I was skiing with Andy and Kat Congleton this week bring joined by various friends ok different days. Andy and Kat have an 18mth old baby so were doing day about. We started on Sunday with Andy and friends skiing the Col du Passon we managed to time the day to get great spring snow on the descent to La Tour. On Mon I was back with Kat and Kate on the Passon for more spring snow. On Monday Andy and I took the first Midi then climbed the Chere couloir which was in great condition. Footsteps filled with neve. We then skied down the Vallee Blanche. I was Kat and friends on wed we planned to ski from the midi the skin to the Italian side of the VB. The weather didn't behave with lots of cloud on the otalian side so we skiied down to the Requin hut for lunch. We then skinned up the Periads glacier before enjoying some spring snow. The lift to Momtenvers wasn't running due to the wind so we climbed the ladders to the train. That was the end of my ski season, I'm off to Spain now with Andy and Kat for some sun kissed rock.

I have been skiing with a group from the Ski Club of Great Britain this week .The plan was for a mellow week in the Vanoise with about 3 hrs skinning per day. We met in Pralognan la Vanoise then started the week skinning into the very comfortable Roc de la Peche hut. That afternoon we had the usual avalanche training that we do at the beginning of every week. Monday dawned clear, we headed for the Roc du Blanchon, skinning round and up the north side avoiding the worst of the sun. The summit is a great spot with views on all sides, the descent started a bit crusty but soon gave way to spring snow. On Tuesday we skinned up the N side of the Col du Genepy then had a fantastic spring snow descent on the south side all the way back to the hut. The cloud didn't clear on Tues night so the snow didn't freeze very well for Wed morning. We set off for the Col Rouge, we had an interesting climb to a windy col and the descent was not ideal. The snow at the top was ok but was getting rather porridge like by the bottom. On thursday morning left the comfort of the Roc de la Peche hut and skinned to the Col des Planettes unfortunatley David wasn't feeling to good do decided to head for the valley. The skin up was initially hard and icy providing a few challenges for the team. We skinned to just above the col then had great ski down into the Gorges des Planettes where we got the skins out again. We skinned up a slope of perfect spring snow so good that Mateo, Peter and I skiied it again before carrying on to the Peclet Polset hut the only hut I have stayed in with a pool table. We finished the week skinning to the Col du Soufre then skiing all the way to Pralognan taking the skis off 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

I was skiing in the Ortler this week with Stephen Olivant, Steve Hunt, Jenny Raffle, Lesley beck and aspirant Guide Mark Thomas. We met in Rheinold Messners home town of Sulden gaining height on the first morning using the lift then shuffling over the Madritschjoch skiing down the other side Stephen clipped a rock fell and dislocated his shoulder, the shoulder poped back in but unfortunatley came out again when skinng the short distance to the Zuffal hut. Unfortunatley it did not go back in so we had to have Stephen sledged out to hospital where he was put back together again. The rest of the team continued to the Marteller hut, it snowed over night which mean't some trail breaking to the Cima Marmotta and a fantastic powder snow descent. On Tuesday morning we headed up the Zuffal Firner to the Casati hut for morning coffee, from there we skinned up the Sulden spitz then skiied some great snow on it's north side before crossing a small col and back to the hut for the night. Wed dawned with some mixed weather, we headed for the Cevedale but were stopped by bad weather, we headed down the Vedretta di Cedec glacier initially on a rope until the visibility improved and we could ski down to the Pizzini hut. The only hut I have stayed in with en-suite facilities. We managed a short tour in the afternoon to the Passo di Zebru Nord.Thursday was a bit mixed so we had 2 short tours one to the Col Pale Rossee then back to the hut for luch then onto peak 3119m just north of the Passo di Zebru Sud. Against the forecast Friday dawned clear with fresh snow and a cold NE wind, we managed to climb the Cevedale and had fantastic powder right from the summit, we stopped in past the Casati hut for coffee (we were in Italy) then skinned over the Sulden Spitz and skiied to Sulden where we were reunited with Stephen.

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.

We still haven't had any new snow in this part of the Alps which has meant superb stable snow conditions for ski touring, we have been out in the Aravis a few times recently. I skied up the Tete de La Sallaz with Will Jackson Moore finding superb snow on the north facing descent with fresh tracks all the way to the road. The next day we used the lift system in Les Contamines to gain some height then we skinned over the Col de La Fenetre skied down then skinned to the Col du Bonhomme then back down to Contamines. We were up early for a bigger skin the following day starting from Reposoir we skinned 1500m up the Pointe de la Carmelite, this is a small summit that sits next to Pointe Percee. The view from the summit is accross the Quatre Tete to the Mont Blanc Massif, after 5hrs up the descent was over in an hour.

Merry Christmas. The snow from the last big dump has transformed by wind and sun so it has been difficult to find good snow from the lifts but the cover at mid altitudes has been excellent. The ice climbing conditions continue to improve but all the main venues in the Aosta valley have been closed due to avalanche risk in in some cases actual avalanches have blocked the roads, cutting of power supplies and damaging buildings. We have been out and about skiing the Troue de La Mouche in the Aravis near la Clusaz and the Col du Beaugeant in the Aiguille Rouge, both had challenging crusty snow but were great days out, if you go to the beugeant make sure you take a rope as there is a 7m rock step on the North side at the moment. We made a short video of the tours.

I'm just back from an amazing trip to Kamchatka in far East Russia with the Eagle Ski Club, Gordon Nuttall one of the team wrote the following report on the trip.

Land of Fire and Ice

The descent path to the airport at Petropavlovsk is nothing if not spectacular. The night flight from Moscow had carried us through nine time zones to cross the Sea of Okhotsk shortly after dawn. The Ilushin IL-96 rapidly lost height over the Sredinnyi and Vostochnnyi ranges of snow capped peaks, pink with the first light of day. The plane took a wide sweep into the Pacific for its final approach over Avacha Bay. Minutes later we were on the concrete runway and had arrived in Kamchatka.

Andrei, our Russian guide, greeted us. Bruce, our UK guide, had met him on a trip to Kola two years previously. A trip to Kamchatka in 2007 was hatched but failed to get off the ground for want of commitment. Now, here we were, oversubscribed if anything; eleven ski mountaineers plus Russian and UK guides.

Of the 300 or so volcanoes in Kamchatka, 29 remain active. Bruce and Andrei’s plan was to get us to a few of these NE and SW of Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka’s principal town. Early spring thaw had put the (otherwise inaccessible) South Plateau onto the itinerary. Before further snowfall put it out of reach, it was decided to go there first.

6th May. We travelled by ex-army 6x6 truck to Nadhezda on the Paratunka river. The accommodation was basic but was blessed with a glorious hot spring which guaranteed a luxurious soak at the end of each day plus clean clothes for those who wanted them.

Three days of indifferent weather kept us from the South Plateau but did not prevent Andrei from finding us good, even superb, downhill skiing each day. Boomerang Couloir, aptly named, was an exhilarating descent from Babiy Karmen (woman’s stone – 1052 m) at the back of the hut. An excursion to 1200m on the Vilyuchinsky volcano gave us access to a less intimidating couloir but an excellent ski descent of 1000m to our vehicle at the roadside. The ski descent from the summit of Mutnovsky pass (using the 6x6 as a means of ascent for another run) was just as good, finishing with tree skiing on great spring snow.

9th May. A cold day. Clear skies and an early start saw us onto our tour of the South Plateau. The road journey of 20km to the Mutnovsky Pass took an agonising 2 hours through deep rutted snow. But then we were out into the sunshine and skiing down through our first powder onto the plateau, a featureless expanse of volcanic lava. The horizon was dominated by two volcanoes, Mutnovsky (2323m) and Goryely (1828m). Our tour across the plateau took us through a col at 1150m on Shaliskaya, a minor peak. We ate lunch at the col with stunning views to 360 degrees, all the while wondering whether a splendid looking descent to the Mutnovsky geothermal energy plant was deteriorating each minute under the warm spring sun. We set off not a moment too early. Down we skied through deep, heavy snow, visiting hot springs on the hillside before meeting Vadim and his 6 wheeler at the plant.

The following day was reserved for the journey back to our apartments at Yelizovo, but the morning was spent on the ascent of Gorychaya (712m) near to the hut. The 600m descent, mostly through trees, was well up to Andrei’s exacting standards. Whatever else we did on this trip, no-one could complain of lack of downhill skiing.

12th May. We journeyed by minibus, 6x6 truck then Snow Cat up the bed of the Avacha river to the Avacha hut, a (probably) Swiss import with proper beds and proper mattresses. An afternoon tour took us by skis and scrambling to the summit of Verblyud (The Camel – 1550m) The descent from the saddle through wet, heavy snow left everyone but the guides scattered and sprawled in various poses on the mountainside. To the east silently smoking from the summit was Avachinsky (2741m) our principal objective.

We hit the jackpot first time. Next morning we were up before 6 and off by 7 am. The weather was cold and clear and the skinning up to about 2400m straightforward albeit we were on steep ground when we kicked off our skis and proceeded with sticks up the final 300m to the summit. This was agony, over steep, frozen and slippery volcanic debris. A cruel wind from the north blew up spindrift and livened up the ascent considerably. Refuge of a sort was found sitting on warm, damp red sand inside the crater at the summit, but there was spindrift everywhere which made hanging around wet and miserable. So it was about turn, now against the full blast of the wind, into the descent. Everyone summited, then skied down through good powder at first, giving way to crust that was easily avoided. A great day.

Koryasky was our secondary objective though the summit at 3451m was not on the programme, involving as it would over 2500m of ascent with difficulties at the summit. The guides decided against the summit back to back with the ascent of Avachinsky. Instead, Andrei had planned a skin up to about 2300m from where there was an easy traverse to the main couloir on this side of the mountain. This was to be our descent route. For me this was the highlight of the trip. We enjoyed a fantastic ascent in glorious spring sunshine followed by a couloir descent that surpassed all expectations. Unfortunately, our Snow Cat descent from the hut was scheduled for 5pm so time prevented our skiing the couloir out. We traversed out about 2/3rds of the way down, casting no more than a cursory glance at the vast area of deep, untracked snow we had left behind. The same transport, in reverse order, got us back to Yelizovo.

16th May. A helicopter had been booked to take us back to the South Plateau and the main crater of Mutanovsky. Another glorious day. Unlike the usual situation in which one is dropped off and skis down, we were landed on the mountainside from where we climbed up. We skinned up for about two hours, firstly to a minor, then the main crater. To the uninitiated volcanologists (and perhaps to those more experienced) it was a memorable visit. We passed steam jets, pits of bubbling mud and eventually scrambled up to the rim of the giant crater where we perched ourselves, 3 or 4 at a time, with legs dangling over the abyss, all manner of high temperature nasties several hundred feet below.

By now the weather was getting warmer and the snow rapidly disappearing. Andrei made a spirited attempt on a minor peak in the west of the peninsula named Gorylaya but two gymnastic river crossings either way, with a tangled ascent through dwarf birch trees in between persuaded us to give it best. On our final day we did manage a small, un-named hill (now Eagle Peak) which brought proceedings to a satisfactory close. A mammoth airplane journey (just avoiding the Euro-Final football crowds in Moscow) brought us back home.

In future I would go earlier to get better snow and more of it, though I make no criticism or complaint against those who chose the dates. Kamchatka, after all, has more snow than anywhere on the planet. It would be difficult to plan a trip without a Russian agent. Ours was New Route of St Petersburg (www.marchroute.com)

I felt that we had but scratched the surface in Kamchatka. There is still a huge amount to see and do. Summer trekking trips should not take place before 1st September to avoid the terrible plagues of mosquitoes. Though it is a long way to go, I would not have missed it for anything.

Party: Bruce Goodlad (guide), Andrei Nikiforov (local guide), John Barnard, Ric and Mandy Bartlett, Dave Carr, Stu Gallagher, John Goodwin, Val Hennelly, Martin Josten, Gordon Nuttall, Harry Salisbury, Roger Upton.

We met up in the small Austrian village of Vent for the start of a Ski Club of Great Britain week we started by skinning into the Martin Busch hut which is about 3 hours after settling in we practiced avalanche transceiver work so everyone was up to speed ready for the week ahead. The forecast was mixed so we decided to take each day as it came. On Monday we climbed the Hochlabkogel which would be a perfect ski peak if we could have seen it on Tuesday we climbed almost to the top of the Kreuz Spitz but were beaten back by strong winds. The weather on Wednesday was truly appalling but we managed to fight our way to the Similuan hut things were much better the next day for a traverse of the Hochlab Joch and a fantastic ski descent in powder snow to the Hoch Joch Hospiz. We finished the week traversing the Mittel Gulsar Spitz and descending to Vent via the Vernacht hut in extremely flat light.

Merry Christmas

Alexy in great snow

Most of the ski resorts in the Alps are now open with the best start to the season for years I have managed to get out on the hill for the last 6 days with some great skiing and climbing. We started just before Christmas touring over the Col du Cicle in Les Contamines, the snow on the descent was hard wind pack but really smooth and fun to ski. On Christmas Eve we skied the Crochu, Berard traverse which was in great condition. The Berard valley had recieved no sun or wind so we enjoyed great untracked powder on the descent. On Christmas day we cruised round the piste in St Gervais in perfect sun shine then skiied some off piste from the top of Mont Joly which had softened nicely in the sun.

On Boxing day we had a great descent on the back side of Le Tour skiing the East Couloir of the Pointe du Van we found great powder (video online soon) even though it hasn't snowed for 10 days. Yesterday we went though to Cogne where the ice has been building really well, we climbed the cascade de Lillaz which is in superb conditions.

To summarise conditions for anyone coming out over the new year all the ski areas are now open the touring is good with some soft snow still to be found low down, high up the snow is very wind blown. The Vallee Blanche is in good condition but the arete has not been equiped yet. The ice fall conditions are good for the time of year with 20 routes in condition in cogne, the Argentiere ice falls are in if you want to brave the walk under the serac. I could see the top of the routes in trient the other day and they looked in. Antares in the Val Savaranche is climbable as a re a couple of other routes lower down the valley. Routes are also coming in in Zinal and Arolla.