I’ve not posted much lately. I’ve been busy trying to learn French, trying to learn to snowboard and trying to make ends meet – all difficult things to do in Chamonix….

But recently I took part in the Dynafit Women’s day at Les Houches. A change to brush up on my touring skills amongst a group of likeminded women. It’s basically a day for women who have the same passion for the outdoors and want to share it in a fun and educational “skiing uphill meet.”

Ortovox were there doing a workshop about avalanche awareness and we had new Suunto techno cardio-watch to play with.

Professional ski Mountaineering racer,Valentine Favre was there too, demonstrating the lightening speed in which she changes from walk to ski mode during a race and giving tips on efficient climbing ( ie my poles were far too short so I wasn’t making the most of pushing through my arms to get uphill.) Also there was Chamonix based mountain guide Isabelle Santoire, giving us lots of useful tips….

We also tested Dynafit skis and boots – an absolute joy after my heavy K2 Coombacks and Marker Baron bindings, which (whilst great for short skins and smashing through pow) are hard work on long uphills ( I currently use them on even tours of several hours.)

There was even a little race on a short section of the skinning track of Les Houches, so that we can go back and test ourselves on again in future…Will try that again with the heavy skis to see how much they are holding me back!

The next date not to miss is the 17th of March, the registration for the Arc’teryx Academy: http://arcteryxacademy.com/fr/

The Arc’teryx academy dates are the 12th through 14th of June.

Also on June 11th, there will be a Mountain clean-up day http://arcteryxacademy.com/product/clinic-mcu-mountaincleanup-thursday/