McNab Snowboarding Chamonix

2 more amazing weeks of BC powder riding have just flown on by!

2012-01-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Another great couple of weeks have flown on by!

A Backountry Intro course with a group of regulars, a great week of hiking and riding with a great group. The snow was pretty good after a fresh dump over the weekend, highlights of the week were a hiking day to the Breche de Berarde (see my movie of the days tour) and a hike up the steep and unrelenting Grandes Autannes for a superb descent to Trient.

This week I had my first Splitboard Intro of the season, again a group of regulars all up for something good, no holds barred! After an intro to Splitboarding day at Le Tour we kicked off with a snowy tour to Lac Blanc with the intentions of crying on around to the Col d'Encrenaz. Unfortunately the weather turned us around but then cleared for a superb decent in deep untracked fresh all the way back to La Flegere.

The next day, again under moody skies we completed the tour to the Encrenaz and after 4 hours of breaking trail in deep snow the weather cleared and we were treated to an epic powder descent down to the col d' Montets, the light remained a little flat but the descent was still amazing fun (see video clip!)

So the guys were totally fired up now for something better, but how do you top that?

With a bluebird forecast for the next day anything was possible….So I called the heli and at 10am we were airborne en route for the Trient plateau. A beautiful flight, made even better due to the fact that as we needed 2 flights in total, I got to do my first descent in the heli in order to load up the guys for the 2nd flight. I've often watched the heli's descend after dropping us off and thought that it looks way more fun on the way down! Well I can now say that it is, man those things can drop pretty quick and after telling the pilot that i'd never in the heli for the descent before he really showed me what it can do!

Anyway, once we were all dropped on the mountain we toured over for my classic Glacier de Grandes descent. I did this the weekend before with a Private group but not with great snow conditions and so I was pleased to see that things had improved greatly with the latest snowfalls. Still not bottomless powder but its starting to get there (see latest Vid clip).

After a great week of splitboarding we opted for a riding day in Courmayeur to finish the week. The weather forecast wasn't great for Chamonix but we had a day in the sun riding some great snow down into the Val Veni for a couple of laps before heading through the trees and into the valley to finish off the week. A great day made all the better as we came out of the tunnel into the Chamonix valley to find gloomy skies and drizzle.

It'll be snowing higher up though and I have a BC Freeride week about to start to lets hope it tops things up and we can start all over again!

unfortunately I've had to put the Velodrome on hold at the moment as I'm hiking and riding so much and haven't got enough energy for the track! I'm still trying to turn the pedals on the rollers and getting the squats in so hopefully the legs will still hold some power when I get back onto it. Got to pace myself though its a long season and the snow is great and I don't want to burn myself out like did a couple of weeks ago. For the moment I'm more than happy to be hiking and riding in the mountains so Bring it on….

On the courses front, we are getting a lot of enquiries still and have substantial waiting lists for most courses. Keep checking back on the web site as people do cancel for various reasons and Ruth will keep things updated. As far as I know (I'm on a need to know basis week by week) we have one plc left on a Splitboard Touring week and one place left on my Norway trip to the Lyngen Alps so if you fancy either of these give us a shout.

All is good!

neil.

Another week of great Off Piste!

2012-01-14T04:55:00.000-08:00

Another great week of off Piste riding in the bag!

last week I had a Private group for an Off piste week, a group of friends all looking for the same vibe and so we could basically do what ever we wanted (or whatever I wanted as it works out).

Great!

We started out with a fantastic day at Le Tour riding the back bowls and a great car park face run finding superb snow even though the wind over the weekend has stripped a lot of the powder away!

Tuesday we hit Courmayeur for the ususal tree runs and a big hit in the Val Veni, which although wind affected was still in great riding condition.

Next we hit up the Grands Montets and with the group starting to get their form going we did a top tickets on the Argentiere Glacier followed by a fantastic Pas du Chevre descent to Chamonix.

We did some Avalanche transceiver work and a Possettes Couloir variant on the Thursday and then for the piece de resistance I dragged them out touring for the final day with a great Backcountry day out to the Aiguillette des Houches and down to coupeau.

All in all another great week...

I now have a Heli drop to contend with tomorrow, another private group for the day, so I'll head up tot he Trient Plateau with them and see what's looking good.

This is followed by the first of my Backcountry Intro of the winter which I'm really looking forward to. The conditions at the moment really suit touring out there in search of the goods...fantastic!

I put some course availability on line last week, things are changing all the time so keep checking back, I know Ruth is in contact with quite a few people juggling dates etc at the moment and I'll keep updating things as I know...I'm kept on a need to know basis with these things so just take it one day at a time and get to concentrate on finding the goods out on the hill...

The perfect world!

I've had a bit of Bronchitis this last week so have laid off the cycling in order to recover. Just starting to feel a bit stronger again now so will tie in a bit of leg work this week to see how I progress. With working everyday it might be the case that added track nights push my body a little to far into the red zone so I need to find a balance that fulfills my needs...

Oh and by the way, if you didn't see my last video 'powder hit' you van now find it on the Jones Snowboards web site here

Anyway, all is good... need to organize things for the heli day tomorrow so I'll catch you all later!

Neil.

Amazing start to 2012!

2012-01-06T22:18:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a start to the New year!

So I've just completed my first course of 2012, a tech clinic, normally one of my tamer level courses, concentrating on perfecting Snowboard technique and usually Piste based for the most part. Conditions kind of provoked a different approach however so after a run through the essential elements of Snowboard technique; Control of line, understanding Board technology and design, pressure control and Bio mechanics on the first morning...we we're kind of 'forced' to quickly head for the shred!

After tons of snow all day on Monday, Tuesday dawned clear! Grand Montets (not usually my first choice on a powder day due to the crowds) called me in and so we headed up for a big day of Powder riding. A bit of a jump into the deep end for the guys after we'd only just covered the basics of perfecting Snowboard technique the day before, but they handled it well and man did we score some good lines with top to bottom Lavancher and a run down the Glacier off top tickets!

Check out my 'quick hit' video to see how the day panned out!

Wednesday we headed over to Courmayeur. I thought we should do a bit more technique so kept it quite strict in the morning and really drummed the essentials into their riding. After a couple of hours we started to see some great changes taking place so basically it was then time to dive off into the trees for the afternoon, mess up their newly found technique again but score some more great powder lines!

With massive amounts of snow falling all day on Thursday we headed up at les Houches. Again we worked some technique in the morning and now things were really starting to come together and the guys were riding well. I started to link in longer and longer runs and by the afternoon everyone was ripping and the snow was getting super deep.

Thursday evening I headed to the Velodrome for some cycling action, it was a kind of test to see if I'm going to be able to keep both sports going (snowboarding and cycling) through out the winter. My legs were pretty tired, the cycling adage of 'if you can sit don't stand, if you can lie down don't sit' doesn't anywhere say, if you can ride your Snowboard all day at full power you don't need to sit or lie down...just get on your bike...

yeah I was pretty much exhausted by the end of the session so will have to have a re think about how I'm going to keep this side of things progressing...maybe one less super squatts session mid week?

Anyway I pulled my legs together for Friday...Last Day,and what a f**king day!! After 1 meter 70cm of fresh snowfall recorded at the top of the Aiguille du Midi, the Grand Montets was again the obvious choice. An avalanche risk of 5/5 meant that everything was closed in the morning so we headed up to Argentiere to await the 10am news of what would open. I was surprised to find the car park at the Grand Montets pretty empty and there must have only been about 100 people waiting around to see what was going to happen. All good things come to those with a bit of luck and we didn't have to wait long and suddenly we were up top and deep in a meter of super light fresh!

The guys were ripping by this time and everyone was scoring fresh lines at super speed. Only the Herse was running so we hit up the Canadian bowl for first tracks a couple of times before spreading out and scouring the mountain for the steepest and deepest lines.

Check out my 'Powder hit' video to see how the day kind of looked!

A great week with a great group of guys who I now look forward to riding again with in the future!

Looks like I might need to get next years dates sorted out already?

All in all, it's not been a bad start to the New year!

This week I have a Private group of friends (all been out before) for an Off Piste week!

Couldn't be a better week for it for sure with the conditions we have and the forecast for some clear skies!!!

Maybe I'll be able to get the go pro out in some conditions where I can actually see something for the first time!

Anyway, things are good so far... Ruth has had a couple of cancellations on courses so will update the courses availability page today.

Keep checking in on availability as people do have to drop out for various reasons over the winter and you may still find what you want.

Right enough of my waffle...get out there and get on with it!

Neil.

The New Ice Age is here!

2011-12-31T23:50:00.000-08:00

I'll start by wishing you all a very happy New year and I hope that 2012 will be a great year for us all.

2011 wasn't so bad, so maybe, like with most things, the more we practice the better we get.

So winter came in quickly this year, 3 months of clear skies changed, within a week, to giving us more snow in a couple of weeks than we had all last season.

Having already completed 4 weeks of work before Christmas, my season feels already well underway and on Monday (2nd of Jan 2012) I start the long haul with courses running everyweek right through until our final Mont Blanc ascent the first week of May! Long Haul makes work sound like a bit of a trial, but of course my job is Snowboarding so I'm looking forward to every day of it.

The last few days it has snowed about a meter here in the valley. This is perfect as we already have a great base layer and this will cover up and fill in all the rocks and holes that were still poking through. The Avalanche risk is obviously very high at the moment, Chamonix is on lock down with not much open this weekend but when it settles and bonds it'll make things perfect for the rest of the seasons Off Piste and BC courses.

I'm very excited about riding this season as I have a new Jones 160 Hovercraft, which is absolutely amazing to ride! I can't wait to get into the trees in Courmayeur on this board it'll be so much fun. I also have my new Solution Split 168XL which is a little stiffer than last years and almost rides like the Flagship.

I scored a couple of amazing descents on this board already this season with a super deep and fresh line through the dream forrest on the Grand Montets followed by a split and skin out. I then followed this up with a hike up to the top of the Herse chair, which hadn't openned yet for the season, the piste wasn't even pisted yet, and scored an amazing descent down the Italien bowl and the Hotel face with no one else around and not one track anywhere. This run was one of those OMG! runs which I wished I'd got on Video which in turn promted me to go out and buy a 'GO Pro". This in turn promted me to go out and buy a helmet to stick it on (so now I'm riding in a helmet, for all the wrong reasons). As such I have produced my first short movie clip showing a short days Splitboarding. Unfortunately the light was a bit flat but you get the idea and can watch it here on the McNab Snowboarding Face book page or here if this works?

I'm looking forward to seeing what footage I can get this season, its about time that I caught on camera some of the amazing lines and stunning places that i get to ride in so watch this space for more videos this season (if I find the time for the editing!)

The Jones Flagship has been stiffened up in the nose this season, this stops the slight chatter at speed that was evident a little last season, I've not ridden this much yet as i've been either splitboarding or running Tech clinics on the piste in which case I've been riding my Hovercraft 160 or most recently my new 164 All mountain Twin, which I'm actually loving at the moment for playing and jibbing about on. This board is so easy to ride, almost to easy, sometimes I almost forget if I'm goofy or regular on it...

I'm still trying to keep fitness up for my cycling. I started Track cycling at the Velodrome in Geneva in the Autumn and became immediately addicted to it. It kind of suit me as there's no hills and its quite sprinty. I won my first race, the flying lap TT, came 2nd in a couple of others and normaly place top 3 in the masters cat which isn't so bad for a first timer with absolutley shit race tactics, I'm normally at the back of the bunch when everyone sprints for the line!

I'm going to try to keep the track riding going through out the winter with some evening and weekend sessions, but we'll see how my legs hold up as with all this snow the Snowboarding is going to be pretty full on.

Anyway, that's about it for now. 2011 was a fantastic year and if all goes to plan 2012 will be way better!

Lets all do our best to make it so!

All is good in Chamonix!!

Neil.

Deeper and deeper! The winter is on!!!

2011-12-17T12:39:00.000-08:00

So after 3 months of blue skies the winter has stormed into play and it has now been snowing pretty much everyday for the past 2 weeks!

I'm just back to Chamopniox after my first Tech clinic course of the winter. The first couple of days went well with bad vis but great snow and some good work being done by the team with big technique changes and vast improvements from the word go.

It was good to get this work done early on because the weather then fully came in and it started dumping like I've not seen for years.

We then spent the rest of the week making the most of the massive quantity of deep powder on offer as the storm increased in volume and intensity.

Day 4 was the best day, zero vis but perfect powder everywhere and we lapped top to bottom scoring freshies all day.

With so much snow now falling the Avalanche risk was getting serious and slowly Tignes was starting to shut down with only a few lifts left running by Friday and the Storm still increasing in intensity.

By now there was over a meter of new snow in resort and things were getting serious. The road out of Tignes was closed sporadically due to Avalanches and for a while it looked like I'd not be able to leave!

With Ruth's Christmas Party scheduled for Friday night I was under orders to tunnel out of there myself if the road remained closed which was starting to look like a distinct possibility.

Tignes ground into a gridlock on Friday afternoon, the avalanche risk now on a scale 5 out of 5.

In the end with UK Freerider Will Hughes in the van with me we escaped in a convoy heading down from Tignes to Bourg St Maurice which normally might take 20 minutes but in this instance took a solid 2 and a half hours! Traffic chaos and serious Avalanche risk, we kept out transceivers on for that part of the drive!

We arrived in Chamonix with the Christmas party in full swing and proceeded to get stuck in for some catching up. havin just driven for 5 hours and not eaten since midday this didn't take long at all. A great party for sure!

It's been dumping in Chamonix since I got back here and it's starting to get pretty deep in valley now after it having rained quite high most of last week. Up high there is now a serious amont of snow and unfortunately most of the Chamonix Ski areas are now shut due to high Avalanche risk.

Fortunately Les Houches and some of Courmayeur is open for business and tomorrow I start work with 2 private clients who are training up for a Splitboard exped to Afganistan!

Its forecast to snow on and off most of this week with some more big snowfalls due towards the end of the week.

Les Houches tomorrow though and then we'll see what happens. Conditions are a bit serious for BC touring at the moment so we'll probably be confined to just riding the deep fresh powder off the lifts!

I've not been cycling at the track now for 2 weeks so am feeling a bit of withdrawal syndrome. I missed a big race meet today but needed a day of recovery after a hard week of powder riding in Tignes and a big party night last night.

I kept up training in Tignes hitting the gym in the evening for some serious squatt and speed training so it'll be interesting to see if I can go any faster once I get back on the bike.

In Tignes, I rode the new 160 Hovercraft for the first time. It is amazing!

everynow and then you come across the perfect tool for the job in hand. When that job is Freeriding and ripping the mountain apart then the Hoevrcraft just happens to be the perfect tool.

What an amazing bit of kit, the 156 was epic, the 160 blows the doors open and a new world awaits!

Total inspiration, what a bit of kit that is!!

Right, got to go get things ready for tomorrow, the Hovercraft, ABS pack, snorkle and flippers.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

First ride of the season!

2011-11-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

I'm just back in Chamonix after 3 days riding in Tignes, my first slide of the winter.

I'm over there with a couple of private clients, (one on skis Rhiannon, partner of a regular Snowboard client of mine, Lee) who are training up for a Lyngen Alps trip later in the winter.

We have spent the first 3 days working on technique, which has gone really well. I've worked on building their understanding of how skis and snowboards actually work, building their understanding of what they actually need to do physically to bend the ski or Snowboard in the right place at the right time to make it follow a line that works with the terrain that they ride.

Line and how you look and read the mountains terrain is the key here, you can't change technique if you don't follow a line that works with the terrain. You can't for example work the end of the turn, which is the most important part of the turn in terms of speed control into the next turn, to create a flowing working line, if you focus on looking down the slope at the end of your turn.

You line will basically follow where you look, most riders look at to steep a line down the slope which means they carry too much speed and have to skid and rotate.

Anyway, without getting into it to much, you cant change technique without changing someones concept of where they look and how they ride the mountain. likewise, with out an understanding of how your equipment actually works, in terms of sidecut and flex, you can't really understand the movements needed to actually work your Snowboard or skis.

Simply put...Understanding your equipment means that you know where to apply pressure to it in order to flex it appropriately to the line you want to ride.

Understanding the line that works with the terrain and the speed you want to carry is fundamental, and seems obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many people suffer in their technique and riding simply because of where they look and how they read the terrain.

Once you understand these first 2 elements you then need to learn the simple and natural body movements that are used in order to apply pressure to the board/ski in the right place in order to flex it into the line you want to ride.

When you get it right you riding will flow with the terrain and you can play around with variations of the working line putting your own inspiration to the mountains canvas!

Get it?

Ok, anyway, Tignes has been fun, the Glacier is in quite good condition and the home run is ok but purely man made snow. It hasn't really snowed yet this winter (2 days a few of weeks a go) and so there's basically nothing off piste or below the permanent snow line.

In Tignes this means that we're restricted to the Glacier with nothing else open. Elsewhere, only areas with lift access on Glaciated terrain are open for business so far.

Tignes has been good this last few days and I head back over there tomorrow for another 3 days.

I have a week off and then I'm back to Tignes for a week and then its full speed ahead for the winter through until May!

I had a great day riding yesterday, I'd forgotten how much fun the Jones flagship is to ride. It totally inspired me for the season ahead.

All we need is the snow!

I did another Haute Savoie FFC (French Federation Cyclisme) meet last Saturday at the velodrome in Geneva.

My second time racing and I finished 2nd in the Scratch race and 1st in the flying lap Time Trial (in the masters Cat/over 30's) so I was pretty stoked on that!

I'm going to try to keep this going over the winter but I'll have to see how my legs fair with riding all day and intense sprinting in the evenings?

What else is new?

I just got a load of Salomon high backs in to put on my Splitboard fleets 'Spark R&D' Bindings. This should make them super responsive as last years 'Spark' highbacks where way to soft. This year they have stiffened them up and you can get new highback from 'Spark' to upgrade your old kit. The Salomon ones fit and work super well though so I worked my connections and they 'look and are' the business.

2 places are now available on a Splitboard intro course 23rd Jan, due to a cancellation. These are the last places available this winter, except for 1 place on my Lyngen/Norway trip (unless more cancellations come up, so keep checking back!) Ruth has waiting lists for quite a few courses now so contact her if you want to get on a list for something.

Right, that's enough of my waffle for now, I've plenty to get ready before I head back to Tignes (via a training session on the track in geneva) tomorrow.

All is good out here! But would be better if it snowed some!!

Snow is forecast for the weekend so we wait and see!

Neil.

Final check list before the first ride!

2011-11-22T00:33:00.000-08:00

Well, this is it, I start my winter this coming winter with a Private course in Tignes!

So far the skies are blue and we're still enjoying amazing Autumn like conditions out here in the Alps. Great for cycling, but not so good for the Snowboarding!

For the past few years, I've not started my season before the Christmas week though to although there's no snow at the moment there is till another month before I'd normally expect to start riding so I'm no overly concerned as yet.

There's always snow up on the Glacier in Tignes so I'm quite looking forward to getting back on board and having a slide.

I'll be taking my Splitboard along as I'm riding with a couple that will heading out to Norway to tour in the Lyngen Alps (although not on my trip). Lee came out to Lyngen with me on my previous trip but will this year go armed with a Splitboard for the first time and so wants to practice some skills and Rhiannon will be touring on skis so I'll be skiing a little this next week to, which will be fun. There's obviously not going to be a lot of Off piste or touring possible but I'm sure there'll be places to go and it's always nice to just get out the back away from the pistes and have some time in the mountains on your own. I'm looking forward to it!

I've been sessioning the Velodrome quite a bit recently, 2 or 3 times a week! I did a French Federation de Cyclismetrack meet at the weekend were I came 3rd in one race and 2nd in the other. My tactics are shit, I'm all over the place and in the last race in which I came 2nd I had to power my way around the bunch from the back such was my excellent positioning coming into the last 2 laps!

It's great fun, nice to be learning something new and my ability to Sprint quite fast seems to be pretty good. Hopefully I'll keep progressing and my tactics will improve as my confidence builds. At the moment, I kind of hide at the back so I don't knock everyone down, maybe if I'd been near the front I could have won!

This is work in progress, great fun!

So what else is new?

We now have a 25% discount offer for 'Science in Sport' nutritional products for 'McNab Snowboarding' clients. I pretty much love on this stuff and highly recommend it to anyone building their training up for the winter and for when riding and hiking all day up in the hills. Check out the 'SiS' web site and get the 'discount code' from Ruth if you want to take advantage of this offer.

I've been getting quite a few tech questions coming in and so have been updating my Q&A blog.

Check it out and keep the questions coming, I'll do my best to answer them!

http://mcnabsnowboardingqa.blogspot.com/

The McNab Facebook page is getting more and more followers. I'm hoping this page will become almost like a forum for you to use and somewhere were we can share photos from the winter courses. I'll use it to post shots this winter so bookmark it in your browser. http://www.facebook.com/mcnabsnowboarding

Right, I've got my Splitboard set up and ready to go, my Mtn Twin is set and I'll take the 163XL Flagship but I'm still running through those mental check lists of what you need to remember for a Snowboarding trip throwing in a little 'On Piste', 'Off Piste', 'Glacier riding' and 'BC touring' plus some skiing!

I guess I just need everything!!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Full speed a head for winter 2011/12

2011-11-03T10:24:00.001-07:00

Well its been a while since I last posted a news piece, partly because we've been having some behind the scenes web site updates taking place, but mainly because its been an epic Autumn here in chamonix and I've been out playing most days!

Things are moving ahead at full speed towards the winter now though so I thought I'd better knuckle down and get things in order!

First up was the delivery of my new Jones boards, very exciting as always! Not much has changed really in the range, new graphics throughout, a bit stiffer here and there and everything now available in splitboard form!

I loved riding these boards last year, their first production year and am super stoked to get out on them again this winter. It's no understatement when I say that these boards totally changed my snowboarding and gave everything a new lease of life!

For around the resorts I'll be riding the Mtn Twin 164XL which rocks the whole Mtn as you'd expect. Super easy to ride, spin and jib around on, a freestyle board that floats like a dream in the powder too... very nice!

Out of bounds and big mountain riding I'll be out on the Flagship 168XL. This is my do everything dream board. I love this board, it's so stable at speed and super smooth to ride all over the mountain, it can take everything you can throw at it and more, it carves, slashes and launches down the mountain from top to bottom and makes you ride with a smile upon your face. For a 168 it is super nippy and fun to ride.

This is the board I'll ride 90% of the time, this season the nose has been stiffened up a little to stop vibrations at speed. It ripped last year and looks even better this year so I can't wait to get out on it again. Bring it on...

Of course for touring and BC outings I'll be out on the 168XL Solution, which is basically the Flagship split in two for hiking. I've got about 14 weeks of BC courses coming up and so the Solution will be definitely seeing some major action this season. I loved this board and the whole split concept for BC access last year and again can't wait to get out and explore the amazing new possibilities that Splitboarding has opened up over the past couple of years.

However, my most exciting board this year is the new 160 Hovercraft! Yeah 160... Last year I had some of my best tree riding and Off Piste powder days on the Hovercraft 156 but found it a little small when I rode BC with a heavy Backpack full of BC and High Mountain/Glacier riding equipment. The 160 should be able to handle the extra load and so at the first sign of powder this board will be out in force! The Hovercraft carves like a hard core race board too so it'll be getting some play even when its hardpack too.

Soon after the boards arrived a couple of big boxes of kit arrived from Billabong.

Billabong were my first professional sponsor back in the 90's so its been great to travel full circle and come back to them, this time working with them on a new Advanced range that is suited to the type of Big mountain Freeriding that I love.

So far I've received some of the regular 2012 range which is more suited to Park and Piste, but any day now I should be getting the 2013 Advanced sample range which we have been working on through out last season.

Again, very exciting times, Billabong have such a good development ethic, all ride, surf and play, its all about getting out there and catching the big waves, the big lines and pushing your limits with the biggest smile upon your face! Love it!!

Last season I played around with a few different brands for boots but this season I've decided to go with 32's who I did some test work with last winter. I loved last years (this seasons) Prime and Team Two's so will be riding these again this season and should also be getting the 2013 boots at the beginning of December so all good, can't wait to see the new products. Again like Billabong 32's are another great company to ride for. Rider run, super chilled and very progressive. I look forward to working on the new line with them over the coming season.

So the scene is almost set, all we really need now is for the snow to start falling and it seems that the forcast is saying it might this weekend.

Until it does though I'll be out on the bike getting in some big rides before the winter changes the rules. I've also just started track cycling at the geneva Velodrome which is great fun and completely addictive, although that might just be my OCD nature coming through.

I'm all about training for the track racing at the moment, lots of squats and sprinting all of which will hopefully give me super strong legs for the Snowboarding season too.

We have about 2 places left on courses this season and waiting lists on quite a few. We took our first provisional 2013 winter season booking this week! I've not even thought that far ahead but it seems some of you are already which is great!

All in all things seem to be pretty good and right on track so its full speed ahead for the coming winter and I start in Tignes in just over 2 weeks time!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Winter is on its way?

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Just finished 2 tour du Mont Blanc cycling trips with GPM10, the first was in terrible weather with snow to 1300m (a group consisting of mainly Scott's so they didn't really notice the hypo thermic conditions), the 2nd in perfect Autumn weather with quiet roads and fantastic riding.

In between the 2 trips I managed to take my first crash of the year as a wasp flew into my sunglasses and stung me right between the eyes! In wild panic I hit the cerb and slid across the pavement into some railings.

Adrenalin is a magical thing and I got up and road home wondering if the road rash was going to hurt more than the wasp sting! In the end it did!!

After the 2nd trip I hit a couple of group rides out with friends during the week. The group consists of mainly fanatical Mtn Guides, all secretly training, but making out that they've not been out on the bike for months.

Obviously not a super highly competitive group of really unusually fit people! Yeah right!!

A couple of big rides with the guys and then it was off to Annecy for one of the last big bike races of the summer Calendar!

A perfect day and a fantastic course over 98km and with 3 cols and 2000m of climbs. I paced myself well and came strong towards the end catching one of the leading groups after 92Km with only 8K to go. Over enthusiastic as ever I over cooked a corner on the last descent and skidded out at 60kmh grinding across the road on my hip shin and elbow. Lycra doesn't offer much protection at 60kmh and so I have a fairly large amount of road rash on my hip and elbow and a 2nd degree asphalt burn down my shin.

Again adrenalin worked its wonders and I managed do to get straight back on and finish but lost about 20 places finishing 61st.

All that effort waisted! Maybe I should have crashed 6k into the race instead!!

Anyway, I also had a lucky escape in a 60kmh sprint when my chain came off, released my foot and I managed to stay upright catching myself on the top tube. I'm going to include this as one of my 3 so hopefully I'm all done with it now!

Sore leg but back on the bike today and it still felt just as difficult as ever!

The winter is fast approaching and today the weather turned and we have snow forecast down to 1300m and maybe lower.

The weather came in so fast, it was pretty impressive with not a cloud in the sky all day until tell tale high altitude lenticular clouds appeared over the summit of Mont Blanc and the Aiguille Vert, classic signs of changing weather.

An hour later it was raining and full on storm mode.

Glad I wasn't up the hill climbing!!

It'll do the mountains a lot of good though and start setting up a base on the glaciers for the pre season riding so all good!

It looks like I'm in for a pretty busy season again. I start riding towards the end of November in Tignes with some bespoke work and then have my pre season tech clinic, again in Tignes, before some more bespoke work here in Chamonix and ten my winter courses kick in and keep me going through until the last course which is the Mont Blanc ascent/descent, first week of May.

I have about 14 weeks of BC/splitboard riding and 1 splitboard trip to Norway (which I'm very excited about) a few Tech clinics on the Jones Mountain Twin which is always great and a couple of Off Piste clinics on the Hovercraft!

All in all it looks like a good winter ahead and we've only 9 places left (infact I think we had 3 more spaces taken today and some more for reserve/waiting lists) so busy, busy, busy! Maybe only 6 places left now!!

I received a couple of boxes of Billabong kit last week, kit from the regular 11/12 range and then I should receive the 12/13 'Advanced range' sample kit (that I have been working on) in November when it is ready and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks.

I've switched all my transceivers to the Ortovox 3+ this year. I was very impressed with the performance and simplicity of this model last season. It's small, compact and robust and super easy to use so if you're looking at getting yourself one this winter maybe check them out.

All in all things are pretty good so far, there's a lot to get ready before things fully kick off but I'm getting very excited about the ride ahead.

Anyway, a cold snowy weekend forecast but then back to some clear Autumn weather and some time back out on the bike.

Got to get those legs strong for the winter!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

First Autumn vibes!

2011-09-13T02:58:00.000-07:00

So I just squeezed in an extra Mont Blanc ascent by the Cosmiques 3 summits route last week and have now finally finished working up in the peaks for a while (or so I think). The conditions are pretty mixed at the moment (as they have been all summer), it's either really hot or really cold which makes for some pretty unstable conditions up high.

Last weekend saw another massive rock fall on the West face of the Dru, a fine example of the changes taking place!

The access arrete at the top of the Aiguille du Midi is the thinnest I've ever seen it, barely enough room for you to stand with 2 feet side by side, slack line practice essential! I descended it in gusting gale force winds the other day with my Mont Blanc guys, very exciting! This shot was taken a week ago, it's actually narrower than this now at the top and the bottom half after the steep section is even thinner!

A great way to wake up in the morning!!

I'm starting to get excited about the coming winter already. I just ordered my new Jones boards, a 160 Hovercraft, the Flaship 168W, Solution 168W and the All Mtn Twin 164W will be under my feet this winter!

You might have also read that Mr Jones has recently linked up with Karakoram for splitboard bindings so I'll be trying a pair of those out soon. Jeremy rates them so its a good sign and I'll let you know what I think after I've given them a test. Good Splitboard bindings really make a massive difference when it comes to the performance of a splitboard so hopefully these new bindings will improve things even more!!

Here's hoping!

Can't hardly wait to get out riding the new splits this winter, come on early snow!!

I'll also be updating some of my McNab Snowboarding splitboard fleet and so will selling off some of last years Splits and some of my old boards pre or early season so watch this space!

The winter courses are booking up super fast now with many courses full or nearly full so if you're looking to get out this season don't leave it too long.

I also have a few Private/bespoke bookings coming in and it looks like my seasons guiding will now start towards the end of November and any gaps between then and New Year are filling in fast!

I now have 2 weeks riding with GPM10, starting this Thursday and will be out on my bike most of the Autumn. I rode the col du Saisses the other day and felt surprisingly good keeping a high cadence and good speed all the way to knock over 5 mins off my previous best time (yep I must have been shit before or the altitude training has really paid off!!)

It's beautiful out here in the Autumn, crisp fresh air, clear skies, beautiful colours and quiet roads so I'm looking forward to getting in some great riding and bringing on some proper riding form!

Mr Andy Cook, get yourself out here I need a training partner!!

No other news really at the moment except that our new kitten (which was apparently meant to stay indoors) now perfectly matches the freshly varnished decking out the back of the house!

Ruth was only out for a couple of minutes, I fear she won't be too pleased...

Maybe she won't notice that the white and grey cat now has new brown patches all over... It was funny at the time though!!

until next time take it easy!

Neil.

Summer News!

2011-09-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy working up in the mountains this past Month or so. After working as a cycling guide for GPM10 through May and June, July and August have been all about climbing and I haven't had time to ride my bike much at all these past 3 weeks. Not to worry though as the climbing has been good and I have good altitude acclimatisation so once I get my cycling legs back my Aerobic capacity should be pretty good. I have just finished Guiding in the mountains this morning and now have a week off to ride my bike before I start working for a few weeks with GPM10 again, although it seems I might have so squeeze another Mont Blanc ascent in at the end of this week as the demand is there!

The last 3 weeks have been pretty good up in the hills, I spent a week climbing with a Private client Roger Birch, who is a good snowboarder and who has snowboarded Mont Blanc with me in 2010. We did some great climbing, mainly rock climbing with some high altitude mixed mountaineering thrown in and then at the end of the week had a relaxing day where we went rafting in the Aosta Valley. Pro Snowboarder Will Hughes, who has been staying at our house on and off this summer, came along and we had a great laugh throwing each other out of the boat as soon as we saw any rapids or the rafting guy said, 'please stay in the boat here as its a bit dangerous!' which was obviously my cue to throw Will into the water again!!

Following this I had a Mont Blanc via the Gouter route to do for Mont Blanc Guides. The Grand Couloir has been a bit dry recently and showering rocks down so its been pretty dangerous and so myself and 2 other Guides left our clients in the Tete Rousse refuge whilst we wandered up to check it out. No sooner had we donned our helmets and started to walk up the rapidly receeding Tete Rousse glacier when a massive rock fall started way above us at the top of the Couloir. We stopped were we where and watched in amazement as massive blocks began to shower down the Couloir in what was rapidly turning into one of the biggest Rock falls I've ever seen. It seemed like ages but must have been seconds before we realised that even were we where, a long way down the Glacier, we were going to be in the firing line and so we turned and legged it as fast as we could. It seemed like as soon as we started running massive blocks started slamming into the Ice all around us, I reckon I did a pretty descent 100m sprint time over some pretty technical Glaciated terrain to get out of the way! One of our guiding team wasn't so lucky, (or wasn't fast enough) and got hit on the leg by an exploding block which resulted in him being heli'ed out of there once we'd carried him down to safety at the refuge.

We had a lucky escape, if we'd been further up we'd have been in the thick of it and maybe not so lucky, the rock fall scattered right across the full face either side of the Grand Couloir but amazingly 6 people high on the face survived un hurt (although I imagine it was a pretty frightening experience)

Needles to say we called off the attempt and the Local Gendarmerie pretty much closed the Gouter Route until conditions cool down and stabilize. This meant anopther couple of days rock climbing for me and so in the end happy days!

I've now just finished a week of climbing with 2 really fit Greman clients, which started out with 3 days climbing up above the Le Tour and Trient Glaciers followed by a traverse of the Aiguille d'Entreve from the Helbronner, which is always fun to do and then a great days rock climbing in the Aiguille Rouge (due to strong winds high up) and today a quick Arete des Cosmiques, which was great fun again.

I'm really enjoying the rock climbing again after taking a year off due to tendonitis in my elbows. This seems to have cleared up now so I'm quite fired up to get back on it and I'm way lighter now than I was due to cycling and working so much so it could be good! I've a lot of cycling coming up though so I might just get addicted to that again?

So many things to do, so little time!

I'm definitely thinking of running some rock/Alpine rock climbing courses out here next summer as its so much fun and there's just tonnes to do! Also thinking about a South of France Rock climbing and canyoning week next summer, so if anyone interested in either of these let me know and I'll get the ball rolling!

This winters courses are filling up fast, 50% full already! I'm holding off on a Chile trip next year for the moment as I'll be concentrating on the Splitboard trip to Norway's Lyngen Alps as my 2012 trip.

Science in Sport have created a 25% off deal for all McNab Snowboarding clients booked on 2012 courses which is open for a year! I fully recommend SIS products for Backcountry hiking and as fuel for any big day up the hill and I use them year round as part of my fitness training regime. Anyone interested should get the details from Ruth in the office. SiS also do a specific Snowpack which has been put together specifically for my BC courses, essential stuff!

The Jones/TSA Snowboard deal is also running again this winter so again, if you're looking for a new set up get on a Jones board and get in touch with Ruth for details!

My winter season is going to kick off early this year with some private pre season courses at the end of November running into December followed by my scheduled pre season tech clinic mid December. All these courses will be running in Tignes.

I'm pretty excited about riding again this winter, the Splitboard thing is just going off and the possibilities are endless, plus the Jones boards are like a breath of fresh air so I feel reborn for riding and am looking forward big time to the coming winters riding.

Not to rush things along though as I'm hoping we're in for a bit of a delayed indian summer over here after such mixed weather up until now. I've also got the possibility of guiding work over in Nepal this Autumn if I want it so I'll have to see how the cycling is going and how things stand with the finances! It'll make things pretty full on timing wise as I'd be returning and straight into a Snowboarding course so I'll have to see how things pan out.

Anyway, all good over here in Chamonix, hope you're all enjoying your summer time!

Until next time, take it easy,

Neil.

Lyngen Alps 2009 a preview for the 2012 Splitboard safari.

2011-07-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

You can tell its going to be a bit of a special experience when a pod of about 30 porpoise breal the silky black surface of the deep fjord beside you and you're still on the bus en-route to your destination, your adventure hasn't even begun and the mystique of the magical landscape surrounding you has already started to present itself.

Snow capped summits frame and surround the deep dark waters, sheer cliffs rise steeply from the inly blacknesss and Age old Glaciers hang precariously from the jagged peaks that stretch endlessly into the distance.

It’s late in the evening but the hazy skies are lit by the faded 24 hour sunlight as the sun circles over head, never quite dipping below the horizon reminding me of the Robin Williams/Al pacino movie ‘Insomnia’. 24 hour sunlight I can handle but the 24 hour darkness of the winter months up here must be something else.

We’re far to the North of Norway, deep inside the Arctic circle, visiting the mystical region of the Lyngen Alps. The deep Lyngen Fjord splits the Alpine like mountains and Islands offering both boat and land accessed dream like Freeriding terrain. It is my first visit to the area and my first impressions are already getting me very excited about the week ahead.

The Lyngen Lodge, our base for the trip sits on the east side of the Lyngen Fjord, a beautiful oasis of Scandanavian style, luxury and calm surrounded by one of Europes most isolated and wildest landscapes.

The view from the Lodge is fantastic, the peaks opposite and behind look amazing and within minutes of us arriving I’m already planning lines and looking at the endless possibilities on offer. Right behind the lodge there are peaks that can be hiked and ridden door to door and up and down the Fjord the peaks stretch endlessly in every dirrection. We unload our kit and settle in to the lodge, an excited buzz fills the air as we all imagine the week to come.

It seems strange to go to bed in full daylight, sunlight filters through the tiny gaps surrounding the heavy blackout curtain and sleep is not easy coming when confronted by the excitement at the prospects of what is to come.

Along with Graham, the master mind behind the whole operation, I have spent much of the evening studying the local maps and planning out possible routes. Tomorrow I have planned a boat accessed assault on a steep peak on a small island to the North. The full Lyngen experience, boat access, steep climb up and a very good looking ride back down to finish for a pick up on the beach!

The next day dawns bright and clear, well the sun has been up all night but its definitely brighter in the day time so at least there is some distinction between night and day. After an amazing breakfast at the lodge we head down to the small harbour on the sea front and bord the Lyngen Lodge boat, ‘the spirit of Lyngen’ which has been specially adapted for the transport of skiers and Snowboarders in cold conditions up and down the fjord and inbetween the Islands. Once abord our journey begins and we head up the fjord n search of mountains to hike and ride.

The views are exceptional as we power up the coastline surrounded by white peaks that rise majestically out of the inky black depths. Puffins cannon ball past, their fat round bodies and tiny wings make flight seem unprobable. We motor around a headland and there in front if us lies our target, a beautiful snowy peak that rises dramaticaly out of the water. There are two obvious lines for ascent and descent, up one side and down the other and it looks great.

A small jetty in a quiet fishing village allows us an easy initial desembarkment. It seems strange to be donning snowshoes and carrying snowboards to hike through this village (a couple of houses) whilst the fishermen go about preparing their day, but soon we’re working our way up a narrow trail through dense woodland in dirrection of the open slopes above.

It feels different hiking at sea level after being in the high mountains all season and our pace reflects the extra oxygen that the air carries and soon we’re movig out of the tree line and zig zagging our way up a steep open snowface punctuated with rocky outcrops here and there. The views were incredible in every direction as we drove onwards and upwards towards the peak above, excited in anticipation of the ride to come.

We’d hiked some 800m vertical from the village and now stood on a sharp crested ridge that rolled over the summit and allowed us a 360 degree view of the island and the deep mountain capped fjords surrounding us. The terrain dropped away steeply on all sides, a large cornice overhung the Eastern slopes and straight below us lay an 800m vertical, steep, perfectly shaped Snowboarders playground.

I call on the radio to the boat to announce our descent to the pre arranged pick up and from our vantage point we can watch it power out of the small harbour, its white wake a sharp contrast to the dark waters as it heads towards the mooring off the beach below us.

Our line is very simple, the slopes are wide and open, the snow pack seems very stable, the terrain shape supportive of the snowpack and it is pretty much a straight line to the beach. On top of all that there is some fresh snow, from a storm previous to our arrival, on the upper slopes. All is good and we cruise big carves towards the steep slopes below and play our way towards the woodland tht lines the coastline above the beach.

A fantastic descent and we’re soon standing with our boards on a sandy beach, a little strange but definitely something I could get used to if the riding is of this quality.

We make a quick transfer in the dingy to get back onto the boat and power off back down the Fjord to relax in the Sauna and Jaccuzi and do some whale watching back at the lodge.

The next day we opt for a land based tour and drive around the coast to a drop off on the other side of the mountains behind the lodge. The drop off is in the middle of knowhere and from here we hike up a spectacular and very isolated valley before turning up into the mountains heading towards a distant col.

From the top we descend into another isolated valley, a great ride down with some fun features to play around on, before another hike up to a 2^nd col on the other side which with a little climb following Lynx tracks along the summit ridge line, brings us to the top of the peak overlooking the lodge.

From here the views are amazing and we gaze out onto the Lyngen Fjord and the peaks that stretch out as far as the eye can see. There are some big glaciated peaks to the North which look very interesting and I make a mental note to check out their location on the map for later in the week.

The descent down to the lodge is fantastic, open snow fields lead down to sparse woodland where we see lots of very recent evidence of Elk with massive hoof prints and fresh droppings everywhere. Considering the size of Elk and the sparseness of the trees it seems quite strange that we don’t actually see any. We eventually drop onto a track that leads us all the way back to the Lodge for some well earned hot tub activity. Its been a big day of trail breaking through very deep snow but the rewards have been plenty.

The next few days are spent exploring the peaks up and down the Fjord from the Lyngen lodge boat except for a day were we hiked right from the door up the peak behind but instead of returning by the descent we had ridden before, this time we crossed over into a huge snow bowl a bit further along the summit ridge.

The descent was excellent taking us all the way to a pick up further along the coastal road and showing us that even with out the use of the boat there is some epic riding to do here and much of it is still pretty much undiscovered, especially in terms of Snowboarding.

All to soon the trip was coming to its conclusion but I’d kept the best until last having checked out the location and the lay of the land in order to access and ride the huge Glaciated peak that we’d spied earlier in the week.

A good hours long boat journey took us far up the coast from where an exciting transfer got us onto the mainland at the foot of a long isolated valley. From here we toured up following the river into the mountains. After a while it became obvious that we needed to be on the other side of the wide fast flowing and cold looking river.

A short while later we were all safely on the other side, mostly with dry feet! From here we trekked up a ridge to a hidden col between two peaks which had up until now hidden the Glacier and the high snowy peaks behind. We crossed through the col to discover the amazing landscape behind and dropped down a short slope to set foot on the bottom of the Glacier.

We hiked up the Glacier for a couple of hours until it steepened towards a heavily corniced ridge above which we climbed up to and tunnelled through in order to acces the ridge which we followed up to the high peak above.

After 6 hours of climbing we were now deep in the heart of the Lyngen Alps with nothing but Amazing looking peaks, big descents and deep fjords surrounding us and completely on our own with no tracks anywhere except those from our ascent. The plan was now to descend the other side of the mountain to a pick up by boat in the narrow fjord on the other side of the peak.

I radioed the boat to say we were about to start our descent and we dropped into the huge steep slopes below following a steep narrow couloir through rocky terrain until it openned out into a huge and perfect powder bowl. From here we channelled into a series of halfpipe like gullies that led us down towards the tree line.

We could now see the boat coming around the headland and powering down the fjord below, tiny against the huge landscape surrounding us. We slashed and carved the banks of the steep gullies which led us into the trees and eventually down to the icy looking water and the boat now moored below.

We relaxed on board enjoying the views as we motored home after a fantastic day of touring and riding amongst some of the most isolated and exciting high mountain terrain to be found in civilized Europe and looked forward to enjoying the comforts of the lodge for one final night before departure home.

Upon departure I swore that one day soon I’d be back to further explore this amazing landscape which, although was very accessible on snowshoes, is perfectly suited to splitboarding and so after last years Splitboarding success which gained some fantastic touring and riding around the Mont Blanc massif and further afield, (including an amazing Splitboard touring expedition to the east coast of Greenland) I knew that the 2012 was the right time to plan a return trip back to the land of the Lyngen Alps.

My 2012 winter trip, therefore will be a Splitboard fuelled safari to the Lyngen Lodge to further explore the amazing landscape of high peaks, steep faces and deep fjords to be found there. The last trip there, although amazing, barely scratched the surface of what is possible out there. I think this time with Splitboards for access the limits really will be unlimited!

Oh and yes, I did catch the biggest fish!

I can hardly wait, bring it on!!

The Past and the Future! what's in store for 2012!!

2011-05-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

Well what a Winter!

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 5^th 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!

Greenland Splitboarding expedition 2011 (part 2)

2011-05-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

McNab Snowboarding Greenland Splitboard Greenland Expedition continued....

Day 8: 29th April, 2011.

As evening falls on the 28th we start to get the first tell tale signs of an approaching storm as a cloud haze softens the midnight sun and further up the Glacier we can see the first signs of strong winds whipping the snow of the high peaks above.

As is forcast, the wind gets up during the night and another big storm blows in, our tents are buffeted by the wind and snow all night.

By morning the winds have dropped and the day is still and silent.

After the storm, the cross ridge of Alistair and Marks tent is just visible behind Matteo!

Large quanitites of snow have fallen over night and the small 2 man tent occupied by Alistair and Mark is almost completely buried and we have to dig them out!

Dave gets to work digging out the tent, we have to clear about half a meter of snow out from around the camp!

The weather isn't bad but the visibility isn't good as a low cloud hangs over the Glacier so the day become a recovery day for most, whilst Simon, Matteo and Mike decide to get to work on building a large communal Snow cave.

In the afternoon I run a Crevasse rescue session just beyond the camp and the weather begins to clear.

By the evening the midnight sun is back in business and as we sit and eat cheese and biscuits in our new extension 'sun lounge', complete with one of the best views I've ever seen, the mountains look amazing, cast in a golden glow and freshly cloaked in deep crystal light snow!

The 'Evening light faces' now look amazing and my one regret of the trip is not driving everyone out for a midnight assault of the 'Midnight Sun couloir' which was definitely beckoning.

Day 9: 30th April, 2011.

The light is a little flat in the morning but the sun is shining through the haze as we set off breaking a new trail back up the 'Morning Glory peak' to ride another new line from the summit.

We seem to be getting quicker every time we come up here and with no complications due to altitude, we now have the hike down to about an hour and a half.

Moody skies as we arrive at the summit and prepare for another big descent!

The weather is looking a bit moody with storm clouds out to sea so we don't hang around too long at the top and on arrival immediately get ready to ride.

There are some very nice looking chutes that descend from the top of the 'Morning glory peak' one of which is perfect at about 50 degrees and about 6 meters wide with parallel rock walls running throughout its length for about 200m before it opens out into a huge bowl, the walls to the left are very exposed but again there are some amazing future lines to be ridden here.

We're looking for something a little longer though and I've scouted out a super line from below, a huge steep chute about 20m wide, 45 degrees in and around 30 to 40 for about 300m.

It's a little windblown and icy at the top which makes it feel more exposed and a bit steeper and this is the first descent of the trip were I stop halfway to make sure things are ok as everyone rides in.

The light is a little flat still but the storm seems to be holding off and once we're all safely over the entry the snow improves and we're back in the steep and deep stuff that we're used to.

Simon charges towards the bottom of shooters couloir!

It's a great descent which we call 'Shooters wall' that brings us all the way down onto the Glacier with an easy descent back to camp.

The weather improves over the afternoon and we chill in camp enjoying the sun which is now burning through and a small team of us make plans for an 'evening raid' up the 'midnight sun' side of the Glacier.

Around 5:30pm we set off across the glacier and the evening sun lights up the perfect walls above us.

Breaking trail to the 'evening sun' side of the Glacier, our camp is right over the far side under the far peak.

It's about a 2 hour hike with some serious trail breaking on steep terrain in very deep snow but by around 7:30 we're standing at the top of the amazing looking 'Midnight Sun couloir' which I've been looking at everyday since we arrived.

It's beautiful, about 30 to 35 degrees, 20 to 30 meters wide and about 600m long and full of sparkling, deep, cold, fresh, never touched, crystal snow.

We can clearly see the camp out across the flat glacier as we negotiate the entry from the ridge and drop in. It's quite steep at the top but the snow is amazing and I go to full speed and charge down into the open couloir below.

It's one of those runs that you just never want to end, the snow is perfect, the light is amazing and the angle just right. By half way I can feel a slight lactic build up in my thighs as I power into some deep carves throwing thick waves of snow high into the still cold air.

Straight lining out of the bottom of the 'Midnight sun couloir'.

I can now see the bottom and the couloir opens out and I'm now charging down a huge face, so much space and perfect snow, I'm spoilt for choice and almost don't know where to ride so power a few more powder carves and straight line the rest with my hands pointing to the sky in celebration of another one of the best runs of my life in the bag!

Alan gets his line dialed down the Midnight sun couloir!

I stand almost in shock on the glacier at the bottom as one by one the guys come down with the same delirious/shocked expressions on their faces.

Everyone is buzzing as we hike back across the Glacier, knowing that we must ride this line again before the trip is through!

Tired legs this evening but Dave is cooking 'Steaks' so all good!!!

Day 10: 31st April, 2011.

More snow overnight, just enough to fill in our tracks from the previous day, great for the riding but it means some serious trail breaking again!

It's a little cloudy in the morning again but looks like it will clear so we wait it out and plan an afternoon raid to ride the 'Midnight sun couloir' again which has filled in and looks perfect once again.

Hiking across the ice cap above the 'Evening sun walls' to gain access to one of the many amazing lines to be found there.

The guys that didn't come out the evening before are keen and so as the sun burns through we set off back across the glacier following the vague remnants of yesterdays trail with Dave wading through out in front.

Once again, this time with the full contingent, we find ourselves standing above this amazing couloir, cast in the golden glow of the evening sun as one by one we drop in and charge down towards the glacier below.

I take the last drop this time and I stand for a moment taking in the atmosphere of our situation, untouched peaks stretch out to every horizon, the air is crisp and still as the sun simply rotates above us.

Our camp, our home from home awaits, a tiny speck across the other side of the vast glacier below, with one access trail that leads out from it lost under the wall beneath my feet, the only sign of movement.

Down below I can see the guys ripping it up, powder hangs in the air from their turns and I can hear their whoops as they charge down towards the final slopes before straightlining out on to the Glacier.

When everyone is down and the air is silent I once again drop in!

Although I'm the 9th rider into the couloir finding a fresh untouched line is not a problem and as before, I soon begin to feel the burn of lactic in my thighs as I power deep carves into the deep fresh snow before charging out to join the guys, big grins on all our faces as we each relive the run in our minds.

Dave and Al cook up some pork chops and with the heat from the stoves warming us and drying our kit, we settle down to another big card session in the mess tent.

The end of another perfect day!

Last riding day tomorrow as on Tuesday we have to pack up the camp and ship out!

Day 11. 1st May, 2011.

Well you couldn't have scripted this any better! Today we wake up to perfect weather, blue skies, no clouds and the air is still and crisp.

We've got work to do today, some big lines to ride and its the last day so we're up and off by mid morning, again heading over to the South side of the Glacier to ride the 'evening sun walls' where the snow is perfect.

Mike following the track towards the upper Ice cap above the 'evening sun walls', one of the couloirs we rode is visible up and diagonally right of where mike stands.

Our track from the previous evening is still in great condition and the going the ascent is quick, even though I've instructed everyone to take it easy and not push themselves going up this morning as we're going to be running laps up and down these walls today!

We're warmed up to this now, a smooth running machine, changes from boards to splits and back again are quick and silent.

We arrive at the top and everyone does their thing, jackets go on, drinks and food are passed around and boards are prepared.

We're warmed up to the riding now as well and I've definitely saved the best till last and today we're going to push it up to the next level for sure!

As the guys change to riding mode I quickly head scout out a couple of lines down the wall below, 2 lines that I have checked out from the bottom as we hiked up and from the camp with my binoculars.

I'm pleased to see we're in the right spot and below me lie to amazing looking chutes that join about half way down the face.

The right hand chute is only accessible through a straight line opening and an ollie over some rocks at full speed, after which it looks amazing!

The left hand chute is more open and mellow so I give the guys the option of which line they fancy.

Soon everyone is ready and in position.

There's nervous silence in the air as I line myself up above the right hand chute, I can feel my body buzzing, itching to make the drop.

It looks amazing, I play the line through my mind; drop, straight, ollie, straight, carve right, carve left, through some rocks and then the face opens out and charge to the valley!

Ok, guys, all good?

One last check that everyone knows what they're doing.

I slide onto the steep ace above the chute, one last pause and check, ollie 90 and drop!

Amazing! the acceleration in incredible, Ollie the rocks, into the narrows, the snow is getting deeper and better so I can afford the speed to build, cut right, try to scub a little speed and get a look below, carve left, slide the tail out of the turn a little, pop and drop through between a couple of rocks and then charge out into the open and carve the massive face below.

Mike charging out of the bottom of the 'Midnight sun face'.

The mellow left hand variant of the 'Midnight sun wall' the right hand chute joins this one through the gap up and diagonally left of the rider (from where the tracks come).

Alan and Mark ride the Midnight sun wall!

Amazing, is the only word I can use to describe this feeling and I can see it mirrored on the faces of the guys as each and everyone of them cuts a fresh line down the steep 'Midnight sun wall', each has their own story to tell, their own memory to take away and their previous limits destroyed!

This, however is just the warm up and so after a quick change, we're on our way back up to the Ice cap above for run number 2.

On our way across to the top of the 'Midnight sun face!' the face we called 'Shooters' is visible at the back far, far left!

The climb doesn't feel so far this time as we don't have to cross the Glacier first and so we're quickly back at the top and searching out the top of a steep and narrow couloir that we have been checking out from camp.

To be honest, when I pointed out these lines to the guys at the beginning of the trip, I didn't think we'd get to ride them, and most of the guys thought I was joking!

But here we are finally standing at the entrance to one of the big 'King lines' of the area.

The entrance to the 'Couloir of the Kings' is steep and narrow but I'm pleased to see that we won't need to mess around with a rope and can sideslip in the first 10 meters or so.

Either side, the vertical rock walls stretch upwards giving the upper part a deep shaded exposed and steep feel.

It looks amazing and I can hardly contain my excitement as I drop in for a quick look.

I stop about 10 meters in and wait for the team.

Below me the couloir is deep, steep and narrow but I can see it mellows a little and widens before dropping again.

The rest is out of sight, but if my memory is correct it's pretty straight, dog legs to the right a little then straight again and then opens into another huge face.

I check everyone knows the drill and is feeling good.

As always, Mike is right behind me, so far he has pretty much matched my every line turn for turn. Simon, is grinning right behind Mike, he's been charging everything full tilt and getting in some amazing lines too.

I have Al in here to, he's my spotter for if anything moves or if something doesn't go to plan, but so far the snowpack seems to be super stable (as it's not really effected by the massive temperature fluctuations that we get in the Alps).

Dev and Alistair are hovering up on the ridge with Mark, Matteo and Dave, all with excited/nervous looking grins on their faces.

I quickly check we're all good to go, we leave a standard 30 seconds or couple of 100 meters between each other when dropping in and we're all ready.

Again, I drop into the fall line and straight line through the narrows, my speed is increasing fast as I check left, then right altering my line to set up for the next steep narrow section.

There's a point at which for a fleeting milli second I think I might be too fast to make it through the dog leg but now fully commitment I mike some quick adjustments and carve straight down the middle of it and I'm through to the open slopes below.

Big open turns around small rocky outcrops and a straight line out onto the Glacier, another first descent and another new best descent in the bag.

'Couloir of the kings' on the 'evening sun' side of the glacier. Mike is on his way down the open face after a technical (fore shortened in this shot) upper passage.

Alan takes a nice variant out wide to get his own line!

The guys each get their own line as the face opens and soon everyone is back on the flat glacier buzzing with adrenalin.

Heading back to camp for a short break, 'Couloir of the kings' is behind and the 'Little Alaska face' is to the right of it!

We now head back to camp for lunch and a chill before the grand finale and a date with the amazing looking lines on the steep spine riddled 'Little Alaska face' about 400m to the lower side of the line we've just come out of.

The day continues to get better and better, the skies are cloudless and in the polution free air the sunlight is brilliantly crisp and clear.

The Sun lounge sees some action as we try to get through the last of the cheese and biscuits and re hydrate with teas and soups.

The 'little Alaska face' gets the sunlight late in the evening and so its not until around 6 that we set back off across the Glacier.

A few of the guys have opted out of this one and will hike across towards the bottom to watch and take photos once we're in position.

A fore shortened view of the 'Little Alaska face' pick a line, any line, everyone's a winner!

The face is a little more complicated than our previous descents with cliff bands and chutes all over the place, so its a matter of picking out a few prominent features from which to guide your way in.

I'm looking at a spine that rolls into a face which then leads between some rocks and drops into a chute which continues all the way to the bottom. It looks amazing and even from the hike across some 3 or 4 Km away you can tell the snow is perfect!

The hike goes quickly with the track already in and also as we know its the last time we'll be hiking this winter and so take it on as a bit of a challenge.

Soon, we're all in place and changed back to riding mode above the face. I've scouted out a couple of lines for everyone to have a go at, the snow looks perfect and the face is steep and perfectly featured with lips, crests, chutes and drops, (enough to keep you coming back to just this one face for a whole week of filming!)

I've scouted out my line, it looks fantastic, round some rocks to the spine, drop right down a narrowing roll off triangular face that leads through some rock into the narrow couloir that leads to the glacier. I obviously can't see it all from the top, but I know its there and feel the buzz building as I get ready to drop in.

Carving into the couloir that leads down the 'Little Alaska face' and setting up to carve the windlip below and right! this line was so much fun to ride!

The snow isn't as deep as it looks for the first few turns so I have to adjust my speed quickly, but as I come around the rock tower near the top of the face and onto the spine its steep and deep, a few tunrs down the triangular face that rolls off a little more than expected and there are the 2 rock outcrops that I'm looking for guarding the entrance to the couloir I need to follow.

Coming down into the final exit chute on the 'Little Alaska face', amazing snow, a definite line to remember!

A bit of a windlip on the left draws me into a big deep tail slide along the lip, a carve out right to lay out on the toe edge and drop and charge our the bottom, I ollie off a slight roller to land full power into the powder below, when bang! the powder below has a rock under it right where I land and I'm down in a cloud of whiteness.

I don't need to look at my board to know that I didn't get away with that one as I stand and straight line the last few hundred meters to the bottom.

Last run of the winter, last turn turn of the trip, so if anything not such bad timing but as I suspected my board is destroyed, or half of it is anyway. (One of the good things about these splitboard might be that you can just get a new half board!)

Up until that final turn however, this has to have been my best run of the trip, a great line, great snow down through some great terrain and playful features!

It might even the best line I've ever ridden! But then I seem to be saying that more and more these days (so that can't be a bad thing!)

I turn and watch the guys hammering down their lines!

As usual Mike is right on my track, Simon is exploring off to the side and takes a nice chute to finish. Al is right down the middle and Dev can be heard hooting all the way!

On the way back across to the camp I stop and let the guys go on until they disappear from view and I'm all alone in the middle of the Glacier surrounded by mountains, the unbelievable silence and the golden light of the midnight sun.

I take some time to contemplate and relax, my season is finally over for another year but what a finish!

This has been by far my best trip yet, I've ridden the best lines I've ever ridden and as I cast my gaze upon the untouched terrain that surrounds me its obvious to see that there will be many more trips to come!

Dave has cooked up the last of the steaks for the evening meal and surprises us all with a chocolate moose desert!

The end to another fantastic day!

Day 11. 2nd April, 2011.

Another sunny day which makes camp break down quick and simple.

By midday we are ready to go and as with everything on this trip things are running to perfection as just as we finish packing the tents away we hear the sound of the approaching skidoo's coming up the glacier below.

By 2pm we're back at the Constable airstrip where we are booked to spend the night but are quickly informed that an unscheduled flight will come in and fly out empty later in the day so if we want to leave this evening we can.

Seeing as there is absolutely nothing here at Constable point and we'll get an extra night out in Rykejavik in Iceland we each quickly take turns to grab a quick wash and change of clothes before jumping on our own private plane.

As we fly out we get a perfect view of the mountain range that has been our home for the past 2 weeks and the amazing looking valleys that surround it.

It's been the perfect trip, perfect conditions, amazing snow, a great team and some of the best lines I've ever ridden for sure!!!!

I'd like to finish with a big thankyou to Matt and Dagmar from Pirhuk for logistics, Dave Grant for his whit, trail breaking, camp and cooking skills, Alan Fielding for his sporting card play and also for his help as 2nd in command and finally to all the guys on the team who made this trip such a pleasure to guide, so Alistair, Mark, Matteo, Dev, Simon, and Mike! I look forward to riding, exploring and sharing distant adventures with you all at some point in the not to distant future!

Right! Now I have to sort out next winters Calendar!

Next years dates will be online mid June...

You can expect all the regular courses, Tech clinics, Off Piste Clinics, Classis Backcountry Intro and BC Freeride, plus in the Backcountry courses there'll be a 'new' Splitboard Intro course and Splitboard Freeride course. Also a new destination for the Splitboard touring course and a whole new April trip to Splitboard in the northern fjords of Norway.

Splitboard Mont Blanc and Greenland could be back on line and I'm also looking at a possible September South America trip to Chile for 2012!

We already have a lot of interest for next years courses but will not be taking bookings until mid June.

I'll run the expeditions/courses that get the most interest so let us know what you want to do and I'll see what we can arrange.

(Any groups looking to design a bespoke trip suited to their needs should get in touch with an idea of dates and numbers before the calendar goes on line and I get fully booked for the winter).

Now for some serious cycling!!!

All is good,

Neil.

Greenland Expedition 2011 (part 1)

2011-05-10T02:45:00.000-07:00

The East Coast of Greenland is a mystical place, a vast wilderness, one of the last to be found on our planet, a truly hostile place for human existance. The summers are cool, short and vibrant, the local Inuits take full advantage of the 24 hour daylight to fish and hunt as the winter ice briefly melts away from the coastline before once again the temperatures drop massively, the sea ice returns and 24 hour darkness falls and the winter storms roll in.

Best known for Ice cap crossings, Greenland is best known for hard and long pulk towing ski touring journeys. The Ice cap is extensive and featureless, home to very little at all and the perfect proving ground for the adventurous to pit their wits against the untamed forces of nature.

Unbeknown to most however, are the countless high peaks and deep glaciated valleys that surround Greenlands extensive coastline, an abundance of untouched steep faces, narrow couloirs, sharp spines and deep crystal powder await and for a few short weeks during April and May Greenland becomes a Freeriders idea of heaven!

After my first Snowboard expedition to Greenland back in 2008 I swore that I would return. A dog sled accessed Snowboard journey into the unknown, expedition life with a greater purpose than just climbing peaks, this was climbing peaks with the additional aim of riding down them, and with peaks stretching out as far as the eye could see in almost every direction, I could quickly see the potential offered by this incredible land.

2009 saw me run a fantastic trip to the Lyngen Fjord in Norway (a trip that I will run again as a splitboard trip next winter 2012). 2010 saw me run an exciting Snowboard trip to Kashmir but already the wheels were in motion for my next return to the frozen North.

A new destination to explore, a new mode of access (splitboards) and a whole load of new first descents to ride!

Liverpool land is a frozen mountainous peninsular located some 600km North of the Arctic circle. A small Inuit settlement of Scoresbysund is found to the south of the range and to the west the small airstrip of Constable point which, weather permitting, allows easy and direct access to the area from Iceland.

I first chose Liverpool land after seeing some amazing photo's of the mountains there, steep faces and couloirs, sharp ridges and peaks and what looked to be potentially amazing snow conditions. Access to the area also looked to be feasible and cost effective and so I picked an area and, set the dates and put it out there to see what interest I'd get.

Within a few weeks of it going on line the trip was already nearly fully booked and so I started to research the lay of the land, picking two potential areas for our camp and what looked like accessible, amazing riding terrain.

New to my winter calendar were my 'Chamonix Splitboard' courses which firstly enabled me to get used to the equipment and check out the potential and limitations, if any, and iron out any potential problems that I might be going to run into whilst out in the middle of knowhere, Greenland.

Secondly, running these courses, helped me perfect how to introduce the 'fine art of Splitboarding' to those who had, in many cases, never put on a pair of skis before!

We had some interesting times and some amazing days out and I could immediately see the massive potential that Splitboarding would open up both in and around the Chamonix massif, Greenland and further afield on future trips in years to come.

Towards the end of the season, before heading to Greenland, I had ridden my Splitboard for a total of 9 weeks and had explored a whole load of new areas, descents and tours that otherwise would have been, pretty much, inaccessible and so as the departure date for Greenland approached I now felt more than ready for the adventure to begin.

The spring season in Greenland had been plagued by high winds and bad weather from March through April, so we are releaved to see that our flight is from Iceland to Contable point is still on schedule. Fortunately for us, most of the bad weather has been further to the South and many of the seasons scheduled Ice Cap crossings have already been abandoned due to the massive Catabatic winds that can stream down off the inner Ice Cap.

Day 1: Constable point, Greenland, 23rd April, 2011.

Blue skies and clear views as we fly along the coastline of Greenland on approach to Constable point. Mountains fill the horizon as far as you can see and on every mountain the number of potentialy amazing descents is enough to make your head spin. the sea is frozen below and massive Icebergs stand out, locked in place until the Summer melts.

This is about the full extent of Constable point airstrip in perfect conditions.

We land early afternoon to clear skies, no wind and moderate temperatures, not quite what we had been expecting. It has been snowing on and off the past week and the snow quality looks amazing, but potentially, might cause some access problems if it is too deep!

We are booked to stay the night at the small airstrip, but with the perfect weather spell due to end overnight and bad weather forecast for the next day, it looks like immediate departure for the mountains might be on the cards!

As we await our skidoo's that will take us into the mountains, I immediately start to study the mountains with my binoculars and orientate myself to the map and satelite images that I have of the area and try to choose a possible location.

Mid afternoon we are loaded and ready to go and begin our journey out into the wilderness.

Leaving the flat sea ice of the Fjords to begin the journey into the mountains.

We are driven out by 3 local Inuit hunters, who excitedly point out a small herd of Musk Ox that we disturb as we enter the lower mountains en-route to our proposed base camps site high on the Hans Gletcher.

Very deep snow made the approach journey very interesting and our drivers did very well to get us on location.

The snow is soon waist deep and to gain access to the higher mountains our drivers have to go ahead alone to break a trail before ferrying us and our equipment up the Glacier one at a time.

I pick a location far into the mountains, near the left bank of the glacier, somewhere that looks sheltered from the wind and out of danger from avalanche, in case of further snowfall, whilst being ideally located for accessing some amazing looking terrain.

Once all the team are in place, the skidoos have disappeared and silence has returned we begin the hard task of building camp.

Our camp high on the Hans Gletcher.

Due to the deep snow, we have to dig our tents down in to deep pits rather than building block walls around them but soon we have a pretty good looking base camp and are ready to face the first of the bad weather that is due to come in overnight and settle down for our first night on in the mountains.

First impressions are that it all looks absolutely amazing!

Day 2: 24th April, 2011.

We wake up to Snow but not much wind and so after breakfast we decide to head out for a recce, this will give those who haven't splitboarded before the ideal practice time as we head out across the immense flat glacier heading towards the amazing looking North faces to be found over on the South side of the Glacier a couple of Kilometers away and soon to be named as the 'Evening sunlight ', 'Midnight sun' and Little Alaska' areas.

First exploration towards the South side of the Glacier in mixed weather!

After about an hour of trail breaking through gradually deepening snow the wind starts to get up and within minutes visibility is down to zero and the wind is strong enough to blow you over.

A hasty retreat back to camp as the weather closes in.

We haste a retreat to camp and settle in for the afternoon building re enforcement walls where necessary followed by the first of many team card games of 'shithead' in the communal mess tent.

Day 3: 25th April, 2011.

Fresh snow, faded sunlight and no wind!

Heading out for our first big day in the mountains.

After breakfast we head up the South facing slopes behind the camp to explore around the immediate vicinity of the camp. We head up towards one of the higher peaks of the area, 'Morning glory peak' as it becomes known.

Amazing views and snow conditions! Nearing the 'Morning glory peak', our camp is way down on the flat Glacier some 5 km behind.

As we skin up towards the summit we are amazed by the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of the snow and the potential of the terrain.

We make a simple descent starting off back the way we have climbed up before taking a variant that I have spotted straight down some rolling terrain with a steep exit couloir onto the glacier below.

My first turns in Greenland and easily some of the best snow of the season 2011!

The snow is amazing and for most these will be the best powder turns of the winter so far, myself included!

Alastair tries his Jones solution splitboard in real powder for the first time! Conclusion, 'Amazing!'

The descent is amazing and by the time we get back to camp everyone is buzzing about the offerings to come!

Simon and Alastair relax after our first big day, the 'Evening light walls' are in the background!

Day 4: 26th April, 2011

Day 4 dawns bright and clear, well not exactly dawns as its been sunny all night!

Amazing views as we hike up and over 'Morning glory peak' making very good time!

With blue skies and sparkling crystal light powder everywhere we set off back up our trail of the previous day knocking 30 minutes of our time up on to the summit of 'Morning glory peak'. From here, we carry on over the back towards a big face that we had checked out the day before.

Dropping into a first descent of the 'Northern light wall' the group look on as I drop the upper slopes, before it steepens up below!

A beautiful first descent down what we named, 'Northern light wall'. Big open sweeping turns leading down into steepening terrain with a cliff band below, cut out right above the rocks, sneak through between a couple and charge out into the Glacial bassin below.

Getting ready to cut out right to avoid the cliff band below! Beautiful snow and an amazing descent!

An unreal descent! One of the best lines I've ever ridden and as I look around this feeling is etched on the slope through the lines of the team following behind!

Simon charges the steeps on the 'Northern light wall'.

Mark cuts out right with cliffs over to the left. None of us thought the conditions would really be this good!

We're about 5km from camp which is an easy ride straight down the Hans Glacier.

The end of a perfect day, from left to right: Al, Dave, Alistair, Simon, Mark, Matteo, Mike and Dev!

A perfect day!

Day 6: 27th April, 2011.

A storm has come in during the night and we have more fresh snow. All our tracks from the previous days are covered over, the glacier and the peaks around us are virgin crisp again. Although there is obviously a lot of wind further up the glacier (we can see it blowing of the high peaks) down at camp the air is still.

We opt to hike and ride the slopes directly behind our camp, two short hikes that give us two very nice descents of around 300 to 400m vertical with a short hike back up the Glacier to camp.

The first run provides great snow and some real nice turns made a little tricky as the light is quite flat, well worth another tour though, the second run is equally good and finishes right at the camp.

Good weather is due for tomorrow though so we spend a lot of time eating, drinking and playing cards.

Al Fielding hard at work in the kitchen. The bag of snow to the right will provide water for drinks and food.

Winter Camp craft is all about keeping on top of things, keeping things dry, organized and keeping hydrated. Al and Dave (from Pirhuk logistics) were in charge of our chief chefs for the trip

Day 7: 28th April, 2011

Another perfect day, clear skies and crystal fresh snow!

Far from camp, some 8km away we head up towards two high peaks but drop into a big face on route as it looks to good to miss.

We break a new trail up the 'Morning glory' side and follow the high ridge around behind the 'Morning Glory peak' towards two more peaks hidden behind. Some of the hike is quite exposed above steep terrain and we get amazing views out onto the open sea Ice of the Danish Straights, of the valley behind us with the huge Pedderson Glacier and in the distance the ***** Ice cap.

Amazing views onto the Pedderson Glacier and the Ice cap in the distance.

There are amazing peaks and lines everywhere we look and I'm already making plans in my mind for further trips to explore and ride more of this amazing landscape.

On route to the peaks behind we traverse above one of the most amazing looking walls which is just to much to ignore and so we opt to abandon the mission and ride this face instead.

Dropping into another amazing first descent, the 'Wall of morning light'.

A beautiful wall, steep and open at the top, rolling into steeper rocky terrain with chutes, couloirs and windlips waiting below.

First descent, 'Wall of morning light'.

Having checked my line from the overlooking ridge I drop in at full speed, powering some smooth powder turns down towards a rock outcrop. The slope below is hidden from view but if I'm in the right place and this is the right rocky outcrop, below me there will be a steep narrow chute through to a steep face with a perfect windlip over on the left. I charge over the roller by the rocks, perfect! the chute is right there and I charge through cutting out left to carve the windlip before dropping straight towards the Glacier below.

Carving out of the windlip on the lower face.

Another Amazing first descent, 'the wall of Morning light' and again one of the best lines I have ever ridden!

Mike follows my line through the rocks in the middle of the face!

Dev charges the upper slopes of the 'Wall of morning light'.

Mike charging on the lower face!

I watch as the team charge the face each taking their own line and getting their own fresh turns and for sure there's some stoked looking riders coming out of the bottom!

We head back down to camp, about 8km away but easy going and chill for a while in the new sun lounge extension for cheese and biscuits topped with Marmite and Tabasco chilli pepper sauce, hmmm nice?

Eating lunch in the new sun lounge extension, the evening descent can be seen behind!

Kind of??

With 24 hour daylight we have now the option to go and explore the Southern side of the Glacier, the extensive North facing slopes there get beautiful evening and night time sun so we aptly name this side 'The Evening light face'.

Hiking across to the 'Evening light' faces. We zig zagged our way up the slope in the background to attain the upper Ice field above. Pretty hard going and further than it looks!

It's quite a long way across the Glacier to reach the hike up onto the small Icecap that sits above and gives access to all the lines on the 'Evening light face' which stretches along, overlooking the glacier, for a good few kilometers with amazing lines through out.

Looking over into the Grete Glacier, amazing looking faces and chutes everywhere and definitely the sight of a future trip.

'There can be only one!' but there does always seem to be at least one! Al flies his colours whilst the rest of us check out the lines behind him.

The hike up is hard going with deep and steep snow to break trail through, but once up there the views onto the Grete Glacier behind are amazing and again I make a note for a return trip!

It's now late, but the sun is obviously still shining so we drop into an easy access wide open face that we have been scouting out from camp.

Another amazing descent but unfortunately the light went a little flat just as we dropped in.

Another amazing descent in great snow but unfortunately the light went a little flat just in time for our descent. By the time we're back at camp the midnight sun is once again blazing down and we can admire our tracks in the distance before we settle into the mess tent for drink, food and more shithead!

End of part 1...more to follow soon!

Amazing final run! BC Splitboard touring week.

2011-04-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

After a great couple of days touring around the Grand St Bernard area we heaeded back to Chamonix and to make plans for the last 2 days of the winter season.

With once again mixed/bad forecast for Thursday and a possible good forecast on Friday I made the gamble to tour to a hut through the bad weather with the hope of blue skies and more fresh snow on the final day.

As we drove back from the Grd St Bernard and passed over the Col du Forclaz we gazed up at the immaculate looking Glacier des Grandes, the scene of my most recent powder riding activity.

The guys were psyched to get up there and so the plans were set in motion and the big tour was on!

Thursday morning dawned not to bad early on and we got some fresh lines down off the Lognan's Glacier off the top of the Grands Montets.

We changed over to touring mode on the Argentiere Glacier and headed across the flats to the steep first climb of the Col du Chardonnet, the first climb en route to our destination, the 'Trient refuge'.

Cramponing up the initial slopes towards the col du Chardonnet!

For the initial slopes we changed to Crampons and worked our way up towards the easier angled Glacier above as the weather started to take a turn for the worse!

Soon we were immersed in zero visability with thick cloud and snowfall. No wind as yet though so not too unpleasant and we continued up, now back on split boards, towards the hidden col above.

The Col du Chardonnet is always a lot further than you think and with Zero Vis the hike seemed to go on for ever. Eventually the rocks either side of the Col appeared through the mists and we changed to ctampons once again for the steep abseil down the other side.

Pete, descending from the Col du Chardonnet towards the Saleina.

The point of total commitment was now passed and as we stood below the col at the top of the Saleina Glacier the cloud broke for an instant, enough time for us to watch a massive Serrac fall trigger a huge powder avalanche down the North face of the Aiguille d' Argentiere, only a few hundred meters or so away to our right.

We did quite a lot of this!

I took a quick compass bearing and we ski'ed off traversing around the top of the Saleina heading for our next objective the Fenetre de Saleina which gives access to the Final leg of the tour, the Trient Plateau.

Another long voyage through the thick cloud which had returned and we arrived at the steep ascent towards the Fenetre.

Andy and Darren on the upper slopes of the Fenetre de Saleina.

We had now been on the move for some 8 hours in zero vis and cold temps. No wind still, made things not too unpleasant but the long day was starting to take its toll on a few members of the team (if not all!) and some tired faces appeared at the top of the Fenetre de Saleina after the steep climb from below.

The Trient Plateau is a huge flat featureless Glacial plateau, very beautiful in good weather but a navigational nightmare in zero vis. After navigating across this plateau numerous times (both summer and winter) over the years, I finally succumbed to modern technology and stuck the hut co-ordinates into my GPS which I now pulled from my bag. With an accuracy of 5 meters and the hut indicated at 2.6km away we now headed across the Plateau on the last leg of the journey.

Fortunately for the tired legs in the team most of this final mission was flat or even slightly down hill and so some of the team had to quickly learn the art of Snowploughing on skis through the now quite deep fresh powder.

After 9 hours on the move! the hut was finally ours and the long day was over.

Credit to the guys, spirits remained high all day and we settled in for some good food and a fun (but short) evening in the refuge.

As we went to bed that night we all must have thought the same thoughts about the next day, hoping that the forecast for clear skies would come true!

Early morning sunlight hits the Aiguille du Tour, it's going to be a good day!

Fantastic, then, to wake early in the morning to Blue skies and crisp deep powder covering everything and as we ate an early breakfast everyone was buzzing about the day to come!

The Trient hut is on the rocks behind as we get ready for the final hike.

A short ride down onto the Trient Plateau from the hut, a quick change to skinning mode and I started breaking trail through the deep fresh up towards the Aiguille du Tour.

Amazing!

One of those beautiful mornings in the mountains, quiet, clear, crisp, amazing views 360 and fresh powder underfoot.

2000m of fresh snow below! Dropping!!

After a couple of hours breaking trail we were at the top with 2000m of untracked powder beneath our feet!

We changed to riding mode for the last time and prepared for the last run of the season (here in Chamonix anyway).

The run starts up above the col behind, here we're charging the upper snow fields.

The first turns were amazing and told us of things to come!

Andy Mantle.

We shot through from the Trient Glacier out onto the top of Glacier des Grandes and just kept on riding!

Pete.

And riding!

Lee.

And Riding!!

Gwri.

Darren.

Andy Cook.

And then rode some more!!

Andy M again!

This has got to be one of the biggest and best descents in the Mont Blanc Massif and the snow was just pefect from top to bottom!

The exit couloirs are behind (and the main descent above left), even they were full of good deep powder!

Even the exit couloirs were in good condition!

Eventually the riding came to a satisfactory ending and after an easy hike out to the Col du Forclaz my BC Splitboard touring week was over along with my Winter season in Chamonix!

What a fantastic week and a great last run to finish the season with!

As a guide, exploring new areas (such as the Grd St Bernard tour) and taking on new challenges (guiding 6 guys for 9 hours through the mountains in a storm) is all part of the of the job, but when it all comes together with perfection, as it did this week there really is no finer Metier!

I now have a couple of days off before I try to throw together my next trip to Greenland!

Another adventure into the unknown, a journey into an amazing wilderness of high peaks and polar ice, 24 hour sunlight and a solitude that is hard to find anywhere else on the planet!

So much to do before I head off!

With such a busy season, it's been hard to even think 2 days ahead never mind planning for Greenland which always seemed to far off and suddenly departure is right around the corner!

Right better think about packing!

I can think about packing whilst riding my bike though right?

Why do things now when you can do everything last minute!!

Beautiful day and my bike is calling!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Splitboard touring! End of winter bonus freshies!!

2011-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Split board touring week this week and although for most the winter is now well and truly over, with most resorts now shut (including everything in Chamonix except the Grand Montets) and the temperatures hitting the mid 20's, for those in the know and with the means and dedication the late winter freshies await!

Monday we did a splitboard introduction tour, the group are fit, keen and experienced regulars and so we headed up high straight away and had perfect spring conditions up and down the Glacier rouge du Dolent way up the Argentiere basin.

With a mixed forecast for Tuesday but a good one for Wednesday we then headed up to the Col du Grande St Bernard for a 2 day outing.

We hiked up to the refuge, the hospice du Grd St Bernard (which happens to be a Monastry that dates way back into the 18th century, initially a refuge for stricken travellers trying to get across the major trade route that the col used to be right up until the St Bernard tunnel was built in the mid 1900's!).

The weather started out not so bad but came in rapidly as we left the trail to the refuge to hike up the Combe de Barasson which we then descended in total zero vis.

Once back on the trail we reached the Refuge in the early afternoon and settled in for a relaxing evening whilst the storm raged outside.

An early start and the weather still appeared to be bad as we ate Breakfast but a sudden clearing revealed that the cloud was only socked in on the actual Col (which is very common here) and the peaks above were in glorious sunshine.

Moody skies and an early morning start from the refuge (back right).

We headed out the door and began to traverse around the frozen lake into Italy.

Andy Cook trying our new idea, a sport sliding on two planks! We sacked it off, it'll never catch on.

We kept the splitboards split with out the skins on for the first traverse around the lake, a weird idea that could be a strange sport in its own right, one long sliding thing on each foot with a pole in each hand. In the end we decided it wasn't that much fun and would never catch on.

We headed off towards the Fenetre d' en haut following initially the road across the col and down onto the Italian side of the mountain.

Leaving the road for the peaks above!

After riding through a tunnel to the first switch back we left the road and headed up into the peaks above.

Perfect conditions for hiking and riding!

Touring up towards the col d en haut.

The storm had left a beautiful fresh coat on everything and the mountains were in perfect condition for hiking and riding.

Tricky crampon work to access the final couloir.

The final couloir, starting to get a bit steep!

And the exit is a bit steeper still!

On reaching the col above we descended and traversed around behind the point de Drone and climbed a steep couloir with Crampons to access the Combe de Drone on the other side which with a new coat of fresh snow was now in perfect condition.

Whilst every one else bakes in the sun on the Grande Montets, Andy C gets some late winter fresh!

And so does Pete!

And Lee charges the upper bowl!

Gwri is back out again and getting deep in in as usual!

Andy Mantle charges the lower slopes.

With 2 new knee caps Darren (aka Piglet?) loves the smooth fresh!

Loads of room and fresh turns for all!

It was a nice surprise to find some proper deep fresh powder on the upper slopes and in the areas sheltered from the cold North wind.

A great late winter bonus for sure and the ride was long and in perfect condition!

The circular tour from the refuge took us up and around the Pointe du Drone with the descent taking us straight back down to the Van parked down at Bourg St Bernard to finish a perfect couple of day out on the mountain.

Mixed weather tomorrow but better on Friday so we're looking to head up through the Col du Chardonnay and over to the Trient hut tomorrow and from there hopefully a perfectly fresh descent of Glacier des Grandes on Friday!

I'll let you know how we progress!

All is good!

Neil.

More great spring riding!

2011-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here in the Valley the temps are hitting the low 20's and that summer feeling has hit Chamonix!

Up the mountain the spring slush is in full effect for the jibbers and out of bounds the good cold snow is scarce and hard to find.

It just so happens however that we've manged to find it once again this week on my last BC Intro of the season so here's how its panned out!

Monday we rode fresh snow on the top tickets at the Grands Montets, no queues and fresh lines all day with 6 laps of deep fresh (see previous post).

Tuesday we headed out touring, keeping high for the good snow, heading up the Argentiere glacier and turning left to hike up the Amethyste Glacier and the Col du Tour Noire.

Heading up towards the Amethyste Glacier.

The fast bunch heading for the top!

A big day on snowshoes for sure, half the team made the top, with UK Freeride super star Will Hughes who had joined us for the day, the others cut out just short of the top with a traverse over to join the big descent back into the valley.

Will Hughes charges the Amethyste!

Closely followed by Richie.

Phillipe in the mix.

A big first tour for sure and a good effort all round!

Wednesday we headed over to Courmayeur, my 85th and 86th goes through the tunnel this season. I'd not been over there for a week or so and so it was bit of a shock to see how much snow has disappeared in just a week!

We did a Val Veni run off the Arp, it was good to about half way down and then tricky in the couloir due to avalanche debris. The lower couloir was good down to the river crossing but I don't see the snow bridge across the river lasting much longer and the river is in full flow!

Today, Thursday, we did a Heli drop up on the Trient Plateau (same as we did last Friday).

The pilot let me fly us up there! yeah right!!

Hiking up towards the peak on the right!

We made good time today with John pulling on the front!

I kind of expected a freeze thaw or wind affected descent and so was super surprised to find good cold winter freshies all the way down to just above the exit couloir!

Richie jibbing it up on the Grands!

David getting fresh lines!

Tim on the middle part of the descent, great snow!

John making fresh lines!

Chris visits winter wonderland in mid April!

Total end of season bonus!!

compulsory commando finish!

A massive wet snow slide (must have been on Sunday with all the rain) had slid into the lower Couloir which made the exit a bit tricky and then we opted for the walk out on the summer trail to the Col du Forclaz, which worked out pretty easy and so no real commando finish and a Bar at the end of the hike out!

Not so bad!!

So far a pretty good week then.

Heading into the Valley Blanche tomorrow to see what's happening up there. Will probably do a Grand Envers and exit by the Requin couloir. I've not ridden this side of the VB this season so it'll be a bit of an explore for me and it'll be quite interesting to see how things have changed.

All is good! but very hot!! in Chamonix!

Neil.

Heli Daze and deep fresh!

2011-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Glacier des Grandes, Carl lays it out!

Just started my last BC Intro of the winter with another special Grands Montets 'Top Tickets' day of fresh snow and no queues.

We did 6 laps off the top, mostly down the Face right and left of the Rognon, the last run was in glorious sunshine and fully charged!

Last weeks BC Splitboard Intro week was a real bonus week as we pretty much rode fresh lines all week in perfect snow (see previous blogs).

After a great tour over the col des Autannes on Thursday we looked up at Glacier des Grandes from the valley and picked it out for the next days mission. On return to Chamonix I quickly booked the Heli for a drop on the Trient Plateau at 9am as the weather once again came in to deposit fresh snow for us to ride in the morning.

UK Freerider, Will Hughes had arrived to stay so I quickly drafted him as tail guide for the day, (didn't take much convincing I have to say!)

The next morning dawned Bright and clear and at 9am we were flying up the Trient Valley on our way up into the mountains once again.

The team setting out for the hike!

Half way up to Aiguille du Tour.

There were a few touring parties a head of us so the trail up towards the Aiguille du Tour through the deep fresh snow was super easy and took about an hour on the splitboards.

The hike is almost over!

A quick stop for lunch and to change into riding mode and the descent began.

On arriving at the top of Glacier des Grandes I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the skiers had traversed over to the Glacier de Bron and so our objective was completely untracked.

The ride begins!

And keeps on going!

I dropped in wondering why the skiers had avoided this massive field of powder and so was half expecting it to be wind affected, but it was perfect and just seemed to get better every turn, so, after checking that the guys behind had started to follow, I just kept going and going!

And going!!

On and on!

The ride continues!

I love riding these powder descents in huge long pitches and Glacier des grandes is one of the biggest and longest descents in the Massif. At about half way, just before it steepens I pulled up and got some shots of the guys coming down.

and on and on some more!

And on some more!

After a re group we rode the second half in one massive pitch of amazing untracked powder with everyone getting amazing turns down the steeps.

Our tracks run right down the middle from left to right!

A great finish to a fantastic week!

Heading up the Argentiere Glacier tomorrow for a tour up the Amethyste Glacier again. It should be good and fresh after this latest storm so should be great, I'll let you know!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

More fresh lines in untouched powder!

2011-03-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Very weird day yesterday!

With rain in the valley and moody skies things didn't look so good but after a night of rain down here things would obviously be good high up so we headed off to the Grands Montets to join the masses battling it out for fresh lines off top tickets.

With 30 to 40cm of fresh up top this must surely be the day everyone has been waiting for and so I expected big crowds and big queues.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find no queue and so thinking maybe things weren't so good after all we headed up top. Poor visibility was obviously keeping most people away but with my bad vis sensor on we headed left of the Rognon for a blast down the Lognan's Glacier in amazingly deep snow and no tracks. Amazing!

Again no queue at the bottom, weirder and weirder, run number 2 had good vis with the sun coming through and again no tracks and no people?

I began to realize that this was a very special day when run number 3 again provided fresh lines for all and again no one around!

Its a rare thing to ride laps on top tickets all day with no queue and still be getting fresh lines right into the afternoon!

An amazing day and totaly unexpected so how do I top that?

Well today with clear skies in the morning and storms forcast for the afternoon we headed up for a tour over the Col des Autannes. There aren't many tours you can do with the present conditions that ride into the lower altitudes or the valleys and still have snow, I had thought to do the Col du Passon but at the last minute I went with my instincts and changed to the Autannes which proved to be the right choice as there is no snow towards the bottom of the Passon anymore, just what looks to be a heavy commando finish even by my standards.

There's not much snow up at Le Tour anymore either but for our day it was perfect and with everyone else riding the icy piste and no one else touring we headed up in to the peaks.

Tell tale storm cloud cap Mont Blanc as we head into the peaks.

We made very good time up the initial slopes in split mode with couteau (ski crampons) for the steeps. the snow got progressively deeper as we gained altitude and by half way I was doing some serious trail breaking and working hard.

nearing the top of the middle couloir, some of the guys are just starting up the boot pack below.

At just over half way we gained the steep couloir and put boards on out packs and donned our crampons. A good half hour of steep trail breaking later we gained the upper slopes where the going got too deep for on foot and so we went back to skinning on the splits.

The snow pack was getting a little precarious up high so I followed an old avalanche path upwards for a while until it again got to steep and we went back to crampons again.

A weak layer of Graupel in the snowpack sounds the warning bells!

With some seriously weak layers in the snowpack and a perfect layer of Graupel (hail) I decided to avoid the exit couloir and head up for the safety of the rocks above which added a spicy ending to our climb, made all the more atmospheric by the rapidly approaching storm.

Just starting the steep spicy exit up the rocks, very atmospheric!

Once over the top it started snowing a little as we changed back to riding mode but the sun came back out as we got our boards together and the descent looked perfect.

I was a little wary of snowslab into the intial steep slope and so made a fast cut across to a safe zone to check stability and then dropped in for yet another amazing untracked powder run!

I stopped off to get some shots as the guys flew past and then we charged into the valley below with no other tracks anywhere to be seen!

Craig charges the upper slopes, full on fresh!

Carl in powder heaven!

Simon getting his fill!

Frodo (phil) a long way from the shires!

Still a long way to go and no tracks to follow!

It got a little sticky down low and the exit road is starting to get a little bare in patches but we pretty much rode all the way to just above the village of Trient with out problem.

As we rode out we looked back up at 'Glacier Midi des Grandes'. Its a long time since I last rode that big descent, in fact I think I was with Keith (rip) the last time I rode it so it must be 2 seasons ago and we got the shot that is now heading the home page on the web site!

It looked amazing today, unmissable infact and so the heli is booked for tomorrow morning Finhaut to Trient plateau at 8:45 and fresh lines will be ours from top to bottom.

It's raining outside right now, so snowing up high! A little powder top up won't do any harm up there!!

Bring it on!!!

All is good!

Neil.

More splitboarding! Col du tour Noire today!

2011-03-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Great shot of Phil charging the Amethyste Galcier on the Jone Solution splitboard today!

Mixed weather over the weekend and snow up high brought good conditions for the first day of this weeks Splitboard Intro course which saw us riding fresh lines in Courmayeur (again!) on Monday. Rising temperatures saw some interesting condition changes in the afternoon with some heavy wet snow slides going off on all aspects were ever it was steep enough for the snow to slide.

We stared with a good transceiver training session in the Courmayeur Arva park before heading out to ride some trees (a bit sticky) and then the Youla couloir, which was perfect!

in the afternoon we rode of the summit above the Arp, again good snow down towards the Val Veni couloirs and then the snow got a bit heavy, although still fun to ride.

More rain in the valley last night but again more snow up high and blue skies this morning so we headed up the Grand Montets, rode pretty good powder down the Lognans glacier, good and soft although pretty tracked underneath. We found a few good lines on the way down then headed out onto the Argentiere Glacier and changed to split mode to begin the long tour up the Amethyste Glacier towards the Col du tour Noire.

Starting out up the Argentiere Glacier.

The Beautiful ambiance of the high mountains.

Then it starts to head up hill!

There were a few teams out ahead as we headed up but with a crafty shortcut before the top (as the clouds were starting to boil up from the valley) we managed to cut in and get fresh tracks all the way down the left hand side.

Loads of room and loads of fresh snow!

Craig gets some fresh turns!

Carl charging!

Simon gets his fill.

Dermot diggin deep.

I also explored a variant exit down the left earlier in the year and so knowing this we headed hard left at the bottom towards my secret exit which proved to be in great condition and completely untouched.

Bob leads on down my secret exit, Beautiful backdrop!

Any of these tours up the Argentiere Glacier are big days out on the hill and the guys did well for their first ever splitboard tour and for some their first big 'McNab' BC tour.

A few tired legs tonight though so probably an easier riding day tomorrow!

We'll see!!

All is good!

Neil.

Col du Belvedere splitboard tour!

2011-03-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Chris Johnke gets some fresh turns in the Airguille Rouge!

The last day of last weeks Splitboard course dawned bright and clear and with 20cm or so of fresh snow up high in the Aiguille Rouge we set off for a tour of the Col du Belvedere.

Crampons on and splitboards at the ready! The tour begins!!

The route traverses around from the top of the floria lift to the summer refuge at Lac Blanc before heading straight up crossing the frozen lake to the high col above.

It's a beautiful tour both up and down, here we are above lac Blanc.

Nearing the col du Belvedere.

It is a perfect Splitboard tour, not too steep or technical on the climb so easily accessible with out ski crampons and without to many steep or tricky kickturns on route.

From the col you have a steep North slope to negotiate to access the Belvedere Glacier below and the North facing slopes that lead down in to the Berarde Valley.

The ascent is quite long with some walking in crampons early on to negotiate a steep traverse above a cliff band, as things mellow its time for the splitboards and from Lac Blanc to the top is about an hour and a half of steady skinning.

For the descent we tied 2 ropes together to give us 70m of rope assisted descent.

Chris on the lower!

I lower the guys down using a standard Italian hitch which Allows me to easily pass the overhand knot that joins the ropes together. After 70m its time to unclip from the rope and negotiate the remaining steep face below.

I normally ride the face bringing the ropes down with me, due to icy and rocky conditions I was cautious on the upper half of the descent with my Ice axe firmly grasped and ready for emergency use before riding the lower half which had good snow on it.

Once down off the steeps we had unlimited access to untracked fresh snow all the way down into the Berarde valley.

Liam charging into the Berarde valley!

Mark's last fresh turns before Greenland in April.

Kinnon gets his fill!

Rich charges the lower slopes.

Sean leads the charge to the bar in Le Buet!

A bit of a Cammando exit as usual down to le Buet but a great day out!

This week I have a 3 day Off Piste clinic and so have been over in Italy again making use of the good snow base over there. Tomorrow I'll head high on the Grand Montets hoping to find cold snow off top tickets and down the Lognans Glacier.

Its been Spring time temps this last few days, big melt freeze cycles on the sunny slopes but good cold snow on the North faces. Some quite big wet snowslides the last few days as things warmed up but getting more settled now but with rising temps and the search for freshies heading out towards those hidden untouched North faces, watch out for the deeper weak layers buried since the cold temps of January.

Not much snow depth low down in the Chamonix valley now, the Golf course is now completely clear!! But up high things are filling on a little better with the first of the spring showers last week.

Still not much cover up in the Valley Blanche and the latest snowfalls won't add much stability to the weak snowbridges up there and will make them harder to see so be cautious out on the Glaciers for sure.

Blue skies, warm temps and spring snow!

Not so bad!!

Neil.

Splitboarding and fresh snow!

2011-03-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Great day today in Courmayeur (as ever!) and my 84th trip through the tunnel!

We hiked up the ridge from the top of the Arp to the small summit above and dropped into the Val Veni with fresh lines down the steep face behind for all. I rode the 168XL Flagship today, and with the deep fresh up top it was in its element and felt amazing!

Man, I just love that board!!

We started the week with a short Splitboard intro tour in Courmayeur, hiking out away from the lifts before dropping some fresh turns down into the woods before splitting again and hiking back out.

Moody skies but great snow, splitboard intro session!

Hiking out of the woods after a nice fresh run into the middle of nowhere!

Very good snow, lots of fresh but poor visibility.

Big lines out of the Youla Couloir, not the best shot but I was too busy riding to get the camera out!

We then finished the day with a couple of laps down the steep couloir that splits the cliff band below the Youla top station, very Nice!

We followed this up with a tour up and over the Col des Autannes.

Mark prepping for Greenland on the col des Autannes tour!

Liam leads the charge for the top of the col des Autannes on Crampons.

A great day out, a fantastic tour with some classic splitboard touring before donning crampons for the final climb up and onto the ridge.

Rich (I think) on the upper wall from the Col des Autannes.

The upper bowl of the Autannes descent, moody skies but great riding from way up the back there and miles more to come!

A great descent down with good soft snow all the way to Trient.

We've then spent the last 2 days again over in Italy riding freshies off the lifts as its been snowing quite a bit over there. Yesterday we rode laps on the Youla couloir again as the visibility was in and out but the snow was great.

Today there was quite a lot of fresh snow again and we did a great run off the top of the Arp as I mentioned earlier.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get out touring again so we'll see what the weather brings us. I've been customizing my split set up, I've got the bindings dialed in now with new straps and a Cartel highback (spoiler) and they are starting to feel good. I've also cut about 1cm off the rear voile puck (the grey thing that the binding slides onto) so that I can center the binging better, loosing some heel overhang whilst at the same time allowing me to lengthen the base plate of the binding for more foot and toe support. Looks like it'll be good so I'll let you know!

The Solution in working well and all the guys are stoked with them this week but everyone is in agreement that you need to dial in the bindings so get to work!

The temperatures are up and down a lot at the moment and we're coming in to the spring Avalanche season with fresh snowfalls and crazily rising temperatures. Today we saw a few quite big heavy loose snow slides on the lower slopes so keep your eyes open and ride with care!

I'll leave you with these shots of us on our heli day last week on the Pin d'arolla. Cheating I know but a great day out anyway!

Heli drop on the Pin D'Arolla!

On the summit of the Pin D'Arolla with the Matterhorn behind!

Oh and Ruth has informed me that the splitboard course 28th March to 1st April is now full again!

All is good.

Neil.

Splitboard course this week!

2011-03-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Back on the splitboards this week after a great BC Intro course last week which saw us ride some amazing snow off Mont Nix (see last weeks blog) and get in a heli day with a drop on the Pin d'Arolla on Friday.

This was my first heli drop in a long time and although it was great, I did feel like a bit of a cheat!

Yeah right! for about 2 minutes!!

No seriously though, I have to say I much prefer to get out on the splitboard and get away from the classic spots and the Pin d'Arolla descent although good has become a classic and was pretty tracked.

Things are changing quickly out here. Year by year yesterdays secret spots are becoming todays classics and are getting tracked out quicker and quicker.

Anywhere that has easy access is the first to get it and unfortunately Heli access has become easy access!

There's still plenty out there but the best riding and the best lines are those that are hidden from the masses and take a bit more effort to get out to.

Anyway, this week I'm back on the splitboard and loving it. Yesterday we went over to Courmayeur (yes again!) where it had snowed, to do an intro session on the splitboards. With a massive queue for the Youla we decided to split the boards and get hiking. We hiked up for about an hour stuck the boards back together and rode freshies down into the woods below before splitting them again and hiking back out to the lifts. A great run with no one around on a very busy day.

We then managed to get a last lift up the Youla and rode the big steep couloir that splits the cliff face below it with great snow and fresh tracks from top to bottom.

Today with a mixed forecast and strong winds high up we toured up and over the Col des Autannes and had a surprisingly good run down to Trient with good snow all the way down in to the valley before the regular semi commando finish.

Looks like we might get some snow tomorrow, more over in Italy than here (no big surprise there, I think its a conspiracy to keep me funding the MB tunnel) so we'll head over there again with the splits and see what we get.

should be good!

And finally, we have had a cancellation on the Splitboard course running the 28th March to the 1st April so if anyone is interested give Ruth a call or email.

All is good!

Neil

Amazing lines in deep fresh today!

2011-03-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Fresh lines today for Mark in prep for Greenland!

Once again we're getting some fine and settled weather here in Chamonix. This means great weather for riding and touring but little in the way of fresh snow, the last snowfall being now over 2 weeks ago.

Spring is in the air for sure, last weekend I got out on my bike around the hills above Annecy with my friend Mark who runs GPM10.com (Alpine cycle training), the weather was perfect and we rode up and over the col du Marais linked in with a circuit of the lake and another climb to finish a perfect 80k circuit. My legs felt pretty good for the time of year so hopefully if I can keep myself going and not get burned out I should be going well for the spring riding season.

This week I'm running a BC intro course. We started out with a day on the Grand Montets with a couple of laps off the top, the snow was cold but wind affected and firm, 'technical riding conditions' as I've deemed it this season.

We toured a classic Crochues Berrard on Tuesday which was good. The descent was fun, good cold soft snow but pretty tracked as you'd expect on this classic 2 weeks after the last snowfall. You could find some clean lines here and there and we had a good charge about and a great day out.

Wednesday we hit Courmayeur for an easier riding day, rode off the Arp into the Val Veni, which was good and then some ofthe steep couloirs in the trees and a nice finish down a new untracked line that I've discovered this season.

Today we were in for another touring day and so headed over to Courmayeur again (my 67th trip through the tunnel this season!) to hike and ride one of my favourite lines over there on Mont Nix.

The Jones boards are out in force as usual, Brian leads the hike!

Mark and Steve nearing the top of the climb!

Sean hikes onwards surrounded by a sea of powder!

The snow was untouched and perfect and we hiked up pretty quickly heading up to the col just below and right of the main summit.

From here we rode the North Face all the way into the valley.

It was epic!

Steve nabs 2nd drop whilst Brian is busy faffing!

Brian charges the fresh, moments before un-intentionaly nearly riding off a cliff drop

Sean with a classic toe side carve!

Dani just loves the hiking! Here he regretably has to do some riding!

One of my best rides of the season as the snow was perfect all the way and the line just kept on flowing.

Lee still cranking fresh turns all the way to the bottom!

I made one stop for Photos near the top and then we rode the rest to the bottom in one!

We rode the sloping ramp above Dani right from the top of the mountain!

The hike out to Dolonne took only half an hour and the classic descent of the Dolonne was surprisingly good with not too many tracks and some good cold fresh snow in the upper half.

We have a heli booked for a Pin d'Arolla drop tomorrow morning so an early start in on the cards. I've not dropped on the Pin for a few years (the last time I was up there was guiding a haut route summer trip) and so it'll be interesting and I hope the snow will be good.

Will let you know!

All good here.

Neil.

McNab snowboarding on Facebook!

2011-03-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

At the request of a good number of you guys I have finally succumbed and started a McNab Snowboarding facebook page!

Hopefully here you can post your shots, give some chat and keep in touch with us and each other? I think that's how it works so we'll see.

Find it and get on board!

I've just finished a 5 day Tech clinic which was great. A good group, all keen and up for it. We ran through the Science of perfect snowboard technique before exploring how to match your line to the terrain and work with the mountain rather than fighting against it.

We spent he final day riding the slack country (Off Piste) at le Tour with a finishing run from the Tete du Balme right down to Trient.

There's some good snow out there, it's pretty tracked just out of bounds and in the popular spots but it looks like there's some to find if you're willing to work for it.

I have a BC Intro this week which should be good and a BC Splitboard the week after so will be keeping busy out amongst the peaks in search of untracked powder lines.

I just received some sample kit from the new Billabong 'Advanced' range which I'm now helping develop.

Billabong were one of my first proper professional sponsors back in the mid 90's and I rode for them for a good number of years. They're a pretty chilled out dedicated boards ports company, best known for Surfing I guess, but have been in the Snowboard industry for over 20 years and so are not new comers to the business and our very own home grown snowboard legend Jenny Jones rides for them so I'm in good company!

It's quite nice to have come full circle, I wanted to get involved with a brand that is involved in Snowboarding rather than help develop a mountaineering brand trying to get into the snowsports market and with Billabong starting a new advanced freeride range of outerwear aimed at the Backcountry freeride market, the timing was just perfect.

Billabong have a nice ethos, the guys are all snowboarders and surfers and they are fully into developing some good quality kit so I'm stoked to be back in Billabong product. Watch this space for updates!!

Big bike ride planned for tomorrow so enough chat for now!

All is good,

Neil.

More news from the Advanced BC Course!

2011-02-26T01:48:00.000-08:00

"The JONES Snowboard team"

Quick shot of my name up amongst the greats from the 'Jones' ISPO stand! I've been in communication with Jeremy about future developments of the range and it sounds like there's a lot of good things going to be happening over the next few years.

I'm particularly interested in helping with the development of the Splitboard range and we have some good ideas moving forward with regards this area. You can expect splitboards to be as light as and ride as good as a top end normal boards in the very near future. Watch this space!

I've been busy out amongst the high peaks again the last few days with my Advanced BC course.

On Wednesday we set off on an early start to hike and ride the Glacier de Tour Noire from the high Col d'Argentiere at just over 3500m.

On the atmospheric approach up the Glacier d'Argentiere.

You have to hike up the relatively flat Glacier d'Argentiere in the approach before reaching the base of the ascent.

Glacier Tour Noire runs just above the guys heads to the col on the top right.

It's a long climb, here we head up through the lower easier angled powder fields.

From the bottom the climb takes about 3 hours, the snow was deep and fresh and so I was braking the trail through wide open fields of powder (both up and down!).

The lower slopes are a nice angle and it gets steeper towards the top with some 2 nice 'steep and deep' sections between some quite open crevasses which are hidden from above so you need to remember where they are on the way down.

It was a beautiful crisp cold day and seeing as its full on holiday season out here, relatively quiet with only 5 other people on the mountain!

Daryl and Iain with boards back in riding mode at the Col d' Argentiere.

we reached the Col about 4 hours after putting the skins on way down at the start of the tour.

The ride down was epic, super deep, the steeps felt amazing high up and I even manged to stop lower down to get out my camera to snap a couple of shots of the guys coming down.

Iain in deep powder heaven!

Gwri carving down the lower powder fields.

Daryl reaps the rewards!

Big grins at the bottom!

An amazing trip and another first for me as with snowshoe teams I've never actually made the top before!

Thursday it snowed in the morning so we rode free freshies in Courmayeur and scored first lines off the top lift, the Arp as it openned just as we got there. A lucky score and some great fresh lines all the way into the Val Veni.

Friday was another big day, but the real icing on the cake. With fresh snow from the day before, we hiked out from the Arp in Courmayeur and climbed up Mont Fortin to score a superb descent of a hidden face that I found a few years ago when heli-boarding in the area.

Iain on the ride down from Mt Fortin

Daryl charging Mt Fortin.

Daryl moments before detonation!

Again, we had the mountains to ourselves and fresh lines all the way down to finish off another great week.

Not sure it can get much better than that but I'll keep trying!

Neil.

More powder and more splitboarding!

2011-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

After a day of snowfall on Sunday the skies cleared perfectly for Monday and the first day of my Advanced BC course!

Monday we headed up the Grand Montets, against my better judgment as I knew it would be heaving with everyone trying to get up top for the 60cm of fresh rumoured to be up there.

With the small group ratio of 1 to 3 however, getting priority top tickets (even on a super busy day) wasn't to be a problem and we headed straight up to check it out.

I'm happy to say we weren't dissapointed, the rumours were right and we charged down the Lognan's glacier, fresh tracks for all and the run I've been waiting for for the last 7 weeks, Grand Montets in perfect condition.

After a cruise around nabbing some lines in bound we headed back up to find some more untracked lines on the Glacier, hit the stash on the way down and finished a perfect day in style.

Today, we were on route for a big splitboard tour up high but the weather wasn't playing ball so we headed around to the Val Ferret, my new favorite playgound.

Gwri on route for the top!

Daryl and Iain pushing a fast pace first time out on the splits!

We skinned up to the summit of Monte della Saxe in super fast time, some 750m of up in just over 2 hrs and had lunch looking out onto Courmayeur and the Italian side of Mont Blanc.

Touring along the summit plateau.

Arriving at the summit of Monte della Saxe.

We toured along the summit ridge for a bit to check out the best spot to drop in.

Daryl deep in powder heaven!

Iain at full speed over the rollers!

Gwri lays out a carve in the deep powder!

The initial slopes looked a bit wind loaded so we used caution until we were established on the face just below and then charged towards the valley. 750m (vertical) of pure untracked amazing powder!

I'm just getting more addicted to riding the Jones Solution 168 every time I take it out and if I get runs like this everytime I use it I think I'll be hiking everyday.

Mid holiday madness and we had the whole mountain to ourselves!

Another dream descent in the bag and a tricky river crossing to finish!

Not so bad!!

More tomorrow then!

Neil.

Splitboarding is the future, the future is Now!

2011-02-19T00:40:00.001-08:00

My new favorite playground!

Wow, this is the future for me. Drive up a snowy valley, park the van, get out, hike and ride the mountain. No lifts, no people just you, your team and the mountains. The future is splitboarding and the future is now!

This was the last day of my first BC splitboard course and the day of our planned big tour exploration powder attack.

The weather cleared and the Val Ferret (Italy) was cloaked in a fine coat 30cm of fresh untracked powder waiting for our arrival.

I've been eyeing this line for sometime now and with perfect conditions this just had to be the day.

As the sun rose I grabbed my splitboard, touring gear and the dog and set off to pick up the guys.

Setting up for departure!

We'd recce'd the line from the Helbronner the day before and with boards in split mode started touring up the valley floor beside the Ski du fond track until a bridge over the river allowed us access to the mountains the other side.

From here we left the valley floor and started following a summer trail up the hill.

Me and Jake the dog break trail.

The weather was perfect, the views immense, just us and the silence of the mountains and the dog out in front breaking the trail.

Just you and your efforts, the silence of the mountains and a clear mind!

Jim finds tunes into the rythm of the mountain.

After an hour of following the summer trail we branched off into the unknown and started to make our way up through glorious powder fields in search of the our chosen descent line.

Not a bad view from our lunch spot!

After a bite to eat in one of the best lunch spots I've eaten at we transformed the boards into riding mode and prepared for the ride.

Simon powers down the mountain, last training week before Greenland, he's ready!

Gwri gets deep in it!

But Adam gets deeper!

With the dog charging behind, only his head visible in the powder, we carved our lines down the crystalline powder, the perfect line with a bit of everything, open rolling fields, some steeps and some high speed carving through open bushes to finish right back at the bridge where we started.

A great end to a superb week and the start of endless possibilities.

I now have the Advanced BC week coming up, a 1 to 3 client ratio which means we can move faster and go deeper and steeper.

Not the best conditions here in Chamonix but Italy is good at the moment and there's mixed weather forecast for this week with the chance of more new snow both here in Chamonix and again over the other side of Mont Blanc in Italy and so hopefully we'll be able to get the Splits out again and get out amongst the peaks for some further exploration.

Looking forward to it!

Other News:

We still have a couple of spaces available on the last Splitboard course 28th March to 1st April, if you fancy joining us give Ruth a shout.

We already have a lot of interest in next years 2012 courses and Ruth is compiling waiting lists, I'll try to put the new schedule online towards the end of May.

Next winter we'll be adding a New 'BC Splitboard Intro course' and a New 'BC Splitboard Freeride course'.

The 'BC Splitboard Intro course' will run along the same lines as the Splitboard courses this season and the BC Splitboard Freeride course will be designed for those that have already attended a Splitboard course this year.

There's quite a lot of interest in a Kamchatka Heli trip next season, if you're interested in this let us know as I'll only run it if there are definitely enough people interested. The costs of the trip are something like £4500 plus you need at least another £1000 for extra Heli time if the conditions are good. You've also got flight on top of this so you're looking at a £6000 trip.

Kamchatka offers some of the greatest riding on the planet in my opinion but obviously it comes at a high cost. If you're interested in this let us know and start saving.

I'm also looking at more splitboard 'Deeper' style trips to Greenland and Norway so watch out for more info as the plans come together.

A lot of interest in another Mont Blanc ascent (start getting fit if you're up for this) and maybe a Splitboard Haute route towards the spring next winter.

There's a lot to fit in so I'll run the programs with the most interest so let us know what you're interested in.

I know its a long way off and we've not even had the best of this winter yet, but some of these trips are pretty expensive and are long term goals for a lot of you so this is a long term heads up on what I can put on the program for next year.

Let us know what you want!

All is good, hope you're getting your fill!

Neil.

Fresh snow at last!

2011-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

The clear skies have finally let up and the clouds rolled in to bring some fresh snow at long last!

After some 7 weeks of dry crystal clear skies we finally have some fresh snow to ride, not here in Chamonix, but as seems to be the norm this season, through the tunnel in Italia.

It seems we live the wrong side of the mountain this season, I've been riding in Italy more than I've been riding in Chamonix this season as the conditions through on the other side of the tunnel have simply been consistently better.

Not good in terms of tunnel costs but way better in terms of getting in some good turns on the board, so well worth it at the end of the day.

So I'm running my first splitboard week this week, I've been looking forward to this for quite a while, hoping to get out and get in some good touring and some new exploring. After 7 weeks fo sun, perfect conditions for the touring, the weather has turned and so we've had to make do with riding fresh powder all week instead.

Well you can't win them all can you!

Getting set for our first tour.

We started the week with sunny skies and set about getting used to the splitboards with an easy tour. There were some funny antics going on as the guys leanred how to and how not to perfom their first kick turns when skinning up hill, but at the end of the first day everyone was both stoked and surprised at how well the Splitboards performed both up and down the mountain.

Simon gets some surprisingly fresh turns at Le Tour!

Adam on the Jones Solution getting some fresh turns on day 1 at Le Tour.

We started off at Le Tour where after 7 weeks of now snow we actually found some very good turns in crystallised untracked cold snow, Nice!

It then started snowing in Courmayeur so we headed through and rode epic powder in the trees Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday I rode the Flagship 168XL which I now love. On Wednesday with the snow getting steep and deep I broke out the Hovercraft 156 again and had an amazing day ripping tight lines through the trees with the guys screaming close behind.

Today, we had a bit of a tour from the Helbronner planned, but as we got to the top of the lifts the cloud came in so we opted for a run down Glacier Toule instead.

Simon, James (in lovely matching kit, yes I've been selling off some jkts) and Gwri get the goods riding the Splits on Glacier Toule.

Once we got down the steps onto the snow the skies cleared and we had a great run down the middle of the Glacier in super deep powder.

Gwri in full flow!

Adam deep in it.

Xavier loving the Jones Solution in the deep snow!

Lower down things started to warm up a bit and so with the Avalanche risk rising we headed on down and over to Courmayeur with the splitboards where I had a new line in mind which I'd never ridden before as I didn't ever fancy the walk out. Now with the splits on our feet we dove straight in there and found an amazing deep fresh untracked powder line with some great pillow lines for a finish. We then split the boards down and skied out of there, Great!

I finally seem to have the Splitboard sussed in terms of performance. It's taken a while, but today this afternoon I finally had it riding and feeling like the non split Flagship and now I'm just super excited about the possibilities this is opening up.

With the Splitboard thing, you definitely have to spend some time getting the whole binding thing right. I'm riding the Spark R&D binding but have customised them to work for me and now have them set up just right and they now feel and work great. I've also worked out today that my board rides and feels better if I ride a wider stance than on my other Flagships. As the board is softer, you don't really want to use the middle of the board too much and so with a wider stance I can bend/flex and carve the tip and tail into and out of the turns much more effectively and it works really well. I also dropped my front foot angle 3 degrees to 18 which produces greater outward pressure through my front foot, my rear foot is somewhere around -9 which gives me great power to the rear contact points of the board. I think my stance width is now around 72cm (I ride 70 on the Flagship) and it feels pretty comfortable and powerful.

I'd definitely recommend you try a wider stance than normal if you're riding a splitboard! Some of the guys widened theirs too with the same results.

Anyway, tomorrow we're off on an exploration tour somewhere up the Val Ferret, a line I've often looked at and now have the opportunity to check out. It's the same aspect and altitude as the amazing powder run we found this afternoon so fingers crossed it'll be a good one.

All good!

Neil.

And finally we find it, Fresh lines for all!

2011-02-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

After 5 weeks of blue skies and now new snow, today we finally scored some proper fresh lines after a swift hike up Mont Nix above Courmayeur.

I've been keeping my eye on this line for sometime now and today with everyone up for the hike I finally got to get stuck in there and check it out.

As I had suspected, the snow was still good, cold, fresh, not wind effected and most importantly untracked over a vertical drop of about 500m.

Once again I took out my splitboard which I'm getting totally dialled in now and really enjoying both up and down the mountain.

I'll let the shots speak for themselves as finally I took my camera out on the way down too!

The guys heading up Mont Nix, breaking fresh tracks in soft cold snow!

Me making easy work of it on the Solution Splitboard!

Sweet turns at last! Darren gets some fresh.

Andy all alone with no tracks to follow!

Neil Sykes drops in, all good!

Joel gets stuck in with some nice turns!

Andy getting deep in it, well almost!

And there it is, all tracked out... the search starts again!

Hope you enjoy the shots!

I now need to find some more secret spots, the search continues...

Neil.

More sunny days!

2011-02-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

5 weeks after the last snowfall and there's still lines to be found if you look hard enough!

The fine but cold weather continues here in Chamonix, the last snowfall is now a distant memory, but with blue skies and sunshine the visibility is good and the days are long and stable.

Luckily for us here in Chamonix the weather has been cold and clear and so the snow has stayed cold and crystalised on the North and North East facing slopes and if you can find a rare untouched spot you can find enough nice turns to make your day a good one.

Laura looking a bit lost with no tracks to follow!

Fresh lines, however, are getting hard to come by and its now time to go exploring away from the ski areas in search of places rarely ridden.

Luckily I have a BC Intro this week so the option for hiking is back on the table and I feel the urge to search out and ride some new spots that I have been researching for past couple of weeks.

Exploring the high peaks is all part of the game so it'll be nice to get out and away from it all again. This BC Intro week is followed by my first Splitboard week of the winter so I'm quite excited about seeing what we can get up to and heading out to spots that up until now have been out of reach.

We'll see!

Last week I ran an Off Piste clinic, which with the conditions as they are is probably the hardest course to run at the moment.

The pistes are good, so we did quite a lot of technical work, but Off Piste the good snow is hard to find with out making it a full on BC day and the hard and technical conditions got the better of a few members of the group as the week progressed. In the end it became a bit of a survival of the fittest challenge whittling us down to a ratio of me plus 3 by the last days riding!

Laura getting in some hard earned fresh lines and loving it!

Pete giving a cheeky wave as he powers into a rare fresh Off Piste line!

We scored some fresh lines as you can see here, they were hard fought for but well worth the 20 minute hike out effort.

And so we have another week of clear skies forecast this week, no fresh snow, but we're going to make the most of the stable weather and low avalanche risk to go explore some new spots so all good!

Today (Sunday) I ventured out on my road bike down the valley where it was 13C and pretty warm in the sun. I felt pretty good, well kind of, if you consider spewing your lungs out whilst hitting your maximum heart rate whilst cycling up hill in a way too big gear for hours on end to be in your comfort zone!

I make it sound very appealing I know, but its good in a strange way!

No it really is!!

Right enough waffle, time to chill and eat curry before the BC week begins.

Looking forward to it!

Neil.

Another great day in the office!

2011-01-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Luke nears the top of the couloir at the top of col du Passon.

despite the massive lack of fresh snow out here in France at the moment we've been getting in some great riding and taking advantage of the stable weather to get in some great touring time up amongst the high peaks.

Today, we had a great day hiking and riding col du Passon and I was surprised to find some great snow and un-tracked lines on the descent in perfectly crystallized deep cold snow.

Stu and Mark lead the way in the exit couloir on the way up col du Passon.

I took a few shots on the way up but we we're too immersed and amazed by the quality of the riding on the way down to stop for shots.

Hiking up the big slopes below the Col du Passon, good snow and not a bad descent in itself, maybe next time!

The snow was a bit mixed in places but mostly good, perfect blue skies and no one else on the mountain. A great day!

On Tuesday we hiked over to Mont Fortin in Italy, the site of where they ran the Chamonix Freeride world cup comp last weekend and found a nice slope that offered some nice big fresh lines. It was a great day out, the site for the comp didn't look to be in the best conditions (unsurprisingly considering how long it is since it snowed) so it must have been tough work finding good lines.

Courmayeur is still offering amazing pistes and some good fun lines off piste for those in the know.

Yet another blue bird day tomorrow so we're going to keep on taking advantage of the stable conditions and head over one of the big cols in the Aiguille Rouge for a bit of adventure. Probably the Cold du Belvedere for the 60m abseil or the Beaugean for a bit of a rock scramble/climb up to the top.

I've been getting out on the Solution 168 Splitboard quite a bit now and am starting to get it dialled in. I'm constantly surprised with how well it rides and how well it handles on tricky terrain.

I'm looking forward to the BC splitboard courses running later in the season and just hope we get some snow before too long so that I can try it out on some proper steep and deep.

There's a couple of spaces come available so check out the course updates on the home page www.mcnabsnowboarding.com

Greenland is fully booked now and all systems go!

Really looking forward to that as well!

Right, a busy day in the office tomorrow so better get on recharge!

all is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

More touring in the high mountains.

2011-01-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

Passing the big North faces of the Courtes and the Droites this morning.

Just down from a big Mtn day of touring up the Argentiere Glacier and up the Glacier du Tour Noire towards the col du Amethyste.

I took the Jones Split 'solution' 168 today, I've modified my Spark bindings with a Cartell high back as with a big pack, and with me being quite a big unit anyway, I was just bending the standard issue high backs in half. The new system works well and the 168 solution rides almost as nice as the 168 Flagship (which I'm now starting to love!) although it is obviously a bit heavier and slightly softer and so needs a bit more leg power and precision footwork.

Heading up towards the col du Amethyste

The rest of the team where on Snowshoes as you can see from the photos, the track was good and solid so the going was good.

Moody skies on the Glacier du tour noire.

We could definitely do with some more snow out here in the Alps, but today wasn't to bad and yesterday we had a great blast around in Courmayeur and even found fresh un-tracked crystallised cold snow in the trees still. The run down into the Val Veni from the top of the Arp is also still good fun, smooth and steep in the couloir, nice and grippy to ride.

The snow wasn't bad on the descent but quite changeable!

Low down everything thawed and then re froze so its not so nice Off Piste below 2000m. Up high on the North facing slopes the snow is still cold and its still possible to find the goods if you look for where the wind is smoothing and filling things in.

Dave tackling the big descent, the col du Amethyste is in the background.

It was a big day out today so tomorrow we'll have another big riding day, maybe over in Italy again or up the top of the Grand Montets (as it was snowing a little when we came down today!)

Couple of places left on the new BC splitboard course at the end of March so if you want to give it a try give Ruth a shout.

All is good, well not too bad!

Neil.

Fantastic!

2011-01-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

What a great week!

Another perfect Off piste clinic with a great group of guys and great snow, this followed by my first bike ride of the New year (Saturday) and then today a quick outing on the Jones Solution splitboard up to the Col du Tour Noire with UK Freerider Will Hughes and European Jones head honcho Rob Etienne.

The Off Piste week started off with some fresh snowfall to liven things up. A great day off the top of the Grand Montets to start things off, some steep and deep days in Courmayeur, a first lines all day type day at Le Tour and another great day off the top of the Grand Montets where the snow is still good (although now getting pretty tracked out).

Giovanni brings the crazy banana thing to the Jones convention!

A great team on the course this week, a bit of a Jones convention as you can see but then if you can't beat them you might as well join them and so far everyone who has ridden one has ended the day with a big smile upon their face.

We rode some great lines and found some good fresh snow.

The last few days however it's been getting pretty warm, yesterday I headed down the valley for a spin on the bike with fellow addict Jonny Baird.

I'd kind of forgotten how hard it is riding up hill and as we started off on the Domancy climb which is pretty steep, it was a dive in at the deep end and hold your breath type of affair. I managed to pull through and we had a good ride in mild temps and sunshine!

With a BC Intro starting up tomorrow, I thought that today I'd better get out for a bit of a tour and try out the Solution Splitboard. As Freeride guru Will Hughes is staying with us at the moment I thought I'd drag him out to and so we set up the boards and headed up to the Col du Tour Noire picking up Jones Euro guru Rob Etienne on the way.

Will and Rob on their way up the Argentiere Glacier.

The Col du Tour Noire is above one of the big glaciers found up the Argentiere Glacier turning left after the Argentiere refuge and then climbing up the glacier there for a couple of hours.

Col du Tour Noire is up there at the back on the left!

Its an amazing area, you're really in the heart of the high mountains with the big North faces of the Droites and the Courtes towering over you, very impressive.

Passing the North face of the Courtes (on the right of the picture).

Anyway it was my first outing on the split board, and Will's too and so we we're quite excited to see how it was going to be.

I'd kind of heard mixed reports, a few horror stories about things not working or binding bits snapping and so at the end of the trip I can happily report that everything worked perfectly and we had a great tour up and a superb ride down.

Will on the way down, this bit was a bit wind affected but lower down the snow was great!

In fact I found a new line for the descent that I'd never ridden before, with good snow and no tracks so not so bad!

After mis-adventures with splitboards before I can happily say that the Solution performs well both up and down the mountain and rides much the same as the Flagship although obviously is a bit heavier and maybe a little softer on the edge.

Will who normaly rides a 156 rode the 164 (as did I) and had no trouble at all with and in-fact said it was as easy to turn as his regular board and actually I think he might have stashed it somewhere as he was mumbling something about me not getting it back or something like that.

Anyway, another great day and a BC course starting tomorrow. We could definitely do with a bit of new snow now and it looks like we might get something towards the end of the week.

I'm looking forward to this week, a bit more exploring around in the high peaks is never a bad thing.

If you're coming out this winter get training those legs!

We've got riding to do.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Another OMG steep and deep day in courmayeur!

2011-01-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Just had one of those 'Oh my God' steep and deep powder days in Courmayeur.

What a finish to a great week on the 5 day Tech clinic.

Yep, another great week, a great crew, a good laugh and some fantastic riding. Everyone came on strong in the end and today, with a good 30cm of fresh over night in Italy we spent the whole day tracking it out in the trees, Nice!

I've been riding the Jones Flagchip 163 XL this week, a super nice board, 'the dream has become a reality' and it was fantastic to get it into some fresh and feel it float under foot. A very strong and stable board on its edge and super easy and quick to turn. Snappy and strong in the tail and that nose is just so nice. A real pleasure to ride, thank you once again Mr Jones!

Off Piste clinic starts on Monday so I'm really looking forward to that, the top of Courmayeur was closed today so there should still be something to ride up there next week and I'm looking forward to getting the Flagship 168XL back out and hitting up some high speed powder. The hunt will be on for the best snow and the best lines.

Looks like I'll be putting on another Splitboard course the last week of March (28th to 31st), details will be online on the courses page (www.mcnabsnowboarding.com) over the weekend so if you're looking to join us give Ruth a shout and book your place.

I managed to get in a couple of Bike and Weights sessions this week and after a massive squatts session last night and riding full bore today I'm feeling pretty beat and ready for the weekend.

Getting super charged for next week!

All is good!

Neil.

Into the Groove again!

2010-12-30T01:44:00.000-08:00

Just finished a 3 day Off Piste Clinic which was great fun, a great crew, great conditions and some great riding.

It's that time of year were I'm starting to get back in to the groove of everything, trying to fit in my personal training for the cycling season next year with my freeriding and guiding through out the winter.

I've been doing quite a bit of leg power work, Dec and Jan are my power up months, then I'll start to go more aerobic through out feb, March and April which also fits in nicely for the BC freeride and touring side of things.

I just have to make sure I don't do to much and just burn out, but at the moment things feel good, my legs are super strong and my riding feels better than ever!

Riding every day again takes quite a lot out of you. On the courses, we're riding morning through until last lift most of the time and so it's important to be prepared for the long days and keep yourself fuelled up through out the day.

My personal tip is some 'Science in Sport' energy mix in my drinks bottle and some energy Gels and Go bars in my pockets. At the end of the day I'm also drinking some 'SiS' rego for recovery straight after riding. Seems to be working!

Get yourself onto the 'SiS' website (link on home page) and get yourself some products to keep you going when the going gets tough!

Head honcho from 'Jones Snowboards' Robert Etienne joined us for a run down the Lognan's Glacier yesterday. He's a part time Chamonix local and so will be joining us now and then on a few of the courses here and there, picking up some feedback on the boards and getting out and about in the mountains on the Split board tip.

I received all my 'Jones Solution split boards' now, still waiting for a few parts for some, but I just set mine up and it is now ready to ride so I'm keen to get out touring on it this weekend, I fancy heading up the Argentiere Glacier to the 'Col du Tour Noire' or something like that if the weather stays stable.

Setting up and personalizing your Split board takes a little time. Make sure you read the tips that come with the 'Spark' bindings and be ready to take them apart to re-size then to your boots. I spent most of the morning getting it all set up and managed to get my perfect stance with out compromise and so am super keen to try it out.

I'll let you know how I get on and run a review once I've dialled it in.

I've also got my Flagships 163 and 168 XL's to pick up this evening so I'll give them a ride next week on the 5 day Tech clinic which starts on Monday. The Tech clinic runs through the Science behind perfect snowboard technique and runs from Piste to Off Piste. (Of course if the snow is good Off Piste, I scrap the on piste bit!)

I rode the Hovercraft again this week and am happy to say that it still feels amazing to ride, even with my heavy Backcountry pack on my back. Yesterday I had the full Glacier kit in there so this must add about 10kilos on my back and it was still stiff enough for the full mountain rip around, Nice!

Looking forward to getting out on the 168 Flagship, looks like it'll fly!

Most of the courses are now pretty full and some have waiting lists. We're always getting cancellations for one reason or another so keep checking back and let Ruth know what you're after if you're looking to try to get out this winter. I also have a week free at the end of March so have the possibility of putting on one more course so watch this space for details. Still trying to decide what course to run!

Right got to go pick up some boards in Cham so until the next time,

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Perfectly white Christmas!

2010-12-26T00:36:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Chamonix has once again turned back into a perfect winter wonderland with over 2 ft of snow fall in the valley over the Christmas weekend.

The forecast this week is for clear skies so perfect conditions for this weeks Off Piste clinic which kicks off tomorrow morning.

Christmas here was fantastic, Ruth threw her usual Christmas party which filled the house to over flowing and saw a rare visit from that other 'Jones' snowboarding character, the Jenny one (x factor winner!) who came over for a surprise visit with Tammy from Mint and then threw a sicky, not from drink I must add, our Jen was properly poorly and early to bed, but not until 'Urban Magik' Mike had baffled us all with some more insane magic, levitation and spoon bending feats.

On Christmas eve I drove over to the Nidecker factory where they make the Jones boards and picked up my test fleet of Solution Split boards. Still waiting for bindings and skins but things are coming together and I'll pick up my Flagships later today to complete my full Jones quiver of boards.

Perfect conditions out there today, blue skies and super light powder snow, nice! Nipped out for a few turns on my skis, great fun!

Back on the Hovercraft tomorrow for the Off Piste clinic, we'll do a bit of technique and run through the basics of how the board works, bio mechanics and control of speed and line. We'll run through some Avalanche search and rescue training and charge the back of Le Tour until darkness stops play.

My review of the Hovercraft earned a few links so check these out. (I'm still computor illiterate so you'll have to do the copy and paste thing).

http://chamonixinsider.com/2010/12/23/chamonix-gear-guide-jones-hovercraft/

http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/hovercraft/

All is good in Chamonix.

Neil.

Amazing!!!!

2010-12-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my God!

Just back from a days charging steep and deep in the trees at Courmayeur on my new Jones Hovercraft 156!

I played around on this board a few days ago on hard pack and crud and it felt amazing. It carves like a big gun with the turn-ability of a 156!

I was pretty impressed.

Today, however, (the last day of my first course the 3 day tech clinic) I rode the Hovercraft in fresh untracked (and tracked) steep and deep powder in the trees in Courmayeur and I was just blown away!

I don't think I have ever ridden like that before. The speed and manoeuvre-ability through the tight trees was amazing. The stability in the powder, down pillow lines, drops, anything I could throw it at it just handled like nothing else I have ever ridden.

I seriously don't think snowboarding has ever felt that good and been that much fun!

I feel reborn!

For sure, check out the Jones Hovercraft!

This is a pure freeride board, not a one trick pony like the Burton fish or a swallow, this board can carve it up with the best on the hard pack, steep ice and blasts through the chop. In powder its simply comes into its own, its like standing on a big gun, floating on air and then you just tilt your front foot, slam the power into the tail and it changes direction like f**kin road runner, release the tail and it charges back into the fall line as you disappear into the wave of snow kicked up from your edge.

For me today is what snowboarding is all about, riding with a great crew who are all going for it and eager to learn, having a good laugh in the process and riding some amazing snow. As a bonus, Courmayeur was pretty much deserted except for a few other Chamonix guides skiing with clients.

Well done to the guys this week, they have worked hard, improved loads and reaped the rewards.

Nice one!

Looking forward to trying the Jones Flagships 163 and 168 which should arrive Friday.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Keeping up with the Jones!

2010-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

Just back from a days riding with Freeride legend Jeremy Jones in Saas Fee.

I drove over early this morning to hook up with Jeremy for a ride before the Jones Snowboards sales meeting that took place in the afternoon and had a great charge around with him testing out next years boards.

Next years Jones line up looks very nice. Not many changes really, a few tweaks here and there, a couple of new sizes and obviously new graphics. Very nice!

I picked up a Jones Hovercraft, which is really short at 156! But which Jeremy says I'll love swearing that it rides like a much bigger board so we'll see.

Although this is obviously a purpose built powder powder it has a very stiff tail with good side cut and so is meant to be pretty good on hard pack to and so not to be categorized with the Burton fish, which was a bit of a one trick pony.

Anyway, I'm going ot get it drilled up for my massive stance (which will put one foot on the tip and the other on the tail and i'll give it a shot. It's a great looking bit of kit so I'm intrigued to see if it will work for me.

I also grabbed a Solution split board and so will get this up and running sometime in the next week or so and my flagships should be here sometime next week.

Very exciting!

Whilst I've been off riding, Ruth has been busy filling in and updating spaces on the courses!

A space has come available on the 3 day Off Piste Clinic on the 27th Dec, so in a couple of weeks.

A space is available on the last BC Intro 4th April.

There's a space come up on the BC touring week in April.

And a space is available on the Greenland trip 22nd April to 5 May.

So not much left but keep checking back as people seem to be dropping like flies over there in the UK with all that ice around!

I have our first course starting next week, my holidays are nearly over and the serious work of more snowboarding must begin.

Oh well, good job I love it!

All is good in Chamonix.

Neil.

Charging!

2010-12-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

Had a great 'Ski' over in Avoriaz this weekend.

It's pretty icy over there but on two planks it was super fun just carving massive high speed Arcs from top to bottom everywhere. My legs felt super strong (well for a while anyway), it took me back to my ski racing days, pulling massive G's out of big GS turns...Fantastic!

It's amazing how much snow disappeared with all the rain last week! Morzine was looking a little green!

The Grand Montets is still fun, good snow up high but getting a little icy on the pistes in places due to traffic. Still fun up there though.

Le Tour looks like it'll be up and running, the grass underneath means the snow base doesn't need to be deep up there. Same sort of deal here in Les Houches, where they now have the snow cannons running 24/7.

Not sure about Flegere, it looked like there wasn't so much snow over there (when viewed from the GMontets) lots of drainage ditches showing through, but I'm sure they'll sort something out. Brevent, is kind of the same deal as Flegere, I imagine they'll get the basic pistes open but we definitely need some snow soon.

The good news is that its forecast to snow next weekend! Not sure if this is just a tourist forecast to keep us optimistic, but I'm going to start getting excited about it anyway!

bring it on.

Beautiful sunny day today, I burnt my legs out a bit yesterday (Skiing burns the thighs in completely different places to snowboarding) so today I'll get the bike out down the valley and have a bit of a spin before hitting some sprint intervals! You know what they say, 'a change is as good as a rest!' and 'No pain no gain!'.

Actually I don't think they say that anymore, with all the sports science research kicking around these days, I think in fact when you're tired they even advise a bit of rest and recovery!

What!

With all this fun stuff to do!

They also say 'no rest for the wicked!'

And I'm having wicked fun so its out on the bike later then and I'll be back on the board tomorrow. After all, I've just spent a good hour in the indoor office already this week, don't want to over do it!

All is good, get out there and get physical you lot, we got work to do this winter!

But be careful on those Mtn Bikes when riding on the ice!

No more cancellations through injury please.

All is good in Chamonix1

Neil

New Avalanche article on line!

2010-12-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

I've just finished a new article on Avalanches which is now on line on the www.mcnabsnowboarding web site in the 'our library' section.

I'd post a link to it here but am technology illiterate so you'll have to just go find it!

I've also posted a heap of other articles that I've written over the years but not always up loaded so check them out.

Neil.

I love Snowboarding!

2010-12-07T08:18:00.000-08:00

After all the amazing snow last week we've just had 2 miserable days of rain.

Boo!

Ok, well it's not that bad, it kind of settled the snowpack a little, as in everything slid!

We've had loose snow avalanches to full depth low down in the valley and a massive assortment of Slab avalanches up high.

This doesn't look so big but that crown wall is 2 meters high!

Just below the top of the Herse on the Grand Montets there are an assortment of perfect example slab avalanches.

You can just see the rocks on the scoured ridge above and how the slope has been cross loaded over the ridge.

A scoured ridge above a sheltered wind loaded slope with a 2 meter crown wall and perfectly smooth sliding surface presented by the old snow surface, affected by the cold clear days in November.

The Face on the Glacier above the Herse has also slid with massive crown walls and over towards the Chardonnet there are perfect examples of loose snow slides starting on steep rocky buttresses and triangulating outwards until channeled into the valley through the gullies below. Low down these are full depth, so its interesting to be able to see the affect of altitude on the Avalanche activity with the colder temperatures higher up affecting the snowpack very differently from lower down.

I've just been writing about all of this stuff this last week, so it was interesting to see it all on the mountain exactly as it should be after a big snow storm, some wind affect and then a massive temperature increase.

Not all the snow dissapeared though and up on the Herse I scored some really nice turns down the face under the chair lift. I'm not really into riding Off Piste so much at this time of year because the snowpack is still quite thin, but here with a little caution there was some very nice riding to be found.

Ruth came up with and rode the Grand Montets for the first time in 8 years! Is that's what having kids does to your riding? It was the first time we'd ridden together in 8 years as its the first year that both our girls are in school and we could both find a little time to go play.

We had a great day and I'm happy to say she can still ride very well so if you're calling up for info or bookings be ready for her to rabbit on about how good she is!

I was out riding on my new Jones 164 Wide All mountain Twin for the first time. It's a really nice board to play around on, super easy to turn.

It has camber under foot and rocker tip and tail which helps it just float effortlessly in the powder but it also brings the turn initiation points (contact point) closer to your feet. This makes turn initiation super easy and it took me a little while to work out that I didn't need to move pressure so far up the board to start the turn. The rocker makes it initiate turns like a much shorter board but then once its in the turn and on the edge you have the full edge length coming into play so it has the stability of the given length.

Its a nice concept and it seems to work well.

For me and my wide 70cm stance the 164 is about as small a board as I'd go and I found it lacking in stability at super high speed which is where the Flagship comes into play. For an 'All mountain' board for jibbing about on though it does exactly what it says on the packet!

My legs felt super strong, I've been stacking in the squat sessions and building up some leg power on the turbo and it seems to be paying off with top to bottom runs not a problem!

Anyway, we had a great day and I came of the hill super stoked about the season ahead.

Yeah, I am just loving Snowboarding right now and there's more snow and even some sun on its way for the weekend.

We've had a few spaces come available this last week due to cancellation. You guys need to be more careful riding your bikes on all that snow and Ice over there in the UK, you should know better!

Check out the updates and availability (www.mcnabsnowboarding.com) and also I've been getting quite a few inquiries for the Q&A blog so check those out though the link on the web site home page.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Chamonix is open!

2010-12-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

These days will come soon eneough!

So Chamonix, or the Grand Montets, is open for business as of this weekend and its official the winter season 2010/11 has begun.

I headed up there today for a quick slide around and am happy to report that the conditions are good, well on the piste at least, very good!

It's that time of year where the Off Piste looks pretty good but there is still very little base to the snowpack and hidden just underneath is a jagged, spikey rock garden just waiting to bite your board and your ass, so beware!

Of course this being Chamonix, there are tracks absolutely everywhere and because of this a lot of the rocks are now visible as excited seasonaires have ridden over and into them, I'd hate to have seen the state of some peoples new boards and skiers after yesterday, the first day of opening after last weeks storms!

For me, I look forward to the long season ahead. There's going to be plenty of time to mix it up out there and I'm happy to bide my time and just play around the pistes until the snow base gets deeper and all the rocks are filled in and well covered. For me, this is the time to focus on the feelings of riding, get the control and precision back in your feet and perfect your technique. Its time to play around and jib it up a little here and there but definitely I'll leave the cranking it up Off Piste until we've had a couple more big storms come our way.

For the time of year, the conditions are great1 It looks like we're going to get some milder weather coming our way and some rain quite high up. In a way this isn't a bad thing as it will consolidate the snowpack and melt out any dangerous hoar crystals that might be growing in there due to the cold conditions and the shallow snowpack (faceting through temperature gradient metamorphisis for the snow geeks!)

It's due to get colder again afterward so snow should follow the wet weather and conditions should just get better and better from here on in.

I picked up a Jones 164 Wide 'All mountain Twin' yesterday and so will try it out over the next couple of days, really looking forward to it.

I hear that the Jones boards are now arriving in the UK, so all of you that have ordered them through our TSA deal should be getting hold of them any day now.

I've also updated a few changes to the course bookings as we had a cancellation on a couple of spots so check out the latest course news.

Busy writing BC safety articles at the moment for various sources, some of which I'll post on the site once they're free from the publishers.

Time to get excited, bring it on!

Neil.

Snow and more snow!

2010-12-02T01:27:00.000-08:00

Bring it on!

It seems like its been snowing pretty much everywhere this last week! From what I've seen on the news, the UK is pretty much snowed under and most of France was in similar chaos as massive winter storms swept across the country.

Chamonix has received loads of snow, around 50cm here in the valley and it looks like the perfect start of another great winter!

The Grand Montets is to open again this weekend and the word on the street is that it might stay open for the season if the conditions allow!

After 2 days of digging, wading around with the dog, powder sledging with the kids and skidding around in the car, it has cleared up again today and from the office window I can see the Midi towering up there in all its glory covered in a deep blanket of snow. The sun is coming up behind it lighting the snow blowing over the ridge at the top like a halo. It looks amazing!

The Midi is unfortunately closed at the moment but with this much snow in the valley you can pretty much ski anywhere at the moment as long as you don't mind a bit of a walk. Tomorrow I'll skin up to the top of Les Houches or the Grand Montets and see if I can get Ruth out with me for a bit of a slide around.

I've just updated some questions on the Question and answer blog, 'Ask Neil' on the home page and the 'latest course updates' as I think someone has transferred from an early course to a later one, anyway there's a space come up on a BC Intro in Jan and I think there's a couple more single spaces on 2 other BC Intro's in March and April. If anyone is interested, get in touch with Ruth asap as I don't think they'll be available for long!

I've also booked my tickets for Greenland, very exciting! There's a space available on this trip if anyone fancies joining us on a very Jeremy Jones, 'Deeper' style adventure.

I'm hopefully picking up a Jones 'All mountain Twin' 164 at the weekend so I'm looking forwards to giving that a bit of a rip around. A lot of you have taken advantage of the Jones deal we have running through the TSA but I don't think anyone has received boards as yet!

Don't worry, there is a bit of a delay due to the massive demand but I have it from the factory that all orders will be supplied as soon as possible and before the winter fully gets into gear.

My bike is now firmly attached to the Turbo trainer and I've started training for leg power with lots of squats to compliment the cardio work I've been doing. Need to get on top of the stretching a bit but feeling pretty good and ready to go.

Wow, full clear skies outside now, looks beautiful so I've got to get out there.

I need that feeling of powering deep turns in feather light powder! You remember it? If not I'll describe it to you after this weekend!

Get ready!

Neil.

And we're off! Chamonix is open for business!!

2010-11-27T03:46:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to some of this. Heading down Glacier Midi des Grandes with about 3km of untracked still to go!

The Grand Montets has finally opened for the the first weekend of the winter and the 2010/11 season is officially a go!

We've had some pretty good snowfall this last week and the whole valley is in full winter cloak. We're now into that final prep period before everything goes full speed a head and those little jobs that didn't get done, (like washing the van for example as it would now just freeze) are no longer a priority on the list and anything that got left outside is now buried and of no concern until the spring.

My bike is now firmly attached to the Turbo trainer in my newly renovated Garage/Gym (my successful Autumn project), my summer guiding kit is packed away and the winter goodies are getting ready to rock.

Yep! From now on its all about the ride and the slide!

One of the best gadgets I have received so far this winter is the new Ortovox 3+ transceiver. A very nice bit of kit, simple and quick to use, very efficient and powerful and it comes as a nice tidy package. It uses some thing that Ortovox call a smart antenna so as to always give and receive the strongest signal however the transceiver is orientated, especially useful in a burial!

Seems, very good for single and multiple signal searches, does just what it needs to do and nothing more so stays simple to use when everything around you might be getting a bit hectic!

Definitely the best transceiver I've come across in recent years and the one that will be firmly attached to me for this coming season. If you're looking at getting yourself kitted up for the Backcountry this winter then this is one bit of kit that I'd definitely recommend you put at the top of your list!

Ortovox 3+ very nice, check it out!

There is also a special Ortovox deal available to anyone booked on one of our courses and the Ortovox range of outerwear and merino wool layers are also very tidy!

This offer is only available to those that are currently booked on one of our courses this winter and if you want more info then give Ruth a shout.

Loads of you have also taken advantage of the Jones Snowboards deal we have running through the TSA so it looks like there will quite a few of us powering around on the Flagship.

Again an amazing bit of kit which is making me smile even whilst I'm busy writing in the office! If anyone wants more info on the Jones Snowboard deal and haven't had the info then please get in touch with Ruth. (Again this offer is only available to those that are currently booked on one of our courses this winter).

Well, its dumping with snow again out there so it's looking like the start of the winter that we've all been hoping for. Hope you're all getting excited about it, getting your fitness up, powering up the legs and feeling ready for some steep and deep.

All is good in Chamonix,

Neil.

More Snow in the valley, is this it?

2010-11-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

Twin peaks tower above the sea ice and a frozen in place Iceberg, Liverpool land, Greenland.

It's dumping again in the Chamonix valley, however we had a mild spell last week and so most of the snow from the previous snowfall had melted away. I managed to get a couple of great days out on the bike, down the valley in glorious sunshine and 17C temps!

It's obviously got colder again and the forecast looks like its set to keep coming, snow is forecast for the next few days and then again after the weekend.

The Grand Montets was set to open last weekend but the snowpack was deemed to be to thin between 2500m and 2000m and so the opening has been delayed. Maybe this weekend things will be different after this latest storm.

The snow has just stopped falling at the moment and through the office window the Aiguille du Midi has appeared, beautifully white and ghost like against the white storm clouds behind. Very atmospheric and not a bad view for a morning in the office.

I've just updated and put details of the Greenland trip on line www.mcnabsnowboarding.com so check it out.

Check out the faces on these peaks, now that's what I'm talking about! Liverpool land, Greenland.

This trip will be very much a Jeremy Jones 'Deeper' style trip, using the Jones 'Solution' Splitboards to access, explore and ride the massive potential that the east Coast location of Liverpool land has to offer.

A massive amount of riding potential, Liverpool land, Greenland.

24 hour sunlight and endless possibilities. Liverpool land Greenland.

Imagine having an area the size of the Mont Blanc massif with Verbier, Zermatt, Sass fee and the Aosta Valley added on, all this area to yourselves and mostly never snowboarded in, and you're beginning to get the picture.

Winter is a coming, can you feel it?

All is good,

Neil.

Ok, its official, winter is here!

2010-11-08T04:53:00.001-08:00

Ok, it's snowing, getting deep and and the kids are sledging to school, it's official, winter has arrived.

Time for me to start getting all my winter kit out, both for myself and the winter courses, I need to get the snow tyres back out and on the vehicles and generally get ready for 5 months of deep snow and winter whiteness.

I've just been going through the final details for the Greenland expedition this coming April/May. All is looking good now and I'm already very excited about this trip.

We'll basically use ski doo access to journey into a massive isolated mountain range in the area known as Liverpool land.

We'll build a self contained base camp and hike, ride, climb and explore the area and peaks surrounding our base.

We're talking steep and deep with a difference, ice bergs, frozen seas, midnight sun and endless peaks. We'll access everything by foot, splitboard, snowshoes or crampons and ride first descents every day in true Jones 'Deeper' style.

This will be the 2nd trip I've run to the east coast of Greenland but to a completely different area with a completely different feel. A bit more 'out there' and a bit more 'massive' in terms of terrain and potential.

Yep, I'm looking forward to this one already!

Well, I can just about still get out on my bike if I drive down the valley, but it is starting to get a bit colder now even down there and the snow line is creeping ever downward. Might have to resort to the turbo trainer in the Garage soon, nah, I'll keep braving the cold till snow changes play.

Looks like I'll be able to get out touring before too long if this snow keeps on falling. Amazing, I hadn't really thought about it all yet, up until 2 days ago I was still focused totally on riding ,my bike and now its looking like I'll be hiking and riding before you know it.

I hope the split boards arrive soon!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Back in chamonix!

2010-10-31T03:32:00.000-07:00

Getting Deeper on a BC Freeride course as the 3 P's approach the summit of the Dome du Miage.

Just back in the Chamonix valley after a fantastic 2 week break to the sea and sun.

We'll be starting to get things together now for the final run in to the winter season, the office has been closed for the past 2 weeks so Ruth will be trawling through all the email inquiries that came in whilst we were away this next week and I'll start making my final preps for the coming winter.

Just before we left I attended the premier showing of the new Jeremy Jones movie, 'Deeper' at the cinema in Chamonix, presented by the man himself, Mr Jeremy Jones who I had a good chat with before the showing.

We had a good chat about future projects both with filming for his next movie and developing our alliance for working together in the future with some very exciting possibilities both for me and for you guys if all goes well. He has asked me to look out for prime locations for filming for the next Deeper project so if the snow is good in Greenland this year I'll be scouting far and wide whilst out there in May.

Anyone who hasn't seen the 'Deeper' movie should definitely give it a look. Very inspirational and very slightly mad at times, some steep and deep like never filmed or ridden before in insanely desolate locations. Our very own Photographer (my neighbour here in Chamonix) Dan Milner makes a short appearance and was also there in the evening to help present the film. Dan has been shooting regularly with Jeremy over the past few years and was on location in Alaska for some of the 'Deeper' filming living life through one of the most insane snow storms you'll ever see on film. The tents just simply get buried in the snow.

It reminded me of our trip to Russia one year when we had 6 meters of snow fall in 5 days!
Luckily for us we weren't tent bound and the lifts were running!

We came back to Chamonix to find snow along the side of the roads, a sign that the snow ploughs had been out whilst we were away! The mountains have good cover, Mont Joly over les Contamines way is covered nicely so there's snow lying well below 2000m. Not enough to get the skins out yet but its definitely coming. Its a bit milder today however so I'll get out on my bike and get some miles in the legs after my 2 week respite. I know that it will feel hard but the rewards are always worth the effort and I need to start getting my legs ready for the long winter ahead.

Ok, enough of my ramblings for now. If you're coming out on a course this winter start waxing your board and get your fitness on the go, no slacking, we have work to do this season!

Anyone waiting for an e-mail reply will hear from Ruth in the next day or two. Looks like there's a lot of inquiries and not many places left, I'll up date the course availability info once I know more and you can check the New 'latest info' box on the home page for the latest updates.

that's all for now!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Perfect Autumn, winters coming!

2010-10-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

Already dreaming of those deep powder turns!

It's Autumn here in the Chamonix Valley, the trees are turning their amazing colours, the skies are clear, the air is fresh and there's no one around. The Mountains are winter white for climbing, the roads are clear for cycling and there's a whole winters snowboarding waiting just around the corner.

It's quite simply the perfect time of year!

The last few spaces on courses are booking up and the winter is looking great. Its the time of year when I start to get all the winter kit together, new kit starts to turn up and I turn around my summer Guiding kit to my winter riding kit. It's always quite exciting, even after over 20 years of riding, to get the new kit through the door and it makes me dream of those deep powder turns that I know are coming.

I think back to last season, the almost weekly days of fast close lines through the steep trees in Courmayeur, the deep and steep bottomless turns down the Plan Joran couloir on the Adavnced BC, a just reward after a well over grown commando access route. Deep turns in the Valley Blanche around the Rognon and cheater access powder off the top of the Grand Montets. Perfect powder off the Grand Autannes down to Trient, easy access turns off the back of Le Tour and great days hiking and touring in both the Chamonix massif and further a field.

I remember touring with Alistair from the Monestary at the Col du Grandes St Bernard, sinking deep in the soft snow with our Snowshoes and heavy packs as the Ski tourers whistled past. I remember looking at the terrain there, how amazing it all looked but so in accessible on snowshoes and the idea for the Splitboard courses starting to fill my thoughts. I look back on an amazing season of riding, great groups, good laughs (well for me anyway) and new friends.

So now Winter is just around the corner and yes, we get to do it all over again. I look forward to those first early season tours up to the Tete du Balme before the lifts start running, normally on skis but maybe this year on a splitboard.
Those first cold shaded December days up on the Grand Montets, bumping into all the usual faces all wearing their shiny new kit and trying out their new ski or boards. All strapping or stepping in for the first time in a long while, waiting for that familiar feeling to return, will it? Wont it?

My first course, the 3 day Tech clinic, always a good one to start off with as it makes me concentrate on my own riding as well as exploring the riding of those in the group and sets me up well for the season. The snow base is coming and but early season forays off piste must be limited due to the rocks now hidden just underneath and we wait for the first big winter snowfall.

January, time to sneak in some early Off Piste powder turns.

January is coming, cold days, cold snow, great pistes and the Off Piste is coming into condition. Courmayeur is getting good, so is Le Tour and Flegere is on its way. I've toured in the Berard Valley in early January in the past and Glacier Toule is now coming into perfect condition as February approaches.

February and the riding is endless!

February, the first big winter snows have laid down their base and the riding is endless, the crowds start to arrive and its time for us to head out into the Backcountry, to find the peace and calm and fresh lines that await.

March is time for getting up high!

March and the days are getting longer, the snow base is perfect and the Glaciers are now in condition and offering up their goods.

April, time of frequent snows and unlimited touring!

April is coming, long days, frequent snowfall and amazing touring conditions for those with the inkling. This is the time for exploring and venturing off to new areas and new adventures.
May is on the horizon and the air is getting warm, the snow is turning to spring corn, great fun to ride and everyone is looking sun kissed and relaxed. Powder snow mornings draw us up high into the Valley Blanche where the snow is still great.
The touring season is in full swing and Mont Blanc is covered in fresh lines as I pack my kit and head off for Greenland.

Damian nears another virgin peak in Greenland.

Away from the crowds once again, surrounded by mountains and frozen seas and little else. Life is simple here, we sleep, we eat, we maintain the camp, we play and we ride and nothing else really matters. A simple survive and explore mentality takes over, everyday offers us something new, a new peak, a new valley, a new descent and every evening brings us that satisfied feeling of a day well spent and the anticipation of the adventure to come.

Yep, the winter is coming, its just around the corner. So much to do before hand but so much to look forward to, so let your mind wonder and start dreaming of those deep turns, those days out hiking amongst the hike peaks and those adventures to come.

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

The Winter is coming!

2010-09-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

Riding up to the col du Vars - day 3 Chamonix/Nice GPM10

I'm just back from 2 more cycling trips with GPM10, the first, the Tour des Grandes Alpes saw us ride the famous Tour du France climb of Alpes D'Huez before we then headed off down to Nice again. Some bad weather and cold conditions plagued us on the first couple of days and then as we hit the Med the temps soared and the sun shone. Another great ride and the fitness was starting to show its face.

Straight after this we headed over to Biarittz on the West coast from where we rode across the Pyrenees on a Coast to Coast trip ending up back at the Med. The climbs through the Pyrenees are generally steeper than the climbs in the Alpes but shorter and with my biking fitness coming on form I really enjoyed the terrain down there and felt strong in my legs, fast in sprints and strong on the climbs. I suddenly found myself able to follow strong riders up hill where normally I'd have been dropped behind, I even got to the top of some good climbs in contention and sprinted for glory on a couple of nasty mountain top finishes and roads sign sprints against riders that would normally have left me spitting dust.

The form feels good so something is working!

Again the weather was a bit mixed for the first couple of days with some of the peaks around 3000m getting some snow and temps of around 2C in the mornings. As we hit the Med again the temps were higher and the sun began to shine. It was a great 4 day trip, hard riding and a great group of guys.

I'm now back in Chamonix, so catching up in the office and I'll obviously be getting out on my bike as much as possible with friends and hitting some of the local rides to try to keep my form progressing and prepare my legs for the winter season.

As we drove back up from the South I was amazed to see how much snow had fallen on the peaks above Grenoble, Chamrousse looked winter white! And with the peaks around Chamonix being quite a bit higher and slightly further North I was quite interested to see how conditions would be looking this far ahead of the start of the winter.

The view up to Mont Blanc from lac du Passy today. Dome du Miage looking winter white on the right with the classic Armencet Glacier descent visible in the sunlight far right.

Today, has turned into one of those prefect Autumnal days where the sky is clear blue, the sunlight low and bright and the trees are just starting to turn. The mountains however are in winter shape! Snow down to the Mid station of the Midi and on the peaks of the Aiguille rouge and the peaks of the Fiz across the valley from us and above Servoz. This snow will melt back but the Aiguille du Gouter is deep in winter snow and the Glaciers are looking well covered and really winter white.

Beautiful, and I must say a little bit exciting already on the start of the run up to winter!

Course bookings have been flying in whilst I've been away! Ruth just took 5 seperate individual provisional bookings in the car whilst we were driving up from walking the dog around the lac du Passy! I've not updated the web site yet but things are looking pretty full now and there's already waiting lists forming on quite a few courses, especially Tech Clinics and Off Piste clinics which I think is a good sign that people are really starting to take an interest in how they ride and in their progression, Good on you!

I've also just changed the new BC Freeride course to a BC Intro course 4th to 8th of April as all the BC Intros are already full and have been for a while now and interest is high! Its a good time of year for BC riding so if you've been waiting for info on BC intro spaces give Ruth a call or send in a booking form. (www.mcnabsnowboarding.com)

I've also just recieved a load of info and photos of the area we'll be exploring on the Greenland expedition 22nd April to the 5th May and it looks amazing so I'll post some shots and info for the trip in my next post. I think there is now only 1 space left on the Greenland trip.

Anyway, all is good in Chamonix!

Start getting excited, the winter is a coming!

Neil.

New BC (classic) Freeride course on line!

2010-09-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

Just back from a 4 day cycling trip from Chamonix to Nice with GPM10.

the weather was excellent for the trip and as we are now into the inter season in September the roads were exceptionally quiet making for a great trip and some quality riding.

The air is getting noticably cooler out here now, the snow is creeping down the mountain and sticking around and the Glaciers have that winter fresh whiteness about them. The Autumn colours are on their way and you can almost smell the winter approaching.

I've just put on a new course at the begining of April.

Due to popular demand, I have now added another classic BC Freeride course from the 4th to the 8th of April. The idea behind the classic BC Freeride course is riding, riding and more riding, so check out the web site at www.mcnabsnowboarding.com and go to the courses page for more info and to make a booking.

We now have about 16 spaces available on courses for this winter so if you are planing on joining one of our weeks then fill out the relevent booking form and send it in to Ruth asap.

A lot of you have been taking advantage of the 15% off Jones Snowboards deal through the TSA so a lot of you should be powder hungry this coming season. I'm getting very excited about riding the new Flagship with its big mountain freeride shape, design and feel and also looking forwards to getting out on the Solution splitboard and exploring all the possibilities that this mode of BC access will open up for snowboarding. Yep, very excited indeed!

Anyway, I leave this afternoon for another bike trip to Nice. This time we start with the ascent of the road up to Aples d' Huez which was made famous by the Tour de france and is I suppose thee classic alpine hill climb for road cycling. We will then ride through the Alpes following the tour des Grandes Alpes route finishing once more in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais right on the sea front. Following this I head over to Biarritz on the West coast from where we'll be riding back across to the Cote d' azure through the Pyrenees which should be beautiful at this time of year and which have just seen the passing of the Vuelta d' Espania cycling tour.

My legs are starting to feel cycling fit again after a busy period of guiding off the bike and up in the peaks of Chamonix. I broke the cranks off my bike last week which is either a testimont to my leg strength or just a show of my bad maintenance skills, I suspect unfortunately it is the latter and fortunately the incident occurred once we had arrived in the city of Nice and so I could scoot to the sea front and the hotel.

Ok, I'll be away now until the end of the month so in the mean time start making your winter fitness preperations, get those squats going and get out on your bike or running so there's none of that, 'I was going to get fit' excuses this winter. Ruth has also reminded me to inform you that we'll be away towards the end of October for 10 days (holiday!) so during this period the office will be closed (we'll post more info for this nearer the time).

Right, back to it!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Greenland! peaks, snow, sea ice and Polar bears.

2010-09-10T03:12:00.000-07:00

Greenland... The Fine Art of Polar bear evasion!

The Northern lights lit up the skies for about an hour every night from bang on 8pm.

We gaze down into another untouched valley, no houses, no settlements, no tracks, just mountain peaks, Snow and Ice and in the distance the frozen sea and towering ice bergs that look like super tankers lining up to come into port.

Every now and then we come across paw prints in the snow, small animals such as arctic fox live here in this frozen winter wilderness, other animals must also live here, the foxes must eat something but so far we've seen nothing.

Damian arrives at another unridden summit.

We scale peaks and feast on the amazing views that fill the skyline in every direction. From these high vantage points we plan out further peaks to climb and tours to follow, big loops that will give us great riding, high peaks and that will explore the unknown and open up even more possibilities for the oncoming days. If we have planned it right our loops bring us back via a final ride down the wide open and completely smooth Glacier to where we are camped a few hundred meters above the sea ice, a few small sleeping tents surrounding our big communal mess tent. Tiny dots amongst this immense landscape but a reasonably comfortable home on the ice for us during our visit to this amazing and relatively still unexplored country.

Unexplored valleys and peaks surround us and big descents are to be found everywhere!

As we reach a new summit or crest a new ridge and look down into another new untouched and unexplored valley we all scan the landscape for signs of life. Amongst the Whiteness we scan for signs of the Polar bear. The local Inuits have warned us of their ferocity and recommended that we carry a rifle with us at all times. Whilst we would all love to see one out here in the wilds we all also know that if we were to come across one, even at a great distance, the bear would already have us in his sights and would be hunting us having been able to smell us and our camp from many miles away. Back at camp we make jokes about how the bear could just simply cover his eyes and nose and sit outside the tent invisible. The clever bear would watch our activity and then simply hide behind the giant boulder and wait for us one by one to go over to the toilet there. Apparently the Polar bear is a cunning hunter, once he's on your scent there's nothing much going to put him off and the thin walls of the tent aren't going to slow him down so much.

We have a shot gun, which we have decided not to carry with us but which is close at hand in the camp. When we're out we carry flares, something to distract and give us a bit of time. Apparently every bear loves to watch a good firework show before lunch and anyway, we don't all have to be able to outrun the bear, the real competition is amongst out group, we only have to be able to out run or out ride each other. The old joke about the guy putting on his trainers in front of a hungry lion and his friend saying, 'you won't out run a Lion mate!' to which he replies,'I don't need to out run the lion dummy, I only need to be faster than you!' runs pretty true here too.

Apparently if a Polar bear wanders towards camp we should first fire a warning shot whilst it is still some distance away. If it continues to approach, calmly reload, wait until the bear rears up at close quarters and then shoot it calmly in the chest for the kill shot. When weighing up the possibilities of this or popping a quick shot into the leg of the slowest member of the team whilst running away the odds for taking on the bear aren't the best option. I decide to keep the shot gun hidden away pretty close to me, all of the team are pretty fit and quick off the mark so I need to keep the advantage.

Obviously I'm joking right!

This years Greenland trip. scheduled for the end of the season, early May, will see us explore a new area some 800km further North into the Arctic circle than our last trip in the region known as Liverpool land. Accessed by a full days Skidoo journey, our tent village base camp will provide us with a home for 8 days of hiking, riding and exploration in this rarely explored and far less ridden landscape.

After our last amazing trip to explore a tiny piece of this incredible land I simply knew that I'd have to go back and so have been busy working out the logistics for this new trip ever since. As with all our courses for the coming winter, places on the Greenland trip have been quickly filling up and only 2 places now remain.
So if you have a sense for adventure, a quest for exploration are fast on your feet and have a good pair of running shoes give us a call, but remember this...

McNab on Polar bear watch

...the shot gun is mine!

I'm only joking of course!

All is good in Chamonix,

Neil.

Perfect conditions for my last MB of the summer!

2010-09-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

The sun sets over Glacier du Tour.

I'm just down from my last Mont Blanc of the summer season.

Dev and Kris all emotional on the summit of Mont Blanc!

My self, Dev Nayak and his brother Kris set off from the first lift off the Aig du Midi at 8:10am yesterday with clear skies and a great weather forecast and headed up over Mont Blanc du Tacul (icy lower down but good up high, the crevasse that needed a ladder for crossing has now started to close and a bridge has formed) over Mont Maudit which was in great condition (the final steep ice wall is quite technical but has good steps in the ice) and then through the col du Brenva, up the mur di Cote and the final slog up to the summit where we stood at around 3pm.

It was quite windy up high and cold but never too bad and we had the summit to ourselves before descending down the classic route to the Gouter refuge from which we descended this morning.

Petite Fourche, the first alpine summit for Dev and Kris!

Prior to the ascent we had perfect conditions climbing the Petite Fourche and the Aiguille du Tour for the acclimatization training days.

Early days and big smiles on the way up to the Petite Fourche with the Chardonnet in the background.

Dev and Kris are both new to mountaineering, Dev having experienced some high mountain pursuits on a BC Snowboard course last winter. After 300m of ascent on Mont Blanc du Tacul Kris stopped and said 'enough is enough, I feel terrible!' to which I replied, 'remember this feeling, its the best you're going to feel all day!' Yep, mountaineering is such an enjoyable experience and that's why we do it.

Anyway, they both dug in deep and after a 7 hour ascent stood on the top of Mont Blanc in perfect conditions so nice one guys, a great effort!

Mont Blanc is, I think, one of the most under rated mountains in the Alps. I often hear people saying that it's not that hard and not technical etc. I've been to the summit near on 60 times now and not once have I stood up there and thought, wow that was easy! Anyone who has actually climbed it will attest to the hard work involved in climbing it, only those that haven't been to the summit will ever say that it is easy. Its a high mountain and in perfect conditions its hard work but quite straight forward technically. However, the conditions are often harsh and changeable and its very often a serious mountain with a hard earned summit. If you want to climb it don't under estimate the effort involved!

Tomorrow we'll go and climb in the Aiguille Rouge before the guys head off tomorrow night. After that I'll be back out on the bike to get fit for the coming tours that I'm riding with GPM10 and maybe I'll do the Les Houch'ard time trial on Sunday if I can fit it in.

Looks like we're in for a bit of an Indian summer, it beautiful out here at the moment so should be a great Autumn.

Ruth is busy taking bookings for the coming winter and tells me that another 3 courses are provisionally full and just awaiting deposits before I can take them off line. Quite a few people are now taking advantage of the 15% off Jones Snowboards deal through the TSA so it looks like a few of us will be riding the same boards next winter.

I'm really looking forward to this coming winter now, last season was so much fun and next season has so much potential! It feels like things are starting a fresh each year, my enthusiasm just keeps on growing as we explore new places and new levels of riding.

I'm looking forward to blasting through the trees in Courmayeur, digging deep fresh turns at the back of Le Tour. I'm looking forward to exploring new hiking possibilities with the Jones Split board and accessing new areas of endless untracked fresh. I'm excited about riding the classics down to Trient, Col du Passon, Pas du Chevre and dropping over into the Berard Valley by one of the big cols like the Belvedere or the Beaugean. Deep turns await in the Valley blanche, over on the helbronner and up the Argentiere Glacier to access the likes of the Glacier du Tour Noire which is perfect for a day out on a split board.

Then there's all the new spots to explore given the right conditions and this is going to be the season of getting out there and getting the goods.

Yep I'm well excited about the coming snowboard season so I hope you're all feeling the vibe and getting in shape ready to get the goods.

Of course, that's all along way off yet so time to get out on the bike and get some good pure down to earth suffering done first, in a good way of course!

All is good in Chamonix!

Neil.

Is it Winter or is it Summer?

2010-08-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

Sunset from the Trient refuge before climbing the Aiguille du Tour (far Left) the following morning.

The temperatures and weather continues to jump between winter and summer out here in Chamonix on a daily basis.

The 166km Ultra Trail run that circumnavigates Mont Blanc started out last night in pouring rain and with wintery showers forecast all night, was canceled by the time the first competitors reached St Gervais due to dropping temps, mud slides and flooding. Nice!

Moody skies but beautiful colours over the Midi as we descend from the Tete Rousse.

I've just finished a 6 day Mont Blanc course which due to Strong winds high up never got higher than the Tete Rousse refuge.

Via Ferrata day down the valley at Passy.

We still had a great week however with an ascent of the Petite Fourche, the Aig du Tour in perfect condition on a perfect day, a Point Lachenal and a Via Ferrata day down the valley to finish.

I've just sneaked in a couple of days training on my bike, it feels hard again after not riding much but also good in a painful torture endurance kind of way, those who ride know what I mean!

I bumped in to fellow Guide, Jonnie Baird out on the bike yesterday evening, he's trying to get me to enter the local race up the Vaudagne, a hill climb time trial called the Les Houch'ard. The clue is in the title!

We rode it yesterday to try it out, I came in at 18mins 30 and I think the fastest time is closer to 14 mins! Obviously being a big guy, I'm more of a rouleur than a hill climber so I'll put it down to my size (and get out training every moment I get!!)

The time trial is next weekend, but I'm up the hill for the previous 6 days for another Mont Blanc week, this time with Dev Nayak and his brother Kris. Some of you might know Dev from Snowboard courses last winter. The weather is a bit mixed over the first few days with snow forecast down to 2000m but getting better after.

Snow to 2000m at the end of August, what's going on????

It's time to loan out your copy of Al Gore's movie 'The Inconvenient Truth' the World is trying to tell us something.

Following this MB week I am then working for GPM10 on my bike for 3 tours, the first is a Chamonix/Nice ride (which I did last year as a client with Andy Cook), the second is a 'Tour des Grandes Alpes' which takes in all the major Alpine cols and the third is a 'Coast to Coast' tour across the Pyrenees from Biarritz to the Mediterranean

I'll be more of a rouleur/climber after this little lot, shame the Houch'ard race is later!

With the mountains now constantly covered in fresh snow its hard not to start dreaming of hiking out for deep turns oand I'm getting quite excited about the prospect of the coming winter season and especially the new 'Splitboard' courses.

I updated the availability for courses on the web site the other day which caused quite an influx of new bookings so I'll update it again shortly once the new deposits are taken. A few more courses are either full or nearly full so keep an eye on the courses page if you're thinking of joining a course and haven't done so as yet.

Remember! Anyone booked onto a course with me this winter has 15% off any Jones Snowboard through the TSA, to take advantage of this offer contact Ruth for more details stating which board you're interested in and what size!

Ortovox will also be offering their usual deal to McNab clients so if you're looking for a Transceiver, shovel and Probe set up again get in touch and we'll pass on your details.

I also have a few transceivers, shovels and probes available for sale through the goodies page on the web site.

OK enough for now! I'll try to sneak out on the bike in between wintery showers but its not looking so nice out there today.

Even so, all is good in Chamonix!

Neil.