Another new video from last weeks trip to Kamchatka.

Seb has posted the 2nd video from last weeks Kamchatka BC Voyager heli trip. This is slightly longer than the last one (see previous blog) and features the whole team in action.

Check it out!


Kamchatka, the wild wild east from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

I leave for the Lyngen Alps, Norway, 500km within the Arctic circle tomorrow for the last BC Voyager trip of the season.

Watch this space for news and coverage.

Neil.

Kamchatka 09 video on line!

Back in Chamonix after a mammoth journey back from Kamchatka with some 14 odd hours of flying time and 12 hours of time difference in the bag.

I now have a slight break (a couple of days) before heading off to Norway for my final
'BC Voyager' trip of the season.

Kamchatka 09 was by far my best Heli trip so far, with 6 days of flying and 2 down days, one of which we could have flown as the weather cleared for an afternoon session, the other on which it snowed thus making our final day of riding even more epic!

In the end we clocked up 13hrs and 15mins of flying time, made 35 heli drops and rode 29,589m of untracked vertical descent.

An amazing trip, fantastic riding and a great team!

Seb video'd it all and has produced 4 different movies which he will post on line over the next few weeks.


His first, a promo video of myself, concentrates on the first 4 days and is on line now so check it out here - http://www.zapiks.com/kamchatka-riding-in-the-land.html

More news, info, video's and articles to follow so watch this space.

Neil.

The best of the best, a day to beat all the rest!

The best of the best, today beats all the rest!

Today was our last day riding here in Kamchatka and the day dawned with perfect blue skies just as predicted.

We had a couple of snowy down days which worked perfectly into our planning as we’d ridden 5 heli days straight and everyone was in need of a bit of leg rest. Friday we headed into Petropavlovsk to visit the decaying city centre and followed it up with a big night out at a local club. Needless to say Saturday started off quietly for most. Steve and Aasma headed off dog sledding whilst a group of us headed off for a go on the guns at the shooting range.

Seb won the shooting comp but was immediately disqualified for being French and so that of course left me the winner, narrowly beating Alan who tied the same score as me but my 2 bulls eyes over his 1 clinched the deal, also I was the judge and made the rules and just may have poked the pen through my target on the way back by mistake, we’ll just never know but anyway I won!

Today was our last days riding and so we needed to find something pretty special. The gang were pretty keen to see some Volcanic action so we headed South to the big active cone of Mutnovsky 2322m. Here you find Volcanic smoke and steam rising from a huge crater and even more impressively from the Glacier that half fills it. Imagine doing a descent down a Glacier complete with crevasse danger and then the ante is upped yet again by Volcanic activity deep underground. At least you can see the crevasses as there’s smoke coming out of them!

Jim warming up in the Western range.

Anyway after a couple of warm up runs in the small mountains en-route we hit the jackpot on Mutnovsky with deep fresh powder on the North facing slopes, miles and miles of it with fresh lines for all!

Steve and Mark on Mutnosky

Daryl gets his fill.

Alan gets one in for Scotland.

We did a 3 big lines here riding some 2000 vertical meters each descent.

The first run from the rim of the crater was awesome and gave us a peek at what was to come. On the way in we had spied a couple of nice lines to the left, one coming right off the summit. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the landing on the top and so dropped on the shoulder below and did a short hike up to where we could access the goods.

Seb hard at work on Mutnosky.

Another amazing line in the bag and another one waiting on the wings.

Aasma in full flow, Mutnosky.

Jazzy Jeff gets one in.

Dave hanging out on Mutnosky.

We headed straight back up and nailed the last one which of course turned out to be the best.

Simon on our last run of the trip, Vilyuchinsky.

A quick picnic and we had enough fuel for one more drop so we started heading back via the big perfectly shaped Vilyuchinksy volcano 2173m. Here we once again toured around to the Northern slopes for another massive perfect descent and a great finish to the weeks riding.

This has to go down as my best Kamchatka trip, 5 days of perfect riding, a couple of days of snow and then the Grand Finale today!

Seb has been filming and already edited a couple of real nice movies from the first half of the week so expect to see those on line next week, I’ve a couple of new screen savers coming on line from the trip and an article on ‘the inner workings of Heli Guiding in Kamchatka’ a behind the scenes look into the life of Heli guiding over here which will be on line sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Ok we start our long journey back tomorrow, I’m back in Cham on Tuesday and then away again at the weekend for my next BC Voyager trip to the Lyngen Alps, Norway.

Neil.

Another amazing day in Kamchatka!

Well yesterday would be pretty hard to beat!

Yesterday as I wrote in my last blog we awoke to perfect conditions, check out this shot of the sun rise over Koryaksky!

At 9:10am the Heli came to pick us up out side the hotel. It lands in a clearing just by the hotel carpark, there’s not much around the hotel which is situated at a natural hot spring in the countryside about 40mins from Petropavolosk.

As we had such a good time in the North yesterday we decided to head North again today.

The snow had been good on the Northern slopes yesterday and so today we flew North to the ‘Sharp mountains’ with a detour first to the North East to grab a couple of descents on a new mountain range on the Northern side of Koryaksky.

At first glance there didn’t seem to be much in the way of good snow and big lines so we headed for the highest peak in the range and swung around to find just what we were looking for on its sheltered Northern facing slopes.

Charlie drops in for some perfect turns.

With no tracks to follow jeff looks a little lost in the Kamchatka wilderness.

Steve powers into a heel side powder turn.

We did a couple of nice lines here, the terrain was very different being so close to Koryaksky this range is completely Volcanic and the features are all shaped by Lava flows. Because of this you get some quite narrow channels to ride down and so we rode big faces with narrow exits. It felt great powering down a big face with all your focus centred on the narrowing below before charging through into the wide open valley and the waiting heli.

It looked like it was going to be hard to better these runs in this range and so we decided to follow our plan to head now West to acces the ‘Sharp Mountains’ from the North. This way we’d be flying South though the peaks and so get a good view of all the Northern slopes and lines en-route.

It didn’t take long for us to spy out a nice looking range of peaks with some amazing looking lines facing in just the right aspect. We pointed the pilot towards our chosen peaks and watched as the lines got nearer and it quickly became clear that we had made a good find.

As we approached we could see four or five amazing looking lines spread out along a sharp jagged ridge running East/West either side of a triangular central peak with all the lines running into the same central pick up spot, Perfect!

The first line was an obvious choice, a big central couloir probably about 100m wide at a perfect 38 degrees. We quickly got into action and found our selves jumping out onto the ridge just to the left of our drop in spot. I had a sneaky look along the ridge to the right to look into what I was considering for our next drop and nearly exploded with excitement as I looked over the cornice into what could only be described as a perfect Alaskan style couloir, steep, straight and deep.

I dropped into the first choice descent and cranked a turn to test the snow pack, perfect! I released myself into the pull of gravity and powered into some long deep turns screaming down the face as the rest of the team started to whoop it up behind.

Jon in powder heaven!

Mark all alone in Kamchatka.

Run number 2!

Charlie at it again!

Seb targets a great steep line.

We arrived at the heli with grins spread across our faces as we looked back up at where we had come from and where we would be going next and the four or five other lines surrounding us !

Yep! Like I said ‘Yesterday, would be pretty hard to beat’.

The land that time forgot!

The only cloud in the sky this morning over Petropavolosk on the Kamchatka peninsula comes from the towering newly active Volcano of Koryaksky 3456m. A dark cloud billows from this Volcanic giant a spreads a high altitude thin dark line of ash across the horizon, a very ‘land that time forgot’ sort of senario.

The sky is once again completely clear, there is no wind today and the heli possibilities are unlimited.

Yesterday, our fourth day in a row of flying, we headed to the North, flying past the smoking cones of Koryaksky and Avachinsky to an aptly named mountain range known as the ‘Sharp mountains’. Very Valdez (Alaska) in appearance this range offers some great steep and deep terrain with exposed drops off on sharp peaks and ridges and big steep couloirs and faces that were covered in some of the smoothest, deepest, silkiest powder you could ever want to ride.

It was so much fun to fly around an unexplored range of jagged peaks just looking out and picking lines, seeing if we could land on tiny crests and corniced ridges then dropping into huge shaded faces that from the top look like they drop vertically into the shadowy void below.

Everyone rode real well this day and huge smiles filled the heli as we flew back to the base at the end of the day. This is what we came for, riding without limits, powder without a base and slopes that never end.


This is Kamchatka and this is a new day!

Neil.

From Russia with love!

The perfectly shaped volcano Koryaksky 3456m fills the horizon along side its partner in crime Avachinsky 2751m. Both are active volcano’s, smoke pores out of their perfectly formed craters. Koryaksky, the bigger of the two was last active in 1957 and after lying dormant for the last 50 years became once again active last December.

Both these active giants tower over the city of Petropavolosk here in Kamchatka but no one seems very worried about the newly active Koryaksky. There again, no one seems that worried about anything here, it seems that they measure the danger of an volcanic eruption by the amount of hot lava that is falling from the sky and at the moment seeing how the Koryaksky is only filling the sky with a sulphuric cloud of hot ash the cause for concern is only limited.

We are 2 days into our stay here in Kamchatka. 2 days in and two great heli days are already in the bag. This already equals our annual average for flying days and the forecast is also looking good for the week a head.

This year we are staying an hour from the city of Petropavolsk at a thermal spar center, nearer to the heli base and only 10 minutes flying time from the Volcanic Giant Vilyuchinsky 2173m and the range of lower mountains that surround it and stretch from the middle of the Peninsula right out to the Pacific Ocean.

Vilyuchinsky is a perfectly shaped volcano that offers some great riding when the conditions are good and is greatly complimented by the endless range of smaller mountains surrounding it all around 1000m high with descents down to just above sea level.

It has been quite windy high up and so for the last 2 days we have focused our attention on theses smaller mountains finding some great terrain and although it there isn’t an abundance of deep fresh powder everywhere if you know were to look it is there to be found.

Alan on a big fresh Kamchatka style descent.

Run by run we are getting better at tracking it down as we tune into the terrain, the wind effect and the aspect of the slopes. Run by run the snow is getting better and the turns deeper, steeper and fresher.

Jon digging deep in some Kamchatka fresh.


Jim gets the goods in the Kamchatka wilderness.

Our last run before our picnic by the Pacific today offered us a long descent of deep perfect turns overlooking the ocean, a Russian Nuclear submarine had just surfaced in the bay below , a sea eagle circled overhead and a bears den on the slope below threatened us with our first bear sighting of the trip. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the bear stayed in his den but 2 out of three isn’t bad and the turns were great and the ambiance amazing!

Lunch by the pacific.

Seb hard at work in Kamchatka.

Simon getting fresh lines on another big descent.


Alan, McNab and Simon relax in the hot spring.

We finished our day with a run down to the natural hot springs for a beer and a relax before flying back to base to prepare for (with another good forecast) another big heli day tomorrow.

We have so far done 14 heli drops and ridden some 12000 vertical meters.

Whilst the wind and snow conditions have restricted us to the lower smaller peaks the terrain on these peaks is great fun offering steep faces, half pipe shaped gullies. Wind lips and rollers over the place.

This is how Kamchatka should be. This is why we come thousands of miles to heli here and the trip has really only just begun.

Bring it on!

Another day in the office!

Neil.

Onwards and upwards. Shots from last week.

We had some surprisingly good riding last week considering the heat wave that we had here in Chamonix, spring has definitely sprung and spring conditions now reign supreme.

I had a great time with Phil and the 2 Paul's, whilst Seb started the week with the other Advanced BC group, Rowan, Roddy (on skis) and Gordy before Fred Auge took the lead for the latter part of the week. The Summits guys with Miles guiding had a great week eventually riding from just above the Dome du Gouter at around 4300m on Mont Blanc when strong winds called a halt to further progress.

I've already posted some shots from the begining of the week so here's some from the last few days, check them out!

Paul Jacobs leads the way up the Col du Passon couloir.

The rest of the team aren't far behind, Rowan, Gordy and Welli.

Welli carves at speed on the big Passon descent.

Phil scores perfect 10's on the way down!

The 3 P's climbing the Col du Beaugean, a rare moment of quiet from Phil.

Paul finds good crampon purchase on phils beanie during the descent from the Beaugean.

Paul Jacobs gets clean smooth lines down the Beaugean.

Welli gets the good on the Beaugean.

Paul Jacobs on the Beaugean, great snow, great riding and plenty of it!

A great finish to my season here in Chamonix!

I'm now starting to get ready for our 'Voyager' trips to Kamchatka (Russia) heli boarding and then Norway (lyngen Alps) touring before my winter season 2009 finally comes to a finish mid May.

What a winter its been!

More to come!

Neil.

Great spring condition in Chamonix!

Just had a great last 3 days with some amazing spring riding.

Tuesday saw us hike up the Col du Passon which was surprisingly good and untracked over towards the Le Tour Glacier and the snow smooth perfect spring corn the whole way down.

Wednesday the forecast wasn't so good so I opted for a day at Le Tour rather than hiking. The sun soon shone through though and so we did a quick hike up and got in a run down the South Face of the Tete du Balm. The conditions were once again perfect so we got the midday bus back around and hiked up the Autannes ridge to drop into a perfect untracked face that we had scoped out on the first run and headed again down to Trient for the last bus. Another great day in the bag and a total bonus considering the forecast.

Today (Thursday) we hiked the Col du Bueagean. We didn't take snowshoes as it was clear night and so should have frozen but unfortunately it hadn't so we had to wade around to Lac Blanc and onwards up to the rock climb unp to the Col post holeing knee deep with every step. The climb took about 4 hours hard labour. The rock pitch is now free of snow and was great fun and after a quick rest and a bite to eat we were all back on form and ready for the ride.

Once again the snow was perfect untracked spring corn, we took the right hand variant and made fresh turns all the way into the Berard valley finishing up in Le Buet for a well earned refreshment.

Tim and Joe, the 'Summits week' guys tried for the big prize of Mont Blanc today with Miles guiding but got shut down by the wind and bad visibility at the Vallot bivi hut just above the Dome du Gouter. They got to ride the best part of the Mont Blanc descent though and said the snow was great. Tomorrow they'll go for the Breche Puisseaux above the Periades high above the Valley Blanche which is one of the most picturesque, atmospheric and impressive tours in the Valley, the descent being just below the massive North Face of the GrandesJorrasses.

Our other Advanced BC group are now struggling to follow ledgendary French Snowboard pioneer (and Mountain Guide) Fred Auge around the high mountains and did a variant on the Col du Passon today and will do a Bueagean variant tomorrow.

Me, I'm having a Freestyle Friday tomorrow, my last days guiding of this winter here in Chamonix before Russia and Norway and I'm going to spend it in a resort having fun in the sun.

I have some photos of the latter part of the week and will post them next.

laters,
Neil.

Domes des Miage today and shots from last week!

Had an amazing trip today with a heli drop at the Col du Infranchisable from where we climbed up and over the Domes des Miage (a classic summer mountaineering ridge climb) in perfect conditions.

The snow on the other side was some of the best we've found in recent weeks with some cold fresh untracked up high and then smooth spring snow low down.

A fantastic day, check out the shots of this trip and last weeks BC Intro team at work.

Phil, and the 2 Pauls on the Domes des Miage traverse.

Gordy, Rowan and Roddy with Seb on the Domes des Miage heading for the summit.

Phil, Paul and Paul on the summit with Mont Blanc behind.

Gordy gets some frsh lines on the way down the Armancette Glacier.

Roddy skiing the Armancette Glacier from the Domes.

Here are a few shots from last weeks BC Intro, check them out!

'So Neil, is this extreme Alpinisme?' Keith asks as he leads the team up the Beaugean.

The climb down the other side of the col du Beaugean.

Sean riding down from the col du Encrenaz

Sean leads the team up the Grandes Autannes.

Adam gets the goods down the Grandes Autannes.

And so what will tomorrow bring?

we'll just wait and see!

Neil.

Another big week here in Chamonix and then Russia is calling!

I had a great laugh last week with the BC Intro team, some real characters with Roddy, Chris, Keith (the Private eye), Adam from Israel and the faff master Sean.

After a great Crochue/Berard Tour in the Aiguille Rouge (see last post) the foehn wind started blowing and the high peaks became encased in cloud and the valley temperatures rose dramatically.

We headed up the Grandes Autannes for a quick run down to Trient which was great but became a little sticky low down. The next day we did a big day up to the col du Beaugean dropping off the other side and riding through the col de l' Encrenaz and on down to Le Buet via the col du Montets. The top half was pretty good but having not frozen over night the snow soon became heavy and sticky and very avalanche prone low down.

Fortunately the weather up high finally cleared up and it had been snowing up in the Valley Blanche so we headed up the Midi for a great variante down the Petite Envers followed by a crevasse rescue practice session.

This week we have 2 Advanced BC Freeride courses and a BC summits course on the go. Myself, Seb and Miles are working, Miles took the Summits guys up the Argentiere Glacier to hike and ride the Glacier des Amethystes, Seb did a Glacier Mort in the Aiguille Rouge whilst my guys opted for a day on the Grandes Montets where we found some good lines through the Glaciers front and back off the top tickets lift.

Tomorrow with a good forcast on the cards both myself and Seb are heading for a heli drop on the Col d' Infranchisable from where we'll climb up and over the Domes du Miage and descend the Glacier du Armancette down towards St Gervais which I haven't done for years.

Should be a great day!

All good,

Neil.