Sunday 11 November 2012


Winter is coming at full speed now, the snow line is rapidly creeping down towards the valley and the temperatures are dropping and in the high resorts the season has began.

We’re into final prep here in Chamonix. The Snow tyres are on and last minute kit requirements are in order.

I have a whole new fleet of ‘Jones Solution’ Splitboards on order, a full range of sizes and this year will be upgrading to the ‘Karakoram’ binding system, which I tested out on last season Splitboard trip to the Lyngen Alps in the Northern fjords of Norway, with favorable results.

Most courses are looking fully booked, but as always, a few changes occur at last minute so it’s worth checking back from time to time to se if anything new has come up.  I’ll also be posting availability and up to date news on the McNab Snowboarding Facebook page and the McNab_SB twitter feed so sign up to both of these for last minute news.

At the moment I still have one place available on this years Splitboard trip to Kashmir. I last visited this region about 4 years ago, it is a very different experience to riding in Europe or the modern resorts of the Western world and I was very impressed with the amazing terrain potential.

With Splitboards we should be able to maximize our use of this terrain and this should be an amazing voyage of discovery that goes way beyond the experiences that we’ll have on the mountain.

We’re approaching the deadline for visa apps and flights so if anyone is interested in joining this trip they should get in touch asap.

There are also still a few spaces available on the Splitboard touring courses in April. These should be great weeks, the plan being to get out and explore new terrain and spend some time ‘out there’ up in the mountains. The idea with the Splitboard touring courses is to gain access to great riding and visit new locations, slightly different to the idea of the Splitboard Haute Route, which follows the classic high mountain journey from Chamonix to Zermatt.

I’m starting to get very excited about the coming winter season and am now looking forward to getting out there on my board. It’s snowing again today up there so as soon as the base is good enough I’ll be keen to get the Solution out and get splitting and there’s only 4 weeks or so to go until my first course in Tignes!

It’s been a great Autumn over here in Chamonix, it started a bit wet, which put down a lot of snow up high and started to put a good base down on the glaciers.Then the skies cleared and the Autumn colors came out...




 Aiguille du Mid from les Gaillands


Lac de Gaillands


 The Grepon through the trees


The ruin at lac de Gaillands


A typical Autumn view in the Aravis

The Autumn is always an amazing season for cycling so I've been out on the bike loads getting fit and ready for the winter and the Autumn track season...


The World Cup Domancy climb...a local test piece.

I managed a quick trip down to sample the warmer climes and great riding terrain around Mont Ventoux and then another cycling trip, superbly disguised as a family holiday to Feurtaventura.



FeurtaVentura


 FeurtaVentura


FeurtaVentura

I’m now fully gearing up for the track season at the Velodrome in Geneva, which should get my legs super strong for all the Snowboarding to come.

On the subject of gearing up for the winter, I’ve just contributed for an article on getting fit for Skiing and Snowboarding for ‘Ski & Board’. I’ll post the article I wrote online shortly as the magazine will probably only use a small portion of what I wrote.

Being fit for the winter is super important in order for you to get the most out of your riding so I’ve just put down some super simple exercises that will get you ready to ride. Look out for the link to it on Facebook and in the articles section on the McNab Snowboarding web site in due course and remember…being fit is a choice not a gift so get working at it…

Anyway, enough for now, the weather is starting to clear as I write this to reveal a very snowy looking Aiguille du Midi and I’m going to take advantage of the break in the downpour to get out on my bike with the dog.



You can start getting very excited about the winter riding soon to come…

I think its going to be another big one!!

All is good in Chamonix…

Neil