Off Piste Skiing: January 2018

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Maurienne and Vanoise off piste coaching

Last week I was back in one of my regular haunts of recent years, the Haute Maurienne, for 3 days of coaching/CPD for IFMGA Mountain Guides Andy Perkins and Jim Kerr and their friends Peter and Jim. This has been a regular coaching session over a few years now and the results are really starting to show with some high quality, adaptable and versatile skiing from all the gang!

This week I have had another regular group out from the Eagle Ski Club - despite the lack of recent snow and warm temperatures by playing with the sunny or shady aspects we have been able to ski good cold snow and great spring snow every day! All the team were looking really solid when we stepped things up a gear for a run down Couloir Canadiens on the Bellecote today.

The forecast is for 20 cms of snow for tonight/tomorrow morningm so that should freshen things up nicely for the next few days...

Monday, 22 January 2018

Mid-January round-up: snow, snow, snow...

It has been 3 weeks weeks since my last post and some planned posts have fallen by the wayside temporarily - work and family oblige...

As most people are probably aware we are experiencing a one-in-20 year at the moment snowfall-wise, with huge depths of snow up in the mountains - the Courchevel couloirs are more filled in and banked out than I have seen them in 19 winters working here, and more snow is falling today (though the rain/snow limit is quite high :-(

2018 kicked off in good style, with a couple of days coaching Mike and Sarah (back from a knee injury last winter!), then it was straight over to Chamonix for my regular week with Tim, John and Phil:

This week I have been back in Courchevel with one of my longest-standing groups of clients - the weather has been pretty wild but there are few better places to be when it is like this as there is lots of sheltered tree skiing and even some high quality 'bus runs' if the lifts aren't working...