Finally got it pinned a couple of days ago.
http://philingle.com/uncategorized/pinned-it/
i was pretty keen on the idea of morphine but all I got was a couple of paracetemol and a glass of water :(...

I have been scheduled in for an op on the 13th of August, so fingers crossed for some good meds and a quick recovery.

HI All

I broke my collarbone a couple of months ago. When my doc saw the 4 week x-ray he said that it was too misaligned and needed pinning. So I went to see a surgeon who initially said if it is...

Fair doos, I just had a look and there are like 20 different forums here. I am sure last time I looked there were only about 3. I'll repost over in the injury forum.

Cheers

Phil

HI All

I broke my collarbone a couple of months ago. When my doc saw the 4 week x-ray he said that it was too misaligned and needed pinning. So I went to see a surgeon who initially said if it is...

I had spied a few possible lines in this combe back in mid march. Rogier was keen to check them out so we headed up there a few days ago.
...

Sadly it is now closed and unlikely to reopen, at least not under the same managment. Though it is for sale if anyone wants a great business in the French Alps (www.lechateauguillestre.com).

The Pointe des Marceletts is a popular ski tour in the Queyras. Descent by its North East couloir is not so popular. There were a group from The Alpine Club out staying with us for a couple of weeks...

Photos have the advantage of kinda hiding that whole arm flailing thing, poor Candide, I thought he was quite good till I saw that film :)

boring serious answer, sorry, but most avvy accidents occur due to a misplaced sense of confidence in the snow conditions.
In france most accidents happen when the avvy risk is 3 out of 5.

I have recently rebuilt my website and am slowly adding reports from the old site to the new one, so this is an old (April 2005) trip report, but I just thought I would mention it here for anyone who...

I havent had a chance to get it our for a couple of years now, I need to hook up with some locals who kite really, but havent found any yet.

By asking around, There is a very comprehensive guide that came out in dec 2003
http://www.volopress.net/volo/spip.php?article10
They did a good job of getting all the lines in the area for it.
I...

A heavy one.

The ski's are a pair of Movement Goliath's. They are the lightest out of my three pairs of fat ski's (the others being the Head Monster 103's and the classic Nordica 105's).

For...

I had seen this line from Ceillac back at the start of the season and was keen to get on it. A pro photographer from Argentiere, Rogier, had been in touch about skiing some lines so we hooked up for...

Its not near Cham. I have the weather on my site because I lived there for 8 years. No one is intersted in the Guillestre weather so I havent made a new weather page since moving away.

On the map...

Yeah, near the bottom of the couloir, to avoid the massive cliff at the end, we had to traverse across and sides step up a bit to get into a little couloir next to the main one.

Oops, I tripped the bandwidth on my server. Pics should be back up now

I had been up to ski this couloir once before, but ended up skiing the one next to it instead. This time, with a bit of interesting route finding, we finally managed to ski down this couloir.
...

If a fall means certain death, then that is extreme skiing. Otherwise it is just freeriding.

I know its only just up the road, but I havent made it there to ski yet.

I want to have a crack at the Bric Bouchet at the head of the valley. It looks like there is a line to the left of this...

I had scoped out the line in this first pic that hasnt got a number on it (as its not yet skied) and Hubert and I headed up this weekend to have a go at it....

Rather him than me, he seemed OK with it. Must have been great for the way up mind you. I cant wait till they make a decent boot to fit into dynafit bindings. My Goliaths are pretty light, it is jsut...

sounds like you were too far to the south, probably at the 2914m point on the ridgeline, there is often a sling to rap in on to get into the Clapouse valley. 15m rap then some 5.2 descent that is a...

Really high risk on SE facing slopes, so that cut out the easy route up the SE side:(

There is a description of the ratings here
http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Technique/Toponeige-Rating

Though it is a bit out of date. There are one or two 5.6 grade descents now, and a few...

nice one

nice party ledge action there John.

Finally got round to skiing this line that I have been hankering after since seeing it at the begining of January. It was amazingly cold. The coldest morning since I moved Guillestre, and bitter on...

nah, I live in Le Chateau in Guillestre, just down the road from Ceillac

My brother came to visit for the weekend and we headed up to Ceillac to find some stuff the ski, we were not dissapointed. We closely missed out on a first descent of a couloir, but managed the first...

It was like trying to swim, but swim uphill, up a 45 degree couloir, with 15kg of kit on your shoulders. Sadly we only managed about 30m, so another 320 to go to get to the top.
On looking at the...

http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0877-record-snowfall-in-the-southern-alps/

If you want to get your axes into it I am game, it is in fat condition at the minute. there is a pic of it on the page i linked to above.

Also nearby at Les Orres is an unknown classic, Dancing...

Nah, unfortuate really, it was 36 degrees when the romans first used it but it is slowly cooling off and is about 25 degrees now

skied in Ceillac yesterday, great conditions, lots of untracked powder
http://alpinebreak.com/2009/photo/ceillac/

And St Veran is supposed to have lots more

I headed up to Ceillac yesterday to pick up my Queyras season pass and check out the area. I was blown away. Not as an on piste area, but the off piste was fantastic and the fact that there was no...

Thanks everyone for your replies and info. There seemed to be a lot of people tending towards the Canon for picture quality. I decided to go for the Panasonic though for its wideangle
Hopefully...

Hi

I am looking for a new camera and was wondering if anyone has one that they are very happy with and can make a good recommendation. I have been using the Pentax Optio 5Si for a few years now...

That's right, its about 5k north of Embrun.
I have been up to Ceillac a few times, it is one of our closest ski resorts (13k away), but have not done any touring there. I plan to this year though, a...

Hi Ken
Let me know if you are down this way and up for any tours. I am always looking for people to head out with. Its a lot quieter down here than it was in Cham - hence just the one set of tracks....

I would be keen as mustard to get hold of a pair of custom heelpeices with fixed, very high, din setting, say 16ish. That would be awsome for the steeps
I am going to get in touch with that Pierre...

I can see this slope while sat at the kitchen table and in my office so it has been on my 'to do' list for a while now. I did try it last year but got my timing all wrong due to the access road being...

I take along my Garmin eTrex summit with me whenever I head out. then download the track when i get home and kml it in google earth.

If you didnt want the weight (though its not much) and cost of...

I reckon you have just hit upon a new geek passtime, like geocaching. Lets call it GeoArt. Next time I will try and get my orientation right so you dont have to turn it on its side :)

The snow started to fall in the Hautes-Alpes a couple of weeks, ago. Now that it has stabilised a bit the touring season is officially open.

We headed up the pic des Chalanches, a good early...

This descent from Col Vieux came well recommended with Nico Vuilloz himself saying it ‘knocks the stuffing’ out of Mega and Maxi Avalanche courses. With just over 200m of climbing needed for this...

The boys have got their own website with some good pics and vids on it
check it out at http://freeskiing.co.uk/
Cheers
Phil

Now then.. I had a kid, Oliver. Then I bust my ACL. Then I left cham and we bought a nice house in the most amazing ski territory in France.
I have just had another kid, Evie.
And I have just...

Hey Splat. given up for dead eh. Father two times now. Evie Ingle came along on the 5th of January.
Now I have to go and find that steep skiing thread and check out the tribute.
Laters