 Poster: A snowHead
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STILL SNOWING .... another 10-15cm here in town overnight! No sign of it stopping just yet a while.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Steve Angus wrote: |
| STILL SNOWING .... another 10-15cm here in town overnight! No sign of it stopping just yet a while. |
And STILL it comes down. About 40cm since last night? Awesome day's skiing.
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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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JUST INCREDIBLE
This amazing start to the season continues apace!
So there had been about 10-15cm overnight in town and I swear it must have snowed the same amount again this morning and then the same amount again this afternoon - so another 30-40cm in the last 24 hours for sure..... looks like it is FINALLY clearing up out there.
The av risk went up to 4 today.
I had a lovely group of four adults this morning and they coped really well in some pretty awful weather it has to be said.... we rode the new Fontaine Froid lift a few times - it is SO quick and efficient and since it drops right by the top of the Olympic it will be very useful for teaching!
After lunch I took the 6 children of the two couples I had had in the morning out...... the kids ages ranged from 15 - 21 (mostly 18/19) and as you can imagine at that age there was little hanging around and they certainly did not want to hear me 'teach' to them....... alternative 'games' and competitions gets the message across as to how they need to improve their skiing. They did well and loved some of the tricks I taught them...... I definitely have them onside now as they are booked to spend a whole 7 hours day with me on Friday when I shall take them off piste and do things like the Vallee Perdue with them!
The weather really moved in this pm even though down at valley level it seemed nice and gentle the winds at the top were brutal.... so much so that when we got to the top of the Funi for our last run down Le Face into town we quite literally got blown back down the tunnel and just at that moment I saw Fab (the friendly pisteur) indicating that they had just closed the top of the mountain and ALL the lifts one by one had gone shut down...... when we got back to the bottom of the funi there were HUNDREDS of people queuing for buses back to Tignes and also back into town....... CRAZY!
This wind will not be good for the snow and stability up there! In fact there was a small slide across the road to Fornet this evening and pedestrians are not allowed to walk to Le Fornet! The road into Tignes is shut at the moment for avalanche clearance for a couple of hours and they are planning to heli bomb the slopes above the road into Val from the damn tomorrow morning at 9.30am which will require a 1 hour closure.
The view from the front of bus back into town this morning from La Daille - it only got worse after this. (NB Hope they sort the legal dispute over that ugly building on the left out this Summer and finally either knock it down or complete it).
I may (or may not) be late with my update tomorrow as tomorrow is Clares Eurotest day...... fingers crossed for it!!!!!!! I could be out celebrating from a very early hour - who knows!
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Steve Angus, looks very dramatic but it'll make for some awesome skiing when it calms down 
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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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Steve Angus, Good luck to Clare. Thanks for the great reports.
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Steve Angus, very best of luck to Clare!
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Steve Angus, Wishing Clare the best of luck!
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| Quote: |
when we got to the top of the Funi for our last run down Le Face into town we quite literally got blown back down the tunnel and just at that moment I saw Fab (the friendly pisteur) indicating that they had just closed the top of the mountain and ALL the lifts one by one had gone shut down...... when we got back to the bottom of the funi there were HUNDREDS of people queuing for buses back to Tignes and also back into town....... CRAZY!
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who says there's no such thing as too much snow? Very good luck to Clare. 
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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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SHE PASSED..... off to celebrate double quick time...... she killed it by over 2 seconds I think - don't know exact times! Don't suppose will be posting my daily until tomorrow.....sorry!
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Steve Angus, Great result - well done Clare.
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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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What great news. Made my day - and she didn't just scrape it, did she? Enjoy the celebrations; richly deserved.
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Memo to Self - Never ski with Clare!
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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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Steve Angus, Well done her
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Poster: A snowHead
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Steve Angus, Congratulations to Clare!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well done Clare! Lets hope Steve has a few demi's and posts an update later tonight 
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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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Steve Angus, brilliant news! Many congratulations to her! Have a great evening.
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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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Well done!
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Brilliant news Steve.... well done Claire!!!
Right. Now get pished
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Steve Angus, brilliant news , not a bad year, tv star and married on top of eurotest wow, what comes next year
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Congrats to Clare!
I've been looking out for that uniform Steve but haven't spotted you yet haha
Last edited by After all it is free  on Thu 20-12-12 16:56; 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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Congrats to Clare
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THANKS EVERYONE for your congrats towards Clare - she is CHUFFED as you can imagine. Thanks also for bearing with me as it has been a roller-coaster ride of 24 hours!
So yea quite an amazing 24 hours and year in total as Curtains said..... engaged, married, tv, Level 4 tech and Eurotest for Clare, the Olympics, finishing the school teacher stuff....... etc etc.!!!!!!!!
So yea about 11.30 yesterday morning I got the message through that she had passed. 2.7 seconds she got it by... almost got the boys time.... and it was not the cleanest run she tells me. It was a busy day as Tuesdays test had been cancelled because of bad weather so they had to run two tests yesterday.
Word spreads pretty quickly around a ski resort when one of its own gets the test! Lunchtime was a buzz as text messages and phone calls bounced around from person to person and between the UK and France, family and friends etc.
All those MONTHS AND MONTHS of work in the gym, eating very healthily and 5 weeks of race training (this Autumn alone), no alcohol since the wedding as well as all the other training / experience from previous years and tests was all worth it.
My afternoon lesson I could hardly contain my excitement (I new Clare would not be back til at least 5 as it would take 3 hours from Alpe d'Huez back to Val) and I could not wait to go out and party! Anyway the afternoon lesson was great fun.
The sun had been shining all day yesterday which made it just a perfect day all round....
 - one happy camper
 - Sian (Clares training partner who also got it) and Clare celebrate!
 - after the heavy snow and the first bluebird day in a while the anticipation to get skiing in Val yesterday morning was massive for people....... it was BUSY to get up the Solaise / Bellevarde first thing.
So last night was a lot of drinking, celebrating and congratulating all round..... champagne anyone! Not really sure what happened apart from a very empty wallet this morning - ha ha!
So this morning it was back to grey skies and MORE SNOW.
I was teaching the same people as I had a couple of days ago this morning and we battled with the elements and they definitely made some great improvements....we gave up trying to work on carving as the light was just not good enough! Anyway the Arcelle was in fine form for working on short turns and we looped around and around!
After a carb filled lunch I (I won't lie) was quite happy to find out that my afternoon lesson had cancelled (injury) so I have been back home nursing Clares hangover and chilling out.
I had the greatest surprise of my life (well in a way) when there was a knock on the door this afternoon and (bearing in mind we are in a ski resort, its snowing outside) a couple of Jehovahs witnesses were outside................ well I never!!!!
So I should think it will be a nice and early night tonight and then tomorrow I am spending the day off piste with the 6 teenagers / guys in their early 20's group that I had the other day which should be a lot of fun. We shall have to see what the weather does etc but I have the Vallee Perdue, Tour de Charvet, Col Pers, Kern, Tongue of the (Tignes) Glacier in the planning.................... could be a fun day!
OK FOLKS ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND SUPPORT
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Steve Angus wrote: |
| ... there was a knock on the door this afternoon and (bearing in mind we are in a ski resort, its snowing outside) a couple of Jehovahs witnesses were outside |
 PMSL!
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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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rob@rar, Steve Angus, The JW's are out in force all over the place.
What with the end of the world being tomorrow an'all it's a good time to get folk to buy their ticket to Heaven's equivalent of the Euro-Millions
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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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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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Steve Angus, sounds like a busy day. I'm off to Gva in a couple of hours - hope sunday is a little quieter, but am not hugely optimistic! Enjoy your Christmas week; Clare can have a few more drinks now! My niece, who arrived on Friday night at 2330 (when the airport was apparently heaving) has a friend who just passed the eurotest last week on her fifth attempt. It's a huge achievement.
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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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| Steve Angus wrote: |
PHEW THATS THAT OVER....
This transfer is always the first shock to the system being the first mega-transfer day of the Winter season!
It was nice and clear on the roads (both the surface and the amount of traffic) as expected, all the way pretty much to Geneva. The queue to get across the border was quite long as they were doing random car drug checks etc but it all went smoothly really. I gave the car a massive clean in Bourg but as is always the case by the time I get to the airport it looks like it has not been cleaned for months - grrrrrrr!
Lovely sunrise and driving conditions.
By the time I got to Geneva it was CHAOS. The main outdoor car park (as I mentioned the other week) being closed meant that P26 and P31 parking were heaving and the queue to get in took about 30 minutes.... it did not help that there was a function on at the Arena so there were loads of people there for that!
Anyway I finally got in and found a slot.
Inside the terminal it was BUSY!!!!!
The incoming flight was delayed by 30 minutes but we hooked up finally............... when we got to the car I found that for some strange reason I could not open the box..... it was stuck shut....... the guests we have in this week are here for 2 weeks so it was tight squeeze, 3 of them and their luggage and skis for 2 weeks inside the car..... but we got there in the end - JUST!
The traffic on the way back was heavy so I took the back roads from just outside Moutiers.
All the time the weather was clouding over more and more and then the rain started and by the time we got to Bourg to do a short and smaller than normal food shop, it was snowing heavily!
Steve Angus,
When we emerged it was dark and chucking it down with snow..... it was going to be a hard climb up the hill.
As anticipated with lots of people who do not know the road, with it snowing heavily etc etc etc it took a long time to get up. Of course with our 4x4 and snow tyres the actual driving was easy but people with chains and driving at 2 miles and hour etc - it took a while.
Anyway we got there in the end.
It was straight back home and a quick change before our friends arrived for 'Strictly Finals evening!.' Clare had made fajitas for dinner so a few Christmassy glassed of champagne and good food with friends was a fitting end to the day.
It stopped snowing late last night and it is quite warm out there this morning but the sun is supposed to shine. I am due to be taking our chalet guests off piste this morning so better get going! |
Steve Anugs thanks for all the information sharing. I will be picking up my brother in Geneva and driving to Tignes on 12 Jan, so that I could hand him to the TDC instructor. I was first worried about my brother starting skiing, but now it is Geneva airport and road to Tignes that worries me most. Finding parking will be a disaster - can I park further from the airport and direct my brother by foot? Aslo, what would be the best road to take on a busy transfer day from Geneva to Tignes. I will be relying on my TomTom, but if there is a better way, I will introduce intermediate destinations so to follow the best possible route. Cheers.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is the savonnette drag lift in Val a good way to go to ski down to the main lifts, or is it better just to hoof it along the road? Thanks
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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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mooney058 - don't know who
is - ha ha. 'Hand him to the TDC instructor?' - who? 12th Jan is not too busy a day for travel since it is not peak season but the road will non-the-less be busy! You'll get parking easily if you come off at the airport slipway and head for 'P26' parking - it is by the 'Arena' centre and is easy to find as there are loads of signs.... just follow the signs - it is about 500 yards in a straight line from the terminal so not too far. From Geneva to Tignes..... route I take is NON motorway all the way.... so from Geneva Airport to Perly, over border, follow green signs (NOT blue signs (that is toll road) to Annecy) - ditto sam idea following signs to Alberville. When you get to Albertville giving 'back road' directions here on SH's will take hours so I am not gonna bother - just join the main dual carriageway - should not be too heavy that day! Good luck! PS It is 112 miles the route I just described - so you can see on SatNav the route!
Glenogle - coming from where? If there is a queue then it can take a few mins in which time you could have poled it over..... the Savonette drag lift is a novice lift so a) goes very slow with first timers and b) the queues can be quite big - everyone under the sun hates when people try and jump on half way if there are hangers free so don't do it. But it is quite a good way of gaining 50 yards in height to get to the Solaise Express etc. Personally i just pole it over below the ESF pen and up over the mound and down into the area at bottom Olympic.
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Thanks for the quick response. Our chalet is supposedly 80m from said lift, so was just passing the day by looking at the pistemap combined with google earth
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Scary! 
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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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[quote="Steve Angus"]mooney058 - don't know who
is - ha ha. 'Hand him to the TDC instructor?' - who?
Appologies for this - tried (unintentionally) to make your name more scandinavian . Gavin will be the man to teach my brother (who never skied before) so I hope it will be OK, as during my brother's lessons I am planing to ski arround EK with some more advanced guys. My first visit to Tignes was 6 years ago and it was also my 'virgin' season. And now I consider myself a good skier and we even contemplate a trip to Chamonix to do the Vallee Blanche.
Thanks for the tips Steve Angus!
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MERRY CHRISTMAS
Sorry the Christmas eve celebrations got my times all wrong!!!!!! So Xmas morning update will cover Xmas eve (and Xmas day!)
It was WARM yesterday.......... very warm..... too warm (indeed this am it is 5 deg c here in town) and that is at 8.30 in the morning!
Anyway I had a delightful 10 year old girl and her father yesterday morning - the emphasis is definitely on 'fun' with them as I have them every day this week apart from Xmas day.
In the afternoon I had his other daughter - a lovely little girl called 'cc' and she has skied a couple of times before (she is 'nearly' 5) and can just about hold a snowplough......anyway she was sooooooooooo excited about Christmas coming today.
In the evening it was a case of a few drinks at Blue Note followed by a movie back home.... just the two of us - first time in 6 years we have not had family here for Xmas, are not working on Xmas day and could both just take the time off.
So this morning Clare is busy prepping Xmas dinner (currently doing bacon and eggs), then we are off for a ski for a couple of hours, then xmas nibbles at Blue Note followed by dinner back here and present opening and then calling home.... all washed down the champagne.
On the snow front out there it is looking a little grey, warm as I said but the temperature is supposed to drop and we should see a little snow later this evening............ in general the temperatures are supposed to revert back to normal seasonal minus 5 / minus 10 over the next few days.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE..... more updates tomorrow
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