Off-piste Skiing & Ski Touring March 2012
A typical month of March have passed, which means you get the full spectrum of off-piste and ski mountaineering experiences. The valley turned to spring and we skied corn snow on south faces, while north faces in altitude still offered powder skiing.
Check out our 4th video episode from skiing in Chamonix in March:
Chamonix Skiing February 2012
From Siberian cold to summer warm, we certainly skied a bit of everything, from dried out powder to full-on spring snow.
The first half of Feb we hardly stuck our noses out the window without wearing double down jackets, boot heating, and full facial protection against the freezing winds. Ice climbing was on in the sun. By the end of the month we went ski touring in t-shirt as the snow slowly transformed to smooth corn.
A month of ski touring and exploring new places with untouched snow in the Mt Blanc massif. Enjoy the 3rd video episode of Chamonix skiing:
The Air Pollution in Chamonix
I sometimes travel through big cities. And sometimes I see people wearing an air-filtering mask over their nose and mouth when walking to work. Shocked I stare at them and think “How can they possibly go on living in a place like this?”
So, where do I live? I live in Chamonix, the outdoor mountain sport capital of the world, and an idyllic town of 12.000 yearly inhabitants at the foot of Mont Blanc. Protected by the queen of the Alps we are well away from stressful and grey big-city-atmosphere, breathing healthy mountain air and value what is really important in life…
…Sure, dream on, that image is about as a false as the smiling doctor on a Lucky Strike package. The sad reality is that it is me who should be wearing the anti-pollution mask!
Off-piste and Ski Touring January 2012
A few seriously snow-loading storms with up to one week high pressures in-between, allowed for a lot of powder skiing off the lifts as well as a good start of the ski touring season.
The general snow cover is better then ever and we especially enjoy all the skiing on the lower half of the mountains down to the valley floor, exploring new variations that are seldom skiable but now full of fluffy snow on a thick base. Second video episode of Chamonix skiing:
Powder Skiing in December 2011
Skipping the pre-season in Chamonix this year and going straight for mid-winter powder skiing during most of December! Since it started it never really stopped. The cold storms with heavy snowfalls have been releasing each other, with just a few clear and warm days in-between.
This was our December 2011 and the whitest Christmas I’ve seen in the Chamonix valley. As the new year has just arrived we are excited and confident that 2012 is gonna be a BIG winter in the Alps!
Ski Touring Trips to Northern Norway – The Best Setup
Lyngen and Northern Norway has become our favourite spring-skiing destination. We like it for many reasons; the quality of the skiing, the solitude, silence and absence of lifts and helicopters, the views, the fishing, the exotic food… The excellent quality of life is enhanced by the cleanliness and absence of air pollution as we know it in central Europe. Over 10 years we have discovered the best ways to experience the ski touring in Lyngen and share it with all levels of ski mountaineers.
Pursuit of The Best Rock Climbing – Leading To Geyikbayiri
So far our search for the highest quality of rock (and of life in general) has been a mix of holiday and work. We have met so many friendly and inspiring people and had so much good food…as always the road is by far more important then the final destination. From Chamonix to Kalymnos via Arco and Finale Ligure we have now reached Geyikbayiri. Here we enjoy the calm country life in the green mountains above Antalya in southern Turkey. A place where you can focus 100% on your climbing and eating of course!
Cordier Pillar on Grand Charmoz
Stretching from the end of the Nantillons glacier to the summit of Grand Charmoz (3445m), this 650m high granite pillar is a big alpine rock classic in Chamonix. Grand Charmoz is one of those prominent peaks that you look up at from the valley every day and dream to stand on top of, and the Cordier Pillar is most defined line up the north-west face. A true alpine environment to approach with great care…
Trad Cragging in Bohuslän
Bohuslän is Swedens foremost climbing area. The solid granite offers smooth vertical walls with clean splitters that makes it itch in the fingers of any crack climber. Trad-climbing areas like this are very rare in Europe. Those continuous finger or hand cracks you occasionally come across in the Alps (after 2h approach and 5 pitches of slab climbing) are lined up on 50-100m high walls, often rising off a lawn with playing children, a pick-nicking family or a few casual-looking cows. Basically, in Bohuslän, life is easy and cragging is tuff…
Sustainable Tourism to Tufa Land Heaven?
Kalymnos is possibly the most popular climbing crag in the world! After 6 days of non-stop climbing on Kalymnos I can tell you why. The easy access to exceptional natural rock formations, equipped by the safety standards of an indoor gym, makes it is so easy to get a lot of top-quality rock climbing done in a stunning environment.
Climbers in cooperation with locals have brought a massive increase to the tourism on Kalymnos. The flexibility shown by local tradesmen and the quantity of high-quality rock climbing achieved is impressive. However, Kalymnos have yet to prove the sustainability of a climbers based tourist economy as well as environmental responsibility.
Ice Climbing In Cogne
I am happy to report that the winter is back to normal i the Alps, but must admit that thanks to the ‘Great Powder Depression’ we have rediscover the dimension of ice climbing after years of continuos skiing. Lyckily we are not far away from the ice climbing paradise of Cogne, an amazing place to take your ice climbing skills to the next level or just have a great holiday! About the ice falls, conditions and impressions from Cogne…
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Climbing Ice Falls Around Chamonix
My idea of ice climbing was that it was a pure hassle and involved a lot of suffering, I completely understood why so few girls were into ice climbing… But this year I gave it a chance, just to understand the mystery of why people practice this intimidating sport. I found out what ice climbing is all about, and in the mean time I got to explore some easy ice climbing spots around Chamonix. Recommendations and current conditions:
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