I was skiing with Brian and Liz O'Connor this week based around Chamonix. The week started with beautiful spring conditions so we took the midi cable car up then skiied under the east face of Mont Blanc du Tacul then skinned to the Col d'Entreve then down the Vallee Blanche all the way to the road (just). The following day we ski toured the classic Crochu Berard traverse. The ski out through the woods was in the best condition I have seen. On tuesday the weather looked better in Italy where high winds had closed the top lifts so 30 minutes of skinning found great fresh tracks down the Yula couloir. We had some fresh snow to ski in Megeve on wednesday and a great powder day in Les Contamines on thursday. Unfortunaley Brian had cracked a rib falling on his shovel so he couldn't enjoy it. Liz and I finished the week in Courmayeur.

I have been skiing above the Artic Circle for the last 8 days with John and Fiona Fells, Steve and Brenda Smith and Brian Crosby. We all met in Tromso and started the week with a warm up ski on Stor Kjolen a nice peak close to Tromso on Saturday we transferred to the extremely comfortable Lyngen Lodge. The lodge has been set up by British Guide Graham Austick built on the edge of Lyngen Fjord the lodge has a boat on hand to access the local skiing or you can just skin from the back door. We started our week by taking the boat to the island of Uloya where we skinned up Kjelvagtinden, we had thick cloud on the summit so we didn't reach the main summit as it eould have involved navigating between two big cornices. On Monday we skinned from the back of the lodge, we were planning to cross a col south of Storhaugen but the wind had picked up loading our planned descent with wind slab so we decided to ski back the way we had come. It still gave a great descent. Tuesday we were back in the boat heading across the Fjord to the Strapbreen Glacier, we skiied up this to just below Tofeltinden where we were defeated by the wind,. The cloud closed in just as we took our skins off so we skied much of the descent on a compass bearing. We had some fresh snow to play with on Wednesday so we practised our transceiver training then headed onto Storhaugen behind the lodge. On Thursday and Friday we had poor weather but great snow so we drove round to nRotsund and skiied in the trees making a number of great descents. Some of the team headed out on the boat after skiing and caught some cod which we are looking forward to dinner this evening.

I have just had 4 days winter walking with Kate in the Cairngorms, we had some wild days out with wind being a big feature of everyday. We started on Saturday climbing the North Ridge of Cairngorm with lots of wet blowing snow. It's years since I was skiing in Scotland, walking down through the ski area I was impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the skiers on a wild day. On Sunday we headed to Glen Feshie this was a great test of Kate's navigation as we had a white out for much of the day. Monday was incredibly windy so we traversed the superb ridge from Meal a Bhuchaille the weather was clear so we had great views of the Cairngorms. We finished the week climbing the Ficaill Coire an t Sneachda in great mixed conditions. Kate is now off down to North Wales for an ML training course at PYB and I'm off to the Lyngen Alps in Norway skiing.

I have just signed a deal with Aviemore based shop Mountain Spirit. Mountain Spirit is run by Rob and Angela Edmonds passionate skiers who stock the best in ski touring and back country ski kit. I will be testing some product for them and using G3 skis who they import from Canada, I will also be contributing to their Blog and doing some talks in the shop.

When in the shop earlier this week I picked up a pair of prototype G3 spitfire LT skis with one of the first samples of Gs's new Onyx binding. I have been skiing on the standard Spitfire for the last couple of month's and have been really impressed, the ski has coped really well with all the conditions I have skied from deep powder to hard pack and isn't to heavy for going uphill. The new LT has the same dimensions as the standard Spitfire but uses a lighter weight wood core to shave those extra pounds, the skis have been mounted with one of the first versions of the Onyx binding to arrive in Europe. The Onyx is designed to be a more user friendly version of the Tech binding system so I'll let you know how I get on.

The BMG Scottish winter test was held at the beginning of march based from Glenmore Lodge. The test was convened by Graeme Ettle who worked with myself, John Lyall, Jonathan Preston and Mark Diggins. The format for the week was a 2 day expedition looking at the trainees mountaineering skills then 2 guiding days on grade V route one day mixed climbing the other on ice the final 2 days were spent guiding a mock client. The weather for the week was wintry giving a good test for the candidates. The test started with the expedition where the skills of moving on a variety of terrain up to grade II was tested using a variety of rope techniques this led into navigation across the Cairngorm Plateau to a snow hole site. After dinner the trainees were tested on their night navigation skills before returning to the snow hole. On the following day a number of routes were climbed around grade II where the trainees could demonstrate their ability to move quickly on intermediate terrain. The mixed climbing day was held in the Northern Cairngorms the trainees had to climb a route at grade 5 demonstrating good climbing and guiding skills. Various teams climbed Savage Slit, Deep Throat, Pot of Gold and Sharks Fin Soup. The ice climbing day was to be held on Ben Nevis but unfortunately due to a large amount of fresh snow it was too dangerous to approach any of the climbs, the trainees will have to come back and repeat this day later in the winter. The final 2 days are often the most difficult part of the assessment when the trainees are given real clients to look after. They have to give the clients an appopriate 2 days showing a logical progression of guiding objectives. The conditions remained wintry allowing the trainees to guide routes like, Terms of Endearment, Pygmy Ridge Sidewinder, Oesophagus, Aladdins Buttress Original Route, Patey's Route, Savage Slit, Andromeda, Astro Turfer and Route Major. The trainees all have to be congratulated on their hard work over the week, assuming they all manage the ice day OK 2 will progress to the Alpine phase, 1 has a 1 day navigation resit that they can complete this winter before going to the Alps and 2 have to come back next winter to redo their client days.

I was climbing and skiing with Charles Eggleston this week, this was a dream week as a guide as the plan was to ski and climb as the weather dictated. We started the trip skiing off piste round the Jaillet area of Megeve enjoying some great snow and finishing the day with an off piste descent to Praz sur Arly. The next day we headed through to Cogne where we swung leads on the Cascade de Lillaz and the route over the Par Avalanche, Tuesday we headed into the mountains to try Pellisier Gully on Pointe Lachanel, we climbed 4 pitch of interesting mixed ground before we were forced down by cold hands (it was -18 at the midi). The ski down the Vallee Blanche all the way to the road made up for the disappointment of not reaching the top. It was back to Cogne on Wed climbing Lillaz Gully in perfect condition with great ice all the way. Thusday we were back on the skis leaving the Brevent lift and skiing across to the Aiguillette des Houches then skiing the NW couloir in perfect untracked snow. We finished the week skiing the Col du Chasseur at les Contamines which gave great tracked skiing on the steep section then opened into loads of fantastic untracked snow.

I have just got back from a week in the Tatra Mountains of Southern Poland. I was leading an Eagle ski club trip. Some of the team met up in Krakow then met Howard and Susie in Zakopane who had driven from Chamonix very kindly bringing my luggage. Snow was the theme for the trip, it was snowing when we arrived and it continued to snow through most of our trip with the exception of one afternoon it pretty much snowed the entire time. We started the trip with a bit of off piste skiing round the main Zakopane lift with a bit of skinning to make sure all our kit was OK. The plan was then to make a hut to hut trip traversing the Tatras from west to east. Unfortunately the hug amount of fresh snow between 1.5 and 2 m by the time we left meant that we couldn't really achieve this, the avalanche risk was category 4 for most of the time we were there and the practicalities of travelling with that much snow made touring almost impossible. We did manage to link some huts and maintain a tour like feel to the trip sleeping in new huts most evenings and enjoyed some great skiing. The huts were great with hot showers and beer on tap, the terrain looked great so we will be back. Have a look at video.

I was skiing with Steve Hargreaves for a long weekend we had heard that there has been fresh snow fall on the Italian side of Mont Blanc so we headed through the tunnel to Courmayeur for our first day enjoying three great off piste descents in tracked but soft snow. The weather on Friday morning was better than forecast in Chamonix so we headed up the Index lift and skinned over the Col du Crochu then the Breche Berard. The visibility was decidedly variable but we still had a great ski. The news was that it had been snowing through the tunnel again so headed for La Thuile, the cloud slowly cleared through the day giving us a full day of fresh tracks skiing. It had been snowing lightly all day at home so we decided to finish the trip skiing in Megev around the Jaillet lift. We had some great off piste descents with fresh tracks on every run. I had leant Steve some fatter skis for the last two days who was grinning from ear to ear with his new found powder ability, it looks like it could prove and expensive weekend. Interestingly because of the current exchange rate lots of ski gear is cheaper in the UK than in the Alps so it would be worth having a look in your local shops or online in one of the specialist store like www.mountainspirit.co.uk

Eagle ski club Off piste week Grimentz

18 of us assembled in the Hotel du Moiry in Grimentz for an Eagle ski club off piste week. There were 16 clients myself and Tom Saxland the director of New Generation ski school in Courchevel. The idea was for the group to split it's time between off piste guiding with myself and ski coaching with Tom. A lot of fresh snow had fallen on a W – SW wind in the previous few days, as Sunday our first ski day dawned clear we could see a lot of blasted avalanche activity on Easterly slopes. We spent the first day skiing off the lifts enjoying some great off piste skiing splitting the day between the two groups. We followed the same format for the second day this time skiing the great to descent to St Jean in the morning and afternoon. On Tuesday we used the excellent bus service to ski in Zinal we had a great fresh tracks descent to the Lac du Moiry then back to Grimentz for lunch then had a different off piste descent to Grimentz in the afternoon.

We planned a tour on Wednesday skiing from the top of the lift system while skinning I triggered an avalanche which partially buried myself and 2 members of the group and left one member with his arm sticking out. The remaining members of the team quickly sorted the situation and got everyone on the surface. Luckily no one was injured. I have included a full report below. We skiied out to the ski area of Vercorin where we got a Taxi back to Grimentz. On Thursday we toured in a similar area skiing to Vercorin then skinning and climbing for an hour and twenty minutes over a little summit before skiing to St Jean where we got the bus back to Grimentz. The final day I was skiing with the team who were avalanched we had a great day skiing from the lifts finding fresh untracked snow right up to the final run.

Please have a look at the video.

Avalanche Report

In the case of any serious mountain incident involving a British Mountain Guides member it is mandatory to submit an accident report form if anyone is injured. Although no one was injured on this occasion I felt the incident was serious enough to want to submit a report. This is then investigated by the Professional Standards Committee who will look at the incident for lessons to be learnt and to see if any issues need to be taken up with the guide in question.

I thought it would be useful to publish an extract from the report and the lessons learnt so that we may all benefit from the incident.

Avalanche Accident Grimentz 28/01/09 Guide Bruce Goodlad

Map Montana Swiss ski touring map 273S

The avalanche happened on the 4th day of an off piste ski course with the Eagle Ski Club based from the Hotel du Moiry in Grimentz.The format for the week was 16 clients 8 of who would ski with Bruce Goodlad the other 8 would ski with Ski Instructor Tom Saxland, the plan was to swap the groups through the week to give a mix of guiding and ski coaching. During the previous days we had skied all over the Grimentz and Zinal ski areas skiing on most slope aspects and angles so Bruce felt he had a good feeling for the snow pack.

On 28th the party set off from the top T bar in the Grimentz lift system below the Bec du Bosson. We skinned over Col 2932 (60631134). We skied west on good snow to a flat area (60531137) from here we skinned to spot height 2659. We skied down a broad couloir in a NW direction the angle was about 30 degrees at the top easing to 20 degrees lower down, we then traversed northerly to a flat area (60541155). While skinning NE at approx grid reference 60601157 an avalanche occurred. Prior to the avalanche the group had observed a settling in the snow pack on a flat area, we dug a pit and found 2 layers of depth hoar one close to the ground and another in the pack.

At the time of the avalanche Bruce Goodlad was breaking trail with the rest of the party following, the party was not spread out as this was not felt necessary given the terrain skied earlier in the day was at a similar aspect and steeper. While traversing a slope of between 25and 30 degrees Bruce felt a settling in the snow pack which then began to move; initially Bruce thought that the avalanche was not that big but the initial slide released a significant amount of snow higher up the slope. Alun Ward and Rowan Gundry observed that the slope cracked a significant distance above where Bruce triggered the slide. The accident happened at approx 1400.

Alun Ward, Rowan Gundry and to a lesser extent Jan Nowell were also caught in the avalanche. Bruce was carried down and skiers right into the middle of the avalanche. As he slid he shouted to those on the surface to watch those who had been caught. The slide moved very slowly. Alan was carried down the skiers left of the avalanche and was then deflected into the main body of the debris by a boulder. Rowan was carried down the skiers left of the slide as was Jan. When the avalanche came to a halt Bruce was sat in the snow facing up hill with his skis still attached buried to the top of his thighs. Alun had been carried the furthest and was buried; he had one arm sticking out and his head was under the snow. Rowan was partially buried, Jan had been carried a short distance towards the edge of the debris with her feet buried which she freed easily. All victims were facing up hill.

Bruce dug himself out then went to assist in the recovery of Alun. Dick Allen skied into the debris then walked down to Alun and quickly cleared his face and began to dig him out. The rest of the team quickly dug Rowan out. All the victims still had there skis on 2 poles were missing but these were both recovered.

Alan suffered an irritated throat, no other injuries occurred. No equipment was lost. The party contained three doctors (David and Rowan Gundry and Tom Barrett) who did not feel that any treatment was required at this stage. After regrouping eating and drinking the party skied then skinned to the ski area of Vercorin, on the ski out Jan Nowell fell and twisted a knee, Bruce strapped this and Jan self administered Ibuprofen. When the party reached the ski area they met a ski patroller who arranged for Jan and Alun to ride down in the last lift to the village, the rest of the party skied down to the village where a taxi took us back to Grimentz

It was a bit of a festival of brothers this weekend with 2 of Kate's brothers and friends my 2 brother arriving for the week., The weather provided some snow at last with snow and and off all week creating some interesting avalanche conditions. We skied in Megeve on Sunday in some wild weather but great snow St Gervais was a bit damp on Monday luckily it cooled down and kept snowing on Monday night so we had an awesome day of deep powder. We headed through to Grimentz on Wednesday morning to check out a new area where I am working next week. We skied some great snow off the lifts then down a huge off piste run to St Jean. We went for a tour on Thursday skiing over 2 cols and down to the Lac de Moiry then repeated yesterdays off piste run to St Jean before driving home. The weather was pants on Friday we ventured out for a bit to get some fresh air then finished the boys trip skiing some great snow again in St Gervais on Saturday.