Courchevel snow report 22 Feb 2018

A few photos to sum up current conditions in Courchevel...

Despite rain to 2200m at the back end of last week the skiing has been fantastic this week:

offpisteskiing jr under the cables of the Saulire:

Courchevel - it's not all about Russians and money:

Last day tomorrow with Nick, Rhian, Mike, Monica, Ben and James - the weather looks set to stay cold so the snow should be great!

Vanoise coaching, Maurienne Off Piste Improvers & half term 'hell'

Once again I am playing catch up on the blog front! Work and family have combined to keep me away from the keyboard the last couple of weeks...

Picking up where the last blog post left off the last couple of days with Phil, Katie, Steve, Ali, John and Roger were nothing short of spectacular!

A great week sampling some of the Vanoise's finest, and once again reinforcing my point of view that a valley base and a flexible approach pay dividends in terms of being able to seek out the very best conditions!

Last week I was back down in the Maurienne valley running an Off Piste Improvers coaching course. Again a valley base allowed a flexible approach to not only find the best snow but also experience the different ski areas within easy reach of our base in St Jean:

The team enjoying a great descent out behind Les Karellis:

Les Sybelles proved to be the highlight of the week, so much so we went back for the last 3 days, scoring fresh tracks right up to the last run on Friday afternoon!

Tim going 'full send':

Many thanks to Alex, Chas, Peter, Kate, Tim and Phil for a great week - see you next winter!

Right now the half-term rush has begun back here in the 3 Valleys, but with really cold weather and blue skies early in the week the stars aligned for my regular morning crew on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some classic Courchevel and Meribel lines in fantastic condition:

And finally yesterday I managed to sneak in a descent from the very summit of the Croix de Verdons - this has been on my list since I first came to work in Courchevel (19 years ago!) but somehow work has always got in the way when conditions have been good, and it takes a quite definite set of conditions to make it skiable, as the via ferrata rungs in the upper section need to be covered, the snow needs to be soft but not too unstable (50m cliffs below the top slope) which is not easy on an East facing summit... Nice to finally put turns down from the summit cross after a few turn-arounds due to bad conditions over the years!:

Maurienne Steep Ski Coaching & Adventures

Last week I was back in one of my favourite stomping grounds running a week of steep ski coaching & adventures for the Eagle Ski Club.

With high winds and heavy snowfall forecast for the first 2 days the start of the week was always going to be 'interesting'. Fortunately the Maurienne Valley has a variety of options and there is always a good venue for any combination of conditions, and we spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the trees skiing great powder:

The weather gradually cleared on Wednesday, but also warmed up considerably so on Thursday we headed up high in Bonnneval to try and make the most of the soft snow left on North facing slopes. By Friday a proper spring cycle had set in, but we still managed to find good cold snow in the couloirs of Valfrejus, along with a few smooth spring turns off the South side.

We finished the week in style with some perfect smooth spring snow from the summit of the Grand Argentier, followed by an impromptu demo from the Chasseurs Alpins:

Thanks to SOnia, Stuart J, Stuart C, Sarah and Paul for a great week and thanks also to David & Séverine at La Turra for their hospitality - see you next year!

Freeride Briançon

One part of the winter is slowly drawing to a close, while another is just beginning.

Last week I was running a Freeride Briançon course for Jagged Globe and www.offpisteskiing.com. Based in Villeneuve, in the heart of the Serre Chevalier ski area we kept to a flexible brief, going wherever we thought might give the best skiing.

Day 1 was a local day, exploring the easily accessible off piste in Serre Chevalier, where conditions were OK but not great, but made for good coaching conditions to set up some common goals for the week.
Serre Che's tribute to the Happy Mondays?

On day 2 we headed over the Col du Lautaret for a quick pilgrimage to La Grave - again conditions were slightly underwhelming compared to the previous 2 weeks Vanoise powder frenzy, but again another great day ay a classic venue:

Days 3 and 4 came with mixed forecasts, so we stayed local as Serre Che has some great tree skiing - as it turned out the cover was not needed and we managed some good runs down the Balme couloir and a few other local classics:

The weather patterns had changed through the week, with (yet) another 'Retour d'Est' dumping snow on the Italian side of the range, so after a consultation with an old friend of mine who runs his family's ski shop in St Veran we set off for the Queyras to a little known ski area... where we hit a jackpot of waist deep powder, and faceshots from first turn to last... absolutely incredible!:

After such an incredible day it was always going to be a hard act to follow. The best of the snow had been skied at Resort X, so another Italian option was pulled out of the hat. This was my first time working in Sestriere but I will most definitely be back - great terrain, good coffee, and great food!:

Thanks to Gavin and Dave for the insider info, and thanks to Chas and Steve for a great week - here's to next year's course!

This pretty much wraps up my Alpine work for the winter - fast approaching are 2 weeks ski touring in the magical Lofoten Islands, before a brief break at home and then a 'mates trip' to Baffin Island for some Arctic couloir skiing!

Maurienne steep ski coaching & adventures

Last week I was back in the Maurienne valley running a "Steep Coaching & Adventures" week for the Eagle Ski Club.

We had a challenging week due to high temperatures in the first part of the week, but managed to find some good snow and challenging terrain every day. A huge thank you to Rob, Jude, Will, Adam and Nick for their great company throughout the week - lots of good skiing and some big improvements!

Val Cenis:

Bonneval:

Les Karellis:

Valfrejus:

Orelle - what an amazing day to finish on!: