#mont-blanc-massif

#mont-blanc-massif

Owl's Head has officially joined the Indy Pass, a fantastic news for Townships locals and travelers alike. It remains fiercely independent since Fred Korman opened it in 1965 with just three lifts.

On the wooded lower slopes of the valley are clusters of tall houses, some plumed with wood smoke. There appears to be a lot of building work going on, some of it to repair the damage caused by the 2023 earthquake. The sound of a concrete mixer comes cutting through the cool mountain air mixed with birdsong and human voices.

Les Deux Alpes keeps unfolding lap after lap, zone after zone, until you realize you've spent the entire day chasing terrain that never really ends.

in the Swiss backcountry. They're young men, both seemingly carefree and indestructible. During their run down the mountain, the pair notice an inn, remove their skis, and step inside for a drink and some apple strudel. There's an old stove throwing off heat; cigarette smoke wafts through the place. After Nick orders wine for both of them, he turns to George and says:

Benjamin Ribeyre was a highly respected IFMGA-certified guide, steep skier, and alpinist who had recently served as president of the Oisans Écrins guide company.

La P. A. Rousseau, the newest run on the mountain, is a steep and narrow mogul run that drops off a ridge and funnels down to connect to the old triple chair line.

The sport originated thousands of years ago in Europe by necessity when hunters used long skis to travel and explore over mountain passes, placing animal skins on the bottoms of their skis for traction when climbing. Military units used similar gear to patrol the Alps in the late 1800s, sometimes engaging in speed competitions, which were likely the prototypes for the format of the Olympic skimo debut this February.

I'd been stopped maybe 2 seconds and the slope started to move. I pivoted to straightline but was swamped-no speed, no chance. The impact was like stepping off a curb in front of a 40 Tonne truck doing 60 mph.

Images on social media show snowed-in cars, mountains of marshmallow powder, and landscapes buried under deep midwinter snow. In many of these areas, one would need to look back to 1999 to find thicker snow cover in February. In other words, this is an unprecedented post-2000 snow situation in most of France. However in 2018, the historic "Beast from the East" storm cycle delivered extraordinary totals to resorts in the south of France. Still, for much of northern Savoie and Haute-Savoie, February 2026 stands out as one of the most impressive snow periods in nearly three decades.

I parked in a big underground garage and popped up out of the ground like a rabid squirrel right at the lifts. This was the first and only day I've skied alone the entire trip (I've been out here since Feb 3). I had absolutely no idea where to go. I jumped on the Olympique tram-gondola because I'd never seen a setup like that before. Each cabin was massive, holding maybe 40 people or more, with tons of seating. Everything is so civilized here.

Snowfall in France this week has been huge, with some resorts seeing more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) in the last five days. A massive winter storm hammered the French Alps from February 10-13, unleashing monster snowfall that has buried resorts and reshaped the mountain landscape just days before Valentine's Day weekend. Across the Northern Alps - including iconic resorts in Haute-Savoie, Savoie, and Isère - weather stations reported extraordinary snow totals.

Backcountry | The Télécphérique de La Grave in France is mythical. It owns myth. It deserves myth. It owns my fear. I've been wanting to come here since I was 22, but I knew I wasn't ready. At 47.6 years old, I suppose I finally felt prepared to explore La Grave and see how she treats me. Conditions ReportMy friend Per has been a guide in La Grave for 30+ years and his calm demeanor and laissez-faire attitude towards the place calmed me some.

While most are familiar with the world-class Mont Tremblant, the route there is dotted with independent resorts-each with a distinct vibe-that light up the Laurentians ( Les Laurentides ) like constellations against an ancient sky. These ranges offer something different than towering peaks: intimate terrain steeped in character. They tease the eye, spark the imagination, and possess a certain magic for producing champion skiers and snowboarders. Their ancient geology creates a singular landscape of rolling, forested hills and tight tree runs that feel worlds away from the mega-resorts.

In ice climbing, you want to try to have a solid base with your footing and to get the ice axes over the tops of each other to have the most leverage. We worked on these skills from the comfort of top roping, which entails having a fixed anchor you can rappel down from. This gives the feeling like you are in a climbing gym and greatly reduces the risks.