What's your take on this?  Off-piste - you ski without a helmet, you wear a beanie.  Freeride, you ski with a helmet and you fall!!!  The skis are the same aren't they?  The snow is the same isn't?  Freeride was born in the States, with the birth of fat skis, while Europeans were still struggling in the powder with their Giant type skis. With this change in ideas, Peakpowder focused its energy on this new trend.  We're skiing fat and light, using the helmet on days where the powder is too deep. One never knows what's hiding under the top layer!  Yes, that's what we've been doing in the last couple of days. And remember these are 2 google days, with one on your face and one in your backpack.  The Buff helps protect the nostrils with all the face shots, and no Ultrabrite smiles as you ski because there is a risk of choking to death with the fresh snow flakes.  Of course it's very hard not to SMILE and let your skis ride.

Nougat is a tasty delight that one finds in the Drôme region of France.  With this week being one of the calmest of the year, and the snow conditions being excellent throughout France, I decided to take a little road trip.  Off I went to join Manu Ibarra on an exotic steep ski and mountaineering adventure.  Manu happens to be my local spy, an informer...keeping me in tune with snow conditions.  He spotted a fresh itinerary, waiting to see ski edges for the first time ever...the location: Grande Cheneau.  One fine morning, we crossed frozen fields of lavender, and headed up into a remote area of the Drôme.  Leaving the Land Rover behind, we climbed up a frozen stream with big boulders covered in snow, testing out the grip and adherence of the new "Radium" ski boot.  No these are not the Dolomites, but the stage setting is similar, and when we reached the couloir, hidden between two limestone rock faces, only the tracks of several mountain goats were to be seen.  The Stelvio Lights were thrilled to make their début in such an exquisite setting.  Several very exposed traverses, a few steep turns, and a short jump - the mountain goats were clapping with delight, watching as the skis danced their way down the couloir!  A first descent on skis by Fred and a first descent "cramponing" by Manu.  Now comes the curtain call, with a thank you to the Department of La Drôme for the various permits that were issued, to the Chamber of Agriculture for letting us traverse the fields of lavender and thyme, to the FRAPNA for the right to disturb the wildlife, and most of all, kudos to the filmer and photographer who covered the event and provided the delicious afternoon snack, a tasty French nougat.  For the record...awesome, is what it was!