 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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forcing even the high resorts to close way earlier than usual .
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Which high resorts? As far as I am aware, Tignes and Val Thorens will close as planned and so will we. The only early closure I can think of in a major resort is Alpe d'Huez, which will nonetheless be open for Easter weekend.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Many - perhaps the majority - of French resorts will have had to close early this year and some (particularly the Jura resorts i suspect) have had a very bad year indeed. The most southern resorts seem to have done better but almost all of Chamonix is closed, much of the PDS, Megeve has been closed for a while, the majority of Courmayeur (yes, I know that's in italy) much of Les Arcs etc etc. When I got the deposits back on our passes Christelle, who has been working in our lift pass office since at least 2002 said she was going to lose a month of work this season, which is bad news for her, as summer employment won't start for a while. The same goes for pisteurs, instructors etc. Certainly a bad year for them - the driver of our "navette" told me that the guy who runs the lifts had told him that this was the first time in 30 years they'd had to close the entire domain several weeks early.
So yes, some of the pistes in some of the "highest" resorts are still in good, or passable, nick. But it's difficult to argue against the contention that this has been a bad year for snow, overall, and the astonishingly high temperatures of the last few weeks were the last straw.
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pam w,
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When I got the deposits back on our passes
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do you not keep them and just renew next year?
When we got the bill for our snow clearance in the driveway for this past season it had been reduced by 20% which I suppose was a nice gesture as I can't think that he has been round to clear it very many times - apart from the three times in one day back in December - good old December, it snowed then!
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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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do you not keep them and just renew next year?
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could do, but it's simpler just to get the 2 euros back - I generally send for the passes by post, in November, and it saves having to keep track of the damned things until then!
Besides, the 2 euros for each pass are then in my bank account. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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pam w, yes I can understand that. We usually use ours and get tickets during the summer -
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do you think it is worth making an easter trip this year? just thinking of a last minute weekend to somewhere like Tignes or VT as its got to be cheap
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GFYGC, reports are that Tignes is still good, and it's getting colder and might snow some more - so why not?
won't be cheap though, and might be a bit busy as so many other places are closed.
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Went to samoens and portes du soliel in Jan and it was okish. Saintefoy, Val, tignes, les arcs and la thuile in feb and had some amazing conditions for around a week. Then have come back from Val disere a coupl of weekends ago and it was okish, least my tan was good. It was better than being at work but it wasn't a great season, warm and with little snowfall. The pisteurs did a Great job but it never felt like a ski resort with it being cold and snowy somehow the atmosphere wasn't right. For most, me included it was ok and you ould always ski but the powder hounds and hardcore off piste dudes will of had a disappointing season.
9 months to new snow. Let's hope for. Good year next year.
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Yesterday in La Plagne
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Boredsurfing, and you can still ski down to Montalbert 1350m !!!
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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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| pam w wrote: |
GFYGC, reports are that Tignes is still good, and it's getting colder and might snow some more - so why not?
won't be cheap though, and might be a bit busy as so many other places are closed. |
Well, it might be, but most of the world is put off by doom mongers. Last week it was the emptiest ski resort I've ever skied in. I did once have to queue - for five minutes for the Vanoise lift which goes between halfway down the Grand Motte and the top(ish).
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James the Last, doom mongers haven't put off the world and his dog from the remaining skiing here in Les Arcs. OH reports that Aiguille Rouge/Grand Col very very busy this morning, more so than Monday when I was there and it was bad enough then. Lift passes €33/day 
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You know it makes sense.
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most of the world is put off by doom mongers
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Not so - we're quite busy this week.
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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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OK, wont be put off by the doom mogers. Just had a look at flights - about £300 from london depending on the airline, a bit higher than I thought. I saw that that Ski Club GB are selling flights - I am not a member but do they do that kind of thing?? I am awlays a bit careful about who I book with and usually try and book direct
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Poster: A snowHead
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GFYGC, while we are in France at the mo and didn't consider cancelling our trip, I would think twice about paying £300 for flights in the current snow conditions
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Worst snowfall for 62 years in La Plagne apparently.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Worst snowfall for 62 years in La Plagne apparently. |
This is generally where Boredsurfing turns up and posts a picture showing 10m deep untracked powder, with nobody in sight.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Worst snowfall for 62 years in La Plagne apparently. |
Where did you hear that? In La Plagne the locals are saying 1993 was worse for snow conditions.
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Yep, and we are still skiing all the way back down to Montalbert at 1350m terrible innit!
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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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Dr John, reading that report, I can indeed confirm that it was very warm in Grenoble on 8th January. We stayed there overnight, and were still sitting outside at 11pm. However, by 11.30 am the next morning we were in a much colder Monetier (around 3C I think) with rain that turned to snow as the day progressed, waking to deep powder the following morning.
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Rain turning to snow on arrival day has been the theme to this winter for us. The same happened in March when the off-piste bash was arriving.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Whitegold, Yawn .. re-posting the same articles quoted earlier with increasingly GRAND and STUPID headlines does not make the facts more accurate. 
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Well it's a fairly accurate representation of much of the northern Alps, I suspect, and you would expect meteo France to be in a pretty good position to get its facts right.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Worst season I have ever seen as far as snow fall goes, however still managed to find a few good turns.
Back to Japan next winter, their junk winters are like epic winters in the alps.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Can't make comparitive judgements but I was in Val Thorens last Fri for a quick look and it was 12 deg C at midday at 2300m. Not f..ing good. In moutiers in the valley it was 28 deg C at 4pm. Not a stitch of snow on any slopes pointing any where near south. Lot of snow up at VT -where it has been manufatured or shovelled- but it was like yesterday's ice cream. Ski from 7am or earlier but you will have to hike.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Whitegold, so it's been a poor season. So what? It happens. It's not the worst I've seen either.
mcspreader, if you don't like skiing squishy snow, get a snowboard. I've had plenty of fun over the past couple of weeks.
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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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| paulio wrote: |
| Dr John wrote: |
| Worst snowfall for 62 years in La Plagne apparently. |
This is generally where Boredsurfing turns up and posts a picture showing 10m deep untracked powder, with nobody in sight. |
Today in La Plagne
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Boredsurfing, 
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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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Boredsurfing & Agenterre, what is your objection to a discussion on the very obvious fact that this year has had substantially less snow than others? You seem to be taking it as a personal insult, which is an odd stance to say the least.
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Dr John, I don't see either of them taking that attitude. Agenterre is just reporting that his region of the Alps has done rather better than usual, and that is is wrong to lump the whole of the Alps as a disaster.
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Hells Bells, fair enough, I read Agenterre as denying the bald facts that France, taken as a whole, hasn't had a good season and Boredsurfing as posting selective photies in an attempt to represent La Plagne as somehow having a good season, which is counter to every other report I've read or heard.
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Dr John, I doubt you will have heard that much about the snow in Provence. Isola 2000 is still reporting 175cm snow at 2600m, compared to 80cm in Morzine.
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Dr John, Sorry you mis-read what I wrote. Just correcting those who have been saying that the entire 'French Alps ' have had the worst season ever and those suggesting that current conditions are the worst ever across the entire Alps (even where quoted articles/sources do NOT say that) . I have no idea what 'other bits' of the French Alps looks like, nor suggest the Southern Alps are significant nor representative.
Beginning to disappear very fast down here ... but then it is/has been 25 degrees on the coast and very much past when you would expect these kind of snow depths at 2350m, in my limited experience.
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Agenterre, Hells Bells, phew, glad we cleared that up. I've been eyeing the recent pictures from Isola 2000 thinking "oh, you lucky so and so's".
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