Ski - mountaineering; the great adventure.

Bac on the piste - above Val Thorens

The early deays

 Its spring time- we can expect glide cracks to full depth.

 and also in spring on  sun exposed slopes we can expect full depth avalanches, this one almost reaching this piste.

Chabot Refuge and back to the road side

Excessive amounts of snow, poor visibility and high winds  with heavy drifting and the formation of wind slab prevented us from going much higher above the hut so by 9,30 pm we heading back down to the road side.

John surviving s the skiing through the trees on the zig zag trail

Happy to be back at the road side. There were some big avalanches  which took trees and debris right across the road but they had just been cleared  by  a massive digger so we got back home to Chamonix eventually.

Grand Paradis ski tour

Setting off from the road side in heavy snow showers

A moment of better weather

Evening sunset on the summits

Chamonix off-piste

John and Gill in the distance  - we have been having some interesting dodgy weather and not so nice ski conditions.

John and Gill, coping with the icy surface crust

Nice times in wonderful place.

A exhausting flying in/out visit to Kathmandu last week, planning a small expedition  next fall and assessing IRATA technicians for my good pal Ruddy and AIMS Nepal.

And an IRATA assessment with Craig Smith at Talon in Edinburgh last Friday

Interesting snow on the high ridges in Torridon during my avalanche forecasting days with the Scottish Avalanche Information Service ( SAIS)

Liathach, in Torridon, photographed from the road  side that runs through Glen Torridon, its one of my  favourite mountains.

Meall Gorm and the Bealach na Ba  with its outstanding hairpin bends and cycle challenge.