😀 DaKine is now “designer”?

Clearly, someone is feeling bad about his chirpy chirpy cheap cheaps. Look, just go out and buy one, you’ll feel better about the whole thing next year. 😛

Too busy eating apple crumble, watching Top Gear and checking out the webcams at Bridger (it’s empty!)

😉

Nice inversion today in Les2Alpes:

Lovely day, though slightly marred when I snapped my toe strap at the top of a black run that they had explicitly warned us about at the welcome meeting.

Made it down but with bit less finesse than I would have liked! 😀
Now on some crappy Burton Freestyle bindings from the hire shop that I’m already cursing.

Get up early. Get up high. Enjoy!

Love that, Graham!

*Edit – Oooh, binding fail! *

What binding? K2 Cinch Graham?

Trousers look nice.

A busy Norwegian piste
[url=https://flic.kr/p/r6Sxi2]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qPsQHf]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qa1Q43]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r6WykW]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r6SxyT]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/r6SxDx]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qPrt79]image[/url] by piemonster, on Flickr

Some funky atmospheric conditions in the Portes du Soleil yesterday…

{quote]Yup, Magic Chair, so the bottom of Blackcomb, so it’s not a totally fair representation[/quote]
Sadly it may be perfectly fair.. this is the Glacier express @1500m

On the flip side, the riding in Squamish is superb right now!

I nearly posted that too, but didn’t want to crush Grahams spirits 😛

I’ve been at work all day today but apparently the alpine riding was sweet today. 3 days or so of untouched powder….

Off topic BearBack but is there an easy way to get myself and my bike down to Squamish? I want to ride but I don’t have a car (or anyone to ride with 🙁 )

There’s a pretty steady flow of riders heading down from whistler. Ski/bike shops would be a good start to hitch a ride down and back.
Failing that, check out epic rides, they offer a scheduled service through the winter for Vancouver skiier shuttles and run a summer ‘Huck wagon’ so would likely be open and sympathetic to a bike shuttle drop in Squamish. We try to ride on a Sunday afternoon if you find yourself down here for a pedal.

Cracking pictures everyone. Except Whistler 🙁

What binding? K2 Cinch Graham?

K2 Autos. Different design from the Cinch, “normal” bindings but the toe strap is connected by an internal cable to the heel strap so that it tightens automatically as you ratchet down the heel. Great for inflexible fat blokes 🙂 Works very well – unless the cable snaps.

I’ve had them since 2007ish though so they’ve done good service.

@piemonster. Great photos many thanks for posting those. I want to be in those trees right now. Two weeks today and i’ll be there. Glad you had a good time!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=eiHeIplgxo0

Morzine last week. No patience for editing!

@howsyourdad1

Pistes 7, 82, and 84 are all tremendous fun.

7 is a natural gully/half pipe affair, 82 and 84 are tree runs but wide if you want them to be.

84 is a great option for nervous types to get an introduction to bumpy ground.

And piste 75, fall at the top and you wont stop until you find the tree line. I saw that more than once(err… twice).

Where abouts are you staying?

And whilst I was there at least, the Skistar forecast was more accurate that that of snowforecast. The mild temps they are now seeing are related to a storm that blew in from offshore. So hopefully normal (-6 to -12) temps should return soo enough.

Whistler looks poor! Given that I’m going to be skiing on the West of the USA soon…..eek!

Whilst Im thinking about it.

I’m giving serious thought about heading out somewhere to start learning xc skiing (I’m a fellrunner so it’s a natural progression, albeit not gnarr).

Norway is the obvious option for me, Aberdeen has direct flights to Oslo as does Edinburgh. Sweden can be done with an extra stop.

Any reason to head elsewhere, other than it costs £10 for an Irish coffee?

@piemonster we are staying in Hytteområden, when you look at the pistemap , on the left hand side at the bottom of runs 3 and 4. I work for a Danish company in Sweden, who own a ski chalet in Norway ( a big Scandinavian love-in) so it is my job’s place. I went there for a day trip a while ago but thanks for the tips as I don’t really know my way around so well. I’m taking the bus up so planning on bringing as much food and booze as possible for obvious reasons

With regards to XC skiing Norway is the home of it of course. If it was me I’d give somewhere like Hemsedal a try for a long weekend. they have great snowboarding and sking and loads of XC tracks so you could mix the two. they have taster courses and lessons. if not Sweden has some wonderful places just over the border. Bruksvallarna has of 300km of prepared tracks for example

@piemonster – drop me an email if you’re still interested in those bindings, email’s in profile…

Spotted today in Les Deux Alpes, someone testing the latest innovation in ultra lightweight body armour:

Heading up to Glencoe for a day later in the week. Anyone been up over the weekend and share first hand how the conditions are at the moment? Cheers

Wolf spotted in Italian ski resort 😯

link

@castanea have you checked the Winterhighland public reports?

6 days until Tignes for me…..and I’ve come down with a lovely dose of manflu 🙁

Thanks BearBack. I might drop you an email in the next few weeks if I can sort out a lift/end up hitching .

Graham don’t worry too much, yeah its slushy down but if you get high enough…

deadlydarcy – there’s no legal requirement to carry chains in France. Only if there is snow on the road and the “chaines obligatoires” or “equipements speciaux obligatoires” signs are out, in which case you won’t get up the hill without them anyway.

I’m pleased to report that a Defender with snow tyres is considered “equipement special”…

Cheers stevo. I think what I’ll do is wait until we get there, check with resort and see if we need them. Can always pick up a set in Lyon in an emergency.

Remember that it could be completely clear when you drive up, then snow all week and you can’t get down…

That thought had crossed my mind, yes. I figure it might be a bridge crossed when it’s in the way. 🙂

Thanks whatnobeer – that’s much more like it!

Another scorchio day in Les 2 Alpes today:

Wolf spotted in Italian ski resort

Interesting, here is what i’m certain is a wolf checking out my friends on the Col du Petit St Bernard en route to Italy https://www.flickr.com/photos/68440820@N05/7890171722/in/set-72157631311392954

still kicking myself for not getting better photos.

6 days until Tignes for me…..and I’ve come down with a lovely dose of manflu

Yeah, I’m off to Andorra on Thursday and my Achilles has flared up!! Ice packs and ibuprofen a go go at the moment for me. Should be reet once it’s cranked up nice and tight in my boots……

@piemonster I hadn’t but I have now and was very useful. Cheers

of the 2 times i’ve actually had to put the chains on, the first was to get out of the hotel and down the steep narrow lane, and that was with brand new winter tyres. get stuck going up , and you just don’t get very far. lose traction going down and gravity is not your friend.

didn’t see any wolves in the Dolomites.

but did see an eagle once.

2 trips down… where shall I got for the 3rd?

Great link here for some basic avalanche safety tips.

http://issuu.com/ortovox/docs/sa-guidebook_en/1

I’m suitably depressed looking at all your photos. I wish was going skiing! Maybe next year…

Accidentally had a 3 hour private snowboard lesson today. For free!

Since Neilson can’t offer resort guiding in France any more they are experimenting with offering “expert guiding” with local instructors leading guests around the resort and offering a few pointers on technique.

Only me and the missus showed up for the snowboard session and we already know the resort since we were here last year, so he just gave us a three hour lesson instead. 😀

First time I’ve ever had a formal lesson. It was quite fun. All very Euro-style technique: leading with arms and shoulders, turning the upper body and letting the board follow rather than the “still-ish upper body with foot pedalling” style I have been using. But great to try a different style and see where it goes.

Euro style technique … Please expand 🙂