11 days of FUN ahead of me....

A great blog coming soon.... 

The next 11 days consists of 

2 day of mountain biking 

3 days of training at the climbing wall

2 days strength condition work 

4 days skiing in French Alps. 

It's time to have some FUN!!! 

Back to the Alps with the Father-in-law

Headed back into the alps last weekend, destination Morzine in the French alps. Accompanied by my father in law, Paul. 

Paul's a great skier with years of experience under his belt, so some fun was definitely going to be had on the slopes. 

Alarm went off at 3am Friday morning and it was straight to Gatwick airport for the 06:20 flight to Geneva. A smooth check in and straight through security had us tucking into scrabbled eggs and smoked salmon  and a few flat whites at 04:30... Buzzing!! 

An Easy Jet flight that took off on time and landed 20 minutes early had us ahead of the game for getting straight onto the slopes. A good transfer to Morzine  straight to our chalet, a quick change and we were heading into the mountains around 11:00am - Not bad!

We managed around 5 hours on Friday, which was perfect for getting the legs back into it. I was trying a pair of Salomon BBRs, a fatter and longer ski than I have ever used before. They took a bit of getting used to but once I changed my style and weight distribution and lengthened my turns, I was on fire. Carving well and going faster with a feeling of great control. I was enjoying the different style of skiing.

Saturday was an epic, skiing hard and covering a lot of ground. I would love to know the kilometers covered and the top speeds reached as we were flying. We covered a lot of Morzine,  Les Gets and Mont Chery, not missing many runs out and straight lining some runs treating them like slalom tracks... All I know is we were going FAST!! 

Sunday we awoke to fresh snow and pretty closed out conditions. Complete white out up the hill so we tried to stay in the tree lines. Heading up occasionally to see if conditions were changing. The fresh snow was great and the Salomon skis really came into their own. I love the feeling of floating on a fresh layer of snow, it's just bliss. 

We covered a lot of ground again and  made the most of the conditions and lack of visibility.

So, Monday was here and it was a morning session which ended up being fancy dress!!  1980s retro onesies and a big afro wig.

With 2 GoPro's and 2 wollys on 2 sets of skis, it was snow time!!! A morning of acting silly in fancy dress on the slopes.... Video coming soon. 

A great weekend and now back to reality, until the alps call again in...............

March!

Big thanks to Jack & Jill Holidays who hosted a fantastic chalet service. Again first class and very hospitable. I highly recommend to anyone heading to Morzine, summer or winter. 

For now it's back to training on the wall. Pushing those grades!!! 

Moving into 2014

So January is almost over and it's been a quite month on the adventure front. The weather has been a massive reason I have not yet headed out in search of some challenging rock lines. Tho I have hit the trails most weekends and smashing it on my mountain bike.  

Not heading out does not mean I have not been climbing. I have started to work with Robin O'Leary (climbing performance coach) and looking at pushing my grades in 2014. 

After some assessments and talks on my future plans Robin has now put together a periodised programme to aid in peak performance. Looking forward to see what can be achieved this year and beyond. 

Talks of some amazing trips in 2014, it is going to be a great year, taking me to new places in this amazing world.

For now im of to Morzine in the French Alps for some PowPow! 

It's time to ski..... 

Zermatt

So, with our 1st wedding anniversary on 21st December, my wife Natalie and I, planned to hit the slopes and spend that special day in the most romantic ski resort in Europe, Zermatt.

After a very early start on Wednesday 18th Dec, we flew out from LHR T5, arriving in Geneva around 9am, local time. A transfer by train along Lake Geneva and then a change at Visp onto a mountain train that took us gradually into the mountains. Slowly the peaks raised above us and we found ourselves looking at the Matterhorn; Probably the most aesthetically beautiful looking mountain in the world. 

We arrive in Zermatt and take an electric taxi to our apartment; All the vehicles are electric in Zermatt, no motorised vehicles are allowed, which is something you really notice, it's quieter with fresh air, making this beautiful mountain town so peaceful and calm (most of the time!). 

We arrive at the apartment greeted with nearly a 150 steps!! But remember with elevation you get view and the view over Zermatt was simply breathtaking, as you'll see in the pictures below.

We headed into town, sorted skis and lift passes, got a food shop in and then headed back to the apartment. We lit the fire and just relaxed and took in the beautiful surroundings. 

An early alarm and first lift into the mountains, we were a couple of the first people on the slopes - awesome! Skiing when it's quiet, is just the best, having the slopes to yourself, nothing quite beats it apart from off piste, but the conditions and lack of snowfall meant that was not an option. 

Sticking to the slopes and having 5 days of empty pistes meant we got in a lot of skiing, always on the first lift up and being the last to leave, it was great fun, it felt like our own piece of paradise. Spending this many hours interrupted on skis, meant we got to practice technique and just enjoy the occasion. 

We skied most of Zermatt whilst there, maybe only missing out a few runs. On our anniversary we headed over to Cervinia (Italy), had lunch in one of the piste restaurants, taking in the spectacular views. In the evening we celebrated our anniversary in a beautiful Resturant in Zermatt called Snowboat. 

Being around the Matterhorn, seeing it from nearly every angle and capturing it on camera has only inspired me further to climb this mountain and it's a definite goal for 2014. 

Plans for ski trip No 2 are also in the pipeline, it's such s great sport and one I can enjoy with my beautiful wife. What a bonus. 

Below is a collection of shots taken from this trip, I really enjoyed using the skills I learnt from my photography course, I would not of got these shots without the knowledge. Enjoy!

Zermatt at twilight

Natalie on the train taking in the views

What a mountain

The Matterhorn from Chez Vrony

A magical town

It just glows beauty

Magical night shot

My wife and I

Moonshine 

Me and the Matterhorn

Natalie carving it up...
 

View from Chez Vrony over a hot chocolate

Speedy....

The Catalogue shot!

Eating powder!!

Natalie on the edge

Me enjoying empty slopes

Does it get much better?

STOP!!!

A nice portrait shot
 

Just in heaven

Falling asleep with this view through the window.....

A morning glow on the Matterhorn

Faster and faster and living on the edge 

Natalie tearing it up

Continued support...

Both Adidas Eyewear and Smartwool continue there support with my future plans. 

"I'm very grateful for the clothing and eyewear support, it just makes my journeys into the adventure world just that little more comfortable". 

All good intentions...

It was planned I was going to meet Gideon, to head out on the trails at Swinley Forest a little earlier than the others, to get some footage on the GoPro, to make a little video. Then hook up with the other guys and continue the ride.

The alarm went off, got my stuff together and headed off out... Something did not feel right. So I checked my phone and the exchange of texts from the night before. We confirmed 7 30 meet!! It was 8am and I'd only just left!! 1 hour behind, oops!

I arrived at Gideon's and after a quick coffee, loaded his bike on the rack and headed out.  

No more than 10mins of riding and I'm losing pressure in my back tyre... I run 'tubeless' tyres so added some air and carried on. After a minute or so I'm flat again... As I did not have any fluid that self seals my tyres, my only option was to put an inner tube on the wheel.

We pull over and Gideon and I get the tube on as fast as possible... At this point no footage has been taken as we were only just getting to the good sections of the forest. 

Tube on and ready to ride we head off on probably my favourite section in the forest. Railing the burns and getting air at any opportunity, we are in business. Or maybe not. I take a burn fast and my tyre is flat again. We pull over to the side of the trail to find I have a pinch flat. I have pinched the inner tube taking a corner. Great!

So now we have to fix a pinch in the tyre. Out comes the puncture repair kit. Quick repair and the wheel is back on the bike. I'm pumping the tyre and not getting any pressure. We take the wheel back off, we check the tube and we find a second pinch. That gets repaired and now we are back in business, again!

We ride to meet the others and then had an enjoyable hour or so ripping it up. No GoPro footage: all good intentions, but it was just one of those days. 

The trip to North Carolina has given me loads of confidence and I'm finding myself attacking the corners and hardly using my breaks. Which means I'm going fast, feeling the need for speed!

Had a lot of fun on the trails today after a very frustrating start. Looking forward to getting out again and hitting it harder and faster and getting the footage to make a kick-ass movie.

This two pictures sum up the ride...

ITV interview - Emma Welch, Everest Challenge

Please check out the ITV interview covering Emma Welch's Everest Challenge. 

http://www.itv.com/news/west/update/2013-11-25/radstock-girl-scales-the-height-of-everest/