Another crappy day up the mountain, I wish I was back at work
Very quiet although lots of people hooning it it in a straight line wearing Bognor with no cosideration for other people's space. @Steve Angus, beating us hard with carving though! The guys a slave driver
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
it was an amazing morning! no queues, great slopes and sunny skies. by 12 my legs were dying as my lord were we having to put a lot of pressure on to carve well total change from yesterday. spent a lot of the day on Double M and loved it. past 1pm the slopes were turning icy and made for real hard word. Piste Paranoid was to be avoided and whilst Double M was fine for me there was a lot of people who clearly coudnt carve or ski on ice within their ability and they were plain dangerous. add to that the morons stood in the middle of the slope just below the brows of the slope, made it no fun. we decided to retreat to val for some lazy skiing. found a gem of a green run (and i never bother with greens) that was empty, had some steeper sections and lazy parts that made for a lovely afternoon (that and the sun bathing!). Must have seen a dozen avalanches over in val that had either been triggered by blasting or people. some small some larger with a slab thicknes of 1m+. Be careful out there folks!
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?
A beautiful day in the mountains
Until the sun got high in the sky and in the shade it was a chilly start to the day. There was (in general) only a light wind and not a cloud in the sky. All the crowds had disappeared although being a Monday there was the usual predictable bunching of people on certain pistes at certain times of the morning.... in general as the week goes on people spread out better time and location wise - it is a strange weekly phenonomen usually seen! Despite the general quietness on the slopes there was still a lot of idiots buzzing about.
So I was back on the board this morning as trainee snowboard jedi mentions.... although I don't like to think of myself as a slave driver!!!! We worked hard on carving looping around on the Madelaine and Glacier lifts!
After lunch Clare and I (with our work hats on) went out to practice transceiver searches on the nursery slopes. We practiced multi burials (with the aim of digging up two transceivers in 5 minutes) and in the space of an hour or so got several practice finds in each which is always very useful. Transceivers are all well and good having but they need lots of regular practice to get a good feel for actually finding other transceivers within a meaningful amount of time. It is easy to get out of practice with them and as everyone knows every second counts when searching with a transceiver.
I had the pleasure of dropping Olivia off and then it was I who picked her up from the creche today. It was a little earlier than normal (3pm) to pick her up but since Clare was not teaching this afternoon either we had a lovely afternoon at home as a family.
My aim this afternoon was to put up lots of pictures on the wall of our second toilet as it is quite dull in there.... it i amazing how long these things take to do. It was satisfying this evening to see that I had about 15 pictures of family and friends up and LOADS more still to do when I get around to framing some more pictures!
Re-iterating what PaulC1984 said about being careful out there in terms of the avalanche danger. The wind and snow and now the temperature changes, continues to mean that the avalanche danger out there is high. This afternoon as well as those reported in the popular press there was a large slide in St Foy. The penultimate skier in the group triggered a slide that took everyone including those that had some 'safety spot' protection and although no-one died there was some hospitalisation required. In fact someone I know had to dig a couple of people out of the slide! The slide in the chardonnet bowl (in common with another slide in there last week) happened AFTER many other people had already skied the slope!
Finally whilst I was at the creche today I noticed the following menu - this is totally typical of the amazing food and diet that even youngsters get given in France... No wonder they go on to live such fit and healthy lives. I am happy that my daughter will be fed well like this!
@PaulC1984, I think there are some amazing greens in Val, this afternoon we we went down Genepy to Grand Pre and did a couple of circuits trying out some new techniques we learnt this morning. I love those runs even though they are 'only' greens. However Verte (past the Folie) should not be a Green, I did that as my last run one day last week and as I got round the corner as it got steeper and narrow and there was a queue of scared mountain users trying to get down. This is no reflection on them, as I remember how that feels very vividly, I was just fortunate to be told never to take that run. It seems some people aren't given similar good advice. They seem to follow the green on the piste map and then it's too late. If it was a blue or red, them maybe they'd take the bubble from the Folie (which to be honest I to do more often than not anyway). Going down a narrow, steep 'green' is not a good experience for beginners, so I don't understand why they claim it's a green.
Anyway, again great conditions up top today, and quiet as well, it was dead this afternoon.
@Steve Angus, you'll be pleased to know that we were practising our drills this afternoon, with mixed success . Many thanks for giving your flare from the candlelight descent to William, he has been talking about ever since. As we walked back past Cocorico on the back, Zara asked why there were grown ups with no tops on dancing on tables. Wasn't really sure how to answer that one........
@trainee snowboard jedi, yep the grand pre is great. we spend the morning in Val on henri, double m and others, then retreat in the afternoon to grand pre to lighten the loads on the legs and to get some speedy runs in where its empty with no ice. its a holiday afterall and its a fun run with the off piste bits to the side.
Well today I spent it with rishie and co. and what a laugh. Started the morning heading across to val glacier. headinf over there from val was erm painful! first proper run of the day was The Face, on white dot preachers in icy conditions its made me get rather sweaty!! still it was all very much worth it as we found a great few runs on and off piste where we could let rip and my do the preachers carve well o piste with just a little broken surface. Rishie had some down skis that looked equally tasty! after a late lunch headed for grand pre and then home down paranoid. the top of the borsat is rather stone littered on the slopes and I just had to close my eyes and hope that ptex wasnt needed. lucky so far in 3 day to have only a few minor scratches.
Im truly knackered now, hard but great day so wine and bed at 7:30!! tomorrow will be a morning with the titans on piste and the afternoon with rishie, co. and steve angus for a bit of off piste (and no doubt the sodding Face again!)
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@trainee snowboard jedi, I agree about Verte. My daughter did it late afternoon on her second ski trip (with Uni friends who were a bit gung ho) and it virtually put her off skiing for life. With some gentle coaxing since then we have managed to get her back on nursery slopes, but not much else.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Another pleasant day (but long) on the mountain
Sorry for posting this a day after the event but yesterday was rather crazy.
The morning was once again lovely and sunny but until the sun gets up in the sky it can be a tiny bit chilly. However once again there was not a breath of wind which was nice.
I had trainee snowboard jedi and his wife once again on the board and we worked on some freestyle tricks... front side 180's off the heel edge both in regular and switch.... compared to when we tried it a while back they were awesome..... popping and spinning ALL the way down the Madelaine.
At lunch it was the usual switch to ski stuff and a quick grab at a sandwich before meeting always29 and her friend Ez for her lesson. We split the lesson into two parts with each one taking an hour and a half which worked perfectly as the rendezvous points and places are tied in nicely.... certainly finishing the afternoon with some carving was a fun way to finish although we had to weave our way down the Solaise as they had made (and not had time to spread it out yet) loads of large mounds of artificial snow everywhere which meant there were some dangerous bottlenecks.
Anyway as soon as the session was over I had to go into town to collect something from the bank and sort a bill out before jumping on the Olympic to go and do my torchlit - this week in aid of Russian New Year. There were not quite as many people this week as last but it was jolly good fun non the less and as pre-arranged I met trainee snowboard jedi and the family at the bottom of the Face to hand over my torch - see photo above, which also doubles as photo of the day for yesterday!
After that it was time to head home for a very quick change and dinner before heading to the Fall Line pub for our final 'TDC Ski Seasonnaires sign up' session where they come to sign up for our 6 session season long program. Each season we tend to get about 100 seasonnaires sign up and once again last night it was pretty busy! By 11pm I was shattered so headed to bed hence the reason for not posting until this morning.
Today looks like being lovely and sunny once again but unfortunately the forecast snow I don't think is going to materialise.... it could rain at lower altitudes instead. At least the Espace Killy is in good nick in general and certainly in comparison to other resorts at lower altitudes.
Finally as I must rush a further call for prudence off piste.... reading all the data and analysis coming in and talking to other professionals we are all fearing that conditions on anything steep that has not already avalanched could be really dangerous.... the snow is just not binding well!
Must dash!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
We've had a fantastic week so far ... Great conditions largely on piste since we don't venture off !! Agree with previous comments regarding verte - it's not pretty down there right now ! My 6 yr old daughter making great progress on parallel turns with thanks to Gavin from TDC. Fingers crossed for another great day today.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@trainee snowboard jedi, The big red fellow at the top of the Gondy was supposed to be Superman by a famous French sculptor as part of an arts programme. However, it caused a lot of controversy as the S on his chest had been replaced by the hammer and sickle and a lot of folk objected to this, when combined with the Stalinesque pointing, so he has been removed. Probably being melted down into sledges as we speak.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
chocksaway wrote:
@trainee snowboard jedi, The big red fellow at the top of the Gondy was supposed to be Superman by a famous French sculptor as part of an arts programme. However, it caused a lot of controversy as the S on his chest had been replaced by the hammer and sickle and a lot of folk objected to this, when combined with the Stalinesque pointing, so he has been removed. Probably being melted down into sledges as we speak.
We did wonder if it was for Russian New Year, but what you say sounds a bit harsh, and I ain't a Russkie lover, but they also bring money and life to Val especially in the quietest week of the year which subsidises the rest of us.
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.
trainee snowboard jedi wrote:
chocksaway wrote:
@trainee snowboard jedi, The big red fellow at the top of the Gondy was supposed to be Superman by a famous French sculptor as part of an arts programme. However, it caused a lot of controversy as the S on his chest had been replaced by the hammer and sickle and a lot of folk objected to this, when combined with the Stalinesque pointing, so he has been removed. Probably being melted down into sledges as we speak.
We did wonder if it was for Russian New Year, but what you say sounds a bit harsh, and I ain't a Russkie lover, but they also bring money and life to Val especially in the quietest week of the year which subsidises the rest of us.
Why not to bring some nazzi symbols so some skinheads could join too
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
mooney058 wrote:
Why not to bring some nazzi symbols so some skinheads could join too
That's Val Thorens you're thinking of
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
red 27 wrote:
mooney058 wrote:
Why not to bring some nazzi symbols so some skinheads could join too
That's Val Thorens you're thinking of
If French nationalist (abd their head Marie le pen, the one whos partie took 'loans' from russian banks) wins next french elections, we will have lots of red and/or nazzi symbols all over france. The other putin's admirer, a certain nigel, would be ok to come to 'europe'/france as well even more often if le pen succeeds - hurray
I hasten to add that this was NOTHING to do with any of the Bashes
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Let's not turn this thread into something other what it should be. I'm showing my ignornce for what a hammer and sickle symbolises and I apologise if I've offended anyone.
The joys of being brought up on a council estate, either way I didn't mean to cause offence, in my ignorance I thought the removal of the red man was being rude to our Russian guests. My mistake.
In others news, the slopes were quiet today, the snow is still good and the the 'dump' has been pushed back a day which for those leaving on Saturday is a good thing.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Some sad news from Val d'Isere this evening...
scorchio Glad my colleague Gav P is bringing your littl'un on nicely.
Well it was another dejavu day weatherise although perhaps a little colder until the sun got going. I decided on a change of scenery so we headed up Bellevarde. The agenda for trainee snowboard jedi and his wife was more flatland freestyle tricks. Yesterday the 180's were good but today they got better and more dialled in from both of them. I also introduced nose rolls and tail roll 180's too and these came on nicely too. We lapped around on the Grand Pre working on these. At the end of the session we did a little work on steeper terrain before they headed to the Folie for lunch and I headed to Snowberry to change into my ski gear for my afternoon session and get some off piste gear.
I had talked about the avalanche danger again in the blog yesterday but today (this morning) we saw a slide actually happening. In fact the slide was probably the biggest I have seen in many years. It was down the east facing ridge of the Grand Pre to Col de la Sana ridge line (stand at the top of the Grand Pre chairlift with your back to it and looking out into the Vanoise NP and in the direction of the Tour du Charvet. About half way along the ridge line to your right). Anyway just as we were getting of the chairlift we noticed a slab had naturally released right up high.... as it went it took much of the hillside with it so that there was over a football pitch worth (I estimate) of snow moving.... that is a lot of snow and a size 3 avalanche. Luckily I don't think anyone was or would have been touring underneath although I have toured below that area on the way up to the Mount Roup on several occasions before. Anyway the snow cloud pushed up by the slide was huge. trainee snowboard jedi got a good picture:
From top right of the picture and all the way down the spine slid to the valley (out of sight) below left of the picture! Check out the plumes of snow!
It was a rushed lunch period changing boots and equipment and getting the off piste gear sorted for the afternoon with rishie and co. Compared to some of the other off piste days we have enjoyed in the past today was always going to be more limited. Anyway we did some pitches including a couple of rotations in the Jardins du Borsat (both sides), in the combe under the Moniteurs Couloir, the Fontaine Froid area, then to finish a nice little run in the Campanules.... all in all a pleasant afternoon and some good fun.
No sooner had I gotten in from work when we had the pleasure of a friend and long time client from The Snow Centre days, Rachel and her husband, pop around for a cup of tea and to see Olivia. It was a nice hour or so with them! They are out here doing some training towards higher BASI instructor level exams - good luck folks!
So the sad news of the day involves the discovery of a body in the gorge as you leave Val after La Daille towards the Lac du Chevril. A couple of nights ago an 18 year old guy went missing in the early hours after leaving the Petit Danois. He was out here with his family and staying in a chalet in Le Fornet. Anyway it would seem that in his drunken state he got disorientated trying to walk back to the Fornet and despite being on a night out with his friends he got lost and it would seem froze to death down there. The banks of the Isere down there before you get into the actual Lake area are very steep so all in all it is a very sad tale. It will surely hit the press!
Some nice snow this afternoon off piste.
Weather wise we should see a slow decline in the weather over the next few days as the clouds build, the winds build and the temperatures increase slightly (even through the lack of sun and the wind may make it feel different). By the weekend precipitation will be here but I think it could be rain. Tomorrow should be reasonable though!
I am on my board all day tomorrow which will be fun. TTFN
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?
Occupying 3 hours of Steves time tomorrow. Three of us meeting in the PM - just have to decide on what to work on... decisions, decisions...
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Awful news about that guy.
We're having an awesome week. Had great fun in the fresh snow on Sunday, other than that there's been some pretty big apres going on, and mostly cruising hungover around blues and reds in Fornet and Solaise.
It's fancy dress day today, so apologies in advance for the 20 ish idiots in where's Wally outfits.
@Steve Angus, Out of interest will you still be in Val 1st week of March? I am interested in some snowboard coaching if you offer that?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
The guy's name was Kieron Flux, and he was 18 and from Newport on the Isle of Wight. Such a tragedy .
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Steve Angus, sorry to hear about that young chap, a tradegy that could have been avoided which makes it even sadder.
@Richard_Sideways, Nice to meet you and always29 today, we need to work on getting her on a board
@fullenglish, we played 'where's wally' today but we didn't see you, I hope you had fun.
I'll probably offend someone now, so I apologise in advance. We were having lunch in the Folie yesterday and heard this bugle horn coming down the mountain, we looked up and there was a fox skiing down, followed by a rabbit, a pack of dogs and then a hunt master. When the dogs caught the fox, they bundled him. Well it appealed to my schoolboy humour and it's the sort of thing that could only happen on a ski holiday.
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.
chrisrawles - I shall indeed be in Val the first week in March and most certainly can offer snowboard coaching. I will PM you.
We are really having a run of gorgeous weather at the moment but it is so seasonally warm at the moment and we still need more snow. In a way we hope it is an unbelievable large dump we get next which will allow most of the slopes to purge themselves. A little amount will just cover the rocks and stones and something inbetween will be too tempting off piste wise and we could have some accidents! Anyway the weather and ambience is lovely but should break tomorrow we think and through the weekend but wether it will be snow or just gloomy and potentially rainy is anyones guess!
So it was more work on technique with trainee snowboard jedi and his Mrs and it was good to focus on that again. We were up the Solaise and as usual for the first hour it was lovely and quiet but by mid morning you get a 'bulge' of people which makes for idiots bombing down the slopes to get to the next chair to get up it to bomb to the next lift and so on and so forth! Any we had a great morning and even threw in a red run for good measure on the Cugnai and it is an awfully long time since I was up there on a snowboard... in fact I normally only ever go up there in order to go off piste over the back - but not today - it made a nice change.
We even got some video of the riding to analyse too.
One of the best bits of the morning was that we were constantly looping around on the Glacier Express and Datcha chair which meant that we were able to watch the avalanche dog training that was going on. They were (the dogs) asked to sit for long periods of time in the cold to mimic the patience they will need in waiting for the call up when they are on duty for real. Later on they were digging around for people quite literally buried in the snow - big holes that had been made for the volunteers to climb in and then be sealed up by piste basher. Some quite brilliant initial selection training for the pups - it was great entertainment when passing by.
At lunchtime it was great that I did not have to change into ski boots but instead could stay in my snowboarding gear. So lunchtime was nice and relaxed and it was good to catch up with some colleagues whom I have not seen for a while.
I was with Richard_Sideways and his friends this afternoon and we had a blast. It was a really fun afternoon. Again we went up the Solaise and initially we went with some technical development and tried our hand at riding the Plan M down the front of the Solaise but it was pretty slick and not too nice.... being made worse as there were once again some artificial snow cannon piles of snow that had not been spread out from the making last night - they are making snow each night at the moment.
After a couple of hours we changed tact onto some freestyle flatland tricks and go some 360 spins going followed up with frontside 180's and then a couple of backsides too.... seem to be doing a lot of flatland freestyle at the moment - fun!
I rushed home at the end of the day for a quick change before we had a ski school meet up about our seasonnaires program! And now suddenly I am remembering that tomorrow is Friday - cant believe a whole nother week has passed eek!
It is interesting how much snow farming they are having to do at the moment... they are pulling in loads of snow from off piste areas where they can to spread on the pistes to cover up any thin spots of which there are quite a few at the moment. Pistes that get large footfall get a lot of attention and below ridges and on steeper sections of pistes that get more 'skiddy' skiers and boarders require more attention but they are working hard and still in general the pistes are in good condition. The snow farming can only go so far so we look forward to more natural stuff coming!
I was really happy to see that they managed to finally get the Manchet Express chair open today - hooray that will be another red available!
Wonderful early morning empty pistes
Snow farming and the area where the avalanche dog training is taking place up Solaise
The fantastic pedestrian night this evening.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
P.S. Meant to say a speed rider crashed whilst riding the Super S this afternoon and was flown to Chambery in a critical condition! Hope he or she is OK.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Think the Arcelle is my favourite EK run @Steve Angus - thanks for introducing it to me last March (had a PM coaching session with you).
My 2 skier fiends and I are, in all likelihood, back in March - will arrange a couple more sessions if we make it.
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.
@Steve Angus, skied Arcelle yesterday afternoon, it was grear
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Just annoying weather
Well it started relatively bright but it was obvious that the weather was set to change! Last day of three weeks for trainee snowboard jedi and the family and the last of several lessons I have with them for a while although lucky things they have a few more snow holidays booked this season! Enjoy!
Due to their kids being up the Solaise we also headed that way and worked on some tricks (again) and they styled it up nicely. We also tried our luck on the Arielle - my first trip down there this season. It is nice at the top but the lower you go the more the artificial snow takes over and it gets a little slick but to be honest with you it was nice to be sliding on a new piste for the first time this season! We enjoyed our trip down there and then it was great to see the kids doing so well and hopefully skiing well enough to get their latest ski school badge.
Yesterday afternoon and then again this morning I spotted the same kid who had been sent up the mountain to ski WITHOUT any gloves.... she was only about 6 years old poor thing. I am pretty certain she was Russian by the attire she was wearing but really it is criminal not only from the parents point of view but also the (un-named) ski school point of view in allowing it to happen. I am not naming the (dressed in red) ski school but it was not a great picture when you also saw the girls instructor on his mobile phone every time I saw them (which was several times during the lesson!). The poor little girl was skiing with her hands in her pocket nearly all the time - she must have been frozen. The air temp may have only been just below zero but that is cold enough and when she had a fall her hands must have been getting frozen1
My usual lunchtime swap over to ski boots in Snowberry was followed by a tricky afternoon. The weather was really on the deterioration by now and what with the high winds at altitude and clouds and a little bit of snowfall (still going but only a couple of cm's so far today) coupled with poor off piste option at lower altitudes it was always going to be a tough afternoon to get some decent off piste in for the boys. However we battled through and found some options but to honest it was a tough afternoon.... you win some you lose some rishie.
So this evening Clare is out for the night with some friends and I have been on dad duty this evening. Just had a nice take away pizza and shall probably have an early night!
I am teaching tomorrow morning and then doing some (if the weather is good enough) ski school photo shooting tomorrow afternoon.
This crappy grey and miserable weather continues tomorrow but lets hope it delivers us some more snow although I am still not holding out too much hope!
franga -
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Steve Angus,
Hi Steve
I have been following this thread for some time. My daughter wants to treat her partner to a snowboard lesson when he is Val on 17-19 Feb. Could you possibly email her about possibilities? She is not on Snowheads and I am in Saalbach at the moment. I will try pm ing you with her email address. DAVE
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Stinking weather but improved
(Quickly to reply to Big Dave before getting into the body of the post for today. Those dates fall over UK half term.. I am 100% booked (and have been for 11 months now) for that week. All my colleagues are also booked (bar the odd Friday, Sat or Sun slot) that week too. As far as I know all the schools that I would recommend are also fully booked then too but I will ask around. Sorry for the bad news but weeks like that tend to get booked a LONG way in advance. Hope you get something sorted!)
Well it rained last night down here in town (a little) after some flakes had fallen earlier in the evening. Clare said that when she came back at x am that it was more freezing rain and the roads were icy to say the least. Anyway this morning it was one of those grey damp days that you sometimes get in the spring as it was above freezing. The cloud was thick but moving through the valley to give the occasional view up the hill but I knew it was going to be a stinking morning!
Anyway I met my am lesson, a lovely lady who comes to Val quite regularly and the plan was some general technique then some work on dealing with moguls and ice... well I have heard that spec for a lesson a fair few times before! Anyway we headed up the Bellevarde and were in pretty dense cloud. It was deserted up there and the pistes had a spring like texture as it was either pretty hard (some rain style crust from wet snow that fell last night) or due to really high winds was down to sheet ice. All in all it felt like end of season conditions. The wind was ferocious and trying to make headway required a tuck down the top part of the Verte (for our warm up run). Anyway we battled through and it was an enjoyable morning and even better when we could see.
Lunch was a leisurely stop at Tartine for a Calzone pizza - Tartine is a great little takeaway bakery style place right on the snow front down from the Grand Marnier bar - good stuff - especially the sausage rolls from there.
By the afternoon it had cleared up a little. The clouds were moving by at higher altitude at break neck speed but we enjoyed clear views all afternoon. The plan was to go around and work out (school in house training / ski around) where we could get some promo shots and videos and work out content for said things as we want to put together some new publicity material. So we bombed around the ski resort and over to Tignes having a bit of fun together and chatting etc. It was a nice afternoon.
Clare had a nice day playing with Olivia and then took her to the farm which is up by Cash 2000 cash and carry by the top end of town before you leave to head to Laisennant. So with a couple of friends and their kids they headed up there.... poor Olivia took one sniff of the farm barn and burst into years. But up there you have cows, sheep, chickens, sheep and all sorts of animals that are kept (indoors in the Winter) to produce produce for the resort. Oh well next time Olivia when you are a little older hopefully you will enjoy it.
Finally for today some serious and eye opening video footage that a friend of mine from here in Val got a few days ago when he was a 'guest' with some of his friends when skiing off piste in St Foy (just down the road from here) with a mountain guide (from Chamonix). Liam is a qualified instructor (and a good one) here in Val and his friends hired a friend of a friend who is a guide in Chamonix to take them off piste for the day in St Foy. ALL PROTOCOLS and assessments were carried out and it was one of those situations where looking back you just couldn't have tried to be safer other than not going at all. A dreadful turn of events that as we all know anyone who skis off piste will recognise that you can never know for 100% it is safe. As it turned out everyone was safely rescued and no more than a few broken bones, damaged knees etc resulted BUT it should, by the law of averages, have been so much worse.
So the footage was taken on his headcam and being the last person to ski the pitch got the whole drama unfold in front of his eyes. A few things to note and understand. 1) the group ski in each others tracks (for some reason down to the island of safety) 2) the 5th person who set the slide off deviated a fraction from the track it would seem 3) the 'island of safety' below the rock was no match in this case to the size of the slide 4) the speed that the person who triggered the slide moves off at is incredible... don't think you can (in general) outrun an avalanche and 5) notice that the whole mountain side and WAY down the slope ALL fails at exactly the same time, instantly!
Anyway scary stuff and I am glad that Liam was able to get everyone out (with some help from one of the other people who was not buried at the bottom). Imagine being where he was an witnessing that. The slide was just a category 3 sized slide which is a slide that goes a km or thereabouts and a slide of that size is plenty big enough to kill everyone caught in it.
WARNING THERE IS BAD LANGUAGE EXPRESSED AS THE SOUNDTRACK HAS NOT BEEN RECORDED OVER
I guess what saved them was being right at the top of it. The guys waiting a bit lower down just try to brace themselves - that must have been a brown trouser moment and no mistake.
As you say Steve - there are always these risks in the mountains.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Horrific. Thank goodness they survived. Hard to believe that that tiny deviation caused that whole slide
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?
Scary, mightily impressive that it appears that the guy who triggered it manages to get back on his skis!
What amazed me was the way the whole slab gave way. Long down where the skiers are stood and that is moving as the Avalanche just starts to move. Horrible scenario to be in.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Ah yes, the Foglietta! Set off with a guide and the missus crocked her ankle on the warm up. Took paracetamol and ibuprofen and elected to carry on up the 60 minute climb. Took us about 90 minutes. The drop in was interesting after our guide broke off the cornice. Very hard snow and had to be reminded to use angulation or it would have been a very rapid slide down the steep slope. After that it was a lovely run to Le Miroir, though we did see a guide shouting at one of his party with a snowboard who ended up stuck in the stream!! Upside down I think, obviously still attached to his board.
Any veiws on the current snow conditions in Killy, chaps??
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Any veiws on the current snow conditions in Killy, chaps??
After all it is free
After all it is free
Ditto the recommendation for the Tartine bakery - pretty damn good baguettes and pizza, a few deck chairs to rest your weary legs and all in all, very reasonably priced -think we were getting 2 baguettes and 2 drinks for around 14 or 15 euros from memory??
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.
That video is very scary to watch, thank goodness they all survived.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
High winds in Tignes long que for the button lift as that's all that appears to be open at the moment. In Marmot bar for hot chocolate.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
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