Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Los Angeles- March 9th 2008
I drove back from San Diego to Vanessa and Mike's and had a barbeque with Bonnie and Steven and Jim.
Next day we went hiking on Sandstone Peak for 5miles and had lunch at 3111 ft Mt Allen peak.
Next day we went hiking on Sandstone Peak for 5miles and had lunch at 3111 ft Mt Allen peak.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Los Angeles- March 1st 2008
Flew out to LA on leap day- Feb 29th.
Grabbed a rental Jeep, and drove to Mike and Vanessa's place in Thousand Oaks.
On Saturday hooked up with Jennifer and Rory and borrowed a Specialized stumpjumper M4 hardtail with Fox forks 80mm.
We drove to and rode Sycamore canyon for 30km. A great ride.
http://www.singletrackmind.com/Trails/Cheeseboro%20Palo%20Comado%20Canyons/Simi_China_Index.htm
In the evening we toured up stunt road but it was too hazy/foggy to get a view so we descended and crusied the PCH (Pacific Coastal Highway) along Mailbu with Vanessa and Mike, took a beer at Gladstones and watched the fantastic sunset a very round orange/pink sun sinking into the see. Iconic Malibu!
On Sunday it was a fantastic sunny day around 75 degrees and dead windy. We took the Jeep so we could ride Cheeseboro canyon and the Palo Comado trail http://www.singletrackmind.com/Trails/Cheeseboro%20Palo%20Comado%20Canyons/Cheeseboro_Index.htm
27.7km and a sub later we got back to the Jeep or the Willys CJ3 from 1950, we strapped our bikes on the rollbar and tried to start it forgetting we had immobilised the distributor csap! A great fun drive back to the house in the sun and high winds of the Santa Anas!
Grabbed a rental Jeep, and drove to Mike and Vanessa's place in Thousand Oaks.
On Saturday hooked up with Jennifer and Rory and borrowed a Specialized stumpjumper M4 hardtail with Fox forks 80mm.
We drove to and rode Sycamore canyon for 30km. A great ride.
http://www.singletrackmind.com/Trails/Cheeseboro%20Palo%20Comado%20Canyons/Simi_China_Index.htm
In the evening we toured up stunt road but it was too hazy/foggy to get a view so we descended and crusied the PCH (Pacific Coastal Highway) along Mailbu with Vanessa and Mike, took a beer at Gladstones and watched the fantastic sunset a very round orange/pink sun sinking into the see. Iconic Malibu!
On Sunday it was a fantastic sunny day around 75 degrees and dead windy. We took the Jeep so we could ride Cheeseboro canyon and the Palo Comado trail http://www.singletrackmind.com/Trails/Cheeseboro%20Palo%20Comado%20Canyons/Cheeseboro_Index.htm
27.7km and a sub later we got back to the Jeep or the Willys CJ3 from 1950, we strapped our bikes on the rollbar and tried to start it forgetting we had immobilised the distributor csap! A great fun drive back to the house in the sun and high winds of the Santa Anas!
Sunday, 10 February 2008
Chamonix- Day 8
A well deserved rest day on Saturday, waving most people goodbye then updating this blog and publishing photos to all. Ian, Patrick and Jim and I went out for dinner in Chamonix onceI'd moved into the apartment in Forclaz, Cham Sud.Today I headed up alone to Le Tour just for a 4 hr play round. The weather was beautiful- hot and sunny, but the off-piste conditions were chopped up, tracked and hard packed, the pistes were a better option but pretty hard packed with just a sprinkling of scuffed powder.
It was good excuse for me to practice my technique for cross-under turns, which went quite well. I went up the Autannes chair across the traverses and down to Esserts chair but the off piste there looked terrible and as I'm nursing a massively swollen left arm I was not tempted so I took the red run back to Autannes.
Of course I wanted more so I headed up and skiers left to the off piste and it was very choppy and although I was turning well, I suddenly hit the deck on a toe turn and reached out my left arm, pulled the shoulder again and curled up in screeching pain. You can see why (right pic)- the whole arm is bruised, the muscle torn and upper and fore arm swollen a lot!
So I went for lunch and a sunbathe looking out to Mont Blanc- huge queues for lunch but once I got a deckchair the arm had time to recover or at least ease the pain.
I went for a couple more runs on piste before taking the piste down to the bottom of Charamillon and straight onto a bus home.
Now I'm settling into cooking my own food and getting ready to work tomorrow, but have also gone out for some Arnica and trying to heal myself!
Saturday, 9 February 2008
McNab Snowboarding Day 6- Trieste Glacier
Our last day and more excitement planned. A Heliboarding day!
I've never been in a helicopter before so this was to be a new experience and an exciting one at that. We drove down to Switzerland as Heliskiing is illegal in Chamonix, and we pulled over in a layby off the road near some power lines. A fuel hose was lying across the car park from a pickup with some fuel tanks. It looked an unliekly spot for a helipad!
A few minutes later in came a black shiny heli landed in front of us and picked some skiers up. It seemed ages before it came back to collect us and I was in the first group to go up. We piled our snowboards on one side of its landing patch and Ralph pinned them down as it landed, then we bowed our heads and ran under the rotors and clambered in having dropped our rucksacks outside, Neil passed them into us closed the door and we were up and swopping away into the mountains before I could even gasp.
I thought it would frighten me or make me feel queasy but not at all I could see right out of the windows and it was exciting. We went higher and higher and could feel the mountain winds swaying the chopper. Ralph got the pilot to swing us over the galcier wwe were to descend it looked vast and steep. Then we swang up through the peaks and suddenly I could feel the speed of the heli as it got caught in the winds- butt clenching stuff!
We dropped into the Trieste Plateau and skirted the cliffs to land and then we were out kneeling on the ground in the snow with the blades rotating above our heads and immense noise as it took off swiftly and was suddenly a dot in the distance.
I've never been in a helicopter before so this was to be a new experience and an exciting one at that. We drove down to Switzerland as Heliskiing is illegal in Chamonix, and we pulled over in a layby off the road near some power lines. A fuel hose was lying across the car park from a pickup with some fuel tanks. It looked an unliekly spot for a helipad!
A few minutes later in came a black shiny heli landed in front of us and picked some skiers up. It seemed ages before it came back to collect us and I was in the first group to go up. We piled our snowboards on one side of its landing patch and Ralph pinned them down as it landed, then we bowed our heads and ran under the rotors and clambered in having dropped our rucksacks outside, Neil passed them into us closed the door and we were up and swopping away into the mountains before I could even gasp.
I thought it would frighten me or make me feel queasy but not at all I could see right out of the windows and it was exciting. We went higher and higher and could feel the mountain winds swaying the chopper. Ralph got the pilot to swing us over the galcier wwe were to descend it looked vast and steep. Then we swang up through the peaks and suddenly I could feel the speed of the heli as it got caught in the winds- butt clenching stuff!
We dropped into the Trieste Plateau and skirted the cliffs to land and then we were out kneeling on the ground in the snow with the blades rotating above our heads and immense noise as it took off swiftly and was suddenly a dot in the distance.
We watched as the others flew in and then we all boarded up and set off across the plateau for the snowshoe hike. We hiked for about an hour or so up about 300m vertical. Then we had a quick lunch stop and strapped our boards on and snowshoes back on our packs for the descent.
The snow was pretty wind scoured and had a hard crust on it to break through but the riding was good with fresh tracks for all as we skirted below the blue ice of the glacier. Then we hit a soft powdery section which was sweet turns all the way and the guys left me the first tracks, even though we could all get freshies as there was so much powder.
At one point my heart rate shot into overtime as Ralph scouted the Couloir which looked narrow to me! He deceided against and isnatedad we had a sweet bowl to ride. Suddenly we were through the wide open expanses and into a rocky shallow and bumpy traverse to get out. The bit I hate sitting in tracks and speeding along with barely an opportunity to control speed without using your bum brake!
We crossed a bridge and hiked for a while then hit an icy road which was more like a luge run down to the car park. Excitement over and last day survived! What a fun week.
The bus was quiet on the way back- everyone contemplating the great week and new friends and the return to work next week.
That evening we got the taste for the Kamchatka trip to Russia - it would be so g0od to do that- and Neil issued our McNab sweatshirts a medium blue for me, no T-shirts in my size though so will have to email Neil for one when he gets the new ones in.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
McNab Snowboarding Day 5
Day 5 – Col de Passon
This am we geared up with snow shoes sticks and crampons in our packs and headed for Grand Montets. We were lucky enough to get the 10:15 lift to the very top wjhere it was a bit windy and about -18 degrees but not at all icy. We dipped right and below the avalanche ropes.
We desecended to the glacier with Neil filming then we donned our snowshoes and hiked across to the other side of the glacier (left) between the crevasses which are so stunning yet so scary.
We started ascending in zig zag lines unroped and pretty steady and were worried about the skiers above us setting a more vertical line that could have triggered an avalanche on us. Eventually our lines got steeper and I was taking it slower. We stopped briefly for lunch in the beautiful sunshine and no wind but it was deceptive as it soon chilled us down and I put on a layer and beanie. Not long before we hiked again 6 more steep switchbacks.
Then we changed into crampons on a hairy slope and I was worried about dropping kit as we had already watched someone's rucksack descend a long way down. That next section was vertical up to the Col- cutting steps. It’s like doing single leg squats for another hour. As we got towards the top the wind and snow were blowing so hard and hitting my face kike sandblasting and trying to blow my board and me off with it.
There were about 3 hairy steps where I was concerned I would slip as every time any of us tried to put weight there the snow crumbled, but Neil and Ralph were close by urging me through. Finally I crawled out at the top on my knees- sheer fright and relief. Hair frozen and wind blowing snow like sandpaper.
Everyone was in "survival mode"-I put my helmet on my icy hair and got an ice cream headache from hell! Quickly redressed and packed away snowshoes and crampons, but my goggles were iced up and only Ralph could help me out to clear them. Then we hiked up again! Over the cornices to strap on at the peak height and descend on our boards out of this wind. I was struggling at the back of the group to climb in the wind holding on to my board with two arms wrapped round it.
We had to hike some more over the glacier flats then we hit fantastic powder and had the most mellow swoopy sweet turns for over 2000m until we dropped in to Le Tour base. Best conditions we'd had all week and so many fresh tracks.
We finished on some lumpy bumpy bits at Le Tour through the trees and onto a shockingly icy flat piste! What a change. Wow we had great conditions.
Completely knackered! Had a 30 min snooze then we went out for curry at Tigre Tigre in Chamonix, which was very nice british run place. Given I don't do curry it was alright!
Tomorrow we hope to heli board if the winds stay down- so far they are forecast for 40-60km/hr.
This am we geared up with snow shoes sticks and crampons in our packs and headed for Grand Montets. We were lucky enough to get the 10:15 lift to the very top wjhere it was a bit windy and about -18 degrees but not at all icy. We dipped right and below the avalanche ropes.We desecended to the glacier with Neil filming then we donned our snowshoes and hiked across to the other side of the glacier (left) between the crevasses which are so stunning yet so scary.
We started ascending in zig zag lines unroped and pretty steady and were worried about the skiers above us setting a more vertical line that could have triggered an avalanche on us. Eventually our lines got steeper and I was taking it slower. We stopped briefly for lunch in the beautiful sunshine and no wind but it was deceptive as it soon chilled us down and I put on a layer and beanie. Not long before we hiked again 6 more steep switchbacks.
Then we changed into crampons on a hairy slope and I was worried about dropping kit as we had already watched someone's rucksack descend a long way down. That next section was vertical up to the Col- cutting steps. It’s like doing single leg squats for another hour. As we got towards the top the wind and snow were blowing so hard and hitting my face kike sandblasting and trying to blow my board and me off with it.
There were about 3 hairy steps where I was concerned I would slip as every time any of us tried to put weight there the snow crumbled, but Neil and Ralph were close by urging me through. Finally I crawled out at the top on my knees- sheer fright and relief. Hair frozen and wind blowing snow like sandpaper.
Everyone was in "survival mode"-I put my helmet on my icy hair and got an ice cream headache from hell! Quickly redressed and packed away snowshoes and crampons, but my goggles were iced up and only Ralph could help me out to clear them. Then we hiked up again! Over the cornices to strap on at the peak height and descend on our boards out of this wind. I was struggling at the back of the group to climb in the wind holding on to my board with two arms wrapped round it.
We had to hike some more over the glacier flats then we hit fantastic powder and had the most mellow swoopy sweet turns for over 2000m until we dropped in to Le Tour base. Best conditions we'd had all week and so many fresh tracks.
We finished on some lumpy bumpy bits at Le Tour through the trees and onto a shockingly icy flat piste! What a change. Wow we had great conditions.
Completely knackered! Had a 30 min snooze then we went out for curry at Tigre Tigre in Chamonix, which was very nice british run place. Given I don't do curry it was alright!
Tomorrow we hope to heli board if the winds stay down- so far they are forecast for 40-60km/hr.
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