Diarmuid Collins

Went on a bike ride with Damo today. It was long and tough. 80km from sea level to 1000m. My heart was in the 80-90% zone (zone 4) more than any other zone

Still it was good fun and good exercise.

Weather forecast for the Alps looks good for the start of the week. A relatively large dump is due until Tuesday with the freezing line quite low. Looking good for next weekend

So Isola2000 and Auron are supposed to be opening this weekend, however no snow has fallen in over 2 weeks. On the website they have removed a number of webcams, I guess to hide the true state of the conditions. In any case I think I will be skipping it this year, unlike last year when we made the opening day on the 14th of December (midweek!)

Isola today:

The good news is that the Haute Alps are forecast to get another big dump Sunday
La Thuile Snow Forecast

Chamonix Snow Forecast

Pouring rain in Nice this morning and probably a lot of last night judging by the amount of rain on the road. Unfortunately it’s raining in Isola2000 also, washing away the bit of snow that is there.

Forecast is for more rain tomorrow and clearing for the weekend.

The good news is that Cervinia is looking a lot better

Looks like the season in Isola2000 is starting !! Snowboarded both Saturday and Sunday and it snowed both days with 15cm on Saturday night.

Roll on next weekend when more is forecast !!

I added a few new galleries tonight. The first was from a long weekend in Chamonix. The weather was quite warm resulting in rain to 2200m on two days but still one great day skiing in Grand Montets

Last weekend a few of us did a short walk around Cap Ferrat. Great day out for mid March

Spent a week in Ischgl in Austria snowboarding. Stopped in Como on the way.

It was Russell’s 30th birthday at the weekend so we decided to head to Chamonix to meet with Cathal and Ciaran. The weather was great but it hadn’t snowed in ages, in fact it rained. So first day out we went to Grand Montets to see what was happening. Good conditions for skiing but not so hot for snowboarding. Got a few pics in though

Sunday was a day off for me due to a bloody cold I picked up on Friday. So hung around Chamonix, took a few pics and watched to Munster v Bourgoin rugby game

Another week without snow, so Helmut and I decided to start out snowshoeing careers. We drove to Isola2000 and after renting shoes we start on out hike to Tete Merciere. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the peak and back down in less than 2. A great day out and despite packing way too much clothes it wasn’t too strenuous. The summit was at 2493m

Pictures Here

Well after Isola2000 posted on their website that they would open today, Paul, Russ and I decided to take the day off work and head up there for the day. We arrived in Isola2000 a bit late because of traffic on the 202 and were on the slopes for 10:15. It had snowed here last weekend and the piste machines must have been working overtime as the pistes were very well prepared. Quite firm but not icy. Off piste was very crusty (1-2cm thick) but soffened up around midday.

Got some good runs in and all in all a good first day to the 2006/2007 season

A video from Isola2000 from last year.

Got the new Never Summer boards yesterday. I got a Titan while Damo got the SL. We got them from Marc Perivier at Board-Z. Really helpful guy who gave us a great deal on the boards. Highly recommended if you are looking for a new board of skis.