 Poster: A snowHead
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@olderscot, driving up to top of verdons and walking/skinning from there most probably...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Yep.
Sadly the rot had already set in with the zip wire over the valley, though you could almost ignore it once you were lower. Unfortunately a piste down there removes a lot of the interest from going in there, particularly the classic Col Pierre Lory entrance which gave a great mellow off piste run with a feel of being well away from it all - will hardly be worth the traverse/sidestep if you rejoin the piste a few hundred metres below the col.
Progress, apparently...
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@offpisteskiing, yeah, you're spot on there. A great exploration for a chilled 'adventure'. I wonder if the word on the street is right - no Lory run till next season??
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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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@Diverskify, I certainly hope so!
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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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I see from the 3v piste map posted above that there has also been a change to Le Bettex chair in Les Menuires. It now goes all the way up to join La Violette just at the point it splits rather than only going to Le Hameau des Airelles as before. Does anyone know if this is a new chair or have they just changed the route and used the original Le Bettex world's slowest chair lift equipment?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@weedram, It's a 'new' chair - a 4 man, not the old one. It's actually the chair they've just replaced out of St-Martin, repurposed to replace the old Bettex chair. Rather clever upgrades - 2 improvements for the cost of one new lift (plus fitting/installation of both).
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Thanks fixx
That's good news indeed. I assume from your message that St Martin 2 has been replaced by a newer, faster chair? If so that is also good news as St Martin 2 can become a bit of a bottleneck at busy times.
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@weedram, yep - update from the site above is:
"St Martin Express
The new St Martin Express 6 seater chair - hopefully removing one of the last bottlenecks in The 3 Valleys and meaning an extra drink down in St Martin de Belleville." - referring to the old St Martin 2.
Really useful improvements!
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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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@emwmarine, So anyone can just drive up to Saulire in a 4x4? Are you sure about that? I would have thought some of the most valuable skiing land in the world would have some sort of protection i.e. possible crashing into a very expensive lift.
Aren't they tracks more likely to be local workers?
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I got the old st martin chair last year, I was glad that it was a sunny day and warm 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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thank you petit martin....
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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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thank you petit martin....
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2 weeks booked, first week in Jan and Easter week to La Tania 
Now where's that snow, don't want a repeat of Christmas last season...
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You know it makes sense.
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Had a fantastic week in La Tania last year - first week of March.
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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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| Dr John wrote: |
@emwmarine, So anyone can just drive up to Saulire in a 4x4? Are you sure about that? I would have thought some of the most valuable skiing land in the world would have some sort of protection i.e. possible crashing into a very expensive lift.
Aren't they tracks more likely to be local workers? |
Don't know about to the Saulire but lots of what are pistes in the winter are actually minor roads or tracks. In the summer and autumn i've driven up quite high to then have a bit of a walk and nobody as ever said a word. Imagine the biggest danger to the lifts would be the cows rubbing their back bottoms on them.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Lory will be open this year
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| alti - dude wrote: |
| Lory will be open this year |
Pity 
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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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Yes, I'm with you there @Raceplate. I would love to know the thinking that lies behind the Lory piste. They already have the biggest ski area in the world, so how does it help to put loads of skiers into the remote valley which was formerly only accessible by a traverse and half hour walk, during which at times I briefly wondered if the slope above was going to slide? 🙁
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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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Think the reality is that these high ski areas will become more popular (ie crowded) as time goes but so they will expand ski areas. Lift systems more sophisticated so shift more people so need more ski areas . . . . all progress responding to the consumers wanting cheaper and better skiing.
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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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| alti - dude wrote: |
| Think the reality is that these high ski areas will become more popular (ie crowded) as time goes but so they will expand ski areas. Lift systems more sophisticated so shift more people so need more ski areas . . . . all progress responding to the consumers wanting cheaper and better skiing. |
Completely agree - ski resorts are a business like any other with the same pressures to make more money, and get bigger and better. Every year Val Thorens seem to be building more and more hotels and accomodation, to attract more people and to satisfy those additional visitors they need to improve the lifts, expand the ski areas and generally look like they're adding new things each year (i.e. the new fun slope, igloo on top of the hotel etc etc).
There's also been talk of them looking to open up the Borgne area above the Folie Douce, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's next on their list.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying the above is good or right in any way, it's just what I think they're trying to 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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If global warming, or climate change, is to believed then the natural consequence is going to be a focus on the higher resorts for skiing.
A sample size of 1 is clearly completely unrepresentative but I do find that queries for our appartment in Val Thorens jump when snow is poor or forecast to be poor generally in the Alps. I guess the one thing that you really want in a skiing holiday is snow on the pistes.
Mind you, and my memory for the dates isn't good here but i'm sure as a teenager there were some years (70s?) where there were brown fields across nearly all of the alps for a few years.
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@snowbistro, yes but not sure about Christine,whilst nice I think both main runs off Peclet are under rated. If replacing I'd go for Roseal (sp), Plumevontire (sp) or the run from the top of Boismint down to Blvd Cumin
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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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A bit whiter above 1900m in the 3vs today
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Done 1, 4, 5 will get the others ticked off in Jan 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Done all 5, but I would add a couple more -the Boismint/plan de l'eau red in VT, and Choucas in Meribel first thing in the morning. 
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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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I've done 1,2 & 3 - I agree, not sure about Christine being on the list. And as much as I love Combe de Vallon, I don't tend to do it too often as it feeds into the dreadful flat Ours run!
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As above , Ours is such a pain in the proverbial.
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You know it makes sense.
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Done all 5.
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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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@blahblahblah, @Handy Turnip, You don't need to do it - just loop back on Mures Rouge
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Poster: A snowHead
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@alti - dude, I know that now, but not on the day I did it.
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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 always like looking to see when they start switching on the snow canons in Val Thorens. The resort opens on 21st November and they like to have about 5 solid days build up of snow piled up below the snow canons before the start of the season and they tend to then spread it around the pistes just a couple of days before the open.
Most of the snow at the moment above 2600 is metres is likely to hang around.
I imagine the first time from now where it looks like a settled period of coolish temperatures will see them switched on. It looks too warm for the next week or so.
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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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I did 1, 3 and 4, but out of those I would only include #1 in that list. Based off Val Thorens, it can be tricky to reach the other two. I hope to give at least Jerusalem a go this year
But... what were they thinking? They missed some absolute jewels:
1. Combe de Rosaël - just off the back of Cime Caron. It's about 1km vertical, pretty steep, most of it black. You traverse a quiet ridge with massive rock formations like these. If the slope is unprepared and bumpy, it will catch you out of breath soon.
2. Grand Couloir - just to the left coming out of the Saulire cable car. The entry looks a little bit insane, but with good snow cover it's doable. It has a feeling of off-piste at times because it's so quiet and away from the regular runs.
4. Glacier - stretching above the Funitel Peclet. It's a slow, small chairlift to a steep, short black section. Every time I get to the bottom, I want another go.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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So with just under 2 weeks till Val Thorens opens, and temperatures up around 9C and the freezing level at nearly 4000m for the coming week at least. So at what point do the resort get a bit jittery?
The resort looks barren, and the temperatures are surely too high to get the snow cannons going?
I'm not worried personally (I'm not in the 3V till March), just curious!
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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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The first week it's mainly weekend visitors to Val Thorens. Usually, they start the snow cannons about a week before opening so I imagine they will be very jittery about the opening.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Was it last year or the year before when they delayed to opening of Val T for a week or so? The pattern over the last couple of years seems to be later arriving snow, but then snow further into the season
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Only 11 days till Val Thorens opens for the season.
Here's how it was looking at lunchtime today...
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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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Oh dear 
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Not feeling so confident about booming a week at Christmas now
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FAQ
