Lofoten 2019 - week 1

...and so it came to pass that for the 7th year running I found myself journeying North to the Lofoten Islands.

With an early flight North and time to kill on the drive out to our lodgings we stopped for a quick mini-tour on the way:

The official day 1 of the trip dawned cloudy and snowy with a middling forecast so we headed for a tree and gully option which gave 3 fun descents:

The forecast for day 2 was grim, but showed a chance of clearing in the late afternoon, so we did the touristy thing for the day and waited... sure enough at 5pm it dried up so we put skins on and headed up for a quick summit of Ørntind before racing back for dinner:

The following day the forecast was calling for clear weather until 2pm, with snow inbound after that. With the damp weather of the previous day we needed a venue that would allow us to gain height quickly so headed to one of my tried and tested 'sure bets'. The snow had actually firmed up nicely and to top it off the weather held out far longer than expected so we skied 2 great laps in the North bowl and then the North East bowl, with a cheeky mini-gully to finish it off:

The forecast for the next few days was looking good so on Thursday we decided to go exploring out West - on the drive out to our initial objective another peak which I have looked at for years but never got around to skiing was looking good, so we diverted to that and had a great day with noone else around - no mean feat on one of the busier weeks of the Lofoten touring year:

On Friday we continued further West for the previous day's inital plan B - for once we actually shared the mountain with other skiers, but they were all skiing the West face, and we had the perfect spring snow of the South face all to ourselves!

The forecast was good again for team 1's last day, so we took a gamble and headed further West still to a peak I had previously visited some years ago. In contrast to the last visit where we had great spring snow low down and wind-blasted snow higher up this time the top shoulder was perfect corn snow, while the optional spicy exit gully was somewhat firm though still skiable although the way down to a deserted rocky cove looking back South West to the mainland...

A huge Thank You to Ryan, Alex, Ben, Ed and James for a top week of adventuring!

Winter 15/16 preview

Snow is starting to fall on the high peaks of the Vanoise, so after a very busy summer (hence the lack of bloggage) it feels like ski time is very close at hand again!
The summer has been incredibly busy, juggling rope access and rescue training, dusting off my UIMLA badge for some trek guiding in the Gran Paradiso (see the picture below), 2 very energetic offspring to deal with along with trying to organise the winter...

Tom enjoying a 'natural infinity pool' during our Gran Paradiso trek.

Winter 15/16 is shaping up to be a very busy one once again here at offpisteskiing HQ, with the diary almost full before June was through! Coming up this winter, the usual range of courses, from Off Piste Introduction through to the now-legendary Steep Vanoise weeks and (of course) a 4th spring in Lofoten, with 2 separate weeks on offer. Spaces are few and far between on these courses, but if you are interested take a look at the website and get in touch!

Thoughts are already turning to winter 16/17, with Japan, a return to Kyrgyzstan, a boat-assisted Lofoten trip and possibly Iceland all in the mix... let's see what comes to fruition!

Lofoten 2015 - part 4...

The second-last installment from last month's trip to Lofoten!

With good weather forecast again we set our sights back on the uber-classic Geitgaljern and this time were rewarded with great turns right off the summit and some good snow (gradually getting heavier (and heavier)) in South gully!

Happy summitteers!

Nick on the steep summit pyramid:

Jim:

Amanda:

Jim on great cold snow in the upper bowl:

Nick in the atmospheric and aesthetic South gully:

Amanda again:

On small stream crossing then skis back on all the way to the teepee:

Jim & Matt discover the ultimate evolution of split-boarding:

Geitgaljern centre of shot, with South gully starting left of the peak:

Lofoten 2015 - part 2...

Sod's law was definitely in full effect - having flown in on a calm sunny day and then endured a week of wild weather team 1 then flew out on another bluebird dead calm day...
As I was into week 4 of a lingering cold/sinusitis, and with my next crew arriving in the late afternoon further East on the Islands this was a rest day for me, and having waved off the team at Leknes airport I had a leisurely drive up to Svolvaer spotting new lines, followed by a great burger at the Bacalao bar.

Scenery to die for:

A shot for all the Bo Selecta fans out there... "It'll be proper Bø I tell thee...":

Having met team 2 and settled in to our new lodgings at Lofoten Ski Lodge, the weather naturally took a turn for the worst again, and we opted for a warm up day skiing the Kudalsheia ridge on Rundfjellet. Despite variable visibility we found nice creamy snow up off the summit in the North bowl, and some reasonable spring snow on the lower shoulder.

Back to base it was time for some waffle action:

Day 2 saw us en route for Geitgaljern with an improving forecast. Noone seemed to have told the weather though, and after 550m of skinning in increasingly strong winds, followed by 30 minutes sheltering behind a boulder we opted to turn tail, but had a nice ski down the lower gully of the West face (amazingly mellow feeling comared to 2 years ago with Will and Chipie when we had to straightline water ice in the top half!):

After a strategic withdrawal to the lodge for a cup of tea and to dry kit out we headed off again into the afternoon as the skies finally cleared for a quick trip up Glomtind:

Nick:

Jack:

Summit team!:

Looking down on Kalle and the Lofoten Ski Lodge:

Opening up after the steep summit slope:

Glomtind from the Lodge:

More to follow...