Mont Caly Pano

This is one of the first pano's i've done, this was on the hike with simon's family on Mont Caly in Les Gets, not a great pano, but gives you a good idea of whats goin on

I believe that the large mountain on the left is Mont Blanc, highest in france at 4807m or 15,770ft.

Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving....second video blog (cause the first one didn't work)


So Happy Thanksgiving to all the family, and to all the people here who let me in on their little celebration, Lee, Allison, all the kids on the 4th floor at the Alps house, and those darned canadians.

New Shred Stick

There was a thrift store sale, which here they call "charity shops", specifically for snow stuff, however i missed the first three days, so i got some pretty slim pickings, there was one monoski and 4 snowboards left. so for 25€ this is going to be my new splitboard!!


It was either this or a huge thing called a Clem Surf, it had a Huge fat pointy powder nose, but it was pretty beat up, i'm hoping that once i take off those hardboot binders, this thing won't weigh 20 lbs.

Monte Caly

With the English weekend, we spent Sunday afternoon hiking up to Monte Clary, which is the other half of the Les Gets resort. Since there had been a warm spell, the roads were clear enough to get up to this little village on the ridge and walk the rest of the way. the village had maybe 10 houses and one bar/restaurant. It was not a bad hike at all, and the sun was out and it was pretty warm. once again, this is only a handful of the photos i took.

Not a bad view to star the hike off, actually I don't know why i went any higher.
The whole family, John, Dorothy, Jo, Simon, Sarah, Jasper & Cleo
Jasper & Cleo running amok
Simon's dad John very content with his Sunday afternoon
Simon and Jasper
Simon and Jojo
Once again, why did we keep walking
Oh by the way, all this terrain is apparently skiable in the winter, so cheers. here's a bench marked for the snow, so you can have a nice view halfway down the hill
Don't remember what we were talking about here, but I'm assuming we were looking for the Chalet on the other side of the valley
And I have no idea what was in that direction
Admiring the view again
Simon & Sarah, same thing
It wasn't exactly the easiest hike ever
Once again, enjoying what you've left behind
Always pointing somewhere
Meanwhile the dogs are searching for moles and mice, they caught one in the end, sorry i wasn't close enough to get a good shot though
Little water for the dogs, but I'm pretty sure that snow dehydrates you, oh well
Jasper and Cleo being pretty stoked on the break
This is where they all gave upSimon and I kept going
this is as close to the to pas we got, we were 1 crest away, and about 300 ft. below the summit
Sarah and Jo, found them where we left them
The photographer has to have his picture taken
Newt and Harold's going international, didn't you get the memo?
Glamour Shot, I forgot to say we brought a windmachine with us, or I could crack a joke about Sonic the Hedgehog
A Mum being a Mum, and carrying all our stuff
Another pause on the way down, the siblings
Had to jump a little creek at the bottom, ACTION SHOTS!!!! blah!
Most remote bar i've ever seen
Just a man with his dog in the mountains, not bad
Not a bad finale


The hike was rad, the weekend was amazing, and I had a great time. Thanks again to the Clinchs.

Les Gets

So I spent this weekend in Les Gets with Simon's parents, workin on my English slang, my English humor and my English Appetite. We arrived Saturday afternoon and walked around a little bit, had dinner with Simon's parents and then headed down to the local pretend Irish pub run by an Englishman full of French people, weird. got up late the next day and went for a hike. Had another amazing dinner before heading home again. I took over 250 photos this weekend, so if you want to see more, just ask. but these are the best.

This is the chalet from the road as you arriveThis is the 3 story chalet, the appartments are cozy and open right to the slopes, the lines above are for a gondola and the chair behind is a six pack.

This is a lake close to the chalet, the buildings on the other side are apparently a school, not a bad place.This is the view from the "porch" the gondola tower and runsThis is the six pack as the sun goes down and the clouds creep up to town for the night, the clouds move in and out of the valley all day, it's like a tide and depending on the temps above and below, the clouds move up and down, into or out of the valley.This is the view at nightThis is Monte Clary, the hill on the other side of the valley, more on Monte Clary laterThis is just home everything looks in the morning with the fog and everythingAnd this is the gondola tower, with all the morning fog and a little bit of backlighting

Same thing but a exposed a little better
Went to put my camera way but i ran into myself
despite the warm looking photos, it was not warm, actually quite chilly with the wind
Every meal was like this, except when it was really cold
Soaking in the evening rays, trying to get warm
This is just as we left, the fog creeping up the valley, the sun setting and the stars starting to show, hopefully those chairs will move soon

All in all a very stellar weekend, got to spend some time relaxing taking lots of photos, walking around in the frosty grass, and drinking tea and saying cheeky.

Thanks to Dorothy, John and Bobo

ze rock and roll

Never thought i would be so stoked to hear a horrible old french man with long hair and leather pants singing iron maiden, acdc, lots of Sting and the Police, Ozzy Osbourne, and a little bit of U2.

heers to french men who really can't sing in english, but make you feel at home anyway.

Sante.

Day 1, Tignes

FINALLY!!! the first day of the season, i haven't started the season this late since i left Idaho. So yesterday Simon and i went from Chambery to Tignes, google maps link here. It's usually a two hour drive, we got a little lost and spent some time sightseeing the street signs in Moutiers. got there eventually around 10, got our gear together and shredded until 2:45.

A little info on Tignes, it's like France's hood, so it is a glacier, there was lots of skier racers, and a small public park, but there was some fresh. you had to upload just like hood, up to the higher part of the mountain which was glacier, however you uploaded on a Funiculaire, which is like an underground tram, uphill rail car, very cool, very spaceagey. up at the glacier location there was a 60 person tram, a 3 pack chair, a 4 person, and about 6 t-bars. HERE is some info on Tignes, look in the top right for the button to make it English.

Simon at the lodge at the upper area, after taking the funiculaire, doing an impromptu wax scraping.

This is the lower Tram house, the glacire is just behind the Tram, the top of the 4 pack is on the left. the Tram went up to 3,500m which is 11,300 ft. and this is one of the highest resorts in france. This is the 4 pack and a view of the surrounding range.

This is the 45 on the right, looking down at another rail and a multi-table on the leftPicking up where above left off, the multi table on the right, the park continues to the left. The park was up high on the glacier, 6 tabletops from 5 to 45 ft., a spine, a big down rail, a flat-down rail, 2 flat rails and a flat box of death, semi-soft conditions=FUN DAY!!!

Best part!!! ROPE TOW PARK!!!! ha ha aha aha NO LINES!!! tons of lapsThis is my shred mate, Simon we had a blast, carving and slashing and riding t-bars together, which if you haven't done it before is a very intimate affair. if you have personal space issues, don't ride a t-bar.

Yours truly, front nose, thanks for the hat parker! wasn't really on form with the jumps, i was scurbbing all my cork 5's and nothing was workin, so this is all you get today. i promise you all crail photos soon.

All in all a fun day, there was enough fresh snow to make some "pow" turns, and all the racer kids were too hyped on the sweet groomers and gates to notice that the rest of the mountain was in good shape. and a little time in the park, tryin to learn words like "dropping", "switch", "hey old skier guy stop shavin the lips!!!" and "get your kid out of here or i'll spray him!" in French. Will be headed up more next weekend and will be posting more photos.