Haute Maurienne Steep Coaching & Adventures 2019

At the start of March i found myself once again making a pilgrimage to the Haute Maurienne for the 8th annual instalment of the Steep Coaching & Adventures week for the Eagle Ski Club. A very unsettled forecast with lots of wind and some precipitation forecast meant I spent vast amounts of time each evening and morning scrutinising forecasts and trying to figure a good plan of attack, and with a bit of flexibility and the odd drive we managed to piece together a week of really good snow and skiing!

Day 1 - increasingly wild and windy, but a fun warm up day:

Searching out soft pockets after the night's wind:

Getting onto the steeps:

...and some powder & sun to round off the week...:

Roll on the 2020 edition!

Maurienne Magic 2018

This week I have been back to one of my favourite haunts, the Haute Maurienne, running my annual Steep Coaching & Adventures week for members of the Eagle Ski Club.

Snowfall last weekend set us up for a great start to the week, though the forecast initially looked quite variable for the week. As it turns out we have had mostly really good visibility and snow, with today ranking right up with the best days of all time, with a classic 1300m descent to the road at Bonneval with knee-deep cold powder all the way!

One more day to go and the forecast is good - here's hoping for another great day!

Maurienne steep ski coaching & adventures

Last week I was back in the Maurienne valley running a "Steep Coaching & Adventures" week for the Eagle Ski Club.

We had a challenging week due to high temperatures in the first part of the week, but managed to find some good snow and challenging terrain every day. A huge thank you to Rob, Jude, Will, Adam and Nick for their great company throughout the week - lots of good skiing and some big improvements!

Val Cenis:

Bonneval:

Les Karellis:

Valfrejus:

Orelle - what an amazing day to finish on!:

Maurienne Valley off piste adventures & coaching 2015

Last week I was in the Maurienne valley running a week of off piste coaching & adventures for the Eagle Ski Club.

This is the fourth year running I have run this trip, and as per previous years the Maurienne didn't fail to deliver, with great powder skied every day, despite some challenging conditions!

Day 1 - La Norma:

The lightest and deepest powder I have skied this winter (so far...):

Day 2 - Valfréjus:

Happy team at the bottom of a near-perfect condition Couloir des Militaires:

Day 3 - Val Cenis:

Poor visibility = fun in the trees!:

Day 4 - Orelle:

Wild & windy, but still finding the goods:

Après-ski Orelle style:

Day 5 - Bonneval:

Day 6 - Valfréjus:

Good snow still to be found when the breaks in the cloud came!

A huge thankyou to Ali, Steve, Chas, Nigel, Jeff and Aidan for a great week. The Hotel is already booked for next year - I can't wait!

Val Cenis video

I am just back from a great week coaching on the offpisteskiing.com and Jagged Globe Freeride week in Chamonix - pictures and report to follow shortly...

Meanwhile here is a nice video that one of our clients put together from a descent on the Maurienne Steep Coaching & Adventures week:

ValCenis Powder from geoffers on Vimeo.

Thanks Geoff!

Maurienne magic (2014) part 2

A good top-up of snow mid-week? Oh go on then...

Storm-skiing Valfréjus:

Val Cenis delivers big style! I have eyed up this descent every year I have been here, and Thursday was THE day finally. (And to think we nearly didn't come here!):

700m vertical descent like this? Oh, OK then...

Deep:

Deeper:

More fresh tracks on Plan Riondet in the afternoon:

A stormy Friday to finish - back to Valfréjus:

Thanks to Katie, Rob, Mike, Jude, Venetia and Geoff for a great week!