Our goal for this winter season was to combine our love of snowboarding with our love of hiking and take up the sport of splitboarding. This basically involves having a snowboard that divides into two which means you can hike up the mountain before re attaching the two pieces and snowboarding down some powder. Easy.
First steps for us were to get all of the equipment and then we decided to go on a course to teach us how to do it but probably more importantly to teach us the safety side of things as while it’s a popular sport it will take us off the beaten track in the mountains and there are some obvious things to watch out for. So our course is happening in January.
Before then we thought we would have a bit of a go before the resort opened up fully so we headed off to Le Tour to practice on what would be the piste.
Luckily on our first attempt of attaching skins and setting everything up the sun was shining and there was no wind because it took us a little while longer than everyone else around us to get going. Once we were off things didn’t improve too quickly as it felt quite odd having skis strapped to our feet but after a while we settled into some sort of rhythm and it was lovely being away from the crowds on a ski slope enjoying some stupendous views.
Our first day we took it fairly easy and were so excited at the end that we decided to head straight back up the next day.
Day 2 was slightly quicker than day 1 and full of confidence we decided to head up a slightly steeper slope. All was going fine until we got to one point where it got quite steep and while we would have felt very comfortable snowboarding down the hill we were on, it felt quite daunting going up on skis trying to keep our weight back on our heels so as to maintain traction. Anyone watching would have found it all very amusing I am sure! Definitely going to need a bit more instruction I reckon!
Our reward at the top was a majestic view down the valley that Chamonix sits in and we enjoyed our baguettes. I can see this past time being very exciting and addictive, it’s certainly going to be a great way to explore Chamonix! T
