Road trip day 1

Me and Ben joined Kurt, Nasta, Neils and Michel and headed over to Ville's house Les Marecottes in the Swiss Alps, where it had been snowing lots. Stopped on way at Col de Aravis for a small tour. I was hungover like a dog and was practically sick on the way up. oh well.












The team walking through sunny Flumet






















Whilst we skinned up the shadowy side of the col, i was thinking deeply about my hangover, but just managed to catch one of the quotes of the season from Ben. Notice the cliff in the photo - foreground right handside, 5 to 10 metres tall, which Ben and Kurt are standing underneath.

It went something like this.

The scene: Ben reaches cliff, pulls out probe and starts probing the snow. p.s Ben is an aspirant UIAGM Mountain Guide and so knows all about safety considerations.

Kurt: "Ben! stop being a guide, the snowpack is stable here, dont worry about it, blah blah". (Kurt thinks Ben is checking the snowpack stability for avalanche danger)

Ben: "Shut up Kurt, i,m checking the snow depth for the landing"

On the way down, Ben and Kurt both hucked the cliff. Ben did the smaller one and skied it off. Kurt took the bigger one and dissapeared into the snow for a few mins, minus a ski. He was fine though, since the snow was so deep!







Skins off at top






















Nasta celebrates













Sunset on Mont Blanc from Col d. Aravis











Thanks & acknowledgements to Ville and his hospitality in Les Marecotte!