Sarah Bourne Photography » Sports

Whistler Longboarding Festival

Sarah Bourne — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:50:39 +0000

This weekend saw the inaugural Whistler Longboarding Festival on the road leading to the top of the 2010 Olympic Sliding Center (ie the luge and bob sleigh track). To quote the organizers: “Set at the base of Blackcomb Mountain this gnarly 1 mile race track drops 1000ft and offers up eight 180 degree hairpins. Imagine snow boarder cross meets the Formula 1 of skateboards as 4 man heats ripped down the mountain”. Certainly it was pretty hairy and fun to watch. Hopefully they’ll be back next year.

WSSF – World Ski & Snowboard Festival – SuperPipe Qualifiers

Sarah Bourne — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 05:42:23 +0000

The weather was grey and overcast for most of the morning but by the time I arrived, just as the men started their training runs the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. Finally it felt like spring. Perfect conditions for the competitors – quite firm snow but warm and easy to see. The top five go through to Sunday’s finals – check out the World Ski and Snowboard Festival site for more details:

Nendaz Feeride Comp

Sarah Bourne — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:46:10 +0000

Today Rob and I went and watched the Nendaz Freeride comp held at the Plan Du Fou. It was fairly extreme just getting to the viewing area (quite a hike up fluffy, not-at-all-compacty snow), but we were rewarded to find not only a DJ but also a bar and burger bar! We had brought a picnic and a bottle of wine (the latter was quite an aid for the not-so-easy ski back to the piste!).

After two weeks of sun and no snow, the mountain was in surprisingly good shape but the sun decided today of all days, to disappear and make the light very flat. Tough for the competitors but they still managed to throw down some amazing lines. Well done to them!

Pistes in Nendaz

Sarah Bourne — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:43:53 +0000

Although the weather has been uncommonly dry with very little snow since the middle of January, Tele-Nendaz have done an amazing job of keeping the pistes in fantastic condition. Here are a few photos taken on the Dent and Alpage runs. With blue skies and great mountain scenery, how can anyone not have fun?

Greppon Blanc

Sarah Bourne — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:00:53 +0000

24 days since it last snowed in the 4 Valley’s region of Switzerland, Rob and I decided to take out our skis, skins and back-country equipment to the back side of Greppon Blanc (2,714m).

Unbelievably the snow was quite good, especially on the north facing slopes: the snow was more like ankle deep ‘hoar-frost’ but was totally skiable and fun. It was a little firm and crusty in places, especially where the sun had hit at any part of the day.

Most importantly, we skied a couloir that no one else had skied yet, and we had fun. We only saw 6 other people over there all day. A 30 min hike got us back to the ski area.

Basel International Ski School Photos

Sarah Bourne — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:22:32 +0000

Here in Switzerland one of the local ski schools – Neige Aventure – asked me to take photos of their students from the Basel International Ski School.

The full gallery of images can be viewed and prints ordered from here.

Here are just a few example photos:

Junior hockey tournament in Nendaz

Sarah Bourne — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:49:23 +0000

I was just in time today to see the final games of the junior hockey (Tournoi bambini) on the outdoor ice rink in Nendaz. The play was surprisingly good, given the ages of the kids – age 4-8 years. The guys in yellow appeared to be the overall winners – hence the pileup! For more photos and to purchase downloads please click here.

New Year’s Eve in Nendaz

Sarah Bourne — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 12:55:51 +0000

With another beautiful day ahead of us, John, OB and I headed up Plan du Fou again. We played around with some portraits then headed down the off piste for some more action shots. The Kodak courage ended in great photos but mostly carnage on every landing! Fortunately no injuries.

We then met up with Nick who guided us on the Greppon Blanc itinerary. Starting at 2700m we skied down a huge bowl which still had surprisingly good snow in it considering it’s nearly a week since it snowed. The bowl funnels into a gully, then a road and we actually skied right through what must be a summer farming community – all closed up for the winter. Eventually we ended up more or less in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus back to Les Masses at 1515m. Quite a lot of lifts and runs later we were back in Nendaz after an adventure of some 4 1/2 hours!

Later on I joined everyone for New Year’s celebrations Euro – style in the main square. Champagne, fireworks and DJ. Lots of fun.

More hiking. More fresh snow.

Sarah Bourne — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:59:39 +0000

Photos from today. It was very flat light and the snow was a little wetter than a couple of days ago. I actually enjoyed the hike and the company more than the skiing!

New Friends and Fresh Tracks

Sarah Bourne — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:19:31 +0000

On Christmas day I was fortunate to get chatting with and ultimately skiing with two British guys, James and his brother-in-law, John. James and his wife Michelle own an apartment in Nendaz and consequently James in particular has skied the area extensively and has been guided around by various friends. It was his turn to “pay it forward’ and guide John and I today.

We really only did two runs but both of them were full of perfect, light, fluffy untouched snow. Yet because you need to hike to both areas – just 5 minutes for the first and a very steep, scary 20 minute climb up the “Stairway to Heaven” for the second – much of the snow stays untouched by the bulk of the tourists. Best day yet!