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To the snowline

No ski this weekend so I decided to use a spare hour and a half on Saturday afternoon to ride up and look at the snow conditions on the road to the Col du Coq.
2020-01-25 16:03:56

It doesn't get easier, you just go faster

First climb of the Charmant Som since getting back from Cham.
2020-01-23 10:56:08

Return to the CdP

Rapid lunch ski on skate 2 and skate 1. Pretty easy snow in general. Still lots of work to do on skate 2, reasonably happy climbing now on skate 1 although no records.
2020-01-21 12:31:28

Ice cold in Allevard

We headed up reasonably early to the Collet. It was very cold, especially on the Claran lift which was not sheltered from the breeze.
2020-01-19 11:39:16

Last but not least

After the morning activity a farewell, then, to the Chamonix tracks with a last skate up to the top end and back.
2020-01-17 13:52:04

Final exams

Morning spent going around the start zone of the cross country tracks demonstrating skate and classic techniques, filming and getting feedback.
2020-01-17 11:14:20

Chamonix Night Fever

I've never tried night ski de fonding before so decided to go out on the Chamonix night skate. I can thoroughly recommend it. There were a lot of people on the 3km "loipe" so you won't feel alone.
2020-01-16 18:50:33

L1 Instructor Course Day 4: Classic AM and PM

Another dollar, another day. Some fairly intense activity, classic striding and weight transfer in the morning. Skating one/two technique in the afternoon with a half hour teaching session.
2020-01-16 16:31:04

L1 Instructor Course: Classic AM and PM

Went out on classic skis after the course to try and polish off some of the rough edges. Quite a lot of work on technique and we also had to do some instructing.
2020-01-15 16:37:12

L1 Instructor Training classic + skate

Things got a bit more serious with more exercises but still some skating around. I went out and did a tour of the red after "work".
2020-01-14 16:32:04

L1 Instructor Training skate + classic

Day spent going up and down the pistes first on classic then on skate skis after a break for lunch.
2020-01-13 15:02:54

Dent Blanc de Piz Bedina

For a change decided to ski tour and see how much snow had fallen on Friday. The Pic Blanche de Bedina is good value as the climb is pretty consistent from the start of the valley.
2020-01-11 10:56:16

Plus ça change...

The ski area at the col was full of school groups so I decided to head up to the Charmant Som for the 8th or 9th time this season.
2020-01-09 15:47:24

Night follows day

Fantastic conditions both on and off piste, although you'd have to search for powder. It was fairly cold with some wind at the top of the pistes. Not crowded.
2020-01-05 14:03:28

Afternoon Training

Went up to the col de Porte for an afternoon session on classic and skate skis. Generally doing exercises - balance, no poles etc with a couple of loops thrown in for fun.
2020-01-04 15:34:08

Chasing the sun

I left about quarter of an hour earlier than NY eve and knew I would climb quicker (about 36 minutes skating compared to 42 on classic) so the aim was to see the sunset but I just missed it, or the su
2020-01-02 16:37:34

Chamonix Nordic Ski Center

The Chamonix cross country ski area offers around 20km of prepared runs just to the north of the town center. The red Bois run is 11.
2020-01-01 22:33:48

All is quiet on New Year's day

Afternoons skiing at les 7 Laux. The parking was rammed and it was difficult to get through the parked cars, we were door handle to door handle in places.
2020-01-01 15:41:16

New Year's Eve Ski

What better for New Year's Eve 2019 than a night descent of Charmant Som? I was surprised at the number of people climbing up in the dark - walkiers, ski tourers, sledgers, cross country skiers, young
2019-12-31 16:56:28

Definitely the last Allevard of 2019

Ok this really is the last ski at Allevard this season. Not too crowded for New Year's week, just a small queue on the Carron lift but it is a 6 pax chair.
2019-12-30 14:46:28

Post cold ski

Early morning trip to the col de porte, my first cross country skiing since coming down with a throat infection. In fact my last trip on the 22nd seemed to turn a mild cold into the infection.
2019-12-30 09:28:20

Last Allevard of 2019

Last Collet d'Allevard of 2019 and first of the season. We just went for a couple of hours intensive skiing thanks to the excellent Allevard lift pass system. It was painfully cold at altitude.
2019-12-26 12:09:30

Arctic Charmant Som

Pretty damn cold today although not too windy. The first half of the climb was under heavy snow / grapel but it cleared towards the summit.
2019-12-22 15:27:24

Charmant Som under the foehn

I started on the pistes then took the link over to Charmant som across the pistes. The snow at the col was hard and skiable, a bit of late autumn crust skiing.
2019-12-19 12:45:09

Classic Technique

I've got a chest infection but it is not very cold at the moment so decided to work on technique a bit up at the Col de Porte.
2019-12-15 15:57:08

Les lacs du Vénétier

I didn't have much time as I had to be back in the valley at 12 noon. Les 7 Laux, Barrioz, Prabert. Finally Prabert as it was closest.
2019-12-12 10:21:48

Return to the Col de Porte

After the 20cm of fresh snow the Col de Porte had reopened its nordic area at the Col. The snow was quite soft at midday and choppy with a few holes here or there.
2019-12-10 12:33:52

Hooning around the 7 Laux pistes

Weather was forecast as good for the morning with fresh snow moving in during the course of the afternoon, so it looked good for another pre-season trip to the Sept laux.
2019-12-08 11:29:40

Chamrousse Nordic Ski

Back to Chamrousse for an early ski (started at 9am) before the next big storm shakes things up. I did 4 loops of the Lievre Patineur.
2019-12-07 09:21:59

Charmant Sprint

Quick climb, 35m20s, half a minute up on my PB, a bit more fitness and I should be able to go under 35 minutes but like cycling it is a power to weight thing.
2019-12-06 12:31:12

Strike day skiing

Chamrousse nordic park had opened, then closed again following the foehn. Earlier in the week around 20cm of fresh snow had fallen, this had been followed by anticyclonic conditions.
2019-12-05 10:27:20

Stella Greasy Rollerski

It was a grey day. After my run last week I wasn't keen to repeat the experience and have to rest up for a few days. Cycling - too cold and mucky. Nordic skiing? not enough snow.
2019-12-03 12:34:40

Hellaux

Back up to the 7 laux, they'd opened the Oursiere lift but we ended up stuck on it for half an hour when it suffered some kind of breakdown. The pisteurs were a bit cagey as to what had happened.
2019-11-30 11:52:20

Storming the Bastille

Well not really storming but more grovelling with a time of around 16 minutes to the top. It is a very very steep climb for the first 1km.
2019-11-26 17:34:49

Charmant Som Classic Style

There is an old saying that if the snow conditions are uncertain you are better off classic skiing. Well after 24 hours of foehn wind things couldn't be more uncertain.
2019-11-24 11:01:52

Classic and Skate

Spent the morning doing a mix of classic drills then some skating. The icy trails were not great fun skating so I called it a day around midday.
2019-11-21 11:04:00

Working on classic technique

I didn't ski much but took advantage of the early doors opening to work on my classic ski technique. Trying to improve kick etc.
2019-11-19 12:34:36

First snow at les Sept Laux

We'd heard the Sept Laux was opening after another 50cm of fresh snow at the summit of the pistes bringing the total to 1 meter. We made it up around 9.
2019-11-16 10:53:22

Classic rollerskiing before the snow

The forecast was for rain so I was happy to see it was still dry at 9am so I headed to the dyke cycle path with my classic skis as I hadn't done this since the Semnoz.
2019-11-14 09:22:44

Venon in the cold

I hadn't been out on the bike for some time so took the opportunity of a dry day to ride into work then up the Venon climb.
2019-11-12 17:20:00

Autumn powder on the Petit Van

Early November snow is not uncommon but always nice to restart the ski season.
2019-11-08 13:08:48

Dirty Weekend Rollerski Tour

I took advantage of a small weather window in between the rain to ski the big loop with a variation through the campus and around the meander loop.
2019-11-02 16:07:44

Turin Urban Rollerskiing, Piemont, Italy

Urban rollersking in Turin. Well not quite but in the city center Valentino park as the roads can be a bit variable (tramlines, cobbles, Italian drivers).
2019-10-27 09:02:40

Last afterwork before winter time

This was going to be the last afterwork before we are plunged into winter time. I was a bit late starting (18.
2019-10-25 17:15:12

Filthy Rollski

The fine weather came a bit later than expected so probably taking rollerskis out was not the best plan. I decided to do the superloop clockwise.
2019-10-22 11:18:58

Dominical MTB with tot

We decided to do the same route as last week but with the wind hoped there would be no walkers on it, which was the case.
2019-10-20 15:29:00

Hors-saison

A little tour along the lac after lunch at the Chalet d'Aix. Very quiet out of season.
2019-10-19 12:59:48

Damp rollerski

After yesterday's ride I wanted a gentle leg loosener so decided to head out onto the tow path for a rollerski.
2019-10-18 11:34:48

Col de la Loze

The Col de la Loze is a new paved road pass in France having only been opened in the spring of 2019. From Brides-les-Bains there is 23.5km of climbing with a total vertical of 1700 meters.
2019-10-17 11:02:52

MTB with totster

We wanted to ride the single to the Cascade to Craponoz, a huge waterfall behind the house. We climbed via the Champ Bertin as far as the reservoirs behind Beauregard.
2019-10-13 15:08:00

Combe de Lancey

I crossed Jean Marc Mora on the climb to Lancey, I'd last seen him about 5 years ago.
2019-10-11 11:40:12

Afternoon Rollerski Tour

I was pretty tired Thursday with a bad hip so decided not to go out cycling (it was cold and foggy in the valley in the morning) but wait until the afternoon when it was warmer to do a tour.
2019-10-10 13:35:04

Tales of the riverbank

I fancied some flat riding today and decided that a trip up and down the river as far as the town of Pontcharra would fit the bill. I've not ridden the whole of this route before.
2019-10-03 11:15:32

Montée de Semnoz

15th climb of the Semnoz is a roller ski competition held in the autumn for the last 15 seasons. It is part of the national Rollerski Challenge series.
2019-09-21 10:02:48

Lunch Japin

Back to climbing on classic skis.
2019-09-18 11:40:52

Bois Francais Classic Rollerski

Classic rollerski drills on the Isere tow path. Speed a bit better compared to last summer, 29 minutes for the return trip as opposed to 31 minutes last year. Got into a good rythm on the way back.
2019-09-16 17:24:40

la Folie

Climb via the Lancey road then the Mont short cut with a descent. Hard work up to the cross roads with St Mury but able to maintain a better pace afterwards.
2019-09-13 17:21:20

Classic Shake-Out

I was using my old flexi skating boots for classic but the inner lining tore and they were getting pretty uncomfortable so I got a pair of Atomic Pro CS boots.
2019-09-10 16:57:35

Commute via St Mury Monteymond

Decided to take a long way home via the climb from Lancey to St Mury. The little road via les Chappes is quite busy in the evening, obviously well used by commuters.
2019-09-09 17:17:20

#winteriscoming

I took a detour on the way home. It was very chilly with a north wind. The road works up to Revel seem to be over and I continued through St Jean le Vieux.
2019-09-06 17:24:48

Col du Lauteret

For some reason the road was much busier than expected. Arriving at the col du Lauteret there was some kind of event and cars everywhere.
2019-09-01 14:41:24