Every job has its highs and low, for example I don’t particularly enjoy having to do the resort accounts, but ‘C’est la vie’. However, a serious perk of my role in Val d’Isere with Ticket to Ride is being able to tag along and take photos with the snowboarders as they navigate gnarly powder lines and tear up the mountain.
The majority of the last week has been gale forces winds and snowy blizzards, and heading up the mountain was a challenge as your face quickly exfoliated in the elements. Friday morning was a different story though, as I whipped open the curtains to the bluebird captured above (that’s not the view from my balcony…I wish). It was time to call Olivier Lipps the Performance Snowboard Instructor to let him know I was joining him and the gang for the last day of the 4 week Snowboard Performance Course.
Approximately 40cm of fresh powder had graced the slopes earlier in the week, so it was time to don the avalanche kit as the risk rating was 4/5. There’s no denying powder days are heavy on the legs, so we cruised up the Olympique for a few warm up runs. This was my first time riding with Oli as prior to this the guys had been with his business partner Fred. My first impression was damn this guy could rip, and his talent and passion for the sport and the mountains visibly transpired to Tabby, Uschi and Charlie who are on the course.
With everyone cruising at their own pace, we warmed up with some nice mellow carves down towards Tommeuse, with a few 360s, butters and some badass revert carves thrown in the mix for good measure. The blood was pumping and we were ready for the fluffy white stuff so we dropped of the side Prariond run into and floated on the clouds of powder down towards Tignes.
Our sights were set at the Chardonnay bowl at the top of Tignes le Lac, and as far as hikes go this was an absolute breeze. I’d consider it the best sweat to stoke ratio – where you simply hike for 10 minutes in return for the sickest reward where you drop off into a range of couloirs the other side that open out into a sweet powder bowl. We were there by 10am, so only a few lines had been set so we were amped to leave our own imprint. The conditions from snow conditions to lighting were pristine, twas time to drop in.
Here’s Charlie ripping it as we rode down to a part of the Escpace Killy that i’d never been to; the off piste run down to Tignes Les Boisses where you ride down with the gorgeous backdrop of the Tignes Lake. It combines epic powder fields, cambered embankments for some rad pow slashes, and then into a tight gulley where you dodges trees and come out into a mini boarder cross track. Ending on the road which brings you up form Tignes 1800 and the dam, we unclipped at the edge of the tarmac and waited for the bus to come by and pick us up. I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up the end of an epic 4 week Snowboard Performance Course. Rad in all aspects!