 Poster: A snowHead
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Alrighty,
can this be done in one day? We're sitting here in La Tania with the biro and map out. I'm not talking about the old 14 station Escapade- its the new 18 station one we want to try. Has anyone done it? What's the best route?
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I don't have a definitive answer for you as I tried and failed last year! Lack of snow and a broken chairlift definitely didn't help but I'm not convinced we could have done it. We started from the same side as you in Courchevel 1550 and ended up with a very expensive taxi ride home from Meribel. I will watch your thread with interest.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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What's "the three valley escapade"???
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We did it in 6 1/2 ish hours in 2010, with a ski host from Ski Olympic from Meribel, I suspect he took a few short custs but in reality we passed all the escapade posts abelit La Masses II wasn't open. Not sure if it was the 14 or 18 station version. We had a nunmber of issues on the way and could have done it in a shorter time. It was a great buzz to have done it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You will find more info here:
http://www.latania.co.uk/photos/2006/Escapade/Escapade.htm
The intention of the Escapde is not that you attempt to complete it in one day - although many do! the Escapade has been made slightly easier since they changed which lifts you had to take a couple of years ago.
I have completed the Three valleys Escapade a number of times and each time over an easy three day period, stopping for lunch etc and even skiing favourite pistes more than once. Why all the rush? they don't give you a different certificate for completing it in a day! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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sean1967, Hi, have done the old Escapade without any problems but reckon this new one with 18 liifts is much tougher. Becca and Montaulever in LM are really delaying things. Have planned a route that I reckon will work but the timings are extremely tight - could really do with the extra half hour of lift time you get in spring. Think there's a fair chance of making Tovets to finish the Escapade but missing Plantrey so you can't ski back to La Tania. Beer and bus is ok though!
Have done 3 seasons in the 3V, 2 as a guide and am in LT at the moment. Could give it a go on Thursday/Friday this week as your guide if you PM me.
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I want to have a go in March in a day... If anyone does if before then let me know how you get on!
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| Raceplate wrote: |
sean1967, Hi, have done the old Escapade without any problems but reckon this new one with 18 liifts is much tougher. Becca and Montaulever in LM are really delaying things. Have planned a route that I reckon will work but the timings are extremely tight - could really do with the extra half hour of lift time you get in spring. Think there's a fair chance of making Tovets to finish the Escapade but missing Plantrey so you can't ski back to La Tania. Beer and bus is ok though!
Have done 3 seasons in the 3V, 2 as a guide and am in LT at the moment. Could give it a go on Thursday/Friday this week as your guide if you PM me. |
Sadly our effort on Tuesday was aborted due to the Meribel Lifties strike. I don't think I could have made it though. We considered getting the route that requires getting the bus back to La Tania but deemed it unsportsmanlike. You could be right though - it might be the only way.
If you do have success with your route please let me know. Cheers
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hi sean1967. Should have come with me! You got my curiosity up so had on go on Thursday and completed it with the exception of La Masse 2 which was broken down. Was back in LT for 4.20pm; if LM2 had been running that would have added a maximum 15 minutes extra so would still have made it. Also had to swap Vizelle for Saulire due to late opening but that makes no odds to the time. When they've fixed LM2 I'll do it again so I can get a print from the ticket office as proof.
It's a full on ski; I was on first lift out of LT, skied non stop between all lifts, only stopped twice for a wee and ate my sandwich on the Grand Fond. Light was a bit flat and three of the lifts stopped when I was on them but I reckon I couldn't have skied it more than 10 minutes faster overall even in sunshine. Lifts open later from Feb 4th which would make it more comfortable.
This was my route with target times to be at the TOP of the relevant lift (I put this on a PDF on my phone so I could track whether I was on schedule to finish throughout the day - kept me motivated):
9.10 La Tania
9.25 Dou des Lanches
9.35 Biollay
9.45 Vizelle
10.00 Dent de Burgin
10.10 Golf
10.25 Roc de Fer
10.35 Olympic
10.50 St Martin 1
11.00 St Martin 2
11.10 Roc de Tougne
11.30 Granges
11.40 Becca
11.50 Montaulever
12.05 Peclet
12.20 Moraine
12.30 Col
12.45 Portette
13.00 Grand Fond
13.20 Peyron
13.30 Bouchet
13.50 Rosael
14.05 Plan de l'Eau
14.20 La Masse 1
14.30 La Masse 2
14.45 Doron
14.55 Mont de la Chambre
15.10 Mures Rouges
15.15 Plan des Mains
15.25 Pas du Lac 1
15.35 Pas du Lac 2
15.45 Roc Mugnier
15.55 Chapelets
16.10 Gravelles
16.20 Tovets
16.30 Plantrey
35 lifts to complete the 18 checkpoints and one to get home. It's all Blue and Red pistes between the lifts (no short-cuts or itineraries although if the weather had been nicer I would have come down the Bouchet Glacier just for fun) but they need to be skied fast. You should be able to work out the necessary pistes from a map but if you're not sure of any of them please ask and I'll clarify. Hope this helps; all the best with your next attempt. 
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| Raceplate wrote: |
Hi sean1967. Should have come with me! You got my curiosity up so had on go on Thursday and completed it with the exception of La Masse 2 which was broken down. Was back in LT for 4.20pm; if LM2 had been running that would have added a maximum 15 minutes extra so would still have made it. Also had to swap Vizelle for Saulire due to late opening but that makes no odds to the time. When they've fixed LM2 I'll do it again so I can get a print from the ticket office as proof.
It's a full on ski; I was on first lift out of LT, skied non stop between all lifts, only stopped twice for a wee and ate my sandwich on the Grand Fond. Light was a bit flat and three of the lifts stopped when I was on them but I reckon I couldn't have skied it more than 10 minutes faster overall even in sunshine. Lifts open later from Feb 4th which would make it more comfortable.
This was my route with target times to be at the TOP of the relevant lift (I put this on a PDF on my phone so I could track whether I was on schedule to finish throughout the day - kept me motivated):
9.10 La Tania
9.25 Dou des Lanches
9.35 Biollay
9.45 Vizelle
10.00 Dent de Burgin
10.10 Golf
10.25 Roc de Fer
10.35 Olympic
10.50 St Martin 1
11.00 St Martin 2
11.10 Roc de Tougne
11.30 Granges
11.40 Becca
11.50 Montaulever
12.05 Peclet
12.20 Moraine
12.30 Col
12.45 Portette
13.00 Grand Fond
13.20 Peyron
13.30 Bouchet
13.50 Rosael
14.05 Plan de l'Eau
14.20 La Masse 1
14.30 La Masse 2
14.45 Doron
14.55 Mont de la Chambre
15.10 Mures Rouges
15.15 Plan des Mains
15.25 Pas du Lac 1
15.35 Pas du Lac 2
15.45 Roc Mugnier
15.55 Chapelets
16.10 Gravelles
16.20 Tovets
16.30 Plantrey
35 lifts to complete the 18 checkpoints and one to get home. It's all Blue and Red pistes between the lifts (no short-cuts or itineraries although if the weather had been nicer I would have come down the Bouchet Glacier just for fun) but they need to be skied fast. You should be able to work out the necessary pistes from a map but if you're not sure of any of them please ask and I'll clarify. Hope this helps; all the best with your next attempt. |
Well done! You must have been knackered by the time you got back. That's it decided then, I'll need to try to scrape together the dough and go back to La Tania this year to get this done.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We tried it at Christmas and didn't quite make them all in a day so will try again when we are out again later in the season when the lifts are on later. We started from Meribel so interesting that it is suggested to start from La Tania. Will let you know how we get on. What is the distance covered and vertical? We did 61 km and 13000m of vertical in Kaltenbach Austria last week - a good day's skiing, including a very icy ski route to come off the mountain.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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sean1967, cheers, actually didn't feel that tired when I finished - although it's a lot of skiing it's also a lot of lift time for recovery in-between.
mogulski, I'm only starting from LT because that's where I'm living at the moment. I'm supposed to be moving to Meribel in a couple of weeks so I'll rejig the route from there. My gut feeling is that if you started from Meribel Village it would actually be easier - the Meribel lift opening times are more reliable than the La Tania ones so you'll probably gain 10-15 minutes instantly. I don't know what the distance is but I think the ticket office can tell you so when I've done it including LM2 I'll ask them for a print.
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Raceplate, similar route to what I did but you Col first, then 4th Valley and La Masses we did that bit in reverse. LM2 wasn't working when we did it either.
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You know it makes sense.
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stevew, the 2010 route was much shorter (I've just checked an old piste map) - no Col, Bouchet, Peclet, Becca or Montaulever which are all long, awkward to access or top of the valley lifts. That's why you went in reverse. I looked at doing La Masse first but it meant I would have had to do two circuits of either VT or Les Menuires to catch all checkpoints and was two many lifts.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Raceplate wrote: |
| stevew, the 2010 route was much shorter (I've just checked an old piste map) - no Col, Bouchet, Peclet, Becca or Montaulever which are all long, awkward to access or top of the valley lifts. That's why you went in reverse. I looked at doing La Masse first but it meant I would have had to do two circuits of either VT or Les Menuires to catch all checkpoints and was two many lifts. |
Yes, hadn't noticed that you'd done Peclet and Becca. And I've only just noticed where Montaulever is altough I'ved used it a few times in the past. Having to do that side does make it more difficult; respect!
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Poster: A snowHead
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stevew, cheers. Respect to your respect.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If anyone has good knowledge of the best route to start and finish in Val T (for a snowboarder so trying to avoid flat slopes!) that would be ace and really appreciated. Hoping to try this 3rd week in March. Might be a solo day though as I don't think my friends would appreciate the non-stop nature and unfortunatly boyfriend will still be broken.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| kat.ryb wrote: |
| If anyone has good knowledge of the best route to start and finish in Val T (for a snowboarder so trying to avoid flat slopes!) that would be ace and really appreciated. Hoping to try this 3rd week in March. Might be a solo day though as I don't think my friends would appreciate the non-stop nature and unfortunatly boyfriend will still be broken. |
Raceplate's route is much the same as we did, from VT I'd be inclined to start with Plan de l'Eau and follow his lifts. That way you have your local lifts at the end to finish off with, don;t know what time Rosael closes at though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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stevew, cool thanks, I'll have to mug up on the map as I doubt there will be time for poor navigating en-route!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Like this, may need to give it a crack from Courchevel 1850 when we head out end of March! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Right, as promised went out yesterday and completed the full thing. Got a print from the ticket office and the official stats are 35 different lifts, 15,670km of vertical. They don't give a piste distance and I don't have GPS so can't help with that. Enjoyed the look from the ticket office bloke when I gave him my liftpass and said, "Can you check that for the Escapade in one day, yesterday, please?"
Was late starting (didn't decide to have another go until 9.10am whilst still in my flat so spent the whole day playing catch-up on the original schedule I posted above) - which made me very ratty every time some numpty didn't move quickly onto the chair in front! But I did enjoy pretending to be a grumpy Frenchman in every busy lift queue
Was on the first lift at 9.30am exactly, entered Tovets (the last checkpoint) at 4.11pm and was back in La Tania at 4.30pm so 7 hours dead for the full trip. That's me skiing flat out in good visibility with no stops so anyone trying it from this weekend onwards gets around an hour extra to play with if they make first lift. Original 2006 Escapade with 14 checkpoints was 12,878m of vertical and 29 lifts so 2012 is much harder (nearly 3,000m!). The 2010 Escapade with no Col, Bouchet etc I would estimate at around 11,500m, probably less. Was absolutely dead when I got home; really wanted to go to the pub but just stared at the living room wall for two hours instead 
Have taken a photo of the ticket office printout to prove the times but every time I try to load it in the media zone I get:
Error creating thumbnail! Error code: 11
Command:
"/usr/bin/mogrify" +profile "*" -size 100x75 -quality 80 -geometry 100x75 -unsharp 10 '/home/snowmedi/public_html/the_zone/data/500/thumbs/Escapade_2012_Printout.jpg'
If anyone knows what that means and how to fix it I'll be happy to post the printout.
Have successfully uploaded a map of the route in the media zone here: https://snowheads.com/the_zone/showphoto.php/data/500/medium/3V_Escapade_Piste_Map_2012.jpg
These are the actual entry times to each lift from the printout:
Entry Lift
9.30 La Tania
9.38 Dou des Lanches
9.48 Biollay
9.58 Vizelle
10.11 Dent de Burgin
10.23 Golf
10.35 Plan de l'Homme
10.44 Olympic
10.59 St Martin 1
11.08 St Martin 2
11.20 Roc de Tougne
11.28 Granges
11.40 Becca
11.50 Montaulever
12.01 Peclet
12.19 Moraine
12.30 Col
12.42 Portette
12.53 Grand Fond
13.06 Peyron
13.19 Bouchet
13.36 Rosael
13.56 Plan de l'Eau
14.13 La Masse 1
14.23 La Masse 2
14.42 Doron
14.49 Mont de la Chambre
15.07 Mures Rouges
15.12 Plan des Mains
15.21 Pas du Lac 1+2
15.38 Roc Mugnier
15.46 Chapelets
15.57 Gravelles
16.11 Tovets
16.18 Plantrey
So to answer sean1967's original query, yes it can be done in one day.
And if anyone can beat my time you:
a) get my total respect
b) have found a better (shorter) route which gets even more respect 'cause I like to delude myself I'm the 3V oracle
c) should be applying to snowsports uk for sponsorship
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Raceplate, well done. I bet you were cursing every minute on Peyron & Bouchet as they seem soo.. slo..ow, there's 1/2 hour in doing just those two lifts.
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Can't wait to give this a go. Sat in Liverpool airport just waiting to get out there!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| stevew wrote: |
| Raceplate, well done. I bet you were cursing every minute on Peyron & Bouchet as they seem soo.. slo..ow, there's 1/2 hour in doing just those two lifts. |
Ha ha, yes! Slow and cold. Although the rest is welcome; on both attempts it has been the run down from Bouchet to Rosael when my legs have first started to groan.
Ricklovesthepowder - Good luck.
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hi guys,
just trying to get a definitive list of the lifts as getting contrasting messages from the various maps i have looked at, realise it has cha
From looking on the online map on 3vallees.com i got 15. But are there actually 18? the ones that some of you have listed in bold?
Knowing the 3 valleys well, i think it is doable in a day, but want to get a plan together now,
Also is it simply a case of getting on the lifts and then its all logged on you lift pass?
Any help would be appreciated. sorry if obvious questions 
cheers
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| srwmedd wrote: |
hi guys,
just trying to get a definitive list of the lifts as getting contrasting messages from the various maps i have looked at, realise it has cha
From looking on the online map on 3vallees.com i got 15. But are there actually 18? the ones that some of you have listed in bold?
Knowing the 3 valleys well, i think it is doable in a day, but want to get a plan together now,
Also is it simply a case of getting on the lifts and then its all logged on you lift pass?
Any help would be appreciated. sorry if obvious questions
cheers |
These days the record of the lifts you have travelled is logged by the skipass system computer.
Upon completion of the Escapade you take your skipass to any of the larger skipass offices and they check it on their computer. If you have travelled on all the 'Escapade' lifts within a week they give you a certificate with your name on. A snazzy Escapade badge is also available to purchase (7 Euros the last time I got one). There is no special award for those that complete the Escapade in a single day. I presume the authorities do not want to encourage people to try to ski beyond their abilities.
Before the automatic liftpass system was complete, Escapaders needed to get a special leaflet physically stamped at each of the relevant lifts by the lift staff - This was time consuming and made the completion of the Escapade in a single day much more difficult.
Over the past couple of seasons the number of Escapade 'points' was reduced for some reason. For 2011/2012 the number has been returned to the original 18 points.
I'm sure that hundreds of skiers have completed the Escapade in single day and many of those are recorded on internet pages.
Raceplate did exceptionally well to complete 17 of the 18 points in 6 hours 48 minutes.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Mr Marmot wrote: |
Before the automatic liftpass system was complete, Escapaders needed to get a special leaflet physically stamped at each of the relevant lifts by the lift staff - This was time consuming and made the completion of the Escapade in a single day much more difficult. |
Actually it was a shaped cutter (a cross, triangle, star etc) hanging on a bit of string outside the liftie's hut.
| Mr Marmot wrote: |
Over the past couple of seasons the number of Escapade 'points' was reduced for some reason. For 2011/2012 the number has been returned to the original 18 points. |
The original Escapade was 14 points. See http://www.latania.co.uk/photos/2006/Escapade/Escapade.htm It has only ever been 18 points from this season.
| Mr Marmot wrote: |
Raceplate did exceptionally well to complete 17 of the 18 points in 6 hours 48 minutes. |
Thanks for the compliment but 17 of 18? I have a printout from Meribel ticket office confirming 18 points so what do you think I missed?
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Raceplate I apologise if you feel I was denigrating your effort. That wasn't my intention.
I remember the 'punching' system, but maybe I was too lazy to try and describe it. I thought that the term 'stamping' would suffice to make the point to srwmedd that it was a much slower process than the current on-line skipass system.
I accept that the current 18 waypoints is the highest number ever, if you say so. I just recollect doing the Escapade one time some years ago, and then doing again a couple of years later and noticing some waypoints had gone 'missing'! I do remember that the Roc De Tougne drag and the Col chair were two of the points that had been deleted and I did wonder why they had made it 'easier'! I just assumed, with the mention of both 14 and 18 points in this thread, that they had actually returned it to the original number for this season.
I also read someone else's post saying that one of the lifts was closed, as being your post. I now appreciate this was a mistake and that you have, in fact, recently completed ALL 18 points of the current Escapade in the exceptional time of 6 hours 48 minutes. Well done.
I would also commend completing The Escapade to all visitors to The Three Valleys as a great way of making sure you see a lot of the World's largest ski area, even if it takes a whole week to complete!
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You know it makes sense.
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I did the TVE 3 years ago (in the last 3 days of a trip - I only found about it on the 4th day). When I went to collect my certificate they said i'd missed one of the lifts, which I know I hadn't as I'd done it about 3 hours before. I told them so and they gave me the certificate but I felt it had cheapened it a little if their system couldn't corroborate it. I have the gps tracks to prove it so I know I wasn't going mad.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I did it this year, really enjoyed the runs in the 4th valley, and the drag lift you had to get in Meribel? was probably the steepest I’ve been on.
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Poster: A snowHead
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tried and failed this challenge last week. I think we had a massive difficulty from starting in Meribel as none of the lifts we could have knocked off as the first lift of the day should we have stayed in 1550 or La Tania. Also the fear of a hefty taxi fare back from VT was the main reason we didn't get into Orelle. We also missed Mures rouges on the way back into mottaret by 10 minutes. All of our group of 4 have been 3V seasonnaires so know the way around and we straightlined almost everything we could. Starting in Meribel over to 1650 then back through the low points of courch, over to meribel, st martin, les menuires, vt then back through mottaret to meribel.
The real killer is taking the slow lifts. Lifts like the La Masse 1 & 2, Montaulever, Moraine and Col, Orelle lifts, plan de l'eau will kill your times! We also attempted to ride every lift during the day rather than tapping in and not taking the lift up to the top like you could do with col, bouchet etc and this probably cost us 20 minutes on maybe 5 lifts each.
this would be impossible in the early season and late season the snow and crowds make things difficult! after the day we were knackered - 75+km skiing, 135+km distance travelled in total and 13000m vertical! Worth trying for the sense of achievement but it will make you feel like you haven't actually skied during the day just spent your whole day on agonisingly slow lifts!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I also tried and failed! Had a go two weeks ago. I got 17 out of 18 checkpoints staying in Val T but I think I would have actually needed another hour to have completed it because although I stopped just before the lifts closed, for the final point I needed to ski down from the top of the Furnitel Grand Fond the Orelle way and then take the very slow Peyron and Bouchet, ski down and then take the Rosael back to Val T.
A couple of things let me down. Lack of knowledge of the 3V meant one or two map stops which I had hoped to avoid except on chairs but sometimes the route or the top of the lift didn't look how I was expecting from the map. Also some of the lifts are REALLY slow. And it was mega slushy down low to Meribel and Saint Martin de Belleville so even though I was straight lining it I was slowing down. I also lost a bit of time with some lift queues although as I was on my own this wasn't as bad as it would have been with a group.
I also rode every lift rather than 'tapping in'. Don't see the point seeing as its a personal achievement type thing although there are several places where you would benefit from that.
I didn't think this was actually that much skiing - at about the 30 mile mark around lunchtime and La Tania I was knackered, but from then on it seemed like I mainly sat on lifts rather than doing much snowboarding. Ski Tracks says 50.3 miles snowboarding with another 34.4 ascent in 7h44.
Big and fun day out despite not finishing
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Actually, I should clarify that although I felt fine during and in the evening after my 3V escapade attempt - I did destroy my legs a little bit for the next two days! First run the next morning the instructor killed us with "the never ending lumpy icy traverse of excruciating leg pain" wasn't a highlight of the trip.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I was also in 3V last week, but didn't even bother to complete The Escapade again.
But now that it has more waypoint check-ins than when I have completed it in the past, it IS a new challenge that I will want to complete in the future.
Again, I will point out that the intention is NOT that it is completed in just one day. I must say that raceplate set an exceptional time for completion, but it is not a race. There is no special certificate for completing it in the fastest time, nor even in just one day.
I commend all 3V visitors to take up the Escapade challenge as just a way of enjoying most of all the four valleys making up The Three Valleys ski region. Ski at your own pace, enjoy your lunches, do the best runs more than once - who cares if it takes you all week!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We attempted this on Monday last week but the crowds of French half-term put paid to our plans. We left Meribel Village at 8.50 and were immediately scuppered when Altiport, directly above it wasn't open yet, wrecking our planned route of quickly ticking off Dents de Burgin on the way to Loze and then over to La Tania, etc. Big queues above Courchevel, particularly Biolley and Suisses further hampered things and the generally busy pistes slowed us right down.
Still we only missed Moraine/ Col and Peclet for fear of ending up trapped in VT. Lessons learnt - don't use Caron and Cime Caron, far too busy! Don't hit Courchevel just as everyone there is making their way up the mountain. Think we'll pinch Raceplate's route for next year, starting at Golf, and see how we get on. Don't mind coming up short on the Courch side as opposed to VT.
We nearly froze to death on Peyron and Bouchet as the wind whistled over the top into our faces and the lifts seemed, at times, to almost stop. Painful. A fun challenge and despite missing those 2 glaciers we still wracked up over 86kms door to door. Good day's skiing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was (perhaps sadly  ) really quite proud of getting my certificate in Jan. It took me rather longer than a day but then it was only 10 months after my first ski trip and I did enjoy my leisurely lunches and all the other fun stuff in between the required lifts.
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This is a long post, but it took us a long time to figure this out and maybe it will help someone else. I will try write a proper trip report for the week, but this is mainly about the 3 Valleys Escapade.
Me and Da Brother were in the La Tania, in the 3 Valleys week 23 Feb - 02 March, stayed with Snowretreat in the Chalet Bonne Etoile, where we raised the average age by about 5 years and the average weight by at least 10kg . If any of you guys are on here, just to say thanks a lot to Lisa and Katy, for a brilliant job hosting. Also thanks to Matt. And to Callum I hope you are feeling better ( I won't take the wee wee, as I think, you thought you did that yourself
We took lessons with ESF 9am-11:30am everyday (definitely another report). We wanted to try the Escapade over the remains of the days (combined with some lifts we hit with the instructor). The piste map really doesn't do justice to how big this area is and how unbelievably badly sign posted it is. So this is how we did it, with the lift names and run names, just some general hints as I remember them, and the getting lost omitted.
Legend:
Black, red, blue, green speak for themselves I hope
ESC: indicates a lift that is on the Escapade
And the other names in plain text are lifts we used to get around
Day 1
Snowing, and cold -18 we were told.
Finished lesson at the bottom in La Tania 11:30, had coffee in the Lodge and started planning (as someone stated on another post great place for lunch, that they were doing confit de canard euro10.50)
ESC: La Tania
Dou des Lanches
Col de la loze (blue)
Chenus (red)
Cut right on to Loze est (green)
Drag lift rocher de l'hombre or sources (it doen't matter)
Verdon (green)
ESC: Biollay
Biollay/Verdon (red)
ESC: Vizelle
Follow signs for Meribel (not Meribel Mottaret as we discovered) Nivorelle (red)quickly switch to Chamois (red) then quickly switch to Renard (red) then Renardeau (blue)
ESC: Dent de Burgin
Renard (red)
Blanchot (green)
Lapin (blue)
ESC:Golf
Foret (green) part of this is a across a rope pull
Doron (blue)
Roc de Fer
ESC: Olympic
Verdet (blue)
Biolley (blue)
ESC: St Martin 1
St Martin 2 (following this route we missed Jerusalem, maybe next time)
At this point we decided to head for home, we had no idea of the distances and times so on the way out we kept a eye on the last lift times. This is the route we selected and why.
Combe de Tongnete (red)
Lievre (blue)
Rhondos 1
Rhondos 2 (this always looked a really busy lift, but if you stuck to the sides it moved along nicely, as they say "Don't Panic")
Then ski across the green to the trees and you will see:
Loze
Then down
Dou des lanches (black) or
Lanches (red) (which can turn into a blue)
Into La Tania
The last lift on Loze is 5pm once you are on that you can definitely ski home, if anything goes wrong and you miss the last lift at Rhondos1/Rhondos2/or Loze it is an easy ski to Meribel Village and not a bank busting taxi ride to La Tania. Brave or rich we aren't.
Day 2
Clear blue skies, cold again -12. It was like this more or less for the rest of the week, some the best conditions I have ever skied.
Didn't ski down into La Tania at the end of the class, stopped at the top of the La Tania Gondola and had early lunch and planning in Bouc Blanc and planning.
Dou des Lanches
Pic Bleu (blue) (this is a great run and was very empty any time we were on it)
Across the green and back onto
Foret (green)
Doron (blue)
Tougnete 1
Tougnete 2
Dabu (red)
Martre (blue)
ESC: Roc de Tougne (when you are on this you button you will think this is dare devil stuff, later you will look back and laugh).
Teppes (red)
Granges
Allamands (the entrance to this was little tricky to find)
ESC: Becca
Combre (red)
Paturages (blue)
ESC: Montaulever (this button has a warning sign for not boarders or children and then just before you button up there is a sign indicating it is >50 degrees)
Time to head for home
Plan du bouquet (blue)
Sunny Express
Cross Combes-Becca-Allamands (reds) and get to Roc des 3 Marches 2
Mouflon (red)
Martre (blue) and down to Meribel Mottaret
Ski down Truite (green) to Rhondos 1 then same as the previous day
Or up
Pas du Lac 1 & 2 (from here I would go down)
Pylones (black) rather than Saulire (red)
Petit lac (blue)
Chenus
Lanches (red) to La Tania
Day 3
Another clear blue sky day and cold again
With the class we skied 1650 and Chanrossa.
Which gave us:
ESC: Chapelets
This a great ski area the run Signal (blue) is good and the 2 off piste canyons beside it are really cool (see how high up the walls you can get) I have to admit I only did one canyon, but the following exchange with our instructor was worth it:
Instructor: "Your brother, he is very brave"
Me: "or stupid"
Instructor: "Yes, Yes, or very stupid"
Left the class at the top of La Tania Gondola. We decided on very easy afternoon due to a earlier incident involving a torn cruciate ligament, low din settings and gross over confidence, on my behalf in a carving turn and my ability to perform it. I can't imagine how anything could have gone wrong.
So we skied to 1850 and on down to 1550, on the widest piste I have ever been on.
Trovets (blue)
ESC: Trovets (strangely this lift leaves you a bit of a trek uphill to 1850) so
Follow signs to Plantrey down green
Plantrey
Loze (red)
Verdons and home to La Tania
Day 4
Another clear blue sky day and cold again we really were blessed, but there were somethings we weren't expecting.
We knew we would have problems with time so we decided to start substituting deciveness for knowledge when picking a route.
As usual didn't ski down into La Tania at the end of the class, stopped at the top of the Chenus.
Col de la loze
Pic Bleu (blue)
Foret (green) (along the tow rope)
Duron
Tougnette 1 & 2
Gros Tougne (blue)
Granges
Lunch in Roc des 3 Marche mentioned in a different post
Plattieres (blue)
Bouvreuil (red)
ESC: Mures Rouges
Plan des Mains
Boureuil (blue)
Cote Brune
Plein Sud (blue) (follow signs for Val Thorens stay on the left you need to be high up in the valley)
ESC: Funitel Peclet (we now decided it was time to head for home) (the queue for this lift, 15 minutes, was the slipiest floor I have ever come across).
Beranger (red) (this is one of the nicest runs I have ever been on)
Goulet (red)
Ski all the way down the valley to Menuires. At the end of the day these lifts are all busy we found Croisette (a strange sort of open barrel thing, has to be tried, but not if you have agoraphobia or vertigo)
Walk through the tunnel (or claustrophobia for that matter)
Roc des 3 marches 1 & 2 then the usual route home
Day 5
Beautiful day, cold but windy
The usual, after class got from La Tania to ValThorens
Cascades
2 combes (green)
ESC: Morraine
ESC: Col (these are 2 amazing lifts and in high winds are alarming)
Col (red) (this is a stunning run with the glacier exposed beside you)
Moraine (blue)
Down the valley to Les Menuires
ESC: Masse 1 & 2
Fred Covili (red)
Longet (red)
Vallons (blue)
Croisette
And home
Day 6
Another great day, still cold, and windy again, but if nothing else at lest the end of this post is in sight.
As usual didn't ski down into La Tania at the end of the class, made our way to Val Thorens.
Moutiere
Grand Fond
(a 33 man standing gondola, it was swinging in the wind, as da brother pointed out, "at least we know we will be skiing down, because I am not getting back into this" ) we could barely walk, it was so windy.
Mauriennaise (red)
Peyron
ESC:Bouchet
Coraia (red)
Bouchet (red)
Peyron (blue)
Rosael
Falaise (red)
Linotte (blue)
Hermine (blue)
Bd Cummin (blue)
Plan de l'eau
Plan de l'eau (red)
And home by the usual method.
Wakkitt
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Hi
My Dad, Bro and I completed the Escapade this year over the week staying in La Tania. Would be interested in next year trying to complete it in a day. Has anyone done it starting in Meribel Village?
thanks,
Ahsh
Last edited by After all it is free  on Sun 10-11-13 22:08; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'll be working on a route from Meribel village for our attempt this year. I
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| ahshframpton wrote: |
Hi
My Dad, Bro and I completed the Escapade this year over the week staying in La Tania. Would be interested in next year trying to complete it in a day. Has anyone done it starting in Meribel Village?
thanks,
Ahsh |
Yes it can, I have done it the past two seasons while I worked there.
Just work the route out and get out at first lifts.
Oh and bring a packed lunch.
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