Worst Avalanche Forecast I have seen

So it went from 24c to 30cm of snow in the garden over night and the most widespread high avalanche forecast I had ever seen. All this coincided with the arrival of Agust Gudmundsson and his great pal Astvalur [Valti] Gudmundsson for 5 days ski touring. Clearly we needed a plan B and we needed it fast.
So we jumped in the car and 3 hours later we were climbing above the Mediterranean at Capo Noli
We found a hotel and climbed some bigger routes the next day. This was Valti's first real multipitch climbing and he was impressed.
The next day was very un Mediterranean - it rained so over a cappuccino in the port at Genoa we hit on the next idea : The weather forecast and avalanche forecast were now good for the next few days and so we took a helicopter form Sion to the top of the Wildhorn as a way of catapulting ourselves along our originally planned ski tour.
We arrived on the summit at 8.30am and enjoyed very good spring snow skiing , followed by a hot climb up to the Wildstrubel Hut where we were the only guests.
It was an early 6.00am start for our ascent of the Rohrbachstein 2950m
From its summit we skied and skinned back towards the lift system of Crans Montana , [where they obligingly opened the drag lift inorder to get us back into the lift system] before some more spring snow where we arrived at 10.00am for an a "late morning beer.

The Western Bernese Oberland High Level Route

Charles Sherwood and his daughter Tabatha joined me for the ski tour which sets off from Les Diablerets and arrives in Kandersteg. The most remarkable thing about this tour was that it all went perfectly according to plan. We enjoyed perfect conditions [although rather hot] brilliant huts which were hardly occupied and not least some sublime spring snow skiing.

If only all ski tours could work this well!

Can't go ski touring lets go powder skiing

Once again the ski touring options became limited by the huge amount of snow that seem to keep spewing out of the ski. Francis Bridgeman his nephew Sahil Sinha and Vin Smears all had great plans for a ski touring hut based trip.
We had a wonderful day traversing the col de la Fenetre high above Les Contamines followed by a perfect descent on spring snow. Only disappointment was the bar at the foot of the gorge was closed.

We then had a couple of days skiing off piste around Chamonix before we learned once again that Itlay had had spectacular amounts of snow so we headed to Punte Crocce for some knee deep trail braking which was rewarded with some knee deep powder descents.

On our final day we headed back to La Thuile where we managed to hit conditions which were as good as any this season.

Bad weather stops High Level Route but its not all bad

Anik Mercure and her husband Francois Brissette traveled all the way from Canada to join me for an attempt on the Haute Route. The dates had been in the diary for a long time and every detail talked through. All the huts had been booked back in December.
We had a brilliant warm up day skiing the Crochue -Berard traverse in the Aiguille Rouge and Francois made a quick video of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aGUiUl9NDQ

All was good except the new weather forecast. Yet all we could do was pack our bags and turn up at Les Grands Montets at 8.30 am the next morning and hope the weather forecast wasn't as bad as predicted. It was snowing . We weren't going anywhere. Well anywhere near the Haute Route. Instead I quickly came up with a plan B. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPisS5RC0hM

All it did was snow and snow and snow. The next day we decided to head for Combloux to take advanatge of the last of the tree skiing of the year. This plan went awry when we discovered that a Piste Basher had crashed into a pylon on the key Christomet lift and closing half the resort. We did manage to rescue the situation by using our skins to access the off piste runs. There was a lot of snow:

The next day it was snowing so hard that we did nothing. However the forcast was now very good and so we decided to head Arolla and then the Dix Hut. It was from this point that we got a pretty fantastic mini ski tour in. From the Dix Hut we traversed the Pigne d'Arolla and down to the Vignettes Hut. We then headed to Zermatt and managed to ski all the way into the village.

The next day things got even better because we flew back from Zermatt to the top of the Pigne and were lucky enough to get knee deep fresh tracks down the Tsijore Nouve Glacier all the way back to the Land Rover certainly the descent of the season. Here is a quick you tube summary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAOIlg55K4

We should have left it at that but on their arrival in Chamonix Francois and Anik had booked onto a Vallee Blanche descent where they had seen nothing. I suggested we ski it again . This time they did get to ski it , but had to endure the winning combination of chopped up frozen snow interspersed with boiler plate ice. In addition by way of a sub plot we narrowly missed seeing a plane force land on the Mer de Glace when the pilot seemingly realised he hadn't enough power to clear the Geant Ice fall

A week of anecdotes fuelled by strange incidents

Bill Mills & Greg Knott joined me for what was to prove a packed and eventful week with a sprinkling of unpredictable encounters.
We kicked off by heading over to Anzere high above Sion. We skinned up to the Audannes Hut in brutally artic conditions. We had to wear every stitch of clothing while battling up hill.

Fortunately the next day dawned bright and the wind had died. We climbed the Wildhorn in perfect weather.

The weather forecast the next day was for snow so we headed over to Italy to climb Punte Crocce. This proved to be an eventful day. We exited through the Mt Blanc tunnel to be greeted by thick snow. As we drove up to Arpy we rounded a bend to find a Fiat Punto dangling in the trees having just tobogganed over a precipice. There were many Italians jumping up and down and from what we could see our assistance wasn't necessary.

Around the next corner we were greeted by a coach which had slid down the road sideways [but hadn't actually left the road.] However its passengers had abandoned it and were flooding down the road in what was an apocalyptic scene. One particular women was having a full blown panic-attack which seemed to be having a domino effect on everyone else.

Clearly they needed help but they couldn't get any mobile reception and so I offered to use my Police Radio. Having summoned help we left as fast as we could, unfortunately this was not as fast as we would have liked because it was necessary to put the chains on the Land Rover.[Something I have never had to do on a Tarmacked road such were the treacherous conditions]

Eventually we skinned up the start of the climb but at the lake there was just too much snow and we decided to judiciously turn around and [ski waist deep powder]back to the Land Rover. Here we put the extra set of chains on the back wheels too.

The next day we decided to ski in Courmayeur. It was shut due to too much snow. We headed to La Thuile where it was open but there was still enormous amounts of snow. Unless we found somewhere steep it was practically impossible to move.

On our final day we went to ski in Combloux/Giettaz. This was exceptionally good with near perfect conditions of acres and acres of fresh snow, no one around and beautiful weather. The only problem was that the whole of the Aravis was hit by an electricity power cut which shut the lifts leaving us stranded in Giettaz. Fortunately we had our skins.

The Foehn; The word no skier ever want to see in the forecast

Yes the foehn is the word that is like a death sentence to a good skiing forecast. Its effects are well documented but needless to say it can wreck the best laid plans.

This is what happened to me Ian Ansell and Charlie Crossley Cook.

On our 1st day we decided to skin up to the Gd St Bernard Monastery [in beautiful weather] Yet by the next day the dreaded foehn had kicked in. We did manage to climb Mt Fourchon and then ski across and down to La Fouly but the conditions were frankly crap and it was a relief to get the skis off.

So we headed around to La Thuile because it was due to snow in Italy. It did not and we skied around La Thuile firstly finding some half decent snow before the mist socked in and the wind blasted us relentlessly.
The forecast was still for snow which the next day eventually came and we managed to get some excellent skiing the trees in Courmayeur .

Our final day was in Chamonix where we again struggled with the weather and poor snow conditions and contented our selves with skiing the pistes all over Chamonix

Klosters: Finest lift accessed off piste there is?

It is 3 years since the final and last time I skied with the world famous flying Grannies in Klosters. I had been their Guide for 17 years and had got to know the area very well. Sadly the party felt they were too old to continue. I have very fond memories of theses trips, not to mention some of the best skiing I have ever had.
It was therefore with some nostalgia that I turned up with in Klosters last Monday to ski with my 1st post Flying Grannies party.
This was to be a new group made up of very strong experienced skiers, Dave Coustick Richard Oxlade, Ian Searle, Jim Briggs and Richard Woollcombe who were all engaging my services for two key reasons:
1 : to find the best snow and pitches.
2 : So they did not have an argument about who was in charge and which direction to go in!

So the pressure was on to show them the best Klosters has to offer. In my view it has the best lift accessed Off piste skiing anywhere I have ever been and the place did not disappoint.
On our 1st day we started by skiing the north facing slopes from the Gotschana cable car. It had not snowed for a while but it had kept cold and so the snow quality was excellent.
On Tuesday we headed over to the Madrisa where we skied down to Slappin. The snow was only quite good and with the bar having been set so high by the 1st days skiing we headed back to the Gotschana where we dropped off the Gmienboden in untracked snow all the way to Sernus.
On Wednesday we skied over to Davos, dropped off the back into Wolfgang then took the bus up to Pischa ski area. A quick coffee and we then we skinned up to the summit of the Pischahorn. It was then a long run back to Klosters and it has to be said some challanging snow.
It was becoming even more clear to me that like the Flying Grannies always said the best snow is above the Gotschna and so we returned. This time we made skied off the back of the Weissfluhgipel down the Diretissima again finding exceptional snow. At the bottom we stuck on our skins and climbed up to Barga before making an unforgettable descent all the way to Kublis.
On Our final day Friday we decided to take no chances and return to where we knew the snow would still be good. It was so good that Ian Searle thought that it was the finest descent he had ever done. He should know because like tghe rest of the group he has done an awful lot of skiing.
We again dropped of the back of the Weissfluhgipel but then this time traversed along the ridge and over a small peak, down a very very steep gulley which finally gave access to acres and acres of untracked snow. at the bottom we stuck the skins on for a fairly brutal and hot ski to the top of Christenstien. This set us up well for another incredible descent to Kublis and an end of the trip celebratory beer .

Good cold weather

The start of the school holidays coincided with the start of the first real settled weather of the winter. The hoilday makers must have been delighted with the perfect conditions. However what is perfect for your piste skier is not good for some one searching fresh tracks. We need constant top ups of fresh snow. The only way to find it is to climb for it , or use a helicopter.

Mark Locke and I did both: On the Sunday we found some fantastic snow skiing the couloirs down to Trient. The only issue was that Mark snapped a ski in half and we ended [or rather he ended] up with a long walk down through knee deep untracked snow.
On the Monday we skinned up from La Flegere and around to the col des Encranax. From where we had a superb run back down to Le Buet.
On Tuesday we met up with Alison Smith and Kate Ferguson and flew to the summit of Petit Combin. We found exceptional snow conditions all the way to the valley.

Wednesday we returned to the world class tree skiing of Giettaz where the descents were as good as ever despite a slight navigational mishap brought on by skiing some incredible snow into a cul-de-sac.
Finally on Thursday we went to La Thuile. The high spot of this was in fact lunch at the Hotel Maison de la Neige. The snow we found was good but tracked and high up the wind had got to it. But all in all a good 5 days.

Key Note presentation to Liverpool School of Management.

I was given the opportunity by Professor Murray Dalziel ,Dean of The Liverpool Management School, to deliver a presentation on managing risk within the context of Mountain Guiding . To be more specific climbing the North Face of the Eiger.
I left Chamonix and flew into Liverpool and gave the presentation in the evening. The presentation format was that of an interview between my self and Professor Murray, interspersed with photos taken over 20 years of attempts.
We then took a question and answer session from the students.
The next day I flew home and started skiing again.

More Non Touring Days

Justin Emrich turned up with 3 of his pals, Mathew Pete Mark. It was about 6 years since Justin & I had last skied together and 15 years since we 1st skied together.
We decided to start with the beautiful secluded ascent of the Arpille an ideal place to kick off your ski touring career. However unbeknown to me there was the annual ski touring race to the summit. Fortunately by the time we got going the race was well and truly over but race refueling stations were still open and we availed ourselves of them.
We arrived at the summit of the Arpille and were all alone. I then had a shock as we descended as there had obviously been a major mis- communication because two of the team could not actually ski. Consequently the descent took longer than anticipated.
We agreed to split into 2 teams and one of the party decided to go back to being a snowboarder having accepted that a day at Milton Keynes Snow Dome doesn't equip you with the skills for off piste skiing.
Anyway the next two days it snowed and snowed and we had very good powder in Courmayeur and then in La Flegere where Justin claimed he had skied one of the best pitches ever. AND Justin should know because you will have to go along way to see someone who skis better than him.

More "Bad" Weather equates to more fantastic skiing

Francis Bridgeman and Vincent Smears joined me for a week of ski touring. This would have been fine with little snow and clear weather . We had neither. Instead we had heaps of the stuff and little visibility. Apart form one day when we forced ourselves to the summit of the Petit Crois Baulet over looking Sallanches, we contented our selves with skiing powder through the tree in Megeve, Combloux, La Flegere We did have a clear day in Courmayeur but the avalanche risk was too high to ski tour and besides by this time the boys were well and truely sold on their big fat White Dot Skis.

Four seasons in a week

Just finished a continuous 10 day stint of skiing in every type of snow and weather. At first the conditions had been very cold and this meant that the snow was preserved well. Although it hadn't snowed for a bit, with some effort a lot outstanding descents could be found. I spent the 1st 3 days with Reuben & Fiona Berg, a day at Le Tour then an exceptionally good day in Courmayeur and finally a stella day in Geittaz which if you know where to go has some of the best skiing in the alps.
Next Kevin Tuck and his pals turned up for some suffering. Ski touring with hangovers. We had a memorable traverse

of the Aiguille Rouge via the ski tour know as the Balcon Sud, capped by an outstanding descent to the col du Montets. This ski tour ended by what was probably the 1st British descent of a new line: The railway line to Vallorcine. [It was closed for refurbishment]

The next group of victims turned up on the Monday. Andy Chetwood, Tanya Thompson, Laurence Whyatt and Mike Dowling had an ambitious plan to traverse the Monte Rosa ski area over the col de Lys and down to Zermatt. Needless to say the weather stopped this idea even before they arrived. So the consolation was a perfect day of powder skiing in Combloux/Giettaz.
The bar was therefore set high in terms of what the group expected. However the wind picked up and increased the avalanche risk significantly which meant on our second day the descent of the Berard Vallee called for some careful route choice as there was a lot of spontaneous wind slab release.
On the Wednesday the wind was even stronger as we battled our way to the top of Punte Croce high above La Thuile.
Thursday , just when we thought the wind might calm it blew harder as we skinned up the Argentiere as the Grands Montets lift system closed around us due to high wind.
On Friday we awoke to tropical rain. Everything was shut in Chamonix. I decided to take a long punt on traveling through to Italy. We drove through the tunnel and it was raining even harder. The car-park was awash. The only glimmer of hope was that the descending cable car came down covered in snow. As we traveled up in the lift the gamble had paid off. We had a memorable day tree skiing with some very good snow conditions.

Conditions just got better and better as the week progressed

The snow of the previous week set up Russ Bragg and I well. Nevertheless the weather in Chamonix was grey and miserable for our 1st day. We decided therefore to head through the MT Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur , where there was blue sky and importantly it was 10 degrees colder and the snow was feather like . The skiing was the best I have ever known in Courmayeur plus there was know and no one about.
On Tuesday again the weather in Chamonix wasn't great so we decided to head through the tunnel once again- this time with the intention of skiing in La Thuile. Yet when when we appeared from the tunnel the weather wasn't great - but it was snowing! We had a remarkable days skiing in what was virtually our own private ski resort.
It continued to snow over night and it got colder and importantly it snowed with no wind.
Wednesday morning was one of those once in a blue moon days. The ingredients were perfect. 20 cm of fresh cold snow fell with no wind. There was hardly anyone about and so we headed for La Flegere. It was Russ best days skiing ever.[So far I suggested}
On Thursday the weather looked good again so we headed back up to La Flegere with the intention of making the traverese to La Col des Montets. However the honeymoon was over the wind had picked up and had destroyed the powder and also created a significant avalanche risk. We contented ours selves finding what untracked snow we could find close to the pistes. It did not matter because we were so tired from feasting ourseleves on the previous three days snow.

Bone hard snow transformed over night by 50cm of fresh

We have had a lot of good weather recently. Issue with this is that good weather doesn't produce snow and as time progressed it was necessary to go further and further away to find some un touched snow.

Last weekend I was joined by James Vernon and his two 11 year old sons William and Thomas primarily for some off piste training. We had a day at Le Tour and the next day my first visit to the top of Les Grands Montets so that we could ski down the Argentiere glacier. This was good but I was shocked to see how much the glacier has reseeded in the last year.

On Monday Mark Locke was back out for 5 days. We had a huge variety of skiing,and one trip we were joined by Walter the Bernese Mountain Dog when we went ski touring.
Just as it looked like we were not going to find any more un skied snow we received a big dump of 50 cm of cold fresh snow. We had no hesitation but to head straight to Combloux /Giettaz for some stunning tree skiing.

Early season descent of the Vallee Blanche

We were told by our friends Jeff and Faerthen that the conditions in the Vallee Blanche were exceptional. I saw this as an oppurtunity to ski with my daughters Sophie and Andrea. [Florence has her foot in plaster]

So on the last day of the year and the first time ever I have skied the Vallee Blanche so early in the season the 3 of us , accompanied by Jeff and Faerthen headed off.

The big issue is the Arete on the Aiguille du Midi because it had not yet been equiped and therefore it is essential that everyone has crampons. Unfortuanetly there were several cramponless idiots who got them selves stuck and created a bad traffic jam. Sophie was not impressed and sugggested that we climb around them on the north face [Sophie is 7 years old] This is what we did. Still it took an hour of stress to get down the ridge.

Once we were down and had our skis on it all seemed worth it, because the snow and the tranquility were as good as I have ever known it.

In addition we were able to ski all the way to Chamonix

Last skiing of 2012

Never have we had so much good skiing at this time of year. Just after Christmas Stephan Yeates , his nephew Chris and Steven Trantrum joined me for two days. We went to Courmayeur [my 10th trip through the tunnel this season]We had indifferent weather but at least it was colder than Chamonix and the quality of the snow was good.

On our second day we went to Le Tour where after a start in zero visibility the weather cleared up and we had some excellent skiing of the back of Les Jeurs and finished with a stunning descent of La Vormaine gulley.

Yo Yo Temperatures

One day its -15c and I'm using "T- Bag" footwarmers the next day its +5c and its raining.
Well it was raining in Chamonix but a quick trip through the Mt Blanc Tunnel and its snowing again. In fact I have been through the tunnel 4 times in the last week. 3 times to Courmayeur and once to La Thuile.

I kicked off the season with a visit from Mark Locke with an excellent day in Courmayeur followed by a very cold day on Grands Montets which was going just fine until I hit a dip, my ski came off and clipped my ear which then sprayed blood everywhere and resulted in 10 stitches.

The next day I was joined by Geoff Gosling and his daughter Aimee. It was raining and snowing on arrival at Les Grands Montets. In addition because the place is understaffed they hadn't got round to the avalanche controls , so it was closed.

We drove through the tunnel to Courmayeur and it was snowing. The skiing was good.
The next day it was snowing hard in Chamonix and everything was shut. Our attempts to return to Courmayeur were thwarted because the Mt Blanc tunnel was shut because it was threatened by avalanche from above. So we skied in Les Houches where we had some good snow. Geoff then had a meeting he had to fly home for.
On Tuesday Aimee and I

headed straight to Courmayeur and with lots of falling snow where had a days powder skiing , which would go down as one of those days that are called spectacularly good.

Geoff returned from his meeting and brought some good clear skies with him and we headed for Les Grands Montets. The only issue was so did the rest of the world and like normal it got tracked out quickly. Geoff unfortuantely twisted his knee just as we were finishing the day and frustratingly had to miss our final day together.

So today it was just me and Aimee and with the weather looking very grey we again zipped through the tunnel to La Thuile. We once again came across some exceptionally good turns and some outstanding tree skiing.

Anyone worried that the snow might not arrive should relax

The snow was predicted , but when isn't it predicted in a ski resort? Nevertheless this time the amount forecast was wrong.Yet

happily this time to the skiers advantage. We have had a meter of snow in our garden. At first it fell like polystyrene pellets - light and near perfect. Then the temperature rose and it almost rained turning the snow to a heavy mush which threatened to swamp the Chamonix snow plough's.

A Grand Family Day Skiing

Well sort of. To be frank it did not get off to the best start. We arrived in a snowy Cervinia and everything was looking very wintry. Then we discovered we had left Sophie's boots in Chamonix. After a mad rush we rented a pair for her.

Then I went to buy tickets - but the lift was closed for a "technical fault." We retired for Cappuccinos. Eventually they opened but, but only the Swiss side. So we rode the lifts and finally at mid day put our skis on at Testa Grigia 3479 meters.
Everything was good the sun was out the snow was fabulous the Kliene Matterhorn was open and fresh tracks were being made everywhere. These conditions lasted for one run. The wind picked up and closed the lifts leaving us trapped above Zermatt. We had no option but to use the Drags to get back over to Italy. This was Sophie's 1st experience of a T-Bar and she almost froze to death.

Andrea and I chose to ski back down to Italy while the rest of the family choose to go down by cable car. Interestingly the Police were waiting at the bottom of the piste fining anyone skiing who was not with a Guide because the piste was not yet open. Luckily for Andrea she was skiing with a Guide.

When we arrived home I asked Sophie to help unload the car. She said "No."

I said "Unless you help We are not taking you again."

Sophie said "Do you promise?"

A Grand Day Out.