Deeper and deeper! The winter is on!!!

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.