Verbier 3*

Verbier

So the comp ended up being a blow out.

Conditions were good, there was a bunch of new slightly heavy snow and I picked a fun line that I was sure I could nail.

The standard of skiing was reasonably high, although the venue was a hard one to pick anything mind blowing in.

I had a decent cliff right out the starting gate which I aired and stomped perfectly. That was followed by a couple of fast pow turns.
Things were going well until I got caught up in some heavier snow and did a forward roll.
The lamest crash I have ever had in a comp.

The Venue

That all meant I was lower than I should have been coming into the tighter more technical mid section with two drops close together out the bottom. I was looking forward to skiing the rest of my line so I continued on.
However I ended up creating more sluff than anticipated which meant I aired off the first cliff of two slightly blind and way back seat. That ended with me hot tubing on landing and taking a rock to the butt.

I was skiing on the Collective 105 and in hindsight I think I should have been on the Cyclic 115 due to the amount of snow.

Not the best start to the comp season.
The positive was I got to ski some pretty damn nice pow!

Here is the link to a short pow edit from my first couple of days back on snow - https://vimeo.com/84524151

Europe

Le Chable

This season I am changing things up a touch.
Instead of following the American qualifier tour, like I have the last couple of years I have opted for the Euro comps instead.
I am currently based in Verbier and will be travelling between Switzerland, Austria and Andorra to compete. The plan is to do four 4 star events and two 3 stars.

I have had 2 days skiing here so far and all I can say is this place is big and gnarly.

This trip has been a totally new experience for me so far. Its the first time I have ever been to Europe let alone a to a country that speaks a completely different language to my own.
The language thing OK, It seems like you can mostly get by only knowing hello and thank you, as a lot of the time shop staff or customer service types can speak English well enough to get you sorted. However you gain mad brownie points if you approach them with poorly spoken French greetings off the bat.

First day on snow - Bruson
Photo - Charlie Lyons

The terrain here is amazing, its the kind of place where almost everything you can see from the lift you can ski.
However, it is totally up to you not to die. The majority of epic off piste terrain is not patrolled, I'm not exactly sure the reasons why but that seems to be the case. They bomb and ski cut anything that is likely to slide onto a groomed piste or into a building or lift station, but everything else is left to its own.
This season the snow pack is screwed.
Early season Hoar frost has meant that the super low layers are mighty unstable, so basically the avy danger is at considerable whether there is new snow or not.
So on top of worrying about the stability of the snow that fell over night, you have to take into consideration that the snow underneath might also be unstable.
To be honest, I feel slightly out of my depth. Generally speaking I can figure out how to deal with new snow stability (at least enough to get myself down) but the added old snow factor is something that I have not had to deal with before.
The word of the winter seems to be play it safe. And that's what I plan to do.

Scoping lines @ Mont Gele

My first comp starts tomorrow, Its the 3* event that wraps up the Verbier Freeride week.
This is another first for me as I have never competed in a comp in my first week of skiing for the season.
As a result of that I'm more nervous than I usually would be coming up to a comp. Even still I'm reasonably confident Ill be able to put down something fun.

The Venue

Marmot

Just Got My New Marmot Swag For 2014

For the last 2 years my outerwear and glove sponsors have been SOS and Hestra through Snowsport In Australia.
They have helped me a whole lot in the time that we have been together, the gear they have supplied me has meant more of my own money can go directly towards travelling internationally to train and compete in the FWQ.
Recently Snowsport have decided to change their outerwear supplier, so now seemed like an appropriate time to part ways.
I wish them all the best with their new products.

Following on from that I will now be skiing for Marmot through the NZ importers Allsports.
I am stoked to be working with Marmot, their gear is tech as heck and they stock some mighty nice colours!!
And it fits in nicely with Snowcentre who are a Marmot reseller.


I just received my new Marmot kit and that has me way too excited about going skiing in Europe!
Just a month and a half to go, and until then the gear is in the cupboard while I keep myself occupied with other wilderness adventures!

Oh and I also went to the Hooker Valley in Mt Cook National Park with my Mum on the way back from the North Island the other day.
Here are some photos.

Cloud Proof

Mount Sefton Hanging Glaciers

Mum

Hooker Glacier

Hooker Glacier Lake Ice

The Girdlestone, Turoa

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to ski the Girdlestone.
Last week I finally had the chance.
Its not like its a particularly out of the way climb, or even a particularly difficult decent for that matter, I've just never had anyone to do it with, nor have I had the gear. So until now, its just sat there looking at me.

The mission came about whilst chatting to Cam McKay about various other ski adventures. The forecast was banger and he said he had some spare gear, so that was that.


The hike up called for a bit of extra kit, although it wasn't straight ice, the rime was enough to make you lose your footing in plastic soled ski boots.
So we donned our crampons and had at it.

The going was safe until the last leg of the hike when, as we had anticipated the heat of the afternoon was causing ice to release and fall down from the rock walls above us.

For the last section of the climb swapped ski poles for our axes and swiftly scuttled up under the rocks to the safety of the high lookers left saddle (I don't know the name).

We decided it was too sketchy to continue right to the summit with the amount of ice falling, as the last section is basically fully rimed rocks.
So we took a moment to take in the view, clicked in and dropped in from the saddle.

Although the snow was pretty difficult for the first few turns, it eased quickly and I was able to open it up a bit and enjoy the run.

Its nothing compared to what real mountaineers tackle, but for me it was a great intro into climbing with axe and crampons, as well as observing first hand how the rise and fall of the temperature can affect the snow and ice around you.

Girdlestone vid

Looking off the back of the Girdlestone

Looking towards the Turoa summit from the saddle

Cam with Turoa behind

Girdlestone summit

About to drop in

Chill Fail Video

By far the best bits from the Chill comps this year.

http://vimeo.com/74796423#signin

NZ Open

This year the open got gnarly.

The comp was held in the Alta Chutes at the Remarkables, as it has been for the last few years.

Alta Chutes

The venue had a fresh 10 to 15 cm of snow all over, which meant most of the lines on the main part of the venue were on.

For what ever reason people were feeling extra huckable this year.
I guess it would have to be a combination of fresh snow and the new freestyle movement within big mountain.

Although it always spices things up when you get the big dogs like Charlie lyons and Sam Smoothy over to play.

Photo By: Pete Oswald

Most of the competitors were throwing either big tricks or big cliffs, often attempting both together.
On the outside that sounds awesome, but when you look at the crash rate you have to wonder what happened.

Something like 16 out of 22 crashed, I guess people were just pushing their limits.

You only need to listen to Cam Craigheads commentary in the official comp edit below to understand what I mean:

NZ Open Big Mountain Finals Video

Photo: Neil Kerr

I tend to think I ski very safe in comparison to a lot of other skiers and even I got carried away in this specific comp.

I dropped the biggest cliff I ever have in a competition right into a chute which looking back on it had a fair amount of risk involved, but I was confident I could nail it.
And I did.

Although I stomped my line and finished my run, I took both knees to the face of the big cliff.
The impact made my vision green for a minute or so and although I don't believe I concussed myself I was pretty out of it for most of the afternoon.

I feel like a got lucky there.

Photo: Charlotte Percle

My run awarded me 3rd spot with a score of 8.55 just below Sam Smoothys 8.95.

Greg Tuscher took out the mens division with a mad dog gnarly run and a score of 9.55!
A pleasure to watch.

I feel like I am constantly achieving the goals I set for myself.

Although tricks are becoming a bigger part of the sport, It still seems that good ol fashion big mountain lines can get you on a podium.

Photo: Neil Kerr

Photo: Neil Kerr

Temple Basin Big Mountain

Photo Cred: Mark Bridgwater

The second competition of the Chill Series was held at Temple Basin, in Arthurs pass.

This trip was my first time skiing at Temple Basin and I can honestly say my mind melted.

The terrain surrounding the lift access is some of the most epic I have seen, anywhere.


Day one of competition started slow.
Due to and unstable and extremely difficult to ski snow pack, the venue was moved from the planned
location not long before we were due to start.

Photo Cred: Ace Media

The day one venue ended up being pretty limited, so I found It hard to pick a line that I was really excited to ski.
Although the bottom section was an on course inspection the top was visual only.
I scoped two lines which I realised were impossible by the time I was at the top.
I had to improvise and pick a new line from the top, so my run was not quite as exciting as I had hoped it to be.

Even still skied it solid and fast and was placed 4th at the end of the day.

Day two was held on the same venue and I managed to pick a better bigger line that I was more interested in skiing.

Everything went to plan, I skied fast without hesitation and I stomped all my airs clean.
I won the day and that put me into 1st place overall, my first Chill Series win!

Official comp video from Chill:
https://vimeo.com/73722962#at=0


Results at the bottom of the page.

Excerpt from day 2 write up up on Chill:

The men’s div saw no shortage of amazing skiing and huge airs, some a little more successful than others. Stand out runs on the day go to Sam Lee, Nick Pascoe and Jamesa Hampton who all sent solid airs with bomber landings!

Cam McDermid continued his good form and was once again back on the CHILL Series podium. Jeremy hunt had another solid run but Sam ‘Ibex’ Lee crushed it and took out top spot on the podium, much to the crowd’s delight.

I think it is important to thank Stu and Chill for running these comps and giving the Kiwi Big mountain community somewhere to test our skills.
Without them NZ big mountain skiing might not have reached the impressive standard it is at now.

Good job guys!