6 Inches of fresh powder and bright blue skies in a winter wonderland

Friday 24th March - snowing all day
overnight temperatures rising
Natasha arrived from England on Tuesday
snowboarding with Natasha on Saturday
fantastic scenery - all tracks covered
virgin powder in Sansicario
gradually everybody turns up - and we head to Sauze doulx
back to Sansicario for lunch and some sun
the temperature is rising and the snow is beginning to melt
upper slopes still in good condition though
afternoon spent in the powder above sansicario

Sunday starts fairly warm notwithstanding a later sunrise
the slopes are hard from the overnight drop in temp
still preparing the piste 72 first thing morning after the lifts open
where the cats have just been - is perfect
Natasha is up later after a night out on the town
we all meet up at 11ish and head to Sauze Doulx
once round Triplex - a bit soft underfoot
back to Anna's bar for lunch and sunbathing on the terrace 7500'
a few trips round Colo/Rio Nero off Fraiteve for the afternoon
even the upper slopes are slushy
good for practising back-to-back 180s down the fall line

Podsafe Music
101 - Swim To Me
101 PMN Page
101 Website
American Heartbreak - Things Are Looking Up
American Heartbreak PMN Page
American Heartbreak Website
Cyndi Vellmure - Could
Cyndi Vellmure PMN Page
Cyndi Vellmure Website

[15.9MB 21:43 96kbps]

Overcast, horrible weather but fantastic piste bashing, including first trip to Sestriere via col Basset

Saturday 18th March
Almost considered using the hard stuff
opted for the newly serviced Winterstick
Low cloud but sunshine above to start the day
Fraiteve is bathed in sunshine
Canale Colo and Rio Nero are the places to be
still some good powder even after last sundays high winds
Higher level clouds roll in from France and it starts snowing
fine dense snow in the afternoon
very poor visibility everywhere
call it a day at 4:30ish

Sunday 19th March - Italian Fathers Day
3 inches of overnight snow
piste 72 has an unpisted strip
Fraiteve is above the cloud
and Canale Colo is irresistible
Rio Nero lift breaks down just after I drop into Canale Colo
col Basset chair twice
then Borgata - Sestriere Colle and back up in the Gondola
milky way piste map
Rio Nero is fixed so we can do it again
Piste 21 from the top to get to lunch - fantastic piste bashing
visibility even below the clouds is OK - much betetr than Saturday
after lunch straight back up to Rio Nero
off-piste right and left
21 twice and a single Baby Sansicario to finish at 5

PMN Music
Supergene - Big In Japan (UK Indie
Rock)
Supergene PMN Page
Supergene website
Kanalo - Come On Over (Hawaiian Reggae)
Kanalo PMN Page
Kanalo website
Laura Clapp - Let It Rain
Laura Clapp PMN Page
Laura Clapp website


[18.7MB 25:17 96kbps]

High Winds and Rio Nero - first trip to Sauze Doulx this season via link lifts

Laura Clapp - Hey Hey Sister
Laura Clapp PMN Page
Laura Clapp website
6 inches of fresh snow between Tuesday night and Thursday
2 inches more overnight Friday
Friday storm force winds in Turin
Forecast was for Strong wind Saturday, Very strong wind Sunday and calm Monday
expecting the worst - Saturday variable cloud and strong winds
Rio Baucet under the 8 man gondola - peach off-piste bowl
unexpectedly Rio Nero draglift opens - first time this season
get stopped by the police - told not to go off piste
head back to San Sicario - great powder to be had in the trees
Creation Science - Hot Wire My Heart
Creation Science PMN Page
Creation Science website
Sunday - stronger winds - doubts about lifts opening
La Sellette is open - and Roccia Rotonda - and then Fraiteve opens aswell
Sestriere link gondola was open but Rio Nero is closed
there are trials of Venue, Protein and Phiokka snowboards - c/o La Glisse
too busy shredding pistes and powder in the trees to test anything
Winterstick All Mountain 162 - still going strong
from the top of piste 21
last run of the day hit rocks under windswept powder - well damaged
straight to the repair shop - overnight repairs to be ready for Monday morning
FigureOne - Beautiful Creation
FigureOne PMN Page
FigureOne website
Monday morning - clear blue skies and freezing cold - no wind !!!
straight to the top of 21 - all on our own - what a dream
Rio Nero is open - twice round it on the way to Sauze D'Oulx
2nd time across the funnel into the powder in avalanche territory
then on down to the long link draglift up to the top of Triplex
lovely long piste under the new Triplex 4 man chairlift to the top of piste 29
piste 29 is a freecarve dream - so soft - all of the way down to clotes
back up Pian della Rocca 4 man chairlift and the New Triplex
back into the Col Basset valley and up the 4 man chair to the Rio Nero draglift
round Roccia Rotonda, Fraiteve and another loop of rio Nero
one more long top half of piste 21 and upto La capanina for lunch
2 hours later after 1 hour of which in the sun at 7500'
a few more runs til 5pm when its time to call it a day
Rachel Kann - I Know This
Rachel Kann PMN Page
Rachel Kann website

[24.4MB 33:40 96kbps]

Granian - Sex In A Box
Granian PMN Page
Granian website
After 2 feet of powder - another 1 and a half feet in 3 days
Sansicario in the heart of the Milky Way
What a fantastic weekend - a 3 dayer
Snowing from Thursday til Sunday morning
Winterstick All Mountain 162 up to the task
Saturday its snowing fairly heavy
couple of variations thru the woods and then Colombiere
2 hours later and Im still trying to get back to civilisation
waist deep and then boot deep (thank god)
afternoon a little bit more low key

Urgencies - Strange Girl's Weird Boy
Urgencies PMN Page
Full Breach Kicks Records website
Saturday night agriturismo in Fenils - as much as you can eat & drink
snow had stopped but sunday morning further 6 inches of fresh
slightly cloudy - and expecting the PN Snowpark gang
out early to savour the powder - then guiding through the woods
by lunch time - I am knackered - but recover for more afternoon pow
back leg burn startting to bite
finish the day with some hard and fast piste runs finishing with 21

Kingsdown - Next Train to Brighton
Kingsdown PMN Page
I had booked Monday as a holiday
drop in temperature overnight of 10 degrees Centigrade
perfectly groomed pistes and plenty of pow still to cut
another 9 to 5 with no lift queues
unfortunately high winds have kept the link lifts closed

[26.9MB 35:32 96kbps]

Stingray - 143
Stingray PMN Page
Stingray website
Olympic Winter Games 2006 draws to a close at end of week 2
2 feet of snowfall in the 2nd week - Winter Wonderland
Friday snowing on the way up and still snowing Saturday morning
Sansi lifts still shut so Cesana - Claviere for a days knee deep powder fun
visibility is excellent even during snowfall
The woods above Cesana - endless backcountry - through the trees
Sunny intervals in the afternoon
Italian hope crashes out of Sestriere Slalom
The Saturday night party is cancelled
Kingsdown - Signs
Kingsdown PMN Page
Sunday morning - glorious sunshine - crisp and clear
08:50 outside the back door clipped in and nose pointing downhill
first run from La Sellette into the woods dividing 72 and 78 down to soleil Boeuf
up to the Roccie Rotonde - back all of the way down 72
head to Rio Nero but its closed - snowcats working
Milky Way has done us proud - open a day early - and almost everything open
pistes 18 19 and 20 and 21
even rio Baucet - down to the intermediate 2300 Gondola station
then down the Fraiteve run top of WMN DH - cut right to powder wall
21 and into the woods at the Northern extreme - bottom Colombiere
these woods are fantastic - and I was the first through them
Monte Rotta woods in the afternoon - followed by 72 off-piste and then 21 o/p again
this time from the very top of rio nero - the guards let us through ??
back up La Sellette then head for home via 3 trips round the Baby
big air jumps off the path in the powder - til 5pm and Im exhausted but extatic
Jims Big Ego - WTFMFWTFAYT?
Jims Big Ego PMN Page
bigego website

[23.6MB 32:26 96kbps]

1st Week of Torino 2006 - An audio blog of living the Winter Olympics
PMN Munk - Dirty Work
Munk PMN Page
Munk website
10/2/06 the opening ceremony went off well
11/2/06 Claviere by cable-car
11/2/06 Swedish IOC reps selling tickets for 10 EUROS - snowboard for 20 EUROS v list price of 35 EUROs
11/2/06 first SanSi event Biathlon German Gold and Norway 2nd and 3rd
12/2/06 Telegraph nonsense 7 hours return trip to Sestriere
12/2/06 get 4 tickets from USA squad for 2 man bob finals for 19/2/06
12/2/06 Shaun White wins the Gold in H/P USA 1st & 2nd
13/2/06 Tickets for sale - this time from British touts
13/2/06 Carabinieri intervene
13/2/06 looking for WMN DH Swedish rep offers 4*110 for 250
14/2/06 Tash and Lucy arrive from London to see the WMN DH 15/2
15/2/06 At the egg for 10am to find tickets for WMN DH
15/2/06 looking for 2 tickets at least for Tash and Lucy
15/2/06 Brit ticket tout sells me last 3 100 Euro tickets for 20 each
15/2/06 Prime seats sitting with Austrian brass band - party atmosphere
15/2/06 met Chemy Alcotts brother and she comes 11th
15/2/06 the girls go to Sestriere in the afternoon - A great day
PMN Redefining the Moment - Oxygen for Two
Redefining the Moment PMN Page
Redefining the Moment website
16/2/06 heavy snow all morning and high winds - 2 inches settled
16/2/06 Swindon girl gets Skeleton Silver for team GB
16/2/06 the girls travel home almost 12 hours door-to-door
17/2/06 wake up to heavy snowfall - 6 inches settles
17/2/06 WMN Dh Combined delayed by 1 hour due to snowfall
17/2/06 get 2 100 Euro tickets for 20 each off Dutch team
17/2/06 race starts at 13:15 - abandoned after 1st skier falls
17/2/06 slalom goes ahead DH rescheduled for Monday
18/2/06 Mens SuperG Sestriere - long walk down to Borgata
18/2/06 snowing all morning - getting heavier after 11am
18/2/06 GBR 7th after 15 runs - race abandoned 12pm
18/2/06 rescheduled for 14:30 - 14:00 Sun comes out and race completed
18/2/06 Get 2 extra tickets for 50 Euro for the rescheduled WMN DHK
19/2/06 Snowfalling again in morning - SuperG WMN scheduled for 12pm
19/2/06 11am get a 110 for free, a 110 for 50 and 2 110s for 40 Euros
19/2/06 Snow and Fog postpones race - hopefully to be rerun Monday
19/2/06 Snowing stronger than ever all afternoon and all evening
19/2/06 2-man bob finals > 6 inches of snowfall in 3 hours total 18 inches in 18 hrs
20/2/06 Wake up to sunny skies - first for 4 days - and half metre pow
20/2/06 WMN SuperG put back to 3pm - Chemmy's big chance - top 20 finish
PMN Anonymous - Apology
Anonymous PMN Page
Anonymous website

[26.8MB 36:45 96kbps]

DJ Come of Age - No Pressure by Jahaha
DJCOA PMN Page
TOTP was on Monday and Tuesday - Live acts incl Craig David
turned cold again
dress rehearsal was on Wednesday night
2006 Opening ceremony coming up on Friday www.torino2006.com
Torino 2006 Winter Olympics
70 odd heads of state
I'll be in the mountains
Tash arrives on Tuesday for the Wednesday Wmn Downhill
WMN DH 15th 17th and SG 19th Alpine skiing
Snowboarding in Bardonechia H/P12th and 13th SBC 16th and 17th
Forecast is cold, clear and sunny - no more snowfall for at least a week (16/2/06)
www.weknowsnow.com backcountrymaps
nice video blog and Illuminati snowboards and osprey packs
Milky Way 3D Map promo
3D maps from www.mountmaps.com
5 EUROS or 5 GBP
Planet of Women - Waking up the Neighbourhood
Planet of Women PMN Page
Planet of Women Website

[12.9MB 16:54 96kbps]

Butterfly Catchers - Wake Up
Butterfly Catchers PMN page
Butterfly Catchers Website
dedicated to Absent Friends
1.4m Limone Piemonte, 1m Prato Nevoso, 1m NE, 80cm Alagna, 50cm Milky way, 10cm extreme NW
Toast DVD
Torino 2006 - 1 week to go
TOTP from Sauze Doulx 13/2/05 7pm
Volunteers in the mountains
Sansicario and Sestriere all lifts closed to public for squad training
Off to Claviere for fun in the sun
1 hour of lifts Cable Car + 3 chairs + 1 drag
Cost of the lift passes in Italy
A few free tickets for season ticket holders
Olympic flame arrives at Sestriere on its tour of Italy to Turin
Amplifico - 10p Mix
Amplifico PMN page
Amplifico Website
Sleepy cloudy Sunday show
Back to Claviere
More adventurous powder excursions
Nearer you get to France less fresh snow fell last weekend
I had fun practising switch 180s and what pow there is
Learning a few new routes for future reference
Less people than on saturday
Still lots of Sunday drivers on the way down
Bloody Olympic Games - the sooner theyre over the better
Oh and I pranged the car the day after last weeks show
Italian drivers, cars and insurance - but thats another story
Early publication next weeek and a late one the week after - cos Im Olympicing
Olympic daily updates ??
Swindon win at home yet again - 1 point from safety
The Argyle Pimps - Geezers
The Argyle Pimps PMN Page
The Argyle Pimps Website

[20.4MB 27:48 96kbps]

Podsafe Music Network (PMN)
The Argyle Pimps - Argyle Pimpin
The Argyle Pimps PMN page
The argyle Pimps website
Friday snow in the valleys - Saturday and Sunday 30cm - 40cm - 50cm
Saturday morning 10 cm already
Milan airports closed
Turin-Bardonechia motorway closed
out at 10 - snow getting ever heavier
poor visibility above the tree line
1300 - 2700 <2400 below the tree line
run 72 - off-piste tempting - one or two excursions
extra 10 cm set down during the day
previous tracks covered by the time you get the the lift up again
through the woods - fresh tracks - between run 78 and run 76
18 bottom section of Olympic run - fresh powder
stopped the 2nd time down
4 O'clock - no one to stop me on run 18 - to get home
couple of trick runs on the lowest 4 man Baby Sansicario in front of the house
SuperEgo - ken
SuperEgo PMN page
SuperEgo website
sunday morning - total fresh now up to 25-30 cm lower and 40-50 cm upper
run 72/74 - off-piste in and out of the trees - this is like 2 years ago
top 79 - much better visibility - powder all the way down
Lower 79 75 79 - by mistake going for my favourite off-piste run
79 75 dropping in between 79 and 82 parallel to old rogies draglift 40 -50 cm pow
this the best of pow in the trees
meet the English couple from Milan - Johan
79 75 82 - round the back and down - the woods above Pariol !!!
Monte rotta area
run 21 - never been open this season and still isnt - but now through the trees
back over to Ski Lodge - La Sellete - once more down 72/74 then up and over to 18
off-piste and carry on through the trees to end the day with my favourite off-piste
that was a classic right leg burn
back up on the last lift at 16:25 - across to Soleil boeuf and then down 18
couple of runs on 4-man baby sansicario - riding switch in pow - nailed it
fall-line half-cab and back-side 180 - is it easier in pow ?
Matthew Ebel - Drive away
Matthew Ebel PMN page
Matthew Ebel website

[20MB 29:00 96kbps]

dos de picos - solo noi
dos de picos PMN page
DDP website
snow snow snow
Alte Navigation - Niederschleg - 9-panel - 6 hour slots for detail
www.wetterzentrale.de
www.weatheronline.co.uk
www.sansicario.it
frigin cold - too cold for lots of snow
warming up on Saturday - should snow more then
Natasha is coming over for the olympics
peawees - No Reaction artistdetails.php
peawees PMN page
peawees website

[9.1MB 12:38 96kbps]

Italian music night
Peawees - Road to Rock n Roll
The Peawees PMN page
The Peawees Website
Weather report - no fresh snowfall
25th day milestone
The season pass is paid for
Friday night is Snowpark night in Prato Nevoso
Venue board purchase
Saturday the new Gondola opens
Sansicario race piste difficult - training piste is a dream
difficult conditions - especially the slalom race piste Sestriere
The dog is staying real close
Italian Soul - Soul Basement - L.O.V.E (Radio Edit)
Soul Basement PMN page
Soul Basement website
Friday night investment - Samson c01u - Mac switcher
Sunday intention to head for Sauze via new lift and Sestriere
Kandahar piste - mens d/hill - excellent
hardly anybody on the mountain - bad queues heing home
Last Thursday www.RockcastItalia.com - RAI2 - Galatea
Rockcastitalia podcast
The forecast is Cold in the North - Snow in the South
Risoul - 50 miles from the Milky Way - 16"
Swindon 4-2
Peawees - Cause You Dont Know Me