Went and had a tour with Waldo yesterday.  We toured up behind Les Hieres for a few hours.  It ended up being an incredibly flat tour, but nice to get out at least.  The high pressure has been sitting over our area for a few days now, and it has been nice to see the sun.  Alan and I went and skied some runs up at La Meije today.  The snow is back to the firm, fast, edgy type of skiing.  It was a zoo getting up the telepherique today though, especially since they closed it from P2 up at 1:00 today.  The reason was good though, they are putting a new piece on that will allow them to have five cabins on at a time rather than three, that'll speed things up.  

Looks like we will be going for a tour tomorrow, not sure for what yet, but I am sure it will be fun.  Stay tuned for more info.

A Fine Snowy Cycle

Miles checking out a snow profile

It has been snowy here in La Grave.  The skiing has been fantastic and we have been getting after it.  The mountain was only open up to the mid-station over the last few days, but even so it has been great skiing.  Today they finally were able to open the top station and it was bluebird!  The snow came in a bit warm, so the powder definitely reminds me of skiing back home in Washington.

  

I also moved into the little village of Les Hieres.  It is small village just up the hill from La Grave.  In the morning I can either catch a ride down or ski down.  Then I hitch back up at the end of the day.  I actually skinned back up the other day, not too bad really.  I am living with two Scottish guys both named Alan and a Scottish women named Sophie.  They are all really great people and I am pretty stoked to be up here.  

This weekend was super busy here in La Grave though, there was a festival called Swallowmania going on.  It is all about demoing big swallow-tail snowboards and all sorts of skis as well.  It is good to try out new skis whenever you get the chance.  I find myself often getting new skis that I haven't tried before, so when they are around it is fun.  I must say it was super nice to have the big demo skis for the heavy powder. 

I skied La Vaute again today with Miles, Liz, Erin, Clayton, and Ida.  It was a great ski.  Between the abnormally long lift line (two hours by the time you got to the top) and me being a little under the weather, that was the only lap I made today.  

So Good...

Here is some video that I have put together from the last couple of days.  It was a battle figuring out how to get this to upload onto Blogger, but I made it happen in the end.

Some Snow and La Freaux

Joe in La Freaux

Had some good new snow last night.  About 5-10 cm depending where you were.  Skied from the 2nd station all day.  The top was closed again, which is fairly normal with storms.  Had a bunch of good turns in the trees though.  It was still fairly low coverage, so you've got to ski with care and watch out for hidden obstacles.  Met up with some of my friends from the states who've been living here the last few season and skied out La Freaux down to town at the end of the day.  We are still counting on a storm to last through the week... Let it snow!

Snowed Out! Via Ferrata it is!

Sebastion climbing the Ladders

It is snowing here in La Grave!  We are all excited, and I am looking forward to seeing this place with a bit more snow.  The telepherique was closed today again.  This time for the wind and snow, so a bit easier to deal with.  So instead I went with a couple of Belgian guys to go do a via ferrata.  It was just down the road a bit and was called Pont D'sarine.  For those of you who don't know what a via ferrata is, it is a route up the rock using metal ladders and a cable to climb.  The ladders are like pieces of rebar in the rock and you wear a harness with two clip-in points in order to secure to the cable.  It is something we don't have in the states.  This was just a short one, about 400 meters or so, but super fun.  I guess they have huge routes throughout the alps, and were originally put in to use for black-market transportation.

France!

Sleepy Little Town of La Grave

So I am in France now, La Grave to be exact.  It was an uneventful trip over.  It is always a bit stressful figuring out the connections to get where you want to be, and the anxiety of waiting for all of your bags to come out on the luggage ramp never seems to get better.  But sure enough, I arrived in La Grave with no problems.  I am staying in the Gite (hostel) at the end of town currently.  It is a nice place.  My biggest issue so far seems to be my lack of any French speaking skills.  I am am used to a France where everyone speaks English, namely Paris.  It has been fun trying though.  I have been spending most of my freetime practicing French in my workbook when not skiing.  

The mountain La Meije, towers above the constantly shaded village of La Grave.  It is over 7000 ft. from the top of the telepherique back down to town.  Not a bad bit of vertical.  So far the snow has been firm, but skiable, and I have had some good days.  It is a place where you can get lost and put yourself in a bad place pretty quickly.  I also made my first speed flying flights yesterday.  I just flew from about halfway down the mountain, wanted to get a bit more dialed in before flying from the top.  The word on the street is that we are looking at a bit of snow come Sunday night, so we are all hopeful.

Brutal Weather!

We are starting a Winter Seminar tomorrow on Mt. Rainier, and it has been snowing non-stop for days around here.  There is more snow on the ground here in Ashford than I have ever seen.  Which, Really could be said for just about everywhere in Western Washington this year.  Pretty amazing.  It should be fun to get up on the mountain.  We are all just a little stressed with the amount of snow that has fallen, whether the road to Paradise will be open on time, the avalanche hazard, and a freezing level that is supposed to jump up to well over 6000 ft!  Who knows though, maybe all the forecasters will be wrong and the weather will break!  It will certainly be great big mountain training!

Space Odyssey 2009

After spending the day hanging tin foil around the house and painting little Christmas tree ornaments into planets the New Years Festivities kicked off for us in Seattle.  It was a fantastic party with astronauts, aliens and monoliths all in attendance.  I will say that I did more decorating for that party than possibly any other party I have ever been a part of, and it was fantastic.  Thanks for sure to Billy, Casey and Selby for hosting!

Me, Mike, and Casey on a mission

Went up to Crystal mountain on Friday as well.  Unfortunately, I had a brutal start to the day.  Highway 410 closed down about 15 minutes prior to me trying to get through due to downed timber apparently.  So I did miss the opening turns of the day.  But it was still super fun to ski with Seth Waterfall and some of the gang at Crystal.  I grew up skiing there, and have amazing memories of the place, but it has been two seasons since I have skied there.  Let me say that I was not disappointed.  Though I may have missed the opening of Chair 6, I was around for North Back's opening.  I am a big fan of that area, and getting to ride Northway rather than having to take the shuttle was worth the extra people skiing there.  It is a little bittersweet knowing that those were probably the only turns I will be making there this season.