Whilst most people seemed to be moaning and complaining about the lack of snow in the Alps last season, I seemed to be riding mostly untracked fresh lines most of the winter!
Admittedly it had its difficult moments, and I did, without a doubt, have to work a little harder than normal to find the good snow, but for the most part, find it I did and at the end of the season I can once again look back on another great winter of super progressive riding, excellent high mountain and backcountry adventure and seriously some of the best snow and lines I have ever ridden, notably with exceptional new lines in the ‘Val Ferret’, on ‘Mont Fortain’
and 'Mont Nix' in Courmayeur.
From the ‘Col du Tour Noire’ and ‘Col d’ Argentiere’ and obviously whilst on ‘expedition location’ on the remote East coast of Greenland with this seasons ‘McNab Splitboard expedition’ to explore hike and ride the fantastic Liverpool Land, Peninsula.
The biggest development for the winter 2011 was with out a doubt the introduction of my new Splitboard courses and a well-timed team up with Jeremy Jones’s new brand ‘Jones Snowboards’.
Having tried and failed to adapt to the compromise of Splitboarding on a couple of occasions in the past it would seem that the future has finally arrived and Splitboard technology has finally caught up and caught on!
After 15 years of lugging my board around on my back whilst snowshoeing into the Backcountry I can finally say that I am a true convert of Splitboarding and I’m very excited about the opportunities, possibilities and developments that this mode of Backcountry access can now bring about.
Already this past winter I have reached new heights, explored new areas and ridden new descents that, with out a Splitboard, would be nigh on impossible to accomplish within the time scale of a normal days riding!
Even here in my home mountain range of Chamonix were I have climbed, ridden and toured extensively, for the past 15 years, Splitboarding has opened up the mountains to me, inspiring within me a new sense of adventure and exploration, expanding my playground once again and opening up a whole heap of new areas and new possibilities.
As such, included in the winter calendar for 2012 you will not be surprised to find, along with all our regular ‘Technical clinics’, ‘Off Piste clinics’ and ‘Backcountry courses’ an extensive and progressive range of ‘Splitboard BC courses’.
Course profile for Winter 2012.
As usual, I shall begin the season with a technical progression, ‘exploring the ‘Science behind perfect Snowboard technique’ and introducing the ‘McNab Pressure control System’ with a pre season ‘Technical clinic’ in mid December on the glacier in Tignes, thus offering those with the need, the perfect start to their winter riding progression.
I’ll follow this with another ‘Technical clinic’ here in Chamonix after the festive season ‘Holiday’ rush has died down before progressing onto my first ‘Off Piste Technical clinic’ of the winter.
With a deepening winter snow-base mid January will see the progression continue with the first of my regular ‘BC Intro’ courses, opening up the world of Backcountry Freeriding to those with the need for the ‘steep and deep’ whilst riding their own ‘freeride set up’.
I’ll finish January off with the first of my tried and tested, ‘BC Splitboard intro’ courses of the 2012 season which will open the floodgates to a busy season of further ‘Technical progression’ and ‘Backcountry Freeride Exploration’.
Included in my winter ‘BC program’ you will find a whole range of courses designed for those looking to explore the incredible world of Backcountry Freeriding both with Splitboards and without.
For those that wish to explore the World of the Backcountry by regular means and ride their own set-ups on the way down, I have as always my infamous ‘BC Intro’ and popular ‘BC Freeride’ courses, focused on introducing and exploring the greatest BC Freeride terrain that Chamonix has to offer!
For those interested in trying a Splitboard for the first time you will find my tried and tested ‘BC Splitboard Intro course’.
For those already adept and converted to in the ‘Fine Art of Splitboarding’ the ‘BC Splitboard Freeride course’ will take you further and higher in search of the fresh and untracked steep and deep.
As usual and by popular demand I’ll be running my high level ‘Advanced BC’ course again, my lowest ratio (1:3) fastest moving and most demanding BC Freeride course which includes the option of Splitboard access were necessary.
The highly popular ‘BC Splitboard Touring course’ will again venture to new locations and with overnight stays in Mountain refuges creating fantastic multi-day touring opportunities.
After the success of ‘Greenland’ last season my ‘Expedition’ for this winter will return to the ‘Lyngen Fjords’ of Northern Norway, a region I’ve been longing to return to since first venturing there in 2009. With boat access, these mountains that rise straight out of the deep dark waters of the cold fjord provide some of the most picturesque and interesting terrain that I’ve ever ridden and a wilderness that is perfectly suited to the ‘Fine Art of Splitboarding’.
Finally, we will finish the winter with a ‘Splitboard Mont Blanc’ course, using Splitboards to climb and ride from the summit of Mont Blanc at 4810m.
If successful this will be our 5th time riding off the summit of Mont Blanc, this is a very physically demanding course but the rewards are obvious to all!
This should bring us to a fitting conclusion for the 2012 winter season here in Europe but I’m also looking into the option of running a Southern hemisphere, ‘South America voyage of discovery’ to Chile, September 2012 so anyone interested in this type of trip should let Ruth know so I can start to build a plan of action.
Hope you find the 2012 preview as exciting as I do and I look forward to riding with you one day soon!
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