Thursday 30 December 2010

Into the Groove again!

Just finished a 3 day Off Piste Clinic which was great fun, a great crew, great conditions and some great riding.

It's that time of year were I'm starting to get back in to the groove of everything, trying to fit in my personal training for the cycling season next year with my freeriding and guiding through out the winter.

I've been doing quite a bit of leg power work, Dec and Jan are my power up months, then I'll start to go more aerobic through out feb, March and April which also fits in nicely for the BC freeride and touring side of things.

I just have to make sure I don't do to much and just burn out, but at the moment things feel good, my legs are super strong and my riding feels better than ever!

Riding every day again takes quite a lot out of you. On the courses, we're riding morning through until last lift most of the time and so it's important to be prepared for the long days and keep yourself fuelled up through out the day.

My personal tip is some 'Science in Sport' energy mix in my drinks bottle and some energy Gels and Go bars in my pockets. At the end of the day I'm also drinking some 'SiS' rego for recovery straight after riding. Seems to be working!

Get yourself onto the 'SiS' website (link on home page) and get yourself some products to keep you going when the going gets tough!

Head honcho from 'Jones Snowboards' Robert Etienne joined us for a run down the Lognan's Glacier yesterday. He's a part time Chamonix local and so will be joining us now and then on a few of the courses here and there, picking up some feedback on the boards and getting out and about in the mountains on the Split board tip.

I received all my 'Jones Solution split boards' now, still waiting for a few parts for some, but I just set mine up and it is now ready to ride so I'm keen to get out touring on it this weekend, I fancy heading up the Argentiere Glacier to the 'Col du Tour Noire' or something like that if the weather stays stable.

Setting up and personalizing your Split board takes a little time. Make sure you read the tips that come with the 'Spark' bindings and be ready to take them apart to re-size then to your boots. I spent most of the morning getting it all set up and managed to get my perfect stance with out compromise and so am super keen to try it out.

I'll let you know how I get on and run a review once I've dialled it in.

I've also got my Flagships 163 and 168 XL's to pick up this evening so I'll give them a ride next week on the 5 day Tech clinic which starts on Monday. The Tech clinic runs through the Science behind perfect snowboard technique and runs from Piste to Off Piste. (Of course if the snow is good Off Piste, I scrap the on piste bit!)

I rode the Hovercraft again this week and am happy to say that it still feels amazing to ride, even with my heavy Backcountry pack on my back. Yesterday I had the full Glacier kit in there so this must add about 10kilos on my back and it was still stiff enough for the full mountain rip around, Nice!

Looking forward to getting out on the 168 Flagship, looks like it'll fly!

Most of the courses are now pretty full and some have waiting lists. We're always getting cancellations for one reason or another so keep checking back and let Ruth know what you're after if you're looking to try to get out this winter. I also have a week free at the end of March so have the possibility of putting on one more course so watch this space for details. Still trying to decide what course to run!

Right got to go pick up some boards in Cham so until the next time,

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Sunday 26 December 2010

Perfectly white Christmas!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Chamonix has once again turned back into a perfect winter wonderland with over 2 ft of snow fall in the valley over the Christmas weekend.

The forecast this week is for clear skies so perfect conditions for this weeks Off Piste clinic which kicks off tomorrow morning.

Christmas here was fantastic, Ruth threw her usual Christmas party which filled the house to over flowing and saw a rare visit from that other 'Jones' snowboarding character, the Jenny one (x factor winner!) who came over for a surprise visit with Tammy from Mint and then threw a sicky, not from drink I must add, our Jen was properly poorly and early to bed, but not until 'Urban Magik' Mike had baffled us all with some more insane magic, levitation and spoon bending feats.

On Christmas eve I drove over to the Nidecker factory where they make the Jones boards and picked up my test fleet of Solution Split boards. Still waiting for bindings and skins but things are coming together and I'll pick up my Flagships later today to complete my full Jones quiver of boards.

Perfect conditions out there today, blue skies and super light powder snow, nice! Nipped out for a few turns on my skis, great fun!

Back on the Hovercraft tomorrow for the Off Piste clinic, we'll do a bit of technique and run through the basics of how the board works, bio mechanics and control of speed and line. We'll run through some Avalanche search and rescue training and charge the back of Le Tour until darkness stops play.

My review of the Hovercraft earned a few links so check these out. (I'm still computor illiterate so you'll have to do the copy and paste thing).

http://chamonixinsider.com/2010/12/23/chamonix-gear-guide-jones-hovercraft/

http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/hovercraft/

All is good in Chamonix.

Neil.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Amazing!!!!

Oh my God!

Just back from a days charging steep and deep in the trees at Courmayeur on my new Jones Hovercraft 156!

I played around on this board a few days ago on hard pack and crud and it felt amazing. It carves like a big gun with the turn-ability of a 156!

I was pretty impressed.

Today, however, (the last day of my first course the 3 day tech clinic) I rode the Hovercraft in fresh untracked (and tracked) steep and deep powder in the trees in Courmayeur and I was just blown away!

I don't think I have ever ridden like that before. The speed and manoeuvre-ability through the tight trees was amazing. The stability in the powder, down pillow lines, drops, anything I could throw it at it just handled like nothing else I have ever ridden.

I seriously don't think snowboarding has ever felt that good and been that much fun!

I feel reborn!

For sure, check out the Jones Hovercraft!

This is a pure freeride board, not a one trick pony like the Burton fish or a swallow, this board can carve it up with the best on the hard pack, steep ice and blasts through the chop. In powder its simply comes into its own, its like standing on a big gun, floating on air and then you just tilt your front foot, slam the power into the tail and it changes direction like f**kin road runner, release the tail and it charges back into the fall line as you disappear into the wave of snow kicked up from your edge.

For me today is what snowboarding is all about, riding with a great crew who are all going for it and eager to learn, having a good laugh in the process and riding some amazing snow. As a bonus, Courmayeur was pretty much deserted except for a few other Chamonix guides skiing with clients.

Well done to the guys this week, they have worked hard, improved loads and reaped the rewards.

Nice one!

Looking forward to trying the Jones Flagships 163 and 168 which should arrive Friday.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Keeping up with the Jones!

Just back from a days riding with Freeride legend Jeremy Jones in Saas Fee.

I drove over early this morning to hook up with Jeremy for a ride before the Jones Snowboards sales meeting that took place in the afternoon and had a great charge around with him testing out next years boards.

Next years Jones line up looks very nice. Not many changes really, a few tweaks here and there, a couple of new sizes and obviously new graphics. Very nice!

I picked up a Jones Hovercraft, which is really short at 156! But which Jeremy says I'll love swearing that it rides like a much bigger board so we'll see.

Although this is obviously a purpose built powder powder it has a very stiff tail with good side cut and so is meant to be pretty good on hard pack to and so not to be categorized with the Burton fish, which was a bit of a one trick pony.

Anyway, I'm going ot get it drilled up for my massive stance (which will put one foot on the tip and the other on the tail and i'll give it a shot. It's a great looking bit of kit so I'm intrigued to see if it will work for me.

I also grabbed a Solution split board and so will get this up and running sometime in the next week or so and my flagships should be here sometime next week.

Very exciting!

Whilst I've been off riding, Ruth has been busy filling in and updating spaces on the courses!

A space has come available on the 3 day Off Piste Clinic on the 27th Dec, so in a couple of weeks.

A space is available on the last BC Intro 4th April.

There's a space come up on the BC touring week in April.

And a space is available on the Greenland trip 22nd April to 5 May.

So not much left but keep checking back as people seem to be dropping like flies over there in the UK with all that ice around!

I have our first course starting next week, my holidays are nearly over and the serious work of more snowboarding must begin.

Oh well, good job I love it!

All is good in Chamonix.

Neil.

Monday 13 December 2010

Charging!

Had a great 'Ski' over in Avoriaz this weekend.

It's pretty icy over there but on two planks it was super fun just carving massive high speed Arcs from top to bottom everywhere. My legs felt super strong (well for a while anyway), it took me back to my ski racing days, pulling massive G's out of big GS turns...Fantastic!

It's amazing how much snow disappeared with all the rain last week! Morzine was looking a little green!

The Grand Montets is still fun, good snow up high but getting a little icy on the pistes in places due to traffic. Still fun up there though.

Le Tour looks like it'll be up and running, the grass underneath means the snow base doesn't need to be deep up there. Same sort of deal here in Les Houches, where they now have the snow cannons running 24/7.

Not sure about Flegere, it looked like there wasn't so much snow over there (when viewed from the GMontets) lots of drainage ditches showing through, but I'm sure they'll sort something out. Brevent, is kind of the same deal as Flegere, I imagine they'll get the basic pistes open but we definitely need some snow soon.

The good news is that its forecast to snow next weekend! Not sure if this is just a tourist forecast to keep us optimistic, but I'm going to start getting excited about it anyway!

bring it on.

Beautiful sunny day today, I burnt my legs out a bit yesterday (Skiing burns the thighs in completely different places to snowboarding) so today I'll get the bike out down the valley and have a bit of a spin before hitting some sprint intervals! You know what they say, 'a change is as good as a rest!' and 'No pain no gain!'.

Actually I don't think they say that anymore, with all the sports science research kicking around these days, I think in fact when you're tired they even advise a bit of rest and recovery!

What!

With all this fun stuff to do!

They also say 'no rest for the wicked!'

And I'm having wicked fun so its out on the bike later then and I'll be back on the board tomorrow. After all, I've just spent a good hour in the indoor office already this week, don't want to over do it!

All is good, get out there and get physical you lot, we got work to do this winter!

But be careful on those Mtn Bikes when riding on the ice!

No more cancellations through injury please.

All is good in Chamonix1

Neil

Thursday 9 December 2010

New Avalanche article on line!

I've just finished a new article on Avalanches which is now on line on the www.mcnabsnowboarding web site in the 'our library' section.

I'd post a link to it here but am technology illiterate so you'll have to just go find it!

I've also posted a heap of other articles that I've written over the years but not always up loaded so check them out.

Neil.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

I love Snowboarding!

After all the amazing snow last week we've just had 2 miserable days of rain.

Boo!

Ok, well it's not that bad, it kind of settled the snowpack a little, as in everything slid!

We've had loose snow avalanches to full depth low down in the valley and a massive assortment of Slab avalanches up high.


This doesn't look so big but that crown wall is 2 meters high!



Just below the top of the Herse on the Grand Montets there are an assortment of perfect example slab avalanches.

You can just see the rocks on the scoured ridge above and how the slope has been cross loaded over the ridge.

A scoured ridge above a sheltered wind loaded slope with a 2 meter crown wall and perfectly smooth sliding surface presented by the old snow surface, affected by the cold clear days in November.

The Face on the Glacier above the Herse has also slid with massive crown walls and over towards the Chardonnet there are perfect examples of loose snow slides starting on steep rocky buttresses and triangulating outwards until channeled into the valley through the gullies below. Low down these are full depth, so its interesting to be able to see the affect of altitude on the Avalanche activity with the colder temperatures higher up affecting the snowpack very differently from lower down.

I've just been writing about all of this stuff this last week, so it was interesting to see it all on the mountain exactly as it should be after a big snow storm, some wind affect and then a massive temperature increase.

Not all the snow dissapeared though and up on the Herse I scored some really nice turns down the face under the chair lift. I'm not really into riding Off Piste so much at this time of year because the snowpack is still quite thin, but here with a little caution there was some very nice riding to be found.

Ruth came up with and rode the Grand Montets for the first time in 8 years! Is that's what having kids does to your riding? It was the first time we'd ridden together in 8 years as its the first year that both our girls are in school and we could both find a little time to go play.

We had a great day and I'm happy to say she can still ride very well so if you're calling up for info or bookings be ready for her to rabbit on about how good she is!

I was out riding on my new Jones 164 Wide All mountain Twin for the first time. It's a really nice board to play around on, super easy to turn.

It has camber under foot and rocker tip and tail which helps it just float effortlessly in the powder but it also brings the turn initiation points (contact point) closer to your feet. This makes turn initiation super easy and it took me a little while to work out that I didn't need to move pressure so far up the board to start the turn. The rocker makes it initiate turns like a much shorter board but then once its in the turn and on the edge you have the full edge length coming into play so it has the stability of the given length.

Its a nice concept and it seems to work well.

For me and my wide 70cm stance the 164 is about as small a board as I'd go and I found it lacking in stability at super high speed which is where the Flagship comes into play. For an 'All mountain' board for jibbing about on though it does exactly what it says on the packet!

My legs felt super strong, I've been stacking in the squat sessions and building up some leg power on the turbo and it seems to be paying off with top to bottom runs not a problem!

Anyway, we had a great day and I came of the hill super stoked about the season ahead.

Yeah, I am just loving Snowboarding right now and there's more snow and even some sun on its way for the weekend.

We've had a few spaces come available this last week due to cancellation. You guys need to be more careful riding your bikes on all that snow and Ice over there in the UK, you should know better!

Check out the updates and availability (www.mcnabsnowboarding.com) and also I've been getting quite a few inquiries for the Q&A blog so check those out though the link on the web site home page.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Sunday 5 December 2010

Chamonix is open!

These days will come soon eneough!

So Chamonix, or the Grand Montets, is open for business as of this weekend and its official the winter season 2010/11 has begun.

I headed up there today for a quick slide around and am happy to report that the conditions are good, well on the piste at least, very good!

It's that time of year where the Off Piste looks pretty good but there is still very little base to the snowpack and hidden just underneath is a jagged, spikey rock garden just waiting to bite your board and your ass, so beware!

Of course this being Chamonix, there are tracks absolutely everywhere and because of this a lot of the rocks are now visible as excited seasonaires have ridden over and into them, I'd hate to have seen the state of some peoples new boards and skiers after yesterday, the first day of opening after last weeks storms!

For me, I look forward to the long season ahead. There's going to be plenty of time to mix it up out there and I'm happy to bide my time and just play around the pistes until the snow base gets deeper and all the rocks are filled in and well covered. For me, this is the time to focus on the feelings of riding, get the control and precision back in your feet and perfect your technique. Its time to play around and jib it up a little here and there but definitely I'll leave the cranking it up Off Piste until we've had a couple more big storms come our way.

For the time of year, the conditions are great1 It looks like we're going to get some milder weather coming our way and some rain quite high up. In a way this isn't a bad thing as it will consolidate the snowpack and melt out any dangerous hoar crystals that might be growing in there due to the cold conditions and the shallow snowpack (faceting through temperature gradient metamorphisis for the snow geeks!)

It's due to get colder again afterward so snow should follow the wet weather and conditions should just get better and better from here on in.

I picked up a Jones 164 Wide 'All mountain Twin' yesterday and so will try it out over the next couple of days, really looking forward to it.

I hear that the Jones boards are now arriving in the UK, so all of you that have ordered them through our TSA deal should be getting hold of them any day now.

I've also updated a few changes to the course bookings as we had a cancellation on a couple of spots so check out the latest course news.

Busy writing BC safety articles at the moment for various sources, some of which I'll post on the site once they're free from the publishers.

Time to get excited, bring it on!

Neil.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Snow and more snow!

Bring it on!

It seems like its been snowing pretty much everywhere this last week! From what I've seen on the news, the UK is pretty much snowed under and most of France was in similar chaos as massive winter storms swept across the country.

Chamonix has received loads of snow, around 50cm here in the valley and it looks like the perfect start of another great winter!

The Grand Montets is to open again this weekend and the word on the street is that it might stay open for the season if the conditions allow!

After 2 days of digging, wading around with the dog, powder sledging with the kids and skidding around in the car, it has cleared up again today and from the office window I can see the Midi towering up there in all its glory covered in a deep blanket of snow. The sun is coming up behind it lighting the snow blowing over the ridge at the top like a halo. It looks amazing!

The Midi is unfortunately closed at the moment but with this much snow in the valley you can pretty much ski anywhere at the moment as long as you don't mind a bit of a walk. Tomorrow I'll skin up to the top of Les Houches or the Grand Montets and see if I can get Ruth out with me for a bit of a slide around.

I've just updated some questions on the Question and answer blog, 'Ask Neil' on the home page and the 'latest course updates' as I think someone has transferred from an early course to a later one, anyway there's a space come up on a BC Intro in Jan and I think there's a couple more single spaces on 2 other BC Intro's in March and April. If anyone is interested, get in touch with Ruth asap as I don't think they'll be available for long!

I've also booked my tickets for Greenland, very exciting! There's a space available on this trip if anyone fancies joining us on a very Jeremy Jones, 'Deeper' style adventure.

I'm hopefully picking up a Jones 'All mountain Twin' 164 at the weekend so I'm looking forwards to giving that a bit of a rip around. A lot of you have taken advantage of the Jones deal we have running through the TSA but I don't think anyone has received boards as yet!

Don't worry, there is a bit of a delay due to the massive demand but I have it from the factory that all orders will be supplied as soon as possible and before the winter fully gets into gear.

My bike is now firmly attached to the Turbo trainer and I've started training for leg power with lots of squats to compliment the cardio work I've been doing. Need to get on top of the stretching a bit but feeling pretty good and ready to go.

Wow, full clear skies outside now, looks beautiful so I've got to get out there.

I need that feeling of powering deep turns in feather light powder! You remember it? If not I'll describe it to you after this weekend!

Get ready!

Neil.

Saturday 27 November 2010

And we're off! Chamonix is open for business!!

Looking forward to some of this. Heading down Glacier Midi des Grandes with about 3km of untracked still to go!

The Grand Montets has finally opened for the the first weekend of the winter and the 2010/11 season is officially a go!

We've had some pretty good snowfall this last week and the whole valley is in full winter cloak. We're now into that final prep period before everything goes full speed a head and those little jobs that didn't get done, (like washing the van for example as it would now just freeze) are no longer a priority on the list and anything that got left outside is now buried and of no concern until the spring.

My bike is now firmly attached to the Turbo trainer in my newly renovated Garage/Gym (my successful Autumn project), my summer guiding kit is packed away and the winter goodies are getting ready to rock.

Yep! From now on its all about the ride and the slide!

One of the best gadgets I have received so far this winter is the new Ortovox 3+ transceiver. A very nice bit of kit, simple and quick to use, very efficient and powerful and it comes as a nice tidy package. It uses some thing that Ortovox call a smart antenna so as to always give and receive the strongest signal however the transceiver is orientated, especially useful in a burial!

Seems, very good for single and multiple signal searches, does just what it needs to do and nothing more so stays simple to use when everything around you might be getting a bit hectic!

Definitely the best transceiver I've come across in recent years and the one that will be firmly attached to me for this coming season. If you're looking at getting yourself kitted up for the Backcountry this winter then this is one bit of kit that I'd definitely recommend you put at the top of your list!


Ortovox 3+ very nice, check it out!


There is also a special Ortovox deal available to anyone booked on one of our courses and the Ortovox range of outerwear and merino wool layers are also very tidy!

This offer is only available to those that are currently booked on one of our courses this winter and if you want more info then give Ruth a shout.

Loads of you have also taken advantage of the Jones Snowboards deal we have running through the TSA so it looks like there will quite a few of us powering around on the Flagship.

Again an amazing bit of kit which is making me smile even whilst I'm busy writing in the office! If anyone wants more info on the Jones Snowboard deal and haven't had the info then please get in touch with Ruth. (Again this offer is only available to those that are currently booked on one of our courses this winter).

Well, its dumping with snow again out there so it's looking like the start of the winter that we've all been hoping for. Hope you're all getting excited about it, getting your fitness up, powering up the legs and feeling ready for some steep and deep.

All is good in Chamonix,

Neil.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

More Snow in the valley, is this it?

Twin peaks tower above the sea ice and a frozen in place Iceberg, Liverpool land, Greenland.

It's dumping again in the Chamonix valley, however we had a mild spell last week and so most of the snow from the previous snowfall had melted away. I managed to get a couple of great days out on the bike, down the valley in glorious sunshine and 17C temps!

It's obviously got colder again and the forecast looks like its set to keep coming, snow is forecast for the next few days and then again after the weekend.

The Grand Montets was set to open last weekend but the snowpack was deemed to be to thin between 2500m and 2000m and so the opening has been delayed. Maybe this weekend things will be different after this latest storm.

The snow has just stopped falling at the moment and through the office window the Aiguille du Midi has appeared, beautifully white and ghost like against the white storm clouds behind. Very atmospheric and not a bad view for a morning in the office.

I've just updated and put details of the Greenland trip on line www.mcnabsnowboarding.com so check it out.

Check out the faces on these peaks, now that's what I'm talking about! Liverpool land, Greenland.

This trip will be very much a Jeremy Jones 'Deeper' style trip, using the Jones 'Solution' Splitboards to access, explore and ride the massive potential that the east Coast location of Liverpool land has to offer.

A massive amount of riding potential, Liverpool land, Greenland.

24 hour sunlight and endless possibilities. Liverpool land Greenland.


Imagine having an area the size of the Mont Blanc massif with Verbier, Zermatt, Sass fee and the Aosta Valley added on, all this area to yourselves and mostly never snowboarded in, and you're beginning to get the picture.

Winter is a coming, can you feel it?

All is good,

Neil.

Monday 8 November 2010

Ok, its official, winter is here!

Ok, it's snowing, getting deep and and the kids are sledging to school, it's official, winter has arrived.

Time for me to start getting all my winter kit out, both for myself and the winter courses, I need to get the snow tyres back out and on the vehicles and generally get ready for 5 months of deep snow and winter whiteness.

I've just been going through the final details for the Greenland expedition this coming April/May. All is looking good now and I'm already very excited about this trip.

We'll basically use ski doo access to journey into a massive isolated mountain range in the area known as Liverpool land.

We'll build a self contained base camp and hike, ride, climb and explore the area and peaks surrounding our base.

We're talking steep and deep with a difference, ice bergs, frozen seas, midnight sun and endless peaks. We'll access everything by foot, splitboard, snowshoes or crampons and ride first descents every day in true Jones 'Deeper' style.

This will be the 2nd trip I've run to the east coast of Greenland but to a completely different area with a completely different feel. A bit more 'out there' and a bit more 'massive' in terms of terrain and potential.

Yep, I'm looking forward to this one already!

Well, I can just about still get out on my bike if I drive down the valley, but it is starting to get a bit colder now even down there and the snow line is creeping ever downward. Might have to resort to the turbo trainer in the Garage soon, nah, I'll keep braving the cold till snow changes play.

Looks like I'll be able to get out touring before too long if this snow keeps on falling. Amazing, I hadn't really thought about it all yet, up until 2 days ago I was still focused totally on riding ,my bike and now its looking like I'll be hiking and riding before you know it.

I hope the split boards arrive soon!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Sunday 31 October 2010

Back in chamonix!

Getting Deeper on a BC Freeride course as the 3 P's approach the summit of the Dome du Miage.

Just back in the Chamonix valley after a fantastic 2 week break to the sea and sun.

We'll be starting to get things together now for the final run in to the winter season, the office has been closed for the past 2 weeks so Ruth will be trawling through all the email inquiries that came in whilst we were away this next week and I'll start making my final preps for the coming winter.

Just before we left I attended the premier showing of the new Jeremy Jones movie, 'Deeper' at the cinema in Chamonix, presented by the man himself, Mr Jeremy Jones who I had a good chat with before the showing.

We had a good chat about future projects both with filming for his next movie and developing our alliance for working together in the future with some very exciting possibilities both for me and for you guys if all goes well. He has asked me to look out for prime locations for filming for the next Deeper project so if the snow is good in Greenland this year I'll be scouting far and wide whilst out there in May.

Anyone who hasn't seen the 'Deeper' movie should definitely give it a look. Very inspirational and very slightly mad at times, some steep and deep like never filmed or ridden before in insanely desolate locations. Our very own Photographer (my neighbour here in Chamonix) Dan Milner makes a short appearance and was also there in the evening to help present the film. Dan has been shooting regularly with Jeremy over the past few years and was on location in Alaska for some of the 'Deeper' filming living life through one of the most insane snow storms you'll ever see on film. The tents just simply get buried in the snow.

It reminded me of our trip to Russia one year when we had 6 meters of snow fall in 5 days!
Luckily for us we weren't tent bound and the lifts were running!

We came back to Chamonix to find snow along the side of the roads, a sign that the snow ploughs had been out whilst we were away! The mountains have good cover, Mont Joly over les Contamines way is covered nicely so there's snow lying well below 2000m. Not enough to get the skins out yet but its definitely coming. Its a bit milder today however so I'll get out on my bike and get some miles in the legs after my 2 week respite. I know that it will feel hard but the rewards are always worth the effort and I need to start getting my legs ready for the long winter ahead.

Ok, enough of my ramblings for now. If you're coming out on a course this winter start waxing your board and get your fitness on the go, no slacking, we have work to do this season!

Anyone waiting for an e-mail reply will hear from Ruth in the next day or two. Looks like there's a lot of inquiries and not many places left, I'll up date the course availability info once I know more and you can check the New 'latest info' box on the home page for the latest updates.

that's all for now!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Friday 8 October 2010

Perfect Autumn, winters coming!





Already dreaming of those deep powder turns!

It's Autumn here in the Chamonix Valley, the trees are turning their amazing colours, the skies are clear, the air is fresh and there's no one around. The Mountains are winter white for climbing, the roads are clear for cycling and there's a whole winters snowboarding waiting just around the corner.

It's quite simply the perfect time of year!

The last few spaces on courses are booking up and the winter is looking great. Its the time of year when I start to get all the winter kit together, new kit starts to turn up and I turn around my summer Guiding kit to my winter riding kit. It's always quite exciting, even after over 20 years of riding, to get the new kit through the door and it makes me dream of those deep powder turns that I know are coming.

I think back to last season, the almost weekly days of fast close lines through the steep trees in Courmayeur, the deep and steep bottomless turns down the Plan Joran couloir on the Adavnced BC, a just reward after a well over grown commando access route. Deep turns in the Valley Blanche around the Rognon and cheater access powder off the top of the Grand Montets. Perfect powder off the Grand Autannes down to Trient, easy access turns off the back of Le Tour and great days hiking and touring in both the Chamonix massif and further a field.

I remember touring with Alistair from the Monestary at the Col du Grandes St Bernard, sinking deep in the soft snow with our Snowshoes and heavy packs as the Ski tourers whistled past. I remember looking at the terrain there, how amazing it all looked but so in accessible on snowshoes and the idea for the Splitboard courses starting to fill my thoughts. I look back on an amazing season of riding, great groups, good laughs (well for me anyway) and new friends.

So now Winter is just around the corner and yes, we get to do it all over again. I look forward to those first early season tours up to the Tete du Balme before the lifts start running, normally on skis but maybe this year on a splitboard.
Those first cold shaded December days up on the Grand Montets, bumping into all the usual faces all wearing their shiny new kit and trying out their new ski or boards. All strapping or stepping in for the first time in a long while, waiting for that familiar feeling to return, will it? Wont it?

My first course, the 3 day Tech clinic, always a good one to start off with as it makes me concentrate on my own riding as well as exploring the riding of those in the group and sets me up well for the season. The snow base is coming and but early season forays off piste must be limited due to the rocks now hidden just underneath and we wait for the first big winter snowfall.

January, time to sneak in some early Off Piste powder turns.

January is coming, cold days, cold snow, great pistes and the Off Piste is coming into condition. Courmayeur is getting good, so is Le Tour and Flegere is on its way. I've toured in the Berard Valley in early January in the past and Glacier Toule is now coming into perfect condition as February approaches.

February and the riding is endless!

February, the first big winter snows have laid down their base and the riding is endless, the crowds start to arrive and its time for us to head out into the Backcountry, to find the peace and calm and fresh lines that await.

March is time for getting up high!

March and the days are getting longer, the snow base is perfect and the Glaciers are now in condition and offering up their goods.

April, time of frequent snows and unlimited touring!

April is coming, long days, frequent snowfall and amazing touring conditions for those with the inkling. This is the time for exploring and venturing off to new areas and new adventures.
May is on the horizon and the air is getting warm, the snow is turning to spring corn, great fun to ride and everyone is looking sun kissed and relaxed. Powder snow mornings draw us up high into the Valley Blanche where the snow is still great.
The touring season is in full swing and Mont Blanc is covered in fresh lines as I pack my kit and head off for Greenland.

Damian nears another virgin peak in Greenland.

Away from the crowds once again, surrounded by mountains and frozen seas and little else. Life is simple here, we sleep, we eat, we maintain the camp, we play and we ride and nothing else really matters. A simple survive and explore mentality takes over, everyday offers us something new, a new peak, a new valley, a new descent and every evening brings us that satisfied feeling of a day well spent and the anticipation of the adventure to come.

Yep, the winter is coming, its just around the corner. So much to do before hand but so much to look forward to, so let your mind wonder and start dreaming of those deep turns, those days out hiking amongst the hike peaks and those adventures to come.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

The Winter is coming!



Riding up to the col du Vars - day 3 Chamonix/Nice GPM10


I'm just back from 2 more cycling trips with GPM10, the first, the Tour des Grandes Alpes saw us ride the famous Tour du France climb of Alpes D'Huez before we then headed off down to Nice again. Some bad weather and cold conditions plagued us on the first couple of days and then as we hit the Med the temps soared and the sun shone. Another great ride and the fitness was starting to show its face.

Straight after this we headed over to Biarittz on the West coast from where we rode across the Pyrenees on a Coast to Coast trip ending up back at the Med. The climbs through the Pyrenees are generally steeper than the climbs in the Alpes but shorter and with my biking fitness coming on form I really enjoyed the terrain down there and felt strong in my legs, fast in sprints and strong on the climbs. I suddenly found myself able to follow strong riders up hill where normally I'd have been dropped behind, I even got to the top of some good climbs in contention and sprinted for glory on a couple of nasty mountain top finishes and roads sign sprints against riders that would normally have left me spitting dust.

The form feels good so something is working!

Again the weather was a bit mixed for the first couple of days with some of the peaks around 3000m getting some snow and temps of around 2C in the mornings. As we hit the Med again the temps were higher and the sun began to shine. It was a great 4 day trip, hard riding and a great group of guys.

I'm now back in Chamonix, so catching up in the office and I'll obviously be getting out on my bike as much as possible with friends and hitting some of the local rides to try to keep my form progressing and prepare my legs for the winter season.

As we drove back up from the South I was amazed to see how much snow had fallen on the peaks above Grenoble, Chamrousse looked winter white! And with the peaks around Chamonix being quite a bit higher and slightly further North I was quite interested to see how conditions would be looking this far ahead of the start of the winter.

The view up to Mont Blanc from lac du Passy today. Dome du Miage looking winter white on the right with the classic Armencet Glacier descent visible in the sunlight far right.

Today, has turned into one of those prefect Autumnal days where the sky is clear blue, the sunlight low and bright and the trees are just starting to turn. The mountains however are in winter shape! Snow down to the Mid station of the Midi and on the peaks of the Aiguille rouge and the peaks of the Fiz across the valley from us and above Servoz. This snow will melt back but the Aiguille du Gouter is deep in winter snow and the Glaciers are looking well covered and really winter white.

Beautiful, and I must say a little bit exciting already on the start of the run up to winter!

Course bookings have been flying in whilst I've been away! Ruth just took 5 seperate individual provisional bookings in the car whilst we were driving up from walking the dog around the lac du Passy! I've not updated the web site yet but things are looking pretty full now and there's already waiting lists forming on quite a few courses, especially Tech Clinics and Off Piste clinics which I think is a good sign that people are really starting to take an interest in how they ride and in their progression, Good on you!

I've also just changed the new BC Freeride course to a BC Intro course 4th to 8th of April as all the BC Intros are already full and have been for a while now and interest is high! Its a good time of year for BC riding so if you've been waiting for info on BC intro spaces give Ruth a call or send in a booking form. (www.mcnabsnowboarding.com)

I've also just recieved a load of info and photos of the area we'll be exploring on the Greenland expedition 22nd April to the 5th May and it looks amazing so I'll post some shots and info for the trip in my next post. I think there is now only 1 space left on the Greenland trip.

Anyway, all is good in Chamonix!

Start getting excited, the winter is a coming!

Neil.

Thursday 16 September 2010

New BC (classic) Freeride course on line!

Just back from a 4 day cycling trip from Chamonix to Nice with GPM10.

the weather was excellent for the trip and as we are now into the inter season in September the roads were exceptionally quiet making for a great trip and some quality riding.

The air is getting noticably cooler out here now, the snow is creeping down the mountain and sticking around and the Glaciers have that winter fresh whiteness about them. The Autumn colours are on their way and you can almost smell the winter approaching.

I've just put on a new course at the begining of April.

Due to popular demand, I have now added another classic BC Freeride course from the 4th to the 8th of April. The idea behind the classic BC Freeride course is riding, riding and more riding, so check out the web site at www.mcnabsnowboarding.com and go to the courses page for more info and to make a booking.

We now have about 16 spaces available on courses for this winter so if you are planing on joining one of our weeks then fill out the relevent booking form and send it in to Ruth asap.

A lot of you have been taking advantage of the 15% off Jones Snowboards deal through the TSA so a lot of you should be powder hungry this coming season. I'm getting very excited about riding the new Flagship with its big mountain freeride shape, design and feel and also looking forwards to getting out on the Solution splitboard and exploring all the possibilities that this mode of BC access will open up for snowboarding. Yep, very excited indeed!

Anyway, I leave this afternoon for another bike trip to Nice. This time we start with the ascent of the road up to Aples d' Huez which was made famous by the Tour de france and is I suppose thee classic alpine hill climb for road cycling. We will then ride through the Alpes following the tour des Grandes Alpes route finishing once more in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais right on the sea front. Following this I head over to Biarritz on the West coast from where we'll be riding back across to the Cote d' azure through the Pyrenees which should be beautiful at this time of year and which have just seen the passing of the Vuelta d' Espania cycling tour.

My legs are starting to feel cycling fit again after a busy period of guiding off the bike and up in the peaks of Chamonix. I broke the cranks off my bike last week which is either a testimont to my leg strength or just a show of my bad maintenance skills, I suspect unfortunately it is the latter and fortunately the incident occurred once we had arrived in the city of Nice and so I could scoot to the sea front and the hotel.

Ok, I'll be away now until the end of the month so in the mean time start making your winter fitness preperations, get those squats going and get out on your bike or running so there's none of that, 'I was going to get fit' excuses this winter. Ruth has also reminded me to inform you that we'll be away towards the end of October for 10 days (holiday!) so during this period the office will be closed (we'll post more info for this nearer the time).

Right, back to it!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Friday 10 September 2010

Greenland! peaks, snow, sea ice and Polar bears.

Greenland... The Fine Art of Polar bear evasion!

The Northern lights lit up the skies for about an hour every night from bang on 8pm.

We gaze down into another untouched valley, no houses, no settlements, no tracks, just mountain peaks, Snow and Ice and in the distance the frozen sea and towering ice bergs that look like super tankers lining up to come into port.

Every now and then we come across paw prints in the snow, small animals such as arctic fox live here in this frozen winter wilderness, other animals must also live here, the foxes must eat something but so far we've seen nothing.

Damian arrives at another unridden summit.

We scale peaks and feast on the amazing views that fill the skyline in every direction. From these high vantage points we plan out further peaks to climb and tours to follow, big loops that will give us great riding, high peaks and that will explore the unknown and open up even more possibilities for the oncoming days. If we have planned it right our loops bring us back via a final ride down the wide open and completely smooth Glacier to where we are camped a few hundred meters above the sea ice, a few small sleeping tents surrounding our big communal mess tent. Tiny dots amongst this immense landscape but a reasonably comfortable home on the ice for us during our visit to this amazing and relatively still unexplored country.

Unexplored valleys and peaks surround us and big descents are to be found everywhere!

As we reach a new summit or crest a new ridge and look down into another new untouched and unexplored valley we all scan the landscape for signs of life. Amongst the Whiteness we scan for signs of the Polar bear. The local Inuits have warned us of their ferocity and recommended that we carry a rifle with us at all times. Whilst we would all love to see one out here in the wilds we all also know that if we were to come across one, even at a great distance, the bear would already have us in his sights and would be hunting us having been able to smell us and our camp from many miles away. Back at camp we make jokes about how the bear could just simply cover his eyes and nose and sit outside the tent invisible. The clever bear would watch our activity and then simply hide behind the giant boulder and wait for us one by one to go over to the toilet there. Apparently the Polar bear is a cunning hunter, once he's on your scent there's nothing much going to put him off and the thin walls of the tent aren't going to slow him down so much.

We have a shot gun, which we have decided not to carry with us but which is close at hand in the camp. When we're out we carry flares, something to distract and give us a bit of time. Apparently every bear loves to watch a good firework show before lunch and anyway, we don't all have to be able to outrun the bear, the real competition is amongst out group, we only have to be able to out run or out ride each other. The old joke about the guy putting on his trainers in front of a hungry lion and his friend saying, 'you won't out run a Lion mate!' to which he replies,'I don't need to out run the lion dummy, I only need to be faster than you!' runs pretty true here too.

Apparently if a Polar bear wanders towards camp we should first fire a warning shot whilst it is still some distance away. If it continues to approach, calmly reload, wait until the bear rears up at close quarters and then shoot it calmly in the chest for the kill shot. When weighing up the possibilities of this or popping a quick shot into the leg of the slowest member of the team whilst running away the odds for taking on the bear aren't the best option. I decide to keep the shot gun hidden away pretty close to me, all of the team are pretty fit and quick off the mark so I need to keep the advantage.

Obviously I'm joking right!

This years Greenland trip. scheduled for the end of the season, early May, will see us explore a new area some 800km further North into the Arctic circle than our last trip in the region known as Liverpool land. Accessed by a full days Skidoo journey, our tent village base camp will provide us with a home for 8 days of hiking, riding and exploration in this rarely explored and far less ridden landscape.

After our last amazing trip to explore a tiny piece of this incredible land I simply knew that I'd have to go back and so have been busy working out the logistics for this new trip ever since. As with all our courses for the coming winter, places on the Greenland trip have been quickly filling up and only 2 places now remain.
So if you have a sense for adventure, a quest for exploration are fast on your feet and have a good pair of running shoes give us a call, but remember this...

McNab on Polar bear watch

...the shot gun is mine!

I'm only joking of course!

All is good in Chamonix,

Neil.

Friday 3 September 2010

Perfect conditions for my last MB of the summer!

The sun sets over Glacier du Tour.

I'm just down from my last Mont Blanc of the summer season.

Dev and Kris all emotional on the summit of Mont Blanc!


My self, Dev Nayak and his brother Kris set off from the first lift off the Aig du Midi at 8:10am yesterday with clear skies and a great weather forecast and headed up over Mont Blanc du Tacul (icy lower down but good up high, the crevasse that needed a ladder for crossing has now started to close and a bridge has formed) over Mont Maudit which was in great condition (the final steep ice wall is quite technical but has good steps in the ice) and then through the col du Brenva, up the mur di Cote and the final slog up to the summit where we stood at around 3pm.

It was quite windy up high and cold but never too bad and we had the summit to ourselves before descending down the classic route to the Gouter refuge from which we descended this morning.

Petite Fourche, the first alpine summit for Dev and Kris!

Prior to the ascent we had perfect conditions climbing the Petite Fourche and the Aiguille du Tour for the acclimatization training days.

Early days and big smiles on the way up to the Petite Fourche with the Chardonnet in the background.

Dev and Kris are both new to mountaineering, Dev having experienced some high mountain pursuits on a BC Snowboard course last winter. After 300m of ascent on Mont Blanc du Tacul Kris stopped and said 'enough is enough, I feel terrible!' to which I replied, 'remember this feeling, its the best you're going to feel all day!' Yep, mountaineering is such an enjoyable experience and that's why we do it.

Anyway, they both dug in deep and after a 7 hour ascent stood on the top of Mont Blanc in perfect conditions so nice one guys, a great effort!

Mont Blanc is, I think, one of the most under rated mountains in the Alps. I often hear people saying that it's not that hard and not technical etc. I've been to the summit near on 60 times now and not once have I stood up there and thought, wow that was easy! Anyone who has actually climbed it will attest to the hard work involved in climbing it, only those that haven't been to the summit will ever say that it is easy. Its a high mountain and in perfect conditions its hard work but quite straight forward technically. However, the conditions are often harsh and changeable and its very often a serious mountain with a hard earned summit. If you want to climb it don't under estimate the effort involved!

Tomorrow we'll go and climb in the Aiguille Rouge before the guys head off tomorrow night. After that I'll be back out on the bike to get fit for the coming tours that I'm riding with GPM10 and maybe I'll do the Les Houch'ard time trial on Sunday if I can fit it in.

Looks like we're in for a bit of an Indian summer, it beautiful out here at the moment so should be a great Autumn.

Ruth is busy taking bookings for the coming winter and tells me that another 3 courses are provisionally full and just awaiting deposits before I can take them off line. Quite a few people are now taking advantage of the 15% off Jones Snowboards deal through the TSA so it looks like a few of us will be riding the same boards next winter.

I'm really looking forward to this coming winter now, last season was so much fun and next season has so much potential! It feels like things are starting a fresh each year, my enthusiasm just keeps on growing as we explore new places and new levels of riding.

I'm looking forward to blasting through the trees in Courmayeur, digging deep fresh turns at the back of Le Tour. I'm looking forward to exploring new hiking possibilities with the Jones Split board and accessing new areas of endless untracked fresh. I'm excited about riding the classics down to Trient, Col du Passon, Pas du Chevre and dropping over into the Berard Valley by one of the big cols like the Belvedere or the Beaugean. Deep turns await in the Valley blanche, over on the helbronner and up the Argentiere Glacier to access the likes of the Glacier du Tour Noire which is perfect for a day out on a split board.

Then there's all the new spots to explore given the right conditions and this is going to be the season of getting out there and getting the goods.

Yep I'm well excited about the coming snowboard season so I hope you're all feeling the vibe and getting in shape ready to get the goods.

Of course, that's all along way off yet so time to get out on the bike and get some good pure down to earth suffering done first, in a good way of course!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Saturday 28 August 2010

Is it Winter or is it Summer?

Sunset from the Trient refuge before climbing the Aiguille du Tour (far Left) the following morning.

The temperatures and weather continues to jump between winter and summer out here in Chamonix on a daily basis.

The 166km Ultra Trail run that circumnavigates Mont Blanc started out last night in pouring rain and with wintery showers forecast all night, was canceled by the time the first competitors reached St Gervais due to dropping temps, mud slides and flooding. Nice!

Moody skies but beautiful colours over the Midi as we descend from the Tete Rousse.

I've just finished a 6 day Mont Blanc course which due to Strong winds high up never got higher than the Tete Rousse refuge.

Via Ferrata day down the valley at Passy.

We still had a great week however with an ascent of the Petite Fourche, the Aig du Tour in perfect condition on a perfect day, a Point Lachenal and a Via Ferrata day down the valley to finish.

I've just sneaked in a couple of days training on my bike, it feels hard again after not riding much but also good in a painful torture endurance kind of way, those who ride know what I mean!

I bumped in to fellow Guide, Jonnie Baird out on the bike yesterday evening, he's trying to get me to enter the local race up the Vaudagne, a hill climb time trial called the Les Houch'ard. The clue is in the title!

We rode it yesterday to try it out, I came in at 18mins 30 and I think the fastest time is closer to 14 mins! Obviously being a big guy, I'm more of a rouleur than a hill climber so I'll put it down to my size (and get out training every moment I get!!)

The time trial is next weekend, but I'm up the hill for the previous 6 days for another Mont Blanc week, this time with Dev Nayak and his brother Kris. Some of you might know Dev from Snowboard courses last winter. The weather is a bit mixed over the first few days with snow forecast down to 2000m but getting better after.

Snow to 2000m at the end of August, what's going on????

It's time to loan out your copy of Al Gore's movie 'The Inconvenient Truth' the World is trying to tell us something.

Following this MB week I am then working for GPM10 on my bike for 3 tours, the first is a Chamonix/Nice ride (which I did last year as a client with Andy Cook), the second is a 'Tour des Grandes Alpes' which takes in all the major Alpine cols and the third is a 'Coast to Coast' tour across the Pyrenees from Biarritz to the Mediterranean

I'll be more of a rouleur/climber after this little lot, shame the Houch'ard race is later!

With the mountains now constantly covered in fresh snow its hard not to start dreaming of hiking out for deep turns oand I'm getting quite excited about the prospect of the coming winter season and especially the new 'Splitboard' courses.

I updated the availability for courses on the web site the other day which caused quite an influx of new bookings so I'll update it again shortly once the new deposits are taken. A few more courses are either full or nearly full so keep an eye on the courses page if you're thinking of joining a course and haven't done so as yet.

Remember! Anyone booked onto a course with me this winter has 15% off any Jones Snowboard through the TSA, to take advantage of this offer contact Ruth for more details stating which board you're interested in and what size!

Ortovox will also be offering their usual deal to McNab clients so if you're looking for a Transceiver, shovel and Probe set up again get in touch and we'll pass on your details.

I also have a few transceivers, shovels and probes available for sale through the goodies page on the web site.

OK enough for now! I'll try to sneak out on the bike in between wintery showers but its not looking so nice out there today.

Even so, all is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Back from the Dolomites return to the snow!

Wow, it's looking like winter over here in mid summer!

What's going on with the weather these days? Is there just a slight chance that Global warming is having some effect on the weather patterns as we now have snow down to the 'Mid station' at the Aiguille du Midi on the 15th of August!

Yep the mid station! so snow down to about 2600m in the middle of summer and the temps still dropping. Its cloudy and rainy out there this morning so it'll be interesting to see how low it dropped last night.

Is this the start of the next ice age? No doubt it'll be +30 c in a few days as it seems to go from one extreme to the other these days.

The Sella range in the dolomites.

I just got back from my Via Ferrata trip to the Dolomites last night. I had a great week there with my group of Irish clients with whom I have done Mont Blanc and a summer Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. This year they wanted something a little less demanding but fun technical so Via Ferrata in the Dolomites was the perfect choice.

On top of a via ferrata in the Sella range.

We started out with a great sunny day and 2 warm up via ferrata peaks which were great. Day 2 we climbed one of the local peaks to a high altitude refuge making a loop around the Sella range.

Grand Canyon esq views in the Dolomites.

Day 3 we climbed a steep Via Ferrata with technical walls and steep ladders, great fun! We had an exploratory wet day visiting a mountain drilled with tunnels from the first world war. The Austrians and the Italians literally fought a war inside the mountain as the Italians dug up through the rock to try to blow up the Austrian gun emplacement on the top. The Austrians heard them coming and dug counter tunnels to try tp blow up there tunnels and it kind of went on like that. Anyway, you enter a small dark tunnel at the top or bottom of the mountain (with helmet and head torch) and spiral up through the whole mountain top to bottom or vice versa exploring various diversions tunnels, window galleries to ledges on the rock face, living quarters. Its all pretty amazing really and pretty much left as it was so you can be in there for hours just exploring these steep dark tunnels until you find your way out. The rain stopped in the afternoon so we did a short via ferrata in a gorge in Cortina passing behind a big waterfall which was also pretty good fun.
The weather stayed pretty grim the next day but we took advantage of a dry spell and climbed another big Via ferrata up in the Sella Mountains that finished at a mountain refuge. This was a great climb but the rain came in hard towards the end and the hot chocolate was well earned up in the hut.

The final days ridge climb as the cloud comes in. look carefully and you'll see people climbing along the ridge.

On the last day we headed up above Cortina to where cliff hanger was filmed and did a great Via Ferrata ridge climb, starting off in the sun before the cloud came in.

The Cliff hanger bridge, big drop in the canyon!

We crossed the exposed cliff hanger bridge and descended just before the storm came back in, great timing!

All in all it was a great week and one that I might offer next year to an open group so if you're interested in a Dolomites Via Ferrata week next summer let us know and we'll stick your name down.

Of course I took my bike along, the roads over there are amazing. super windy, smooth tarmac and slightly banked corners. We stayed in a village called Corvara which is surrounded by some great cols to ride up. Unfortunately I only got out a couple of times as it was pretty wet in the afternoons most days. This would be a great place to do a road cycling trip too.

Anyway, back to Chamonix. I have a couple more weeks of guiding here now. A 6 day Mont Blanc course starting mid week, so i'll be up wading around in the winter snow in a few days. I think the forecast is to improve so fingers crossed and It'll be very beautiful looking up there anyway with all the fresh snow.

Winter courses are filling up fast. I'm toying with the idea of putting on another Advanced BC course at the end of March (in my free week) as we're getting lots of interest for one so watch this space.

Right time to get out on my bike!

All is good.

Neil.

Thursday 5 August 2010

Summer Snow!

Just down in the Valley from another successful Mont Blanc summit (via the Cosmiques 3 summits route). Again conditions were interesting as we fitted in the ascent via a 1 day weather window that opened up the possibility of reaching the summit during an otherwise pretty unstable week of rain in the valley and lots of Snow up high.

We left the Cosmiques at 1:30am after the usual 1am breakfast. It had cleared during the night and a beautiful starlit sky illuminated by a crescent moon (complete with meteor shower) cast the heavens. At least 30cm of new snow lay on the ground and the steep slopes needed some caution due to an unusually high (for the summer) Avalanche risk.

With so much snow trail breaking was going to be tough so, using experience, we stalled a little on departure and let a few teams take the lead to plough a good track up the Tacul. I was pleased to see a new bigger ladder in place (see previous news) across the huge crevasse that now splits, near enough, the whole face of the Tacul in two and with a good track infront we made good swift progress up and over to Mont Maudit.

Here we unfortunately caught up with and passed the last of the trail blazers and so I ended up ploughing a furrow from here up to the fixed lines (which where now buried) on the head wall and onwards to the summit. Moderately strong winds kept the temperatures down and filled the air with skin freezing freshly blown snow (good for the exfoliation of the skin, which is obviously what keeps me looking so young and healthy looking).

The summit was a little windy but sunny with perfect views in all directions.

The descent was pretty straight forwards, 2 full rope length raps on the Maudit headwall, the ladder still in place on the Tacul and then the long hard slog over the Midi Plateau and up to the lift for the return to Chamonix.

Another well earned and satisfactory Mont Blanc ascent (only 2 more to go this summer!)

I've not been out on my bike as much as I'd have hoped for recently due to my previous illness and bad weather. although I did sneak a quick ride up to Flaine the other day which involves a 20km climb up to the Col above the resort. I head off to the Dolomites on Sunday for a week of Via Ferratta Guiding and so will try to get out for a ride before hand and will maybe take my bike with me just to keep my legs in condition for after this busy Mtn Guiding period.

Ruth now tells me we have 5 McNab Snowboarding weeks provisionally full this coming winter and a fair few of the others nearly full!

I still have a week free in at the end of March/beginning of April with the possibility of either running a classic BC Freeride course, something for a Private group or if there is demand we could possibly sneak in a Russian Heli trip to Kamchatka (this is a £5000+ trip so if anyone is seriously interested they should let us know asap. I'd only run this trip if there is a full group of 6 interested).

Otherwise I'll take the week off and go ride!

There have been a lot of calls from people asking about which course they should do. Some people seem a little confused by the progression and I think quite a few people don't opt for the Clinics as they feel the level might be too low and they won't be stretched enough physically and Technically.

The basic run down goes like this.

The Tech clinic is about Technical perfection! For me it is the one course that everyone, no matter how much riding they've done, should do and I have seen many good riders come through and become great riders from attending this course (some returning for the same course more than once!). The week is about breaking down and rebuilding your riding so that you understand what you're doing, why you need to do it and when you need to do it in order to ride efficiently and effectively anywhere on the mountain. The Tech clinics go from Piste to Off Piste and build the foundations you need for everything you do on your board. This is not a low level course and often I find that those that have been riding the longest have the most to learn!

If you want to progress to the upper levels of the sport this is definitely the course to choose!

Ok, so then we have the Off Piste performance Clinic!

This runs on a simillar program to the Tech clinic, (being a Technical learning course) but focuses more on the line you take and your flow with the mountains natural terrain. The Off Piste clinic is the perfect progression from the Tech clinic as the previous technical understanding gained on the Tech clinic would be very beneficial. However, on the first day we will break down and run through the how's and why's of perfect snowboard technique and so those without the previous experience of the Tech clinic will get an accelerated learning progression thrown in for good measure. The Off Piste clinic takes you from Piste to Off Piste to easy access Backcountry and explores how you look at and flow with the natural terrain of the mountain.

Again this is a technique based course offering you some great high level riding whilst breaking down and rebuilding your riding and above all else exploring how you look at and ride the mountain. Riding Off Piste is all about the line you take, controlling your speed to flow with the terrain through the line you ride. Once you have the correct technique and technical understanding of how Snowboarding works this course will help you develop how you look at and use the mountains terrain.

The Backcountry courses are all 'beyond Technique' designed for those that are happy with their riding and feel ready to take the next step out beyond the boundaries of the patrolled area to explore the amazing potential of the untracked high mountains.

The Backcountry Intro is not a lower level course than the BC Freeride course but is simply the first in our progression as it introduces the safety aspects involved with riding and hiking in this high mountain environment and covers, Avalanche search and rescue, terrain analysis, crevasse rescue and glacier travel and BC access techniques.

The BC Freeride course offers the same style course but for those that have already covered the safety techniques previously mentioned and already know what to expect when it comes to getting out and about in the Backcountry.

Our other BC courses specialize in different aspects of riding in the Backcountry or explore new regions or new possibilities.

On all our courses we will cover Avalanche safety and rescue drills and you will be issued with an Ortovox Avalanche transceiver.

Hope this helps clear things up?

All this snow is getting me excited about riding, maybe we should do a pre season week in Les 2 Alpes again? I hear its going to open for a week in late October, anyone interested??

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Friday 30 July 2010

More Mont Blanc - is fast and light the way to go?

I'm back to work now up in the peaks after an easy July where I got to ride my bike a lot and generally enjoy some Chamonix summer time.

I did a couple of Mont Blancs in between some big rides and ended up feeling pretty strong and fit right up until I was about to start work again and got hit by an un-friendly case of the Gastro.

4 days later I emerged over 4 kilo's lighter just ready for my next Mont Blanc work!

Any one looking for a weight loss program the Gastro is like a rage running through the system.
Fast and light? Not so fast but a lot lighter! Not recommended as a training program.

It's taken about a week to recover and in the mean time our youngest daughter Loren (nearly 3) also got it and ended up in the hospital for a few days. Ruth and Manon seem to be immune but Ruth obviously hasn't been in the office for a while.

All is now well, we're all recovered and the office is operational again!

I guided Mont Blanc from the Cosmiques yesterday, it was a bit windy up high and cold with fresh snow blowing about after a storm the previous day.

Mont Blanc du Tacul is getting a bit complicated with a huge crevasse blocking the route quite low down on the face. A ladder has been put in place for the crossing but since it was put in the crevasse seems to have gotten wider and the ladder barely reaches now. I was a little worried that it might not still be there on our return but it was albeit barely so I'm not sure how long this route will be accessible. Without the ladder crossing the crevasse would be a major undertaking and near impossible for most.

Mont Maudit is also quite technical at the moment with about 50 meters of steep ice climbing up towards the top.

The wind was blowing hard from the col du Brenva up to the summit and a big lenticular cloud started to form over the summit as we climbed the final slopes. the wind never got so bad that I felt we'd need to turn around so we climbed on and made the summit albeit in a bit of a white out so the view wasn't amazing!

The cloud came in fully then and we descended back to the Midi in white out conditions which could have gotten interesting but the storm held off until the evening as forecast and we dropped below the cloud half way down the Tacul.

A good ascent and a well earned summit.

I'm back up there after the weekend so I hope someone has taken up a bigger ladder!

A couple of days off now to ride my bike again before Mont Blanc and then a Dolomites trip to guide some via ferrata which should be fun.

The Winter courses are booking up steadily, we now have 5 courses penciled in as full (places are only confirmed with a deposit payment) and quite a lot of the remaining courses are looking pretty busy.

There's probably a couple of bookings per day at the moment so we should be pretty full come the Autumn (which is our normal time to 'start' taking winter bookings!) We've had a Northerly wind stream blowing through the past week bringing some cooler air and mixed weather with fresh snow falls down to about 2700m this morning.

Looking over towards the Dome du Gouter the other day, from the final slopes on Mont Blanc, it looked almost tempting enough to get the Snowboard out!

Almost!

Still cool out at the moment but due to heat up again towards mid week so hopefully it will be good weather for my next MB ascent.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.