The winter season of 2016/7 has been the busiest season to date for ski touring on both a professional and personal level including over 35,000 vertical metres of ascent and thanks to some lift accessed routes, more than 40,000 vertical metres of skiing! This season saw 8 clients ski tour for their first time, exploring a number of incredible summits in Valais including the Tête de Barasson, Tête de Ferret, Mont Fourchon, and Mont Telliers to name a few. Each and every trip did not disappoint rewarding hard efforts on the ascents with either fresh powder or perfect spring snow on the descents. Aside from the great skiing, my groups were blown away by the isolated scenery we explored, and the unique venues we stayed in such as the Grand St Bernard Hospice. This season’s groups have promised to return and explore new terrain, but I hope to show more of you my favourite routes whether it’s your first outing or you’re a seasoned pro! I was determined this season to continue discovering new routes and summits and was lucky to complete a number of projects with Jack Lawson, Will Evans, Tom Crothall, Harry Steel, Ben Proudlove and Terry Ralphs. This mixture of guides, ski instructors, and a ski shop manager have all played a huge part in these trips from planning, to navigating and managing objective hazards on the mountain, belaying over technical terrain, and cutting a skinning track on those fresh snow days. All super fit and each with a unique sense of humour, they have been invaluable partners. As unsettled weather approached in early May, it was time to make the most of an opportunity to ski outside of the alps and so joined by Will, Harry, and Jack, we headed to Iceland. Having landed in Keflavik on the southwest corner of Iceland, we travelled by car to the Troll Peninsula on the north coast where we had organised an Air bnb in the small town of Siglufjördur at 66°N (a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle…sort of). Having spent all winter in the Alps meticulously planning projects, pouring over guide books and www.camptocamp.org to find new routes, monitoring the weather and avalanche risk thanks to the SLF White Risk App and my network of guide friends, it was a stark contrast to jump in the car and drive around looking for peaks to climb and lines to ski by sight alone. It was a refreshing change and delivered a real sense of adventure. Thursday 4th May +/- 2014mEither we had a good eye for it, or got lucky because on day one we nailed it finding a mixture of wide open faces for some high speed turns and some tight technical couloirs. Rather excited by our apparent beginner’s luck for route finding in Iceland we went on to summit 4 peaks ascending and descending over 2000m. Although a long day, it was certainly a little easier putting in this effort at sea level as opposed to the 4000m+ high alpine objectives from the preceding weeks. Loki - Summit 1 - 674m Sif - Summit 2 - 810m Ran - Summit 3 - 690m Heoinn - Summit 4 - 810m Friday 5th +/- 2200mSlightly sore from our first day, we loaded up on Will’s porridge and headed out for more of the same, exploring a region slightly further to the west. The initial summit provided a couple of good options with all of us taking slightly different routes. Having reached the bottom we headed up another and while Will, Harry and I refuelled after Jack’s furious pace setting, he had already down climbed a few metres and stumbled across a perfect north facing couloir. The snow was a bit firmer and provided a great descent towards the sea. Having re-climbed the same peak, this time from the north side, we spotted an awesome looking couloir on a peak at the end of a remote valley. Having already climbed 1500m and feeling a little jaded, we decided to ski down to the car, drive up the valley, and “have a think about it…” Getting out of the car it took a little while to find the energy but before we knew it, we had kitted up again and began the long walk in. It was definitely worth it and brought the total vertical for the day to 2250m. Hákambar (832m) Illvlörishnjúkur (895m) Hádegisfjall (595m) Blekkill (776m) By day three the snow had transformed and become slightly heavier, and with increasingly weary bodies we shortened our day to a mere 1500m of up and down on both day 3 and 4. Saturday 6th +/- 1500m, Sunday 7th +/- 1500m, Monday 8th +/- 800mSummit 9 - 834m Summit 10 - 830m On day 5 the weather finally cracked as the huge high pressure system we had been enjoying was interrupted by the arrival of a low pressure system from the west. Despite the changing weather we managed to break through the cloud and enjoy one last peak in yet another area. That night the rain/snow started and we realised just how lucky we had been with our weather for the trip. Left to right: Harry Steel, Will Evans, and Jack lawson On the way back to the airport we stayed a night near to the Þingvellir National Park, visiting the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian Plates as well as the geothermal activity at Geysir and the picturesque Gullfoss Falls. It was great to see some of Iceland’s infamous sights, but what we all took away with us was the magic of the Troll Peninsula. It is an endless expanse of accessible ski touring terrain with lines for everyone from mellow valleys to steep couloirs. Without the objective hazards of crevasses and serac fall to worry about, and with the thick sea level oxygen levels, you are able to travel light and fast achieving so much within a day. We’re not about to give up living in the alps, but I will be 100% be returning to this region in the future both for my own skiing, and to show my clients this ski touring mecca! That’s not it for skiing though! I will be in the UK for a month for a number of sailing projects but from the 11th June, it will be back to the high mountains to attempt a number of high alpine peaks. On the list is the Grand Combin (4314m), Mont Blanc (4810m), and Monte Rosa (4634m) to name a few. Stay tuned to find out how we get on, as long as the weather is on our side! Olly
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The 30th April saw the Verbier lift system turn for the last time, marking the end of a 5 month season, so we headed up to Mont Fort for one last outing skiing the north face of the Bec des Etagnes (3232m). After a relatively dry season, who would have predicted that we would be skiing fresh snow after the passing of a late season storm, and even now the snow continues to fall, settling at low altitudes. For lift pass holders it's not much use but with more snow on the horizon this week, it looks as if ski tourers could enjoy great conditions at altitude right into the month of June. Before we go into greater detail, let's look back at some of the highlights of winter 2016/7... December was a great mix of private clients and race training for local schools. As ever it was a pleasure to see so many regulars return and continue to develop their performance both on and off the piste. Keen to get the ski touring legs back after 6 months of sailing, I headed off to the Breithorn (4164m) in the Monte Rosa Massif with Ben Proudlove and Johanna Obermoser. The combination of a heavy bag and climbing at an altitude of more than 4000m was the perfect way to start our preparations for the long list of spring projects I had in mind! Ben and Johanna on the summit of the Breithorn (4164m) January, aside from one corporate group with Kando Events (www.kandoverbierevents.com), was reserved for long weekends of coaching with groups from the UK. It's the quietest period of the season with low temperatures and great snow, and with the kids back at school it's the perfect time to come and work on your technique, away from the distractions of a family ski holiday. The progress of each group was immense and I'm looking forward to welcoming them back in 2018. February was as hectic as ever with a total of 27 days of coaching and a 2000m+ ski tour in fresh powder with Tom Crothall on my day off. Once again it was a great mix of one-on-one coaching, group lessons with amazing kids, and off piste guiding. A definite highlight was my week coaching the Freeride World Tour Club. The video below shows the incredible level of talent these kids have. It was business as usual as March and April arrived, but with warmer weather and a more stable snowpack, ski touring became the main focus with both clients and friends. A number of clients enjoyed their first ski tours ranging from introductory day tours to multiday trips in the high mountains. Exploring the Grand St Bernard region with Neil and Ay Lin There was plenty of time for some of my own projects this season with a mixture of long sustained routes, technical couloirs, and 4000m+ high alpine peaks. I've put together a series of short videos that offer an insight into these days. I was lucky enough to share these adventures with Jack Lawson, Tom Crothall, and Will Evans and look forward to many projects in the future.
Verbier may have now closed but we're not done skiing yet! While we wait for the fresh snow to transform and consolidate to open up more technical and high altitude routes, we are off to Iceland! The plan at the moment is to fly to Reykjavík and then head to Siglufjörður to explore the Troll Peninsular. It will be a chance to explore a new part of the world and do some reconnaissance for an expedition in 2018 with clients. Follow our Facebook and Instagram to see how we get on! Fresh from a week in Iceland I'll be heading back to the UK for some sailing with my regulars as well as running some coaching for Sailing Logic (www.sailinglogic.co.uk) before returning home to Verbier in June for some more high altitude skiing and an attempt on the Matterhorn with Stanislav Beremski.
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