The 2016 course calendar is online!

The New 2016 course calendar is now online!

I’ve a couple of finishing touches to make with minor details on the BC Voyager program but the dates are set and the general idea is set in stone.

It’s a pretty full calendar once again and sets out a very exciting and full on winter ahead.

As usual I have included a bit of everything, starting with a pre season shred fest in Tignes, which should include a bit of Tech, a lot of Freeriding and maybe even a quick split if the conditions demand.

Once back in Cham, I’m going to kick things off with my ever popular Tech Performance Clinic. This is a great way to kick start your season and get the right technique working from the word go, giving you a solid progression to work with for the rest of the winter, where ever and what ever you ride.

After the Tech Clinic, I’m straight in for some Freeride Shred, with the Slackcountry Freeride course.

This course has developed quite a bit over the last couple of years and is now pretty much a do it all super shred fest type of week with easy access Freeriding as the game plan.

This course includes the option of a quick Split for Slackcountry access and is a great introduction to the Art of Splitboarding for those that haven’t tried it before.

Be sure to bring your normal board though, as most of the week will be lift accessed Slackcountry Shredding with short hikes either in or out and we’ll save the Splitting for special occasions when the snow and terrain calls for it.

I have a couple of Slackcountry Freeride courses on the calendar and they’re basically ‘if its good, we’re going to ride it!’ open format type of courses…can’t wait!

Next up is the BC Intro course, another course that has developed a lot since I ran my first one, way back in 1998.

The development of Splitboarding as a viable means of Backcountry access has changed things a lot and opened up whole new areas of the High Mountains for us to explore and this is what the BC Intro course is all about!

This BC Intro course introduces you to Splitboard touring, Backcountry safety and the Arts and crafts of climbing and riding in the High Mountains and on Glaciated terrain.

Don’t under estimate this course, it is an introduction to the ‘Finest Arts of Backcountry Freeriding’, not an introduction to Freeriding and the level of both riding and fitness is high!

Following on from the BC Intro is another tried and tested Favourite, the BC Freeride Course.

This is one for those that have tasted BC Freeriding on the Intro and now want more!

This is a high level course with demanding days in the high mountains. You’ll start to learn how to assess and choose safe lines, how to look at and read the natural terrain of the mountain and check the snowpack for Avalanche safety.

On the BC Freeride course, you’ll start to learn a bit more about the evaluation game and begin to take a greater responsibility for your own choices and actions in the Backcountry of the High Mountains.

Next I’ve introduced a ’NEW’ course that I’ve been playing around with for a few seasons, it’s the BC Advanced Freeride Course.

As a high end BC course this is all about High Mountains, deep powder and steep Backcountry terrain.

I’ve dropped the group size down to 4 for a lower ratio and faster pace which basically means we can do more, ride faster and go further.

Again, this is one for those that have already sampled the fine Art of Splitboarding and are confident in their riding ability all over the mountain in all types of snow conditions and demanding terrain.

I’m looking forward to this one a lot!

Once again I have the ever popular, but sometimes scary, BC Big Mountain Steeps course. This is not one for the faint hearted and explores not only your top end riding ability but your ability to control your mind at the same time.

You’ll often be riding in the ‘no fall zone’ and testing your self to the max.

This course is for a group of 4 but works with a ratio of 2 riders per guide and so we have 2 guides working together to keep all bases covered and things nice and tight.

I always look forward to this one, it is a license to get out there, explore and ride some of the lines that I’ve been looking at and maybe haven’t ridden for years.

I’ve had quite a lot of interest from people wanting to Splitboard the Haute Route recently and so after a year or two off, the BC Splitboard Haute route course is back on the program.

This is a course for those that are big into both Splitboarding and High Mountain touring and follows the classic haute route journey through the high peaks between Chamonix and Zermatt.

A seven day (this gives more options with weather and mountain conditions) splitboard journey through the mountain wilderness, this is a very demanding week of hut to hut touring and not to be underestimated!

If Splitboarding is what you’re into, this is with out a doubt one of the finest touring experiences you can get!

Finally, I have the exciting BC Voyager program which continues to go from strength to strength and takes us to explore dream lines in exotic locations, some near and some far.

I’ve included the BC Voyager Gressoney again because last years trip was so good and we only just scraped the surface of what is possible over there.

Steep couloirs, big open faces great split board touring and some super playful terrain to hit right off the lifts…plus its Italy so the food and coffee is fantastic!

I have a new BC Voyager Zinal trip on the calendar for early Feb.

This is a relatively unknown, little explored, Freeride mecca that is sure to become more and more popular over the next few years.

Located deep in the Swiss Valais, Zinal is a small resort with a big vertical drop surrounded by some of the highest and steepest peaks in the Alps.

Little more need be said about this one and if anyone asks you about it, its a little like ‘fight club, in that there is no fight club’

BC Voyager Zinal is the word, but keep it to yourself!

Every winter needs a Heli trip and this one just got very exciting in that I’ll be returning to Krasnaya Polyiana which is where my Russian heli experiences started many years ago with the BC Voyager Caucasus heli trip

Back then the place was deserted and under developed, horses roamed the pistes and a rickety old chair lift did the honours if the massive MI8 flying bus couldn’t fly due to it snowing to much!

I had some amazing times Heli’ing there, great terrain, deep light powder and an amazing location but then things got shut down for a while when Sochi won the bid for the 2014 Olympics and things went into development overdrive at Krasnaya as the big Russian money rolled into town.

Today however, post Olympics, it means that there is a super new extensive lift system in place that provides access to some of the fantastic terrain that was only open to Heli access before. You now have Steep drops from the ridge into wide open powder bowls before the trees,which are amazing to ride right off the lifts…but wait, this is only for if the Heli can’t fly!

When the snow is deep and the skies are blue there waits a brand new B3 Euro Chopper to whisk us away to the back of beyond to where the real deal lies in wait…Oh yeah!

A group of 4 riders per Guide and 25 drops included…lets get it on!

Into April and as always we head far from home up North and into the Arctic circle!

First up we have the BC Voyager Lofted Split&Surf trip which combines some of the best Big Mountain Splitboard Freeriding you’ll ever do with the possibility of a ‘cold water’ Arctic Surf session a few hours later!

If you’ve never surfed before this might, or might not, be your thing but whether you head out into the line up or not this promises to be an incredible Splitboard trip to explore and ride the infamous Lofted Isles steep and deep…and if a strong Northerly swell approaches, who knows, you might just feel the ocean calling!

Again, I’m very excited about this one…can’t wait!

I always try to finish out the season with a big trip to one of my favourite locations and after a few years abstinence it seems that the time is right for us to venture back to the Isolated Alpine terrain of Liverpool land, deep in the Northern Arctic on the East Coast of Greenland.

After the success of our last trip there I swore I’d return for more and so once again we have the BC Voyager Greenland expedition back on the program.

This is the real deal, a flight into an icy wilderness, a skidoo drop off into the mountains and a week of Splitboarding for first descents and king lines from a self contained Base Camp in the middle of nowhere in particular.

This really is something special, the terrain is incredible, the location is out of this world and the luxury of living every moment without any of the distractions that this everyday world in which we live posts on us, is something great and definitely to be experienced.

One step beyond, the BC Voyager Greenland expedition awaits!

So that’s this years line up!

If you need any more info, check out the course pages or drop us a mail, if you want to make a booking fill out the booking form and send it in and Ruth will get back to you asap.

I hope that you find something in the calendar that appeals to your needs and I look forward to riding with you next winter!

Neil.