Top 5 bits of kit for 14/15

This week the mist has been hanging over Bozel lake in the morning and the Grand Bec is sporting a dusting of snow up top which means only one thing - winter is on its way!

With this in mind here are my top 5 bits of kit for the coming winter:

1 Whitedot Skis Ranger Carbonlite

Super-light, wide enough for great float in all snow conditions, but stiff enough to maintain great grip when the going gets firm, these skis became my go-to weapon of choice last winter. Stable at speed yet surprisingly manoeuvrable at slow speeds and in tight spots, the torsional stiffness also made them very comfortable on the uphill, particularly skinning on refrozen spring snow when often a wider ski can feel like it is about to break out sideways on every step.

2 Dynafit Mercury boots

The touring boot market has really come on leaps and bounds since my first pair of touring boots (red Denalis... fortunately I missed out on the TR9s and other delights!) and Dynafit really hit the spot with the Mercury - beefy enough to drive big skis hard, but with great ankle freedom in walk mode and all at just 1.7Kg per foot. The 3rd buckle (the missing link on the TLT5) gives for great holding power, keeping the heel locked in the pocket, and the simplicity of the walk/ski lock mechanism is great, particularly on wild & windy changeovers when you want to minimise faffing!

3 Silva Expedition 4 compass

No batteries to run out when you most need them, a compass (and map) is your best friend if you do get caught out in poor visibility. Of course it helps if you know how to use it properly, but then, you did learn how to navigate using a map and compass before buying that GPS, didn't you? And no, a smartphone is no substitute for a dedicated navigation device...

4 Terra Nova bothy bag

Not the smallest item in my pack but now a regular feature after this incident 2 years ago... Looking after an injured skier in a Norwegian blizzard hammered home the benefits of having a proper, decent-sized shelter. If you need to cover a casualty lying down + one rescuer then a 4 person version is the minimum to get really good coverage without having to move them too much (they will thank you if they have a broken pelvis...).

5 Snow

OK so its not really a piece of 'kit', but here is hoping for some fantastic light fluffy (and relatively stable) snow for this coming winter!

On the subject of kit, I now have a pair of Tech 250 crampons in transit from the USA so will post up a review as soon as they arrive and I can get out to test them out...

***Edit on 16th October***

To add to the above list, all I want for Christmas is an LED lightsuit!:

AFTERGLOW - Lightsuit Segment from Sweetgrass Productions on Vimeo.

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.

Snow

I have been back in Bozel for the weekend after 6 days work in Zermatt running a BASI Mountain Safety course - we had lots of new snow through the week, not great for navigating & getting out skinning but great for illustrating avalanche dangers with lots of small slabs, some skier triggered, in the last 2 days.

There was approx 50/60cm of fresh snow through the middle of the week & it seems it was much the same in the Vanoise, with plenty of folks out touring including a fine early season descent of the SW face of the Pointe Matthews - a tasty 5.2 descent more often skied in spring conditions!

There is about 10cm of snow on the ground here in Bozel at 840m, and with a fair bit of snow forecast for this week it looks like a great start to the season.

Wild weather!

It has been unseasonably warm this last week in the Alps - the snow has been visibly melting from day to day at resort level, although there is still good skiing to be found up above the 2800m level or thereabouts!

With temperatures in the valley in the mid 20s at the weekend ski boots were shelved & climbing shoes had their first sortie on rock for the summer... shame the fingers/arms weren't quite up to speed yet!

Damien enjoying some sunshine rock at the 'Mont Secret':



Sunday was mostly spent in my late-season ritual of watching the Paris-Roubaix - another exciting race with all the usual thrills & spills, followed by a gentle outing on the road bike to make the most of the early evening sun...

So how are conditions in the Vanoise/Tarentaise?

3 Valleys:
Courchevel is currently reduced to Verdons, Saulire, Suisses, Sources, Chenus & Dou des Lanches lifts, with limited pistes from/linking each.
Runs back down to Mottaret are very thin, though there is still some reasonable skiing to be had on the very highest pistes (Lac de la Chambre etc).
Val Thorens is doing fine as long as you stay above resort level (bottom of Plan de l'Eau was mud/rock 10 days ago already...

Espace Killy:
Tignes - Runs back to Tignes Lac very thin, conditions on the Grande Motte are good, though there has been lots of 'snow farming' work going on either side of the pistes in preparation for the summer season. Links to Val are open (but slushy/thin)
Val - Bellevarde bowl: lots of thin patches starting to show through. Face still open, but only by the skin of its teeth very bumpy/slushy even at 10 am this morning.
Solaise bowl good, runs back to resort slushy/bumpy

Good spring snow to be skied up high, but anything dropping low needs to be treated with caution as you quickly get onto a thin breakable crust over 50 cm of sugar snow.

Paradiski:
Les Arcs, only worth considering the 2000 bowl...
La Plagne, Bellecote Glacier area is th eonly place to go. Links from Champagny allegedly only running until 14H00 (if at all now).

If the cooler weather predicted happens and we get some clear nights then there will be some great spring snow touring to be done up high, but it is worth seeking out areas with high lift access as lower approaches will either require a long walk, or alot of tedious trudging through knee deep rotten snow.