THE UPHILL STRUGGLE / JOY CONUNDRUM...

-
"And you may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself
In another part of the world
And you may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here?"





So goes the epic tune by Talking Heads - Once in a lifetime.
It is a classic pop-rock song from the '80s 

I found myself in a very different position on the last two days. A position I wanted to be and put myself for a few years but never had the courage or the finances to actually do it.

So, this season, Santa Claus came early at Chefonabike HQ. One morning I found a blinking brand new Jones Snowboard. I am talking about a brand new split board, the Jones Frontier 159, equipped with K2 Far Out binding and G3 skins.

Jeremy Jones is a living legend of the sport. He grew up and raced the "hard boots snowboarding" before becoming a freeride icon. 

I had the pleasure and honour to meet him a few years ago in London during his Higher world tour. What struck me about Jeremy was his approachability and friendliness. We exchanged a few words about his latest film series Higher and how much he inspired me (and thousands and thousands of other people) to just living the mountains in a different way.

Anyway...

Since I received my split board I already used it twice. No crazy backcountry missions, deep and steep lines, gnarly riding..nothing of that sort (it's only the beginning of December for F..k sake). Instead, I got familiar with the whole concept. I got familiar with the "logistic" of split boarding, which is like going for a long Mtb enduro ride: you need to prepare your bike making sure it is tip-top conditions; you have to prepare your gear and your backpack with food, tools and first aid kit; you have to look at the forecast; plan some sort of route; let someone know where you are going and what time you are expected to be back home. 
In principle, split boarding uses the same philosophy with the added element that, this is a winter's sport, so, it is nice to pack a flask of tea or coffee; a warm puffy jacket; a change of base layer; googles; helmet; avi tools (probe, shovel and beacon); food and suncream..yes, this last item is very important.

Splitboarding is just like ski touring (when ging uphill, of course). The whole experience is quite rewarding because you get to climb uphill in order to reach the treasure which is untouched powder..or..not so untouched but still, a lot of pow pow :-)

If you are a snowboarder, you have to at least try split boarding. Rent one for a few days and have a feel. 

The uphill is a struggle, can't lie about that but, like many other sports(cycling; mtb; hiking; trail running for instance) where going uphill is part of the game, you will learn to embrace it.
You will learn how to pace yourself. You will learn to change the position of your body when tackling steeper terrain. You will learn to "listen to your body" when to push hard or when to just cruise. You will learn that drinking a hot beverage or a sugary drink and eating / snacking is part of the game. You will learn to say "bonjour" / "good morning" to fellow skiers or boarders. You will learn to focus on breathe counting 1001, 1002 / 1001, 1002. You will learn to free your mind. You will learn to see what's ahead (more uphill, obviously) and what's around you. You will learn to see the mountains in a new, different way. One thing you will also learn/notice is how strong your determination and body will be.

I wish I bought a split board at least 3-4 years ago..but I am happy to have made the purchase now and added a new tool to my toolbox.

Go on..try it, you won't regret it ;-)














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD...EVEN WHEN BIKEPACKING!

-
Image
In these extreme and extraordinary circumstances that we are all experiencing, it is important to remain positive and pray for those who are personally affected and those who work on the front lines to keep us all safe. It is also important that we all do our best to help our families and communities. Together, we can achieve anything. Alone, we are doomed. When the guys from Bikepacking.it contacted me at the end of February, we did not know that after a couple of weeks Italy and now most of the EU countries would have faced a health emergency of this magnitude. Writing an article / blog for an outdoor activity website seems frugal and useless in times like these, but that's exactly what we need to do. We have to keep our minds busy, we have to keep creating, we have to keep our spirits up and we have to keep dreaming and planning our future summer adventures by bicycle ... and that's exactly what I'm going to do today. Since this is my second episode for Bikepacking
Read more

THE BIKEPACKINGCHEF...STORIES, TRIPS AND COOKING TIPS OF AN ADVENTURE CYCLING CHEF.

-
Very often in life, a spark of inspiration is enough to create fantastic things.  The idea for BikepackingChef came to me on a cold and snowy afternoon in early December, year 2019, while I was returning home on foot after a day spent doing splitboarding with friends. I was thinking of the next bikepacking events scheduled for summer 2020. A little later I found myself thinking about how and what I could eat, both in the saddle and especially at lunch and dinner. (Maybe it's because I'm a chef in the kitchen but I always think about eating .. the first thing I think of when I get up in the morning is "what can I eat for breakfast today? Porridge or Muesli..or a couple of French Toasts?".) Eating and eating healthy while doing bikepacking, cycling, endurance (both for pleasure and especially in the race) is, in my opinion, the most important aspect and at the same time the aspect that is most underestimated. There are "metropolitan nutritional legends" t
Read more

AN ORDINARY MTB RIDE IN THE ALPS..

-
Image
TMB / VTT 19th - 21st September 2018 3 days-stages / 182km / Elevation gain 6943mt / Calories burned 9650 / No mechanicals / No crashes / Total awe When I decided to move to Chamonix permanently in December ‘17, I set myself a few “things to do” goals. The TMB was one of them. After reading and researching about the TMB I felt compelled to do it simply because of the adventurous nature of the trip. The TMB is a very famous hiking trail that follow a specific and almost fixed route. It officially starts from Les Houches, going counter clockwise over to Les Contamines, then over to Italy into Val Veny - Courmayeur - Val Ferret and into Switzerland to continue towards Trient, back into France at Col de Balme and then Chamonix. In the last few years it has gained popularity amongst the Mtb community too and this kind of mtbiking is what interests me. I am not really into BikePark - lift assisted kind of mtbiking. To me real mtbiking is about exploring new places, ridin
Read more