Deep fresh in Courmayeur today!

Hi All, hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!

I've just finished my first 3 day Tech Clinic of the season. The weather hasn't been great, bad visibility, snow and then rain right up to 2000m which wasn't so good but the hard core Brits rode through the hard times and then scored it big time today in Courmayeur where it snowed a good 30 to 40cm and of course we had to ride in it all day long!

The guys came on well, we worked on using the control points of the board effectively, looked at the bio-mechanics of movement to apply pressure to the board in order to make it turn by design rather than force and looked at controlling speed by the line you take and by re-thinking how you look at, read and ride the terrain that the mountain presents (even on the piste!).

It was the first of the three day sessions that I've run and we managed to get a lot done and made some great changes. All the guys said that it was a shame the course wasn't longer as they were just starting to click with certain things but they now know what they need to work on and have goals to work towards. They are on the progression now and so everyday will just get better and better!

Towards the end of the day the temperature rose again and we heard some massive avalanches roaring down the Brenva face of Mont Blanc which was hidden in the cloud. It rained again in Chamonix for most of the day so its good to have the Courmayeur option for these kind of conditions when the warm air is coming up from the South. The 2 sides of Mont Blanc are often opposites when it comes to conditions and weather patterns.

Anyway, it was nice to dive in to some deep fresh again and I had a great three days with the team.

I now have a few days off before I start the big run through until April! I finally put the bike away and set it up on the turbo trainer in the garage, I'm determined to not loose the fitness that I worked so hard to get this Autumn, I might even get out down the valley in the next few days if the weather stays as it is as the roads are now clear again. It would be strange to be out on the bike for the start of the year, then riding freshies up the hill the next day!

As I write this it has started snowing again outside so things are looking better for next week, snow down here means dumping up top!

Quite a lot of interest in courses coming in but most are now full so check out the courses page on the site for availability or contact Ruth in the office.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Perfect waves at the Grands Montets!

Liam riding the Evola Glacier on a BC freeride week 2005!

Today I headed up the Grands Montets to ride with our 2005 brochure cover star Liam Keeley (pictured above). With a strong foehn wind blowing in the valley it didn't look to nice up the hill and the Grands Montets looked like the logical choice it being slightly more sheltered from these strong South Westerly winds.

It's been snowing quite a bit these last few days but with strong winds so I was pretty interested to see how the conditions were going to be up the hill.

The weather wasn't so bad once we got up and we started out with a few runs on the Bochards piste which was in pretty good condition.
We worked on some technique to begin with and Liam made a few quick adjustments to his riding, changing a couple of technical elements and also concentrating more on his line and the way he looked at and worked with the mountain.

It's pretty important to look at the big picture whilst making slight changes to technical details. There's no point making technical changes to your riding if you don't also look at the effects these changes are going to have or need in terms of changes in your control of line/speed and how you use the mountain (and vice versa!)

We spent a few hours on riding technique before the weather started to come good and we ventured up and off the Hearse lift to check out the Off piste conditions over towards the Italian Bowl. There's still plenty of rocks around but over on the sheltered aspects and in the gullies and bowls the snow was deep and un-tracked.

We found a couple of perfect windlips running down the mountain, looking like perfect curling waves just waiting to be torn apart. I love slashing, carving and sliding the top of windlips and these ones were perfect for airing out of to boardslide on the top to re-entry over and over again, beautiful!

The snow was a bit wind effected but great fun to ride and we had a fantastic days riding!

The Foehn has brought a rapid rise in temperature, -17c yesterday to 0c today! Temperature rises like this really effect the snow pack and can be the cause of some big slab avalanches where the wind has been piling in the snow. The cold temps last week and thin snow cover creates a big temperature gradient in the snow pack and depth and surface hoar crystals grow creating weak layers in the snowpack.

The strong winds then load the snow into the sheltered slopes causing wind slab. If the wind slab sits on top of a weak layer it is highly prone to releasing on mass. At this time of the year lots of these loaded slopes haven't had any traffic and and are still highly unstable so be careful out there!

Having said this, I have just learned of an avalanche at Le Tour yesterday involving a 2 meter slab release in the back bowls just off the Tete du Balme! Check out www.chamonet.com for the full story!

Be careful out there! Give it a couple of days to settle down before venturing too far out there, check the snow pack and watch where you ride!

There is more snow forecast this week so the conditions should be good for the early season courses and if today is anything to go by then its going to be amazing!

All is good, get your fill!

Neil.

Powder turns at Flegere!

Blue skies and fresh snow!

I've spent the past 2 days doing laps at Flegere with my friend UK Freerider extraordinaire James Stentiford and posse. Its been surprisingly good considering how little fresh snow we've had recently. Fleger is one of the least rocky areas for this time of the year and there's some surprisingly good Off Piste to be had up there at the moment. However, after our 2 sessions up there yesterday and today its looking a little tracked out and we could do with some more snow to fill it back in.

Had some nice powder turns today though, real nice, you have to be very wary of what's under foot so a little caution isn't a bad thing. A lot of the rock bands haven't filled in so you have to weave your way around quite a few big drops but all in all it was pretty good fun.

There are touring and hiking tracks leading off to all the usual spots already, some keen teams out there that must be hiking both in and out for a few turns. I think that I'll wait a little before heading out too far. Its only going to get better with more snow and there's no rush.

Quite cold this morning, -17C here in Les Houches and pretty cold up the hill. For the avalanche aware this shallow snowpack and cold temps (= big temerature gradients) will be ringing the warning bells for growing depth hoar and surface hoar that will possibly now plague the Northern slopes in weeks and months to come. Something to think about when dropping into big descents later in the season. Might be worth digging a snowpit or two to check things out.

Christmas is nearly upon us and my courses start very soon now, kicking off with a 3 day tech clinic between Christmas and New Year and then into the thick of it with the regular calendar of courses through until April and into May.

There are a few spaces left here and there so if you're looking to join a course get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

Ruth has been away and so if you're waiting for a response from the office you can expect her to be in touch early this week.

Snow is forecast this week both sides of Mont Blanc to things should be good for the early season courses. If today is anything to go by and you know where to look you'll be in for a good one!

All good in Chamonix!

Neil.

My God, its nearly Christmas already!

The winter is upon us!

Wow, time is flying by and next week its Christmas and the winter is fully under way!

There's a few new faces popping up around Chamonix as the seasonaires start to move in for the winter, the Christmas lights are up and on and its due to snow some more this week (30cm at 2000m and 10cm down here in the valley apparently) so that's all good!

It's been cold, -20 up the midi today, -10 here in Les Houches, where we now don't get the sun until sometime in febuary!

I've managed to get out on my bike a couple more times to power up the legs a bit more. It's cold going down hill but not so bad on the way up especially in the sun. Great to still be out riding at this time of year.

I headed over to Courmayeur yesterday (for a ski with my daughter Manon) and had a quick look around. Like here, they're making a lot of snow cannon snow over there and the pistes have good cover but the artificial snow is quite hard pack and Off piste the base is pretty thin. The new snow coming in this week should change things and top us up for Christmas so we'll wait and see and I'll keep you up to date on how things progress.

Anyone that has been trying to get in touch this week, I'm sorry if we've not been in touch but Ruth had to go back to the UK for a few days and so I've in charge of the office and our girls, hence nothing has been done in the office! Ruth will be in touch early next week so don't worry we'll be back to normal soon enough!

On the course front, they're looking pretty full (from where I'm sitting looking up at the calendar) now up into April but if you see a gap go for it and get in touch with Ruth next week.

I start with courses after Christmas and then its pretty full on through the winter. I'm really looking forward to it, I'm just loving snowboarding more than ever!

I've a couple of new posts on my Q&A blog so check them out and I'm picking up the new McNab Snowboarding long sleeve T's tomorrow so they'll be available soon. They look nice with 'The fine art of riding mountains' across the chest. Look out for them on the goodies page on the McNab snowboarding web site.

Nipped into Zero G (the Chamonix Snowboard shop) this morning to pick up my new board 'Salomon special 2 magnum 166' which was getting a tune up. The shop has just had a full new fit up and looks good, my board looks awesome!

All is good,

be riding with you soon!

Take it easy,

Neil.

Another big day! A great start to the season!

The winter season has started!

Yesterday the sun came out down the valley so I figured dry roads and headed out for a beasting on the bike. I figured it might be the last ride for a while and had nothing else planned for the day and so hit a few big climbs and really powered out the legs. Just got back to the car around midday when the mobile rang, Jes and Chris (from the TSA) were on the way to Cham for an afternoons riding and asked me if I'd come up for a charge about. The legs were feeling beat but I'm not one to shy away from some more exercise and so headed straight up the Grands Montets for a great afternoons riding. Nice!

Mr Jones, who I was riding with the other day (see previous news) movie premiered some of his latest footage at the MBC in Chamonix the other night. I unfortunately missed the event but heard it was pretty impressive and I'm sure will get to see it sooner or later. An inspirational rider and character who I hope to hook up with in the future for some interesting projects.

Looks like we have some more snow coming in later in the week, a bit of sun in the meantime though so might even get the bike out for another session before the winter hits for good.

Really looking forward to getting stuck into this seasons courses now, I'm enjoying snowboarding more than ever, it already feels amazing and I feel inspired to pass on and share my passion for the mountains and the pleasure I get from being in them and riding down them.

If you are booked on a course with me this coming winter I hope you're already getting excited about it. Start getting some leg and aerobic fitness together so that you can get the most out of your time on the mountain, Cycling and Yoga is my tip for the top!

If you haven't booked a course yet but want to get out and join me we have only a few limited places left so you need to get in touch with Ruth here in the office for availability or possible cancellation updates (which I will also post on the courses page on the web site).

If you have any snowboard or equipment related questions don't hesitate to contact me, I have started a Q&A blog and just posted some more questions and answers on there so check it out through the link on the home page at mcnabsnowboarding.com

All is good, hope you're looking forward to the winter as much as me and of course Christmas too!

2010 is going to be amazing!

Can you feel it?

Neil.

Jeremy who, Jeremy Jones?

Jeremy Jones and his new prototype Jones Snowboard!

So last night I got a call from TSA head honcho Jeremy Sladen, it went something like this, "Jeremy Jones is coming over to Chamonix tomorrow will you go up and ride with him, show him around?" after some consideration, I reluctantly agreed to get my ass out of the office and go meet up with this 'Mr Jones' at the Grands Montets and spend the day riding with him. Well better than sitting in the office all day?

Ok, so I wasn't that reluctant, in fact, I have to admit I was quite excited by the prospect of riding with one of the Worlds 'all time' greatest Freeriders, to see what he could do, check out his riding and catch up on his gossip.

Of course Jeremy has been around Chamonix plenty and with only really the Bochards piste open there was never going to be much showing him around going on and we basically just ripped lap after lap on the Bochards top to bottom, cranking and playing with all the features on route.

Jeremy as many of you may know is branching out with his own Snowboard company, 'Jones Snowboards' that comes with a Freeride flavoured approach and design and he had just picked up a couple of new boards hot off the press, designed to his very own specifications and for the big mountains style of riding that he is famous for.

The boards looked nice! A rocker design in the nose but with normal camber to just short of the widest point of turning edge contact, so normal camber to well in front of the front foot for turning pressure and then rocker to the nose for extra float. Best of both worlds, nice idea!

The board runs with normal camber to just behind the rear foot then there's a small amount of rocker (2cm) running from a little way behind the foot to the tail. Now I'm not convinced with tail rockers as I love the tail pressure in the rear of the board and mentioned this to Jeremy who replied that he too regards the tail of the board as the most important point with regards pressure at the end of the turn and although there is a slight rocker in the tail of this board, the tail has been designed to be very strong and is still super stiff.

The idea behind the small amount rocker is that the turn radius of the board can easily be made smaller for steep narrow couloirs. You can carve right to the end of the edge on hard pack or in softer snow you can bring the pressure point in closer to your rear foot and use the rocker to finish the turn.

The edge of the board had a very slight magna traction type of thing going on so all in all this should give a super nice all mountain charging type of ride!

It was his first day out on it, they were literally hot off the press and so I was keen to see how it worked and what he thought of it.

We headed up the Bochards and had a warm up run at about mach 10 and then quickly built up speed run by run. The board seemed to perform real nice and Jeremy was super stoked on its performance. These were the first proto types and so it'll be interesting to see how things progress from here and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result production models come onto the market.

We also talked about split boards, I've always been very disappointed with splits in the past, finding them great for going up hill but too soft for riding down. The bindings have also always been raised up on a plate with lots of flex and loss of feeling. I love the idea of skinning up and riding down with out having to carry a board but until a good split hits the market I'll stick to my snow shoes. Jeremy is keen to bring out a riding biased split to his quiver of boards and there are now new split bindings that eliminate the riser and flex problem so maybe the future of Backcountry riding could be about to change with the introduction of the Jones splitboard?

lets hope he doesn't take too long!

Its a big move to start up your own Snowboard company, especially these days, but this guy has a passion for what he does and is designing kit with lots of thought and experience to back it up. Its a refreshing change to see someone designing boards not just for fashion or to introduce a new sales point but for pure all mountain function so good luck to him!

Anyway we had a great day riding and talked about hooking up for some future projects which could be fun!

I was riding my Burner 166 today which never fails to perform and this years Malamutes are even better than last years, after 2 days riding in them they feel totally dialed in, perfect!

I felt strong again today, riding nice and fluid and with one of the greatest riding partners on the planet! So not a bad day at all.

Not many spaces left on this seasons courses! If you want to get out on a course this season you'd better get in touch with Ruth in the office asap.

Good weather again tomorrow and then Snow to 700m!!! What are we going to do?

Here we go!

Neil.

Awesome day at the Grands Montets today!

Some of this today!

I'm just down from an amazing day up at the Grands Montets!

Blue skies, sunshine and soft powder. Ok so you don't want to stray too far from the piste because the snow base isn't complete yet but the Bochard piste was un-pisted and covered in about 2 foot of fresh which was pretty nice!

This was my first real day of playing about on my board and having a good rip around. It felt amazing, my legs were good and strong after all the cycling and it felt like I'd not been off it. Felt like I was riding really strong (if I do say so myself) upper body and arms super relaxed, feet with good feeling and good strong legs.
It got pretty bumpy after a while but they were pretty soft still and it was great fun pounding through them and there was even a drop off or two to hit.

Great day, this is why we do it!

Courmayeur is also looking good and the Helbronner will be worth a look so more of the same to come.

Man, I just love days like this!

Neil.

Grandes Montets yesterday and more snow today!

These days just arrived!

I headed up the Grandes Montets yesterday for a bit of a slide. Being the weekend it was a wee bit busy with only the Bochard open, the Marmottons 2 man chair and the dream Forrest chair. It was a bit windy high up but the snow was pretty good and once you got going it was pretty nice on the piste and great to be out sliding again.

Its pretty rocky underfoot on the Grandes Montets and whilst a lot of people were venturing off piste I think it pretty wise to hold back a little in the early days until the snow pack starts to build up a little more and you don't have to be quite as cautious!

There'll be time for powder before too long don't you worry!

Most courses are now full but here's an update on availability!

We have just had a cancellation today and one space is now available on the 3 day Off piste clinic 28th March to 1st April (riding days 29th, 30th, 31st).

1 place remains on the post season 3 day tech clinic 27th to 31st Dec (riding days 28th, 29th and 30th).

A couple of places remain on the 21st to 28th Feb Tech clinic.

1 place remains on the Advanced BC course 7th to 14th March.

1 place remains on the BC Intro 14th to 21st March

Places are available on the 3 day Off piste and 3 day BC Intro the week of the 18th to 25th April.

The Mont Blanc summit week has one place remaining (but if there is demand I will open another group of 2 for this week).

I'm still toying with the idea of running a snowboard touring week in the Ortler Alps 11th to the 18th April. If you're interested in this tour let me know (a couple of people are already up for it!)

Also if anyone is interested in pre Christmas coaching or guiding I will be available weekends throughout December (half days £280 full day £450 for up to 6 people).

Its been raining in the valley today but snowing above 1800m so it should be getting good up the hill. I'll probably nip up there for another look and slide in the next couple of days and will let you know.

Final news, I just signed a sponsorship deal with 'Giro' for helmets and eyewear and so will sporting Giro helmets this coming winter. I've never really ridden in a helmet before, I started out in the pre helmet era and never converted but figured it was finally time to get smart. The Giro goggles also look very good and I'm looking forward to trying them out.

I'll be riding the Salomon Special 11 magnum 166 for most things this winter, the relay bindings as usual and the new Salomon Malamute boots, very good kit!

If anyone has any questions on snowboard kit, stances, technique or BC advice just let me know and check out my new blog site 'Ask McNab snowboarding!'

You can find the link through the web site.

Enough ramblings, got to get on the Turbo soon for a bike session.

Neil.

Fresh tracks in winter powder today!

These days are here!

I Skinned up Le Tour this morning to the top of the Tete du Balm with the Dog, bit of an excuse to take the dog out for a good walk and get in some early season fresh.

It was a beautiful day, quite a lot of teams out ski touring but once you got up the home piste it was pretty quiet and near enough perfect.

The dog broke trail up towards the Tete du Balm, until he got a bit tired and then he decided to walk on the tails of my skis for a bit. I was to slow though and so he was back out in front before to long. I made it to the top in about an hour from the car park which I think is pretty quick even if the dog wasn't impressed.

It was beautiful up on top with magnificent views of which you'll just have to take my word for as I took no photos. The dog gets a little excited when he knows we're about to go downhill and so I had to make my change over pretty quick as he was ruining the ambiance for everyone, very impatient!

I've not skied since last year so of course headed straight for the steepest and deepest looking fresh snow and set about making some fresh lines. Surprisingly it felt like I'd not really been off them and I managed to score some really nice powder turns for about 400m before rejoining the piste. The dog, who was all ballsy, challenging and over confident at the top was by now wallowing neck deep in it and digging his own fresh line but no contest as to who won there, oposable thumbs do it for us yet again!

The piste was in pretty good condition until the home run and then you hit the man made snow and the snow cannons were on. There's good snow cover to the car park, it just needs pisting to give it some consistancy but all is good.

The Grands Montets opens at the weekend, just the Bochard cabin and the Marmottons chair but once the rush is over I'll head up for a ride on my new Salomon special magnum 166 which looks and feels awesome and it'll be great to get out on the board for a session.

So things seem to have suddenly sped up since the last snow fall, one day I'm out on the bike getting in some decent mileage and not really thinking too much about the winter, the next day it has arrived and its time to slide.

I'm available for private guiding/tuition days in December if anyone fancies hitting the slopes early but I'm not planning on running any scheduled courses so if you fancy an early season technique refresher or a day or two's Off piste/Backcountry warm up give us a shout.

Fantastic, might go back up tomorrow, well, the dog will obviously need to go out!

Neil.