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A gang of us were over in Chamonix for 2 weeks in March. The weather was fantastic and the pistes may as well have been empty. Its great doing a run and only 3 other people on the slope with you ! here are some pic's. Enjoy.


One of the guys getting ready for a bit of off piste.


A few of us build a kicker up in Flegere. Here 2 of us relaxing on our "snow" couch.(Im on the left)

A gang of us did a kinda famous/popular off piste run along a glacier called the Vallee Blanche while we were there. It starts off at 12600ft from the Aiguille du Midi and decends down to the Montenvers train station at the Mer de Glace. One of the lads had a gps with him and the total route done was 16km long with a decent of about 2000 meters. A climbing harness had to be worn along with avalanche transcever, probe, shovel and for the two of us on snowboards we had to carry telescopic poles due to the large amount of flat sections near the end. Here are some pics..




Here I am getting ready to head off.



Im having a small break.

Some of the group ahead of me.


The gang regrouping.


Check out the Cravasses the rescue chopper at the top of the pic.







Flat sections comming up so I have the poles ready.

We ended up in the pub for a few beers after that epic day. If I was let I would have been in bed at 9pm that evening. I was so wrecked.

Hey Mitch Buchannon, can you give us some details on how you organized that off piste trip, i have never tried anything like that and would love to next year, did you have to hire a guide or are there daily excursions, dependant on weather of course? Im maybe thinking of heading Chamonix next season.

Overflow wrote: »

Hey Mitch Buchannon, can you give us some details on how you organized that off piste trip, i have never tried anything like that and would love to next year, did you have to hire a guide or are there daily excursions, dependant on weather of course? Im maybe thinking of heading Chamonix next season.

To be honest I didnt organise a thing. We have friends from Ireland living out there for about 6 or 7 years and one of them took us on it. I had a quick look online and there are lots of companies that offer trips down the Vallee Blanche. As for daily excursions I have no idea if something like that is done.

One thing that we were told was not to take off our skis or snowboards untill our mate told us it was ok to do so. When we were there last year a snowboarder doing the trip took off board and walked in the tracks of the skiers in his group. Apparently he was walking along and fell through a snowbridge into a crevasse and died.:(

The "route" is perfect for skiers due to the long flat sections. For snowboarders its a little more difficult. The day we did it I think I counted 6 snowboarders doing the route. Technically its not too difficult, you just have to be aware of whats going on around you. Keep an eye out for crevasse's etc. As the season goes on the route becomes well "tracked" and you could easily find your way down without a guide but I wouldnt recommend that unless your trained in crevasse rescue, avalanche training/awareness etc.

am i bovvered wrote: »

That Valle Blanche ski run is featured in a book I have "1000 things to do before you die" it looks amazing. My son and I have said we will do it before he goes to college... he is now 14, how experienced do you have to be ? We ski red no problem, blacks we would have to take our time.

Well if he's only 14 you have plenty of time to get ready for it ! As for experience, I wouldnt do it without a qualified quide from the area or someone who has done it a million times if you know what I mean. Its all well and good being able to see the crevases but its the one's you can't see that will catch you out !

If you ski red's comfortably I personally think you'd be fine doing the Valle Blanche. I'd double check with the guide to be sure though. As we were gearing up for our decent there was an American family(2 adults & 2 kids) about to head off with their guide and their youngest girl looked about 10ish :eek: and they bombed off down the glacier no bother.

Hey guys

here is a little video I put together of our season in Whistler 2008/2009. Its 18 mins long so get some popcorn.

There are three Irish riders in there:
Kev
Riona
Printer

Let me know what you all think... oh and watch it right to the end if you can!

Printer

http://vimeo.com/5912278

Thanks dude, most of that was filmed in March around Paddys day as thats when I took a week off work. We had something like 3 metres of snow in March, it was unreal. The rest of the season wasnt too great though, hence the severe lack of powder footage!

Yeah, I love all the butters... so much fun.

Not me!!! My cousin at end of year Rail jam in Stowe, VT last may..

I did take the photo though!!

paulharte wrote: »

good style!!

I hope for the rest of us hes not eleigible for the champs!!

Ha Ha, no he's a Yank.. bastard lives in Vermont.. Handful of mountains on his doorstep.. Unfortunately the skills didnt run in the family..:(

The Nebelhorn in Oberstdorf....

Hey guys,

Check out our ES Ride videos on youtube. Im working as an instructor with them in Zermatt. We'll be uploading trick tip videos soon as well so subscribe to keep an eye on it.

ES Ride Videos

Brilliant dylbert.. Snow look pretty good..

Just back from an amazing 4 days in Hovden, Norway. This is a video i made with my iPhone, nothing spectacular but you get a good sense of speed.

Watch your speakers are not too loud as it was pretty windy.

.... is this going overboard ?:o

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

Skate Banana.. love it!!

It is indeed! I love it, get to use it again in 1 week in Saalbach

am i bovvered wrote: »

its in Mayo
we built an open plan extension in the "ski" style :cool:

Nice work!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93330&id=1368871577&l=2f7a7ea556

Heres some photos from a little jont in Saas Fee Last week

the second pic is a great one !!