The Winter Season

So here's some of the favourite photos from the winter season that finished last month. Funky stuff. Looking forward to the next one!

Photos from Le Tour
Ice crystals forming on a fence. These little bits of beautiful natural formations always blow me away. I always stop and look around at these things when riding and they never, ever lose their allure.


Jon using his cool photographer skills to get a shot of himself in my lens. He's actually holding the camera by his waist and I'm looking down. A fantastic day's riding with a really good mate in beautiful weather. It doesn't get much better.


A turn in a steep clearing in the woods in Le Tour backcountry. One of my favourite places to ride with really interesting terrain. I'd just come flying off a natural roller and stomped the landing perfectly about 200m farther up next to where a group of around 7 or 8 people were having a picnic. They gave us a whoop and a cheer and as always my face went bright red and I got a big embarrassed grin on my face.


Backside ollie 180 on the path down to Vallorcine. After a while, you spend the entire time on paths doing flatland tricks to pass the time. I like this photo because it just looks so strange mid-air. Jon and Kev and I had just been riding some gullies and chutes on the back side of Le Tour and we were heading home via the Vallorcine gondola.



Photos from Les Houches
Kev's board and my board in a snowstorm at the top of Les Houches waiting for the girls to arrive after a great day cutting first tracks all over the mountain. Kev came out with some great quotes that day putting forward the opinion that riding powder is a privelege and you shouldn't ever waste it.


Looking down the valley in a brief moment of clear skies. It's me riding down in the foreground feeling like I'm dropping straight into the valley floor. It's not actually that steep but it looks proper gnarly.


Trying to pick out a line in low visibility. The whole valley was whited out this day but Kev and I found masses of untracked powder amongst the beginners at Les Houches blasting through everything we could see. I remember people cheering me from a draglift as I put in a couple of powder turns then dropped a little ridge covered with snow-covered bushes. Awesome memories of that day.



Photos from Les Grands Montets
The sun dropping below the ridge casting grooved shadows on the piste. This is the start of the run from the top of the freestyle park to the middle station.


First lines dropping in from Le Petit Vert. I hiked up with Mark from All Mountain Performance to catch the first lines down. We spent the vast majority of the time looking around at the view and then trying to catch our breath with the altitude stripping the air of oxygen. It was the last bit of riding I did for the season. The last run - fresh tracks down the mountain. Perfect.


Monkeying about in deep powder on one of the best days of the season. It just was binning it down with snow for a few days previously and on that day. I think the previous day the whole mountain was closed with avalanche risk 5 out of 5. This photo was just taken just next to the cat track that runs through the Dream Forest. It was the best tree riding all season with huge powder pillows and endless small drops. We kept meeting people we knew and ended up riding in groups around the mountain before all going for a beer in the FuBar in Argentiere. One of the highlights of the season was this day.


Stopping to listen to an awesome tune - headphones are built into the hat. I've posted before on listening to music but I just love it for easy piste riding. It's like having a soundtrack playing to your own personal snowboarding film. I've even got different playlists on my iPod for different riding like pistes, parks and rails, hiking and clear and low light. Unfortunately I cracked the screen on my iPod after a slight mishap with a quarterpipe but it still plays so it's all good.


Blasting down the glacier from the top cable car. This was taken by Kev a bit further down from when we hiked up Le Petit Vert on the last day of the season. It reminds me of how massive the mountains really are. I remember riding really well for this section - fast and powerful.


Dan and Jules on a chairlift in a snowstorm. We had some incredible days riding all together and Dan ripped up most of the mountains he set foot on. One of the best skiers I've ever ridden with. Jules is Kev's wife and has an amazingly fluid style that far outclasses most of the boys!


Some days were so cold and low visibility. This was one of them - but the powder was incredible. When I was little we used to have a 1.5k single person chairlift to get up the Wiedersbergerhorn mountain at Alpbach, when it gets cold and the weather closes in I always think back to then and remember how much fun it is just to be in the snowy mountains. I still get the same feeling of excitement on the way up a mountain on a chairlift. I guess when that's no longer there it's time to turn the snowboards into shelves.


The Boss des Bosses moguls competition. I rode for the Chamonix team against Zermatt, Val d'Isrere, Meribel, Courchevel and Verbier. We ended up a very creditable second. Two things stick in my mind - the sheer size of the moguls. I'd never ridden anything that size and I doubt I ever will again. It was incredibly daunting dropping into moguls waist to chest high with a kicker at the end. They were pretty dangerous and one of the competitors had a bit of a tumble and ended up getting choppered off the mountain. The other thing that stuck in my mind was the after-partying. It was really weird to have people I didn't know come up and say hello and buy me drinks. I was out with two friends so I stuck with them most of the evening, but it was a strange feeling nonetheless. Funky for a day I guess.


One day Kev and I saw there was a boardercross comp on so we decided to go to the Grands Monetets for a ride and have a look at it. It was very nicely put together and it's always interesting to watch really talented riders in any snowboarding discipline. I remember this day too because I caned myself trying to ride away a switch 360 and bounced and ragdolled down a slope for what felt like ages. Luckily I didn't injure myself but I remember sitting at home afterwards thinking that I was lucky the snow was soft - these guys were falling on hard packed at full speed.



Photos from Brévent/Flégère
This day stood out for me this season. Deep powder everywhere and Kev and I by ourselves ripping the mountain putting down fresh lines everywhere. This was one of the rare times going through chop but there was so much snow it was still awesome. You can see on the trees how deep the snow was and we just tore it apart until my goggles broke after a bit of a tumble. Definately a standout day. Taken at Flégère.


Firstly - how deep is this!! Taken on the same day as the photo above this was possibly the best run of the season. Deep, deep untracked powder - really solid technique all day and hardly anyone on the mountain. I'd dropped into a chute and was putting slash turns in the whole way down - like a kilometre of thigh-deep powder that was as flat as an artists canvas. I can still remember riding the whole day with my ears pounding and adrenaline pumping through the veins. Taken at Flégère.


This is just Dan at his best styling away on a windlip. I know we all had a go at doing this but Dan just caught it perfectly and Kev snapped a great shot. This was one of the few bluebird powder days we had and the Chalet Le Courtil crew was out in force riding together. We had some great long runs on this day hitting The Tit (a natural kicker) and spending the whole day grinning at each other. Taken at Flégère.


Shortly after the above photo was taken we rode into the Charlanon bowl and dropped one of the big cornices that had built up in the wind. I got the oppertunity to drop in first and my hand's reaching down for a little tweaked indy grab to try and style a little more. I love jumping in powder because the landings are so soft. Joe and I ended having to hike out of a terrain trap soon after this. Taken at Flégère.


The mountains are so high in the valley that you often get the cloud layer miles below. In Chamonix itself it was nasty weather - sleet and 100% overcast. Where we were it was glorious and the views were dramatic. I love it when the climate produces things like this. You just don't get to see it in England and I never tire of it. Taken at Brévent.


A wicked shot of the Aiguilles from Brévent showing some cool cloud formations.


Joe on the way up Brévent in the gondola for a days riding. On the way up the gondola was always full of laughter and energy. On the way down it was also full of laughter but at the start of the season everyone was shattered. As it went on everyone had more and more energy as we got fitter. Towards the end we could ride all day and still have enough energy to go climbing in the evening! I was surprised just how fit I got this season.


Photos from going out
Aaah, dancing on the tables at Chambre Neuf with the band playing. I loved this place - a proper apres-ski atmosphere with everyone drunk after one beer and singing and dancing everywhere. I can't wait to go there next season. The boys from the chalet (plus some random on the left) showing how it's supposed to be done. Left to right - Random dude, Dan, Chopper, Al, Jim.


Jon came out for a week with Godfrey and unsurprisingly got plenty of snowboarding and drinking in. We'd cleverly been on the Jagermeister test tubes and were in the process of turning into naughty mode. It was really great to see him out here and he's coming back for a bit of climbing this summer. Looking forward to it immensely.


Aaah, the end of season party. Everyone up the mountain for fun, games, drinking and general monkey activity. Nice switch water ride from this chap.


For the end of season party at Le Delice Andy and I decided to pitch up in drag. Katy's help and clothes were hired and she did us proud. Rather worryingly Andy's still got his lipstick at home. We spent many evenings in Le Delice having a beer and talking to friends. Everyone really misses it when it's closed as it's such a hub for all the friends to congregate in.


Joe, myself and a rather worried looking girl in Chambre Neuf towards the start of the season. For some reason in this photo Joe and I have swapped hats. It was my favourite beanie but someone pilfered it (or rather I lost it!) after a particularly agreeable night out many months ago.


There's some people to thank for being there this season and letting me steal their photos:
GoodJon
Kevin
Chamonix-Valley
Listingslab
Dan
Jim

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.

Riding this past week

Soooo. After it dumped down about 30cm of new snow 4 days ago I've ridden pretty heavily during the day and worked in the afternoons and evenings. It's a pretty good combination and it looks like the computers that were sent over have arrived and need to be picked up meaning the work level can be stepped up another notch. The new business team sat down the other day and started working out the plan for the immediate future and it looks mint. We do compliment each other and there's some really good ideas bouncing around to problems that have arisen. It feels confident and good and to have the confidence in the other guys is a great thing and a huge support. Everything is moulding together nd I'd guess that in a weeks time there's going to be a busy office humming with business being done. Awesome.

Luckily I've managed to squeeze in a fair bit of riding the fresh snow that's fallen and met up with a load of really good lads and ladies who all coexist in our communal chalet very well It's centrally placed with easy access to the ski buses and the supermarket and the office. It's a beauiful old chalet and as chance would have it, I've already ridden with one of the guys who lives here as well - it's great to know someone here and we've hit it off nicely forming a solid friendship and riding relationship.

I'm stoked to have hit the ground running with the riding too. Already have started spinning, something that I nearly always have to work up to. It's become more natural and easier the older I've gotten and have started to lay down a few floated backside 180's and even squeezed out a little 360. We've built a rail to session in our driveway and even got a little kicker there as well. Heaven.

So yesterday went up to Le Tour at the top of the Chamonix valley and rode a load of the gullies and chutes there with a few of the boys. We cut some fresh tracks after climbing the Tete de Balme dropping into the face there before funneling down into the large chute below using the windlip to huck a few nice jumps off. One of the lads took his camera so I'll post up photos soon.

So it's all looking good. The guys I'm working with are very good. The guys I'm riding with are very good. The sun is shining and everything's looking smooth and positive for the future. The only blip has been one of the boys in the chalet I rode the Grands Montets mountain with on Tuesday had a bit of a sketch at Brevant and got choppered off one of the faces there after breaking 3 bones in his back hitting a rock band. Still they're only minor bones and he should be back up and running in a month or so. I hope he heals up well and it's a timely reminder not to piss about here, keep your senses and not make any silly decisions.

Sunday's a day of rest so tomorrow am going back up to Le Tour and going to shape a few kickers in the backcountry with some of the boys and session them. Pics to follow. Am missing a load of guys from the UK, I really wish they could be here and see all this and it would be great to see them all. I've talked to a few about coming out and lots seem very keen. I look forward to riding with them and catching up with them and hope they're all doing well. Take it easy guys, Narg sends love to you all.

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