Just back from my Splitboard trip to the Lyngen Alps, Norway…

This was my 2nd trip to the Lyngen Lodge, the first time I went a little later, the first week of May in 2009. The weather was amazing everyday but the snow had definitely turned towards spring riding rather than cold winter powder. We were on Snowshoes back then, I broke trail everyday in knee deep spring melt for 4 to 5 hours everyday. It was an amazing trip but I remember thinking it would be a great place to ride if the access wasn't so hard…Back then, even with all my past negative experiences of Splitboarding, I thought it would be a great place to return to with a group of Splitboarders.

Fast forward a few years and things have changed rapidly!

2 years ago I rode with a certain Mr Jeremy Jones, who convinced me to give Splitboarding another try. His new Brand 'Jones snowboards' was about to be released on the market, he was at the time riding one of the first prototype Flagships, and we spoke about board design and the direction Freeride Snowboarding was heading and how Splitboarding was to be a big part of the next step in Freeride evolution.

I'd recently come back from a hard BC Freeride session at the Col de Grand St Bernard where I'd spent the week wading around, breaking trail in knee deep snow (yet again) whilst ski tourers whistled past, barely breaking the surface, and I'd pretty much already decided that I'd have to give Splitboarding another try…

These 2 experiences were perfectly timed and I was pleased to find that Splitboard technology had advanced a making the experience a little more pleasurable and successful than I'd found it in the past.

Fast forward to the present and last weeks Lyngen trip was my 16th week of Splitboarding this season!!!

Splitboarding has now become a massive part of the Freeride evolution and with the way equipment is advancing it can only get better and better.

Last year in 2011 I ran my first 'Splitboard' expedition to the middle of nowhere in Greenland, it was the perfect trip.

This year I fancied another try at the Lyngen Alps in Norway, a location as mystical as Greenland but with easier access and luxurious accommodation at the 'Lyngen Lodge'.

We flew in to Tromso located some 350km within the Arctic circle to perfect weather and amazing looking Snow conditions, I could see groups skiing fresh powder as we flew in and could feel the excitement build as we drove the 3 hours from Tromoso to the Lyngen Fjord and installed ourselves at the lodge.

As we unloaded the kit from the van outside the lodge I was scoping out the terrain up behind the lodge. From the nearest peak there looked to be the perfect warm up hike and ride, a beautiful looking descent, perfectly NW facing so keeping good cold snow with steep open faces and features around rocky outcrops. It definitely looked like a good place to start the trip and with an early start the next morning, some 1200m of hiking from the sea to the summit and an amazing powder run down, day 1 was in the bag!



Hiking above the lodge on day 1.

A lot of the mountains here look foreshortened from the bottom, or from half way up, the tree line stops at about 300m and from there the tops always look quite near. If you look at the other side of the fjord though and see what remains above the tree line over there it becomes obvious that you still have a fair way to go with a lot of false summits along the way. Like wise though on the descent the open fields of powder are a lot longer than they at first look and the terrain is epic.





First taster tracks in Lyngen on day 1.

Most of the hikes take around 3 to 4 hours and most of the summits are around 1200m. You can really feel that you're at sea level hiking and once you get into it a 1200m ascent will be completed in around 3 hours (an hour less than back in Chamonix at a good pace!) and the riding is anything from open powder fields to steep lines through rocky outcrops…really nice riding!



 From the beach...

 
 to the summit...



 back to the beach...Alastair charges his line!

Day 2 we took the 'Spirit of Lyngen' (the lyngen lodge boat) up the fjord to one of the near by islands. From the beach we hiked through perfect powder for about 4 hours to the highest point on the Island. From here we called back the boat and descended via a huge rolling gully with windlips, banks and drops all the way back to the beach. Not so bad!

Day 3 we used a skidoo to access a deep valley a little way down the coast. From here another 4 hour hike took us to another 1200m peak with some of the best snow and terrain so far. Steep chutes into numerous steep powder fields and some proper deep crystal powder. Another great day!

Day 4 we hiked to another 1200m peak to ride a steep North facing slope visible from the lodge. A long hike ticked off in 3 and half hours and another epic descent…the days are just getting better and better!




Paul charges out of the steep North face on day 4 (just liked this shot with all the boulders covered below!)

Day 5 saw us take a trip up the fjord with the boat again, this time to access a hidden glacier way up on the Lyngen Peninsula. The day had a super remote feel to it as we were properly out there with no other sign of life.


 An isolated Glacial valley...

 
 Hiking to the col above!


Team Lyngen 2012 on the isolated Col deep in the heart of the Lyngen Alps.

An isolated valley leads up to a steep gully to the hidden Glacial valley above, the snow is good, crystal cold powder and the temperature drops rapidly as we move up and onto the shaded Glacial slopes above. Finally we reach the col above and can gaze on the vista of mountains and the fjords over the other side of the Lyngen Peninusla. The descent is wide open and fast, my only advice to the group is to leave no space untracked. Everyone takes their own line and rips it to the valley below. The steep gully is great to ride, banks on the left and right to slash and play on. We re group on the beach and await our take home, another great day in the bag!

Day 6…the last day in Lyngen! I have spied a steep North face, visible from the Lodge. the snow looks great and it has numerous rocky features, chutes and drops. Another 1200m hike, this time in record time, we're getting much quicker now, the whole group are on the top in under 3 hours and that is with a stop en route for Paul to get his photo shoot in!

As we ascend it become apparent that the slopes to the right of our climb are maybe even better than the North Face that I had intended us to ride. At the top we have a group vote on which slopes to ride, there looks to be more on offer over to the right, more room for everyone, great snow and lots of features, it's slightly less steep but looks super fun and the decision in made…the North face will have to wait till another year!

Again, the only rule is to leave no space untracked and everyone charges their own line towards the valley and the sea. It's another amazing descent, super long and fantastic riding and a great finish to a perfect week.
We're back at the lodge for about 1:30 and spend the afternoon relaxing in the hot tub, recovering in the Sauna and tucking into a BBQ on the terrace.

Late in the evening we're treated to a wildlife show as 3 sea otters play along the coastline below, I walk down to check them out as a Sea eagle flies overhead…

This really is a quite mystical place!!!
Videos available from the trip at http://www.youtube.com/user/mcnabsnowsports?feature=mhee

Spring powder sessions week 3...

Another busy Splitboard touring week passes by. Perfect weather on day one saw us take the opportunity for a quick tour over the Col des Autannes before a mixed forecast was scheduled to make planning the weeks schedule an ever changing process.

With mixed weather on Tuesday we headed up to the Col de grand St Bernard for a couple of days, hiking to the Col de Barrasson on the first day with a brief spell of good vis, before a calming night up at the monastery.

Nearing the col de Barrasson.

The next morning unfortunately the weather was taking a serious turn for the worse with zero vis and strong winds. We headed back down to the Van and made an escape to Champex where we rode some seriously heavy wet snow through steep trees for the rest of the day. Champex has some great terrain and will be fantastic on a powder day, we had great fun charging steep soggy lines through the trees whilst looking at the amazing potential for future escapades.

This was followed by heavy snowfall over night and a great bad vis powder riding day off the top lift at the Grandes Montets on Thursday, check out the video below!



With a continuing bad forecast I had planned a possible tour to the Col d'Argentiere for Friday, a col that I have only once managed to reach with one of my Advanced BC groups. The snow conditions would be great, all we would need would be some good vis to make the tour possible. It snowed heavily over night at altitude, rain in the valley, an I awoke to clearing calm skies. The sun started to clear the remaining clouds from the valley, this could mean only one thing for outlast day and so I made a quick call around the guys and booked a mid morning heli flight up to the Trient plateau. On the way up the pilot, who had just made one drop off previous to ours said he had not seen such good conditions up there since early season and this quickly became apparent as we flew up over some seriously good looking steep and deep untracked powder.

Amazing conditions on the Trient plateau.

All alone and deep in it again!

After the customary hike across to the Aiguille du Tour we began the descent with perfect conditions, blue skies, great snow and no tracks (the three skiers before us having traversed way out left missing out on the best riding for some unknown ski reasoning).



The riding was perfect for about 1500m vertical of the 2100m descent, the lower half being temperature affected with some soft crust followed by spring corn making it an epic last days riding in the Chamonix massif both for the guys and for me (for a few weeks) as I now head off Splitboarding in Norway's Lyngen Alps for this years 'Voyager trip'. Following this after a week of acclimatising to sea level I'm back to Chamonix for this years Mont Blanc trip.

First though I have a few days off to get things ready, this of course means leaving everything until the last possible minute whilst riding my bike as much as possible in order to gain some form for the coming cycling season for which I'm badly lagging in fitness.

With this said I am now going to head out for a ride…

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Another week in paradise?

Sprint training at the Velodrome in geneva today, first track session for ages and it felt super hard. Someone told me that pain is just weakness leaving the body but I have to say I don't feel much stronger! Enjoyed it in a punishing kind of way, but then that seems to be the attraction of cycling?

Another really good splitboard touring week last week. Blue skies everyday, warm temps and stable conditions opened the doors for some great touring possibilities.

We warmed up with a quick tour from Brevent to Lac Noire and then up to the col du lac Noire and down the Lachenal bowl which surprisingly gave up some good snow and nice fresh turns. Most of the guys hadn't splitboarded before so this was a real warm up and training day which saw some interesting variations on the classic ski touring kick turn, not all of which worked to well. The riding was good but touring wise, things could only get better!

The next morning we headed off to the Col du Grand St Bernard, the easy tour up towards the monastery, where we were booked in for the night brought everything together and by the time we approached the Col the team were moving like Pro's.

High above the Monastery is the North facing peak of the ominously named Mont Mort! From its lofty peak untouched fields of cold undulating powder reach down into the valley, visible to anyone approaching the monastery but seemingly tantalisingly out of reach. After a quick stop en route to the Col we made a group decision (ok I might have swayed it somewhat) to go the distance and carry on past the col and climb Mont Mort for some fresh powder turns.

Hiking up above the monastry (seen below).

Great snow!

Andy carves a nice windlip!

A good few hours later we dropped in for an epic untracked descent and the pains of the long ascent were a distant memory. An amazing run, great terrain with rollers, windlips and spines…Nice but shame i forgot the Go Pro!

A peaceful night sharing a dorm with 15 blokes and up and ready for another days adventure. The guys were really getting into the Splitboard touring as we set off up towards the col d en haut for a trip around the Drone. On seeing the fresh powder the other side of the first Col the group decided (without my input this time) to add a little extra hiking onto the trip and get in an extra descent down the valley that leads to La Fouley.

The access couloir!

After a mellow descent in good snow we hiked back up to our original position and then continued our original route up towards the Drone. A steep couloir, climbed with crampons gave us access to the col above were we had lunch and prepared for the descent. The previous day (and the week before) I had spotted a steep untracked face descending from the top over to the left. It looked a little tricky to get into so I shot across to have a look, only to discover 2 perfect untracked powder filled couloirs leading down into a huge powder field which in turn led back in to a steepening with another couple of couloirs opening out into the big valley below. I dropped in to check it out, it was even better than it looked and the whoops from behind told me that I wasn't the only one enjoying the run.

Nice lines in great snow!

Thursday we ventured up and over the Col des Autannes for some more fresh cold snow, making good time allowed us to make a descent down onto Glacier de Bron which we then hiked to the top of for a 2nd descent in perfect cold fresh powder (I had the Go Pro with me so you can see some of the footage in the clip below).

Friday, we had the Heli booked for a Splitboard heli day. On the way up I spied a great line off the Petoudes glacier variant from the Heli, which I managed to find on the way down. A new McNab secret spot gave us an amazing descent down a beautiful steep couloir in perfect snow. Check out the video below to see the footage.



After 2 weeks of touring I had a rest day on Saturday before heading off to the track today. I've just finished setting up all the boards for tomorrow and have another week of touring set up for this coming week. Looks like the weather might be changing a little bit, it would be nice to get some more fresh snow to ride, fill in all the tracks and give us some more glory turns.

I'll get the camera ready!

Not so bad!

Neil.