ski

The numbers don’t lie… Mammoth skier/boarder visits are down 36% from last year, forcing upper management to take strong measures. CEO Rusty Gregory has announced that Mammoth will be cutting … Read More

Mammoth Conditions Report: I say you have to give credit where credit is due (sometimes “credit” can be interchanged with “criticism” but I digress)… Go to the “Official” Mammoth Mountain … Read More

The Line of the Week Alpine Meadows, California Rocky & Bony – Let’s Air It You can look at a pile of rocks, a scree field or a cliff in … Read More

Mammoth Conditions Now: cloudy, a bit warmer, and the snow is still great. The snow on the upper mountain is staying dry and cold and the snow around Canyon and Juniper … Read More

Capozzi and Bigio's descent in red. Pente a Remy (Remy's Face). Photo from Davide Capozzi and PlanetMountain.com

With the incredible amounts of snow that the Alps have received this year, it is no surprise that lines which are rarely filled in have become skiable. It is even less surprising that some of Chamonix’s finest ski and snowboard mountaineers (crazies?) have been the first to take advantage of recent high pressure and mild temperatures to ski these lines.

On February 13, 2012 Davide Capozzi and Stefano Bigio completed a previously unskied line on Mont Rochefort, which they dubbed the “Pente a Remy.” Mont Rochefort is a sub-peak of the Aguille de Rochefort, on the Mont Blanc Massif. The more typical descent of this peak is the “Rochefort Diagonale,” first skied by Remy Lecluse. Monsieur Lecluse also was the first to conceive of the route skied by Capozzi and Bigio, so they decided to name their descent in honor of him.

Stefano Bigio on the Pente a Remy. Photo from Davide Capozzi and PlanetMountain.com

It sounds like every moment of this route was exciting. It not only included a difficult ascent and descent, but also an evening adventure down the Marbree Glacier, lit by headlamp. According to Davide Capozzi:

The ascent starts with a short 50° gully which leads to a mixed section which demanded a fair bit off poor Stefano (two pitches of transformed snow up rocky slabs, with ski boots, skis strapped to our rucksacks and difficult pro), and this led to the face proper. The descent is continuously exposed, down 45° – 50° slopes. The snow varied considerably since it hadn’t settled completely. We made tow abseils dwn the final section, one 50m abseil followed by a second, shorter one.

It is only mid February, and first descents are already going down in Chamonix. Expect plenty more to occur this spring, when the deep snow pack is joined by stability and sunny days.

For more information on this first descent, check out Davide Capozzi’s writeup on Planet Mountain, as well as a bit extra on Chamonix Insider.

Steeeep. Photo from Davide Capozzi and PlanetMountain.com

This is Takume Oike’s edit for 2011, filmed and produced by Mighty Jamming. Oike-san lives in Hakuba, but this segment was shot last winter in various spots on Hokkaido. Oike drops some man-sized pillows and throws some big front flips. He adds some unique flavor, with long dreads flying out of the top of his hat (Japan’s Glen Plake?). The best shot of the segment is right at the beginning  with a an air onto a huge mushroom pillow with a front flip off. For a closer look at the setup for this line, check out Mighty Jamming’s behind the scenes episode below.

Yesterday the sun was shining bright on Mammoth, permitting the top to open for our shredding pleasure; here’s the video proof. Bernie Rosow has the key to the White Room and he’s not bashful about using it.

So grab your morning coffee, have a seat, sit back, relax, and enjoy reliving yesterday’s glory (or become even more jealous for having missed out). Couldn’t join the powder feeding frenzy? Not to worry, conditions just keep getting better. In fact, it’s snowing again… 6-10″ already added this morning! Slow start to the season? What slow start?

NOTE: 2 pieces of video viewing advice… 1) Kids (probably Adults too), don’t try this at home. 2) Watch out for the trees – they come pretty fast.

Nimbus Independent’s Niseko segment from En Route might be the best Japan footage of all time. Its a couple years old, but they just reposted it. This one has it all – deep snow, good light, pillows, booters, and a quality soundtrack. The only thing its missing is big lines, but unfortunately no one has managed a well-made segment featuring Japan’s bigger terrain (yet). The whole segment is packed with entertaining skiing, but the way they link up features from 2:00 – 2:20 really defines Japan skiing. Is the best Japan segment ever made?

Nimbus did another trip to Hokkaido this January, so look for more Japow dropping in Fall 2012.

The Line of the Week
 Lake Tahoe, CA Pow Turns in Emerald Bay It’s amazing what a couple inches of fresh will do to not only my mood but the … Read More

A ski instructor and his/her 3 child-students fell from a chairlift at Big Sky, MT at 1pm on Saturday.  The fall happened on Big Sky’s Ramcharger high speed detachable quad … Read More