In the midst of packing and office work I went down to town to do a quick interview for Finnish television with Kim Öhman (www.kimohman.com – Finnish only)… Now it’s full on packing because tomorrow might be a good day on the hill and on Wednesday Bjarne and myself are driving to Sweden for new adventures…   

Kim Öhman in action

Just A Random Day – EP5 from Daniel Rönnbäck on Vimeo.

I went up Brevent this morning with relatively big ski touring plans, but as often in the mountains, things change. It took some time traversing the lift system from Brevent to Flegere, and I started walking up above the Index lift around ten. At the top I catch up with Max Turgeon and his friend Adam and then I continued out on the ridge towards Aiguille du Pouce. It’s a really airy ridge traverse that I have only done in summer, but it would have worked would the snow not have been so sugary. Now it was just too dangerous soloing slabs with bad snow on them so I dropped down in to a couloir from the ridge instead of skiing the planned north face. It was a great ski with transformed old powder and only about a ski with wide.

Clouds coming from the south

Adam and Max

Aiguille du Pouce ridge

Some great couloir skiing

My favorite view of Mt Blanc from Mt Buet

Thick fog on the north face of Buet

Great skiing down the south face

Today I went up with photographer Tero Repo and mountain guide Ulrika Asp to shoot some photos for next years Haglöfs catalogues mountaineering segment. We went up to Midi and managed to get some good stuff on mostly new locations. We even got some good spring skiing with huge bumps on Mer de Glace – damn its busy up there at the moment!

Tero with his new camera backpack! 

Ulrika on a, kind of, famous location

Ulrika on the Midi-Plan traverse

Ulrika making a belay for some climbing

Photographer Tero Repo kicking ass as a ski model! 

Skinning up the train track from the top of Les Houches

Tony had to do a quick repair of his one boot

Tony dropping in to the Trappier

And skiing some old powder

Tony and the Trappier in full scale

Gliding down towards Taconnaz

Looking back at the valley where we came from

Tony coming down the meadows above our house 

My last turn seen from our living room 

Late on Monday I got back to Chamonix via Stockholm, Zurich and Geneva. After finding out that my computer was gone I had to work out a plan for getting back online and trying to get a new computer. Still, yesterday I felt like I wanted to get back skiing in the wonderful weather, so I went by Brevent with journalist Kina Zeidler (Check her blog out on: www.kinazeidler.se – in Swedish) for a few runs to do an interview for Swedish ski magazine Åka Skidor. There I hooked up with friends Stephane, Francois, Bruno and Ollie (Canadian) for an afternoon run down the Cosmique. It was a perfect ski day in good company and good conditions. The snow on the steeper aspects seems to warm up well making for great skiing and even the west side of Midi was perfect in the late afternoon. 

Landing in Geneva

Journalist Kina Zeidler in Brevent 

And in action in Bellin

Aiguille du Midi

Francois, Bruno and Stephane waiting for the lift

Ollie hanging out above the rappel in the Cosmique

Fanfan enjoying the sun

Francois-Regis Thevenet (also called fanfan) is doing the same while lowering Bruno

Bruno Compagnet… I think he was the first foreign winner (and only?) of the Scandinavian (Swedish) championships up in Riksgränsen… Was it 99? 

Ollie taking of down the Cosmiques couloir in wonderful corn conditions 

Bruno with the Chamonix valley in the background

Francois-Regis in action

Bruno again

Bruno surf style 

The boys at the tunnel