Jeremy Jones filming for his 'Deeper' movie on his Jones Splitboard the 'Solution'. Read on for more news and details!I'm into my last few days off the hill before I start again on Monday with my last 3 day Off Piste Clinic, followed by a 3 Day BC Intro of the season. This is followed straight away by our Mont Blanc Summits week which should be good if the weather holds. I'm planning a trip through to Italy to tour and climb the Grand Paradiso (the highest peak in Italy at just under 4100m) as a warm up, followed by the big one here in Chamonix, route to be determined by the conditions!
After that I'll be getting out on my bike again as much as possible as I think Mark from GPM10, who I ride and will cycle guide a bit with this summer, has gone and entered me into some big competition which sounds like hell on wheels but obviously, so he tells me, will be great fun!
In between skiing with my eldest daughter Manon (5 'and a half' as she proudly tells me) I've been out on the bike quite a bit this last week and am starting to feel good, so some of the leg work I put in this winter has obviously helped a little. Maybe all that pain was worth it!
I've also been busy putting together the Calendar for next seasons courses and although it's not quite finalized as yet I can now give you an idea of what's in store.
Winter 2011!
I'll start the winter with a couple of 3 day courses Christmas and New year (Tech Clinic and Off Piste Clinic).
These will be followed by a progression of 5 day courses (all courses will run Monday to Friday next year unless otherwise stated) Tech Clinic, Off Piste Clinic and then BC Intro. I might put in a BC Freeride course at the end of Jan to another location here in the Alps following this but haven't finalized anything yet.
Following this we go into a progression of Off Piste through the to the BC courses through Feb with a BC Intro followed by a NEW course, the 'BC Freeride Splitboard course' (more on this in a minute!)
This will be followed by a lower ratio 1 to 3 Advanced BC course (which was my fav course of this winter) to round off Feb.
March will be quite similar to Feb, but starts with a Tech Clinic followed by a BC progression which again includes the NEW 'BC Freeride Splitboard course'.
After this we go into a couple of super trips with an end of March trip to Norway again to explore and ride in the Lyngen Alps, somewhere I've been excited to get back to after our very successful trip at the end of last winter. This trip may also be Splitboard orientated as the terrain there definitely suits this form of access.
In mid April I'm planning a BC touring week here in the Alps were we'll start here in Chamonix and then head off to where the snow is good and do a couple of touring days hut to hut and once again this course will be Splitboard orientated.
Finally, at the end of the winter we shall host the 'Piece du Resistance' as I'm planning another expeditions style trip to the east Coast of Greenland, this time to 'Liverpool Land' further North than our previous location but in the same sort of style with a base camp and touring style of attack! Again the 'Splitboard' style of attack might be in order.
Ok, so this is a quick over view of next seasons calendar to wet your appetites. All courses will be 1 to 6 but 5 day except for trips or where stated otherwise and I hope you'll all find something in there to suit your desires!
Ok, so what's with all the 'SplitBoard' thing!
Well, last December, as some of you might remember, I spent the day riding with 'big mountain freeride legend' Jeremy Jones.
As some of you will also be aware, Jeremy left his existing board sponsor last year in order to start up his own freeride orientated board company 'Jones Snowboards'.
Well the news that I didn't release until now is that during that days riding, Jeremy asked me if I'd join his team on 'Jones Snowboards' as a European test rider!
Obviously after much thought and debate, well a couple of minutes actually as the boards look amazing, I decided to accept his offer and so next winter will be firmly attached to a 'Jones Flagship'.
During that days riding we discussed board design and finally got to talking about using Splitboards for BC access.
As most of you will know, Jeremy has been focusing on using a Splitboard for access in his 'Deeper' movies and so has been working on designing the ultimate Split board weapon quite a lot over the past couple of years. Improvements in board design and also in the binding system that pulls it all together have, he tells me, improved the performance of the ride by up to 40%!
Anyway, after climbing up to the peak Mt Fouchon, above the Grd St Bernard the other day, on Snowshoes in deep sinking snow and with a massively heavy pack, I decided that the 'SplitBoard' just has to be the 'Solution' to this problem (funnily enough Jeremy's Split board is called the Solution) and so have decided to give it another go and am determined to really make it work!
Splitboard access really suits the touring that we do around here and when I tried it before it felt great going up but in the past I have found the boards too soft and the binding system, raised up on a wobbly plate, not great for the ride down.
With the new 'Jones split' and the new improved binding system from 'Spark R&D' though things are starting to look up and if we can make it work it will open up a whole new world of opportunity up in the mountains for snowboarding, which is quite an exciting prospect!
As such, I will be hosting a test fleet of 'Jones Splitboards' here in Chamonix and will base my BC Freeride courses around using them with the possibility of also using them for my 2 trips to Norway and Greenland.
For further info on the 'Jones Snowboards' line visit the Jones site at www.jonessnowboards.com
For further info on 'Spark' bindings go to www.sparkrandd.com
Is this the future? I think it just might be!
Anyway, another beautiful day awaits, the roads are dry and this blog is quite long enough.
I hope you're already getting as excited about next winter as I am and I look forward to your feedback on this proposed calendar.
This years courses filled up fast and again places will be limited so watch this space, prices and details to follow soon!
All is good!
Neil.
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