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.
Friday 30 July 2010
Friday 16 July 2010
Summer and Winter News!
Wow, it's hot over here!
Even the forecast say 'Scorching heat!'
Andy Cook was just out for a few days riding on the bikes. We did some great tours, climbed all the big famous Cols and did a good few hundred K's in 3 days of solid riding.
We rode up the col du Rammaz to watch the Tour de France come past, amazing!
Those guys are pretty quick and whilst suffering in that heat they still maintain a look of absolute calm whilst pushing way beyond their limits. Very Impressive!
Since then, I've been up on the Mont Blanc again but didn't make the top due to strong winds.
I've another week on the bike now and then I have a busy period up in the mountains from the end of July up to the begining of September. Lots of work here and a trip to the Dolomites guiding some Via ferrata which should be fun.
I've quite a bit of writing going too.
I'm writing a monthly piece for Whitelines next winter, the Backcountry intro and info for the TSA catalogue and I'm also working on some ideas for a couple of books. One would be a kind of biog journey to where I am now and the other would be a Backcountry Freeride book.
All ideas at the moment, I'll maybe post a couple of chapters from the Biog on line and see what you think.
Ruth is now busy taking bookings for the winter courses which are looking very busy already.
Just a quick heads up for anyone interested in the Greenland trip, there are only 2 spaces left so get in touch asap if you want to join us.
A lot of the regular courses only have a couple of spaces left available and a few are already provisionally full!
It's great to see that you're all as excited about the coming winter as I am!!
Remember too, that if you book on a course you can get 15% off any of the 'Jones Snowboards' range through the TSA.
Quite a few of you have already taken advantage of this offer so we'll be ripping it up next season!
I'm very excited about riding the Jone Flagship next winter. Imagine riding a board specifically designed for the riding you love! Its going to take everything up to another level!
Ok, I'm going to get off before my mind starts running away with dreams of deep powder turns on my new board.
Arggh, to late!
All is good in Chamonix!
Neil.
Even the forecast say 'Scorching heat!'
Andy Cook was just out for a few days riding on the bikes. We did some great tours, climbed all the big famous Cols and did a good few hundred K's in 3 days of solid riding.
We rode up the col du Rammaz to watch the Tour de France come past, amazing!
Those guys are pretty quick and whilst suffering in that heat they still maintain a look of absolute calm whilst pushing way beyond their limits. Very Impressive!
Since then, I've been up on the Mont Blanc again but didn't make the top due to strong winds.
I've another week on the bike now and then I have a busy period up in the mountains from the end of July up to the begining of September. Lots of work here and a trip to the Dolomites guiding some Via ferrata which should be fun.
I've quite a bit of writing going too.
I'm writing a monthly piece for Whitelines next winter, the Backcountry intro and info for the TSA catalogue and I'm also working on some ideas for a couple of books. One would be a kind of biog journey to where I am now and the other would be a Backcountry Freeride book.
All ideas at the moment, I'll maybe post a couple of chapters from the Biog on line and see what you think.
Ruth is now busy taking bookings for the winter courses which are looking very busy already.
Just a quick heads up for anyone interested in the Greenland trip, there are only 2 spaces left so get in touch asap if you want to join us.
A lot of the regular courses only have a couple of spaces left available and a few are already provisionally full!
It's great to see that you're all as excited about the coming winter as I am!!
Remember too, that if you book on a course you can get 15% off any of the 'Jones Snowboards' range through the TSA.
Quite a few of you have already taken advantage of this offer so we'll be ripping it up next season!
I'm very excited about riding the Jone Flagship next winter. Imagine riding a board specifically designed for the riding you love! Its going to take everything up to another level!
Ok, I'm going to get off before my mind starts running away with dreams of deep powder turns on my new board.
Arggh, to late!
All is good in Chamonix!
Neil.
Tuesday 6 July 2010
McNab News from Chamonix!
Its a beautiful time of year out here in Chamonix. The weather is now summer hot, clear mornings followed by cumulus cloud growth in the afternoons can make for some pretty big electrical storms come the late afternoon evening, quite nice as it cools and refreshes everything, unless of course you're up in the mountain when its not nice at all.
Its the time of year for early Alpine starts and mid afternoon finishes up amongst the peaks.
I've been busy out on my bike again since my last blog. I did some more riding guiding with the GPM10 cycling crew, big days and good fun.
I also just did my 2nd ever road bike race last Sunday. A 110km circuit with 3 climbs, one of which was the massive Col du Madeleine from the South side which involves 1500m of altitude gain over 20km of switchbacks. (The Tour de France passes over it next week sometime! A damn sight quicker than I did no doubt!)
It was a great experience, well kind of?
The first 50km were tight bunch racing, quite intense and exciting, followed by a medium sized climb, 5 or 6k's where the group gets split and you have to power on to keep with the front group and not get dropped back. Some good down hill were my extra kilo's come into some use and then the second medium climb, this one about 8k's in which I dropped to the 2nd group to conserve energy for the big one to come.
At the foot of the Madeleine its every man for themselves and you just dig in and turn the pedals trying to find a sustainable rhythm. The climb was long, steep and under the heat of the midday sun it felt really hard. At times I felt like I'd not even make the top, everyone seemed to be in the same sh*t state or petty much, but a few Science in Sport Gels got me through and I only got passed by a couple of riders on the climb and even made up quite a few places.
The descent off the top was great and I came in a respectable 26th out of around 400 starters.
I've a long way to go I feel but its getting better everyday. It never seems to get any easier but I guess you always push to your limit what ever that may be.
All good though!
I've a week of riding with Andy Cook coming up before I head up Mont Blanc again next week and we'll ride over to Morzine to see the Tour de France flow through.
On the McNab Snowboarding front things are ticking along nicely. For those of you who didn't see the last news blog the TSA are giving 15% off Jones Snowboards to anyone who has booked a course with us next winter! Get in touch for details.
Also I put a classic BC Freeride course on 24th to 28th Jan last week (its potentially full already but only when deposits are in!)
I took the Lyngen trip off the schedule this year so as to focus on the Greenland expedition and stick to one big trip a season. In place of Norway I might now put on another classic BC freeride course if the demand is there so watch this space.
Ruth is now taking deposits for the courses. Remeber, your space isn't confirmed until your deposit has been paid, so if you've got your name down for something confirm your place asap.
The Tour de France is passing close next weekend as I've already mentioned and there's also a World cup climbing event on in Chamonix center next weekend so plenty to get out and see.
Alan Fielding (regular BC client, Greenland 08, Kashmir 2010) is out in the valley with a friend for some climbing and popped around for some insider info. Condtitions are good so I hope they get some good climbing done, I sent them off with a big list of routes to try.
All is good in Chamonix, hope you're all enjoying the summer!
Neil.
Its the time of year for early Alpine starts and mid afternoon finishes up amongst the peaks.
I've been busy out on my bike again since my last blog. I did some more riding guiding with the GPM10 cycling crew, big days and good fun.
I also just did my 2nd ever road bike race last Sunday. A 110km circuit with 3 climbs, one of which was the massive Col du Madeleine from the South side which involves 1500m of altitude gain over 20km of switchbacks. (The Tour de France passes over it next week sometime! A damn sight quicker than I did no doubt!)
It was a great experience, well kind of?
The first 50km were tight bunch racing, quite intense and exciting, followed by a medium sized climb, 5 or 6k's where the group gets split and you have to power on to keep with the front group and not get dropped back. Some good down hill were my extra kilo's come into some use and then the second medium climb, this one about 8k's in which I dropped to the 2nd group to conserve energy for the big one to come.
At the foot of the Madeleine its every man for themselves and you just dig in and turn the pedals trying to find a sustainable rhythm. The climb was long, steep and under the heat of the midday sun it felt really hard. At times I felt like I'd not even make the top, everyone seemed to be in the same sh*t state or petty much, but a few Science in Sport Gels got me through and I only got passed by a couple of riders on the climb and even made up quite a few places.
The descent off the top was great and I came in a respectable 26th out of around 400 starters.
I've a long way to go I feel but its getting better everyday. It never seems to get any easier but I guess you always push to your limit what ever that may be.
All good though!
I've a week of riding with Andy Cook coming up before I head up Mont Blanc again next week and we'll ride over to Morzine to see the Tour de France flow through.
On the McNab Snowboarding front things are ticking along nicely. For those of you who didn't see the last news blog the TSA are giving 15% off Jones Snowboards to anyone who has booked a course with us next winter! Get in touch for details.
Also I put a classic BC Freeride course on 24th to 28th Jan last week (its potentially full already but only when deposits are in!)
I took the Lyngen trip off the schedule this year so as to focus on the Greenland expedition and stick to one big trip a season. In place of Norway I might now put on another classic BC freeride course if the demand is there so watch this space.
Ruth is now taking deposits for the courses. Remeber, your space isn't confirmed until your deposit has been paid, so if you've got your name down for something confirm your place asap.
The Tour de France is passing close next weekend as I've already mentioned and there's also a World cup climbing event on in Chamonix center next weekend so plenty to get out and see.
Alan Fielding (regular BC client, Greenland 08, Kashmir 2010) is out in the valley with a friend for some climbing and popped around for some insider info. Condtitions are good so I hope they get some good climbing done, I sent them off with a big list of routes to try.
All is good in Chamonix, hope you're all enjoying the summer!
Neil.
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