Early Feb conditions

Back out in Courchevel today for the first time in a few weeks and conditions are Fantastic!! On piste the coverage is excellent right down to le Praz (the ski down to Bozel is well covered), and off-piste is also very good, with a lot of fresh powder still to be had, though anything in the sun transforming very quickly today.

Reports from Tignes are also very good, and claims are coming in of 1 metre of powder at the top of the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix! Ski areas further south also seem to have caught the snow, with 50cms of fresh reported in Puy St Vincent.
All very promising for the winter, and certainly needed to get the slopes in prime condition for the February invasion...

Gressoney 2

With the off-piste course in Gressoney all wrapped up I managed to organise a day's ice climbing with a local guide, Alberto. A large number of the icefalls in Gressoney are really easy to access, 10 minutes from the road at most. With my arms feeling weak from 3 weeks of not climbing we opted for some not too full-on routes, Bonne Annee in the morning (4/4+), and LysBalma in the afternoon (4+?). As luck would have it (or not) it proceeded to snow all day, and having had 5 days of scratching around on hard snow I then had to clear 50 cm off the car for the drive home - oh well!

Bonne Annee viewed from the road:



Alberto on pitch 1 of Bonne Annee:



LysBalma (the pillar on the left), the crag also has some harder lines up the hanging icicles, and some dry-tooling routes too:

Gressoney

Last week I was back in Gressoney in the Aosta Valley for the first time in a few years, running an offpiste week for Mountaintracks. Snow conditions weren't great, but certainly provided a challenge for Roger, David, Gerald, Paul and Lee to get their teeth into.
With the ever updating lift system now fully functional we ranged over the whole of the 3 valleys, managing to track down some soft snow in Champoluc, and finding some firm but grippy snow on the descents to Alagna. The new Punta Indren cable car is now fully operational, but sadly the old 'shopping trolley' lift that used to come out from the bottom of the Balma (complete with running start to get on) is now out of service...

Climbing up to the Col D'Olen from the Guglielmina refuge:



Traversing in to find some soft snow in Champoluc:



Prayer flags above the Ciarcerio lift:



The couloir on the new 'itineraire' from Punta Indren:



The valley down to Stafal:



Enjoying the scenery:



As if by magic, with the course over, and a day's ice climbing sorted out, it then started snowing... sod's law in full effect!

Jagged Globe Off Piste Improvers

This week was the Jagged Globe Off Piste Improvers course, based in Tignes les Brevieres. Changeable conditions kept me on my toes trying to find visibility and good conditions for the guys, and on the whole we managed to make the best of a tricky week..
Mark, Bridget, David, Andy, Alan and Adrian all came on leaps & bounds with their skiing, and we ticked off a host of classic lines: 3 Murs, Grapillons, Petite Balme North face, Telegraphe, Cairn, Spatule, East Face of Charvet, Arcelle, etc etc...

A few photos below:

Boot-packing into the Grapillons:



The reward:



Entry couloir to Petite Balme North Face:



Wild & windy:



A few more fresh tracks anyone?:

Off Piste Intro - Last day

Last day of the Jagged Globe Off Piste Skiing Introduction week today, with continuing good conditions - blue skies, cold temperatures, and great snow to be skied:

Tony:



Tom:



Steve:



Fresh powder anyone?



Looking into the Vallon des Encombres from La Masse:

Off Piste Intro - Part 2

Another fantastic day for the guys on the Off Piste Intro today - we started with a quick hike up to the Becca couloir:



After the steep entry this opened out onto some relatively untracked snow... perfect!

Alex nailing the first few turns:



Tom laying down some tracks:



Last nights snowfall didn't amount to very much, but has filled in a lot of tracks, and in places had drifted quite deep..

A quick trip up the Cime de Caron, and we dropped over into the Combe Sans Nom, with only 2 other parties tracks in there ahead of us. After a slightly wind-blown top section the rest of the run was perfect light powder, all the way back to the days chosen lunch spot - just before the short hike back to the orelle lifts...



Nice tracks:





There are still spaces left on our up-coming Off Piste Improvers courses, based in Tignes les Brevieres. For more details go to offpisteskiing or Jagged Globe.

Off Piste Introduction course - 3 Valleys

This week is the first Jagged Globe Off Piste Introduction course of the winter, with 11 skiers split into 2 groups with myself and Neil Milne.

Conditions have been just about perfect, with 30cm of fresh snow on Sunday morning, and 2 days of blue skies to follow. So far I have been coaching Gavin, Gareth, Rowan, Andy and Steve, and the guys are all making good progress and getting to grips with the soft stuff...

Today we had first tracks down the top half of Les Avals - of course one of the down-sides of being a ski instructor is having to go first to check its safe..!



Steve getting in some tight turns:



Rowan ripping up the powder:



Andy and Rowan:



On the way out after a scenic picnic:



With more snow due on Wednesday night it looks like we are in for a good finish to the week, and this should also set things up nicely for next weeks Off Piste Improvers course in Tignes.