The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

It continues...

Clare was up early to get to a doctors appointment and I was on Olivia duty.... so it was a rather hectic and rushed hour or so before kick off but that is the way it goes sometimes.

There was some heavy clouds hanging around in some quarters but up towards the Solaise direction there was glimpses of blue sky and sunshine! It was not a tough choice as to which direction we should go. I met up with a client I have not skied with for a couple of years and her 4 friends and it was time for a nice freshen up. The 4 girls were all rather typical 20 somethings - pretty solid but cautious and wanting a freshen up to improve confidence effectively... the one lad had only skied once before and was a little 'confident' and 'have a go' but it worked out OK despite my worries on the warm up run down the Madelaine. Anyway we had a pleasant morning and quite a laugh in the end.

The clouds rolled in little by little and we got a ringside seat as we lapped around on the Glacier Express as the team of 3 pisteurs (one carries explosives, one carries the trigger and the other observes from a distance the result of the blasting) worked the Cugnai ridge... they got some results on pure north facing slopes (soft localised slab) but it always gives a good show. By the time we got to the end of the morning it was trying to snow at altitude and down in town it was rather gloomy... in fact the weather was certainly closing in.

Check out more of the conditions and local info on my periscope from today:

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1BdxYPlBNMEJX

I was home after lunch as I was not booked to get the continuous and never ending pile of admin completed and had a very successful afternoon.

I had to put my ski boots back on this evening though as it was the torchlite descent and that was rather interesting as you usually either have ice or bumps on the Face but this evening it was rather soft and snowy AND it was like a blizzard coming down - I was surprised it was not cancelled tbh!

And that brings you up to date.

TTFN

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Bit of a stinker

It was one of those days when the pesky clouds just kept getting in the way... the clouds were very thick when they threatened, BUT it was a case for always looking for the 'gaps' and there were a few.

So I met a nice guy this morning who is no stranger to Val but was out on a bit of a lads trip and they had taken a guide earlier in the week for some off piste bashing but unfortunately he had lost his bottle a little (and tweeked his knee) so was in a piste lesson to work on his technique and get that back up to speed. For someone who had only skied for 12 years or so (a couple of weeks a year) I thought he was rather handy and it did not take too much work to get him changing his skiing. It was a pleasant and fulfilling mornings teaching!

The clouds kept us on our feet most of the morning but we avoided the worst of it. There was always the 'threat' of snowfall and there was a little snow hanging around most of the time.

I fitted in my periscope at lunchtime and talked about making life easier for yourself when you do hit poor light / flat light or a whiteout!

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1mrGmeqRbOzGy

The afternoon I had my seasonnaires team and for whatever reason I only had 2 of them... so the plan had been to do moguls with them.... well the clouds made it hard but we got there just about and some fun and games was had by all!

After skiing we were privileged that Olivia was at a play date so Clare and I got a couple of hours all to ourselves .... what to do with the time... plenty of cups of tea and a bit of feet up on the sofa time!

Not really much else to report this end... the snowfall is continuing this evening and things really are shaping up nicely for half term now. So I will get another couple of days chill time (well still teaching full time but not quite as intensely on the slopes) before the chaos of half term starts.

TTFN

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@Steve Angus, thanks for the recommendation for Alpine Experience - I had such a brilliant morning with Chris on Tuesday, one of my favourite days skiing ever

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Chilly in the mornig

It was rather chilly this morning not least because there was some thick cloud hanging around (at high altitude so it didnt affect visibility) but because there was a fairly stiff and chilly southerly wind blowing.... it was not strong enough to close lifts but it made everyone chilly. It was only about lunchtime that the sun broke through enough to make it feel warmer (although the sun was never fair away all morning too!).

So there had been another 10cm + overnight but we are getting snow in small to medium amounts quite regularly at the moment that we don't really notice (I think not!) 10cm of snow overnight but it is quite common place at the moment. Anyway the pistes are in GREAT conditions at the moment and the soft snow today meant that it was always going to be 'bump' up quite quickly (I was not wrong).

After so many days of poor weather it was always going to be a powder and piste frenzy day. The Bellevarde was heaving. I had the same team this morning as I had a couple of days back and we developed rotational sep and introduced pole planting! Despite some tired legs as a result of the bumpy terrain etc the team did well and some great changes were made. But boy there are plenty of idiots around... as usual I found myself commentating to myself that you just dont see many good skiers and boarders around - just plenty of people that think they are. It is ironic that people who actually are any good at skiing / snowboarding understand how much more they still need to learn and how bad they are in reality. So on a day like today it is like a bowling alley of people!

Anyway moving on.... the morning was very successful but I still had my seasonnaires this afternoon to go.

The seasonnaires were all fired up (if a little late with at least one hangover in action) and it was just 3 of them today as one had to work and another (I am guessing) forgot.

The plan for the afternoon was to work on moguls... despite a few worried faces at the start and a few funny falls in some of the soft snow there was some broad smiles on faces by the end of the afternoon. At least it was a little warmer as the sun really shone all afternoon which was nice!

I have tomorrow off and Clare has booked the day off before the chaos of halfterm starts.

On the roads (see diagram below for DEPARTURES FROM Val d'Isere) on Saturday it will be busy (putting it mildly)... so leave VERY early or later after skiing to get quieter roads and similar for arrivals!

My periscope from today:

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1lDxLRZbvXRGm?autoplay&t=1

Nice!

TTFN

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

It was a very pleasant start to the day as Clare was not working and I had the morning off so we didnt need to set an alarm (that will be the last time we have that luxury for a few weeks).... it was a reasonable 7.30 before Olivia woke us up!

Clare took Olivia off to creche then had a lovely morning full of hot drinks, magazines and chilling whilst I filed a whole 2 months of receipts that had been slowly piling up on my desk and that took a fair while trying to figure out what they were all for etc.

At lunchtime I headed out to meet my seasonnaires and the sun made it feel quite nice however I knew at altitude there would be a breeze and the air temperature out of the sun would be colder than it looked! I thought for a few minutes I was going to be stood up as no-one turned up but then fashionably about 10 minutes late they all appeared in haste!

So we had a lovely afternoon sliding around the Solaise area and then over to the Fornet working on carving... bearing in mind it was the first time any of the girls had ever done carving I was seriously impressed with how (a couple of them in particular) they took to it... one girl in particular had a real flair for the feel of the edges - bravo!

They loved the 'trick of the day' in particular today - twirlybirds... which is a great way of improving parallel turns as well as improving planes of balance. But above all it is fun and that is the name of the game isn't it!

After skiing I met Clare, Olivia and many of my colleagues in the Blue Note for a Friday drink. It was very quiet in there so it was rather relaxed which is always nice! I even took 10 mins to head out with a colleague as it is my turn to do this weeks TDC Snow Report so when it has been edited ill post it up!

In local news there was the sad news that a French man in his 80's passed away of natural causes last night in town. But apart from that all eyes are now on half term and the roads will be busy tomorrow! For me it is the start of a long run of lessons tomorrow so I had better have an early night I think!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1nAJEVvyYwyxL?autoplay&t=9

TTFN

After all it is free

Miles and miles and miles

Well it was such a stunning day that to make the most of a Saturday before the chaos (on the slopes) of half term really starts was a no brainer. Both Clare and I were both (still are) on the same 'normal' half term clients booking.... and today was the first of 7 with them...

However the day started a little earlier than normal for a Saturday which is often somewhat of a family day. Olivia needed to be dressed etc and shipped up to friends of ours up at the Richardes end of town. So Clare took Olivia and her ski stuff all the way up there on the bus whilst I carried both sets of skis to the Christiana Hotel to meet the family. It was barely 9am and it felt as if the day had been going for hours on end already.

However as Clare met the Dad and I met the boys we headed to Snowberry to gear up and get going. What a day we ended up having putting miles and miles under our skis and trying to make the most of the weather and quiet(er) slopes. Solaise, Bellevarde and areas of Tignes were all covered. The boys had 'ski tracks' app running but I wont bore you with the stats! All there is to say that it was a maximum turn sort of day. The snow was great and apart from trying to decide between us where everyone wanted to actually eat lunch it was a perfect day!

By the end of the day there were LOTS of tired legs all around and the clouds were rolling in around us.

The end of the day procedure was the reverse of the morning so it was nearly 6pm before we were all back home.... early nights all round.

The roads were chaos out there as always today but those who did manage to get up here in time will have watched a cracking rugby game!

I think the next few days will be a little bit of everything weather wise but nothing major either way.

Ill finish with a selection of photos and 2 quiz's for today!

Firstly my periscope:

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1LyxBjvzPVyxN?autoplay&t=9

Yours truly (thanks Charlie for this photo)

Mont Blanc starting to get obliterated by cloud - the 'friendly' and reliable early warning system for 'weather' on the horizon!

FIRST QUIZ: NAME THAT PISTE (above)

SECOND QUIZ - answers tomorrow:
"Is it possible (standing on terra firma as opposed to up in a helicopter somewhere or something) to physically see the actual town of Val d'Isere (not La Daille / Fornet / Laisenant but Val d'Isere 'centre' itself) from anywhere in Tignes? Im talking about on the slopes / lifts etc. If so then where exactly; I want to know"

TTFN

The piste I'm guessing Merles over in Tignes, for where you can see Val, total guesses, Grand Motte somewhere, or top of Borsat? Or from Mickey's Ears?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Looks like the Aiguille Du Chardonnet/Bungee Jump/Merles lift. Probably Merles piste but where are the piste marker poles on both sides ? So maybe the non-patrolled run that leads to the Stade de Lognan above Val Claret.
Being able to see Val from Tignes. Either top of Combe Folle drag lift (but probably blocked by lower part of Rocher de Bellevarde) or somewhere below Aiguille Percee on the Breviere side - Corniche piste/Marais lift area.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

endoman - near Merles yes but not quite.... Grand Motte no def not.... Borsat sorry no (thats a Val lift anyway).... Mickeys you couldnt see around the shoulder of the Bellevarde im afraid
mrkn - Yes you are correct... its the Stade de Lognan. Combe Folle drag is blocked yes by the Bellevarde..... but SO CLOSE but wrong re "somewhere below Aiguille Percee on the Breviere side" / Corniche Piste (the shoulder of the Aiguille Percee peak itself blocks the view 'high enough' up to be able to peak over.... likewise Marais lift when you get high enough the Brev side from Kim Kone would block the view!.... HOWEVER if you get off that chair.... head over on the brev side to the Aiguille Percee... drop over the top onto the actual Aiguille Percee piste (non damee) then you get the following view:

.... you can see - Val (centre) itself in the distance!

Todays update follows.

snow reports

Finding the right snow

We woke to some pretty stiff breezes hanging around the valley this morning but it wasnt that I was worried about - it was the lift queues!

I headed to our office to collect some off piste safety gear for the boys and then after getting them geared up they decided that getting some wider skis might be sensible.... so after swapping gear the lift queues for the Solaise were rather large but we headed that way anyway!

What a morning we had.... noodling around areas off the Madelaine / Glacier Express etc. The wind was stiff but not too bad to close any lifts thank goodness! The wind was moving quite a lot of snow around unfortunately and where it wasnt moving it it was compacting it down.... and at lower altitudes where the temps were higher the snow was humified! So finding nice powder was not the easiest thing at all!

However as you can see we had some fun, found some nice snow and generally had a pretty full on morning... we kept it safe and low angle stuff and had some great turns. The boys are now keen to go on a heli trip on Wednesday - we shall see if that works itself out!

By late afternoon they were already a little tired so we had a hot choc break and then later on after some more off pisting headed for a nice lunch at Le Signal!

It was a very nice day all in all but there are some tired legs around town this evening!

It had gone 5.30 before I got in this evening and Olivia and Clare were watching some cartoons... I have been incredibly lazy this evening as I am totally shattered this evening.... half term week is just full on as it is relentless one way or another so I am going to have an early night as I really need it!

Below is my daily broadcast from Periscope and also my video (it was my turn this week) for the TDC snow report (my colleague Ben does such a great job each week putting these videos together)

TTFN

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1DXxyrkvLdkKM?autoplay&t=4

http://youtube.com/v/Rl_L9F-9jBs&feature=youtu.be

Heading out to Val d'Isere for half term. Can't wait. Also can't wait till we can go mid-term but that's another story Happy

Staying in La Daille, hired from SnowBrainer.com after reading posts on this forum. My wife is keen to give Nordic skiing a go. My view is it's a waste of slope time, but maybe give it a morning. I'm wondering if snowbrainer would swap the skis for a morning so we can try it out ?

You know it makes sense.

Posted this in the "Organising trips" thread but thought I'd copy here as well. A bit OT but hope no one minds!

37 year old male arriving in Val D'Isere on 19th for short break. My usual companions all have excuses this year so am billy no mates! Would like to meet up with fellow snowheaders for on piste skiing if anyone's in resort and willing to let me tag along.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

hi Andy. We're a family (me, wife, son) staying in La Daille starting Saturday. We're a bit older than you (55) and a bit younger (16) and probably a bit slower but if you literally have nobody to ski with I'm sure we'd be happy to meet up. My wife has had 2 hip replacements and is a bit gentle at the start of the week. Once she start's yelling "whee" we speed up a bit Happy

A snowHead

Hmmm that was a nice day spoilt (in many ways)

Well I dont need to mention what happened here in the EK today do I.... but I will talk a little about it in a moment.

However the rest of the days news firstly.

The sun was shining and everyone was buzzing about getting out in the lovely weather snow right from the start. However I had noticed that there was the first (mini) melt freeze of the Winter and I suspect that over the next few days we will see a fair bit more of this. This is the first hint of Spring in the air. Nothing too serious but a sign of things to come. That is not to say we will not have any more snow of course but Spring is only a couple of weeks away officially. What this will do is lead to a strenghtening (in general) of the snow pack but the pistes will hold up nicely that is for sure!

Anyway we met as normal having dropped Olivia off at creche at the hotel and it was nice as a couple of colleagues (one in particular I have not seen in AGES) were there to meet their clients too! The anticipated lift queues did materialize so we uploaded on the Bellevarde Express (gosh I remember the days when that was (realistically) the only way up the Bellevarde side!) and across and up the Loyes Express.

The Face was already busy at 9.45am!

Not saying anything!

Yes the 'centre' of this photo is a sad scene but it puts the whole area into perspective!

Clare, myself and the whole (client) family were all skiing together today (it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO rare that I actually get to work with Clare so that was a nice change for us) and the plan was to head to Brevieries for lunch. Little by little we made our way there.

The slopes were BUSY, the weather nice and company fun but it was mid morning as we were coming down towards Val Claret and got in the HUGE queue for Tichot (thank goodness for ski school priority that reduced the queue to a more manageable 15 mins!) that I noticed that SAMU chopper was coming in to Lavachet... I could see ((you get a trained eye even from across the valley) and word spreads quickly in the professional network and amongst colleagues as we checked in with each other) that there had been a large slide. It was only when we were on the Grand Huit that I could also see the PGHM coming in - this was serious!

As the morning wore on into lunchtime the news filtered through! Traggic. I was contacted by both the BBC and Sky News for 'information' and comment etc but it would not have been professional or right for me to comment as I was not directly involved and it would only be my theory as opposed to facts that would come out. Anyway I am sure by now you are fully aware of all that has happened! Essentially an ESF snowboard instructor wearing transceivers etc with 4 clients were walking with snowboards in hand it would seem when the avalanche came from above. The terrain trap that is in place to protect the Lavachet part of of Tignes acted as a collecting place for all the snow. The slide was about 40m wide at the top fanning out to nearly 100m wide at the bottom and ran the whole length of the wall (some 4/500m in length). When it came down it also took more full depth crowns with it. The crown wall at the top was a metre in depth anyway. This all meant that the people were sitting ducks and had no chance and would have been buried under several metres of snow in the terrain trap. It was the experienced instructor of MANY years standing, the grown up father and two teenage sons that died. RIP!

After all that we enjoyed our lunch as best we could down in Brevieries at L'Armailly (it is lovely down there) before heading back towards Val (Charly and I both had to do an extra lap as he forgot his off piste backpack at the restaurant). Anyway despite huge queues at the Toviere we made our way back towards Val.

There was a stiff foehn wind blowing all day once again and again along the Italian border there were clouds threatening all day.... finally by late afternoon they finally won over and it did cloud over but this wind is warm so temperatures are staying high for this time of the year!

The boys and I finished with a run down the Face and I did warm them that it would not be that nice at the end of the day but they insisted! It was not too bumpy BUT in places it was pretty darn icey.... no surprised there then!

Half way down the run we came across a French girl sat in the middle of the piste grasping here knee... her friends had skied off to get help but I thought it easier to make the call myself on the phone. Within about 5 mins the pisteurs arrived and I had the boys helping to secure the scene with their poles etc and then we helping the pisteur get the girl moving in the sled before completing our run to the bottom.... the boys have learnt a lot about mountain safely and what is involved with it all today!

After picking up a very grumpy daughter from creche we replied to plenty of messages from friends and family showing concern as to what was being reported as happening in Tignes today!

And that pretty much brings you all up to date!

Tomorrow I am off piste almost all day with the boys and it looks like I am running a heli trip on Wednesday for them!

TTFN

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1vOxwYwpoqdGB?autoplay&t=4

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Steve Angus, Hi Steve, love your periscope videos! We are coming to Val week beginning 26th Feb. Do you know if there are any schools holidays at that time? And if yes what is the avg. time we will be waiting for a lift?

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Moody weather

Well after the events of yesterday it was time to "get back on the horse" as they say. It might surprise readers (others not at all) but things like yesterday DO happen from time to time.... and yes there are ways to avoid it but this is the mountains and life goes on!

I met the boys and they were ready for a full on off piste day today... first up was to head up Solaise and I was surprised at how strong the Foehn wind was blowing in (it did die off a little in the afternoon - it seems to be FINALLY blowing itself out and the high pressure system is now going to take hold!) but it was not to hamper us. I started by simulating an avalanche and getting the boys to do a transceiver search... it was the first time they had ever done a search with a transceiver and it was OK for their first attempt - 12 minutes. I then demonstrated to them me doing it so hopefully (god forbid) it would be quicker next time!

I decided to head upstairs to the Pays Desert - it was going to be a bit of a gamble - altitude would give us better snow and I had a sneaking suspicion that the Bernoulli effect might mean that actual 'desert' could be quite windless. There was also the realisation that there is plenty of low angle gullys up there that would have lots of inblown snow in it - so the soft slab might be nice to ski and it would also be quite quiet up there.

We arrived up there and there was the cloud spilling over from the Italian and Maurienne valleys and it was at an annoying altitude that meant we had to ski through a thin but dense cloud BUT this was in turn keeping the masses away from the Pays which meant we got CLEAN tracks - yay!

Above and then...

below clouds all within about 100 vertical metres!

One of the boys and their high tech gear captured this shot!

Heading out into the void!!!

Demonstrating a transceiver search with Charlys help!

Looking down on Val just before dropping into l'avancher couloir

After that it was time for a drink before hitting up the Grand Vallon which was its usual self - nothing out of the ordinary either way.

Lunch was taken at the Dacha Restaurant which was overpriced I thought and not that good but just how I found it today before I fitted in my periscope:

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1lPKqZQXqEPGb?autoplay&t=8

Then it was time for the main event... a trip for the boys down the Danaides Wall followed by l'avancher couloir. Both were in tip top condition and the boys proved themselves... ready for the heli trip tomorrow to Chevril!

I must say that it is mid half term and I am feeling pretty shattered already but another week or so and it will calm down again!

This evening it has been a little chilled and we watched the ESF fireworks in town out the window which Olivia loved!

An update and reflection on yesterdays avalanche:

Nothing too much extra to add to what I wrote yesterday apart from the 'shock' in some quarters that it happened so close to the pistes... yes it did but this slope is 'protected' in the event of an avalanche from impacting on the buildings below by the mound at the bottom. The slope is not blasted as it would NOT impact on slopes, lifts or buildings below so the fact that it is so close to the Trolles piste is neither here nor there. What it does go to prove is that as soon as you overstep the piste edges you are potentially in a very dangerous position. As I always say to people when you go off piste ALWAYS consider what is above and below you; consider if the slope you are on could impact a lift, piste or building and if it could then it will not be 'controlled' and finally think smart... look for terrain traps and read the signs! There are talks of people wanting to cancel off piste lessons etc for the 'fear' now and calls for off piste skiing to be banned etc... it is rather knee-jerk reactions if you ask me. If you want to be totally safe then dont ski at all! But hey thats my thoughts on the matter.

I think that is all for today - TTFN!

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Steve
a very useful summing up of the somewhat over the top reactions to this sad business.

Pays desert looks fabulous, even a few weeks back when I did it there was still some nice snow to play in but it looks so much better now after all the recent snowfall

only done danaides once, it was tough due to a challenging mix of clumps of snow and polished patches, decided not to repeat the experience unless I was sure the snow was good!

ah well, maybe next year!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

snowornever - yea you want to do Danaides and L'avancher when the snow is good!

Glorious sunshine

We woke to wall to wall blue skies this morning but (crucially) the clear skies last night meant it was cold. So the freeze thaw of Spring has sprung.

What I also noted was that the SAF heli and the pisteurs deemed it necessary (ill explain why in a moment) to do some bombing up there. It has been several days since the last snowfall so what suddenly the need to blast?

As I explained yesterday (I think (or was it the day before)) the securing of the pistes revolves around just that.... making pistes, buildings, lifts etc safe.... if there is a chance that a slide could impinge on one of these things then they need to take action... so what with the persistant wind sweeping in from the south and east the last few days continuously it has been loading (as what happened on Monday proved) northerly and westerly slopes 'nicely'. This today was going to be coupled by higher temperatures and especially west facing slopes were going to be hit by the suns heat. SO the heli targeted west facing slopes in the 35 to 45 degrees angle range. This included such faces as the one between the solaise and fornet sectors.... some impressive results...

Looks pretty benign perhaps UNTIL you get up and close to the debris at the bottom and realise that the blocks are HUGE, solid AND the snow is some 4m deep in places.... you would be a gonner if you were caught in this that is for sure.

Tom models for scale... the 'mound' he is standing on is 'not there' normally such is the depth of snow here from the slide!

Stunning views - what more can you say

Anyway the morning comprised of meeting up with the boys and heading for a mornings heli trip from the Chevril back to the top of the Solaise.

Clare came along as 'dad' had boot issues so was not having his lesson this morning so the boys were lucky enough to have 2 instructors between the 2 of them.

We did a practice transceiver search off the Verte which was very successfully executed by the boys - bravo for only your second attempt! Then it was the Tommeuse and the traverse high around the shoulder. The south facing has already taken some heat so is transforming whereas the north side was wind affected so all in all it was interesting. The hike up to the drop down was more interesting as there were no bootpack marks already so it was HOT work. The ski down had EVERYTHING from nice powder to crud to nonbreakable crusty nice chalk like texture so it was varied to say the lest.

We were still doing the set up and brief at the bottom when the pilot flew past and decided that since he was in the area he would drop down which got the heart going and got me working very quickly. Anyway after some frantic couple of moments we were off and had a lovely flight back to Solaise.

After a drink at Ouilette we headed out for some more skiing around before taking a late lunch at Cascades in the sun.

Some gentle pottering about before heading home was the order of the afternoon.

I fitted in my periscope when I got back down to the bottom but for some reason the title did not show up today but anyway here is the link non-the-less...

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1mrxmedlorBxy?autoplay&t=4

Clare and I had a bank meeting this evening and to be honest since then and after the activities of the day I am now looking forward to bed. Another full on day tomorrow then onto the next booking as the (general couple of weeks) of half term madness continues!

TTFN

After all it is free

...and since they (the boys from today) have now sent me some photos and videos of today I shall attempt to upload them now. Hope they are all visible!

https://www.facebook.com/steve.angus/videos/10158232048275416/
https://www.facebook.com/steve.angus/videos/10158232049255416/
https://www.facebook.com/steve.angus/videos/10158232050065416/

Love the helicopter pictures... am I right in thinking they do this on the Italian side? Something tells me that they don't do helicopter skiing in france.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

A nice long day and miles and miles of wonderful sliding!

It was another beautiful day in the mountains today... it was lovely and sunny and everyone was keen for a great day on the slopes. The boys wanted to do the 'Grand Tour' (more on that later) and Clare was once again out with the dad. It was always going to be a long day so I arranged a slightly earlier start.

Well anyway ill start with some photos of the day in a second but it was glorious. The pistes are in excellent conditions still and have held up well over half term nicely. Lunch was taken down at Brevieires (again) in the sun and we got back late on and enjoyed a beer altogether in the hotel where they are staying.

I got home and the 'boys' came around for a playdate and then over dinner I suddenly realised that I forgot to Periscope today... woops... back on the case tomorrow!

Great views up the motte...

Tignes Les Boisses / 1800 (as it is now known) is nearly finished and there is some very good quality accommodation apartments down there now

Facing the final decent at the end of the challenge.... who says the pistes are packed in half term!!!!

Anyway half term is ticking over... the pistes are busy and it will continue to be like this for another couple of weeks... although the UK half term (for the most part) finishes this weekend there are plenty of French kids still on half term for the next 2 weeks so expect busy slopes for a wee while longer!

Having said all this and the 'bashing' that half term gets for being too busy and the 'impossibility' of finding empty slopes I thought I would share with you all HOW you (without ski school priority lines) could complete the 'four corners of EK, Grand Tour' even during peak season like this in one day.

So this is the 'ski tracks' app one of the boys got from today (please note the top speed) is in relation to the VERY first run of the day when the piste was totally smooth and there was literally no-one else on it at all.... it was the only time I allowed them to open the throttles fully.

It must be remembered that you have to be quite cunning with where you go and when, in what order, and (as I said above) the weather must be good with everything open (of course). The below is assuming you are staying / can start in Val and can ski at a constant and decent but safe pace and can get down EK red runs in pretty much all condtions (e.g. bumpy (within reason), icy (again within reason) and at times quite narrow. Also the definition of 'covering' all the highs and lows etc of the resort means reaching the top of the lifts (no need to HIKE up to the actual summit of the Grand Motte (for example) but you must pass through the actual 'towns'. LOTS of local knowledge helps make this possible (as I am outlining below) and a big breakfast and fresh legs will help!

So the 'challenge' here is all 9 (but 8 is just fine too) 'resort parts' : Fornet, Laisenant, Val d'Isere central itself, La Daille, Val Claret, Le Lac, 1800 and Brevieries (as well as the 'old' hamlet in the Manchet Valley too), as well as the 2 glaciers of Pissaillas and Grand Motte as well as the lowest point (Brevieries) being covered.

1. BUS to Fornet
2. FORNET cable car followed by VALLON gondola.
3. Ski down, CEMA green piste
4. CASCADES chairlift and MONTETS t-bar
5. Ski down one of the runs back to Cascades restaurant
6. CEMA chairlift
7. Ski to....
8. LEISSIERES chairlift (aka scare chair / up and over)

.... up until now you will have had pretty much every piste 100% to yourself... no queus nothing.... and will be thinking this is going to be easy even in school holidays.... but the masses will be coming the other way by now and you will arrive back on the Solaise side of things to much busier pistes.

9. Ski one of the blue pistes towards the datcha lift and down Piste L or Mattis to...
10. LAISENANT chairlift (back up)
11. Take the Aiglon piste / Route de col but MAKE SURE you take the correct 'path' all the way (it is a bit of a traverse really) back to DATCHA.
12. DATCHA chairlift
13. optional descent down in the Manchet Valley and back up the MANCHET chairlift
14. either way ski from top of DATCHA or MANCHET chairlifts to the PIM PAM magic carpets
15. PIM PAM magic carpet back up
16. Plan M / Rhone Alpes down into Val d'Isere central area

All this time the pistes will have been quite busy and time wise it should be about 10.30/10.45. You are likely to find a bit of a queue at the Olympique so (it will be quicker almost certainly)..

17. BELLEVARDE chairlift
18. Easy ski across to the...
19. LOYES chairlift
20. Ski down either the verte or 3J's (or Diebold if you cut off after the steep pitch) to
21. BORSAT chairlift (you WILL have a queue here)
22. Follow the col de fresse green run over the 'col' and down the blues towards Val Claret (it will be busy through here all the way down to Val Claret)

It should now be about 11.30 give or take and it will be busy everywhere you turn and look so be careful

23. Despite it looking like a better option to take the Lanches chairlift stick it out and got up the FUNICULAIRE GRAND MOTTE (the queue might be slow but it moves fast up that mountain and means you only have to take one lift as opposed to 2). Top tip.... when the doors open move up the steps as far as possible to give you an advantage when you get to the top and the 'rush' to the cable car!
24. GRAND MOTTE cable car - again this will be a slow part of the day.... you are aiming to be at the top of the motte by 12.30 give or take. It might take 30 mins for this lift alone!
25. Ski (its a long way) all the way down to Val Claret (DONT take Genepy or Cairn blue piste route though as its too slow)... Double M is best!

You SHOULD now get back down to Val Claret at 1300 roughly and have broken the back of this challenge AND better still everyone else will now be on lunch... plod on. If you have timed it well then there will be no queue at...

26. TICHOT lift followed by
27. GRATTALU lift
28. Ski down to the GRAND HUIT lift then down again to
29. AIGUILLE PERCEE chairlift

Ski no lift queues for these lifts.

30. Ski down Corniche, Rhododendrum and Melezes blue pistes to Tignes Les Boisses (Tignes 1800).... watch closely where you are going on this route and it is tempting to ski straight to Brevieries but that will stuff things up later on when you have to double back (and at a time when the lifts are busier). Watch closely and make sure you branch off into Tignes 1800 itself otherwise youll sail straight past if you are not careful!
31. Down the Myrtilles piste into Brevieires.

Obligatory celebratory drink and large lunch in the sun outside the L'Armailly restaurant over the bridge when you get to the bottom. Assiette l'Armailly is my favourite lunch there (although had a Calzone pizza today). You SHOULD roll into Brevieries about 1400.... any earlier and you might have to wait for a table and any later will put time pressures on you after lunch. Give yourself an hour for lunch!

32. At 1500 there might be a queue out of Brev but fear not you are about 80% the way there and still another couple of hours to go! Up SACHE gondola.
33. Up AIGUILLE ROUGE chairlift (make sure you get on the correct lift).
34. Bluets piste (it will be busy) into Tignes Le Lac
35. More queuing probable at the TOVIERE gondola... but take it anyway; MAKE SURE YOU ARE HERE BY ABOUT 1600 as any time later it will be too busy and you might miss the link back to Val altogether!
36. Ski down creux piste and onwards and downwards to La Daille.... if you arrive at the bottom early enough have a beer in the sun and get the bus back into town before about 1600 as it will get VERY busy after that.

Back into town and drink beer!

So there you have it. I am sure everyone will have observations and comments and their tuppence worth but that is the best way of doing it in my book and should be achievable even in peak season without needing ski school priority! I make no apologies if it doesnt work out - you're own your own.

Anyway folks that is all for today. Take care and...

TTFN

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

annax - Welcome to SH's....

...Heli Skiing (the traditional idea of it) IS banned in France however there is nothing stopping one way trips in a helicopter acting like a taxi within France from pre-determined pick up / drop off points. So you ski to a set and (governmentally approved) pick up point and set down likewise. So no the photos above are taken WITHIN the realms of Val d'Isere and Tignes. There ARE options we offer for traditional heli skiing over into Italy too.

We offer half day 'reverse heliskiing drops' or full day options. Half day options (based on 4 people) ALL in come to about €100 pp INCLUDING the safety gear (if you want to borrow it), guiding and heli (about 8 mins flight over Val / Tignes)... whereas the full day trip is about €250pp and has a 12 min flight involved - AWESOME day trip that one.

snow reports

Thanks for that guide Steve, that was something we planned to do in Jan but never got round to it. Going to tough to fit it into our next trip though. Will have to wait until next year.

Back to reality

After a disrupted nights sleep after noisy neighbour issues at 4am it was business time and the sun was shining once again!

I was back on the 'normal' and usual 2 lessons (1 am and 1 pm) schedule. I met my morning lesson a nice guy from London who had previously boarded a lot but now looking to get into his skiing.... and what a natural he turned out to be. Starting on the Madelaine and moving on the Glacier run there were some very quick changes made to his skiing. The only downside to the morning was coming across an English mother and her son; he had obviously dislocated his shoulder whilst snowboarding and she asked me for help... I dont think she really new what to do.... so I told her how to deal with the injury from a 'rescue' point of view and called the pisteurs who got him off the mountain.

Lunch was spent down in town (yummy croque monsieur at Tartine) and on the phone for the most part making a couple of important calls before my afternoon session.

It was a nice couple.... one had been to Val a couple of times whereas the other never. Solid skiers who could make good controlled and rounded turns made my job easier... we lapped around (as the clouds rolled in) on the Arcelle before finishing up with a challenge of the Mattis.

After skiing it was back home to make another couple of phone calls back home before getting reading to head out to celebrate our colleague Lena's birthday over in Tignes. We had a lovely (although slow service) meal out and have only just got back in.... so apologies for making it such a short update today.... must get to bed.

TTFN

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1rmxPnjwQXbGN?autoplay&t=12

You know it makes sense.

Quiet and sunny

After such a hectic week on the slopes it was lovely to be up there when it was quiet(er).

I was rather tired this morning but luckily Olivia gave us a gentle start to the day and the sun shone nice and brightly into the living room as I had more than one cuppa! (I do enjoy my Yorkshire Tea in the morning although the slightly lower boiling temp up here (I think) affects the taste a little (or perhaps its the milk)).

Anyway after the breezy afternoon yesterday with some snow thrown in (which stopped in the early hours last night) it was nice to see clear skies this morning. The fresh snow was not deep enough to really change anything up there but I could see a few people off piste finding a couple of gullys in the lee's and getting some nice turns in the accumulations.

I had the same team as yesterday afternoon and we worked towards 'narrow' piste skiing and everything it entails... essentially we built on what we had started yesterday. The bulk of the first half of the session was spent looping around on the Fontaine Froid doing drills that built on what they learnt on the previous descent until we put it into practice on the Face and then at the end the Rhone Alps... I thought it was a pretty decent morning.

I did my Periscope then headed home for a (even though I do say so myself) well earned afternoon off.

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaJbPDOykQKX

Meanwhile the roads were the anticipated carnarge... by 9am this morning the traffic lights had already been activated down the valley near Moutiers at the entrance to the Sioux Tunnel and then from about lunchtime onwards the traffic was backing up on the other side of Moutier for MANY a KM... I trust that everyone has now finally arrived!

So it was a lovely lazy afternoon off and for all of an hour all three of us were either sleeping on the sofa (Olivia and I) or (Clare) in bed itself. It was a beutifully lazy afternoon off.

A family meal together (Olivia and Clare had been off skiing in the morning so it was not as if it had been a total write off of a day) has topped the day off nicely.

So that pretty much brings you all up to date.

I am not sure the exact age but I start with a totally new (have skied with him before) young little chap tomorrow morning so I am sure it will be another tiring week coming up.

Until tomorrow night.

TTFN

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Coach left Grenoble 1600 local time. Just got to La Daille 2230. 17 hours door to door. Ouch.

A snowHead

steve, that pic of the accompaniment at les boisses is that the nursery slope that they have put in with the magic carpet by the side? when i have being before in early season, there wasn't any snow on it? am i now right in thinking that it has snow on it?

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, Hi Steve I've sent you a PM. Not sure if you have managed to pick it up with the mayhem of HT. Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

RhythMick - yup it was one of the busiest days of the season on the road yesterday I am afraid! Well your here now!
ajc2260626 - yes that is the nursery slopes and magic carpet down at les boisses you are correct... still a little quiet down there but I should think it will get busier now they are investing!
chrisrawles - yes have got it - sorry just been flat out - will reply a little later on this evening. Thanks

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Great day out on the slopes. All forgotten.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

What is the snow like on the runs down to Brevieres like? Getting slushy?

You'll need to Register first of course.

A change of scenery

Its not often that I get to teach purely down at La Daille but today was one of those days. Clare was taking Olivia swimming on her day off whilst I took the bus down to La Daille. Overnight it had been a fairly hard freeze (-12 on my thermo at breakfast time!) but the sun was rising fast and it was promising to be another lovely day in the mountains!

Anyway I arrived down at La Daille to meet my little man I am teaching the mornings this week a nice little chap of 6 years old. It is his 2nd time skiing in the mountains but he also had some lessons on a dry slope (Aldershot) back in the UK. He was an enthusiastic little man and we enjoyed some runs on the poma down there.... initially it was just the 2 of us until a few others turned up and then an ESF group. I hard forgotten what a nightmare teaching on that slope is as there is a nasty camber on it.... however after a couple of false starts on the poma and falls he got that too and the morning progressed nicely.

We took in a hot choc break at Tuffs and I just missed the 1st run of the slalom but could see that Dave Ryding had had a stormer.... alas he skied well but could not continue his form in the second run and ended up a VERY credible 11th - well done!

I headed back into town for lunch and did my Periscope too.... it was rather warm by now and Spring is creeping in - although I still maintain that we will have a return to Winter at some point in the not to distant future!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1zqJVbnowyYJB?autoplay&t=5

However it didnt all go according to plan.... as this happened this morning on the high street - woops! (no one injured!)

So the afternoon was spent with a nice young couple from the home counties out visiting their physio friend and it was their 3rd ski holiday.... however it didnt help that they had arrived VERY late this morning so were a little tired. The pistes (as everyone was rushing around like crazy things on their first day) were frantic which mean that she was rather terrified but we did our best. The Madelaine was our stomping ground for the first half of the lesson before we moved onto the Glacier Express blue run. There was some nice changes made and I think for their first day they were rather proud of themselves!

Anyway I got home and we had a lovely family meal alltogether and Clare went to bed early as she is feeling a little ill this evening so I put Olivia to bed and here I am now.

The weather forecast for the next few days is for mainly cloudy conditions moving in tomorrow night but apart from that sun and warmish weather. I dont think we are likely to get any snow (possibly rain though!!!!!) for a few days. The pistes remain busy non the less as the local school hols continue!

TTFN

PS RhythMick - they will get a little slushy yes down to Brev in the pm's but as the slopes down there dont take the sun full on and it is still ONLY February with another 2.5 months left of the season I think it will be fine - softish yes but not slushy no!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Cheers Steve.

After all it is free

Thanks Steve. The helicopter-option sounds ace, but I'll need to persuade the other group members.

Good photogs, brah.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

BUSY

Well today felt like the busiest day of the season (by far) so far. Especially later this afternoon and even with the massively increased capacity of the new double magic carpet the queue was long enough to persuade some people (like the 'good' old days) to hike up to the top where the solaise gondola arrives.

I met Dominic (who was keen as mustard this morning after a good nights sleep and a big breakfast by the sounds of things) down in La Daille and we were off for a fun morning. After a couple of warm up runs on the La Daille poma we headed straight up the Bellevarde and did the usual suspects before arriving at the Marmottes restaurant (have not been in there at all since December) for a mid morning drink. After refueling his batteries we were off again for some more laps around the Borsat and Grand Pre area before heading back down on the funival to the drop off in La Daille.

I took the bus back into town for a bite to eat and then this afternoon I was back with Richard who I teach here and there over the season... I last taught him at Xmas time and today I was tweaking what we had done then as he was a little rusty. As we were about to head off I got wind that there was a technical problem with the Borsat lift and it was shut... that was only going to mean one thing - MEGA big queues up the Bellevarde side e.g. for Marmottes / Mount Blanc etc.... best leave that side alone then.

So instead we worked on the glacier express and then a drop down Arcelle and also a couple on Datcha and it was a plesant and pretty successful afternoon. However BOY there were some idiots skiing up there today. The first day and everyone rushes around like headless chickens and there was some recklass skiing and snowboarding there really was. I have said it before and I will say it again but speed shows nothing of skill it ONLY shows confidence... it is the ability to turn well where the skill lies!

I picked Olivia up and we had a pretty chilled evening before having dinner and I am trying to see whether there can be another FA Cup upset this evening but not looking that way at the moment!

There was a freestyle competition in the park today and some pretty impressive tricks thrown!

For the be-moaning the prices of mountain food in Val d'Isere the Marmottes restaurant up the Bellevarde side of the resort has some very good prices... grab a large plate.... stack it high and you could have a wonderful salad lunch meal for only €8.60!

The words most misleading photo of how quiet it was up there today!

Finishing touches to the grooming of the slopes first thing.

My periscope vlog from today too:

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1ypKdXyQDXLKW?autoplay&t=4

TTFN

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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