Tour du Grand Veymont Video
So this race was over a week ago now, but I still am getting sent some cool photos and even this sweet little video. This is me at the transition on top of the Grand Veymont.
A big thanks to Bonoit and Thomas for this!
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Sunday, 3 February 2008
More images from the Tour du Grand Veymont
Having some needed time off from racing this weekend after doing 7 race's in January! Febuary is looking the same, with up to 7 days of race's! 
Its snowed here last night, so I managed to get a few things in order this am and skied some "Peuf" (french for powder snow) this afternoon. I was on my full race set up, so I got to make the most of it, with my skinny ski's sinking deep in to the wind blown snow. We did about 1500vert at a mellow pace.
I have been bombarded with photos from last weekends Tour du Grand Veymont. Thanks to Philippe, Boris, for these.
I have been bombarded with photos from last weekends Tour du Grand Veymont. Thanks to Philippe, Boris, for these.
2008 New Zealand Ski Mountaineering Race Team Sponsors
The New Zealand ski Mountaineering team has been really fortunate to receive some great sponsorship for the upcoming 2008 ski mountaineering world championships.
Here's a bit of a look at our sponsors....
Texner- All the great teams of ski mountaineering, France, Switzerland and now New Zealand wear race suits made by this small Swiss company that was started about 5yrs ago by Stany Fardel. Stany, a ski mountaineering racer himself (he's raced multiple times in the Patrouille des Glaciers!) knows the requirements that racers have and the Texner suits are very well made and thought out, with a mesh back, zip away hood, kangaroo pouch for skins and multiple pockets for transceiver, skins and energy foods.
And Stany didn't just hand us any old suit off the rack, no, we got custom made suits that are a nice black, grey and white combo, with the Southern Cross! We also recived the Hyper Light jacket and pants that weight only 100grs each!
Icebreaker- You all must know the Icebreaker story by now! Jeremy Moon, with the help of a few thousand merino sheep, has totally changed the way we layer for the outdoors. Thankfully, gone are the days of Stinky, itchy rainbow coloured thermals!
I thought it would be nice if we looked like a team post race, something styly, yet functional.....I went knocking on the door of Alice at Icebreaker and was delighted when she said they would be sending out some EXP Conquest Hood jackets. At first I thought I would only wear mine for going out and after races, that was until I had a few early morning training seasons in sub zero temps! Warm and super functional with big deep pockets on the inside of the jacket, perfect for stuffing skins into.
Buff- As a French friend said just yesterday "If you want to make ski mountaineering, you need a Buff", it really is that simple. Most first scoff at Buffs, but their opinion quickly changes once they realize just how versatile these little pieces of tubular head wear are. I have to admit that I have a collection of Buff's (about 4 and counting), but I wanted to make sure I had the right Buff for this trip to France. Marco at Buff NZ sent the team some great, black with silver ferns Buffs, that go great with the Texner suits or the Conquest Hoods.
Marvelox- If you want to go climbing, running, mountaineering, camping, or as for SkiMoNZ, skiing/skinning, Marvelox has the goods! With training and racing its easy to be skiing 5000-8000 meters of vertical in a week here in France, so having good skins are key. Sean at Marverlox was nice enough to set the whole team up with skins for training and racing.
Cactus Climbing- For this trip I needed a bag. It needed to be big, real big. I wasn't to worried about the color, but was thinking black would be nice, as that's quite the NZ color. Enter Cactus's Big Black Bag (BBB). This thing is perfect, not only is it a bag that's really big (and black) but it has all the quality's that make Cactus such a great brand. It's simple, very well made and extremely strong. Its easily carries 2 pairs of ski boots, 6 pairs of skins, 2 helmets, water, food, and all the other stuff that we lug around each weekend (and mid week) to races. Now if I can only figure out how to fit my skis into it........
Here's a bit of a look at our sponsors....
Texner- All the great teams of ski mountaineering, France, Switzerland and now New Zealand wear race suits made by this small Swiss company that was started about 5yrs ago by Stany Fardel. Stany, a ski mountaineering racer himself (he's raced multiple times in the Patrouille des Glaciers!) knows the requirements that racers have and the Texner suits are very well made and thought out, with a mesh back, zip away hood, kangaroo pouch for skins and multiple pockets for transceiver, skins and energy foods.
And Stany didn't just hand us any old suit off the rack, no, we got custom made suits that are a nice black, grey and white combo, with the Southern Cross! We also recived the Hyper Light jacket and pants that weight only 100grs each!
Icebreaker- You all must know the Icebreaker story by now! Jeremy Moon, with the help of a few thousand merino sheep, has totally changed the way we layer for the outdoors. Thankfully, gone are the days of Stinky, itchy rainbow coloured thermals!
I thought it would be nice if we looked like a team post race, something styly, yet functional.....I went knocking on the door of Alice at Icebreaker and was delighted when she said they would be sending out some EXP Conquest Hood jackets. At first I thought I would only wear mine for going out and after races, that was until I had a few early morning training seasons in sub zero temps! Warm and super functional with big deep pockets on the inside of the jacket, perfect for stuffing skins into.
Buff- As a French friend said just yesterday "If you want to make ski mountaineering, you need a Buff", it really is that simple. Most first scoff at Buffs, but their opinion quickly changes once they realize just how versatile these little pieces of tubular head wear are. I have to admit that I have a collection of Buff's (about 4 and counting), but I wanted to make sure I had the right Buff for this trip to France. Marco at Buff NZ sent the team some great, black with silver ferns Buffs, that go great with the Texner suits or the Conquest Hoods.
Marvelox- If you want to go climbing, running, mountaineering, camping, or as for SkiMoNZ, skiing/skinning, Marvelox has the goods! With training and racing its easy to be skiing 5000-8000 meters of vertical in a week here in France, so having good skins are key. Sean at Marverlox was nice enough to set the whole team up with skins for training and racing.
Cactus Climbing- For this trip I needed a bag. It needed to be big, real big. I wasn't to worried about the color, but was thinking black would be nice, as that's quite the NZ color. Enter Cactus's Big Black Bag (BBB). This thing is perfect, not only is it a bag that's really big (and black) but it has all the quality's that make Cactus such a great brand. It's simple, very well made and extremely strong. Its easily carries 2 pairs of ski boots, 6 pairs of skins, 2 helmets, water, food, and all the other stuff that we lug around each weekend (and mid week) to races. Now if I can only figure out how to fit my skis into it........
Friday, 1 February 2008
Tour du Grand Veymont Video
Stephane made this great video from the Tour du Grand Veymont race that was on the 27th January. Thanks to Stephane and all the others that contributed to this video!
I higly recommend taking the time to watch this as it's a pretty nice little video. Loving the AC/DC.......
I higly recommend taking the time to watch this as it's a pretty nice little video. Loving the AC/DC.......
Guest Blog- Nocturne du Grand Duc
I did another night relay race on Tuesday, it was the same format as the Nocturne de Chamrousse that Jane and I raced in a few weeks ago.
Jane was unavailable to race so I teamed up with fellow DSA member Stepane. I made contact with Stepane well before arriving in France, so it was pretty cool that we got to do this race togeather. Here's Stephane's race report he wrote for the DSA web site (he was nice enought to translate it in to english for me!)-
"For this 2° Nocturne I teamed up with Grant (aka The Flying Kiwi). He s
tarts like a Skud and I see him 8 minutes later in the relay zone in Third position. All the pressure is on my Shoulders now ...
tarts like a Skud and I see him 8 minutes later in the relay zone in Third position. All the pressure is on my Shoulders now ...Starting quite quicky, avoiding to reach ultra-red to keep some energy for the next laps. I catch-up a bit on the previous one (good surprise !!). Suddenly my back is heated-up by the 200watts of a Silva headlight. The RGV Stephane Brosse is passing ...I feel the huge draft ...
A bit further, Marc is passing too. The first transition a bit messy for me and I rush down in the dark seeking for tiny red 'luciole' to reach the skating zone (it kills the rest of energy you could have spared). Passing by the relay zone our team-mates are noisyly encouraging us .
Transition again (skins ON) to run in a Nordic style until we reach the Arch of the relay zone. At this stage the Final Ranking is well drafted. We keep on fighting together with Thomas Warnier and Olivier Cordeuil, Grant having the task to catch-up for the precious seconds I wasted during my laps. After 1 hour, we are done, our lungs are devastated & white mulled-wine is healing them back up. Then comes a nice meal in the old Hotel du col de porte chatting about gear, training, next races and more ...
The evening end up with the Traditional Podium and prices.
Special Thanks to Grant."
-Stephane Mougin
A bit further, Marc is passing too. The first transition a bit messy for me and I rush down in the dark seeking for tiny red 'luciole' to reach the skating zone (it kills the rest of energy you could have spared). Passing by the relay zone our team-mates are noisyly encouraging us .
Transition again (skins ON) to run in a Nordic style until we reach the Arch of the relay zone. At this stage the Final Ranking is well drafted. We keep on fighting together with Thomas Warnier and Olivier Cordeuil, Grant having the task to catch-up for the precious seconds I wasted during my laps. After 1 hour, we are done, our lungs are devastated & white mulled-wine is healing them back up. Then comes a nice meal in the old Hotel du col de porte chatting about gear, training, next races and more ...
The evening end up with the Traditional Podium and prices.
Special Thanks to Grant."
-Stephane Mougin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
