Off Piste Introduction course 2014

Great conditions currently in the 3 Valleys for off piste skiing!

Despite what you might read in some 'quality' newspapers there is an abundance of safe (not to mention fun) off piste to be skied this winter. After 2 days getting into the swing of things, the guys and girls on this week's Off Piste Introduction course were given a treat, with 25cm of fresh snow on Monday night, and a bonus top-up last night. This has left fantastic conditions everywhere - yes the steeper slopes at altitude are still likely to hold some instabilities, but lower down on on mellower angles the skiing has been great!

Today we had a great run down Les Avals, and despite the signs of previous tracks the snow was super-light all the way - though with a firmer base on the sunny side aspects below 2000m.

The happy team on this year's Off Piste Introduction course:

Les Avals:

Meanwhile all the easy access off piste in Courchevel and Meribel was also in top condition - with surprisingly good cover on the Adret slopes above Meribel. More snow is due Thursday night, and with unstable weather forecast for the foreseeable future the winter seems to be getting into shape finally.

Lofoten Adventures - Fishy Tales part 3 - Stornappstind West face

With the forecast looking better for the next few days, but snow stability still questionable we headed way out West for our 5th day in Lofoten to Stornappstind:



A steady skin from Nappskaret took us up to the West face, where numerous kick turns and then a bit of bootpacking up the ridge took us onto the gentler summit slopes:







Incredible views from on top:



The snow wasn't bad either! Mike in action here:



Mark:



Ian:



Nick:



Mark:



The main pitch of the West face gave a fantastic leg-burning descent - one shot, top to bottom, in fantastic powder!:













The guys seemed reasonably happy with the descent...:

Mountain Safety, Risk and TLT5 mods

Last weekend I returned from Chamonix where I was running a Mountain Safety course for BASI instructors.
We had a highly interesting week, with dangerous snow conditions giving perfect illustration of the subject matter. Also evident was the amount of risk-taking by other skiers on the hill, particularly on the Tuesday at Le Tour, where a Cham-style powder-frenzy seemed to be in full effect, with people ignoring the clear risk and numerous skier-released slabs and sluffs and venturing into more dangerous territory - sadly resulting in the death of a snowboarder in the back bowls that same afternoon.

So the question is:
How many people were conscious of the risk but willing chose to ignore it?
How many people were vaguely conscious of the risk but didn't think it would affect them? ("It couldn't happen to me, could it?")
How many people were oblivious to the risk?

Unanswerable, but something to ponder. I bumped into a friend at the end of the afternoon who is not massively experienced off piste, had been in the back bowls, released a couple of slabs and completely lost one ski (all separate incidents), but didn't seemed too perturbed or concerned by the whole experience!

TLT5 mods

On a completely different note, I have now skied a few days in my modified TLT5s - as per the picture below each boot now has 2 pop rivets (inserted courtesy of The Boot Lab in Courchevel) which have taken out the forefoot flex giving a nice solid platform underfoot:



This has made a big difference to the skiability as there is no longer a moment of 'sag' when you stand on a ski (and interestingly the TLT6 coming out in 2013/14 has no forefoot flex...). Combined with one last push of the shell from Damien at Sanglard in Chamonix these boots may be just right now.

Busy times!

Well, I have just landed in Zermatt for 6 days work running a BASI Mountain Safety course. Forecast is clear for tomorrow, then snow, snow, snow and more snow - looks like winter is well on the way.

November has been busy here at 'offpisteskiing towers' - early in the month I was in Zermatt for the BASI Trainers conference - 5 days of interesting workshops making sure our courses and standards are properly aligned for the coming winter, and a great talk from Sir Steve Redgrave - new BASI President, and no mean skier.

2 quick days at home, then a very useful Outdoor First Aid course with React First in Chamonix- highly recommended, lots of activity and good reinforcement of accident protocols. Early the next day i was airport bound for my annual stint as a main presenter at the Kendal Mountain Festival. - 4 days of films, speakers, socialising, and the odd pint of Mountain Rescue Team ale. Highlights for me this year included the film Light Line, Jim Blyths great 1 hour whirlwind tour of ski touring on 7 continents, 2 great short films - one about hound-trailing and the other about Rab Carringtons time in Argentina and the beginnings of his down business.



But of course the main highlight was the Snowsports Session which this year I was MCing - guest speakers Andreas Fransson, Bjarne Sahlen and Mike Douglas were on hand to present their film Tempting Fear, but the surprise crowd pleaser was Kenny Biggin and John Sutherlands Hidden Gully, with reality and a human touch far outweighing any lack of slick production - link to follow as soon as the full version is online.

Meanwhile, out in the Alps the steep season is underway, with an impressive ascent and descent of the Mallory on the Midi (sans cable car) from Luca Rolli & the Italian crew - 2700m of D+ !, and a day or two after, the first descent of the Migot Spur on the Chardonnet by Kilian Jornet and Vivian Bruchez - an impressive and serious descent...