Well, 2011 ended on a high with an insane amount of snow falling in Davos Klosters and 2012 started in much the same way, theres snow levels in the valley like I’ve never seen before. New years eve was an amazing day, 2ft of powder on the pistes and no one around to ride, this was followed by a great night out with Synergy Snowsports. The following weekend was the O’neill evolution big air contest in Davos with a great after party. Taking a week off in Jan is always a winner, pistes are quiet during the week and because of all the snow that had fallen pistes were in great condition. Another coaching session midweek with Synergy Snowsports made me feel 100 times better about my riding and was great to be out in the sun for a change after a lot of riding in the snow. Today, the snow started again, riding on Rinerhorn today the pistes were knee deep in fresh powder – another great day on the mountain, lets hope it carries on this way.

For some pics of Jan have a look here, pics of the season can also be found here.

I needed to get more confidence up with my snowboarding so I booked some coaching lessons with Synergy Snowsports based in Davos. I’d been in contact with Donnie via email arranging the lessons and went for two half day private lessons (after we’d been for a couple of beers on a previous night). We’d planned to meet at Parsenn but due to the weather switched this to Rinerhorn, a lesser known mountain in Davos, that due to it being a bus ride out of Davos and it being predominantly T Bars is a lot quieter than the main mountains…. (I hate drag lifts of all varieties). I’m very much a rider who needs to understand why I should be doing something and Donnie really helped with this, his explanations of what I should be doing and how my board reacted in certain situations really helped my understanding. He also really helped my confidence. After a day on the trainer T Bar and a run down to the valley my confidence on my board had increased massively and I was linking turns better than I ever had. After the lesson I then went onto a different mountain to see how I was on my own and was happily turning better than I ever had – successful Day 1

Day two I went on the lesson with two of my friends and we all got so much out of the day because the tips we were being given we’re things we can now just practice at any time. We’d been out on Rinerhorn again but the weather was very snowy, flat light and windy (I’m impressed with myself for being out in those conditions) due to this my confidence had dropped but by the end of the lesson I was happy again and can’t wait to get out in the snow again tomorrow to carry on practicing..

Rinerhorn really is a hidden gem, from not really going at all its now the place I head if the weathers bad – the valley runs are just awesome.

If you want a snowboarding holiday with coaching then I recommend getting a package through Synergy, if you’re already in Switzerland then give the guys a shout to book some lessons – next stop for me avalanche training and more private lessons