Snowboarding in Chamonix
 

Hi all,

I've just stumbled across this newsgroup this evening, looks like a
nice little community! I've done a few searches and checked the FAQ,
but the only answers were very old, so maybe things have changed a bit
since then, apologies if it's a regular sort of question!

I've just come back from riding Heavenly in Tahoe with my girlfriend
(just before Christmas) where we were a bit spoilt as boarders... 4
parks, halfpipe (although it wasn't open yet) etc... now I've just
arranged 4 days in Chamonix with some mates from work. They're all
skiers, so they'll be fine... but what's the scene like for
snowboarding there? I do a bit of freeride and stuff, but I'm mainly
into freestyle... do they have any parks or pipes around?

Any info greatly appreciated! Oh, and if there's any riders from around
the Bristol, UK area gimme a shout.. I live about 2 miles from the dry
slope at Churchill, just thinking about rejoining :D

"Simon Burrows" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all,

I've just stumbled across this newsgroup this evening, looks like a
nice little community! I've done a few searches and checked the FAQ,
but the only answers were very old, so maybe things have changed a bit
since then, apologies if it's a regular sort of question!

I've just come back from riding Heavenly in Tahoe with my girlfriend
(just before Christmas) where we were a bit spoilt as boarders... 4
parks, halfpipe (although it wasn't open yet) etc... now I've just
arranged 4 days in Chamonix with some mates from work. They're all
skiers, so they'll be fine... but what's the scene like for
snowboarding there? I do a bit of freeride and stuff, but I'm mainly
into freestyle... do they have any parks or pipes around?

Any info greatly appreciated! Oh, and if there's any riders from around
the Bristol, UK area gimme a shout.. I live about 2 miles from the dry
slope at Churchill, just thinking about rejoining :D


Been a while since I was there but last time was at the start of Feb and
they were building a half pipe at Grand Montets.

Churchill eh? Learnt to ski there. Cool place!

Jay.

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 19:15:21 GMT, "Simon Burrows"
allegedly wrote:

I've just stumbled across this newsgroup this evening, looks like a
nice little community! I've done a few searches and checked the FAQ,
but the only answers were very old, so maybe things have changed a bit
since then, apologies if it's a regular sort of question!

Ouch. What do you think needs updating? I certainly can't list all the
mountain areas that provide a park and pipe.

skiers, so they'll be fine... but what's the scene like for
snowboarding there? I do a bit of freeride and stuff, but I'm mainly
into freestyle... do they have any parks or pipes around?

The "scene", such as it is, is geared towards big mountain freeriding.
I've never actually seen an open park or pipe, although they've always
been in the process of building one, or it's closed to preserve it for a
comp.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

Ouch. What do you think needs updating? I certainly can't list all the
mountain areas that provide a park and pipe.

Don't worry, it wasn't a dig. I was just covering my bases as I know
it's tempting to tell people to search for answers to possibly common
questions!
Cheers for the answer, I'll see what's going on when I get there :)

On 19 Jan 2005 11:15:21 -0800, "Simon Burrows"
wrote:

I've just come back from riding Heavenly in Tahoe with my girlfriend
(just before Christmas) where we were a bit spoilt as boarders... 4
parks, halfpipe (although it wasn't open yet) etc... now I've just
arranged 4 days in Chamonix with some mates from work. They're all
skiers, so they'll be fine... but what's the scene like for
snowboarding there? I do a bit of freeride and stuff, but I'm mainly
into freestyle... do they have any parks or pipes around?

Hmmm. I'm tempted to comment that going to Chamonix and riding the
park is like going to an indian restaurant and ordering steak and
chips. But mebbe that's cos I'm crap at freestyle :-)

The only place in the Cham valley I've seen a hint of a proper pipe is
onthe Grands Montets. However, Flegere, Brevant and the whole Grands
Montets area usually have loads of natural hits which evolve a few
days after snow fall, and then just get bigger and harder as the sun
bakes them :-)

Any info greatly appreciated! Oh, and if there's any riders from around
the Bristol, UK area gimme a shout.. I live about 2 miles from the dry
slope at Churchill, just thinking about rejoining :D

I learnt on the dry slope in Gloucester, but you'd have to pay me
proper money to get me back on a dry slope now.

plug If you're looking for a good shop, try Noah's Ark in Chalford,
Stroud - not too far from you. Web site here : www.noahsark.co.uk



--
Champ

Hmmm. I'm tempted to comment that going to Chamonix and riding the
park is like going to an indian restaurant and ordering steak and
chips.

Point taken. Maybe I should use the time brushing up on my freeride
then! Cheers for the advice!

"Simon Burrows" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi Simon,

Just got back from Cham (not a lot of powder). There are no boarding parks
there, but there are loads of boarders. I found Les Tours excellent, some
narrow pistes and then opening up to a huge bowl where you can off piste.
Brevant is also worth a trip (take the cable to the top for a stunning black
down!)

HTH,

A