I just got back from a film/photo trip to the Lyngen penninsula in the north of Norway, the trip was organized by farout.no an event company that are specialized in the north.  I have had the pleasure to visit this area a few times before, but always in april and with a helicopter. This trip was a pure skitouring adventure, and we accessed the skiing by boat.

Northern Lights! Photo: Ørjan Bertelsen

We sailed out of Tromsø on an old whale hunting ship, that now has been transformed into a “Spa Boat“. A hot tub, sauna and a haman has been fitted in the boat so now you can sit in the sauna and look at the Northeren lights, while you cruize through the fjords . We  got served some amazing food while on the boat, fresh Cod fish straight out of the fjord and also some very tasty raindeer! For the second part of the trip we transfred over to a more modern sailboat and explored the mountains around Lyngen lodge.

Last Light! Photo: Ørjan Bertelsen

All thoug it was a very cold trip, I must say that this time of year is amazing up north, short days but the light is unbelivable. We also lucked out and got to see the northeren lights twice, I have seen it before in Alaska and norway, but not like on this trip, pure joy! The skiing was ok, but strong winds had taken away most of the fresh snow up high, and the snow pack was rather unstable. We skied some fun peaks but stayed away from the steepest lines. I used a pair of Katana 176cm with the new Marker Tour 12 bindings, I was very happy with this set up. The Katana is not the lightest pair of skis, but matched with the new Tour 12 binding, the overall weight is manageable and when it comes to skiing back down it would be hard to beat this set up. I also used the DalBello Virus boot, this was the first time I have used it on longer tours, and I must say I was very impressed with the performance of this boot, it both skis and tours fantastic!

Geared up to deal with the cold! Photo: Ørjan Bertelsen

So far the 2010 season have been one of the best in recent history here in Chamonix. We haven’t had any really big dumps, but “top ups” a few times a week is even better. So far I think the longest stretch without snow have been 5 days, and more is coming! I had a great day up on the Aig. du Midi this morning and tonight we are expecting 20-30cm of fresh dry snow, next week looks good too. Amazingly there are still not many people out there even though it’s winter holidays. Here is a little movie I made over the last week:

It’s been a hectic few weeks for me, lot’s of snow combined with the Ispo trade show meant little or no time in front of the computer. In the days before the Ispo we had some of the best days of skiing this season here in Chamonix, that actually says a lot, as we have had an incredible winter so far. There was lot’s of traffic at the Volkl stand at the Ispo as we launched the new Marker Tour 10-12 binding and also some new very interesting skis. I’ll go into more details on the skis and the bindings in a later post. At the Ispo I also signed a contract with Dalbello boots, this is very exciting for me as they are one of the most progressive boot makers on the market, and their new Virus boot is right up my “alley”. Straight after the Ispo Andrea and myself drove down to Montebelluna, Italy, to get our new boot fitted, and check out their factory.

The Dalbello factory.

Montebelluna is where 90% of the worlds ski boots are made, all the big factories are located within a few kilometers from each other. Francesco from Dalbello gave us a tour of the factory, which was very interesting! It’s amazing to see how much detail and thought goes into making a boot from the idea to finished product. Dalbello is run by the Dal Bello family, and has a very interesting history.

Krypton mould.

Walking through the factory we met Rino Dal Bello, son of Alessandro the founder and President , walking around in one ski boot  in the factory, when asked why he had one skiboot on. He answered: “comfort testing a new liner” So the Dal Bello’s are very much involved in the daily development of the boots. They have ski boots in their blood!

Prototype liners are still hand made.

Monica Dal Bello, one of the daughters who is in charge of marketing and Team at Dalbello, talked us through the history of the factory/family and also took us out for a fantastic lunch!

Both Andrea and I got our boots fitted by Ivan, Dalbello’s boot master. For a everyday boot, we both went for the Krypton Pro and for touring obviously the revolutionary Virus.

Andrea getting fitted.

So far I have had three days in the Krypton, and I can only say that I am very impressed with the performance of the boots. I am headed up to Lyngen, Norway in a few days for a skitouring trip, and cant wait to try out the new Virus Boot and the Marker Tour 12 bindings.

Jim Surette, our filmer/producer on the Antarctica trip,  has  worked hard since we got home, to get the trailer ready for the trade shows. Time well spent it looks like! Here is the final version:

Looks like next week is going to be a stormy  over most of the alps. The storm seems to be coming in from the north west, which is a good thing from Austria, that have been hurting for snow for awhile. Here in Chamonix “north west” means some snow, but usually not huge amounts, which is even better right now since the base is so good. If we get 20cm it would be perfect as avalanche danger would be low (depending on how much wind we get)  and skiing good! The World Tour circus is rolling into town this weekend too, but the weather report does not look good for having the competition. The plan was to have two comps here in Chamonix, as the first leg of the tour in Russia got cancelled because of bad weather. But right now I think they would be lucky to get one day in here in Chamonix. The first day is going to be on the hotel face of Le Brevent, a classic Chamonix Freeride venue, I competed in the very first competition on this face and maybe in the alps? back in 1994. These days its a pretty mellow run compared to something like the Bec des Ross in Verbier, and I would put my money on someone that can pull off some freestyle tricks to win, since there are few really exposed lines so my guess for the top 3 would be Candide, Michaud and Winsted.

Here is Seb’s run from last years comp, that earned him first place, very deserved!