 Poster: A snowHead
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Enjoying the reports  fly out a week on Saturday!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Had a wonderful day on the slopes today. We're staying in Tignes where there was a dusting overnight but spent most of the day skiing in the L'Ouillette (?) area where it seemed like it had put down 10cm overnight. Cloudy in the morning, especially up high, so it was quiet - we did a good few laps of the areas off the Cugnai lift with plenty of fresh tracks each time.
We were contemplating hiking up the ridge line so spoke to the pisteur at the top of the lift station who said it was dangerous today. Consequently, we kept it fairly low key.
On our third lap, the three people who had been walking up put their skis on and headed down - within 50m they had set off a slide. Not a huge one and it was stopped by a concave slope but still, we were glad we weren't skiing below them.
By lunchtime the sun came out leading to a stunning afternoon.
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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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Arriving on Sunday, loving these reports and looking forward to a good week hopefully 
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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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Cleared up nicely
Well I got the layering correct and yes I am well known for wearing LOTS of layers to do this job. There is some standing around when you teach and for a large part of the time you are not skiing to the max of your abilities so having plenty of layers is vital! Anyway it started chilly and windy with a sprinkling of snow around this morning and when I met my am guests I was soon told that they were rather jadded after a few days of hard skiing and they wanted to take it easy. So we spent most of the morning up on the Glacier lift on the Solaise side and working on some lateral and rotational seperation.... then we found time to talk about technique specific to moguls. It turned out to be a great morning.
Lunch was a quick affair as I was back on duty at 1. My afternoon lesson was with a very technical learner who was quite nervous. The weather had improved massively and it was such a wonderful afternoon to be in the mountains. The fresh snow (of which there was up to 50cm up at Le Fornet) had really freshened the pistes up nicely and it was such a great change for this season to have a nice soft canvas. However as the days go on the pistes get a little chopped up and tricky for learners to ski on.... what makes matters worse is when you get idiot after idiot charging like headless chickens down blues runs.... there is so much 'blind' showing off there really is and people trying to out do each other on the hill. Anyway I sometimes think that if some of these 'hotshots' actually realised how idiotic they were being the they might actually ski better and show (in their eyes) lesser able skiers some respect but like learner drivers on the roads but are blind to the impact they have on others. I know I talk about this reasonably regularly but it drives me crazy as so many hot-shots strut their stuff around the place when in fact they really are not as good as they perceive themselves to be.
It was a really quick change after skiing, pick Olivia up from the creche, dinner, bath and bed before heading out for dinner. Clares dad, his friend John, Clare and I had a really nice meal out at the Taverne d'Alsace and what a lovely evening it was. For some 'alternative' french cuisine it is highly recommended.
I am so looking forward to the weekend now as this cold has sapped the energy out of me and I have one more long day of teaching tomorrow before the weekend - yippee!
doorman_tom Good call on the Cugnai ridge - yea I spotted that slide - full depth slide and there is PLENTY of instability out there still - general rule is STAY OFF steeper stuff unless it has had a LOT of skier compaction this season... how do you know if it has receive a lot of that.... local knowledge really is the only way. Stuff that is blue run steepness (for Val standards) is the max you wanna be looking at at the moment!
TTFN
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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, thanks for the advice. I know they're not the be-all and end-all but I find the lift guys very useful - they're out there all day, every day and they see the conditions change.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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SO TIRED BUT SOME FRESH POW TURNS
The morning was spent with Clares father and his friend and we had a good morning. The brief from them was quality not quantity.... After some warm up pitches off the Madelaine and Glacier Express lifts we headed over the top (in fact we were first on the Cugnai) of the Cugnai. There was some really lovely snow up high.... lovely and smooth although you could hear the hollow snow (scary). If it was any steeper on the pitches concerned then I would have been very scared but it was just on a couple of clean pitches I felt it.
The number of people that we saw down there with absolutely no off piste gear was incredible and scary at the same time.
When we got lower down the snow turned a little crusty and I have no idea why (possibly the excessively cold night dried the snow out to a crisp!) - it was strange! Anyway it was only a little so didn't make too much difference. The whole morning it was way colder than it had been the past few mornings and at --14 out of the sun it was chilly!
When we got lower down I decided to stay the Roup side of the river bed which was a mistake as the snow quickly got thin and rocky so note to self come out early!
We then decided to head to the Pays Desert and I soon realised that I had made a bit of a mistake as we were joining the queues of people all heading in the same direction so it took us quite a while. Anyway we finally made it over to the Pay Desert and apart from 99% of the resort having the same idea of heading out there for some powder we found some truly wonderful snow.... it was light and fluffy and a good 30cm of it.... first real pow turns in quite a while!
My time keeping this morning was shocking as it was about 12.30 before I even got down to Le Fornet to take the bus back into town - woops. I had to call Clare and ask her to go get me some lunch then meet me at the meeting point with it.... all in the nick of time before starting my pm seasonnaires group.
So the afternoon was great with my seasonnaires and we worked on technique on the stade initially and then headed over to Trolles to work on some steeper pitches.... later on some carving on the Creux piste which was surprisingly quiet most of the time....
I was on Olivia duty as Clare went out for some apres and it was one of those 'shifts' that was the short straw..... all she wanted to do was eat her dinner then go to bed - she was tired (and I think a little under the weather although I am praying that I am imagining that). By the time I finally put her down I was shattered. So the call for dinner was a takeaway and that went down a treat.
So I now cannot wait to crawl into bed so will sign off for now. 9.30 start in the morning on the lesson front and then a day and a bit off work - need some r and r time as I am jadded
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Well a fairly pleasant day in the end although some oouchy for Clares dad!
I met my am clients for a ski over to Tignes coupled with some technical development this morning and it was a VERY cold but pleasant morning. The snow cannons were all going off all over the place. It was chilly and we looked for wherever we could get some sunshine. I skied a run that I have not done in years aswell... the Marais red run.... a nice pleasant run up above Val Claret and then took my first trip on the Marais lift for this season!
I left the clients in Tignes partly on their request but also so I could have a blast back to Val.
A chilled lunch at home followed by a steady stream of family and friends for the afternoon made it a pleasant one.
This evening we have our first night without anyone crashing on our sofa.... yay! So that means a glass of wine and rubbish tv followed by bed!
Unfortunately Clares dad took a tumble on the final few feet as you arrive into the lift line at Tommeuse and it transpires that he has cracked a rib so he is annoyed that he will not be able to ski for the next few days or his next trip in a short while to Grindelwald BUT amazingly his trip of a lifetime to Canada heliskiing is NOT going to be comprimised - phew. He will just have to wait the next few weeks until that comes around!
Tomorrow should be a nice chilled family day; perhaps some lunch at Rize, a walk... how knows.
And yes the talk of the town is of this snow storm that is supposed to be approaching..... I refuse to EVER believe (degree in geography of which meteorology was a BIG part) until about 48 hours in advance that it will actually happen... however if it does arrive then it will be in about 5/6 days time.... fingers crossed!
Finally for today the second instalment of the TDC official blog was released for those who fancy another read.... my colleague Kieran has talked about instructors per hates - hmmm some of those sound familiar!!! ha ha!
http://blog.tdcski.com/professional-ski-instructors-5-pet-mega-hates/
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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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Steve Angus - I don't think TDC's hosting package can cope with your following! Bandwidth exceeded!
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@amjbrown, it's well known that professional ski intructors' No1 pet hate is paying for a decent web hosting package.
Hopefully we'll be able to see what Nos 2,3,4 & 5 are in due course.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hope Clare's father is OK and not too frustrated.
Awaiting the TDC blog with anticipation 
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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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Yep, Bandwith exceeded. TDC will have to splash out on a better package to cope with all the SH interest!
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Hahaha! The suspense is killing me!
Hope Claire's dad will be ok. I'm too excited about going skiing tomorrow to go to bed
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You know it makes sense.
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Mmm BW exceeded not a good SP if they knock the link off like that if that happened to my customers there would be blood on the carpet with the SP for sure
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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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Weather went full circle today....
It started cloudy and snowy first thing this morning and it was nice to open the curtains to see about 5cm of snow down here in town although it felt like more than that when I went out later and I heard that it was quite random the accumulations up the hill and there was more on the Bellevarde side of things rather than the Fornet end of town. Later in the morning it cleared up into a lovely sunny morning but by the afternoon it had clouded over again and a few flakes were falling.
We had a lazy morning and a nice family breakfast and then I took Olivia for a swim. The actual swim time is minimal as it is the getting dressed up for the cold (it was minus quite a lot this morning), underdressed and then reversing for two of us that takes all the time. Anyway we had a lot of fun although there was almost a disaster when one of her toy little squeaky ducks escaped and went for a swim all by itself which meant that I had nothing to distract her with... anyway we found it thank goodness!
Lunch and early afternoon was quite sociable as one after one of some of Clares friends came around as everyone is gathering in town for their Level 4 BASI Tech exam so it is some familiar faces and some old acquaintances of Clares of when she was going through the exam.... We had a great few hours and Olivia got plenty of cuddles.
I ran a few errands around town in the early evening and could not help but see the PGHM chopper flying overhead and although I have not heard anything about what may have happened it is always a worrying sign as I often say!
This evening we had Clares dad (he is feeling sore but fine) and his friend around for dinner and a jolly nice evening it was.
Back to the grindstone tomorrow - ha ha.... a full week coming up.
P.S. the link to the TDC blog above is now working - sorry overloaded as you pointed out - will flag that up with my colleagues as we need to make sure that the server can cope!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Getting excited now. Just under 5 weeks until we head out to Tignes. Will be making a few trips over to Val D while we are out.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It was one of those days in Val where it was colder than it should have been as the sun never made an appearance. There wasn't really any wind and the vis for the most part was pretty decent but I think everyone was pretty chilly. I think it was about -10'ish first up.
Anyway I had a really great day and the best way to describe it was as 'refreshing.' I had to make it to Tignes (well the top of the toviere in actual fact) by 9.30 as my client was meeting me there as she was staying in Tignes. I know Rachel well as I trained her for her BASI 1 and now she is working towards her BASI 2. She has been doing lots of training with various people out here - sometimes in groups (such as with ICE) and sometimes one on one. She is part of the greater Hemel Snow Centre community and actually teaches there sometimes. Anyway it has been a while since I last taught her and she has really come on which was great to see. She has a season pass and seems to be out in the EK every few weeks.
Ok going on here so back to the point.... we looped around on the Gratalu for about 4/5 laps working on her long radius turns and identified some things that needed attention and then spent further time on the Merles working on short radius... it was here that she has really made a change.... she stands on her skis and steers them well but needs to move through the flow line more actively especially when it gets steeper now!
It was great having a different pace and focus to the lesson and also being in a different zone of the mountain for a longer period of time than just a passing visit.
A blast back to Val with a sandwich in the two bubbles I took and it was time for round two this afternoon.... a nice father and 18 year old daughter. The lesson had been aimed at her since she had not skied for 6 years to focus on her tennis career an we had a fun afternoon. The only problem was that she was frozen so we had to keep moving around a lot.
We skied the Arcelle and with the artificial snow on it, it was in AMAZING condition and even the bottom section was in really good condition. Possibly the best condition I have seen in a couple of season!
I was on Olivia duty after skiing so it has been a rather hectic evening.
The storm is still forecast to move in from Wednesday onwards but the more I study the pressure charts the less sure I am that it will be a focused storm but it should still leave us a good amount of snow (perhaps 40-60cm on most of the mountain) that will be welcome... however I really think it could still go either way and could be heavier or lighter snowfall - we shall see.
I start a 3 day challenges clinic in the morning... perhaps moving off piste in a couple of days time.
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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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Morning update.... 12cm in town so far and 10cm down in bourg.... Snowing all the way to Chambery!!! Looks like intensity is increasing.... No wind here in town which is even better news. Stand by...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We are heading out Saturday so fingers crossed for no effects for transfer day looking forward to your updates!
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Snowing hard here in Tignes. At least 30cm so far from what i can see on balcony. Loud bangs going off - always a good sign. And according to tignesnet.com, most lifts are open. Can see Palafour running from my window. Not windy down here in Le Lac, but might be windy up the hill. And visibility not so good - looks like a day of skiing with the legs rather than eyes. Used to go out with a guide that got us skiing blindfold - excellent training for days like this. 
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I am getting excited now. Not skiied great snow in Tignes for a while now.
Hopefully the storm will break next week and its not cold and grey the whole time!
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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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Proper update later but about 30-40 here in town and plenty more up high and not too much wind today.... Full update later..... It's still snowing hard and should continue all night and onwards......
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Still snowing in VDI at 18.35, low light during the day, but plenty of people out enjoying it. Spent all day in the trees above La Daille, links over to Tignes were open. Local buses running without any issues so hopefully transfer days at the weekend will be OK
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It keeps on coming
Well today was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Looking out first thing the first thing you noticed was that there was a reasonable amount of snow in town but (more importantly) very little / no wind. By breakfast time the snowflakes were getting bigger. I was on duty taking Olivia to the creche this morning and boy there was more outside than I initially thought. By action time I was surprise to see that the Solaise and the Olympic were both open on time which meant that the accumulations up high cannot have been particularly great OR more likely the snow started falling later in the night with little wind. As it turned out they opened runs up high little by little.
I met my am team and the plan had been to work on moguls and 'cut up' snow. However since we were up Solaise early doors I could not help but have a blast down Solaise in some LOVELY shin deep powder. It was weird as the snow was actually quite heavy up high and lighter lower down which was very strange. Anyway it was lovely snow. I then kept my eyes open and noticed as we headed up Madelaine that there were strong signs that the Arcelle was about to open (an ESF instructor getting a visual thumbs up from the liftie at the top and the fact that the lift was rolling.... all positive signs). By the time we got to the top of the Arcelle from the top of the Madelaine lift the ESF group had headed down the Arcelle - it was game on.
I did explain to my group the reason why I was apparently going down a closed run and the precautions we would take... namely that the pisteurs had simply not gotten around to opening the sign / rope at the top. In fact it was an educated move as I knew it would be great snow. Indeed apart from the ESF group we were the only ones in their - for a while.... lots of great fresh tracks followed on piste.
Anyway the lesson moved back on track of working on moguls and cut up snow and had a successful time. It was nice meeting you all (they were all Snowheads so nice meeting you all).
The afternoon weather was much the same as the morning with plenty of snow fall and the odd blast of wind but on the whole pretty calm. The temps were only a few degrees below so not really to much of a problem either way.
My seasonnaires were all there despite a few hangovers and some tired people. We made the most of it.Lapping around the Solaise, Arcelle and the lower part of the face working on moguls and trying to get the odd powder turn in where we could. It was actually a very fun afternoon.
I picked Olivia up at the end of the day too.... it is quite a palava (sp?) getting her into all her layers, into the sled, to the creche, out and undress and then getting yourself sorted but thats the way things roll I guess!
It is decision day for the Level 3 and Level 4's tomorrow and not a great couple of days weatherise for them but they are battling through.... at least one friend we know is going to pass so it should be a few fun celebrations going around tomorrow!
So the snow continues apace... probably about 50cm up on the hill now and slightly less in town.... the road to Tignes is closed this evening for a couple of hours whilst they do some blasting and the pisteurs were out here in Val doing some preventative PIDA av clearance work this evening too.... they really earn their money on days like this! Who knows what tomorrow holds!
I meant to say that I mentioned the new lifts that they are going to start work on this Summer - the new Solaise 10 seater gondola up the front of the mountain... well I forgot to mention that they are also planning on replacing the Lac lift too .... with 2 x magic carpets apparently!
Anyway looks like I have a spare spot tomorrow morning - people not too keen on lessons when a storm is raging.... which means I can watch the England v India cricket match!
May even catch me having a ski for myself IF (and only if) we have light bulb in the sky which seems unlikely!
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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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Sounds like transfer day may be a nightmare this weekend. Enjoy your day off.
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You know it makes sense.
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Well it was one of those days of the season when everything is just different from the norm and today was it.
So not working this morning I was able to watch England win the cricket against India and make the final on Sunday.... I was also allowed several cups of tea as I watched the snow fall outside and catch up on some paperwork and emails etc. It was jolly windy and snowy out there and the openings were slow on the lift front due to avalanche clearance as well as the problems with the wind!
On a day like this there are often people trying to cancel / move / postpone sessions and it is quite a ridiculous situation really. Why? Well firstly instructors / schools / resorts have no control over the weather. Secondly getting out in poor conditions is so good for your skiing / boarding / telemarking and Thirdly there are never any queues and the sloes are fairly quiet. People don't understand that it is not really terrain that is key in lessons but technique and indeed as instructors we have enough skill up our sleeve to be able to develop black run / off piste skiers even on nursery slopes by giving tougher drills. Anyway despite trying to meet and start her lessons on several occasions over the course of the day Clares' clients ended up pulling the plug themselves on their lesson and then asking for an insurance letter because 'not enough lifts / terrain was available for the lesson'. Rant over on that one.
By lunchtime I was ready for action and I headed to the office to collect 5 off piste packs as well as take Clares new off piste skis (actually bought about 18 months ago) to be finally mounted.
The afternoon weather had calmed down a little so it was much nicer. My seasonnaires worked on off piste and had a great time (I think).... a few falls here and there as the snow was very deep and wind affected in places but a good time was had by all I think. We did a couple of laps of Rogoney and found some nice snow before busing to La Daille and taking on the Funival. My team really enjoyed learning about off piste safety, equipment and how we manage things off piste. However up the Bellevarde it was simply a case of getting your head down and dropping down the Diebold to the Folie altitude as it was so windy and snowy up there. We found some OK and some not so OK and heavy snow on the various routes down to La Daile over the two laps we did before running out of time. My team were KNACKERED by the time we finished and there was some early retirees too! The wind chill was so great at the top particularly that I noticed (and she took action) some frost nip developing on the nose of one of them. The actual snow quality really varied and in some places it was nice and light but the wind had gotten to other parts. There was a good 50cm in total and perhaps a metre where the wind had transported it.... it was noticeable that the Spatula above looked rather scoured!
The end of the day was a scramble returning packs and collecting my delivery from the 'sausage' man who comes up the valley once every few weeks.... LOTS of yummy sausages and burgers from him at VERY good prices - cant wait to tuck into that order over the next few weeks. It was bath and bed time for Olivia, and then I ordered a pizza as Clare went out to celebrate with the various Level 4's who passed today! It will be beer and bed for me tonight as I am shattered.
An am session is on the cards for me tomorrow and the snow continues outside although should clear up a little.
TTFN
P.S. Second minor gripe this evening.... the over-use of the word 'carving' - carving is a type of turn that is used in racing.... generally used on wide open and flatter pistes and when you turn you speed up as opposed to slow down. VERY VERY few people feel more control or an increase in confidence from doing it so when a lesson spec on paper talks about the need to carve to increase control more often than not the person is not really sure what carving is all about but mentions it as if to sound knowledgeable.... it really is quite funny when you read the booking notes on things like that. I personally think that 99% of people find the limit to their carving on blue runs or less! So "carving a red or black" is rare to actually see in people. Sorry second rant over for the evening - apologies everyone.
P.S. 26,000 cars on the road tomorrow so it will be fairly busy and this weather is NOT going to help so hope everyone stays safe and the journeys go OK.
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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, excellent rants!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Steve I worry about your diet - nothing but pizzas, takeaways and now cheap sausages!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@red 27, be fair...he also eats curry when Claire doesn't make spag bol!
@Steve Angus, we must have won points for effort on opening weekend!
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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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Heading out tomorrow. Looking forward to the fresh snow 
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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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Scary stuff
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@Steve Angus, I noticed you mention that Clare was looking at the snow stability for the 'intro to off piste' course - do you know what their view was, and whether it's running this week? Just arrived in Tignes and was hoping to book onto it if it was. I've never done it before and have been wanting to try for a while. I realise the avalanche risk might be too high, especially for a beginner off piste group, though it'd be great to see what it feels like to ski powder properly - the best lessons I ever had were with Giles at TDC Val d'Isere a couple of years ago, so I thought if I'm going to bite the bullet this seems like the time (if the conditions are safe).
I love the thread by the way, have been reading religiously in the run up to the trip. Thanks so much for putting in the effort!
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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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@Steve Angus, Second that, this makes great reading.
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+1 thanks for such an informative and interesting thread. Especially for EK fans like me but valuable learning for all mountain sports people. Delighted to see much needed big snow dump has arrived.
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FAQ
