Jan 26 |
 |
We decided to take Dave on the amazing Crouchues-Bérard traverse tour to discover Snowboard mountaineering!
Laetitia at the top of the Index chair lift
Dave teaching Pete how to use his new-fangled GPS gadget!
Dave at the top of the Crouchues col
The climb up to the Crouches col followed by the traverse across to and climb up to the Bérard col were easy. But the descent was another story! I struggled so much with the snow conditions on this ski tour’s descent that I wondered if it had ever been possible for me to have completed the Haute Route - what was my problem? The descent is supposed to be the fun bit…
The awesome traverse to the Bérard col.
Check out the massive avalanche path!
Just nine months earlier we had made relatively easy work of the skiing on the seven day Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt, yet with a wicked icy crust the snow down the Bérard valley was a killer! At almost every turn I broke through the crust to the deep power below and “tripped” myself up, ending in a massive head-plant crash. After the umpteenth of these I was more than a little knackered and angry! 
Dave and Laetitia kept saying, “you are sitting too far back”, and I kept trying to get forward and be aggressive through the turns. But that just made a whopper of a head-plant wipe-out more likely (and painful). 
After yet another wipe out!
So, what was my problem? Well, I’d like to blame my tools, as Dave on his snowboard had no bother at all. Or I could blame it on my being heavier than Laetitia, as she was also on skis but only wiped-out a couple of times. But basically I have to face the facts - my skiing was crap!!! 
Off to the piste tomorrow to brush up on those skills… 
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Entry for Saturday, 26th January 2008 by 
Pete,
filed under 
Ski Mountaineering, Snowboarding.
Location 
(France).
Tagged with 
crash.
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7 Responses to “Crouchues-Bérard Traverse”
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Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am
The snow cover looks fantastic! Crashing is part of the skiing experience isn’t it??
(yellow team motto)
If you’re not wiping out, you’re not trying hard enough!!
Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Oh, how did dave do on the walky bits? was it soft snow and was he breaking through or was he ok??
PS. Tish looks cool
Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Awesome picture of the Berard Col traverse.
Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
It all looks fabulous. Wish I was there.
The forward-back stability you get doing tele turns prevents you going over when you break through (not that I don’t struggle in crusty stuff too—it’s hard to be aggressive enough to keep moving while ploughing up the crust).
You know what I’m going to say: Telemark.
Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
It makes me feel better that Pete kept on falling over.
Just wish I was there to capture him on video to embarrass him. Then again, if Pete was struggling, what would I be like?
Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I was fine on the walky bits in my snow shoes, the skiers didn’t seem to get away from me much. Mind you I think if there had not been several skiers through before me it would have been a different story. Main problem with snowboarding was it was a lot of faff switching between snowshoes & board. Not a big deal when theres a long downhill or long uphill stretch but when it gets more up & downy ski’s win the day. I think it might also be rather interesting in high winds with that plank strapped to my back…
Great fun all round though
Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
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