Blog

The Best Runs of 2020

by Leave a comment

The best ski runs from 2020. We started the season down under. New Zealand must be one of my alternative spiritual homes, a place I’ve visited several times and feel completely at home. For skiing it’s like my Super Bowl. You may make all the moves and just be out of luck with high winds making you question the sanity of opening the outside door. But make the finals and on ‘The Day’ NZ will show you her magic and allow you play your A game. With @davejsearle we added a 700 m line to the Caroline Face, skied the 2nd known descent of Bowie Couloir and did another lap on the East Face of Cook. Back in Chamonix just as the season got good lockdown came and we had a wait of 2 months confined to our homes before restarting the season with a run on the Midi North Face to start the high mountain season. Dreaming of skiing during lockdown 2, hopefully it will be over soon.

Biking Season

by Leave a comment
  • Post lockdown. June 3rd the Italian border opens. The ski season is over, time to escape to Finale and the warm welcome of our Italian friends
  • Chamonix doesn’t have much background in pedalling a bike. Sure there are some talented DH and enduro riders but not many are keen to ride through the mountains. There are a few exceptions, Oli Herren for one. In Aosta Davide Capozzi is always motivated for big missions. He’s lighter and faster than me uphill so I need to ride smart on days with him. Here we rode Col di Bard, Col Citirin, Chaligne, Becca Franca totally 3300 m of vertical, oh and it was still 40C at 1830 at 1000 m!
  • At Denis Tondo’s alpage in the Brento Dolomites
  • Dropping into Becca Franca after a long 10 hours riding in 40+ celcius. No gloves or kneepads to maximise heat shedding!
  • La Thuile lift access enduro day with Morgan Sahlen
  • La Thuile, EWS K run, Mont Blanc Range in the back ground. Photo Morgan Sahlen
  • The view to Lake Garda, off the back of Paganella
  • Bobby visits Chamonix
  • La Thuile, photo by Morgan Sahlen
  • Brenta Dolomites, I forgot all my protection except for my helmet and kneepads. Perfect for a place built with razor sharp rock. Photo Tim Longstaff
  • One of my favourite places in the world, Lake Garda. On the way to show Tim Longstaff my favourite pub in the world.
  • La Thuile magic. Photo Tim Longstaff
  • Canazei, Dolomites. We’ve just been soaked to the pants in a thunderstorm, I’m semi hypothermic so Tim and myself take shelter in the pub. In beer we trust! This was shit beer, check out Tim’s great beer at Sapaudia Brewing Company
  • Col Citrin with Davide Capozzi, this one gets harder the further you descend
  • La Thuile, photo Tim Longstaff
  • Posettes, photo Ben Tibbetts
  • La Thuile
  • Col Lussons lunar landscape, photo Dave Searle
  • Col Lusson, photo Dave Searle
  • Colle della Rosso, my favourite ride in Aosta
  • Colle della Rosso, photo Dave Searle
  • Brevent, yep its made of rock. Photo by Luke Jarmey
  • Back Country Finale in the Land Rover Defender
  • Piero and Filippo – Back Country Finale in Malare. A pleasure seeing our Italian friends post lockdown.
  • Bobby and Searle fiddling with the Donkey
  • Bellachat. Photo by Filippo Gualtieri
  • Early summer and heading to the Aiguillette des Houches
  • Alessandro Merlini on Bellachat
  • Nice view
  • Heading to Bellachat from Brevent. Rocky as fuck, stunning scenary when you can take your eyes off the trail which will likely be just when you stop
  • Nice view behind me! I love it up here.
  • Minna and friends on the skyline
  • All time crew L-R me, Filippo, Gian Luca, Oli, Alessandro, thingymabob et al, Howard
  • Me and my very good buddy Filippo on Chaligne above Aosta
  • Visiting Italian Jaco meets Bellachat, Brevent
  • Morning shred on Brevent before work, good for the soul
  • Evening shreds from Plan de l’Aiguille are sick. 1300 m of brown pow.
  • Check this guy out – that tent hitting the back of the knees would do it for me
  • Morgan cruising some rock slabs at la Thuile
  • Davide Capozzi at Col Chavanne. There was a lot of snow towards Col de la Seigne so we skipped that and headed to Col Arp Vielle
  • Davide Capozzi on the exposed start to Col Chavanne going into Val Veni
  • Val Veni views with Petit Mont Blanc and Aiguille des Glaciers
  • Davide Capozzi on the Tour du Mont Blanc trail from Col Arp Vielle. Tour Ronde, Skyway, Dent de Geant in the background.
  • Emosson to Martigny ride. Not my favourite
  • Not sure what this is – a wonkey donkey?
  • La Thuile with Tim and Howard
  • Evening ride at Le Tour
  • The remnants of the Le Tour Glacier
  • Letting the arms rest half way down
  • Davide Capozzi on the techy root section of Col Citrin
  • Last descent to St Nicholas after 10 hours and 3300 m. Its still 40C at 1800 hrs.
  • Poor pack horse looks a bit overladen
  • Taking in the view at the start of a Chatelyard run
  • Col Entrelor
  • Entrelor flowy section
  • A quick coffee stop in La Thuile on the Col Chavanne – Col Arp Veille loop
  • The Peuterey Ridge of Mont Blanc from upper Val Veni
  • The West Face of Mont Blanc, a 2000 m ski odyssey
  • Mont Blanc’s impressive Freney/Broullard faces above Val Veni
  • The Aosta autoroute – impressive engineering
  • Searle and Tibbetts on route to Lusson (3300 m)
  • Searle and Tibbetts on route to Lusson (3300 m)
  • Lusson, Loson, every map has a a different spelling in this region of Italian – Franco patois
  • Searle coming down Lusson
  • Colle della Rosso
  • The Italian Dolomites – Sella Ronda Tour with Filippo Gaultieri, Denis Tondo, Patrick DH, Tim Longstaff
  • Rodella
  • Marmolada views
  • Denis
  • Patrick
  • Tim getting patched up after slicing his leg open on a drainage channel
  • Denis showboating for the camera
  • When you grow up racing mx, you need a proper workshop
  • Denis showing his mastery of whips and berms
  • The Willy Wonka rail – a stunning blue flow/jump run
  • Lake Garda
  • Patrick and the Brenta Dolomites
  • Denis spent months shepherding at this hut growing up, now he wants to use it as a overnight stop over on Dolomiti mtb tours
  • Wait, why’s my bike on the chair?
  • Lake Garda
  • Riva del Garda, my favourite pub in the world. Scene of so much fun
  • Tim enjoying morning swims in the lake
  • That day I forgot my armour in the Dolomites. Highsided on a landing straight onto my spine. Luckily ribs just bruised for a month.
  • Chamonix, Aiguillette des Houches. Getting in the runs before the lifts close. Broke my clipless pedals in that crash in the Dolomites and De Masi had my flats so riding the worst pedals ever made.
  • The start of a beautiful day, riding solo in Aosta. 3800 m vertical, 5 cols, 1 summit. Col di Bard, Col Citrin, Col Malatra (2900 m), Col Entre Deux Sauts, Col Sapin, Testa Bernarda.
  • Col di Bard
  • Col Citrin with Mont Velan behind
  • ‘If it didn’t exist 5000 years ago then don’t eat it’ – Laird Hamilton. Forget gels, shakes and other crap. Nuts, berries and some fruit will see you double your efforts
  • Col Citrin
  • On the 1400 m climb to Malatra.
  • Refugio Frassati, modelled on the rock architecture of Petit Golliat
  • Only 400 m to Malatra
  • Col Malatra
  • Sunny everywhere except where I am its hailing!
  • Flow trails below Col Malatra
  • Grand Jorasses in the background above Val Veni
  • Its a big day for a Nomad, 12 hours and 3800 m. I’m looking forward to riding a High Tower next season
  • Last climb done to Test Bernarda. Final descent of the day arriving in Courmayeur for pizza just as the light started to fail.
  • Should I stay or should I go? A murky day in Aosta had me soaked to the pants within the first half hour. Then it started to dry up so I set little goals (I’ll turn back there…) but in the end made the summit knowing the descent is a path suited to a gravel bike with no greasy rock to negotiate. In the end a super atmospheric day, the inclement weather providing dramatic scenes up Val Veni.

Skiing Col de la Brenva

by Leave a comment

Spring 2020 in France was a strict 2 month lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. I didn’t see a soul for 55 days except for the gendarmes policing the lockdown outside my house, freely handing out fines to the unfortunates for minor misdemeanours. As soon as lock down lifted I went back to my spiritual home in the mountains with my friends and skied the North Face of Aiguille du Midi. What joy to be back skiing after a 2 month hiatus. The post lock down season would be a short one for me with the lift only open at the weekends and a massive project on a scale that was hard to comprehend drawing all my energy. However we made some nice days, Tacul, Gervasutti Couloir, Contamine Negri, and Col de la Brenva to finish the season. Soft spring snow made for relaxed skiing and some cloud in the Brenva Cirque made everything feel very atmospheric, oh an a massive rimaye at the bottom made for an exciting exit onto the debris cone. The slog back up the Valley Blanche in desert heat wasn’t so fun but the bars were open that night for the first time and the cold beer never tasted so good.

    Rating: 1 out of 5.

    Unlocked Ski Aiguille du Midi North Face

    by Leave a comment

    France has had one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe behind Italy and Spain so after 8 weeks of not seeing a soul it was great to return to Aiguille du Midi with friends and make that big turn left down the North Face.

    Max Ritter of Teton Gravity Research writes:

    This weekend marked the re-opening of perhaps the most iconic ski lift in the world: the Aiguille du Midi’s Telepherique in Chamonix, France. Home to unquestionably the gnarliest lift-access terrain in the world, the Midi was closed for most of its prime spring season, leaving local skiers and riders frothing to get back up into the icy heights of the Mont Blanc Massif as soon as possible. Their prayers were answered this past weekend.

    RELATED: Check Out Vol. 1 Of the TGR Journal

    None other than steep skiing mastermind Tof Henry and a group of friends made it up there early and skied some classic lines that look like they’re actually still in really good shape for the end of May. Check out what Tof and local IFMGA guide Ross Hewitt got into on their first day back on skis after the COVID-19 lockdown.

     

    Skyway Forever

    by Leave a comment

    Seems like ages since we got to ski endless 1200 m runs but finally its showing signs in select places of getting good in the Alps and today I sneaked a few runs in there before the storm arrived with my good buddy and Black Crows team mate Tom Grant. Here is a photo he took of me sneaking between the hanging glacier and the rock using the features to provide some slope definition as the light flatted out.

    Ross glacier