Spring Like

A long settled spell with plenty of sunshine has graced the Alps recently so it's been pretty easy to get out the door and enjoy the almost spring like conditions. Again the downhill skis have been put away and the touring kit has been out as well as the crampons which is rather odd for me these days.

The Berard Valley

Given the high pressure and a quiet Aiguille Du Midi lift I managed to get some Cosmiques Arete laps in on my lunch breaks , once alone in an hour and the following day with Guillem taking it easy but still managing to stop and waste plenty of time enjoying the views just below the little wall move. It was great to be back up the midi doing some very chilled out climbing on the arete which only had a couple of people on it but were easily passed. The legs were feeling good but having not been at altitude since Colorado in the summer my lungs were feeling it a little on the first push up to the abseil but thereafter all was good. Probably the best way to spend a lunch break anywhere in the world I reckon.

Lunch canteen view

Works been pretty busy and having just the one day off a week has meant less up hill training at Les Houches but I have still managed some pretty decent tours on my days off. I headed up Mont Buet leaving the car around 6am. The plan was to try and traverse back to my house in Les Houches but the weather didn't look too tempting from the summit so I just did the usual ski tour up and down Buet. It's still a reasonable 1700m climb from car to summit. The final 300m or so on Buet somehow always seem to nail me. Even in summer when running up I always feel properly drained on the last stretch to the summit. It is not exactly high at 3100m well not high considering what's around but something always happens to me up there and I find it pretty hard on the last stretch. Anyway I was still 3hrs 30mins car to car and given most of the snow on the descent was horrible I was pretty happy with that. I then got home had some food and went for a skin up Les Houches with Guillem who was on his lunch break. Probably the slowest and worst I have ever felt on the climb up there but I did finish the day having done nearly 3000m of up hill work.

Summit of Mt Buet looking to the Mont Blanc Massif

So the sun keep shining and on my next day off it was looking all too good for a bash at going from Les Houches to the hamlet of Buet over the Aiguille Rouge. I drove up to Flatiere at 1300m and left the car at 7am. I headed up onto Aiguilette Des Houches at 2300m just as the sun peaked over the Dru which was pretty special. I then skied down a couple of hundred metres , skins on again and up to Brevent I went. From here a skied over to Col Brevent and headed down the backside skiing some really nice snow until I got down to the bridge where you cross in summer to get to Refuge Anternne. I stayed on the right bank of the gorge and skinned up towards the Chalets de Villy. Skinning up this valley which is one of my favourite summer runs was amazing. Nobody else around and the sun blazing down was excellent and I was loving it.

Sunrise on Aiguilette Des Houches

I stopped here for about 20 minutes just to enjoy the views and having a look around at the abundance of other tours around here to do in spring. It was then up to Col Salenton at around 2500m and down to Buet to meet Guillem who had kindly come to pick me up on his lunch. Probably my favourite ski tour I have done here with my first Paradiso mission coming a close second. It wasn't the best snow ever especially coming down off Salenton but the whole day and weather was just great. It was 30km with about 2500m of ascent and I was done in 5hrs 34mins. The snow is coming back this week but all I can think of is more long tours in spring like this one.

Deserted

Nearly at Col Salenton

I have managed one run this month! One lunch I went for 12km to Lavancher and back. Nothing amazing but I felt good. Lungs were going well but the legs felt a little tight. Normal I guess for this time of year but I really do need to start getting more runs in especially next month with Transvulcania only just over 2 months away. I am getting more and more excited for summer and back to the trails and races. Every time I look at my race schedule I have a double take. I honestly am unsure how I am going to afford it all but if it means living on pasta and tomato sauce all summer then so be it.

Trails running well to Lavancher

Transvulcania(Canary Islands) , The Rut(Montana) , Tromso(Norway) and The Bear(Utah) are huge races for me. All four of them I would love to do pretty well in , which is a new feeling for me as normally I just want to finish. It's going to be great getting to see new places. The past two years my focus has always been on my hundred miler and just to get it finished and that will never change. My main goal this year is still The Bear 100 however having also entered the other epic races I feel pretty driven to really give them a good go this season and just see what I can do. It's still in the back of my mind that I am only doing one 50 miler this year before my hundred and I am still unsure if it is a good idea to have it 4 months before my hundred , I would prefer it to have been 2 months. I did have the chance to run one in July but I really want to run The Rut and Tromso so I decided to do races I really want to run rather than just enter another 50 just for the sake of it. Who knows if this will work but I feel I know what I have to do to be successful in completing the Bear in September.

Anyway enough of this running chat for now , I am off for some Les Houches laps........

The Pow was fun...now let's Tour

Well the snow finally decided to fall in abundance at the tail end of January so the skinny skis went away for a little while and made way for some brilliant pow skiing. A trip to Alagna in Italy was well worthwhile as well as a jaunt over to the tiny Champex(still my favourite place to go for pow tree skiing) and also the usual trips up to the midi mid station(Plan D'Aiguille) the scene of the best skiing I have ever had when last season myself , Lorne and Graham pretty much lived up there for weeks skiing untracked powder day after day. The excitement of the fresh snow has slowly eased off and I now find myself back on the rando(ski touring) set up.

Ahhh Powder

And a bit of a navigation error with Stokes!

Dont' you just hate queues on pow days?
Yeah us too, that's why we ski Plan D'Aiguille. No hassle at all.

The rando fitness seems to taking shape and I am pretty effortlessly blasting out Les Houches climbs and Brevent home run ascents in reasonable enough times and more importantly not really feeling it in my legs once at the top. I ain't really one for number crunching but here goes... I am usually up the Brevent home run in 45-47mins but I have never really given it a proper all out go to see just how quick I can get up it. Les Houches I can do the climb(880m) and descent in a total of 1hr 4mins sticking to the piste and not taking the forest track which is actually in great condition right now if you want a more scenic way up and also if your going up during daylight hours to avoid the skiers coming down. I usually head up Les Houches in the evenings after work so just stick to the piste which on the way down if it has just been groomed is an absolute joy for descending with the headtorch on.

More Horrendous powder queues at Champex

Loriaz Chalets

I have also been up to the Loriaz chalets yet again. I love this area as it's always really quiet and safe to go alone so it's a place I frequent often this season on bad weather days. It's a really mellow skin all the way up and I can crack out a pretty good near jog on the skis for most of this ascent.

Watching the World Skimo Champs in Verbier.
Very very impressive stuff at the sprints.

Myself and Graham had a great lunch break the other day and managed a fairly rapid Crochue Berard Traverse from Flegere to Buet in 1hr 14mins. Timed from Floria drag lift to Grahams car which we had stashed the night before in Buet. The Crochue Berard is a very easy but a nice beginners ski tour in the Aiguille Rouge which I have done too many times to remember over the years. I wouldn't do this kind of tour now on my days off as I prefer to do bigger things but cracking it out during work lunch hours isn't really too bad! The Aiguille Rouge is a place I have explored a lot over the years in the summer when out running and now I have my very light touring set up I am all ready for stable weather to now go and explore more of it on my skis.

Some/most days I like to cruise but occasionally I get
the urge to have a bloody good go at it. Today was
one of those days.

I love the midi side of the Cham valley but the Aiguille Rouge is so often overlooked by those who want the steep and the dangerous which is fine by me as it means the Rouge is nice and quiet if you pick the none popular tours. I quite like the no glaciers , no seracs , no crevasses aspect of the Rouge. The only real danger up in there is the Avalanche risk that you get anywhere and is all part of skiing. Nobody is invincible no matter how much you know about avalanches but I just find the Rouge so much less hassle to go away for a day touring. I will still be going up the midi this season for sure but at the moment I just want long link ups in the Aiguille Rouges so long as the weather allows.

WARNING! Tights.

I stuck on my trail shoes the other night and actually went out for a bit of a leg stretch. Nothing major. Just an out and back by the river from my house to Cham. It's about 16km and all went fine. The track isn't great right now with lot's of refrozen footsteps to concentrate on but it will soon flatten out. It was nice to get back out for a little run and I felt pretty damn good on it.

What do you do when you
destroy 3 pairs of Salomon Sense in a summer...well
you get 3 more. All set for summer 2015 now.

For me the real Chamonix running comes in summer once most of the snow clears and you can get up high and across the awesome ridges that surround the place. Winter running here is fine and running through powder can be quite fun but skiing powder is way way better. I guess I will be out running a bit more often from now on and maybe from March get the trail shoes on way more in prep for Transvulcania in May but at the moment I really think the touring legs are keeping me strong.

February is a bit of a hectic time with work and with only one day off a week this month I will be making the most of that one day. Fingers crossed for sunshine as I want some BIG tours!