Season drawing to a close

Well what a great season its been. BASS Chamonix has gone from strength to strength growing each year and now after five years we are well established in the Chamonix Valley. We would like to thank everyone who has skied with us this season and wish you all a great summer.

Today was another beautiful sunny day and we took the opportunity to take a few photos. The action shots are of Shona and I in our respective ski school uniforms (provided by Salomon). Next season we will have the same uniforms as will our new “branch” in Megeve – BASS Megeve.

Day 5 & 6 advanced backcountry skiing course

Days 5 & 6 were led by Robbie Fenlon. Now was the time to put the ski technique of the past few days into action. 

Day 5 was spent at Brevent/Flegere with a short tour between the two resorts; Col du lac Cornu and Col de la Gliere. This involved some good uphill kick turn practice.

Day 6 was back to Grands Montets with some skiing off the top bin and then some off piste lower down. The group also did some further practice on avalanche rescue by burying rucksacs with transceivers in them making the searching more realistic.

All in all this was a very good course with some challenging skiing  and lots of skills work. Lets hope next season provides as much snow as we have had this season.

Day 4 Advanced Backcountry Skiing Course in Chamonix

Day 4 was back at Le Tour/Balme ski area. This was another “ski instructor” led day and there was a strong technical focus during the day. We looked at the three steering elements in more detail while once again revisiting and building on some of the tasks we had done earlier in the week.

The sonw was once again challenging due to the warm weather. We skied the Combe de Vormaine around 11.30 am as it softened. The wall at the top was in reasonably good condition but the ski out after that was definitely combat skiing. Here are some photos from the day;

Yvette skiing the headwall of the Combe de Vormaine

Adv Backcountry Team April 2009

Jude practices her jump turns in Les Jeurs

After a coffee/drinks break we did smoe further work on “pivoting” in the air or jump turns and then skied off piste into the Les Jeurs area. Again the top of the run was both steep and in reasonably good condition. The route back through the forest was difficult particularly as there was less snow than a couple of days earlier..

Everyone has skied well over the four days and made some good progress with their skiing. This was my last day with the group and we all enjoyed a beer back at Le Tour in glorius sunshine. The team now have a further two days with Mountain Guide Robbie Fenlon and will be going high tomorrow as it is forecast to be another hot day.

Day 3 Advanced Backcountry Skiing Course

This was the group’s first day with Robbie Fenlon (High Mountain Guide) from Wilderplaces. On some of our backcountry days we double up with guide and instructor and today I went along as well. 

The domain of the High Mountain Guide includes glaciers (which is outwith the remit of ski instructors) and today we planned to do some skiing off the top of Grands Montets. After an initial run from the top we then stopped for an early coffee/lunch and booked another top bin for miday. This time we skied out left onto the glacier and kept going as far left as we could right through all the seracs and crevasses (everyone was fully equiped for glacier travel). We then skinned up the end of the Argentiere glacier with some of the most stunning views you will find anywhere in the alps.

After a stop for refreshments we then skied all the way back to Lognan (2800m down to 1900m). This was another good day and it was great to get well away from the pistes and other people. Its back to Le Tour tomorrow so please check back to see how the group’s skiing performances are developing.

Day 2 – Advanced Backcountry Skiing Course in Chamonix

Day 2 was at the Le Tour/Balme ski area and led by myself (Derek Tate). The day began with a warm up ski on piste revisiting some of the drills from day 1 and adding in some edge control skills.

Then it was time to start touring and really getting into the backcountry. At the top of the Charmillion chair we put skins on and skinned up to the refuge de Balme. It was very quiet here and the perfect place to do some transceiver practice. After a demo from me, everyone paired up and practiced searching for each others transceivers (buried in plastic bags).

We then skinned up to the Arolette and had a great ski down into the Les Jeurs area. We also took the opportunity to get some video footage which we reviewed back at the Charmillion restaurant.

You can watch all the footage on www.youtube.com

The rest of the afternoon was then spent skiing some off piste runs on the front side of Le Tour. All in all a very good days skiing with a nice little tour. Roll on day 3…

Day 1 Advanced Backcountry Report

Day 1 of the advanced backcountry was a warm and sunny day at Grands Montets. After meeting the group and getting kit sorted at Grands Montets Sports (everyone was required to have avalanche safety kit – transceiver, shovel & probe) we headed up the cable car to Longnan (thank goodness for priority lines as the chairlift was not working). 

The snow was very firm at the start of the day so we stayed on piste intially until things started to soften. Our group this week are all experienced skiers and some have mountaineering backgrounds as well. Joan, Orla, Yvette, Henry, Kirstie and Jude make up our team of six. Day 1 was the group’s first day of instruction with myself (Derek Tate)

The snow gradually softened and we skied more and more off piste runs with some of the best skiing in the afternoon off the Bochard and the Herse – skiing the Canadian Bowl and the Italien Bowl. We had a great descent from the top of the herse chair down to the refuge de Lognan and on down to the Piere a ric and right to the bottom (by now the bumps were nice and soft). We were joined in the afternoon by Robbie Fenlon (Mountain Guide). This allows Robbie and I to both meet the group on day 1 and plan the week ahead.

One of the final activities of the day was to make the group more familiar with their transceivers. While the risk today was very low (just 2) and the places we skied were very safe we went through some basics; group check and two way function check. As we are planning to do go a little further off piste tomorrow (at Le Tour) it is important that everyone knows how to use their avalanche safety kit. We will be doing further practice tomorrow morning… 

Check back tomorrow for day 2’s adventures.

Final backcountry course of the season starts Monday

Our final backcountry course of the season starts on Monday with and intro meeting on Sunday evening. This course is our advanced course and with the snow conditions still very good in the Chamonix Valley this should be a great week. Check back here for regular updates on the course plus photos from the week.