new routing on Ben Nevis; to top it al...l off the guest speaker is the one & only Mick Fowler - legendary taxman and "mountaineer's mountaineer"!
Should be a great evening - don't miss out - tickets are available online here.

Winter on the horizon?

2010-09-27T19:56:00.002+01:00

From one extreme to the other this week - drove back from 3 days climbing in shorts & t-shirt on sunny limestone in Orpierre to find snow down to 2100m in the Savoie!

Speaking of which, I finally found time to do a quick edit of footage from July's ski mission on the Mt Pourri:

July skiing - Mt Pourri from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Steep Vanoise 2011 dates

2010-09-09T09:06:00.004+01:00

Dates for this coming winter's Steep Vanoise weeks are now confirmed:

Steep Vanoise - based in Bourg St Maurice (accommodation tbc): 27 Feb - 4 March

Steep Vanoise Tours - based in Brides-les-Bains (accommodation tbc): 27 Mar - 1 April

Please see the main offpisteskiing website for more details.

Cave-skiing

2010-09-01T09:54:00.013+01:00

The "12 Month Challenge" is alive and well!!!

Despite work getting in the way big style this month, a ski descent was pulled out of the bag on the 31st August...

I had heard rumours of a 'legendary' cave that existed with a snowfield in the bottom of it which kept its snow all year round... last year with further research I discovered its name: the Chourum de la Parza.
Sitting in the Devoluy massif, South of Grenoble, the Chourum sees very occasional ski descents, mainly due to the difficulties in getting into it - 75m of abseiling to access it, followed by a climb back up the ropes to get out again!

Will testing out his 4x4 sandals:

Entrance to the Vallon de Truchiere:

Thar she blows! - The entry to the Chourum:

Don't forget some bolt hangers! - The top belay is rigged with bolts and nuts but no hangers - presumably to avoid casual users getting in over their heads?

25m down the top slabs, just the small matter of a 50m free-hanging abseil from here:

Luckily we had taken a 100m rope along with the 75, as the top of the snow was pulling away from the rock leaving a big, dark bergschrund - with 75s one person would probably need to stand holding the rope-ends at all times to avoid them drifting out of reach above the void!!

On top of the snow, looking back up the ropes:

Will starting the free-hanging abseil:

Almost down:

Will enjoying his first subterranean turns:

The snow was great - firm névé with a soft surface - after the first couple of metres which were covered in debris from above the surface was smooth & debris-free and with a steady angle of 35-40º perfect for skiing! After 80m or so the snow ran out onto a gentle area of rocks & dust; further exploration below the snow-line took us another 80m or so deeper into the cave, past quite a few bones (previous skiers?) to the cave bottom...

Will climbing up for another lap:

After a few laps of the 'indoor ski slope' we decided we should really think about getting out of there again...time for some suffering...50m jumaring up free-hanging ropes, in ski boots, with backpacks & skis hanging off the harness... enough to make anyone sweat. Will did a sterling job for his baptism into 'proper' rope climbing - good effort mate!

Will near the end of the big climb:

Almost back on dry land!:

Jumar:

Great views - the scenery was absolutely stunning - from the rocky peaks of the Obiou, to the Verdon-esque rock walls in the valley - and best of all - not a soul in sight!

Haute Maurienne

2010-08-20T19:11:00.003+01:00

I have finally found some time to finish editing the footage from this Spring's trip to the Haute Maurienne with Will & Greg, where we spent 2 nights in the Evettes hut and made descents of the East Face of the Albaron and the North Face Direct of the Petite Ciamarella.

Enjoy!

48 hours in the Haute Maurienne from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Dent Parrachée East face video (finally)

2010-07-29T19:17:00.004+01:00

I have finally found the time to start work on the remaining projects from this spring/early summer. First out of the mixer - footage from our descent of the East face of the Dent Parrachée - a hefty 5.3-rated descent featuring 50º skiing in exposed positions, and a great day out on a stunning peak...

Dent Parrachée - East Face from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

More videos to be found at the offpisteskiing Vimeo channel.

Greenland new routes

2010-07-28T13:05:00.004+01:00

Just back from a short work stint in Baffin Bay...
On the way up fog offshore kept us in Aasiaat, Greenland for 3 days and although we couldn't venture too far from the airport I still managed to sniff out a small crag up in the hills behind...

(Apologies for poor quality of the snaps - only had my mobile phone unfortunately)

The Dash 7 - Greenland's commuter bus:

The Western boundary of the ice cap

The fine catering facilities at Aasiaat airport:

Lots to do round here then! (Aasiaat, pop 2000):

Aasiaat from the water:

Midnight at 70º, aboard the Troms Vision:

Something missing here (apart from the snow..):

Ah, here they are:

The new (micro-)crag, 5 minutes walk behind Aasiaat International Airport.
2 new lines at a whopping V.Diff max... Mosquitoes with size 10 boots the biggest objective danger..:

Aasiaat airport - complete with iceberg:

Local supermarket, food, hardware, guns, the works:

Downtown Aasiaat:

Harpoon gun - no longer in use unless the whales come in to the harbour!:

And finally, our trusty steed comes to take us to work:

A busy weekend

2010-07-04T19:45:00.002+01:00

Fresh back in France from a couple of weeks work in the UK it was time to make the most of the many possibilities out here...
Wednesday was mountain bike day, with a hot thrash up to the Gliere Refuge, and a good 1400m of descent all the way back to Bozel; on Friday the baggies were swapped for lycra and the road bikes came out for an easy climb over the Col de Tamié, followed by a birthday meal for Ginny.
On Saturday we were up early again for some fine rock-climbing in the Lauziere range - 200m of perfect granite at amenable grades to the highest summit in the range, and not a soul in sight (try getting that in Chamonix!!).
The Grand Pic de la Lauziere - the route "Rave Party" takes a line just left of the white slabs to the main summit (centre):

Not content with all of this we were up even earlier today (Sunday) for some ski mountaineering action as part of my newly hatched challenge for a 'proper' ski tour every month of the year...
The Mont Pourri stands at 3779m and is the 2nd highest peak in the Savoie department. A 4am wake-up saw Ginny & I parking up at the bottom of the Grand Col chair above Les Arcs at 6am. 10 minutes walking and we were able to put skins on, with near continuous snow all the way from there. Tricky conditions below the Col des Roches slowed progress and with Ginny feeling the pace of the previous 2 days she opted to sunbathe there while I pushed on to the summit. A quick downclimb onto the Glacier du Geay, and a long breathless thrash (not easy going to 3779m after 4 weeks at sea level...) and I was on the summit. The summit ridge gave great spring snow skiing all the way back to the Col des Roches, at which point things became a little more variable...
The summit of the Mt Pourri from the Col des Roches:

Rock architecture

2010-06-24T20:21:00.003+01:00

Last weekend I made a quick stop in Staffordshire for a day's bouldering en route from Surrey to Scotland.
My good run of weather continued, with blue skies, blazing sun, but just enough breeze to keep things from getting too sweaty. This was my first trip to The Roaches, but I'll definitely be back, loads of great problems to climb, and some interesting local features including Rock Cottage - a fantastic building dating back a few centuries and now owned and run as a hut by the British Mountaineering Council.

Midsummer skiing - Tower Gully, Ben Nevis

2010-06-11T20:14:00.006+01:00

With a few days left in Scotland and a short spell of good weather forecast I was keen to sneak in some midsummer skiing. Tower Gully on Ben Nevis has been on my 'list' for a long time, despite a close call with a double-fracturing cornice about 15 years ago, but it is one of those things I never quite get round to doing - either through being in the Alps in the Spring or not being able to travel back with ski gear...

With everything but skis in the car I gathered a crack team comprising Al Reid - in top form (only 1 days skiing this winter) and local all-round mountain man Jonny Sutherland. A quick visit to an old friend & I was sorted with a pair of slightly short skis, but hey - for spring snow almost anything will do (cheers again for the skis Mike!).

Despite a cloudy start to the day we set off hoping that the forecast would come good...And sure enough as we walked towards the CIC hut the sun finally burnt off the remaining clouds:

Not much snow left in #2 & #3 gullies...

A quick pause at the hut to take in the view and we wandered round to the bottom of Observatory Gully:

There was still a tongue of snow almost to the bottom of the gully, and though thin we were hopeful that it would be continuous all the way up. A quick swap to ski boots and we were off again:

A sneaky dogleg towards the bottom of Point Five gully and 10 yards on rock & grass saw us connect to the upper snow. Good firm conditions under foot made for rapid progress.
Level with the top of Tower Scoop:

Heading towards the light in Tower Gully proper:

Al pushes on towards the cornice:

Culture shock - Ben Nevis summit busy with walkers - needless to say we got some strange looks wandering up there in our ski boots!

Al contemplating the cornice, normally the crux of the descent:

Al & Jonny in Tower Gully:

The ski down was fantastic - a small drop to get over the cornice, and then perfect spring snow all the way - a couple of narrow sections that had to be straight-lined near the bottom, but a fantastic place to be skiing, particularly in June!!

Some headcam footage from the descent - full video to follow at a later date:

Tower Gully - Headcam footage from Simon Christy on Vimeo.