Chamonix and Vallee Blanche: A (board)walk in the park!

Well the boarding in January was so good, that myself and Jimmy just had to go on another one!  This time, to Chamonix.  Accompanying us on this next venture was Chris, Psycho Pete (who I haven't seen for many years!) and Gaz.  On the Sunday, Rob Savage met up with us for a few days for a bit of shreddin' before having to head home.   The appartment wasn't as great, with small, cramped rooms and being self-catered, but what the hell...we were there to board, not lounge around! 

Chamonix had a number of different resorts for us to check out, and whilst the snow conditions weren't that great, there were plenty of good blue and red runs to keep us occupied.  Saying that, the Tuesday was something else entirely!! With the intention of gettin the cable car over past Mont Blanc and to Courmayeur in Italy, we ended up doing one of the most extreme days possible!   Having got to the mid-way point on the cable car, we found out that the second part of the cable car ride was closed!  Therefore, meaning we would waste time heading back.  However, there was an alternative...taking the Vallee Blanche down!  I hadn't really heard of it, myself, but Jim and the gang were going on about it and being an extreme route within the Alps.  It's off-piste of course and dangerous due to the crevasses and glacier which leads down the valley.   The start of the journey said it all; watching skiiers all roped together, wearing crampons and following a guide!  Speaking to a few people as we headed down to the main part where we could clip in, many folk were giving us safety tips and advising to get a guide.  Of course, we knew better! ;-)

And wow, the first part of the journey was fantastic, ploughing through deep, fresh powder...just perfect.  The scenery was amazing too, heading through the mountains and valley of unspoilt snow and clear blue skies.  Stunning!   Some of the slopes were quite steer, and there were a number of cravasses to avoid, before seeing the amazing scale and sight of the glacier, glinting blue in the sun.   After a dicey route to a cliff-side restaurant for lunch, we took an even more dicey traverse across almost bare rock where even the snow couldn't settle.  Needless to say, one slip and it would have been game over!   Eventually we made it onto the flat and the bottom of the valley.  Just us and the clacking of rock falls to be heard.  After a lengthy run, we made it to the end where the ice caves under the glacier were located, before a long ascent up too many steps to the cable car away from it all.  What a journey...something we will always remember.

As well as the resorts of Chamonix, we also managed to get over to Verbier in Switzerland and Courmayeur (eventually) in Italy.   A whiteout tained Verbier a little, but had some good runs, and in contrast the conditions in Courmayeur were great! 

The Monkey Bar ended up getting out custom most nights, especially during happy hour and also had some great meals there.   Still, one of the best was the massive steak up the road.   Follow my lead next time, Chris and stay away from the lasagne! :-)

A great laugh with good company and some excellent boarding again.   Just can't get enough of it!  Roll on next season!

Snowboarding in Morzine & Avoriaz

January - The first of two snowboarding holidays this season! Me, Jimmy Jakes, Snoop, Rob Riddell (headed over from Oz) and Rob C took Morzine\Avoriaz by storm! No dumps for many weeks but the conditions were generally good; although starting to get a bit icy and bare in places towards the end of the week. So we split the week up between shredding up both of the resorts, which were both near enough to the hotel via a short bus ride. Speaking of the hotel (Le Petit Cheval Blanc), it suited perfect! The location was a bit of a trek into Morzine itself for the bars etc (or rather more of a trek on the way back with extra beer inside to carry up the hill!), but the rooms were pretty good and the food was amazing! The usual continental breakfast was nothing to write home about, but the four course evening meal was top notch and had us all raving on about it!

So first to Avoriaz! We tackled quite a few runs, a good mixture of blues and reds, traversing over the French mountains and dipping into a few runs over on the Swiss side. A couple of the stand-out runs being one which we named "Abercrombie", simply because it was easier than trying to pronounce the actual French name which began with "A" and looked similar, which was a good lengthy run starting up at the split between France and Switzerland and running right down to the bottom where the usual lunchtime restaurant cluster was located. This was probably the best overall run, as we attempted it numerous times a day and got the top speeds overall. Proclou was a good varied run, under tunnels, right corners and a good fast run....often to Snoop's annoyance that I sped past him everytime ;-) Rob C hit disaster early on in the holiday though, after a bad landing down a blue run. Well, the landing didn't look too severe, but the extreme bruising all over his lower back was shocking!! Out of action for a few days...bummer!

Morzine was a great resort too, more tree-lined than Avoriaz and some good fast, varied runs. It was in Morzine where we also took the high red down from the top, with Jimmy snapping shots of us all coming down. Although he chose the accident blackspot of the whole resort! The number of people flying off the end and having bad landings was unbelievable. Stretchers were commonplace! We came away reasonably intact though!

So other than the boarding, the nightlife was limited to just a handful of bars, but served the purpose (they sold beer!). The Tuesday night was memorable and one of those times when everyone just clicked and wanted a heavy session! Jodica, the barmaid, was to blame though, with the free shots, which resulted in the standard beer rounds turning into rounds of 7-year Havana Rum! Great night :-)

A damn good week with some top notch boarding and night's out! Great resorts too with some excellent runs...just needed a good powder dump to make it perfect! Even so, i'd put this resort up there with the likes of Three Valleys!

The Tau Empire...complete: The Manta has arrived

Wow, I can still barely believe it!  From the beginning of me getting hooked into the hobby of Warhammer 40,000, and quickly starting to build a Tau Empire army (being my pride and job and largest army I have), I often looked at the pages for the Tau Manta on the Forge World website, dreaming of ever owning one of these beauties.

So at Games Day 2010 and after much fighting with myself to justify the decision, I finally had the pleasure in picking up two large boxes from the Forge World stand.

Again, being the geek that I am, I spent time at home unpacking all the components and checking against the inventory listing.   For a good number of nights I ended up filing, sawing and cleaning up each component.  The place was a mess of resin dust and clippings!

Finally, getting the chance and pleasure to sit down and built the monsterous craft, it was worth every moment of effort and every penny (even though it still stings a little!).  

It's now all sprayed up, with some of the interior painted (the Command Centre and crew had to be painted before assembly).  So it will take a while before I start to paint it fully, but it's still looking good sat on the gaming table in all it's glory :-D

Here's the blurb from the Forge World website:

The Manta measures 630mm/25 inches long and has a wingspan of 860mm/34 inches! Weighing in at 12.5 kilos/28 pounds, it weighs six times as much as a Thunderhawk Gunship, and that is before we put all the tanks and Battlesuits inside.

The Manta has been designed to have a fully working and detailed interior and has two decks: the upper deck is where you will find forty-eight seated resin Fire Warriors and six Gun Drones, overseen by a seated Tau Ethereal. They exit through doors that retract into the walls and then down to the landing zone via the hidden extendable ramp. On the lower deck are eight Tau Battlesuits, two Devilfish troop carriers and two Hammerhead battle-tanks. This whole deck drops down so the vehicles and Battlesuits can disembark and deploy rapidly. Further forward, towards the nose, four Air-Caste systems operators and two pilots control the prodigious amount of firepower that the Manta can bring to bear on the enemy: sixteen Long-Barrelled Burst Cannon, six Long-Barrelled Ion Cannon, two Heavy Rail Guns, Missile Pods and battery of Seeker Missiles as well as a Networked Markerlight turret. The kit includes two Devilfish, two Hammerheads, eight Battlesuits and six Gun Drones.

My new beast - Nissan Pathfinder

This week, after having spent ten years with "the beast": my black 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT, I finally got a new car.  Well more than a car really, a big, meaty 4x4.  I went for the Nissan Pathfinder Aventura - 2.5L Diesel.  It's beauuuuutiful!  Three years old and in great condition with gadgets coming out of it's ears!  Only had it for a couple of days and done a mere 150 miles, but the ride is fantastic and it's sure very different to be climbing up into the driving seat and looking down at other vehicles, than lowering myself down and laying down to look up at other cars, as with the 3000GT (I still have the Mitsubishi, however - ironically having had the missing cylinder fixed only yesterday, after it being causing me grief for about 18 months!)

So i'll be giving the Pathfinder a good run this weekend and spending a bit more time getting used to it and appreciating all that it offers.  From one extreme to the other with the two cars!  I intend to spend a bit of time and money over the 3000GT and get it in a bit better shape to use as an occassional car and when I fancy a change.

Return to the Three Valleys

February 2010 saw my return to the Three Valleys (Courchevel, Meribel and Van Thorens) in France; this time, with seven other lads - Steve N, Alan, Scottish, Ewart, Mike, Ian and John.  All but two (John and Ian) are snowboarders, and we stayed in a fantastic chalet in Les Allues, just outside Meribel.  Conditions were great, and whilst it didn't snow until the last day, the snow on the piste was perfect.

So on day one it was just to get used to it all again, sticking around Meribel and trying some old familiar runs.  My skill has improved a fair bit since my last visit so that, combined with knowing the runs helped get my confidence back pretty much straight away. 

Courchevel was the next day and down to La Tania (obviously taking the scenic Plan Fontaine run).  The next day was spent over in Le Menuires, which I believe is the 'fourth' valley!  Some pretty good runs around the resort.  

During this holiday, I finally made it over to Val Thorens, which I hadn't done a couple of years back.  I was out on my own this day as I wanted to get an early start as there would be maybe over an hour of traversing across Meribel and Le Menuires before gettin to Val Thorens.   And it was worth it!  I'd say that the best runs on the valleys are in Val Thorens.   It's not anywhere near as pretty as Courchevel and La Tania, but the runs are fantastic and really improved confidence and skill, not to mention hitting some pretty high speeds.  Went to one of the highest points in the Three Valleys (Le Coq) for some amazing views!

The next day was a return to Courchevel with most of the lads, to go further down towards 1550 and La Tania again.   Did a great jump down Verdons, but then disaster struck about 15 minutes later when I hit a ridge at high speed going down to the lift at the end of afternoon to return to Meribel!   Ironically, after buying elbow pads the day before, I twisted an ankle, so had to painstakingly get down towards Meribel before relunctantly taking the gondola down to the resort :-(   Oh well!  And so ends the snowboarding for me this holiday.  Still, I only missed out on the last day, which was a whiteout anyway, and at least it was down to injury rather than beer ;-)

New Zealand - A Whirlwind Tour

So this September saw us belting around New Zealand in superfast time! We could have done with at least 3 weeks...4 preferably, as some days were were up at the crack of dawn, driving for 4 hours, seeing a sight, then back on the road for 3+ hours. We’d got a motorhome hired so could put up anywhere anyway and didn’t have to worry about where to kip etc. The weather was pretty good (except one day which caused a major problem! :-@) and had a damn good time - making it all the harder to be back in Old Blighty! So anyway, here’s a brief list of what we got up to…

Thursday and Friday were pretty much taken up by traveling. We flew from Heathrow and stopped off at Shanghai (had we had more time, a couple of days at least would have been spent here, going from last year’s experience of the place!), then onto Auckland, arriving Saturday morning NZ time.

North Island

Sat 13th - Time in Auckland around the centre, the harbour, Maritime museum and the Sky Tower. The Sky Tower was pretty cool - stunning views across the city. Went back up there at night for a meal at the Observatory. Stayed at a hotel just overlooking the harbour

Sun 14th - Went to pick up the motorhome (Frontier 6 Berth) in the morning and then headed up into Northland and to Whengerai and had a bit of time around the town and the bay. The scenery up to Whengerai was stunning. This is our first real taste of what NZ is like and it exceeds expectations. Mountains, lakes, forests… ya know the sort of thing. Went to see the ‘most photographed waterfall in NZ’ just north of Whengerei. Camped up on the edge of the shore… perfect!

Mon 15th - Set off south again, passing through Auckland again and down past Hamilton to stop at Waitomo. Visited the Aranui Cave (riddled with Cave Weta critters!) up in the forest and then to the Glowworm cave. The glowworm cave was pretty stunning - took a boat through the underground river to see thousands of glowworms lighting up the ceiling.

Tue 16th - Traversed across through the forests and farmlands to Rotorua. We could smell the place long before we got there! Reeked of sulfur! First stop was Te Puia: Whakarewarewa Thermal Area - A large area containing an array of bizarre features - bubbling mud, sulfur pools, steaming ground etc. Timed it just nice to see the Pohutu geyser erupt - stunning!

We were camped at Tikitapu (the Blue Lake) but went back into Rotorua and around the Government building and park (it’s more interesting than it sounds!), stopped off to see the Redwood trees and then onto Te Wairua buried village from when the volcano erupted. The Te Wairoa waterfall here was amazing too.

Wed 17th - Started off with a waste of time, and headed to Whakatane to get a boat to White Island - only to find they only run one boat this time of year and we missed it by 15 mins! So trudged back to Rotorua, stopping at Hell’s Gate on the way - the most active thermal area in NZ. This place was bubbling and steaming away like crazy! Parts of the ground we walked over were sizzling like a frying pan - it’s a miracle my boots didn’t melt into gunk! Hell’s Gate also had NZ’s only “hot” waterfall. From here we traveled south to Wai-o-Tapo - this is the most amazing thermal site of all - unbelievably colored lakes and features, such as the Devil’s Bath and Champagne Lake. Carried on south to Taupo, stopping at Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon (more thermal activity).

Thu 18th - Headed over to the Aratiatia Rapids for a ride along the rapids and river on a jetboat! Amazing! I want one! Spent a bit of time in Taupo then headed down through Turangi and into Tongararo National Park and stopped at Whakapapa. Chilled out in the Chateau and took it easy for the rest of the day.

Fri 19th - In the morning, we went ‘tramping’ towards the mountains and around the track to Turangi falls. After lunch, took the route into native bush to see the Silica Rapids and back over the mountains to the village. Later we drove down to the south of the National Park to Ohakune, camping up at the edge of the river, then headed up towards the resort area to meet up with Fitz and Naomi et al at their chalet before going up to the bar later. ::hic::

Sat 20th - Traveled down to Wellington and spent the day in the city, around the centre and the afternoon at Te Papa museum. At night, we went back into Welly to the main bar\restaurant street for a meal etc.

South Island

Sun 21st - The morning around Welly before taking the Interislander ferry across Marlbough Sound to Picton. Didn’t stay in Picton long, and just headed down the east coast to stop in Kaikoura.

Mon 22nd - Woke up to excellent scenery - surrounded by snow-capped mountains on one side and the beach on the other. Jumped on a boat and headed out into the sea - here we saw 4 sperm whales - am amazing sight as they surfaced, sprayed water out of their blowholes and then flipped to dive down! Whoah! And to cap it off on the way back, a seal was bounding along at the side of the boat. After lunch, a lengthy journey over Lewis Pass to the west coast, and stopped in Greymouth. This was a good 5 hour journey across the mountains (with only one gas station half way - panic started to set in at one point!) but amazing scenery.

Tue 23rd - Set off early to get to Franz Josef. Weather was rainy today but I guess it didn’t really matter as we had a walk up onto the glacier. It took about an hour across rocks and streams to walk there then donned the crampons and hacked our way up onto the ice. A fantastic experience.

Another long drive after the glacier as we headed down towards Queenstown. Quite a good drive through the mountains and forests again, but the weather was terrible - heavy rain, which caused mountain waterfalls to come down onto the road. Surprised we didnt get just washed off the side, it was really that bad! Arrived at Queenstown in the evening, looks like a great place!

Wed 24th - Disaster! Yesterday’s rain had been so severe that it had caused a landslide on the Milford Road. We were due to go to Milford Sound today but it’s been cancelled! GRR! Nevertheless, every cloud has a silver lining. I’d hoped to get more time in Queenstown anyway so we certainly weren’t too narked. Went up the Skyline Gondola for views across the town and lake, took a walk into the forests and spent a bit of time in the town - nice place, I could live here :-D Had a trip on the TSS Earnslaw steamer over to Walter Peak and the Colonel’s Homestead and then went over to Arrowtown to see the old goldrush town and abandoned chinese settlements.

Thu 25th - Left Queenstown and headed over to Dunedin. First stop was Olveston House - beautiful! Strange to see something so English over here too. The place is just as it was left inside. Then made our way over to Otago Peninsula and Lanarch Castle - quite a tragic and eerie place in some ways. Spent a bit of time around Dunedin.

Fri 26th - Alas, it’s our last day with the motorhome, so after getting it sorted out we headed up to Christchurch, where we had the night in the Grand Chancellor hotel. Visited Victoria Park, Cathedral Square and went around the city. Ventured back into the hub of the city at night.

Sat 27th - Back into Christchurch, we visited the old Provinicial buildings and Botanical Gardens (3rd in size to Hyde Park and Central Park, apparantly) and the Cantebury Museum. Later that day, it was back to Christchurch airport for a flight to Auckland and ultimatly the flight back home via Hong Kong.