Messages posted by : powderhound
:lol: ...boot-deep, light powder this morning... I found something else to do! Home tomorrow :cry: |
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This week I will be mainly riding one of these beasties... you can tell by the name which market they're aiming at!
171cm length with a 14m turn radius it's a very turny ski, with a waist of 71mm underfoot. Feels fairly stiff so needs good foot pressure to get the best of it. Very light going edge-to-edge and loves to be powered up - definitely not a ski for dawdling... Felt great on piste but quite hard work on chopped-up crud and lumpy off-piste - particularly at lower speeds. No chance to try it in powder but I suspect the relatively narrow waist (by today's standards) may compromise it a little there. Don't think I was skiing it aggressively enough yesterday (particularly in the crud) so going to have more of a play around today. Anyone else skiied this, or the earlier Dobermann? Powder - er, Pistehound |
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Skiied the afternoon; overall pretty much Spring Skiing conditions.
La Balme (highest part of the ski area - up to 2600m) is in good condition and coverage is complete. Pistes are very good - a little firm in places but no ice (in the afternoon at least). Off Piste is firm and highly variable - some crust in places, other pitches quite lumpy but generally reasonably smooth and plenty of interesting terrain to have fun with. The lowest runs (back to town at 1500m) are variable - a fair amount of very slushy snow with a lot of bare patches coming through on the very lowest slopes. Still well covered above about 1700m though. Rain in the town last night, with a forecast freezing level of 1700m, should have improved the upper slopes further but won't have helped the runs home. For the latest official report see the j2ski Snow Report for La Clusaz. Powderhound |
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Not really skiing but... sitting here in La Clusaz and just paid the grand sum of 15 Euros for 10 hours Wifi access via Orange France (about one pound an hour).
This morning I was sat in Gatwick paying T-Mobile 75p every 10 minutes - and I'm a ****ing customer of theirs! Yek. Anyone got any good deals on roaming Wifi? Powderhound |
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Agree with all bennyboy's suggestions - with possible exception of Val D (overrated IMHO), and you must add:-
Les Arcs - some truly awesome Black Runs, huge ski area and some very serious off-piste possibilities. Alagna - unspoilt and wild mountain area, quiet apres - a place for people who ski, really ski. But pretty much anywhere is the right resort with the right snow! Powderhound |
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A stunning first descent from Norwegian Terje Haakonsen :-
:shock: Powderhound |
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56. Roasting said rodent over small camp fire. 57. Roasting marshmallows / sausages if you don't fancy rodent. 58. Removing ear-wax (don't try this at home - and it does help if you have big ears). 59. Picking up litter. Powderhound |
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My bro gave me an excellent book for Xmas - "Avalanche" by Robert Bolognesi.
In a handy pocket-book size (and supplied with a polythene dust-jacket) it's a comprehensive, but easy-to-understand, reference guide to avalanches and the associated risks. After an introduction, the main part of the book is devoted to Risk Assessment and it's two aspects of Probability of Avalanche and Risk of Damage (to property and to people, of course). Some 50 pages are devoted to Risk Assessment, ranging from evaluation of the Snow Pack (both from the preceding forecasts and from observation) through to assessing the experience of your companions. The fact that half the book is devoted to Risk Assessment helps to drive home the importance of Avoidance - the absolute best way to survive an avalanche is not to be in it in the first place. The remainder of the book covers Risk Reduction and includes coverage of Transceiver use and search procedures. Highly Recommended! And if that's not enough, the author has a similar handbook entirely devoted to "Snow"! If you don't know your Sintering from your Settling (I didn't) then this is the book for you! 8) Anyone else got any good books on this? Powderhound |
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