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 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.

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.

I was working with Kath Murphy on a touring skills weekend for the Ski Club of Great Britain in and around Vernier this weekend. We met in Fionnay staying in the excellent Hotel Grand Combin, if you are ever in the area and struggling to find accomodation it is well worth seeking out. Its of a time but cheap and really friendly. We started on Fri doing some off piste skiing and skills round the Verbier system on Sat we went to Bruson skinning up the Six Blanc and the Tete de la Payanne finding excellent snow on the north faces. On Sun we were back in Verbier skinning up the col next to Le Ferret just N of Mont Fort before skiing to the Mont Fort hut. We started early on Monday morning skinning over the Col de la Chaux and the Col de Momin then skiing all the way to Nendaz.

I was working for the ski club of Great Britain again this week based in Courmayeur. I met the troops on Tuesday morning and skied at Courmayeur for the day enjoying long descents from both the Yula and Arp lifts. On Wednesday there was some high cloud so we managed to stay under it skinning up the Punta Croce, the snow level was such that we could explore the old Fort on the summit. Thursday we skied on the oposite side of the valley skinning up the Col Fetita, we even managed to find some fresh powder in the trees on the descent. Friday we thought we would explore the Val Ferret we skinned along the ski du font track for about an hour then headed up the hill stopping in the winter room at the Bonatti hut for a brew before continuing to the Col d'Entre deux Sauts. We found plenty of soft snow on the descent but the 5km skate back to the car was a bit challenging. There was a fresh fall of snow on Friday night so we finished the week with some off piste skiing round La Thuile.

I had a change of team on Sunday skiing with Pete and Jane, the plan was to go up the Midi and do a tour looking at some skills along the way. The wind was a bit stronger than we realised blowing all the fresh snow around which made for some challenging conditions. We skied down the Gross Rognon variation which was quite exciting when you couldn't see the ground for moving snow. We skied all the way to the valley then headed round to les Houches skinning up the Tete Noire which gives amazing views of the Chamonix valley.