 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@stewart woodward, Take him to the pub on Friday and give him his first hangover!!!
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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All a bit windy today and it blew quite warm thanks to the Foehn effect. So, initially the thought was to head east to le Fornet - they had more new snow last night we had very little. However it soon became apparent that the wind was going to scupper those plans - neither glacier opened all day (unless you count the bit below the Funi). So we decided Brev would be a good idea - it had not frozen down there last night so the skiing was easy. Having taken a shufty up Sache we gave that a go as the moguls were large but soft. the top was great if a bit busy - with the exception of some folk who shouldn't have been there at all. We were taking bets as to whether one couple would make it back for afternoon tea or dinner  Top tip - that's why the paint the piste markers black - its a tricky run. By then half the resort was following our plan - the queue for the Brev Bubble was long so back to the old slow favourite chair to Boisses and its underused bubble.
This gave us a chance for a last look at the old village, EDF have now started work on Phase 3 (and last I think) of the modernisation of the system all the way to Bourg. As these procedures require the system to be water free they have now 'put the plug in' to the Dam, keeping the pipes downstream dry and allowing the Lac du Chevril to fill up through the summer so it will be good to go for the autumn when the power is needed and all the works are finished. So I expect the crane on the dam to disappear shortly. So I suspect that the old village will now not be reappearing for sometime - so if you want a look - be quick.
Back to the skiing - after a quick lunch at the Jam Bar and a meet up with another friend from Val it was a charge around the pistes - trying to avoid the easterly facing ones as the wind was swill strong. Now back for tea and medals before heading to the Queue de Cochon tonight - yummee.
Spring will return tomorrow and Thursday - some high clouds but little wind and somewhat warmer than today. Friday may see some showers late on but the morning will be darker than normal due to the eclipse, after that it looks unsettled but confidence is not high so I'll say little more than enjoy the next 2 days - but beware of the avalanche risk towards Le Fornet - there are a lot of traps out there.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Cool sounds awesome, let us know more detail when you have rested 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yip - a glorious spring day on piste. Met up with some friends out from GOC and hard a good charge round the resort. As you would expect some pistes are hard in the morning and then turning soft (not quite slush yet) and then crisping up in the evening. Still very few stones or bare patches on piste so all in all good from top to bottom. The La Daille bubble did seem to stop for a long time after lunch at the Rosée Blanche - its not appeared in the paper so I assume they got the old gal started again.
As for the weather - it will be quite dark in the morning thanks to the eclipse but the sun should then reappear with a few clouds lurking around. Saturday will start with sunny periods and then light snow late on and into Sunday. But the Surface Pressure chart is a mess from Sat lunchtime onwards - so frankly almost anything could happen so next week looks mixed. The isobars on the latest chart are also showing to be quite close but the forecasts don't seem to be mentioning any strong winds - but I would not be surprised if they pop up!
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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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heading out tomorrow for a week, should i be bringing my fat skis or just my thin ones?
also is anyone watching the rugby in tignes tomorrow ?
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You know it makes sense.
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@chocksaway, cheers, are you based in tignes or val? how confident are you with the weather, i would like to see some sun for change! 
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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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@ajc2260626, There have been several gloriously sunny weeks in the EK this season but I don't think next week is going to be another one of them.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@chocksaway, saw a little of the eclipse skiing through meribel but again low light levels hindered the full effect. The pole in the foreground adds to the effect 
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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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| chocksaway wrote: |
| This week in Tignes: The Brits and European Snow Pride Week. |
Also the British Ski Championships on the Longon Stade in Val Claret.
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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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@stewart woodward, And their stroppy parents??
Cloudy this morning expecting light snow shortly - might be an early lunch. The airport forecasters have changed their tune overnight - it is now misty down the valley. The actual reports show that this shouldn't be a problem at Lyon and Grenoble but it could well be a problem at Chambery - I wouldn't be surprised if there is a little sitting on the ground in the UK while it improves.
@ajc2260626, I'll give you a clue - I went to a comprehensive! The weather is definitely going to be unsettled - there will be the odd sunny period - on the other hand there will be quite a bit of snow up here. Resorts and pistes below 1700m may well be a different story.
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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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Heading out to Le Lac on the 28th with a mate. He's looking to get a private snowboard lesson or two. Any recommendations of companies or independent instructors?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Dibergio,
W/C will be busy due to French, English & Belgium holidays. best to pre book if you can.
ESF private lesson prices; €74 for 1.5 hrs 12.15-13.45, €182 for 3 hrs 09.00-12.00 This price is for the instructor so you can split the cost if there is more than 1 person.
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This morning was quite bright with a rapid deterioration after lunch - had a 2 hour charge round and most areas were good to soft to use the horse racing parlance! Even at the top of the Col De Ves - about 2700m was soft at 11am - a result of warm temps overnight. It started snowing (ish) at 1430 and has been light or moderate since this will continue through the night - hopefully it will cool down. The snow is wet in the village and is nowhere near settling on the roads yet - I suspect it will be rain down at Brev. We are also sat in a cloud so its all a bit miserable!
The weather professionals are disagreeing at the moment over the forecast - its going to be a very mixed week but as a general stab tomorrow will start with light snow and then we may see the sun in the afternoon, it may also be breezy on high. Monday looks like being the best day with sunny periods, Tuesday it will start OK and then cloud over and the snow will start later. The snow will continue Wed and Thu and potentially it could be quite heavy - with a snow line down at 1600m - her's hoping
Flying tomorrow should be fine from the UK - there is quite thick mist forecast around Lyon and Grenoble but not too thick to affect flying. Currently it is not forecast to be misty at Chambery - but if it drifts up there, there could be delays/diversions like this morning - I hope Tigski's No 1 daughter enjoyed her mystery tour of the regions airports this morning!
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A grizzly night - but at least it turned to snow down the valley. It was still snowing gently early doors - but overall we can only claim 5-15cm of fresh depending on how high you go. It cleared up but a cold wind started to develop which eventually shut the top lifts on both glaciers. I had a late start and then met a friend down in Brev - where it was only just warm enough to sit outside with a coffee - jacket firmly done up. The snow on the way down was soft, if it freezes tonight I suspect it will be hard as rock in the morning. Just the odd stone starting to poke its way through on piste lower down and on the south facing slopes. Above 2300m the pistes are still in great nick.
Oh - if you notice a slight whiff on a chairlift it may be someone from Val living in a chalet. There is evidently a machine that sends a beep down the electricity supply wires to automatically switch the tariff to a cheaper night one. If this beep is not received then the tariff does not 'kick in' and hot water systems have not been operating. Anyway the machine that goes beep isn't! So lots of people have been facing cold showers.
The weather - tomorrow will be the nicest day of the week (probably). Sun with some fluffy clouds. It will gradually cool down during the week and the weather will deteriorate through Tuesday with light snow in the afternoon and Wed should be snowy. After that the charts get jolly complicated - but expect showers and sun through Thursday - after that all bets are off but (and its a BIG but) the weekend could be very stormy and snowy. There appears to be a battle between a warm air mass to the south east and a cooler one to the north west - standby for further news.
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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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Had an absolutely AWESOME week, one of the best ever. Great conditions all week and everything open. Even managed to do Piste L which I've never done before as it's always been shut. Sache was fabulous, we had the whole top section to ourselves! Face was great all week as well, no ice at all. The runs on both glaciers were excellent too. I am useless at off piste, I need some lessons.
As for apres, it's better than ever!
Loved the Cocorico, fantastic place. Everyone on the tables singing with a great view of La Face.
Mike and Ritchie were brilliant at the Moris, as always. Got everyone dancing and singing.
Only went to the Folie once, I think it's lost it a bit. It feels too enclosed now with the VIP area covered over and that big stupid tower they've built. The music wasn't as good either. Still, you have to go there just because it's there.
We went to see Ed from Mullitt at the Pacific Bar one night, that was great fun, and England v France at Le Coin yesterday was excellent - lots of friendly ribbing going on. Went to the Petit Danois another night, I'm less keen on that place. The bar staff are really rude and the music's s**t.
Oh, and what's happened to Cafe Face? Went in there and it had been taken over by Crystal for a quiz night, WTF? It was dead in there.
I love Val d'Isere and the EK, I really think it's the best ski resort in the world, it's got everything.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Had a great week in Tignes last week. Alot of miles covered. Great resort. Stayed with ski val in Chalet hotel Alpaka Tignes. Although accomodation was perhaps dated, comfortable beds, lots of hot water, great public bar, excellent food and about 200 yards from toviere bubble so overall recommended. Highlights were the red run of the Lanches chair in Val Claret, the black run off hte top of Tignes glacier and OK and Orange in La Daile. Surprised at how reasonable food was around Tignes in terms of eating at the restaurants that are close to the pistes in Val Claret. A very good week even if we only got 10% of the promised snow
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You know it makes sense.
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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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is Ste Foy east of you ? lol...clinging to hope. Track could change i guess.
if end of week is that warm, i think we ll be coming up to Tignes to ski....get a bit higher
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We just finished a week in ste foy last Saturday and the pistes were immaculate, they had started midweek to pull out some snow stashes in the mid area to keep the slalom run covered at the bottom but other than that everywhere was really good, but getting very soft on home runs by midday. All slopes were refreezing by about 19:00hr so they were able to get it all corduroy again each night, think it's a bit north of Ek.
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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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Funny old day again! We woke up in the gloom, but a quick check of the webcams told us the sun was not far away. The cloud around Le Lac then cleared up a bit and let the cat out of the bag which meant the Glacier was very busy. There was a few cm of new snow up there - enough to make some pretty lines for a camera but not enough to call it freshtracks! Evidently, there was more snow up in Le Fornet (again) but was quite heavy in consistency. The clouds kept Val in cloud all day and they have now reappeared in Le Lac - and some of them are very thick. The inmates at Chez Chocks have just returned and said they were skiing from pole to pole around the Folie and parents were screaming for lost kids
Not sure what they were delivering but one of the local helos was delivering underslung loads up to the glacier - he was flying aggressively and suspect one or two people might have had a shock or two as big bags of something flew towards them.
Never start with an apology - right? Well sorry the weather situation is incredibly messy, we may get a bit of snow overnight and early tomorrow and then it will clear up - but it will be windy at height. Saturday will start sunny be quite windy and then cloud over and deteriorate overnight. Sunday looks quite snowy - and it appears to be coming much close to us than yesterday - as its from the North @stefoy4me, that 10km between us and you could make quite a difference but the rain snow level will be close to 2000m, same on Monday. There then follows a battle of warm air to the south and cooler air to the north with differing weather - but frankly I would have to borrow Mystic Megs kit to try and forecast which way its going to go. The Jetstream does seem to be working north very slowly so I suspect spring may not be that far away.....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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chocks....should be ok down in SF.............just about!!!
France
The rest of today (Friday) will see cloud gradually breaking up across the northern Alps to allow some decent spells of sunshine. The southern Alps will be generally clearer. Freezing levels will be between 1400 and 1700m.
Saturday should be mostly dry, but cloud will thicken across the northern Alps with a little rain possible in the far north later (snow 1800m).
Sunday will be mostly cloudy with rain or snow (1500-1700m), becoming heavy in the northern Alps later in the day. The far southern Alps should remain dry with variable cloud.
Monday will see further heavy rain/snow (1500m) in the north, dying out later.
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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'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A glorious morning - but the sentinels of doom could already be seen on the horizon - the clouds approaching from the north-west. We set off for Le Fornet on mostly great pistes - as the morning progressed the wind started to pick up so I elected to come home and as I came down Trolles the sun disappeared - I was only about 30 secs from the bottom  . The deterioration has continued and it has just started snowing....
Again the weather is complicated and forecasting the timing of the various fronts is going to be difficult. Tomorrow is going to be windy -a feature of the next few days - at times there will be gale force winds in the week - especially Monday and Tuesday. There will be light snow initially in the morning and then it will be heavy through the night. Monday there may be sunny spells - but it will all be irrelevant if the wind is as high as forecast. After that there will be more snow, more sunny spells and wind - but to give the timing would involve invoking the God's and the sacrificing of many virgins. The snow line will also be moving up and down in the showers - it will be mostly snow up here in Le Lac but we may see some rain showers - if you are lower than 1800m expect a lot more rain......
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@red 27, Ta! I forgot the airport weather - UK showery and very windy - fasten your seatbelts tightly. Over here - just wet (but hopefully it will be all nice and white up here )
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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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@chocksaway, yes - these late season stroms are when Tignes comes into its own 
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My place has looked like Widow Twankey's laundry all day - the last mates of the season have departed! The weather was actually better this morning and the GM was actually in sunshine - but I had a day of rest to watch cars going round in circles. It started snowing around lunchtime - but it has not settled on the balconies yet so I suspect that the rain snow line is not that far down the hill. However I suspect we are in for 20-40cm over the next two days - its going to be damp snow so that compacts a lot easier.
Sad news today that one of the elder statesmen of the village André Baudin has died at 87 - he spent 20 years as Mayor in two stints so I expect there will be a big send off later in the week. He was the founding father of the Hotel Aiguille Percée - now a Mark Warner hotel
The weather remains tricky - tomorrow will be very windy and snowy - with the rain snow line at about 1800m - I doubt whether much will be open. The bad news is Tuesday will be worse with gusts in Brev of over 100kph - but the rain snow line will drop in the evening - but that may well be too late for the very low resorts, the toxic combination of rain, warm temps over the next 2 days and the wind will play havoc with the snowpack below 1600m. Wednesday and Thursday will seen sunny periods and remain cooler and the wind should calm down a bit. After that it's astrology I'm afraid.
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FAQ
Getting my slalom skis serviced so I can hopefully get round the gates quicker 
