 Poster: A snowHead
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Writing from the Essence lounge at BRS, having had an uncharacteristically easy journey so far: trains from Cardiff Queen St to Temple Meads, caught a bus a couple of minutes after getting to the bus stop, and was through bag drop and security very rapidly: EasyJet had emailed yesterday to say that bag drop would open 3 hours before departure for my flight, so I was anticipating huge crowds, but so far everything's much quieter than it was on my last trip in mid-December. If everything goes according to plan I'll land in Grenoble in time for Ben's Bus to get me to Villeneuve by about 7:30 this evening.
Booked the trip about a month ago (I was worried about places selling out, but looking at the course details there are still places available. As it happens I seem to have got pretty lucky with the snow: it was a toss-up between this week and the week just gone (I'd have been flying back today), and I'm hoping that we'll spend much of the week enjoying the snow that's fallen recently, even if there isn't quite as much forecast to fall this week as was the case a few days ago. It's a 'freerando' trip, so if we're fortunate there'll still be some good snow accessible with a short skin: but I'm mindful that it's currently L4, so we might well be limited as to what we can do.
Looking forward to the course, and to discovering the area and the UCPA Centre.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Following this as I'll be there in March. All info much appreciated.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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So, all going well so far. Spent yesterday (it was L4) almost exclusively on the pistes: I'm rooming with an anglophone who is doing the intro to touring, so we spent the day together. For the freerando course they've given us pin (rather than hybrid) bindings, (which surprised me a little), fitted onto Rossi Sky 7s that they previously used on all-mountain courses. They ski well enough, and while all things being equal I'd prefer Shifts or similar, I'm not complaining at this price.
First day with our instructor today: he's early 40s and has worked for UCPA since he was a teenager, and has been based in Serre Che for a good while (he teaches kayaking and mountain biking in the summer). His opening words were that this is not a touring course: it's one where we use touring kit to access the best descents, which suits me down to the ground. We're only four in the group: 30s to mid-40s, 3 French and me. The instructor to do everything in English first and then translate, but we're doing it all in French (which was my mild preference, and the strong preference of one of the others).
Had a few nice runs this morning (it's down to L3 today), mostly off TS Clot Gauthier (including the Bosse à Jules) before practising putting probes and shovels together and talking through rescue protocol, along with plenty of talk about snowpack and surface signals on the chairs. This afternoon we practised searching and digging out backpacks, before taking TS Vallons, looping round the cabins at the top to the traverse skier's left, and then skinning over a little col to find some nice snow for a few turns. Descended back to the Centre for a beer together & a chat about the coming week.
The Centre is absolutely full this week, which means it can be a bit crowded, in particular at breakfast and in the ski room at 8:45, and bar area can be pretty crowded, but overall everything seems to be working very well. It doesn't seem to have been renovated quite as recently as the ValTho Centre (with which it shares more similarities than differences), but it's perfectly serviceable, particularly since the £1,187.54 I paid includes 7 nights' full-board accommodation, 4 full days and one half-day of instruction, all kit (I'm only using skis and skins, but still) and a 7-day lift pass. Mostly four-person dorms (there are some sixes I gather) with a shower between 4 and a loo between 8 (plus plenty more loos on the corridor). Food extremely pleasant for the price, and so far there have always been many options available.
@Gainz, let me know if you have any particular questions/if there's anything you need me to try to find out.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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It's been several years since I went to Serre Chevalier but the bar area was one of the things that I didn't like so much about that centre compared to other UCPAs. It was quite small and crowded and when I went most of the furnishings were high tables and chairs which made it hard to move around and meet other groups. From the pics on the website it does look like they have since changed the tables and chairs to a more sociable arrangement.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I have never been but the food at UCPA Serre Chevalier has long had a good reputation among UCPA centres, glad it is holding up!
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 13-01-26 12:55; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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The bar's now a mixture of high tables/stools and sofas around lower tables, but it's still quite difficult to circulate and meet others: there's just not enough floor space to circulate between tables, and all the sitting areas get occupied by groups fairly quickly. It's certainly something that the ValTho Centre does much better, but then they've got so much more real estate available for socializing.
Spent the morning above Monetier to avoid the fog, which was considerable in and above Villeneuve. First run was a long one through the Écrins national park off the top of TS Yret (Montagnons, I think the run/area was called), we reached the bottom at Monetier at 11am. Then if I recall correctly we did a run off TS Cibout, before returning via TS Cucumelle for lunch.
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This afternoon we went left off the top of TS Prorel, did a nice little traverse and then skinned up over a little col (good kick-turn practice) to find a nice run down the other side, I think it's called 'l'envers du foret'). Descended through the trees to the bottom of TS Aiguillette, which we'd just missed, and then down to the bottom at Chantemerle to return via the gondola. All in all a very pleasant day!
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@JayRo Montagnolle, probably? Slightly sketchy entry into a big bowl, with a long winding path out along the river? A Monetier classic.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| mgrolf wrote: |
| @JayRo Montagnolle, probably? Slightly sketchy entry into a big bowl, with a long winding path out along the river? A Monetier classic. |
That’s it, yes: thank you! One of the others in the group misheard it as Champignons, and the ending must have stuck! 8, maybe 10 decent-sized, moderately hard (slightly chalky) moguls at the entry, then a beautiful big bowl followed by that path.
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@JayRo, it's a regular route for groups on the SOPiB. Sometimes the entry involves side stepping down over a load of rocks. And the path out can be a pleasant undulating ride or an icy rollercoaster. One year, avalanche debris blocked the track halfway down.
Took a while to cross this!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@JayRo, nothing in particular mate, thanks just how it is generally. I've been to the Val t centre and Les arcs and they are both the most modern if I remember rightly. I'm on the off piste Extreme snowboard so a little apprehensive but probably due to fitness at the moment. I guess it'll be good to know how the leveling is nowadays. I was on confirme in the past and found it challenging at the start but got into my stride after a day or two.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Set off this morning (which was free for almost everyone) with 3 Swedes from the L2 off-piste group with the intention of doing Montagnolle again. As we were going up TS Vallons one of them got a message from a 19yo Swedish snowboardism-sufferer (with no off-piste kit) saying that her roommates had had too late a night (I think Americans unused to being allowed to drink) & that she had no one to ride with, so she joined us, & we mostly lapped TS Vallons, doing assorted off-piste runs through the variable (but still quite good) snow skier's right, plus she took us over some terraces ('because it was good yesterday' was her response to my 'why the  did you bring us here?') where there had been soft snow yesterday, which had of course frozen into the most horrible breakable crust (an enjoyable challenge nonetheless).
This afternoon we went up TK Mea, traversed and then skinned up the far side to the next col before the Tête de la Balme. A bit of steep bootpacking through loose stones and slush required before the top, as the slab didn't look/feel stable enough to skin all the way to the top. Some lovely views over the valley before a beautiful descent (through a mixture of soft snow and bearing crust) before descending to Villeneuve via Barres and Bez. Another lovely day!
@Gainz, I'd say, if in doubt go down a group, but I'm sure there'll be some kind of 'harmonisation' exercise to make sure no one's bored/struggling. That said, we've got a relatively wide ability range for a group of four (even wider when one of the UCPA bartenders comes out with us, as yesterday & tomorrow morning: she's extremely good), but we're still all enjoying ourselves, all feeling challenged, & all learning. It helps that no one is holding the group up too much, though.
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@JayRo, why dont you go further afield or are you limited to the resort?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Weathercam wrote: |
| @JayRo, why dont you go further afield or are you limited to the resort? |
That's a good question. I think it's because this course is based on the lift infrastructure here plus a small amount of ascent to find the best descents. There are also 'Évasion' groups (there's a snowboard one this week, and there are also ski ones; they've only just introduced freerando here, but I'm hoping that there'll be that, too, in due course) that spend days at La Grave, PSC, Montgenevre etc. And there's a 'première randonnée' group that is going farther afield (a day tour today, and a two-day overnight trip that starts tomorrow), with a much greater focus on the uphill.
I'm not sure if that answers your question, but if there's something more specific you want to know I can ask (&/or speculate)!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I was just curious, there's not a lot of good skiing to be had even if you do take a guide and travel, wind has done for a lot of potential sectors at altitude and snow now heavy humid in the trees on N facing slopes.
Mates went on a very big tour lac des cordes where you would have expected good conditions but they said it was ok but maybe not worth the hassle of getting out of the valley at the other end, and said what we did was probably the better option.
Ironically now it's the Cross Country where conditions are superb  s
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Poster: A snowHead
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@JayRo, I'm on the Snowboard Off Piste Grand Traces Evasion - Expert (lol when I read it still makes me laugh) and there isnt a level below. I'm going to suck it in and go for it!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A lovely longish day today: after some more avalanche training (four of us located and excavated two bags inside nine minutes) we went off the back of TS Grand Serre, descended through the patchy south-facing snow (sometimes soft and thick where it had been blown by the wind), then skinned up the other side for a few lovely turns through the forest. Then skinned back up the road through the forest to join Chauvet, where we stopped for lunch overlooking Briançon, then returned to Villeneuve via a drink at the mid-station.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Couple of really nice runs down Jackson off the top of TS Yret this morning (one involving a rather hairy bootpack up to/through a small gap in the rock): the transitions from chalky to slightly heavy, soft snow weren't clear, but that's all part of the fun (right?). Then a lovely afternoon's tree skiing, mostly off TS Aiguillette, where we found some fantastic mostly untracked steeps in the falling snow. I was tempted to do a run or two in the morning (perhaps even to skin up from 7am) before a 10:25 departure, but I decided not to in the end: I'm going to have a relaxing morning and pack and do the necessary cleaning.
All in all a great trip, & I'm looking forward to returning here, probably for an Évasion course (either off-piste or freerando, if it comes into being).
| Gainz wrote: |
| @JayRo, I'm on the Snowboard Off Piste Grand Traces Evasion - Expert (lol when I read it still makes me laugh) and there isnt a level below. I'm going to suck it in and go for it!! |
I spoke to our instructor today, so said firstly that the pitch and difficulty of the runs doesn't vary that much between the advanced and expert groups (it's more about the pace on each run and through the day), and secondly that they can always adapt the plans slightly to the ability of the group. There's always the potential issue that you get one early expert alongside (in his words) 'four monsters' but I guess that can happen at pretty much any level, and there's always going to be someone who's the least experienced/accomplished in each group. So nique-elle!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Ah thanks man. I'll be fine but knowing my luck my group will be all Travis Rice types!! I don't mind keepng up but don't want to keep anyone from getting the most out of their week. How was the food and general vibe at the centre? Quiz nights still on?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Gainz wrote: |
| How was the food and general vibe at the centre? Quiz nights still on? |
The food was pretty good, given the cost and numbers involved. Not everything was great (& I didn't dare try the pasta), but I never had any trouble finding (more than) enough to eat.
The general vibe was pretty sociable. There were a few groups who perhaps gave the impression of keeping themselves to themselves, although I think that was more a matter of e.g. language or pre-existing friends than anything else, and I never had any issue talking to any of them. For example, there was a group of anglos who were mostly put up in the same rooms who tended to socialize together, but they were never unfriendly or exclusive. & the Swedes I went out with on Wednesday morning (one from my dorm) were always super friendly when we met again, whether on the slopes/lifts or in the bar/restaurant.
One thing I've really liked about my last two UCPA trips is when members of staff have come out with us on their days off. In ValTho a couple of years back we were joined by one of the techs from the ski loan, & this week the bar & entertainment manager (a good off-piste skier) joined us on Tuesday and Thursday, & again at our debrief over a kir yesterday evening. That was lovely, because it led to our hanging out and chatting with more of the staff that evening.
I generally went to bed pretty early, but from what I could see the entertainment was a lot of fun and not too forced. There was a pre-dinner 'apéro quiz' most evenings (my favourite involved guessing the celebrity from their bald head), the water pong (they stopped doing anything involving compulsory drinking some years back) was good fun, the 'Just Dance' last night was an enjoyable warmup to the dance later on, & I was slightly sad to miss the karaoke (but not sad enough that it kept me from going to bed). I've swapped numbers with a few people I'm actively planning on staying in touch with/skiing with again, and there are a good dozen more I'd be very happy to see again on a future trip.
Have a great trip yourself: I hope the snow is fantastic!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@JayRo, you missed a very good morning 
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| Weathercam wrote: |
| @JayRo, you missed a very good morning |
Ha, yes, I did look into changing my flight to have an extra day, but the next one's not until Friday and there are cats that need feeding. Nique-elle!
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@JayRo, Cheers for the write up, sounds a good trip.
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