McNab clients get 'Jones Snowboards' discount at TSA!

Ok it's official, anyone booking on a 'McNab Snowboarding' course for this coming winter can get a massive 15% discount off any of the 'JONES Snowboards' range through 'The Snowboard Asylum' on booking their course (contact Ruth for more details).

As most of you will be aware by now, as of next winter I shall be riding for 'JONES Snowboards' as part of the 'Jones Snowboards' European contingent and helping on R&D.

This coming winter 2010/11 I have dedicated three Backcountry Freeride courses to the 'Jones Solution Splitboard' so as to explore the obvious potential that Splitboarding can offer to the BC aficionado. I also have one week of Snowboard Touring scheduled into the calendar and a BC Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland both of which will also run in favor of the 'Jones Splitboard' experience.

When not Touring I shall be riding the 'Jones' Flagship 168W. I rode with Jeremy Jones at the beginning of last season here in Chamonix when he was testing his first Flagship prototypes and they looked awesome. A few tweaks here and there and the end result looks very exciting in deed.

In much the same way as I am with 'McNab Snowboarding', the whole 'Jones Snowboards' range and Jeremy's whole ethos is dedicated to Freeriding and exploring the unlimited potential of Backcountry riding all over the world and I am proud to be part of the new 'Jones Snowboards' revolution.

I'm already very excited about riding the Flagship, a board that is specifically designed for the type of riding that I live for! How amazing will that be? I also think that the future potential for Backcountry riding and exploration offered by the Jones 'Solution' Splitboard might just be the answer to all our prayers when it comes to BC touring here in the Alps.

I'm a hard case to convince when it comes to Splitboarding as in the past I haven't had much success with it. In fact I found the going up to be great but the flex of the board too soft to make the descent worth riding. Jeremy assures me that these new 'splits' are stiffer and more versatile than anything out there and this must come from a man in the know! Also the new 'Spark r&d' bindings are a massive step in the right direction and are reported to increase the performance of the Splitboard by up to 30% from previous. This is a good thing as I found the older raised up binding system to be half of the problem when it came down to the riding performance.

Also as part of the test and development team I'm determined to get a working splitboard on my feet as soon as I can. So what ever it takes!

I was already greatly inspired to try a Splitboard again after touring around the 'Col du Grand St Bernard' with Alistair Davies this last winter. The potential out there is massive but the distances that need covering are just too great for Snowshoeing so all of this couldn't have come at a better time!

Is this the future? Just imagine the possibilities. Those that were out in Kashmir with me in January can only imagine what we could have got up to if we'd had the potential of 'Splitboard' access. Imagine going Heli boarding in Kamchatka but then staying on for a Peninsula crossing on Splitboards!

This just could be the dawning of a new era!

Anyway, you get the picture I'm sure and you can probably tell that I'm quite excited by the prospects of riding for 'Jones snowboards' next winter.

Ruth is now ready to take deposits for next winters courses and will be in touch with all those provisionally booked in to confirm your places.

To conclude then, if anyone booking a course is interested in this amazing discount deal on any of the new 'JONES SNOWBOARDS' range give us a shout and we'll sort it out!

Right back out on the bike, enough Office stuff for this week!

All is good in Chamonix.

Neil.

Loads of snow on Mont Blanc!!

On top of Mont Blanc at 6am the other day!

So last week I cycled around it, this week I went to the top of it!

Yep I'm just down from my first Mont Blanc summit of the summer season. I spent the first half of the week wading around in deep snow in zero visibility following compass bearings through snow blizzards. It snowed down to about 2000m, it finally cleared when we were up at the Trient refuge, (which we navigated to in complete white out, wading through knee deep snow on the Glacier du Trient) and so we climbed the Aiguille du Tour in perfect winter climbing condition and waded through light sparkling powder to both get there and get back down to the valley.

Check out the sparkling fresh snow, amazing riding conditions!

It would have been perfect riding conditions!

The last couple of days the weather was perfect and we did Mont Blanc from the Gouter refuge 3800m. The first day you climb up to the Gouter refuge from the Nid d'Aigle 2372m, some 1400m of climbing the last 600m of it steep rocky scrambling in crampons. The second day we did from the hut to the summit, 1000m of climbing which we did in just over 3 and half hours (which is pretty quick). we were the first teams on the top and had the summit to our selves for the sunrise, perfect conditions but bitterly cold!

Sunrise on the summit of Mont Blanc, the Monta Rosa massif in the background.

Again there was loads of snow and it would have been great for riding instead of wading around in it!

I now have a couple of weeks off to ride my bike some more before a busy August in the mountains. The Tour du France passes through Morzine so I'll cycle over there to see that. Andy Cook who some of you might know from winter courses is coming out to stay so we'll get some rides in and go visit the Tour before I briefly head up MB again mid July.

Winter bookings are going very well, Ruth will start taking deposits very soon and then all these provisional bookings can be confirmed. 2 courses are provisionally full and 3 or 4 others have only 1 or 2 places left! Amazing for this time of year!!

Jeremy Sladen from the TSA has been in touch to offer a 10% discount on 'Jones Splitboards' to anyone who has booked on one of the 'Split board courses'. Anyone interested in taking up this offer should get in touch with me as he only has limited stocks (but can order more if interest is high). I've replied to see if this offer can be extended to all the 'Jone Snowboards' range on all 'McNab snowboarding courses' so watch this space for further news. We'll contact everyone who has booked with news of the offer once deposits have been taken.

I've also been asked to do a monthly BC feature in Whitelines next year so that should be good. If anyone has any specific BC topics they want to see covered let me know and I'll see if I can do something with it.

I'll also be writing something on Off Piste/BC riding on the TSA web site soon, so again whatch this space for further news.

I'm out cycling with the GPM10 team again tomorrow, the weather has finally come good these past few days and it looks like summer has finally hit!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

The summer season is here!

I just got in from a four day cycling 'Tour du Mont Blanc' on road bikes with GPM10.

I must be getting a little better as Mark (GPM10 boss) finally asked me along as one of his cycling guides. As I mentioned in my last news post, I came 69th in the Time Megeve last weekend but 20th in my age Category so that's not so bad for my first outing, and I feel like I've improved again since then.

I'm never going to be the best uphill (with my size), but I can feel it getting better, the speed and power are increasing and my stamina and sustainability is getting better. Just got to keep working on it and keep pushing on through to the next level. I unfortunately live in a very hilly area for cycling so I'm just going to have to keep working on it!!

It's great to feel and see the gains as you progress. With my rock climbing (and I guess also with Snowboarding) where I've already pushed myself to the highest levels of the sport it feels a bit different. With climbing especially it can be quite frustrating as you're always pushing yourself to try and get back to a level that you have been at in the past. You know what it takes to get to that level, but back then its all you did, your life revolved around it and now you have other commitments that kind of get in the way a little, plus its difficult to keep motivated when you're chasing a level that you've been at and you know the effort it takes to get back to it.

With the cycling its all a big unknown, I've never been at any kind of level in cycling so its all a bit new and quite exciting to see how much I can improve. I've always been more of a power player, (short steep powerful climbs were my cup of tea) and with the cycling I'm having to improve my power endurance and endurance capacities which is interesting. Having to change my bodies performance capabilities and change my muscular make up a little for endurance mileage.

Its taking a while but I'm starting to feel it coming along now and so just can't seem to stop. I think when you know how hard it is to make the gains, you feel like you can't afford any time off or you'll drop the hard fought fitness you've just gained.

Its almost like an addiction but I'm loving it!

Anyway, the last four days have been great!

Chamonix to Champex over the col du Montets and the col du Forclaz then the big climb up to Champex.
Champex to La Thuille over the Col du Grd St Bernard and half way up the Petite St Bernard.
La Thuille to the Col du Saisses over the Petite St Bernard and the Col du Rosalin.
Last day to Chamonix, over the Saisses, the col d' Aravis, the col du Columbia and then up to Chamonix.

I went out this morning and did some power intervals up one of the local climbs so will rest tomorrow (No I'm not an obsessive kind of guy honest!).

I go up Mont Blanc at the end of the week or I at least start a Mont Blanc ascent week at the end of the week.

First I ride around it and then I go up it!

So my mountaineering summer season is just about to kick off, it'll be nice to get back up in the peaks although the weather is a bit unpredictable at the moment so it could be interesting. I'm not going to be acclimatised for the first trip but at least my aerobic capacity should be good.

Provisional bookings for next 'Winter' are going amazingly well, we already have 2 full weeks and 3 more weeks each with only 1 place left on them. I've started work on next years brochure for the ski show but at this rate I might not need it as we could be full before October!

If anyone needs any info or advice with any of the courses just drop us a mail or give us a call.

Ok enough of my waffle.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

News from McNab.

Arrora Borealis as seen from the mess tent, Greenland.

Its starting to get hot out here in Chamonix and the summer season is now just around the corner.

Yesterday I did my first Cyclosportif bike race with the 'Time Megeve' which starts in 'Megeve' (obviously), goes over the 'col du Aravis', down to Thones, up the 'Col du Crois du Fry' (really hard!) down and back over the 'col du Aravis'down to Flumet and then if you're doing the short one (88km - 2000m of climbing) then back to Megeve.

There's a middle and longer distance race at the same time, one at 115km with another 900m of climbing on top and then one at around 150km with around 4000m of climbing!

There's about 3500 cyclists at the start all leaving at the same time en-masse. Its a great feeling and the start is really fast as you head down the valley from Megeve to Flumet before the first big climb of the day.

I rode the short course earlier in the week in 3hrs 20mins so wanted to beat this time and try to get in the first 100. I rode the course in 3hrs 9 mins and came in 69th which I'm happy with, it being my first attempt and I now know how it all works and where to make up time in the future.

I'll ride the courses every now and then this summer and I'm determined to try to knock a good 10 mins off my time, it'll be good to get under 3hrs!

It's meant to be one of the harder courses with some pretty major climbing. I'm more of a 'power sprinter' model and find the climbing hard but as I live in the mountains I'm just going to have to keep working at it. I'm getting there 'slowly'!

Anyway it was all great fun in a hard suffer fest kind of way!

I'm riding with the GPM10 crew at the end of the week for a tour of Mont Blanc which should be good. 4 days, lots of cols, beautiful scenery and some great descents. This will put some miles in my legs and then I'll try the Megeve course again.

After that I have my first Mtn Guiding work with my first Mont Blanc and then the summer takes off and I'll be up in the mountains here and elsewhere. I have a Via ferrata week in the Dolomites coming up which should be good and quite a few winter snowboarders coming out to try their hands at climbing.

The Winter calendar is looking very busy already, it normally looks this busy in November!

Good to see some people early planning and getting excited about snowboarding already. I'm really looking forward to next winters courses. I enjoyed this last winter so much and next years will be better still as I'll have the new 'Jones' boards to ride which look fantastic.

Pure float in deep perfect powder, Winter is on its way, well kind of!!

Imagine the powder turns we'll be getting, Pure float!

Ooooh its going to be good!!

Here are a few more Greenland shots to wet your appetite, enjoy!

Damian takes the local taxi to base camp.

On the way up to climb another virgin peak with all that descent waiting below.

Right now back out on the bike, strong legs, strong legs that's what we need.

Couple of new posts on the Ask McNab Q&A blog too so check them out!

All is good in chamonix!

Neil.