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

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, best of luck to Olivia on the races (today). Hope the results went her way

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

Cymro66 - thank you so much! Will report below

Slight change of plans

The day started very early with the 0500 alarm call as I wanted (well I calculated that I would need to time wise) to get breakfast in nice and early and basically get into my ski gear before heading to get the car out the garage!

Meanwhile Olivia was up and ready and we hit the road with her friend Roscoe, Bourg bound to the rendezvous point for the race today at the school at 0615! 0615 and it was not yet light but we made good time. So we arrived at the school in good time at 0700 and I dropped them off and I immediately turned around and headed back up to Val. It was nice in the morning sunshine and its not often I get to experience the commuter run in these parts! haha!

So I got back to Val and put the car away and no sooner had I done that but I got the message from the client that there was some unwell members of the party so we needed to change plans a little bit as to who was skiing with whom today. All system go! Lots of phone calls and sorting things out who was going to ski with who!

I barely managed a second cuppa before it was time to head into town and start the days work... I was shattered and the day had not even started yet.

Anyway we hatched a plan between myself and my colleague instructor who was doing what with whom and when and off we went. Since lunch was booked at the Folie for 1215 we had to be smart with our timings and locations etc. There had also been a really strong freeze overnight too so it was going to be tricky skiing some of the slopes up high.

Anyway some of the team wanted to head up the Olympic and others wanted to do the double chairlift option up the Face so we ended up having a race and the chair option was every so marginally slower in the end. So anyway we managed to sneak in a quick lap on the SkierCross course too in the time it took the slower team members with my colleague to do a lap and still had time to catch them up.

All good. We took an early hot choc break at the Empreinte Avalin and I decided to treat myself to a baseball hat of theirs.... everyone everywhere these days seems to sell or at least have their own baseball hats so im building up quite a nice collection actually! Hot choc break took a fair while as the kids were so tempted by all the pudding buffet option in there that they could not decide what they wanted.

Anyway with break time finished we realised that we should slowly start making our way towards the Folie for lunch as with quite a mixed group of abilities it could take some time! Alas we made it to the Folie dead on time and being such a lovely day sun wise it was great to be outside although I was little apprehensive it was going to be overly loud right next to the stage (as it turned out it was not too bad!).

What happened next was somewhat surreal. We sat down and ordered our drinks at what was, at that moment in time, a pretty quiet Folie with many of the tables around us still to fill up. One particular table next to ours filled up pretty quickly after we were sat and as I was sitting there my brain said to myself 'I know that person sitting there'. You know when you spot someone you know but you cant for the life of you place that person - well it was one of those moments!

Anyway we were discussing around the table who this person was and suddenly I remember who this face was, it was Katya the Strictly Come Dancing Pro dancer! OMG it was. Of course the kids were besides themselves with excitement and in all fairness when one of them asked her for an autograph and a photo she duly obliged. She seemed lovely!

So I thought that was the peak of the excitement but there was someone else on the table that I recognised but nobody else on our table recognised this person but I was sure I knew this lady was famous too. Suddenly after many minutes of head scratching I realised it was non other than Aimee Fuller the British Olympian Snowboarder! She stopped by our table when I said hi and she was really friendly! I think she was quite happy she was recognised on the table with Katya actually.

So anyway we enjoyed an amazing lunch and when the dancing and music ramped up even more Katya gave an impromptu dance in the isles next to us... how surreal. Finally it was only when she tried to get a taller gentlemen sitting on the table next to her on his feet to dance with her I realised that that person was actually non other than her dance partner from last season of England football old guard of Tony Adams. OMG 3 famous people on one table - haha!

Ultimately we had a good lunch and we dragged the kids and others out of there about 2.30 and we were able to get in a further 90 minutes or so of fun skiing around on the green triangle before the kids tired too much and we headed back! What a great day it tuned out to be.

Meanwhile Olivia got all the way to the Maurienne for her race and whilst it was again not her best days racing by her standards she still managed to wrack up enough points in the race and all the previous county level races she has done this season to end up being crowned 3rd best girl for her age group in the Savoie! Yes 3rd in the Savoie for 2014 girls which is an incredible achievement. So that means she finishes this season officially no1 in the upper Tarantaise, 3 in the Savoie based on results but for FFS points 2nd nationally and in ESF points 8th.... so what a season that has been! Amazing! She has some more training and of course the official try outs for the Ski Etude coming up but generally the season will now start winding down for her slowly but surely.

This evening Olivia got back really late and Ben too after his usual Judo on Tuesday evenings so we have only really just gotten the kids into bed - boy it has been a long day. Cant wait for bed and then it'll be time to go it all over again tomorrow (although not quite as early as it was today thankfully).

TTFN

So Katya was in the green jacket signing away the autographs etc, Tony Adams is the guy with his hand on his head and next to him is Aimee Fuller

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

P.S. Olivia won a lovely new ski servicing kit and wax set... she was annoyed as she wanted another medal or whatever but I think that is a much better prize!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

A bit of a breeze

So with Olivia making her own way to ski training this morning and not starting until 0930 it was a chilled start for her this morning. Ben was going to kids club therefore he only needed to throw on normal clothes so it was all very chilled this morning. Clare and I were on a normal meet so all pretty chilled.

Meanwhile the weather out there was looking very similar to what it has been of recent BUT there was a cloud looming in the forecast and to be honest all day there was some clouds here and there threatening to roll in although it has not really come to anything. However it was interesting that at altitude today there was a breeze (no more than that but when there has not been any for a while you really notice it!) so an extra layer was not dropped!

Anyway I headed to town and the team arrived BUT one of the kids had 'lost' their helmet, gloves and goggles overnight. My colleague and I put two and two together and called the Folie as surely that is where they must be and instead of the parents heading into town to buy new stuff this was a nice surprise! Ultimately we hatched a new plan to head all head up the Olympic and then I was to ski to the Folie where the kids and parent would already be having collected the missing items. However since the kids skis had come in the van first thing it meant I needed to carry the skis to him. Anyway so my colleague took the 'remaining' 4 kids for a lap or two whilst I skied to the Folie to collect him and then we were off. We lapped around for a while until meeting up with the others atop the Olympic a little later on in the morning.

My colleague and I had a quick chat about whether we thought now might be the time to take some of the kids down the Face (well the lower part of it anyway!). Some of the kids have been asking and I think a couple of them are ready. So it was a chance for me to ski the Face whilst she took the kids down the Olympic before (if all thumbs up) someone could upload on the Bellevarde chair to ski the lower part. So I skied the Face at about 1015 and to be honest it was over cooked and we had missed our opportunity unfortunately! It was too bumpy and too soft. Oh well!

So anyway we headed up Solaise and did some runs up there working further on technique and enjoying ourselves but the break time at Datcha was especially welcome for the kids and the Chourros went down a treat!

Alas we burnt off the calories as quickly as we could before we needed to get to the Refuge Solaise for lunch at 1230. Anyway lunch was amazing and no sooner had I sat down when the dad suggested we share the yummy roast chicken that needed two people to eat it. Oh yea I was right up for that and it was amazing.... slow cooked roast chicken with salad and potatoes - it was amazing! Yummy!

After lunch I think all the kids were in a food coma as non of them wanted to ski and only one of the adults so I skied one of the adults and one of the kids to the bottom and they headed home so that was my day over a little earlier than normal! It did mean that I was able to go collect Ben a little earlier than normal.

This evening Olivia has been getting on with some homework and we have enjoyed some family time before we start thinking towards school again tomorrow.

TTFN

P.S. I think the weather will be back to the normal sunshine again tomorrow but next week is looking somewhat juicy!

The south facing slopes (in the distance) really are losing all their snow now eh!

You'll need to Register first of course.

@Steve Angus, definitely know who Tony Adams is (Isn’t his arm always raised in the air? All the better to appeal for offside.) , heard of Aimee Fuller but wouldn’t recognise her, but this Katya???

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

ster - she is one of the professional dancers on British Televisions Strictly Come Dancing on the BBC

Very hot once again!

I woke really early this morning for some reason and was surprised to see that Clare was already up and about. It meant the day started far too early but as I needed to get to the meeting point extra early to record my weekly snow report it was good to be ahead of the curve this morning! The kids were sorted nice and early and off on the school bus which meant I was ready to get up to the rond pont nice and early too!

The sun was shining hard once again and the temperatures were supposed to be even warmer today.... phew how can that be! Im getting through sun cream at a rate of knots haha!

So at the rond pont I recorded my weekly snow report which was not as quick as it usually is for some reason and took quite a few takes but I got there in the end.

When the team arrived there was a lot of excitement and chat about 'are we going to ski the Face today'. It has been coming for a while now and getting the moment to do it with the kids was a case of finding the right moment snow wise etc. So today was the day and we headed up the two chairs and after the first gave the kids the option of skiing it from the top of the first chair.... as it turned out only the strongest skier of the team wanted to do it which was fine by me. So off we went and with the time of the season being as it is the piste is narrower than normal now with frozen bumps down the side so the 'piste' is only about 25m wide at present. Anyway being east facing the Face softens up nicely and early and it was the case today. Blimey it was wonderful first thing.

So smiles all around and with that ticked off we could head up and do some various slopes working on technique including a ski over to Tignes for hot choc at Aspen. One of the kids had never been to Tignes so she was excited! We did the jump park as well as crocodile alley and all sorts on the way back to Val for lunch!

Lunch today was at the Yule and it was lovely although sitting in the Sun was rather too hot for my liking!

After lunch we only had 3 of them left standing so it was just a quick trip up and around a few of the runs on Bellevarde before they too were tired so everyone was off and down the mountain earlier than normal at about 1530. With Olivia at gymnastics it was a chilled evening for the most part.

I cant believe it is Friday tomorrow as im really shattered and need an early night. Saturday will be the last full day on this booking before some time off on the Sunday and the its into another week.

Sorry bit of a writers block tonight so cant work out what to say this evening so will finish with some pictures instead.

TTFN

After all it is free

Ticked off

It was always going to be an even warmer day today and without much of a freeze on the lower half of the mountain but a hard freeze at altitude we needed to work the mountain even more carefully today. So it was a carbon copy getting the kids sorted this morning and out the door before I headed to the meet point. No sooner had I arrived at the meet point than the kids were out the van asking if they could do the Face. I think the one doing it yesterday had inspired them all to do it. So there was a slightly tricky conversation telling one of the kids that they could not do it as they were not experienced enough but she took it well enough bless her.

So off we headed with all the adults in the right place i.e. one coming up to follow and film the achievement (hopefully) and one waiting with the remaining child at the bottom. I was surprised at how busy it was first thing this morning I really was. Yesterday morning there was hardly anyone heading up the Bellevarde Express at the same time whereas today there was a queue. Strange!

Anyway after a small wobble at the top the kids focused and we jumped into the Face from the top of the Bellevarde Express. It was certainly a lot busier the run first thing with a lot of people having the same idea to get it ticked off before it was too chopped up.

So there were a lot of smiles as the kids had nailed it - well done and bravo!

After sorting that out we split into two groups with one group more focusing on some gates training on the Legettaz and I took the 'fun' group and we headed up Solaise to do some technique and some fun things like the skier cross run! Hot choc break was taken at one of our usual haunts of the Datcha where the kids had the usual crepes and nutella or the like. Yummy and happy kids all around! haha!

We needed to get all the way over to the Signal for lunch! This proved a little problem as one of the kids really did NOT want to do the up and over so it meant that we splintered back into 2 groups which meant a couple went on the up and over with 'E' and I took a couple down the L which was in decent condition and that way!

The temperatures were really getting up. It was nice to get to the Signal for a drink and a rest. However having kids with us we found out that they really do NOT like doing a kids menu there at all. In fact there was a bit of a grumpy moment with the waiter in asking if there was anything the kids could have and in the end they agreed to do a kids burger but someone wanted the thai noodles without the tuna on top but they insisted that it would still be the €39 price tag for that! eeek! Anyway whilst the food was good the service was average and they were not exactly helpful with a mixed group of adults and kids!

Anyway nice food and we were off.

Only a few of the kids were keen to ski after lunch so we made the most of the nice snow up on the Glacier before calling it quits and heading back down. With them all packed off back to the chalet I headed into town to look for some end of week gifts for them all. Lets hope the Val branded pencil cases and some Easter chocs goes down a treat! Haha!

This evening apart from getting the kids sorted for Olivias ski training tomorrow (its actually assessment for entry into Ski Etude for next year) we have had friends of Clare come to stay for a couple of nights!

Anyway shattered again this evening so...

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Good luck Olivia!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

thierryd / motyl - thank you both so much. She seems very happy this evening so we will see what the outcome is in the next week or few but fingers crossed!

Well that was unexpected

At first light this morning it was pretty clear bar a few clouds in the sky and there had hardly been a freeze overnight. Of course being a Saturday it was always going to be mega quiet day and especially so at this time of the year! Olivia headed off very early to get the bus to town and to get the club bus to St Foy for the assessment. Meanwhile Ben was taken to Club for his days race training.

Meanwhile Clare was back with the same lot and me too but I was somehow running quite late today. I made it in time but it was lucky I got there on time (not sure quite what happened but anyway alls well that ends well!).

So the weather was looking OK and when we decided who was skiing where and when off we went. However my team had a problem as there lift passes were not working and it transpired the TO had bought it to start on the wrong day. Anyway luckily they could see it had not been used on the 'first' day so were able to put it back a day to effectively add a day (today). Anyway at the second attempt we were off.

With the teams all combined we went for a team ski to Tignes but the weather was already closing in.... there was also a breeze at altitude from the south.

I took some of the kids through the park and then later on down the Johan Clarey to Le Lac. We went marmots spotting (we saw a fair few) on the Palafour lift and then had hot choc but the weather was moving in more and more. By the time we were coming back up the Toviere to head back to town for lunch it was actually SNOWING! There was plenty of wind too and atop the Toviere it was actually a blizzard - incredible!

Slowly but surely we made our way back across towards the Olympic and downloaded as lunch was at L'Etincelle. The kids were hungry on the whole, one felt a little sick, one had a sore throat and everyone generally wanted just to have a rest. So lunch was excellent as always and we had a good laugh and rest but out the window the weather was getting better again. In fact after we had done the awards on the decking of badges and easter chocs and the like it was actually quite sunny!

So in the afternoon 3 of the kids wanted to have a ski for an hour so off we went back up and just did some requests of the jump park, crocodile alley and the like. By now the sun was shining and it was actually really quite nice. haha!

So we did a good hour or so before the legs got tired so we called it a day about 1500.

E and I took the opportunity to have a well deserved drink in the sun before I collected Ben and Olivia from their various days exploits and head home. It has been the normal Saturday evening but we decided on a takeaway.

Meanwhile our friends / guests spent the day out skiing with their friends and have been back to shower and change and now are back out with them for dinner so we have hardly seen them at all.

After a lot of large and rich meals all week (all excellent in my book!) I am just going to enjoy some Master golf on TV and maybe some tomato soup - yummy! Tomorrow I have a day off and I think its just Olivia that actually needs to get up - yippee - cant wait for a lie in!

The weather meanwhile tomorrow will finally start changing for the worse for a few days so it will be interesting to see how it actually pans out.

TTFN

P.S. I noticed that yesterday in the 'Flat Land Champs' (the national champs of the so called flat countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and Denmark) that in the slalom Britain's Zak Carrick Smith won. The main thing to note about that was that NOT only did he win BUT he beat Flavio Vitale. Flavio was junior world champ this year (in GS admittedly) and has had 2nd runs now in the World Cup.... oh and I also taught him GCSE PE when I worked at Apex during COVID!

P.P.S. They started (see photo below) making the Red Bull invitational 'park' set up on Bellevarde today - hope its as good as last year actually!

snow reports

Come on Rory!

I fell asleep watching some of the golf last night so it was actually a very late night but I slept loads if you get my drift! Either way I was surprised when I looked at my watch this morning and it was mega mega late (id say by most peoples standards anyway) as it was 0830. I could hear Olivia downstairs clicking into her ski boots! So I dashed down to say good morning and have a nice mornings skiing and then I could actually start my morning properly.

Ben had been up for a while and Clare was obviously up sorting Olivia out and meanwhile our guests were still in bed sleeping so all in all it was a pretty sedate start. I could enjoy many a nice cup of tea and then make our guests and I some yummy scrambled eggs on toast for breakie! Wow what a civilised way to start the day as Ben was engrossed in his TV program so we could have a proper conversation! Nice!

Anyway they headed out for a ski, I did some laundry and bits and bobs around the house, Ben and I played chess and generally we chilled out. With Ben having a friend (it actually turned into 2 in the end) around for a play date this afternoon it was always going to be as calm a morning as possible! Happy days!

So at lunchtime Bens friend came around and Olivia was back from skiing (they had been testing out various models of SL and GS skis and manufactures this morning ahead of choosing their brand and model for next years skiing). They had pizza and chips with ice cream which basically meant I picked at the leftovers and a very big rarity... I had a beer with lunch!

Of course being a weekend there was a full day of sport to watch so I have watched both the IPL cricket matches today (I have done fatherly duties too I promise) and am now settling in to watch the final round of the Master unfold... come on Rory! There is something about the Masters that makes it my favourite... the IMMACULATE looking course, the fact it is glorious sunshine in a 'fantasy' world whilst everything in these parts is still wintery for the most part with coldish nights, snow and skis abound but also the time difference means I can sit and really watch it properly AND of course the colours. It is just magic it really is! So im cheering for Rory as he has come so close including that infamous collapse at Augusta all those years ago and this will be the grand slam finally completed - dare I say its now or never Rory! Although being patriotic I wont mind if Rose wins too! We shall see.

Anyway I have done some referring in kids arguments and games this afternoon but with two more pretty busy weeks to go (well they are quite busy from the point of view of this time of the year when im pretty 'end of season' fatigued!) ive just tried to recharge batteries somewhat all day.

We had a family meal together and the kids have had a bath and washed hair etc but otherwise they have one more week of school this week before their school hols start!

Tomorrow I start (after a one off session in the morning) with a week with a beginner (I believe) kid so that will be fun.

The weather this week is somewhat 'interesting' and I can tell you that whilst the weather actually during the day today was pretty nice - broken cloud / cloudy with the odd chance of blue sky this evening it has really moved in big time unfortunately. It has been raining all this evening which hopefully means snow at altitude but of course I doubt there will be much of a freeze overnight - eeek!

Ive posted this photo from Radio Val which was actually yesterday as there was a rock slide yesterday and whilst this is NOT uncommon or worrying its the fact that (like avalanche planning) resorts are really good at being able to plan for things like this. People are not aware but there is a huge (see photo) rock wall as you enter Val after the last tunnel down the side of the road to protect the road from rock falls and the like. I was actually driving along there years ago when a huge avalanche came down from above and the dust swept across the road - impressive!

TTFN

Result

WOW what an exciting evening of golf that was. Could not have gone better with Justin coming in 2nd but blimey Rory made me bite my nails! Some amazing shots and some silly shots too but hats off to Justin for playing so well... he'll be kicking himself for a couple of dropped shots earlier in the week but then again Rory probably should have won it easier than he did.

Anyway it was a really late night watching the golf but so worth it!

So it was a struggle getting out of bed this morning but hey ho it was worth the late night. I took the kids to the bus this morning as Clare needed to leave early to get to the chalet (something about needing help at the rental shop too) and they were on form this morning which made things easier thankfully! Yay! My client messaged me to say that he was going (he did this last night actually!) to struggle to get his teen kids up and out early enough this morning so suggested we just meet at 0915 / 0930 instead! In exchange he asked (given it was a late start) he suggested on meeting at his hotel in the town centre so easy enough since the hotel is enroute to the slopes.

Since it is a relatively 50:50 busy-wise week I decided not to make sandwiches today and instead headed across the road to buy lunch for today. They do nice chicken and salad baguettes in there. So there was one left on the stand but I noticed that I could not see any chicken sticking out the side of the baguette so carefully behind the plastic wrapping I pulled it open and low and behold there was no chicken in it... I think someone was having a bad day when they made that one. Needless to say I went for the cheese and hame one instead!

So the am session was with a mother and teen daughter and the aim of the session was some tips and to show them around. They had not skied the Solaise side so we spent the morning up there with some tips but plenty of mileage thrown in. A nice session all in all.

There was some cloud about and a decent southerly breeze blowing and over the top of the up and over at the Fornet it was pretty thick cloud which meant heading up higher to the glacier was not really and option. All in all the weather was not as bad as forecast today though but certainly felt a few degrees colder and with the cloud cover overnight there was no freeze so all the slopes were nice and soft from the get go. However the biggest result of the day was that there was no rain - phew!

Lunch was back to being taken under the Sun Bar (the baguette sandwich was nice!) before I headed outside for my pm session.

It was lovely 5 year old little girl beginner who was super sweet! My colleague had the big teen brothers of her and they seemed really nice too.

Anyway we headed straight up to the small magic carpet on Solaise and I did the business with teaching little ones. Have not really done many small kids (or beginner adults for that matter) all season so it was nice for a change and having 5 sessions over the week with her I think it will be a satisying week. Lets hope the weather plays ball! Anyway for the first session it went really well and by the end she was just about holding a snowplough. We had a nice hot chocolate in the Lounge at half time and she even enjoyed a go on the swings on the Val Kids area.

The only problem was I got a phone call from the father to say the mother had broken her arm whilst off snowboarding whilst I was teaching the daughter which put a damper on things.

This evening the kids were shattered (last week of the term) so we got them into bed early.

Tomorrow the weather will be interesting once again.

TTFN

Something TOTALLY unrelated to anything ski wise.... I saw this map earlier today - its shows distribution of the world where Google Street View works - incredible!

You know it makes sense.

Its all about to change!

From a rather Spring looking valley to what could be the largest snowfall of the season when this 'bomb' hits!

The Val glacier / Italian border area is the lower grey bit with the 271 written on it. This is expected accumulations in the next 48 hours or so! This is the CLASSIC 'retour' set up where moist air comes from the Med up the Italian valleys and as it condenses with altitude it forms precipitation but as that breeze (its not a wind as its not cause by a weather depression system) pushes it up and over into france the moisture petters out leaving very little it anything snowfall / rain down the main valleys toward Chambery etc! Sometimes its as marked as snowfall in the Fornet and nothing even as close as La Daille. However this weather system is MAJOR as the high pressure system was so dominant for so long in this area.

Anyway the long and short of it is that it will probably rain ALL DAY tomorrow below about 2500m and dump with snow at the Fornet / Solaise and I would not be surprised if they just dont bother opening Fornet / Val glacier at all tomorrow! Meanwhile the rest of the resort will be sodden all day and all night - there is a lot to come our way!

Back to today!....

So it was a carbon copy of yesterday in many ways with me taking the kids to the bus and Clare heading to the chalet for her meet point. I headed to the bottom of the Solaise to meet my guys and it was the next session with my little girl I have this week! She was so excited and keen to get going and she really is a sweetie!

So off we went and the snow had NOT frozen again overnight thanks to the cloud cover from yesterday. This meant it was that lovely soft creamy snow and as we were the first up the hill we had the place to ourselves! Amazing.

Apart from the double apple juice break (she was so thirsty!) she was on fire non stop skiing laps on the small carpet. For someone who only turned 5 a couple of weeks back she is doing so very well she really is. Bravo! Initially it was just snowploughing 'red light / green light game' and then introduced the snow ball game as well as Simon says and by the end she was just about making linked turns. So for a second day she is making amazing progress. Now depending on the weather tomorrow (more on that in a moment) it will be the big carpet and potentially Madeleine but I suspect the weather will not allow the step. However given the FL we will need to stay high!

So talking of the weather yes this massive snowfall / rain coming our way and I have noted that they have already raised the av risk to 4 tomorrow. IF the amount of snowfall comes with the wind and high freezing level then there is a chance it could get to localised 5 on slopes that have not already gone. E.g. places like the Manchet valley / Marmottons area will be lethal so be careful out there.

Anyway after my lesson this morning I headed home for lunch and did a load of household chores before Clare got back from work and then Olivia from school. The main entertainment this evening has been Olivia doing her physical assessment with the online S+C coach we have hired to help her out over the next few months (it was something she requested as she wants to get bigger and stronger going forward and moving into next season wants to avoid any injuries that are more likely to come down the line).

Otherwise we are bracing for what might come our way overnight and into tomorrow with lots of warnings bouncing around the place! Eeek. Im just hoping we can ski tomorrow and im not a total drowned rat by 1000 with another 2 hours to go. Haha

TTFN

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

Well that was much better than expected

First thing I heard this morning was the pitter patter outside on the roof but NOT as intense as I thought it would be. Indeed opening the curtains it was just 'wet' out there but nothing too bad at all. In fact Olivia was having a lazy morning so she was sleeping in, Ben was heading to kids club and both Clare and I were working although I got a message from the Dad of the little girl I was teaching to say they were running a little behind schedule this morning but hey ho.

Anyway looking out the window you could see they were putting the cabins on the Solaise (good sign), the top of Bellevarde was just about visible AND you could see a thin layer of snow had fallen about 2500m. Also it looked reasonably OK Tignes direction. It was a heavy drizzle out there so not nearly as bad as I thought it could be. It was always going to be the vis and wind up top that could be the problem (or not). Luckily I had a colleague who headed up top really early and it looked OK actually out there amazingly!

So I met 'S' and she was on form... she is such a bright bubbly character for a 5 year old and nothing seems to dampen her spirits. It helps that she is super sporty too. Anyway we headed up the Solaise and there was light snow falling and it was not too damp either. The best bit was that the wind was coming from a sort of south east direction and the Lounge building (and on the double carpet side the carper itself) was blocking most of the wind out so it was pretty calm and nice all things considered on the carpet area. TBH those of us instructors who were teaching up there today probably lucked out as to where we could have been teaching.

Anyway the session was excellent and she continues to make good progress. The Lounge however at hot choc break time was ABSOLUTELY mobbed as you can imagine but a hot choc with cream and smarties went down a treat with her - amazing!

So after the break we did some laps of the big magic carpet and she killed it. Amazing work!

So after a long morning we were all starting to get a little wet to be honest as the temp rose somewhat and down in town this 'snow' was falling as heavy rain and boy it was heavy! Anyway I collected Ben and headed home and we had a couple of hours before I was due to take Ben down the valley to the speech and language lady so we played some chess, watched some TV, dried out all our wet clothes and chilled for the most part.

It was definitely one of those days when you needed the umbrella the second you stepped out the door and going to get the car was no exception! So Ben and I headed to Bourg, he saw the lady, we collected the food shop and headed back up the hill. I was quite surprised that before Brev the rain had turned to snow and by this evening even down here in town here in La Daille there has been about 15-20cm of fresh snow on the ground so up top there will be a lot more than that. It is RAGING out there and will continue for the next 24 hours minimum. They are talking about av risk being 4 in this part of the world tomorrow and up towards the Fornet / Val glacier and over towards the Maurienne up to 5. A combination of the amount of snow, wind, temps, no base as well as those slopes which have not purged already, a persistent weak layer that has been there all season... it is all coming together to make a perfect storm and I would not be surprised at all if some HUGE category 3 slides come down over the next few days... especially areas like the road up to Fornet could be closed tomorrow.

As usual NEVER write Winter off in these parts until it gets to May! Winter is back!

Tomorrow I am working in the morning - there is PIDA starting at 0630 and hopefully 'S' will be on form and we can get a decent ski in tomorrow. I am not working in the afternoon but the weather all day tomorrow will be pretty juicy! Stay safe everyone!

By Friday and Saturday the storm should have passed by! Hopefully.

So one final week of the season to go for me and then it will all be over for another year - cant believe it has flown by once again.

TTFN

'S' didnt care about the heavy snowfall - she loves that tunnel!

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, fabulous photo!

A snowHead

KSH - thanks. Liked it myself!

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

Brilliant, we did much the same yesterday but added Madeleine as well. Hope to see you out there today!!

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

Frustrating day

Well I certainly did NOT wake to the sound of rain but quite the opposite - the sounds of silence. Now I know there was stuff coming from the sky outside but being totally quiet out there it must be falling as snow.

Indeed upon opening the curtains it was heavy snowfall and a lot had come down. It was immediately a case of turning on the radio to Radio Val, tuning into the radar / weather reports etc as well as starting to lease with the clients about what might open and when. The first piece of news really was that the road to Bourg was closed and this meant the school bus would not be able to get here. It also means that many of the lifties could not get up either so there would be some closures thats for sure.

Next I was listening for the first blasts of the day. However it was obvious that things could take some time to become clear and heard early doors that the school would not be open in the morning. So we were trying to work out what we would do with the kids as well as lease with clients (Both Clare and I) asking queries etc.

Anyway it was also obvious that not much would open today and there was a hope that they could get something like the funi open and the like but they would start with the Village. This would be fine for my client as that could be 'S''s first chair lift ride. Perfect! Anyway finally as they got the Village open and even with a reduced fleet of drivers for the train rouge we got the news that the road to Fornet was closed and thus as my clients were staying there we could not get on with the lesson - doh!

Meanwhile our kids were busy outside digging snow and more of it... in fact all the kids in the block were outside making snowmen, having snowball fights, making igloos etc. Of course you have to stay well away from the building on days like this and they were telling people not to let kids play near buildings so it was a constant battle keeping them out in the middle of the courtyard which worked quite well! The snow was still coming down thick and fast though and certainly quite wet!

Clares clients were more than happy to wait it out until more things were open and that wait when on and on.

Finally it was lunchtime and still no shift in anything really with the road to Bourg still shut as the Fornet road etc. There was clearly not going to be much else opening up on the hill so Clares clients called it a day before it got going, school being shut was getting a little old news and frustrating as the kids were climbing the wall and I was now trying to work out how we can sort other bookings out coming up but we got there.

So the afternoon ended up quite like the morning really with the kids playing outside and I ended up playing both the kids a lot of chess with.

With long baths and early nights I think we can draw a line under a frustrating day where the clients couldnt ski even though the lifts needed to ski were open! Our kids meanwhile had an ace day!

Tomorrow the avalanche risk will remain at 4 and lets see what PIDA work we get in the morning and lets hope for everything opening at a decent time. I think there will be a powder frenzy out there tomorrow. With some of the antics of slides into car parks today, road closures and everything in-between it can only be a little calmer tomorrow and with the sun shining it should be. eeek!

Home made hot chocs - anything to get the kids onside on a day like today!

Before and...

Thanks to Charlie P for letting me use his 2 photos here.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Bonus powder

With the sun coming out (although there was a lingering cloud for the first hour or so at top of mountain height which was a little annoying) it was always going to be a great day. Given the longer days at this time of the year the pisteurs had been out blasting from early doors so it meant that things could (some things) open on time.

Anyway as Clare was on a chalet meet again I took the kids down to the bus for their last day of term. It was Easter bonanza with chocolate for the bus driver and the assistant on the bus. But I was able to get to the meet point early as I knew it would be carnage with a million and one people wanting to get to the slopes for first lifts.

As I say I met my little girl and as the Solaise opened dead on time it was game on. I new that there would not be much open up there bar the magic carpet AND despite the signs that also said as much still people plodded up there and those that could not ski the red down (and plenty that probably shouldn't be doing so) were then stuck up whilst they got the carpet up and running and even then the Madeleine was the only option! However it worked perfectly as we could get a small then big margin carpet run in before hitting the Madeleine up BEFORE it got too chopped up and busy and basically too hard for her little legs! Perfect.

So she was so happy to be taking her first chairlift ride and she handled it so well taking just a single fall. Very proud of her. She skied it really well. Even by the second trip down Madeleine it was getting bumpy so taking her for a hot choc was a sensible move! It also worked out excellent timing as her Dad had his ski gear sorted by now and he joined us for a quick drink before we all then did some laps on the big carpet but by now the whole area was SO busy. I have NEVER seen a queue for the Madeleine lift quite like it! Bonkers.

Anyway it was a nice morning and ill see her for her last session tomorrow - nice! It will be lovely and quiet and I think I will take her up Bellevarde and we can attempt the green triangle maybe - we shall see.

So lunch was a busy one as needed to get to the office to get back packs for the afternoon as well as eat my sandwich. I had been keeping an eye on what was open, what seemed to be moving as well as the temps etc. It was going to be a tricky afternoon making safe calls but also keeping people safe and finding nice snow as the temps were going up fast and the avalanche risk was off the scale. Added to all that there was going to be a limited amount open. So anyway I hatched a plan... Datcha flats, bus stop, Livre Blanc trees and then finally bus (Laisenant Express was not open) to Fornet to access via the Pyramides into Grand Vallon as much as possible (that traverse around was going to be the danger spot today). So alas we found some amazing thigh deep powder although you needed some speed to get through it as it was getting pretty heavy so staying as high as possible and north worked as well as it could.

Anyway the seasonnaires that I took for the afternoons off piste loved it... all 6 of them were YSE girls and they reckoned it was the best day of their season so far - awesome!

So I returned packs and the kids are now back home for a couple of weeks so tomorrow Olivia has a rest day BEFORE she starts a couple of weeks of training but Ben will be skiing all day. Im working in the morning and Clare all day. Tomorrow evening we are all out for dinner with some friends!

TTFN

Even getting to the bus stop this morning required nagivagating big piles of snow!

Could be mid Winter again couldnt it!

The magic carpet is now an underground sensation!

Freshies and...

....splats.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Not that unusual to get big snowfalls in the back half of April but wow, this massive dump in such a short time seems exceptional this time!

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

After all it is free

PeakyB / mountainaddict - yes totally. We get a surprise at least once a year like this. I remember being stuck in resort many years back in mid May when I was trying to get out. In general there is SO much sensationalism out there there really is. I saw something today talking about a 'freak' avalanche somewhere... the fact of the matter is avalanche paths are well marked out but the article was written as if an avalanche occurred out of nowhere. Elsewhere I read about 'ski resorts being shut' etc and elsewhere about 'no off piste skiing when the risk is 4/5 or 5/5 as its the dumbest thing ever'.... well again what was meant is that most of the lifts were shut not the resort was closed and the risk when its that high can be safely managed by going to terrain that is not steep enough to slide... perfectly safe. There are so many things you see and hear in the industry like that! There are so many self appointed 'experts' out there. haha

Well that was rare!

Today has been a really mixed day.

Firstly Ben needed to get to the meet point, Olivia was having a rest day before her 2 weeks with Club really got off the ground, Clare was teaching all day and I was only working this morning! I went in full on Spring mode as it was going to be mega hot like yesterday!

After dropping Ben off I met little 'S' for her last ski of the week with me and we did the green triangle with a hot choc stop thrown in. She has come so far this week - very proud of her. We even managed to catch the pink bubble down which made her day too! A little prize ceremony at the bottom made her day.

Lunchtime was a quick jaunt with Ben up to the Lounge! Olivia headed to lunch with a friend so Ben and I picked up a Chevallot lunch and then we headed up to the Lounge and ate it before playing a game of chess. Finally Ben and I skied back down to the meet point for his pm session and I headed home to change.

From 1630 when I collected Ben after his ski and Olivia got home from her friends house we dashed about showering and changing etc before heading into town for a VERY rare occurrence in the Winter - dinner out. It was with a VERY long standing client of mine that I first taught some 20 years ago when I first came to Val ! They have been long standing clients every since then and I ski with them on and off several times a season now. Cant believe their boys are now well into their 20's! Blimey!

We headed to the Fondue Factory and it was an amazing meal. I have not eaten there for years but it was amazing actually... super nice food and company!

We got back about an hour ago and have just gotten the kids into bed.

Tomorrow I start the final long booking of the season in the morning with some new clients and new comers to Val... should be another good week.

Anyway I plan to finish my last daily blog of the season mid week so a few more days to go.

TTFN

There is definately another retour brewing out there today and it should snow some more overnight.

Help!!

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

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