A view from last week...
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And another! 😀
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Easyjet flights for Jan & Feb 2016 now on sale. Geneva here we come! Now to decide on a resort...
Getting lots of photos from people skiing at the moment (esp around Les Arcs), excellent conditions. My house guest last night is a Verbier resident and he said its looking like a corking last 4 weeks of the season there.
EDIT: Just seen @nbt posted this last week but its good enough to repeat !
Anyway having watched the Candide Thovex short posted here a month of so back (leaping over skiers and jumping into the lift station) last night we watched this whole film (60 mins) - its from 2012 but just made available for free, one line made me smile as after a big crash Candide decided to cut back on the jumping - if you watch the film you'll see what he classifies as cutting back !
Apparently Whitelines and Onboard magazines are now digital-only, as are all Factory Media mags (including Ride and Dirt).
http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/news-14490.html
Went to the Igloo bar above Avoriaz today. I forget who recommended it but thanks it was great.
And there's snow promised overnight into tomorrow.
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Thought this was funny 🙂
Got back from Les Gets last night.
Excellent week with every sort of snow - slush, rainy slush, ice, frosty in the morning and soft by lunch spring snow and (unbelievably) fresh snow. I was actually leaving fresh tracks down the side of the piste on Thursday and Friday - which as I sat on the lift showed how much cleaner my toe side turns are than my heal side (another lesson or two needed methinks)
Les Gets was very quiet and the runs accordingly spacious. Avoriaz much busier and a little overcrowded at times. Morzine was green and spring like.
The Berghaus Goretex shell was worth every penny as were the Dakine Totan gloves but I've decided I prefer my old Flow bindings to the Now IPOs I took - comfort counts.
Now any recommendations for good quality trousers for a decidedly average slowboarder? Goretex shells any good, or is some insulation needed? More difficult to layer legs.
Now any recommendations for good quality trousers
Not sure what budget is, but I bought some Westbeach cockalorums at a knockdown price in the sale last year and they had their first outings in March - great pair of slacks. Never felt too hot or cold - good venting options and plenty of storage. I imagine in colder weather, they might benefit from a pair of long johns underneath. I've never really been let down by any Westbeach stuff I've bought.
Paging Captain Flashheart
Any general feedback/advice for Big Sky would be much appreciated.
Think this may be the destination for a big trip next season. We've got Avios points to burn.
An almost brilliant end to the kids first season on planks.
Glorious sunshine on Cairngorm, which equated to sticky end of season slushy snow.
Miss J's mid afternoon run down the snake resulted in a tumble which did for her right tibia 🙁
Ski patrol were fantastic in getting her off the hill and bundled off to Craigmore A&E.
Hopefully I'll be taking her home tomorrow. Fingers crossed that 8 year olds heal quickly.
@geoff sorry to hear that, healing vibes
@howsyourdad - yes indeed a very lucky boy. The intro sounded like a disaster waiting to happen with big snowfall after a long warm period and risk 4/5. The slope itself did look pretty shallow however and the Avalanche stayed "light" and not compressed and brick like. A sobering lesson for us all. The guy has a second birthday, 30/1/2015
Firstly, sympathy for Miss J. We have an 8 year old too, skiing mad but lucky enough to avoid injury so far. Heal well.
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And now... Is interest here slowly melting away?
Well without getting too slushy over it, it's been another great thread and you guys have been wonderful - just the best.
(Bet I get a frosty reception for that last one - but maybe opinion will soften somewhat later on)
Thanks Flashy - too early for the 2015/16 thread?
Yes! Too early!
Piemonster, apologies for missing your question above. I'll pen a proper detailed reply when back on a laptop!
Now then......As the season is almost over, let's have your season's;
Highlight
Low light
and...what have you learned
Highlight - going past the sound barrier through Norwegian trees (the sound barriers about 30mph right?)
Low light - Only 2 weeks of skiing. Life is cruel.
and...what have you learned - Many things from instructors. Ski like a Gorilla.
It needs to stay open until I've edited the video from my trip! So, possibly middle of next season...
Highlight - Holmbuktinden - from the sea to 1666m and back. Saw no-one but the 3 of us, every type of snow including the good types, used both sets of crampons, ice axe up and down, amazing weather, amazing views.
Lowlight, Norweigian air pilots' strike and assoc. travel ballache. (Or actually, hearing from my brother on my way back that he was splitting up with his wife.)
What I've learnt: Verts are amazing for stomping up couloirs, but you can't rely on just a tight strap to keep them both on your back if you stack on the way down. Single Vert with voile pucks seeks similar...
Highlights
Our eight year old getting bumped up a class in ski school and passing it (clean parallels on reds, so it's off piste and clean parallels on blacks to pass next year - and only one more class after that).
Realising we had to beat said 8 year old's class back to the bottom of we wanted to see the badges handed out and finding I was faster than I though on a board.
Fresh snow piste side and sunshine to go with on our last day.
My wife and I getting to ride our boards down a blue accompanied by our highly competent 8 year old and our just starting out 4 year old. I have never travelled so slowly or with such a big grin
Lowlights
The cost of family skiing holidays means one week a year (however I have a plan for that).
Ripping the crotch of my salopettes.
Accidentally totalling a skier who decided to come in from my blind side and stop dead in front of me. Both fine, but both a little shaken.
Oh and what have I learnt?
The bus from Les Gets to Avoriaz takes 42 minutes including changing in Montriond. We were at the Ardent lift by 0946.
Thanks Jambalaya and IGM
We have her home now with leg up and minecraft on so the recuperation can begin,
Hilights - getting back on skis after 20 years for me and a couple of amazing blue sky days at Cairngorm and Glenshee.
And of course, watching the kids progress from pizza and chips to getting some air over the period of about 10 ski days.
Low - see above 🙁
All revved up and ready for a full on season next year though. Need to book the foreign trip and consider the winter pitch at Glenmore for Cairngorm too.
PS for those who did watch the mountain, Colin (ops1), Ian (ops2) and Jo (the one who was reluctant with the heli training) are true professionals!
Highlight - Skiing again after an 8 year absence caused by nothing other than too much adventure racing in the winter meaning I was busy and/or not able to hurt myself! That feeling of nice open turns, skiing through chopped up spring snow *just* as it changes ahhhhh took me back to my years teaching and patrolling
Lowlight - I only managed 3 days
Next highlight - family holiday next winter to the Alps 🙂
Nice idea on the highlights etc. it's not over yet though! I have one more weekend planned in Norway at the end of April for the penultimate weekend of the season.
So far though , highlight was going with my wife to Norway and having three days snowboarding , child free. We had very good snow so she really got into tree runs having previously been very nervous . Seeing her really enjoying it was fantastic.
Lowlight was having the squits on the family holiday meaning we were all trapped in the chalet in Norway. It was dumping with snow whilst we were inside dumping, constantly. I am sure we will look back at it with great amusement, given time
I learned longish 'lazy' backflips after trying to nail them for two years. Rad!
Another highlight..,
My wife taking her board into the soft stuff piste side. Deliberately. And coming back grinning.
[i]Highlight:[/i]
Glacier Marbree
(although Giachetti couloir in Alagna/Gressoney was a close 2nd)
[i]Low light:[/i]
Heavy Rain in Fernie washing the snow and my dreams into the Elk River
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and...what have you learned:[/i]
That my snowboarding 'journey' is far from over ...
Highlight : a second-hand snowboard, boots and bindings at 65€ for a very happy seven year old daughter.
Lowlight : her not being able to use it yet.
Next highlight : Les 2 Alpes for a week starting on Saturday for our now traditional end of season celebration.
Good work so far, folks! (Mine to follow shortly!)
Piemonster, re Big Sky;
As mentioned, I didn't actually go there in the end, but spoke to a lot of locals about it both before and while I was over at Bridger Bowl.
From what I could gather from the locals....
The plus side;
Massive ski area. Rare in size for a US resort, making it feel a lot more like a European/alpine resort.
The bowls off Lone Mountain. Meant to be some great lift accessed lunacy. Double Blacks, which are sort of in-bounds off piste.
Tree line - Good skiing when the weather closes in.
The bad;
Expensive. OK, so these comments were from hardcore Bridger folks, but it's not cheap!
Big. Odd, I know, but some people said they found it almost too big for a couple of days skiing. I think that may be something those of us blessed with big Euro alpine resorts will disagree with!
Food on the hill - Also expensive, and not brilliant. Again, may be wrong expectations there!
That aside, it sounded really good overall. I'd certainly include it in a road trip. Oh, and if you're there, you have to go to Bridger! The Ridge is insane. Bradleys Meadow is a delight. And the rest of it is just good clean (cheap!) fun.
Also, re flights, the best route I've found for Bozeman that's Avios friendly is LHR to Seattle, then a longish layover before an Alaskan flight to BZN. No points on the connection, but Alaskan are good, and as they have a code share internally with American, you may get nicely treated if you're BA Gold (I always get to pick the best seat on the plane, which I suspect is linked!).
If you do go, let me know, will point you towards some ace places to eat and drink in Bozeman. It's a superb town, truly superb!
Now then;
Highlight - Getting back on the snow, and doing it in another continent. AND on a work trip!
Lowlight - Not being able to get up to explore the Ridge at Bridger. Was skiing solo, and didn't want to risk anything too silly with jet lag. Looked incredible.
What have I learned? That you don't forget little skills you were taught. A couple of years away didn't blunt my skillz! Still very much an intermidiot, but it was just great to get to use all the little things Petit Paul has taught me over the years.
Highlights: 1st ski season in a resort. Improving my skiing a huge amount from being a bit freaked out by the Canadian grading and uncomfortable on some of the blue runs to being happy heading to the ungroomed double blacks. Learning to ski powder.
Lowlights: The worst ski seasons in terms of snowfall in the last 40 years. Only a handful of powder days and not as many days on the hill as I'd of liked when I 1st arrived.
What I've learned: A huge amount, everything from better posture and technique when skiing to what I need to do to my body to allow full use of it on the hill. And apart from technique based stuff discovering some of the "secret" off piste at Whistler has been great when the conditions allowed it.
Learnt I dont turn right as well as i turn left.
Lesson showed too much upper body momentum without waiting for the ski to engage and connect .
Like a Jedi mtb trick , the lesson taught showed greater results on the next[s]bike ride[/s] ski holiday.
Guides are worth it if you want to ski off piste safely
2 weeks isnt enough each year
Oh, and Piemonster, also worth noting that the locals swear by the snow record at Bridger being better than Big Sky. Something to do with the way the bowl faces creating it's own snow.
Highlight - really progressing and getting down a couple of unpisted black runs in PDS. Also the last day of skiing on that trip was perfect (as was the lunch in the goat village!).
Low light - lack of snow in Saalbach during Christmas week. But what a great resort that is! Would really love to go back. Austria is awesome.
What did I learn? Skiing isn't like mountain biking. Consequences of failure are generally less severe. Give it a go - if I'm on a steep, mogully black run then I'm rarely going fast enough to do too much damage anyway!
Disappointment this season was undoubtably only getting 3 half days, pre Christmas trip is always a punt on the conditions and this year they where not good. Circumstances meant I couldn't get out again so that has to be the low point. High points a few nice turns in some shallow powder and a sunny lunch on the mountain but probably the stand out was a conversation with a fellow guest who had double ACL replacement in her 50's and coming to the conclusion I would go down the same route. I have to give myself a shot at getting back to skiing proper powder and pistes with some confidence.
Highlights?
Hopefully yet to come. Lyngen Alps in 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1st time away with just Mrs Mugsy and without the cute troublesome little things for 3 years (excluding training camp etc etc).
[quote> http://avalanchesurvival.tumblr.com
Avalanche survival story. One very very lucky boy. 😯
I also had a slight incident last week. Was in Chamonix on a beginners ski touring break, and as you may have seen from the posts above, the weather was very variable. It was snowing, but the freezing level was very high, as were the winds, so anything high altitude was pretty much off the cards.
On the Monday we awoke to about 10cm of fresh in Argentiere, but due to the winds the guides wanted to get us into some shelter, so we caught the train to Le Buet, with the intention of a skin up the valley using a hiking path through the trees.
There was snow when we started, but not long after getting into the trees, it started falling as rain. Quite unpleasant, and it wasn't long before the skis came off, and we were walking. Not far, but it was rapidly turning into a miserable day. The skis were back on, and after a bit, we came to a junction where a route choice had to be made. The guides had a bit of a discussion (we were 16 people in total, split into two groups with a guide each, but due to the conditions, we were basically travelling as one large group on this day as we kept catching each other up), and we continued heading up the valley, instead of crossing the river, and walking up the other side. This was ostensibly due to there not being enough snow should we have crossed - I was the only English speaking person in the group, and my French isn't good enough to follow the debate. The guide told me we would have to negotiate a climb through a couloir later on, and it would be a one-by-one affair due to the conditions.
So we carried on. It was dire. I have been mountain biking in the snow at Cwmcarn and not got nearly as wet. All around you could hear water and snow running down the valley. Part of me was worried that once we got higher, the cold was going to become an issue - the day before we had crossed the Tete de Balme in a blizzard, and had that lovely experience of everything that was damp, steadily freezing solid. However, this would turn out not to be an issue.
Soon, the track turned steep, and we needed to get back on boots. We caught up to the group ahead as they stopped to put skis on to their packs, and we stopped to follow suit. My GPS track tells me that this was after about 20 minutes, about 900m distance and 300m of elevation - it felt like much more. My skis were off and strapped to my pack, and I had it back on and was stood up adjusting to the weight.
At this point, it all kicked off. I'll admit it's a bit of a blur, but there was the sudden sound of the rush of falling snow, and I caught it cascading over the cliffs above out of the periphery of my vision - at the same time our guide was screaming, "Attention! Attention!", and what I interpreted with my limited French to be, "Move your arse!". I started running towards the rest of the group who were on higher ground, with just the thought that I need to keep moving, if I get cleaned up, I get cleaned up, but move your legs. Running in boots with skis on your back isn't the easiest, but the next thing I found myself on safe ground, standing next to the guide. I looked back at where I had come from, and my heart sank. I was fourth last in the group, and I could see a backpack and ski poles sticking out of the debris. I looked back to the guide who seemed remarkably calm despite this. I looked around in panic and realized that everyone in my group was there - the last two had abandoned their kit in the rush, and that was what had been caught up.
You can see in the photo below, the guide has gone down to dig the two backpacks and sets of skis out of the debris, the avalanche path is clear to the right of the photo - the path we had come up is straight back down from where I am standing in the direction of the footprints:
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7626/17063134711_1ef5ef45d1_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7626/17063134711_1ef5ef45d1_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/rZP2tM ]DSCF0761[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/21948183@N00/ ]scott[/url], on Flickr
It shit me right up, sure, it wasn’t a complete burial in loose snow knowing your group didn’t have transceivers, but still. We put skis back on and headed back down and into a hotel bar out of the weather, it took me a little bit of time to process it all and come around. The rest of the afternoon was called off, and we spent an afternoon in the warm discussing beacon searches and rescue.
With hindsight being the perfect science, it was obvious the signs were there. Just the week before, I had read 'Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain' and there it was:
The bottom line: The first few hours of rain on new snow are the most dangerous......... A typical spring wet avalanche cycle often plays out like this: Warm sun on new snow makes the usual round of pinwheels and shallower wet snow sluffs off steep cliffs, especially off rocks that warm up in the heat of the sun.
As it happened, some of the guys in the other group had said that ‘my’ guide had raised the avalanche risk during the route choice discussion, but deferred to the older guide. Also when skiing back down, now that I was opening my eyes and looking around, rather than slogging head down in the rain, there was clear evidence of other avalanche activity, including a similar debris field from an earlier avalanche that we had crossed in the day.
The next day our guide was off sick, so we had a new guy, the weather improved to the point that we only spent the next afternoon skiing home in the rain, and we got some really good snow in.
So in answer to CF's questions.
Highlights: I spent 14 days on snow this year, and got to visit Canada for the first time.
Lowlights: The conditions. Revelstoke was absolute dogshit, and the other resorts were mediocre. Not what you are expecting in February in Canada. Then while skinning up yet another a wind swept and rainy route in Chamonix, more than one guide turned to me and said 'This is like Scotland, yes?'.
What have I learnt: Avalanche course to be booked for next year. When travelling in the backcountry, look, listen and question, question, question.
torsoinalake: if heading back to Chamonix again, speak to the avalanche academy, Alison Culshaw at offpisteperformance or James Thacker.
Looks like I was wrong about interest melting away - there appears to be a late flurry.
Thanks mugsy, I did speak to a company in Chamonix who were offering the AIARE Level 1 course at the end of March, but they couldn't guarantee the course would run on the dates they advertised, so decided to do the touring break instead. Will add those names to the list for potentials for next season.
Late flurry?
Was looking wistfully at the Bridger webcams last night. It seems that the day after they closed the lifts for the season, they had a big dump! Lots of skinning up and tracks in the fresh by the looks of it!
Highlight. Being the first down the Swiss wall after it had been shut for three days because of snow fall. Without a doubt the best powder run I've ever experienced.
Low. Organising a trip split between work mates and non work mates. I know my non work mates weren't first lifters and would like a lie in. They also drink more And we're therfore slower round the hill which frustrated my work mates and made me feel stuck in the middle.
What I've learned. You Can't please everyone. Even though it was a brilliant holiday, I'm not organising a mixed friends trip again.
torsionalalake - odd choice to do a 'vallon de berard' tour starting in le buet given recent conditions in Chamonix - i.e. late spring conditions & warm fohn winds; then heavy wet snow.
Looks like you had an interesting experience for sure! Pleased to hear everyone was ok!
When is the best time to book a 2015/2016 season trip?
Highs: My wife loving the pistes and snow in ValTho and me learning loads in my lessons and out there too.
Lows: our accommodation in ValTho was a dive (Cheval blanc, please avoid).
Late high: £250 voucher off crystal in response to our comments on the accommodation.
What I learned: I have wide feet and narrow heels and really really don't get on with hire boots, hence it's time to buy some that fit properly. I also need to work on stamina to enable longer days out on the slopes!
Last year's thread 1486 posts - this is post 1933 this year.
Proof that S&S is more popular than ever - of that the weather's been rubbish and we all turned up to complain.
It would indeed appear to be an odd choice.torsionalalake - odd choice to do a 'vallon de berard' tour starting in le buet given recent conditions in Chamonix - i.e. late spring conditions & warm fohn winds; then heavy wet snow.Looks like you had an interesting experience for sure! Pleased to hear everyone was ok!
But then the lead/elder guide had the most stupendous mullet I have seen in a long time. And this was on a 60ish year old man, so really all bets were off for sensible choices.
