“More than 30 people can come in on any one day in Spring for monoski rental or retail,” we’re told by Pierre François Brun of SnowGunz, a company offering stylish easy ski, all piste, freeride and touring monoskis.

“In Chamonix people are used to seeing monoskiers ride the pistes, the forests, big mountain and steep extreme faces – often faster than everyone else. We’re even on posters for the ski resort.

“All the locals know that monoskis rip in the backcountry…”

“The only people who are surprised to see us these days are people who are disconnected from the ski community. All the locals know that monoskis rip in the backcountry.”

So, rather than sit back and laugh at the possibility of a rejuvenated monoskiing movement gaining momentum, we decided it would be best to get involved.

Of course, we also wanted to abuse the fact that Intersport let you change your skis as often as you want when you rent your planks from them on holiday. So, in went our pair of Black Crows and out came a monoski.

Monoskiing is all about body movement. It’s all about using your arms and your hips while largely keeping your knees in roughly the same position. I now completely understand why those skiers in the 80s used to throw their arms around like they were having a seizure. It really helps swing momentum going into the turns and the better you get at the hip movement, the less you have to look like a distressed orang-utan while you’re doing it.

It’s also a lot easier the faster you go, as your energy is easier to transfer at speed. This is of course somewhat hindering for first-timers, but it means that the quicker you get your confidence, the quicker you’re going to progress.

And for anyone who has been through any sort of skiing instruction before, it should be easy enough to learn. All you need to do is stick rigidly to proper two-planked practice. There’s less room for leeway on a monoski, so you’re forced to pick it up fast.

See, as someone more accustomed to riding two skis, I often wanted to shift my legs separately and misalign my knees whenever I initially tried to turn on the monoski. This is bad practice for two planks anyway, but when you’re locked into one it means that you’re almost definitely going to fall flat on your face. It was like the monoski was a training device designed to teach perfect skiing technique. And a harsh teacher it was; reminiscent of a long-lost music instructor of mine who once taped a kid’s fingers to his trumpet because he kept lifting them during recital. Sure she got fired, but Eoghann got a lot better at playing the trumpet. It’s the same with the monoski; you might learn the right technique in a fairly brutal fashion, but you’ll learn it quickly (and with less mental scarring than that aforementioned pre-teen brass band).

Anyway.

We nail a couple of runs over some fluffy powder next to a magic carpet and with our abilities transforming like the skyline throughout the day, the only constant in the experience is the call of ‘monoski!’ from passing revellers eager to remind us of our chosen mode of transport.

The lift ride did give me a chance to quiz the man himself on exactly why people monoski though. Rico happily rolled off lines about how many powder junkies in France spent time perfecting their skiing technique on a monoski and explained that for beginners, it’s easier to access powder on a monoski than it is on a pair of regular skis, because you don’t have to re-learn for the off-piste.

Snowgunz’s Pierre echoed this praise: “We ride with the world’s best skiers and snowboarders here in Chamonix. We ride the same spots at the same level, and we’re lighter than skiers and more powerful. You can go faster. It’s perfect for soft snow, sunny slopes, off-piste forests or couloirs or freeride.”

Flash forward to the the start of the blue run. It’s almost last lifts at this point and I’m not entirely convinced I’m going to make it back to resort before nightfall, but I suck it up, think positive and put my training to work as Rico speeds off like a slaloming bullet from a wonky gun.

After a slow start which features a little float through some nearby powder, my right-hand turning finally starts to click and it’s all steam ahead, albeit with the occasional slingshot to the ground for good measure.

Particularly pleasing is the feeling of the speed through a wide but steep middle segment, the fact that I manage to successfully steer myself away from an ominous cliff, and best of all, overtaking a handful of newbie snowboarders and skiers on our eventual final dash down the piste.

It’s been a tough day of learning through trial, error and Rico’s hints and tips, but I have to admit to enjoying monoskiing more than I expected. Who knows, the second coming of the sport may be on the horizon. Pierre certainly thinks so.

“In the future I see an extension of the Chamonix set up at present,” he concludes. “All skiers will have a monoski in their quiver. Monoski touring will grow for sure. Beginner skiers will ride monoski rentals during their ski week on vacation and intermediate skiers will ride monoskis when they want easy off-piste. It’s a perfect combo – so interesting for skiers.”

Will it take off again? We’ll just have to wait and see.

February is the ‘Challenge Issue’ on Mpora. Click here to read the rest of the issue

You May Also Like

“A Culture of Chauvinism” | The Fight for Women’s Cycling in Africa

Aims & Ambitions | We Asked Ruaridh Cunningham All About the New Factory Downhill Team