Tignes and Tignes-Val D'Isere (formerly Espace Killy) 2022/3. Useful links on Page 1

A snowHead

Woke up to a suckers gap this morning, it was really quite nice at 7.30. But the clouds soon appeared from the West and it became grey. Very light snow started around lunchtime and has continued, although there has been some heavy short periods of snow since 1500. Hope these continue! For me it was a DIY day - regrouting the bathroom, its all rock and roll up here!

The snow will peter out after dark and leave us with a pleasant day tomorrow. For the next 3 days we are under a weak area of high pressure, how this collapses will affect the weather big time later in the week. There will be a few fluffy clouds about but it will feel warm in the sun. But not as warm as Tuesday as warmer air moves up from the Med and leaves us with another day of sun and a few clouds above the peaks. Wednesday will be the same but another 3 degs warmer. From Wednesday night it will become unsettled, the weather is arriving from the north, as to exactly when depends on the collapsing high pressure. Currently Thursday looks cloudy with precipitation which may well be rain during the day up to 2300m, only a bit lower by night.

A snowHead

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

@valdorange, there were 38 spaces showing as available at the Golf when we came off the slopes 30 mins ago.

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@Grinning, @Ski lots,

Thanks so much both. Sounding promising, will keep one's fingers crossed!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Missus arm is getting better & she is desperate for a short trip late april... probably the last week.
I think Tignes is the only option as Austria flight schedule would have ended. Accommodation seems to be in short supply.
Is there any kind of event on or something or university racing, etc?
Only a 3 day ski break, but dont want to be in a place that may be full of shouty people.

Cant find transfers except a train/bus or hire. Train/bus isnt a problem as the flight is super early.
May even look at Paris for flight, as the train is only going to take an hour longer & make it a full week trip split between them both.

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@Gored, Glad the Boss is improving wink

, the last week in April has always been tricky as there are so few people here, which makes it a good reason for coming. But a lot of the big companies have finished doing accom (the hotels start closing down after Easter) and transfers because of the lack of scale.

However, snowdrone (link and discount code on page 1) are still doing shared transfers till the end of April. For accom try locatignes.com I clicked on 3 of their properties and there is availability (it was set up by a collective of owners pissed off with the high commission rates).

The only event I know of is the black shoes telemark festival - lots of blokes with one long stick and tweeds, but its no bother!

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Signs have gone up for ‘spring break’ 15 April (I think) - 6 may… so maybe that’ll have an effect. I dunno though.

After all it is free

@Extremophile, I think thats just a marketing slogan to attract late April visitors up here, a notoriously tricky thing to do.

Thanks
Investigating driving as well & stocking up on duty free!

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Well, what a morning. I awoke to bright blue skies and about 5 or 6cm of fresh snow, some of which had fallen after the piste bashers - so just a smooth carpet of fresh turns - thanks to ESF who weren't using the racetrack at the top of Palafour, so two warm up runs of divine turns! After meeting up with the rest, high seemed like a good idea as it was warming quickly and the snow last night had arrived without much wind. The standard off piste routes hadn't been covered to hide previous tracks or avalanches but on the flatter areas the new snow had filled in between the Sastrugi making for a lot of fine fresh tracks in the secret stashes about 2600m. After 2 runs it was time for a cococoffee (and Pizza) and then another 2 laps round Lanches and Vanoise - still making freshtracks. By the time we got round the Palet on the way home it was starting to soften quickly, we might even be getting close to spring snow shortly . Still plenty of slips around the snowpack is only consolidating slowly so its still 3 tomorrow and the underlying weak layer is still there - beware steep slopes from west through north to east - and don't stand in big groups in the middle of a slope like we saw to day. Go from point of safety to point of safety well spaced out.

Right the weather (as I alluded to) has changed its timings, currently yesterday's Thursday is now Friday. Tomorrow will be 3 degrees or so warmer than today and there may well be a thin veil of high cloud like the one that appeared this afternoon. Wednesday - a bit warmer still and sunny all day with clouds forming in the late afternoon. Thursday, currently, looks like being a day of sunny spells and cloud, a bonus day for this week as Friday looks like a shocker, high winds and precipitation all day. MF are forecasting rain up to about 2500m - eek.

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You know it makes sense.

@Gored,

Where do you live in the UK? Have you looked at the eurostar, tgv option? In April the rates are normally pretty cheep.

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

A warm spring day but with a layer of high cloud which took some of the sting out of the Sun. This meant the sunny slopes took another 90 mins or so to move from rock hard to more pleasant. I did a quick skin up Palafour, nearly back to my pre covid times. Must try it without going to the pub the night before! There then followed some admin - there's always another French form to fill in!

The weather is testing the various computer models at the moment, there is quite some disparity between them as to whats going to happen on Friday and over the weekend regarding timings, temperatures and amounts (and type!) of precipitation. SO what I right is likely to change over the next couple of days. Tomorrow - basically scorchio. Similar air temps as today but with little cloud it will feel a lot warmer and the pistes will soften more quickly. Thursday will be a bit warmer, but there will be a few more fluffy clouds around the peaks, and a bit of a breeze. There is a slim chance of a very light shower in the early evening. Friday, the conundrum - Friday currently looks like it will start with light showers with a snow line about 200m, these should become lighter during the day and there may be some sunny spells. But it will be windy at altitude - top lifts shut - and it will cool down rapidly as the cold front moves through. It will still be above zero in resort though. On Saturday there will be some weather, what type of weather is still to be determined, might be dry, wet or snowy!

Off to a quiz night and raffle tonight in Lo Terrachu organised by the family of our late friend and colleague Joe Harkness, all proceeds will go to Snow Camps, a charity Joe supported. It will be a night of reflection and hopefully will raise a decent sum in Joe's memory.

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

Well, Lo Terrachu was packed out last night for the quiz and over 2 grand was raised on the night, but who'd have thought that one of the answers was Brighouse and Rastrick! We have a devious quizmaster - well done Steve for supporting Joe's folks organise a memorable night and one which will allow more disadvantaged kids to have a go at the sport we all love.

Today was gloriously sunny and not a breath of wind, a little cloud has just started appearing now. The pistes were firm first thing, those facing the sun softening quickly. We had a charge round to the Solaise and sat in the Sun at L'Ouilette - all very tranquil, then back for lunch and some DIY.

But it must be spring the terrace as QDC has just opened for the first time - getting live pictures from GeorgeVII!

The forecast is still changing, but the trend is to unsettled weather from Friday, it will start as rain lower down but rapidly cool down from Friday lunchtime, leaving us with a few transport difficulties on Saturday, maybe. Tomorrow should start sunny and warm and it will progressively cloud over, as to when a bit tricky to tell. Light showers may arrive by tea time, or it may be midnight. But enjoy it while it lasts cos Friday is not going to be great. It will be drizzly or raining all morning, the rain snowline may well be 2300m or so, this will drop through the afternoon as the wind picks up rapidly and the cold front heads through. By dark it should be snowing in Brev. Saturday morning will be snowy and windy, through the afternoon there should be some sunny spells with more snow showers, so you will probably need snow chains for the first part of the journey if you are leaving. Sunday is a long way off in weather terms, unsettled and possibly rainy in the lower parts of the resorts, the wind will be howling though.

There is a general strike tomorrow, so keep an eye on the App for details of reduced navette services and the odd lift that may be shut.

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This was posted on the Val thread but it might be worth repeating to see if anyone has any views on the proposals for new lifts towards the Aiguille Percée:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=GXFposVmJkGZkbCo0V02f3_S7kbiqUhPnNLwzaEvmANUM1E2QVE1QU5aV1UySjNTMVA5RTNXQ08yWC4u&fbclid=IwAR1kdxe3CPXUQpgyffOo0yeScdZORJ-rAqvuPWPgNnSOvqPWNJE7CmxHVlY

For what its worth, my views are:

The new Marais lift will help to relieve any potential bottleneck for folks heading out of Brev and Boisses, though with the new Aiguille Rouge chair, this doesn't seem to be a problem. But there are lots of new developments down in Brev so it would help futureproof that sector. It will also stop Aiguille Rouge being a single point of failure, currently if it breaks down everybody form the two Bs has to use the bus from Boisses.

Just replacing the Aiguille Percée chair over its current route seems to have little benefit, other than making the journey a bit shorter in time, its rarely busy. But an Aiguille Percée chair starting at the Base Station of the Merles would offer another route home for those transiting from Val Claret to Le Lac and relieve a lot of pressure on the ageing Grand Huit, the blue run ski schools could then have it to themnselves. It would also make it quicker for those transiting from VC to the two Bs as they then don't have to come down into Lavachet to get the Chaudannes. Even intermediates can stick to the blues, those a little braver can use Mysotis or the very brave Sache. It would certainly spread the load on a nice day.

Its a close run thing but I prefer the AP leaving Merles.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@chocksaway, As you say, the quiz night was an excellent event in memory of Joe. 107 people signed up to participate. Quiz master Steve R was on great form as usual. All the sweeter for being a member of the victorious Snow Brainers team and coming home with half a case of assorted wines. (all donated by local businesses)

I was just chatting with friends outside the QDC this afternoon when the side gates to the terrace swung open. A cooling ale?.. be rude not to. Serendipity in my book.

We skiied around the Vanoise, Cairn, Genepy areas this afternoon. Snow still holding up well. Let's see what the next few days have in store for us.

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@chocksaway, @GeorgeVII, good work on the quiz for Joe.

@chocksaway, I voted for the Merles link for the reasons given.

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After all it is free

I've voted for the Marais. In addition to mitigating the single point of failure that is Aguille Rouge, it would allow you to lap the Silene and Mysitosis areas which, since the removal of the old Marais, you can't do without going down into Le Lac and up the existing Palafour and AP.

Presumably the AP Express starting at Merles will result in removing the existing old AP? Doesn't that remove the 'easy' off piste bowl to skiers right of the current AP because you'll end up too low to get back to Merles? I'm struggling to remember if you can ski from the base station of the current AP to the base station of Merles - that's up hill isn't it?

The lifts that are running are a bit stop/start today. Is this likely to be connected to the strike?

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@sugarmoma666, I doubt it, probably a bit wet and warm for them!

@Judwin, All valid points, and as I hoped I explained it is a bit 6 and 2 threes. And also preferences will depend on who lives where. You are right about the off piste bowl under Alaska Couloir (etc) it is a bit uphill from the current AP Base Station - it will also isolate Piste Ancolie from the top of GH. Perhaps they will re-site the rope tow Replat as that would become redundant as a 'relieve the pressure' on Grand Huit if AP new starts at Merles.

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It's been a while since I've been to Tignes, but on balance I'd opt for replacing Aiguille Percée starting at Merles, for the same reasons as @chocksaway. Though if this option is chosen, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Grand Huit sector being abandoned in a decade or two once the current slow chair comes to the end of its lifespan.

The single point of failure issue at Aiguille Rouge is a fair point, but non-duplicating of lifts seems to be increasingly common as lift systems are rationalised over time. Rarely seems to be a problem (as far as I'm aware) in places like the Solaise gondola which is now the only lift up that side. Ditto for the new Les Brevieres gondola.

As @Judwin says, the "AP from Merles" option does make lapping Silene and Myosotis (and Sache) a pain. I wonder whether, with hindsight, it might have been better for the new Aiguille Rouge chair to finish a bit higher, towards the top of Silene? That would make lapping those pistes easier (including Sache, with a short link piste), but still allow a blue route for skiers returning to Tignes from Les Brev / Boisses. Perhaps there would have been terrain / wind issues with a lift on that axis.

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As has been mentioned before, the real single point failure these days in that area is the Brevières gondola. At least if AR or Boisses fails there is a frequent bus alternative which is included in the lift pass.

If I read the stuff correctly, the. other chair will happen in the future - but the future is not defined! So, its not a done deal for ever....

Well it was a grey day, there was 5 mins of sunshine around lunchtime, but most of the time there was enough light. But it was warm. After doing battle with the impots website to set up a French Tax account I decided that a quick skin up Palafour would be the best way of coming back to reality. It was damp and sticky underfoot and so was I after a couple of minutes uphill.

A relaxing coffee with friends in the Oxygene shop onthe Palafour Gallery this afternoon (its good coffee, not too expensive and a nice deck if its sunny - but you have to walk - hence its never that busy during the day).

Okey Dokey its going to be another roller coaster weekend with the weather. Its going to start drizzling soon, the snowline may well be somewhere around Lac and then tomorrow looks quite poor. It will start with light precipitation, this will get heavier in the afternoon and then there may be thunderstorms in the evening. The snowline is going to be tricky to pin down, but probably somewhere between 21 and 2300m by day. This may rise if we get thunderstorms when the winds will also pick up. Glad I'm not an avalanche forecaster trying to work out Saturday! If its rain there be be 2.5cm, if its snowing lowish down then 10-15 of snow, more higher up. The cold front will then come through and it will rapidly cool down. So any precipitation through the night will be snow, just how much will be on the roads is in the lap of the Gods. It should stop snowing by breakfast time and there may or may not be a few sunny spells, but it will be windy enough to close the high lifts. It may or may not snow again in the afternoon, stay tuned on that one. There is more agreement on Sunday - windy and snowy right down to Brev, somewhere in the order of 15 - 25 cm of snow in a whiteout. Monday should see another very windy day with heavy snow showers and some sunny spells, those showers may be a bit slushy below the Dam.

You know it makes sense.

Temperature fluctuations up here are bonkers. Just returned from a little soiree and it's +4°c and raining at 2am.

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

A snowHead

Only just really taking a look at the pensions protests etc in France at the moment. We're driving Good Friday / Easter Saturday up to VC, realistically what might we expect to encounter on the way if the protests are still ongoing? Best guesses much appreciated!

A snowHead

@larkim, we tend to know about a week before if there is going to be a national strike, so stay tuned. But as Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays and folks will have stuff planned so I doubt there will be a strike during your travels. But if they do I would aim to be through Albertville by 9.30 as they seem to generally block the N90 mid morning. As for fuel local knowledge suggests that the autoroute fuel stations are generally stocked during strikes. Strikes at Calais seem to cause delays but not a lot more. Of course, I have to say who knows? Once you are here, the odd lift may be closed and there are less buses between the villages.

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

A day for the hardy. It has been drizzling or raining in Lac since about 9AM. There was a heavy shower of snow at just after 3 and some really gusty winds which shut down quite a few winds, but it was soon back to drizzle unfortunately.

The drizzle will turn to snow shortly after dark up here and it should be snow in Brev by midnight but it wont be very intense so shouldn't cause too much bother on the roads. But the wind will pick up, so expect a few high lifts to be shut tomorrow as we have a day of light snow showers. There may be a break in the snow late afternoon, but it will start again in the small hours to leave us with a snowy and windy Sunday, but there may be the odd sunny period to brighten things up. Monday will be very windy but as yet we can't really tell whether its going to be heavy snow showers (US) or light ones (Meteo France). But we should have an appreciable amount of snow over the next 3 days to replace what has been washed away today. After, a very cold night Tuesday looks like being nice and sunny with residual strong breezes at altitude. Later in the week, a bit unsettled and back to spring temps.

For the travellers, the authorities are forecasting 20k vehicles coming up into the Tarentaise and 23k descending, although I suspect many of those have legged it this afternoon. So there shouldn't be any jams caused by volume of traffic. Whether there will be any protests on the road remains to be seen.

For Air Travel - it looks like a day of heavy showers and gusty winds around those showers, particularly south of Newcastle. So if you leave or arrive in one it may be a bit bumpy. Over here may well be similar, it might get a bit exciting at Chambery if you arrive in a shower as the squally winds blow in all directions round the mountains.

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@chocksaway thanks for that. No chance of being at Albertville by 9:30am sadly, we've got to collect a party member from her flight into Chambery about 2pm so we're resigned to the slow drag up. Fuel is a good shout though, will just need to keep an eye on that. We are where we are. At least this time, unlike 3 years ago, I'm not expecting the country to be shut down!!

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@larkim, Ah OK, with that in mind I would have a plan to get from Chambery Airport to Montmelian avoiding the main road (VRU) through Chambery just in case they decide to have a bonfire on it again.

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Dumb parking question if we are booked in to grand motte for the week are we able to drive in and out during the week as Al who doesn’t ski might want to drive back to bourgeois with our son.

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After all it is free

@dan100, AIUI you can drive in and out. Although I love the idea of driving to Bourgeois wink

. Not sure the strikers down there would like to be classed as that though!

The rain turned to snow in Lac at about 8 last night, there's not much on the balcony but it's very windy. The road up to the Maison looks nearly black, the village roads are slick with snow.

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@stewart woodward, it’s funny because it’s true. In my corner of France shops shutting for 3 hours quite normal.

Help!!

Tignes and Tignes-Val D'Isere (formerly Espace Killy) 2022/3. Useful links on Page 1

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