A week of two halves

Bill Mills and Greg Knott arrived towards the end of a period of weather that had been bakingly hot. In fact my view was that the Off- Piste lift accessed skiing was shot. The snow was awful. It was just as well that our plan was to go high and ski tour.
We drove round to Arolla and headed up to the Dix Hut , firstly negotiating the ladders at the Pas de Chevre

The Dix Hut has a new guardian and they have really upped their game- it was a really delightful place to stay and the sunsets were magical.
The next morning we headed off to climb Mt Blanc de Cheilon 3870m.

The ascent was far from simple, a combination of high winds and concrete snow and the need to traverse under some menacing seracs made the whole thing seem serious. Mind you the view from the top was worth it. Five hours up and 45 minutes later we were tucking into Hut Rosti and a second night in the Dix Hut.

Then the weather broke. The next morning it was windy and horrible. The decision was simple we had no choice but to bail to Arolla. We checked into the absolutely magnificent Kulm Hotel and then went skiing in Arolla for the afternoon where we didn't see very much and quite frankly it was pretty miserable.

On Sunday morning we awoke to 40 cm of fresh snow. Clearly the ski touring options were not good so we left Arolla and headed for the resort of La Tsoumaz where I hoped there would be good skiing through the trees. I hoped but was not sure because most of the snow had fallen above the tree line. However the risk paid of and the skiing was very very good. In the afternoon we traversed over to Verbier and got a memorable descent of the Vallon d'arbi.

It was then back to Chamonix to ponder the weather forecast for the next day. It was for snow. So if we were going to ski then we needed trees so we could see. The logic was to head through to Courmayuer [There is limited off-piste tree skiing in Chamonix] This plan went wrong when we exited the mt Blanc Tunnel because there was no new snow and the weather was clear. We almost turned round , but decided to suck it and see . This turned out to be the right decision because although the snow at tree level was dire high up it was sensational and because the weather was actually good we had some of the best lift accessed of the season.

First night in a Hut

This was a trip a long time in discussion and as the date for departure neared the excitement levels increased. The team consisted of Catherine Lewis ,Lucy-Kate Hunt and Bella Noakes. Between them they are mothers to 10 children. So organizing the trip around their families was a challenge.

We met and drove to Bourg St Pierre from where we skinned up to the Velan Hut. I was keen to choose a really good hut because this was to be their first ever hut to hut tour. The Velan Hut did not disappoint. Everything from beer on the terrace to the good food and the calm atmosphere made sure my team were content.
The next morning we set off about 7.30am and climbed up and over the ridge behind the hut before skiing the steep slope on the other side before skiing up to the col to the north of the Petit Velan. From there we managed to catch perfect spring snow where we skied down the vast comb to the old Super Gd St Bernard lift station.

It was now very hot. As Catherine suggested it was like wearing Ugg Boots in the Bahamas. We skinned up to the Gd St Bernard where we spent our second night.

The next morning , still with absolutely stunning weather we headed of into Italy before climbing up to the Fenetre de Ferret.

From the col we skied all the way down to La Fouly through some very technical terrain . Arrived in the village where we had a welcome beer while discussing plans to try and do it all again next year!

Seems like winter has ended we have missed spring and jumped staight to summer

The weather has been magnificent clear and hot. I had four days skiing with Reuben and Fiona who were joined by their son Antony who we worked out has been skiing with me for over half his life! He is now married with kids! It was good to catch up with him.

We had good skiing at Les Contamines skiing through some stunning foret scenery although I never did really find the perfect spring snow because it was very windy and the snow remained rippled.
We had two days skiing at Les Grands Montets mainly skiing off the top and making long glacier descents

Some observations about skis & knees

Skiing Knees. Things are not always what they seem

I ski a lot, over a hundred days a season. Most of it is off piste some times in marvellous conditions sometimes not. Of course this is a good job. But it is suddenly not good when your knees start screaming with pain and you have to continue otherwise you can not earn a living.

A brief potted history of off piste ski design evolution :

Skiing off piste has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years . The primary reason for this is because skis were developed for solely skiing off piste. They were much wider and shorter allowing them to" float" on top of the snow and because they were shorter they would turn faster. The generic term for these skis are “fat boys.” They acquired their name because they were wide under the foot and also because big fat and mostly rich people could now ski off piste and the Canadian Heliski industry particularly embraced them. ( the skis that is.)

The big draw back of these skis was that they were so wide that it was difficult to engage the edge. This is essential for skiing on anything other than bottomless powder snow. Off piste skiing involves skiing all types of snow , some of it being rock hard and icy to snow that is commonly referred to as "porridge."


Gradually skis were developed so that they could be used on and off piste and a whole new concept was born. The buzz word being " Free Ride skis ."

These skis were Game Changers because people like me ( Mountain Guides ) had a much bigger potential pool of clients because off-piste was now comparatively easy.

It was also easier for me too!

What then gradually happened was that the ski manufactures to a great extent cracked the problem of wider skis inability to be skied well on the piste. The manufactures made the skis torsionally more rigid. This meant the edge could bite into the hard snow and the grip was better.

What started to happen was that skis gradually got wider and wider again. The thinking being that you could truly have a big fat ski that you could carve on the piste apparently the best of both worlds .

Fast forward to earlier this season. I was due for a new pair of skis and as I get older I am always looking for ways to make it as easy on my body.

It is perhaps easy to see that it made sense for me to buy a fatter pair of super modern skis . This is exactly what I did. A stunningly well made pair of skis which the manufacturer promised were good in all sorts of snow but also I quote "allowed me to carve my way home on the hardest of pistes"

They were not wrong ! These skis charged through the powder the breakable crud and certainly did allow me to carve on the piste. I skied hard on them all week then one day I started to get pain on the inside of my left knee. Now this is something you get use to as a Guide . You learn to live with it, when you get home you ice your knees and stretch and by the next morning it's mostly okay. Yet this pain was different because within half an hour my right knee was hurting in exactly the same place as my left. Still I just thought “oh well these pains come and go.” But this pain did not go, it got worse and by the end of the day I was in considerable discomfort . Self diagnosis told me that it was cartridge problems. My Hypochondriasis made me conclude that it was the beginning of the end - my knees were starting to fail me.

That evening I went to see my physiotherapist ( about a completely unrelated problem : tennis elbow) but when he saw me hobbling through the door he asked me what I'd done. Meaning have you had a ski crash or something.

I told him I hadn't done anything that I hadn't been doing for 20 years.
Any way he sat me down examined my knees and then asked " have you bought a pair of new fat skis?"

"Er yes I said , thinking me must have a side line as mind reader " I thought they made skiing easier?" I said.

He raised his eyebrows and said " well that's your problem! Your new skis are too fat."

The Physiotherapist [who not only looks after me but also looks after the French Ski Team] then explained that it was a relatively common problem because when you put the skis on their edge( which turns them ,) because they are so wide your knee joints twist too much and you put undue stress on the cartilage.

This was both good and bad news . It was potentially bad because I had bought a pair of skis which I couldn't use , while it was good in the sense that there might be quick solution to my sore knees.

The next day I fished my old skis out of the skip and went skiing again and there was no pain.

I have discussed this with various skiers and it seems that I am the only person who didn't know about Fat Skis causing knee pain. Many confirmed what my physio hold told me.

A modern off piste ski might be something over 8 cm wide under the binding

It seems that once a ski is wider than 10 cm under the binding then this kicks off the potential for sore knees. 10cm is okay , but my new skis were 12cm . This 2cm appears to be the tipping point. Some of the really really outlandish are skis are 15 cm underfoot.

Needless to say I have been convinced. I have another pair of skis.

Clearly this is just my personal experience but it does seem to follow the adage that when progress is apparently made in one direction often there are contrary problems in another.

We Have Big Big Snow.

Just finished a week of exceptional skiing with Francis Bridgeman. It is part of the adage. "Give me bad weather and good snow as opposed to good weather and poor snow because [if you have the right mind set] you are going to get memorable skiing.
Last week was very good. As ever the recipe is to be flexible and prepared to travel at a moments notice - go where the snow is good.

We had two days in Italy where the one in La Thuile was "as good as it gets"

On Thursday there was a snow fall which was perfect just enough snow to make it good but not enough so that the Compagnie du Mont Blanc had no excuse to open the lift system. We skied at Le Tour - the best conditions I have had in the last 15 years. 30 cm of fresh snow which had fallen without wind. Plus it was relatively quiet thanks to Grands Montetes sucking up all the people who think that is the only place to ski off piste.
On Friday we found our selves in the middle of an almighty snow storm. We headed to Combloux and while there was good snow finally there was too much snow and it got to heavy and actually getting around became a real issue let alone actually skiing. still I nice problem to have.
So Monday we skied La Flegere - Tuesday Courmayeur - Wednesday- La Thuile Thursday- Le Tour Friday - Combloux.

A Sunday Ski Tour

Last weekend Catherine Lewis put a group of friends together. Our plan was to climb the rather unique L'Aiguille. A beautiful ski tour directly above Lavey Les Bains close to St Maurice.

It is a brilliant ski tour that leaves from the village of Mex. All you do is park the car put the skins on and head off up the hill.

Return of the Klingons

One of my Guide friends brilliantly described the name for this phenomenon. This is when you set off down some remote off piste run with your group only to find you have been followed by some idiots. "Klingons"

Chris Boulton has been putting his group of skiers together for 20 years and we again met for a weekend of off piste skiing. We skied off the back of Le Tour heading way skiers right and found some very good snow. We skied down to just above the Lake near les Jeurs and stopped for a picnic lunch. it was as we stopped that 3 men asked me where to go now.
They had just followed us. They had no avalanche safety gear nor any idea about anything.
When I told them it was our intention to skin back out and up to the lift, they asked what are skins? They took their skis off and immediately sank to their waists.
I took some sadistic pleasure in skinning past them as they struggled exhausted through the snow. Still they were considerably better off than one of the groups who followed me a few years back : One of that group fell head first into a crevasse and had to be fished out by the PGHM.

In search of good snow [and Cake]

I over heard a Brit in a cable car saying how he had been coming to St Gervais for 17 years and had never actually skied in Megeve. John Cackett and I on the other hand skied in La Thuile,Courmayeur,Combloux, Geittaz, Pila,La Fegere-Brevent and Megeve attempting to make sure we found the best snow and conditions which we mostly did.

Mt Blanc Tunnel is not all Bad

The trucks passing through the Mt Blanc Tunnel might be responsible for making Chamonix one of the most polluted towns in France but it has allowed us to pass from the land of no snow to the land of cold fresh powder. The off -piste skiing in Courmayeur and La Thuile has been wonderful.

And we are off: Start of the winter season

The skiing season started on the 9th December when Catherine , Bella and Lucy-Kate rendezvous in Saas Fee for an early season attempt on the 4000m Allinhorn. This ended up being a little too ambitious for the prevailing conditions. These conditions turned out to be little snow . What snow there was was like concrete. There were gaping holes in the glacier and we had what was a "jour- blanc" ie no depth perception. So instead of potentially ending the season before it started we spent the day learning how to build snow anchors, and the basics of safe crampon work. All money in the bank for our next trip in February.

Next Geoff and his daughter Aimme Gosling arrived for four days off piste skiing. The issue was there was not much new snow just beautiful clear weather. So it seemed like a good time to introduce Aimee to the delights of ski touring. We spent a day in Megeve and then Walter the Mountain Dog joined us for a trip to the summit of the peaklet L'Arpile.

Despite only blue skies for 3 weeks the skiing on the descent was very very good.

Infact it was so good that when Katie Locke joined me for some ski touring Walter and I took her back up there. The only difference was that finally the weather had changed and it had finally began to snow.

Back at the Seaside

Peter Folkman flew in from Manchester on Sunday evening picked me up from a cold and snowy Chamonix at 6.00pm . By 10.00pm we were sitting by the sea having a beer in Finale Liguria.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we climbed on the sea cliffs at Capo Noli. The backdrop was magnificient with the snow on the hills behind Genoa while we climbed in the sun.
Yesterday was significantly cooler and it was necessary to make sure we were always in the direct sunshine. The complete opposite of what normally happens down there where you are desperate for the shade.

We finished climbing at about 3.00pm and then immediately headed back to Chamonix. The nearer we got to home the colder it got. We went from 14c to -9c.

Nairobi Cannes London Winchester Chamonix

October was an unusual month. I came back from Nairobi and then headed to the Mipcom TV market in Cannes where I spent a week working on a TV project and happened to bump into the newly crowned Miss World.

Next it was onto London then immediately Winchester Colleague where I was a guest speaker at their Studium Lectures. Then the next day it was back to Chamonix for some mountaineering with the father and son team of Chuck and Casey Brown. We had a couple of brilliant Autumn days in the Vallee Blanche climbing some of the simple peaks around Helbronner.

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time- Mount Kenya

This was a trip which had been planned for over a year; Charles Sherwood and I were naturally very excited . It started well. Even the arrival at what we had been told was a burnt out Kenyatta airport, was far better than arrivals at John Lennon airport on a good day. Then the next day I was delighted to discover that we were going to be with the same guide I had used the last time I was in Kenya 21 years ago. Edwin Mwalimu Doroniko. Eddy to his friends.

We left the absolutely fantastic Fair View Hotel and drove to the the town of Chogoria , where after lunch we picked up LLoyd our cook and changed to a couple of Land Rovers - exactly the same two of 21 years ago. After about 5 minutes it broke down. Some judicious use of a hammer it started again. we were off, until the other broke down. [raidiator this time]

26km of jungle track later we arrived at Bandas the entrance to Mt Kenya national park

This is at about 3000m above sea level. A stunningly beautiful place where we stayed in these "chalet" huts which were very like a village cricket pavillion.

The next morning we set off for Mugi Hill 3500m [an acclimatisation peaklet] before heading down to Lake Ellis where we were due to camp. It was here we discovered that the cloth the toilet seat had been wrapped in was in fact our table cloth

The next day we headed over to Lake Michaelson a truly exceptional place to camp.

We should have made the most of it because unbeknown to us this was to be our last really good day of weather. The next day we had a very short day to Simba Tarn at 4600m. Anyone who thinks its mostly sunny in Africa should think again.

It was then onto Pt Lennana 4985m this is the peak which every Trekker to Mt Kenya would like you to believe is actually Mt Kenya. It is not. It is a walk which you could be forgiven for thinking was on the Isle of Skye [apart from the Leopard droppings.] Since we were both last here [Charles on his Honeymoon in 1984 and me not on my Honeymoon in 1992] The Kenyans have proudly built the worlds highest via Ferratta.

It is also possibly the shortest too.

We arrived at the top to see - well nothing. Eddy then seemingly forgot that his charges were seasoned Alpinists and deemed the descent ridge was not safe for us and therefore took us on a tortuous detour through a boulder field from hell where we finally staggered out of the mist at a square tarn. Obviously the cartographer had run out of inspirational names at this stage because it was marked as Square Tarn on the Map.
It was still early so we decided to go on a circumnavigation of the whole of Mt Kenya. We walked over to the Austrian camp and then descended on the south side where we got to see what was once [before global warning] the most famous climb in Africa The Diamond Couloir. We paused to have a look. It looked like it might possibly be complete so to satisfy our curiosity we made a detour to its foot. We never got a definitive answer because the mist came in. It looked possible to climb but possibly not by us. We decided that if we had enough energy afterwards we would come back round and have "a look." [Talk about miss- placed optimism]
We continued around the mountain up to Two-Tarn and then down to another inspired name for an oblonged shaped lake: "Oblong Tarn" before tackling the tough Hausberg col which was because of its height ,rather like climbing Mt Blanc for the 2nd time in the same day. It was then a 15 minute scree run to our base camp. Home for the next 5 days Kami Camp. A beautiful location right under the North Face of Batian

PART TWO

Our plan was to traverse Batian and Nelion via the west ridge. So the next day we thought it wise to go and scope the approach. This we estimated would take a couple of hours. So after 6 hours of running the gauntlet of loose rock we staggered back into camp feeling pretty shot. The problem was what had been a fairly simple approach before the glaciers melted had turned into something like walking through a block of flats while they were being demolished by the wrecking ball.

We were going to need a day to recover. During this day it snowed and then snowed stopped and then snowed some more. The upshot is that we would have to wait a day for it to clear. It didn't. The mornings were okay until about mid day, then it just snowed and hailed and rained. 18 hours a day stuck in a tent starts to pale. The only alternative was to crack open our bottle of Talisker.

We gave up on the West Ridge and decided to have a go at the voie normal on the north face of Batian. Breakfast at 4.00am - porridge followed by baked beans sausages and eggs. Eddy and the porters carried our kit to the foot of the route and we were climbing the 1st pitch by 6.00am . Our spirits were buoyed by have the company of two Swiss and their local Guide David. We made very rapid progress up the route getting up to the Amphitheatre just before 8.00am. Then above here conditions changed and we were stopped not just by loads of snow but rock hard ice covering all the holds.
In addition we could see more bad weather speeding toward us. The reluctant but obvious decision was made to get the hell out of there asap.
Back at camp and it was snowing hard - no choice but to get out and head back to Nairobi. This involved walking out via Sinimom route until you get to Old Mosses camp which is a dump. Its only redeeming feature is it sells beer

EPILOGUE

Next morning the truck came to collect us. Clearly there was disappointment at not reaching the objective, however this was put in perspective by the disgusting terrorist attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall where upwards of 70 people had been murdered. We did hear about this but we had no real idea of the enormity of the event until we got hold of UK and world press reports and learnt that the Foreign Office had "advised against all but essential travel to Kenya." We did get temporarily stuck in Nairobi because of the chaos from the fall out of the Terrorism but it could have been a lot worse. Essentially all we had to deal with was the vagaries of nature , not the action of a bunch of religious nutters.

We will be back! We have penciled in January 2015.

Wonderfully quiet time to be in the Mountains

Francis Bridgeman joined me for a week of Mountaineering and rock climbing. The weather wasn't perfect and so we had to be creative and flexible as to where we went. There was one day it was raining in Chamonix , but when we looked on the web cam it was bright and clear at the top of ge Aguille du Midi. So we headed up there and climbed Pt Lachanael.

We spent some time climbing in the Aiguille Rouge above Brevent. On another day we drove round to the famous col du Colombiere. Unfortunately it was raining hard. We continued on the road around to the Col du Aravis where it was sunny and dry and we had some great climbing

If Rock hadn't been climbed this woukld still have been an exceptional way to sample the Mediterranean Coast

Charles Sherwood joined me for his annual summer climbing trip. The weather had "been" perfect but true to form all that changed. The alpine forecast was for snow and mixed weather for the week . We decided that the best thing was to clear off until there was a better forecast. We jumped in the car and headed through the Mt Blanc Tunnel for Finale Liguria. We climbed in the afternoon in very humid conditions and were finally forced from the crag by a thunderstorm.
The next day we launched ourselves at on of the classic climbs of the area which were very steep and intimidating However we also learn't that for classic climb read polished limestone and the grade of the climb bore no resemblance to what we had to deal with. In the end we couldn't actually finish the climb due to a combination of heat and having no strength left.

We were now staying in the beautiful town of Final Borgio where the selection of restaurants is reason enough for a visit.
Next day we ventured onto the sea cliffs of Capo Noli an area I had climbed on many time before but this was Charles first visit.

We had a very satisfactory day , but did feel a bit like steak cooked on a hot stone by the end of it.
On our final day we climbed at passing through the breath taking village of. Charles was keen to lead as many climbs as he could . The well bolted climbing of the area make this ideal.
Still there was no real improvement in the alpine weather [ or at least for the projects we had in mind] So we decided to head down the Mediterranean cost to the world famous climbing area of Les Calanques, just east of Marseilles. We found a wonderful place to stay and the food and wine were exceptional. On the wednesday we arrived in Cassis parked the car all excited to climb in the Calanques for the 1st time. But no! There was a big red sign saying the whole coast was closed due to the high risk of forest fire. There was nothing we could do but move on. But where? After consulting the map and the weather forecast we hit upon Buoux . The last time I had climbed there was 31 years ago. Then it was just before the Peter Mayle "Year in Provence" revolution which changed Provence from a back water to the chic place it is now: Our Auberge had a swimming pool at its foot.
We spent two days here climbing in a wonderful solitude .

We wanted a big finish to the week and our research had identified the Verdon Gorge as the must visit destination . The climb for us was the Hissage Nocturne. A modern classic [ie not polished] . We arrived for a pre inspection the day before and had a good look from above.

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We returned at 7.00am the next morning [after having a spectacular dinner in the town of Moustiers]. I was psyched for for the entry to the climb : A spectacular 45 meter free rappel into the gorge.

The guide book explained that if you couldn't do the climb the only escape option was either to hitch a lift on a passing pedalo or swim. Needless to say we managed to climb out on what was a very good climb.