 Poster: A snowHead
|
I'm of the 2-plank persuasion, however, I was after a week that was suitable for boarders for the sake of the mate I was going with (who was on his last-trip-before-kids). Having been on a superb week with Stevo (stevomcd) and Iona at the The White Room in St Foy for mountainbiking a couple of years ago, I was more more than keen to book onto their Backcountry Snowboarding trip last week. Although aimed at boarders, they were perfectly happy to have the odd skier along, providing we understood that any tuition would be aimed squarely at the boarders.
The price of the trip included transfer to and from Bourg St Maurice, 2 meals/day, 5 days of guiding and unlimited wine, beer and soft drinks… A running theme of The White Room is a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, a quality well-equipped chalet and excellent food cooked by excellent hosts (Tom and Lucy).
Day 1 was unguided as a warm up with a couple of hours of transceiver theory and practice after lunch. During the evening of day 1, Stevo (who, together with Iona, has the International Mountain Leader qualification) gave a very informed summary of avalanche safety for an hour or so.
Days 2 – 6 we split into 2 groups, each being guided by local ski instructors, with a bit of ad-hoc tuition thrown in for the boarders. Our group was led by Neil McNair; who was a reputable, enthusiastic and knowledgeable BASI Snowboard Instructor Trainer. Stevo joined us and brought up the rear. Between them, their local knowledge found us excellent, untracked snow each day…even in Tignes…3 days after a snowfall.
The skiing/boarding was a mixture of lift-served, 30 min – 1 hr boot packs and a day when we did a 3 hr splitboard/ski tour. Strategically placed minibuses and land rovers enabled us to do some interesting local tours that didn’t end at resort.
Some of the more notable descents we covered throughout the week included the Col d’Argentiere, North Face of the Foglietta, Col de Granier, Le Petit Col and one of ‘The Fingers’ in Tignes for our last run of the week. Thanks to the snow earlier in the week, most of these descents were plastered in untracked, knee deep powder.
All in all, an excellent trip to an area with fantastic terrain, very few people and very knowledgeable, friendly hosts. I’d thoroughly recommend them to anyone who’s looking for an MTB holiday in the summer or a decent backcountry trip in the winter 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Sounds great. Fingers always a good one...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
... as is the Foglietta
any pics?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Arno, the white room FB has about 100 up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Arno, plenty of pics - I'll see if I can upload to best to here. Some rather epic GoPro footage too
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Excellent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ