A short film from last years La Sentinelle in Arolla Switzerland. I didn’t guide on that meet but I did on the previous 3 editions and plan to be at the Dolomites meet in 2021. Hope to see you there and enjoy the film.
Tag: skiing
Powder Day at St Gervais
Ski touring in a Christmas card landscape. The winter season is underway and despite the government keeping the ski lifts closed for the next few weeks, clients can go ski touring with qualified mountain guides.
The Best Runs of 2020
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.
Skiing Col de la Brenva
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.
Fabulous Snow for Start of the Ski Season
Thats the lifts open in Chamonix and the ski season well under way. Yesterday I had a fantastic 50 cm bluebird powder day guiding Peter around the good spots in Chamonix and we have another 50 cm coming this week. Through the magic tunnel in Italy they are off to a great start with even more snow. Get it while you can!
