Chamonix valley snow reports

Am writing snow reports for our Chamonix Valley website. Please do read them and check them out. Certainly forward the link on to people who are thinking about coming out here. There's information on the best places to ride, off-piste tips, backcountry info as well as descriptions of snow conditions, avalanche conditions and even a bit of happy journalism thrown in for good measure.

Chamonix Valley snow reports.

Powder day at Flegere!

The snow's arrived! Woohoo! And in buckets too. Alarm clock this morning was the sound of the pisteurs blasting the unsafe slopes - and the subsequent rumble of the avalanche. It's dumping it down with snow here, we've had a solid half meter already and there's more falling and more forecast. I eased up to the snowy playground that is Flegere with Kevin earlier to get some riding in before coming to work later this afternoon.


Between the trees.

It rocked. Lots. Possibly had the best run of the season so far dropping down into an untracked chute filled deep with powder - each turn sending up a curtain of snow that you could turn back into and blast through. Seriously yummy. Visibility was slim to non-existant though - no problem with snowbarding being all about touch and feel though? Hehehe.


Deeeeeep powder!

Everywhere's going to be closed for the next few days I reckon - there's just so much snow falling that they need to make it all safe. Kev and I could feel some of the slabs shifting when we rode a couple of slopes today and we even refused a few lines because it looked really sketchy. Was really stoked, came down a steep section and got the nose of my board caught as I was riding along, it was pitching me forward anyway so I jumped it up and did a front flip down the drop, landed perfectly and started grinning. Sweet =) Got the old cheer from Kev as well which was groovy.

So did a load of work this afternoon. We had a business dinner the other day and got a load of stuff sorted out which rocked. Things looking very nice. All I need now is to find Mrs Narg. I guess that'll happen soon enough in its own time!

Not dead

Haven't posted in a while - apols people. Went to the ice hockey to watch Chamonix play Villard (whipped them 9-1) then watched the top of the league team Morzine play Chamonix (currently 7th in the league) and win (4-2). Both good games in their own way but there's something nice about watching your team win by a lot. It's also cool to go down as a group and sit in the same seats and have your favourite players tap on the glass in appreciation of your support. There's a Slovakian player called Bohme who always gives us a smile and a gesture and it definately makes it all feel a little more personal.

The snow here's pretty average. Nothing really bad but nothing to write home about but there's more forecast. Down to this, I spent the whole day in the office yesterday and got a bundle of work done which was cool =)

I've started to write snow reports for the Chamonix Valley website. Check em out and let me know what you think. It also gives a nice purpose to the riding and makes you try varied runs and sections on the mountain to give a fuller overview.

On the whole, feeling very positive after a bit of a low period whilst everything has been settling down. Going to do the Vallee Blanche in a day or so and spend a bit more time in the office too. Plus I've got a bit of a man date with Chris on Friday to have a drink and a laugh which I'm looking forward to.

Oh, and one of the girls in the chalet got given a parapenting ticket for a tandem flight - she unfortunately dislocated her elbow and gave the ticket to me to have a go with! Looking forward to that - should be good.

Share the love people, the next few days should be really cool.


Parapenting in the Chamonix valley.

The morning after

So it's Saturday in Chamonix and I've been in the office a while now sorting out some paperwork and getting everything ready to get cracking with the incoming work. It feels a bit frustrating to be waiting, but it's comforting knowing that it's all just around the corner and forcing oneself to be patient will pay dividends. I'm a bit nervous about the sheer quantity of work we've got around the corner as well - but hey, better that than the alternative!


Dropping a rock in the forest.

I went out riding yesterday morning for a short while to Vallorcine (the backside of Le Tour) with Kevin and Jon with the intention of doing a couple of runs in the trees and having a quick play on the small rocks and rollers in the backcountry. It turned out to be a nice morning finding some untracked snow as well as some decent tracked powder in the clear blue sky.


Blasting through the tracked powder.


A nicely inclined clearing in the backcountry.

There's a great camaraderie of riders when out beyond the lifts - it's easy to spot those who look comfortable and for want of a better word "professional". Those wearing the right gear, taking the right lines and looking comfortable and solid riding the terrain. It's also easy to spot the total numpties out there - those without headgear and just a pair of sunglasses for instance. These people stand out a mile - as do the skiers trying to snow-plough through powder or the boarders falling over every 5 feet. It's weird - everyone needs to progress but I know that one day it's going to be up to me to dig one of these guys out of trouble. The more you ride around here, the more you're aware of the risks and making sure that you really are eliminating as many, if not all, problems that you may face as possible.

Even though 50% of avalanches occuring within 50m of a pisted slope, I guess many casual skiers would assume dropping off the side of a slope would be perfectly safe. This is obviously not correct as shown in an instance recently where a skiier was killed after being buried in an avalanche in Tignes. In actual fact he was between two pisted slopes but because it was foggy, the snow patrol couldn't even find the actual avalanche itself. He wasn't wearing an avalanche transceiver or have other safety gear with him.

This may sound like a doom and gloom posting, but a huge percentage of mortalities in avalanches are killed because they really have no clue whatsoever. It's terrible but there seems to be a total naivity when it comes to mountain safety. Strangely, the usual suspects of Chalet Le Courtil are all acutely aware of possible risks and make sure every possible precaution is taken when riding. We even practice with tranceivers to make sure should the worst happen it's second nature to use the safety equipment. When we ride, we ride with a level of awareness of the mountain and take absolutely no unnecessary risks or put ourselves in danger. Of course on top of this, we've all been on avalanche courses and done backcountry training and if we're in any doubt, always get a guide with lots of experience.

I feel happy and safe riding with the guys and we're here long enough to watch the snowpack and see the different conditions. Of course I'm always learning and very aware of how little I know, but things will always improve with experience and I'm looking forward to this ongoing chapter in my riding.

Full photos from the morning's riding.

The backcountry playground

Dropping a cornice

So the quotes for the new work went in yesterday, we've got stuff tabled and we've done a load recently so Chris and I decided to take the day off to ride the new powder. I went out riding with the usual suspects of Chalet Le Courtil in Brevent and Flegere - two ski areas within walking distance of the chalet.

What a day. We all rode really well - 4 friends out in the backcountry riding all the natural terrain with powder faces, chutes, couloirs, gullies, windlips, cornices and natural kickers. It's like one big snowy playground up in Flegere and is really one of my favourite places to ride just because the topography of the place really leans itself to freeriding. There's a huge natural kicker called "The Tit" up there which we hit a couple of times. You run flat out at it and there's a windlip at the top that kicks you up in the air. I managed to pull a 360 off the top but unfortunately butt-checked the landing - but because it's just this bulge in the landscape (guess what it looks like!) it feels like your 40 feet in the air when you take off (you're not, no way near). We also dropped a whole load of cornices and ridges - everyone pulling different tricks or sometimes just floating off the drops. There's a photo of me dropping one at the top of this blog entry. There was also a load of freeriding powder with people carving huge swooping turns and riding fast and steep terrain with cultured aplomb. I've started to get into the habit of pulling tail presses in the powder sending up a bit of a roosters tail and luckily Kev grabbed quite a good photo as I went passed him.

I managed to drop a 20 foot cliff with a 12 foot powder landing that ran into a piste. There was no-one on the piste but a family of four with clear blue sky and I could see the landing from the take off so dropped down and pulled a safety grab, landed perfectly and shot onto the piste where I stopped immediately and had a look up where I'd just jumped from. The dad in the family rushed up to me and started shouting "That was mad! That was amazing!". I was giggling to myself anyway beforehand and I just burst out laughing and said "Thanks mate". It was pretty special - he said that he and his son just turned around and saw the take off and kind of decided to watch. It was another one of those wicked moments where you feel embarrassed and pleased at the same time. We ended up having a chat about his family and stuff and it was really cool - maybe I'll get the chance to bump into them in town and say hello. I hope so and I feel quite priveleged to have met them in the way we did and hopefully give them a small talking point over dinner tonight.


Tail press in the powder.

We're all surprised how well we're riding now - we're tending to put down really interesting lines and finding better and more progressive ways to use the mountain. It feels really good to be part of a team of riders who really are doing some amazing stuff. Joe's riding is coming out leaps and bounds and constantly amazes me with how much he picks up every day and executes it all with a nice style. His choice of lines down the mountain is really starting to come on as well. Dan always looks stylish and rides his skis fast and true down the steep stuff and he takes on all jumps, drops and kickers with style and grace - especially the 180's he's started to pull all over the place. Kev's just an awesome rider and really lays down lines that are beautiful to look at - his technique and style are something we all aspire to. For my part, I'm just happy to be riding so solidly and I feel pleased that the other guys say I push them as much as they push me. Looking at the photos from the day, I can safely say that we're all really starting to lay down the style like the usual suspects we are.

I've put the full set of photos from the day up on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/narg/sets/72157594373785298/

Time to focus

So now it's just a question of waiting til the first contract starts. We've got a working environment to develop from, there's work coming in. Just a question of waiting now for that first payment to signify the official start. Feeling a bit nervy, feeling a bit like we're going to have to miss powder days. Mostly just feeling that we need something to get our teeth into so we can start really earning. Everything's there, just need that project to focus on.

It's happening, can feel it more and more. Things are now about to hit full speed and it feels good to be on the brink of getting into a routine of work and sitting down with the computer for 8 hours to get a load of stuff done.

Riding the couch some more

Hmm yeah, so tried a quick run on the board to check the injury status yesterday but no chance. Need more time to heal. Admittedly the run was the Kandahar World Cup skiing run (stupid boy). Nothing major, just still feeling the knee and thought I'd not push it. The ankle that was initially injured about a week ago after tumbling about 150 foot like a rag doll (tried to drop into the Dream Forest and got it a smidgin wrong) is nicely healed. No pain and no problems. Just got to get me knee sorted. Not even going to try riding until the next powder day. Leave it as much time as is required.

Got a marriage proposal last night when having a quick beer after work - ski resorts are so romantic! Nothing doing though methinks, got to take your time with these things - need to get to know each other and have a look at how the future Mrs Narg would handle a board. Very important.

So been in the office all day making sure everything's tickety-boo, fixing computers and doing general admin of other stuff. Going to get the shopping in and figure out what to do from there. Might even squeeze in a quick beer in Chambre Neuf and watch the band play a few Johnny Cash songs.

Riding the couch

"Riding the couch". Nasty expression, it means that you're unable to snowboard and are filling the days with non-activity activities. When riding yesterday I came off a kicker and landed awkwardly - nothing dramatic though - and rode the jump away without crashing but I felt my left knee and ankle tweak a bit. I carried on riding as it wasn't causing any real discomfort until later in the day when I could feel it nagging away. That's when we decided to finish up riding and come back home. When I woke up this morning my knee and ankle were a little bit the wrong shape and size so decided to spend the day away from the slopes. It's turned out to be a good decision - there's limited visibility when riding at the moment due to the cloud and snow (it's been snowing here on and off for the past 4 days or so) and at the moment large, soft flakes are falling. I'm feeling pretty good - by the time this niggle has healed up nicely there's going to be more fresh powder to ride on days off.

Unfortunately for one of my old school friends who runs Le Delice a small but popular restaurant in Les Houches (book a table and try the food - it's awesome), one of her chefs broke his wrist badly on the slopes the other day and they need a little help in the kitchen. No problem at all so going to go there and help out washing pots and pans and helping with the desserts. Actually looking forward to it - I cook a lot for everyone in the chalet for our communal dinners and have worked as a sous-chef in the former years of Narg. To be honest, I'm looking forward to doing some manual labour and helping out friends. It's a bit of a change from working on the stock markets - simpler and less issues. Plus the mountain mentality is to help people in need and I'm more than happy to oblige.

iPod riding

Narg + iPod feeling the music love.

So there's two schools of appreciation on this one. Those who enjoy riding with music and those who don't I strictly belong to the former and love nothing better than listening to some tunage while travelling at warp 9. It's pretty cool. There's some drawbacks - you can't hear things (directions, friends, avalanches) but there's some real benefits such as having a soundtrack and a pace to ride to. It's wicked - like being the central character in your own snowboard movie. But there's something also really nice about being in total silence with only the noise of your board and breathing accompanying you down the mountain.

I went riding with Kev on the Grands Montets today for a quick couple of hours and we did a LOT of vert. Dropped into one of the big bowls that is hard to access and had a few k's of just pure riding backcountry. Really good fun just to be out there with a mate riding alone and coming together to plot the next line down the mountain. Kev rode well, we both did, with a few rock drops and kickers and lots of pure freeriding. Good day - solid. Powder and adventure.

Freeriding the powder in Les Houches

So it's an offical powder day which means riding. Kev, myself and a load of the girls went up Les Houches, the ski area next one down from Chamonix in the valley. Kev and I split from the girls early (who ended up having an extremely eventful day with people getting hit by pommels and hiking for an hour up a ski slope after being unable to negotiate the draglift!).

Kev and I however had an awesome day. We cut fresh tracks on pretty much everything we rode, even laying the first lines down the mountain a couple of times. Such a special feeling - especially seeing that no-one else had followed the lines we chose even at the end of the day. The pow wasn't too deep - a foot or so, but padded up in the leeward sides of ridges and gullies and deep enough to really send up showers of snow after long, arcing powder turns. We dropped next to one of the lifts and caught some really nice drop-offs - tapping the top of the bushes with the board in mid-air sending sparks of snow crystals from the branches falling to the floor. The run was so good that we tried it again choosing different lines. I dropped a series of pillows of powder sitting on top of a steep section covered with small bushes, board in a straight line, just bouncing down off the soft snow. Immediately after that it bowled out next to a lift and came screaming through at mach 9 sending a massive curtain of snow 12 feet in the air in a big powder carve then hit the lip of a roller and pulled a beautiful tweaked stalefish shifty. Some guys on the lift started whooping and cheering and shouting "Get In!" so kind of had that embarrassed, pleased feeling which lingered throughout the day.

It's weird - snowboarding's like this personal journey. Everything you do is to make yourself happy, but when people give positive acknowledgement of your riding, that's really cool. Anyway, it's just great to ride with guys like Kev, who push you to ride better and enjoy riding for what it is - not the massive jumps, nor the racing but just using whatever is on the mountain to create the most interesting and fulfilling way down .

So it's all coming together - work is picking up nicely, the snow's fallen and we're riding powder today which will be improved by the snow falling as I type. Managed to speak to the family this morning which is always nice. Technically my riding's going well with spins being laid down on a daily basis as well as good powder technique and some really nice jumps and jibs. Really looking forward to riding with friends coming out as well to go for a drink and a slide together.

Feeling the love today.

x


Les Houches

Snooooooow!

OK, the good good news is that we've got a contract to do a load of web design and that means the money worries have been staved off and allowed more breathing space. Awesome.

Also totally minty fresh, sparky, sporty, chirpy and cheerful news is that it's DUMPING snow. I was up the Grands Montets yesterday with my mate Joe and we sessioned a few of the chutes that you can drop into from near the top of the Bochard gondola. I rode like a tit for most of the time (due to the lingering effects of this damn cold) but we cut a load of fresh tracks, founds some leeward loaded wind lips and generally munched the soft white stuff like the happy gherkins we are. I managed to remove my goggles from the "ok to wear" pile to the "sell to tourists" pile of equipment as well. As a side note, also hit the park yesterday afternoon and dropped into a couple of rails and a load of kickers. As per usual was going far too fast into every jump but for some reason landed pretty much everything - got a beautiful boned out method (oooooh) and a really nice backside 180 stalefish (aaaah) as well as a few rails (niiiice). So all in all pretty nifty really.

Here's a couple photos of the front garden of the chalet. The mazo (the small house thingy) is where Kevin and Julene have their bedroom and bathroom and the other photo shows the view from the balcony. In the bottom-left corner of the picture you can just make out the rail we've made which we session when we're drunk. Bring it on!

Avalanche!

One of my big fears is avalanches. Not at the moment - there's not enough snow! But this one looks pretty gnarly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HxxzfUfFGk

Update!

OK, firstly sorry for not writing up a blog post for a while. There's combination of reasons - namely work, riding and illness.

I got a cold a few days ago and it took me down fairly hard. Just recovering from it now. Also, I'm now officially pumped for work and this week is going to be the true, focused start week. Got a development environment on the go last week, mapped in a load of work, got everything sorted to really be productive and got a PHP bible to usher in the latest chapter in the Narg programming book. Awesome. Time to bring in the cash.

So I guess the riding is the thing to report. Snow conditions here have been variable over recent days. After the dump of about 10 days ago the cover has gotten progressively a little thinner both on the pistes and rocks are baring their faces all over the place. Many of the home runs back to the resorts for places such as Brevant and Flegere are closed - in fact only Grands Montets and Le Tour are up and running with runs all the way down.

But, and this is a big but. Riding is going very well, b een riding chutes and gullies, finding the windblown snow that collects under cornices and ridges, and the sides of the piste are great for jibbing and throwing 180's, 360's and a few tweaked grabs. I've never spun as easily as this in my life and I'm pumped for the rest of the season. I reckon as you get that bit older, experience kicks in and you feel more relaxed in the air. I always used to have a feeling of hanging in mid-air with all the time in the world when I used to ride years ago and that same feeling is back with a vengeance. I've got to say, it feels good. As does slashing hard turns into the sides of the piste where the snow's built up sending up a huge hanging curtain of snow that sets snowy crystals sparkling in the cold air ages after the board has thrown them there.

The chalet is good, made dinner for everyone the other day with chicken thighs in red wine, tomato, herb and mushroom sauce with mashed potato and it was a great success. Very pleased. We could really do with more snow though and luckily the gods smile upon us with snow forecast to fall from tomorrow ownwards gradually increasing each day until the end of the week at least. Perfect! (snow forecast).

So I'm feeling pretty good, the stomach's gotten a little flatter and harder - the chubby hamster cheeks are receding faster than the hairline (way better than the alternative) and I've procured another 3 wooly hats to wear throughout the day. I've been really missing people from home - probably being ill doesn't help - but I feel really happy knowing that some are on their way out. It'll be great having some old friends and family over - existance in a ski resort is a very transient experience. Many of the people are here for only 1 or 2 weeks, some for a month, few for longer. I really miss having stability here and have hooked up with a few girls who are just in it for the fun. That's cool and it's their holiday but I reckon it's time to start pulling a little tighter on the reigns and only start dating people here for longer than a nanosecond. The good news is that everyone lets their standards drop on holiday and frankly I've been punching way above my weight - something one normally only dreams about.

So all in all, a little nervy and edgy, time to really start hammering away at work and let the snow fall as it may. Ride only powder days, enjoy the time in the air launching off kickers and find a wifey. Simple sort of existance really.