Friday, 17 February 2017
Fort William Mountain Festival
This weekend I will be presenting a slideshow/talk on this spring's Baffin Island expedition at the Fort William Mountain Festival on Saturday night (18th Feb). If you are in the area why not come along! Tckets are available here.
Saturday, 11 February 2017
Off Piste Perfection Tarentaise
This week I was running the Off Piste Perfection coaching week, a collaboration between www.offpisteskiing.com and Jagged Globe.
Based in Bourg St Maurice this is a mobile week of off piste coaching, and with les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosiere/La Thuile, St Foy and Val D'Isere/Tignes all within easy reach there is great potential to follow the good snow, weather conditions and pick the best terrain to develop everyone's skiing.
Sunday was forecast snowy and windy, and there are few better places than Les Arcs in those conditions, with lots of open easy tree-skiing to kick the week off:
Stuart checking out some ski heritage at lunchtime in Arcs 1600:
On Monday the forecast was still cloudy and snowy so we headed for the trees of St Foy. Sadly the Marquise and Aiguille chairs didn't open (partly due to a problem with the Gazex avalanche control systems! There is still lots of potential low down though, and we had a very productive day mixing technique and tactics on the lower meadows and tree lines:
On Tuesday we went back to Les Arcs and had a great day in the trees around 1950 and 2000, taking the tactics developed earlier in the week on to steeper angles:
Wednesday saw us heading up to Val D'Isere to make use of the steep terrain for a technically-focussed day which saw everyone making some great changes to their skiing.
The weather forecast was good for Thursday and we headed back up to Les Arcs with a view to finding some untracked snow away from the masses:
Friday was the last day for the team and we chose St Foy as the venue to find some testing snow and slopes to put the week's progress into action:
Thanks to Stuart, Ann and Elaine for their great company through the week, and willingness to make the most of the tricky weather in the first few days!!
Based in Bourg St Maurice this is a mobile week of off piste coaching, and with les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosiere/La Thuile, St Foy and Val D'Isere/Tignes all within easy reach there is great potential to follow the good snow, weather conditions and pick the best terrain to develop everyone's skiing.
Sunday was forecast snowy and windy, and there are few better places than Les Arcs in those conditions, with lots of open easy tree-skiing to kick the week off:
Stuart checking out some ski heritage at lunchtime in Arcs 1600:
On Monday the forecast was still cloudy and snowy so we headed for the trees of St Foy. Sadly the Marquise and Aiguille chairs didn't open (partly due to a problem with the Gazex avalanche control systems! There is still lots of potential low down though, and we had a very productive day mixing technique and tactics on the lower meadows and tree lines:
On Tuesday we went back to Les Arcs and had a great day in the trees around 1950 and 2000, taking the tactics developed earlier in the week on to steeper angles:
Wednesday saw us heading up to Val D'Isere to make use of the steep terrain for a technically-focussed day which saw everyone making some great changes to their skiing.
The weather forecast was good for Thursday and we headed back up to Les Arcs with a view to finding some untracked snow away from the masses:
Friday was the last day for the team and we chose St Foy as the venue to find some testing snow and slopes to put the week's progress into action:
Thanks to Stuart, Ann and Elaine for their great company through the week, and willingness to make the most of the tricky weather in the first few days!!
Saturday, 4 February 2017
Maurienne magic 2017 style.
Of all the parts of the French Alps the Maurienne valley has done particularly well in what has been an otherwise tricky start to the season.
John, Ian, Perry and Phil certainly didn't disagree this week - despite a damp day on Tuesday we had 5 brilliant days of off piste coaching and adventures...
Grey skies and an ever-increasing wind didn't stop us having a great day exploring and developing steep ski technique in the Valfrejus couloirs:
On Friday we were blessed with the perfect weather window - clearing as the sun rose, and closing in as we finished skiing - a top notch powder day!
Once again the off piste skiing in the Maurienne valley proved its worth - versatility, lots of options, and very few people... I am looking forward to getting back down there in 4 weeks time!
John, Ian, Perry and Phil certainly didn't disagree this week - despite a damp day on Tuesday we had 5 brilliant days of off piste coaching and adventures...
Grey skies and an ever-increasing wind didn't stop us having a great day exploring and developing steep ski technique in the Valfrejus couloirs:
On Friday we were blessed with the perfect weather window - clearing as the sun rose, and closing in as we finished skiing - a top notch powder day!
Once again the off piste skiing in the Maurienne valley proved its worth - versatility, lots of options, and very few people... I am looking forward to getting back down there in 4 weeks time!
Wednesday, 1 February 2017
January catch-up - Andermatt, Vanoise, Maurienne
Time for an update after a long absence! - Work, family and flu have combined to keep me away for a while...
A couple of weeks ago I was back in Andermatt for 6 days of off piste coaching. We arrived under heavy snowfall and this really set up the week, with great conditions to be skied both on the Gemstock as well as on the smaller areas nearby. A productive week with Ed, Peter, Kate, Malcolm and Chas:
According to the media there wasn't much snow this January:
Classic Switzerland:
Did I mention the powder?
Alpine lighthouse:
Chas enjoying the powder:
Peter putting his improved powder-mojo to good use:
A cosy coffee stop for the team:
Last week I was back on home turf in the Vanoise coaching IFMGA guide Andy Perkins and friends - a regular slot for a few years now. With snow conditions still quite average we spent a lot of time with a strong technical focus, with some great results. Right now I am in the middle of a week in the Maurienne Valley with Phil, John, Ian and Perry. In a repeat of our week last winter we have managed to hit a week with 'challenging' conditions but managed to find some great smooth chalky snow earlier in the week, and some good powder turns today:
John:
Ian:
On a serious note the snowpack is still very much in 'early season' mode, with a shallow pack and lots of potential weak layers - we witnessed a sizeable slab release today (skier-triggered) which had the potential to have serious consequences. Stay safe out there folks!
A couple of weeks ago I was back in Andermatt for 6 days of off piste coaching. We arrived under heavy snowfall and this really set up the week, with great conditions to be skied both on the Gemstock as well as on the smaller areas nearby. A productive week with Ed, Peter, Kate, Malcolm and Chas:
According to the media there wasn't much snow this January:
Classic Switzerland:
Did I mention the powder?
Alpine lighthouse:
Chas enjoying the powder:
Peter putting his improved powder-mojo to good use:
A cosy coffee stop for the team:
Last week I was back on home turf in the Vanoise coaching IFMGA guide Andy Perkins and friends - a regular slot for a few years now. With snow conditions still quite average we spent a lot of time with a strong technical focus, with some great results. Right now I am in the middle of a week in the Maurienne Valley with Phil, John, Ian and Perry. In a repeat of our week last winter we have managed to hit a week with 'challenging' conditions but managed to find some great smooth chalky snow earlier in the week, and some good powder turns today:
John:
Ian:
On a serious note the snowpack is still very much in 'early season' mode, with a shallow pack and lots of potential weak layers - we witnessed a sizeable slab release today (skier-triggered) which had the potential to have serious consequences. Stay safe out there folks!
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