Tour de Romandie

The Tour de Romandie had a stage finish in Zinal today, won by Italy's Francesco de Bonis. That they were still really racing by the time they passed our house was pretty extraordinary, as was the transformation of the village, with a full-blown media circus, massive lorries with mobile TV studios and enough helicopters filling the air that you might have thought a war had broken out. As a keen cyclist of a non-racing kind, my strongest impression was that there must have been more support cars (and certainly motorbikes) than there were cyclists. It reminded me of the US statistic that more miles are driven in cars carrying bikes than are ridden on them, which I reckon is nearly as silly as driving to a gym to pedal an exercise bike.

On top of the world...

...well, on top of the highest mountain in western Europe at least. I had a call from Nick at Mountaintracks late on Saturday afternoon, asking if I wanted to climb Mont Blanc and then ski down it... on Sunday. So that's what I did, with guides Farmer & Stuart, plus Rick, Tom and James.

The helicopter from Courmayeur got us to about 3800m - roughly the same height as the top of the Aiguille du Midi lift above Chamonix - leaving 1000m to climb, mainly along snowy ridges. We had hoped to skin some of it but in the end just carried our skis due to the conditions. The ski down is immense, through spectacular scenery and in our case through some very deep, very wet snow, following the Bosson glacier, then the river, into the forest and out to the tunnel entrance above Chamonix. A long day, and I'd have preferred a bit of acclimatisation, but a great way to end the season. Though of course you can never be sure when you might get a phone call...

"Now is fog, is not high..."

Those words preceeded a series of ascents in bad weather, all in the cause of a bit of ski touring at the end of a wonderful winter.

We were lucky to be in the able hands of Klemen, our local Slovenian guide for some interesting routes to the top of Triglav and elsewhere. He's not a man to let a storm stop play but be warned that once you have to remove skis and climb on foot, anyone under 2 metres tall won't have a chance of following his footsteps through deep snow.



The weather didn't let up over in the Sudtirol in Italy. Hannes took us through thick fog to the top of Col Bechei (actually a peak, not a col) where we had fleeting glimpses straight down to the valley floor 1800m below, as well as a magical view of Tofane silhouetted against blue sky for a few seconds. Staying in the luxurious Fanes Hutte makes everything all right and short days out meant we managed to squeeze lunch in, as well as tea and supper. And of course we have to go back next year in better weather, to see the scenery - which is some of the Dolomites' finest.

Dam skiing

Two great days out with Nick, Archie and Tara (on telemark) after a week of wind, snow and storm. Day one: lots of powder in Zinal's freeride area, followed by a good run down to the Moiry dam. Day two: the gullies at the top of the Chamois and the north side of Orzival in Grimentz, ending with a picnic and a grassy descent into St Jean, through meadows of crocus and primrose. Not that spring is here quite yet - minus 10 degrees and a snowstorm is on its way, apparently...
Mountain Tracks

The snow's quite deep today...

Playing away from home

It's an easy hour by car to Crans Montana, but yesterday was the first time we managed to visit this season. After the weekend snow there was plenty of powder, much of it easily accessible between pistes. The resort's trademark sunshine warmed things up by lunchtime, but it was still very skiable in the afternoon. And the advantage of a resort where just 30% of visitors ski or board - and many of them being what locals call 'ski-bar' type skiers - means there's little competition for the good stuff. We'll be back.

Zinal Freeride

This weekend has been the free-ride competition in Zinal. Recent snow and blue sky for some of the weekend gave great conditions for riders to show their stuff in some of Zinal's top off-piste terrain.