That just maybe was my best week yet???

So another week passes by but what a week it has been!

The Advanced BC course with a 1-3 ratio is always one of my favourite weeks to guide and this year was to be no exception.

With some fresh snow over the weekendI grabbed the guys on Monday morning and we headed straight up the Aiguile du Midi for a morning run down the Envers. It had snowed a lot more than I had expected and we enjoyed fresh lines all the way down the Petite Envers with a nice variation out towards the Vrai Valley Blanche.

A great first run and back in the valley for midday and straight up to the top of Brevent for a quick one down the Chamonix classic Extreme descents, the famous ENSA couloir.

Video of day 1:

With a fresh top of snow on the hidden North faces it was time to get the Splitboards out and get out amongst it. Day 2 saw us make a perfect tour up and over the superb Col du Beaugean with amazing conditions both up and down.

Video of day 2:

After an excellent day over the Beaugean there really could only be one place to top the lot so an early morning heli pick up at 8:45 saw us heading up towards the Trient plateau in order to put some lines into the completely untracked Glacier des grandees with a Glacier des Petoudes variant. This was an amazing descent, another contender for 'my best descent of the season' with over 2000m vertical of fresh powder!

Video of day 3:

Having flown over the Grandes Autannes on the way up the previous day and seen it still completely untouched there really could only be one choice of descent for Thursday and so we skinned up above Le Tour before starting the long stair master challenge of putting a boot pack all the way up the Autannes Couloir. Conditions were pretty tricky and the crampons were put to good use on some frozen mixed terrain. Putting tracks in on the way up normally means only one thing for the descent and as we rode out of the exit couloir with big grins on our faces, the 4 lines down from the summit lay like signatures of our days effort.

Video of day 4:

Having hiked the last 3 days would it be time to ease off for the final day of the week? With 3 fit guys hungry for adventure and fresh lines I now wanted to finish the week with something a bit special, something I'd never done before but often looked up at and so at 6am with stars overhead I picked up the guys for an early start for the long climb up Mont Buet!

Early morning starts like this are always a struggle until you get started. Thinking about getting up and getting out hiking at this sort of time is always worse than it actually is and I normally find that once you're up and at it it's actually a beautiful time of day to be out there. The climb up Mont Buet from Le Buet is normally a 6 hour hike. After the long flat of the Berarde valley we started the long scent to the summit. The day started to warm up as sun hit the peaks and 5 hours after leaving the van we were standing on the summit. The snowpack was by now seriously warming and the avalanche risk rising so we made a swift descent down the famous Creux au Vaches with some great cold fresh snow high up and slushy spring conditions low down.
At 2pm we were back down in the valley, tired legs and big grins after another amazing week of great Backcountry adventure.

Unfortunately I was to busy hiking and riding to film any of this final day but the previous videos will give you some idea of the quality of riding covered through out the week an again on this final day.

That's 6 back to back weeks of Backcountry riding so far this season! 6 weeks on my Splitboard hiking out amongst the high peaks and some of the best riding I've had for years here in the Chamonix!

A quick recovery over the weekend (a ski with my girls) and tomorrow back at it with another BC Intro course.

Conditions have seemingly switched to spring over the past few days with clear skies and warmer temps. After such a cold winter up until now the sudden change has made the avalanche risk increase massively. A couple of good melt freeze cycles are needed to transform and stabilise things and then, with a great forecast for the coming week, we can get stuck into some good spring riding conditions.

Other news…I'm pleased to report that the 'Sweet protection' outerwear is as good as it looks. Zero G here in Chamonix are offering all McNab clients a 20% off deal on all the range (if you don't see what you want on the Zero G website, you can send us your order and they'll get it shipped direct) as with all our deals (Ortovox, SiS, Jones) simply let us know what you're interested in and we'll put you in contact with the dealer.

All courses for this season are now full and interest is already high for next winter. As usual I'll be putting the dates on line towards the end of May but if any of you have got a group together and want to book particular dates you'll need to let us know before I finalise the calendar.

You might think its a bit early to start thinking about next winter already, but the interest in next seasons courses is starting to increase week by week.

And Finally…I've started putting some plans together for a, long time promised, South America 'Chile Road trip' for this coming September. I know a lot of you have been asking for this one so just thought I'd give you the heads up that its looking like a go.

Anyone interested should get in touch - 10 days (2 week trip) early September.

All is good!

Neil.

pure Sweetness!!!

Sweet, sweet sweet!

And so its happened! Just when I thought it was time to cut my losses and actually go and buy some 'Sweet protection outerwear' things came up trumps and they sent me a load of kit!!

Not only is this great for me but it's also great for you as:

1. you get to ride with me in my new sweet kit! (possibly not as exciting for you as for me!)

2. You now get 20% off the best outerwear products on the market through Zero G here in Chamonix and through their on-line store!!

I've been drooling over the 'Sweet protection' kit for the last few years, trying to get my clothing sponsors to mimic it and produce kit as similar to it as possible but to no avail and so just when I was seriously thinking about buying some, this new deal came through!!

As most of you know, I'm pretty demanding on equipment and kit and so if something works I don't hesitate in giving it my full support, likewise, if something doesn't work I'll make no qualms about giving it a bit of a slagging!

There's not much kit gets the 'full McNab seal of approval' and not since I started riding for 'Jones' have I been personally so excited about a Snowboarding product.

The outerwear is perfectly suited to Backcountry riding, super lightweight, packable Gore-tex shell jots. Pants with room for movement and plenty of vents, all very well made and made to last. We're talking a high end product here built for the type of riding we love with a high sense of fashion built in.

20% off gives you a 'better than Pro deal' through Zero G too so check out the products and get some kit you'll be stoked to ride in!!

My personal fav's are the 'Crusader jkt', the 'Supernaut jkt' and the 'Nutshell insulated jkt'. For Snow Pants, check out the 'Supernaut' and 'Renegade'.

Well nice!

If you're interested in taking up this offer check out the products and give Ruth a shout with what you want and we'll pass you onto those in the know!

Ok, so you can see I'm pretty excited about that development, it's been a while coming…very happy!

Well, apart from this I've also been busy running another Splitboard Freeride course and another week has flown on by!

A great start to the week at Le Tour with a hike up and ride down the couloir left of the point du Van finishing in Trient. Nice lines and some great snow down there last week.

The team en route for the Beaugean

Tuesday we got stuck straight into a big day with my first Col du Beaugean of the winter, infact the first for a few years I think.

Paul nears the top of the Beaugean

This is a great day out, as interesting on the way up as the way down with a big day touring, a short rock scramble and an abseil off the top before some seriously good deep untracked powder to finish…Nice!

Wednesday the weather was a bit mixed with cloud and a little snow, we started with a run off the mid station of the Aiguille du Midi, the snow was a bit blown out and the riding very tech! Once back in the valley we jumped back in the van and headed over to Courmayeur where we hiked over to Mont Fortain in the sunshine and scored a great ride down into the Val Veni.

Hiking to Mt Fortain.

Thursday was supposed to be a bit of an easier tour as we headed down off Brevent towards the Lac du brevet for a tour up and over the Aiguiette des Houches for a run down the Vogealle couloir.


Thursday started out with this!

On the first descent we hit some great powder but rode too low and had to hike back up and out above a rock buttress. Unfortunately, one of the guys, Euan, slid down a couloir and over the rock buttress carried by the fresh snow and dropped/slid over some rocks about 20m to the snow below. Not one to complain much he said his leg hurt but he would be ok to carry on, after about half an hour of skinning, it wasn't getting an better and so we got him evacuated by Heli. It turned out he'd broken his ankle pretty badly! I had asked him how much it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10 to which he answered about a 7. Makes you wonder what Euan would have to do for a 10? 'Made of girders' as the saying goes!!

Euan moments before detonation!

Once Euan was safely out of there we carried on with the tour, the cloud had now come down and time was ticking…We skipped the Vogealle couloir and dropped directly down to coupe, dropping under the cloud layer and scoring some very nice turns in good untracked fresh.

Not the easy touring day I'd planned on, more of a problem solving day with a mostly satisfying conclusion…Euan has now had an op on his ankle and we wish him a speedy recovery!

So onto Friday, cloudy in the valley but clear up top with no wind so we headed up the Aiguille du Midi and rode down the Petite Envers, taking a variant by the Petite Rognon and scoring some pretty nice fresh lines.

We then started to skin up the Periades but the snowpack was icy and the Glacier pretty open so half way up we turned around and rode back down the way we had come, quitting while we were ahead, scoring a great day out and scoring a fitting end to another 'almost' perfect week!

I've now been Splitboard touring constantly for 5 weeks and haven't touched my bike in about a month! Today however, with an airport pick up in Geneva to do, I made a slight diversion back to the Velodrome in order to check out how my legs are doing.

After about an hour of riding around in circles I am pleased to report that they were 'not so bad'! I had a great session, very tempting to try to get back into it and get some weekly sessions in again but I still have about 8 weeks of Splitboarding to go so need to pace myself and not get burned out. Very tempting though… I must control my compulsive addictive tendencies!!

I have an Advanced BC week this week, got some good interesting plans so we'll see what the conditions bring. Col du Beaugean is calling again, might try to get a lap in on the ENSA couloir, maybe the Rectalin and if its in good condition Glacier Brenva which I have never done!!

Hmmm…sounds good, lets see what the condition bring!

All is good,

Neil

Another great BC Splitboard week!!

And another week flies by!

After an amazing week of full bore powder with my Backcountry Freeride group, last week I followed up with a Backcountry Splitboard Intro course.

The weather conditions were good but very cold at the start of the week as we got into some introductory Splitboard touring out the back of Le Tour, the snow conditions were a little mixed after some strong wind from the NE on Sunday but behind the col du Balm the snow was cold, fresh and untracked.

The descent off the Grands Autannes looked amazing and untouched so I noted it down for later in the week.

Tuesday we headed out for a big touring day with the classic Crochue-Berard tour. The conditions were firm and pretty tough for skinning and the wind was gusting a little as we approached the col du Crochue, not an easy first skin for those that had never skied before but everyone made it up the first climb in good time ready for the big traverse and then the 2nd skin up to the col du Berard. Here the wind speed increased dramatically and the chill factor really started to set in.

The snow was even firmer on this 2nd hike and the going was hard even with ski crampons, any tracks from the person in front were immediately covered over and in the end we resorted back to hiking on foot as the wind speed increased strongly. The tour had started to turn into a bit of a battle against the elements but the team dug in and soon we arrived at the col and set up for the ride whilst warming in the sun on the sheltered side of the col. Time was ticking and it was turning into a long day out but fortunately the snow on the sheltered side was cold, deep and fresh with plenty of room for fresh lines for all, a just reward for the effort of the hike and a great first Backcountry descent and superb day out. We eventually arrived back at Le Buet at 5pm, a long day, a tired but satisfied team and well earned refreshments in the bar!

On Wednesday the team were up for something good, I wanted to keep it quite simple with regards access and knew the descent off the Grand Autannes would be a good ride. With no tracks up the face, a sure sign of the fresh lines to come on the way down, we set off on skins until the steepness turned us onto crampons and I started to kick in a boot track to the top. Seth Lightcap from Jones snowboards and his girlfriend Alison, out touring Europe and collecting stories and photos for various articles, joined us for the trip (and decided to stay on for the rest of the week) and quickly became part of the team and helped break trail up to the summit.

The descent was in perfect condition, crystal light powder with no tracks anywhere and another perfect full speed descent. Everyone powered some fast deep turns whooping it up with nothing but big grins all around at the bottom as we exited out to Trient.

The forecast for Thursday was good so we Heli'd up to the Trient plateau for some Glacier des Grandes action. The wind had been blowing hard at altitude and so the conditions were very different to what they had been on the Friday and Saturday before when I had ridden both the Grandes and Petoudes variants. The upper reaches of the glacier were quite firm with wind slab, making for technical riding. As we reached the steeps halfway down though the conditions had started to change and the lower half of the run, sheltered from the wind, gave soft powder and fresh tracks for all. Another great mountain day and by now everyone was loving the splitboards going both up and down the mountain…

After a big week of touring we decided to have a riding day in Courmayeur for the last day of the course and so headed though the tunnel for a rip around the pistes, a quick sortie out into the Val Veni couloir and an afternoon in the trees to end another perfect week.

I have a BC Splitboard Freeride course next week! The weather is looking a little mixed and hopefully we'll get a bit of fresh snow to play around in..either way I'm looking forward to another great week of riding and touring.

I received a couple of smaller 161 Solution Splitboards last week so now have a better range of sizes for those 'vertically challenged' amongst us (that's anyone smaller than me!)

We can also now offer all McNab Clients 15% off Ortovox products so you should check out the web site and get in an order1 Check out my fav pieces such as the Haute Route packs, both 35L and 45L. Also check out the amazing 3+ transceiver and the Merino wool thermal range…very nice! If you fancy anything give Ruth a mail with your list and she'll pass it on to Ortovox.

The 15% deal off Jones Boards at TSA is still running, the Flagship is a life changer for sure, this is a board designed specifically for the type of riding that I love, fast, sharp, technical freeriding and steep and deep, this board handles it all. The Hovercraft is also worth a close look, the most fun board that I've ever ridden…I've got a 160 Hovercraft Split on order straight from Mr jones himself, can't hardly wait to try that one…Again if you're after a Jones board give us a shout and we'll get you a hook up.

There's also something new (product wise) in the pipeline that I'll be able to disclose at the end of the week, something I'm very excited about and that will be on offer to you too...Watch this space!!!

That's all for now, I've a couple of video clips to release once I've finished editing them so keep an eye on the McNab Snowboarding Facebook page or check out my Youtube channel 'mcnabsnowboarding' for all the clips so far this season.

Bring on the snow!

Laters,

Neil.

Another epic couple of weeks!

Another couple of weeks passes by, another great couple of weeks I have to add…

A Splitboard Intro course followed by a BC Freeride with some of the best conditions I've seen in the valley in at least 10 years!!

The Splitboard week was great fun… (see last news)

After a sunny start on the first day the weather came which made touring harder but snow conditions epic!

I was keen to try a Col d'Encrenaz descent so on Tuesday we set of for Lac Blanc in light snow with the forecast better for the afternoon. Unfortunately the brighter conditions didn't materialise and by midday when we arrived at the Lac Blanc refuge we were plagued by some serious snowfall and worsening visibility. We turned back after a brief snack stop and caught a rare sunny break for the excellent ride back to the lower lift at Flegere down the big Off piste area known locally as the fairway. No tracks and excellent snow made the decision to turn back bearable!
On Wednesday we again headed out to try to complete the tour, again the conditions were a little mixed with light snowfall but better vis than the day before. This time we continued our tour, breaking trail for some 4 hours around towards the Col.

After so many, 'it's just around the next rock ridge' that even I was starting to not believe a word of it we came around the last rock ridge and there it was…

After 4 hours of breaking trail through perfect powder you'd kind of expect the descent to be in pretty good condition and it was! We rode straight down the central couloir all the way to the Col du Montets in perfect powder but with the light a little flat. At this time of year the flat light is quite common on these big slopes that don't get any sun and the amazing snow conditions more than made up for this slight imperfection.

This was my, ever changing, new best run of the winter!

Check out the video clip here!




We had a riding day to recover in Courmayeur with a couple of laps in the Val Veni..very nice! Before, to finish the week on a super high we then hit the classic Glacier des Grandes from the Trient Heli drop for another amazing descent.

Conditions on the Grandes have been getting better every week, for this descent they weren't quite at their peak but were definitely getting there…

check out the video of the descent here!



A great week of riding with a super cool crew…nice!


Ok so then last week things stepped up even further with more snowfall and this time no wind!!!

Condtions just suddenly went off and I knew I could coax the guys into doing something good. Slight mixed weather at the start of the week but great conditions for a Pas de Chevre warm up day followed by an amazing snowy day riding the trees in Courmayeur.

Check out the tree riding video clip here!



Towards the end of the day the weather cleared and I got a brief view of Glacier Toule which looked amazing! Clear skies the next morning made it an easy decision and we hit a couple of laps of glacier Toule off the Helbronner with the second descent taking us all the way down to the tunnel…epic powder all the way for a 2000m vertical descent!!

Video clip to follow….(check my McNab Snowboarding Facebook or youtube pages for the latest clips)

Having not hiked anywhere yet I was getting a bit keen to get out and score some big descent and new the conditions would be now amazing. Thursday we hiked up to Col du Passon in deep powder all the way. With only one ski group ahead, I knew we'd be on for something good but hadn't expected it to be as good as it was!!

I hadn't seen the Passon this good for over 10 years, no wind effect on the snowpack and silken powder from top to bottom…A new favourite run of the season in the bag…

check out the video clip here!



So how to top that?

There could be only one solution, 'the Grandes' so I called the heli in for an early morning drop up on the Trient plateau. Very cold conditions kept the Verbier jet set away and we had the mountains to our selves. Again I found myself breaking trail through deep light powder, something that can only mean great things are in store for the descent!

The Glacier des Grandes was now present in all its glory, conditions had changed and it now had on its perfect powder cloak from top to bottom!

At last a full speed descent was applicable!!!!

A new best run of the season…Video clip to follow shortly!

And so ended another fantastic course…but unfortunately for me not the end of my working week with a private guiding booking on my day off again!!!

What was going to be a simple days guiding on the Grandes Montets, quickly got urned into another Heli drop on the Trient plateau, this time with the intentions of riding a new line that I'd been keeping an eye on from the heli each time we'd flown over.

Another cold clear day up in the mountains, perfect conditions everywhere as we flew up over the Grandes now sporting 7 super nice lines down it from our descent the day before. I checked out my new line, it looked great, a little sporty in one section through the glacier to get into it but fantastic terrain and amazing snow all the way.

The usual quick hike across to the Aiguille du Tour and then the drop in…the Glacier Petouds variant.

Another amazing descent and again a 'New best run of the winter!'….

Check out the video clip here!



Busy, busy, busy…but if you have to work on your day off this might as well be what you do?

More Splitboarding coming up this week and lots of possibilities, the hardest bit now is deciding which run to do!


Bit of a nightmare with our phone and internet at the moment, our house phone line is out of action and they can't dig up the road to put in a new one because of the snow! This makes updates etc a little harder but Ruth is keeping on top of the bookings and contacts as best she can but if you're waiting for a reply from either Ruth or myself just have a little patience and we'll be in touch asap.

All in all not a bad couple of weeks!!

Neil.