Falco on the summit!
At the top of the couloir after a nice steep climb!
Nice tracks in the powder, what a reward!
Looking for more couloirs...
... and skinning up for more!
Edward before diving into another couloir
Falco and Greg satisfied
At the top of the couloir after a nice steep climb!
Nice tracks in the powder, what a reward!
Looking for more couloirs...
... and skinning up for more!
Edward before diving into another couloir
Falco and Greg satisfied
The north slopes were powder, and others firn snow! Perfect taking into account the +15 degrees at 1600 meters !
On saturday we went for the Mont Gébroulaz (3511 m) and Sunday we attacked the Mont du Borgne (3200 m).
Have a look at the Google Earth file from the Gébroulaz Randonée
It's gets pretty windy near the top...
... and we take off our ski's to do the last meters
Enjoy the view from the col
Wow! The guy that arrived at the col just before us kicked off this huge avalanche! 800 meters long, a 200 meters wide. A mountain guide was right behind us as well. Pretty scary
Looking back to the col, you can see the huge size of the avalanche
Beautiful scenery in the Parc de la Vanoise
The skiing is great, although the slope is not very steep
We even get to see a Capra ibex (bouquetin) from pretty close. A few minutes later we saw about 20 of them, and when I tried to get my camera out while skiing to make a picture, I ended up in the stream...
This is on the summit ridge towards the Mont du Borgne on Sunday
The team from right to left: Alex, Taco, Maarten and myself
See you next weekend!
Greg
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Have a look for more details...
]]> The improved Suunto X9i is the ultimate outdoor ! It enables all the functions you could expect from an outdoor watch, pretty amazing. Many thanks to Suunto !I am goiing to test the watch this weekend in the alps and I hope to come back with some nice GPS tracks I can upload to this site.
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Here is some information about the smallest GPS in the word:
Equipped with GPS, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer Suunto X9i has everything you need for a successful journey. Regardless whether you're hiking, climbing, skiing or heading off for a fishing trip, Suunto X9i will take you through even the toughest situations.
Suunto X9i is not only an essential tool for sports that may require venturing into unknown areas, such as mountaineering or hiking, but it also helps you monitor and analyze your progress.
When traveling in the wilderness, safety comes first Suunto X9i comes packed with solutions enabling safe and responsible hiking. You can use the alarm functions to alert you at certain altitudes, or warn you about upcoming storms. You will be much better off using the compass and altimeter if caught in bad weather. When hiking in an unknown forests or just strolling around a foreign city, the route functions ensure that you know where you are at all times and the Find Home and Track Back functions guide you back.
For those who take their training seriously, Suunto X9i gives direct feedback that can be analyzed to further improve the training program.
The route functions of Suunto X9i together with the advanced GPS system allow you to create accurate routes, and ensure that you always know where you are and how to continue from there.
Accurate altimeter enables you to measure your vertical performance when jogging, hiking, cycling or climbing.
Ideally suited for fast sports, advanced timing functions enable you to record lap and split times of your runs and other similar activities.
When you travel in unknown terrain, it is extremely important to be able to return home safely. The compass, Track Back and Find Home functions make sure you will always find your way when you wish to head back home after an exciting but tiresome adventure.
* Altimeter: altitude, vertical speed, altitude alarm, thermometer
* Barometer: Sea level pressure, absolute pressure, weather trend graph, temperature, weather alarm
* 3D Compass: Bearing, graphic compass rose, bearing tracking
* GPS: Resolution 1m / 3 ft, 12 channels
* Watch: Calendar, 3 alarms with date option, dual time, stopwatch
* Menu-based user interface familiar from mobile phones
* Water resistant to 10 bar
* Power supply: USB cable and a universal power supply
* PC interface software + USB cable
* Full access to SuuntoSports.com
Suunto Trek Manager (STM) is software that gives you deeper understanding and better graphical representation of the data recorded and stored by Suunto X9i.
With STM you can create routes on the maps you have uploaded, edit and erase existing routes, visualize the altitude profiles for your routes, analyze and plan your training, and keep a training diary. You can also create your own activity reports by adding photos and text to the profiles.
]]>The north oriented slopes were pretty stable on saturday, so I went on skiing steaper and steaper. The avalance danger that day was 4/5 but I was surprised how stable the snow was. I did'nt see any natural avalanches either.
Saturday night there was some more snow (~ 5 cm) and on Sunday the weather was good and some additional lifts went open, like the Col de la Loze. I went tree skiing in some pretty steep slopes and really was having the greatest fun...
...before I got trapped by a slab in a west oriented slope, at around 1900 meters. 4 meters wide, 1 meter deep and it I was really in the middle of it. Fortunately it moved slowly and I managed to stay standing resisting from the force of the snow on my legs. At that time I still did not realise what was happening, everything went by automatic pilot. A couple of seconds later I had skied out of the avalanche and looked at it getting wider, and moving faster. It stopped about 100 meters under me.
Pretty scary experience. First time cought by more than just a bit of snow. I think I challenged the conditions a bit too much that day.
However, I look back at an excellent weekend with some amazing ski descents - full speed, air time, fresh powder and a big smile!
Well, see yah next time!
Greg
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It is much likely that France has lost one of its last great mountaineers. In an attempt to summit the Himalayan giant Makalu Lafaille (39) has not been heard from for several days. He was attempting to climb, solo, in alpine style, in the winter (Makalu has never been climbed in the winter, the last 8000'er with this status)...
]]> A faint hope was that his satellite phone was down and the reason for lost contact but search with helicopter has revealed no sign of life on the mountain. Lafaille´s tent was spotted at around 7600 m and it is presumed that the renowned climber has perished somewhere between 7600 and the summit.
France has probably lost one of its 'greats'. JC has performed thrillingly in the himalayas and the alps. The french media hasn't missed this, and so the rest of france neither...
More news:
Google news
Lafaille's website
I spent the weekend in Meribel, doing some sky technique training on the groomed pistes that were in pretty good shape. Last snow fall was more than two weeks ago, so off-piste wasn't too great.
]]> Anyway, I am still recovering from a bad cold (coughing like in Cho Oyu base camp), so I had to take it easy. But I'm feeling better and better, so next time (in 2 weeks), no more mercy!Keep you posted!
Greg
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Hi, on this blog I will try to post some nice ski stories from the Alps.
My name is Greg, I am currently living in Paris, France and using week ends to ski as much as possible! See you again soon with some more news & pictures...
Greg
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