Freeride Briançon

One part of the winter is slowly drawing to a close, while another is just beginning.

Last week I was running a Freeride Briançon course for Jagged Globe and www.offpisteskiing.com. Based in Villeneuve, in the heart of the Serre Chevalier ski area we kept to a flexible brief, going wherever we thought might give the best skiing.

Day 1 was a local day, exploring the easily accessible off piste in Serre Chevalier, where conditions were OK but not great, but made for good coaching conditions to set up some common goals for the week.
Serre Che's tribute to the Happy Mondays?

On day 2 we headed over the Col du Lautaret for a quick pilgrimage to La Grave - again conditions were slightly underwhelming compared to the previous 2 weeks Vanoise powder frenzy, but again another great day ay a classic venue:

Days 3 and 4 came with mixed forecasts, so we stayed local as Serre Che has some great tree skiing - as it turned out the cover was not needed and we managed some good runs down the Balme couloir and a few other local classics:

The weather patterns had changed through the week, with (yet) another 'Retour d'Est' dumping snow on the Italian side of the range, so after a consultation with an old friend of mine who runs his family's ski shop in St Veran we set off for the Queyras to a little known ski area... where we hit a jackpot of waist deep powder, and faceshots from first turn to last... absolutely incredible!:

After such an incredible day it was always going to be a hard act to follow. The best of the snow had been skied at Resort X, so another Italian option was pulled out of the hat. This was my first time working in Sestriere but I will most definitely be back - great terrain, good coffee, and great food!:

Thanks to Gavin and Dave for the insider info, and thanks to Chas and Steve for a great week - here's to next year's course!

This pretty much wraps up my Alpine work for the winter - fast approaching are 2 weeks ski touring in the magical Lofoten Islands, before a brief break at home and then a 'mates trip' to Baffin Island for some Arctic couloir skiing!

La Grave and more...

Sunny conditions last week for the Freeride La Grave week. With chalky, skied-out snow prevalent at La Grave, we ventured to Serre Chevalier and Montgenèvre to find some powder, diverted to ALpe D'Huez for some spring snow, and finished with a couple of days at La Grave skiing the classics! Great to be working alongside IFMGA guide Jerome Chancrin again.

Amanda getting some fresh tracks in the Tabuc valley, Serre Chevalier:

Freddie on some steep chalkiness:

Plenty of space for James to lay down some tracks off the Cucumelle, Serre Chevalier

Chas in sunshine powder in Montgenèvre:

Team descent to Vachette:

James ripping some steep corn in Alpe D'Huez:

Chas on the same pitch:

Freddie in couloir Patou, La Grave:

The team in the Vallon de la Selle, great spring snow after a firm start!

La Grave & Alpe D'Huez part 2...

A few more pictures from last week. We had mixed weather but great snow (the two do seem to go hand in hand funnily enough :-) ) and Sarah, Pete and Chas all made great progress, ticking off all 3 of the Lake couloirs at La Grave and skiing some particularly deep and very light powder on Thursday!

Sarah and Pete below the Breche Pacave:

A classic view:

Sarah in Couloir Patou:

Pete in Patou:

Sarah, Pete and Chas in the Vallons de la Meije:

Soft even though tracked on Cotes des Rivets at Alpe D'Huez:

Chas enjoying a big powder day at La Grave:

La Reine Meije:

Powder Pete:

Chas again:

Chas does the Banane:

Pete styling it up in Couloir Banane:

Great to be skiing down in the Isère again!

Conditions in general are very good, though care still needs to be taken with the snowpack... All the 'small' classics in La Grave are in good condition (Triffides, Couloirs du Lac etc) - the road runs definitely are very thin and boney lower down, probably best not to take your favourite skis in!

Alpe D'Huez also is in good condition, with lots of snow on Cotes de Rivets, Combe du Loup and Grand Sablat. Lower down is thinner (Combe du Bras etc) and around the Dome des Petites Rousses looked very wind-stripped, though we did not go in for a close investigation.

La Grave & Alpe D'Huez

A brief stop at home after a great week coaching in La Grave and Alpe D'Huez. Off tomorrow for a whistle-stop business meeting in Aberdeen, so more details from this week to follow, meanwhile here is one shot to keep you going:

Happy days... and sad days...

Today I have my feet up resting after a very cold and very very powdery week in the Oisans running the offpisteskiing.com Off Piste Perfection coaching week.

Despite some testing weather conditions with wind chill temperatures down to -35 Celsius we found great conditions in La Grave and at Alpe D'Huez. 2 groups alternated between coaching with myself and guiding with local IFMGA Guide Jerome Chancrin.

Early in the week and La Grave is full of light powder:

La Reine Meije looking good:

Dan puts his new-found skills to full effect in couloir Patou:

Nigel:

After 3 days in La Grave and a tick list including Patou, Banane, Lac and Voute we changed scenery to Alpe D'Huez on day 4 - only one word can describe the day - EPIC! Thigh deep, super-light powder and hardly another soul on the tree runs. So snowy in the morning that I left the camera in the car (and then regretted it...).

Day 5 saw us driving up to La Grave again with the promise of a powder day, the top lift having stayed shut the day before... we weren't dissapointed, with fresh powder everywhere, and a nice finish to the day in the Fréaux couloir.

Dan in Les Fréaux:

A happy team below the main Fréaux couloir:

On Friday we wraped up the week in style back at Alpe D'Huez. After some delay in the morning for mechanicals the DMC finally swung into action, only to deposit us in the teeth of an arctic gale. A quick change of plans and we headed for the Vaujany trees for some great boulder-hopping and meadow-skipping.

The wind finally relented at lunchtime so we headed up to Pic Blanc and slid over to the Combe du Loup for a last descent. Heavy powder at the top soon gave way to light and deep goodness lower down:

Last few turns before rejoining the Sarenne piste:

A huge thanks to Peter, Peter, Sue, Audrey, Nigel, Dan, Martin, Mike and Allan for coping with the cold, and also to Eric and Pauline at the Gite Les Petites Sources i Bourg D'Oisans who were excellent hosts as usual - see you next year!

On a sadder note I had heard through the day about an avalanche accident in Chamonix and woke this morning to find that it involved a friend of mine. I only skied with Martin a few times, he was a super-nice guy and very experienced in the mountains and will be sorely missed by many. I shared a memorable birthday a couple of years ago skiing fresh September powder off the Midi with Martin along with Cedric Bernardini and Tom Grant. RIP buddy...

Off Piste Perfection coaching week

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...