Half-term mayhem?

Not for everyone... As per previous years I have scheduled the busiest week of the winter as a good (great!) week to catch up on paperwork and look after some bits and pieces for my 'other' work (not to mention the kids...).

This morning I escaped for a quick blast up a line I have looked up at many times but never got around to skiing, either through lack of time, or conditions. No names mentioned to avoid the 'skitour' effect (hordes of lycra-clad Grenoblois sideslipping everything in sight on their Pierra Menta Carbon Pros), suffice to say it isn't very far away from Bozel and today gave 700m vertical of great 'old' powder - happy days!

Steep Vanoise 2014 last day

For the last day of this year's Steep Vanoise course it was time for a proper adventure.

The North couloir of the Grand Perron des Encombres has been on my list of things to do for a while, but lack of time, or a suitably fit, competent and motivated team, plus the need for a car shuttle to make life easy, have stopped me getting in there until now...

The Grand Perron seen from La Masse. The North couloir is just visible right of summit, disappearing behind the rocky ridge:

An icy ski down the Vanoise/Maurienne watershed ridge and a bit of traversing took us to the Col des Encombres, where we put skins on for the climb:

The Maurienne valley gradually comes into view:

An airy scramble to the summit:

Amanda, Vadim and Rod on the Grand Perron summit:

Looking down the North couloir from the summit:

Vadim finding powder high in the couloir:

Rod:

Amanda:

Team looking moody:

Looking back at the Grand Perron - the dogleg couloir obvious below the summit

A big thank you to Amanda, Rod and Vadim for being a great team - see you next year!

Steep Vanoise Day 2 & 3

Day 2 of this year's Steep Vanoise week saw us making the obligatory pilgrimage to La Plagne for a run on the North Face of Bellecote. Cairn couloir had some nice chalky grippy snow in it (though definitely a more serious feel than when there is 2 feet of powder, as a slide would almost certainly end very badly...).

Vadim putting in the first turns:

Amazingly we had the face pretty much to ourselves for the whole descent, with just 1 group passing by underneath on the traverse in from Petit Face Nord.

Rod lower down in Cairn:

Today we went up into Courchevel and headed off on probably my favourite tour in the area, the Breche Portetta via Les Glacerets.

After 2 hours of skinning and a short ski down the top of Les Glacerets from the Rocher de Plassa we climbed up into the halls of the mountain kings:

The Breche has become a victim of its own success (aided undoubtedly by www sites like skitour) and sadly the top part of the couloir had had so many people side-slipping down it that a side-slip was the only reasonable option for the top 45º+ section.

Vadim below the first steep section:

Vadim and Amanda partway down the main couloir:

Vadim again in the more open 2nd half:

A happy team! Rod, Amanda and Vadim below the main couloir

The big face below the couloir was pretty soft & slushy, but eminently rippable on fat skis! Some gentle cruising on a forest track finally took us down to Pralognan where our taxi pick-up was waiting to take us back to a well-earned beer on the St Roc terrace in Bozel...

Steep Coaching - day 1

La Plagne delivers!

First of 4 days steep ski coaching for IFMGA Guides Andy & Jon & their mates Jim & Pete - great conditions, if slightly spicy... careful route choice & group management needed, but the snow was well worth it!

Pete:

Jon:

Pete again:

Jim:

Andy:

A happy team!

Conditions are good currently, though lots of slab & sluff action observed, and the Bellecote bubble & associated lifts remained shut all day (probably quite wisely). Care is needed on any steeper slopes as some soft slab remains on the surface with enough volume to do some damage judging by the debris piles we saw today!

Steeps coaching

I have just finished 4 days of steep ski coaching here in the Vanoise for IFMGA Mountain Guide Andy Perkins and his friends Jim & Pete. We struck lucky with 4 days of reasonable weather & visibility, with some variable snow to keep the team on their toes. The guys have all skied some steep terrain in the past including the NE face of Les Courtes, but were looking to build confidence and solid technique & tactics to handle steeper terrain with less stress.

Day 1 in Courchevel saw a cloudy start clearing to give blue skies and lots of fresh snow - perfect to warm the legs and get in to some easy steep ground:

Andy warming up on some lower angle powder:

Checking out the line:

Couloir action:

Jim:

Pete:

Me (thanks to Andy for the photo!!):

On Day 2 we went back up to Courchevel again, with thechnical input for the team which we then took onto some 40º+ ground.

Andy P in action:

Pete:

Opening up the curves below some steeper ground:

Mottaret was the venue of choice for Day 3 with technical input mixed with plenty of opportunity to put the skills into practise as before. Bad light put paid to any decent photos and a thin rain crust from the night before helped to focus the mind on steeper terrain!

On our last day we took the chance to put it all together on a longer descent, and headed for the North face of the Bellecote. Sadly strong winds during the night and morning restricted our choices somewhat, and we had to tone down our objectives but still found an interesting challenge in the Canadian couloir with a tricky mix of snow, particularly on the entry pitches which definitely feel steep & exposed when not in great conditions:

It was interesting to watch a lone skier rock up to the top of Cairn couloir (which we had decided against due to a very wind-loaded looking top cone) and jump in without even pausing to assess conditions - either I am getting old and boring or people are getting very risk-tolerant (is that a polite way of saying stupid??).

Off to Bourg D'Oisans this week for the Off Piste Perfection course - hopefully conditions will allow to make the most of the fantastic skiing down here with Alpe D'Huez, Deux Alpes and of course the one and only La Grave all on the agenda!

Steep Vanoise 2011 (part 1)

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...