Val Cenis video

I am just back from a great week coaching on the offpisteskiing.com and Jagged Globe Freeride week in Chamonix - pictures and report to follow shortly...

Meanwhile here is a nice video that one of our clients put together from a descent on the Maurienne Steep Coaching & Adventures week:

ValCenis Powder from geoffers on Vimeo.

Thanks Geoff!

Touring accessories for sale

Fritschi crampons 80mm wide, £25 posted

Montana skin socks, £10 posted

Contact simon offpisteskiing com

Dynafit Zzero4 boots for sale

Size 25.5 Dynafit Zzero4 U-MF boots for sale.

Size 25.5 mondopoint (286mm sole length).

Very good condition (only used a handful of times by my wife).

£150 + postage or € 175

Contact simon offpisteskiing com

3 Valleys conditions - Spring has arrived!

Today I was back in the 3 Valleys doing some steeps coaching for Paul O'B. Compared to Monday & Tuesday it felt like a different season of the year, with blue skies, and (very) warm temperatures in the sun. We skied widely around the top of Courchevel and the Mottaret area, and its fair to say that after today, the only place to go for soft snow will be true North slopes. Any sunnier aspects are now in the process of transforming (ie crusty!), but not yet fully transformed to spring snow...

Paul in the Creux Noir couloirs:

With high pressure here to stay for the foreseeable future it looks like it might be time to start hunting out some corn snow turns quite soon!

Moyenne Face Nord - Bellecote

Today I had a quick day hit in Champagny with Nick. With a fresh snow on the ground and blue skies forecast it was always likely we would have a good day... and after some morning hiccups of various sorts that is how it turned out. We didn't get to the top of Traversee until about 1145, and seeing as all the tracks were heading to Cairn and Canadien couloirs I set about trenching a way up the waist deep snow to the ridge.

20 mins of hard graft gave us the reward of putting 1000m of fresh tracks down the Moyenne Face Nord - perfect!

One note of caution: the top layer of snow was very sluffy today and needed careful management, similarly there were a few patches of slabbier top layer in places. The brain definitely needs to stay switched on in here at the moment.

Maurienne magic (2014) part 2

A good top-up of snow mid-week? Oh go on then...

Storm-skiing Valfréjus:

Val Cenis delivers big style! I have eyed up this descent every year I have been here, and Thursday was THE day finally. (And to think we nearly didn't come here!):

700m vertical descent like this? Oh, OK then...

Deep:

Deeper:

More fresh tracks on Plan Riondet in the afternoon:

A stormy Friday to finish - back to Valfréjus:

Thanks to Katie, Rob, Mike, Jude, Venetia and Geoff for a great week!

Maurienne magic 2014

I have just finished a week of coaching for a group from the Eagles Ski Club, based in Bramans in the Maurienne valley. This is my 4th (or 5th?) week in this area in recent years, and once again it didn't fail to deliver, with barely a queue (despite both Paris and Marseille being on holiday) and powder a-plenty.
Through the week we skied at Bonneval-sur-Arc, Val Cenis, La Norma and Valfréjus - all great in their own way (and all with day ticket prices of about €25...!).

La Norma:

Bonneval-sur-Arc:

Couloir de la Fontaine, Bonneval-sur-Arc:

Valfréjus:

Couloir des Militaires:

A happy team below the Couloir des Militaires:

More pics to follow in a second post...