Tignes and The Espace Killy 2016/17 (Useful links in Post 1).

A snowHead

Topo maps of Espace Killy question.
(apols for nerd question). I'd like to have a decent contour map of the val disere/tignes ski area. Is there a single map that anyone can recommend that covers the whole piste area? Or am I doomed to have to buy two sheets (topo25 ign sheets 3633 and 3532, since you ask ). Looks like the map boundaries cut off the top/northern bit of Tignes area.

Again, soz for the nerdy question.
TT

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

I think you are doomed. There is also a reinforced version of each.
3633etr. 3532etr. A little more expensive and not easy to find in resort. Au Vieux Campeur have a really good selection. Most people will probably manage with 3633.

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@Tigski, thanks for answer about topo maps. Darn! Looks like a trip to Stanfords for me to get the maps.... ..or many wasted hours cutting and pasting screen shots. rolling eyes

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I have arrived! After a a reasonable journey down yesterday, I have spent today in Bourg doing the 'big shop', but that did allow me to assess the slopes in the lower resorts. I then did a tour of the village for the usual pre season bureaucracy at the Town Hall, bank, Maison de Tignes, Car park Office. Owners office etc etc.

The bad news is out, I can see from above. The snow below about 2400mhas been gobbled up by the rain and the warm winds (foehn, retour d'est, Lombarde - call it what you like it has pinched a lot of snow). Last time I uttered I mentioned the Jetstream doing a loop of Gibraltar, well it went further south with the swallows to North Africa where the air warmed up even more before blowing from there to here. Practically speaking, the slopes in Tignes are just about skiable down to the village, down to Boisses is very patchy and Breviere is mostly green. I suspect there are some nervous race officials in Val D'Isere trying to work out if they are going to have more snow.

However, there is some better news to come. Thursday will again be windy so expect the high lifts to be closed again, it will be dry early doors but then we can expect showers of snow down to about 2100m, which will be OK. Friday is going to be critical for the resorts for the early season. There is going to be quite a lot of precipitation all day. The snowline will start at about 2000m and then fall to about 1600m, the actual timing of these changes will depend where gets the snow and where doesn't, as the snow will be landing on sodden ground the sonner the temperature falls the better. It will be very windy early on, this will abate but again I expect white out conditions up high. Given the unpredictable nature of Friday I will not hazard a guess at snow depths, but it will be significant and resorts just to the south will get a lot, lot more at height (which is why some of the digital apps are forecasting way too much for here). So for the opening day on Saturday, the pisteurs will be busy but as the resorts open gradually I am expecting good runs above 200om, the glacier will of course have the greatest depths but watch out for great runs from the top of Toviere down Creux to Tommeuses and the like which may be less crowded with race teams when compared with the glacier. Also be patient, as the resort runs will need some snow moving about to fill all the ditches and dykes in - it may look white but there are a lot of hazards. For Saturday and the next 3 days we are expecting sunny periods with fluffy clouds on the peaks. It will gradually cool down but still be mild for the time of year. It will be at least Sunday night if now Monday before it will be cold enough to use snow cannons down to the lowest parts of the resorts, sadly, like Scottie in Star Trek, they cannot change the laws of physics.

After all it is free

The good news is that it is honking down with wet snow in Le Lac (it is raining in Boisses). The snowline is still expected to climb a little as the day warms up.

On the chocksaway scale of snow intensity it is officially snowing heavily! Very Happy

Boisses and Brev going back to green on the cams. But looks ok at Lac and VC level. About what was forecast and one can expect at this time of year. Still not bad for the season opening.

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@Mark1863, The white stuff in Le Lac and Val Claret is just slush.

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It will be OK in Le Lac when it cools down, we have had a lot of sleet and snow, it is difficult to tell how much snow there has been on high (above 2300m or so) as the wind has been strong. The pisteurs have been blasting on and off most of the day. Radio Val are reporting anywhere between 40 and 120cm (actual reports). I suspect the higher figures are towards Le Fornet (as is usual with the 'Retour D'Est' or return from the east) and where it has found a wind hollow. Radio Val also had an interview with Thierry, one of the senior forecasters at Bourg St Maurice, his replies will be the basis of my excuse matrix! Over the next 24 hours there could be a huge amount of snow at height or maybe not so much - it is a situation where the met models are not that accurate, even overlaying his vast experience does not help with an accurate forecast. The amounts of expected snow are swinging wildly with each run, we will just have to wait and see. One thing is for sure the avalanche risk at height is going to be very high (actual forecasts have not yet started.

Today in Tignes was brutal, only the Funi and Tichot were open and it was only for the very brave. I suspect that there will be even less in the morning as the winds are forecast to be stronger in the morning, with the avi risk it may well be Tichot only in the morning. The heaviest precipitation will be over night but there will still be showers in the morning. The snow level will not sink below 2100m all night, so bad news for the lower parts of the area, it might be tricky getting down into Val D'Isere on Saturday over the last 2-300m. But luckily we have gondolas to get over that problem!! The wind will abate in the afternoon, but there will be a lot of avalanche work to do. Saturday looks basically OK, with a freezing level around 2100m, there may be a light shower in the afternoon. I would expect a progressive opening of the runs as the pisteurs will have a lot of work to do making them safe and making sure they are marked correctly. The next 4 days are look similar - sunny periods with clouds on the peaks as hgh pressure takes over for a while. The temperatures will cool gradually, it looks like it may be cold enough from Sunday night for the snow cannons to operate at resort level (I suspect they will not be needed at height!!). Just one more day to go......

snow reports

News sounds pretty mixed. Pity. Let's hope great at altitude.

Hey what is a pity? We choose Tignes for December skiing precisely because of altitude. So there is loads of snow above 2100m where we want to be in December. So what if it's slushy at the bottom. Surely everything is great news for anyone going to Tignes in December?

You know it makes sense.

Hey what is a pity? We choose Tignes for December skiing precisely because of altitude. So there is loads of snow above 2100m where we want to be in December. So what if it's slushy at the bottom. Surely everything is great news for anyone going to Tignes in December?

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

Tignes has just e mailed the lifts that will open on Saturday:

Sur le secteur Tovière : les télésièges Bollin, Tufs, Tommeuses, la télécabine Tovière, le téléski Lavachet et le tapis du centre;
Sur le secteur Aiguille percée : le télésiège Palafour;
Sur le secteur Palet : les télésièges Grand huit, Merles, Grattalu, Tichot;
Sur le secteur Grande Motte : les télésièges Lanches, Vanoise, le téléphérique Grande Motte, le funiculaire, les téléskis Rosolin et Champagny.

A goo selection to start the season with Very Happy

A snowHead

I'm happy with that. See you all out there!!

A snowHead

And having poked around here are the Val Lifts that are due to open (clearly if we get a shed load of snow tomorrow things may be late opening:

Fornet Sector: Fornet cable car, Vallon gondala, CEMA, Cascade, Leissières
Solaise Sector: Solaise gondola, Pim Pam, Poum magic carpet, Madeleine, L’Ouillette, Glacier, Datcha
Bellvarde Sector: Olympique gondola, Fontaine Froide, Grand Pré, Borsat, Marmottes, Mont-Blanc

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

[quote="
Can anyone tell me if the les brev to les boisses lift is free for beginners, walking on with skis in hand? Which would open up the le lac free lifts too.
[/quote]

The Brev to Boisse chair has been free to use for the last five years I have been going. We use it on the afternoon when we first arrive when stopping in Boisse. Great way to find your ski legs for an hour or so without the need for a lift pass. Then go and unpack and get set for the first full day with a full pass.

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@chocksaway,
Thanks for the info. In resort late next Friday. More than enough to get started methinks.

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@Mark1863, Absolutely, I have just seen a piste basher set off into the gloom on Palafour. However, it has all been a bit biblical overnight. Both the roads into Val and Tignes have been blocked by rockfalls and there are a lot of waterspouts over the roads. There have been quite a few properties flooded in Val, notably the basement of the Commercial Centre in la Daille, the Isere is a raging torrent there.

Tignes is quoting 20cm of new snow in Lac and 40cm on the Glacier, Val have not yet declared as they have other things to worry about. But with the weather situation being a 'retour d'est' they will have had more. Nothing has opened yet in Tignes, Tichot is forecast for 1030hrs. I suspect it will be a progressive opening of the resorts tomorrow as the winds are going to remain high today, so there will be an epic amount of work to do to make it safe. Conditions will be both awesome and dangerous, though with the high temperatures and high winds any talk of a powder day may be a little premature!

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Thank you @chocksaway, for all the info. We are coming on the 7th of next month, but have been hovering around the flight websites trying to see if we could slip out quietly for a week before Christmas. All info so helpful.

Glad to see you back at your post and on duty! Have a great (and safe) season.

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Yes thanks @chocksaway, always best to get in resort info

After all it is free

@chocksaway, I hope my mate in the Spar has his wellies on!!

We get in La Daille tonight. Looking forward to it.

Blimey. Here's one of the Solais bar!!

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@bar shaker, If I am reading Radio Val right he will need his scuba gear!

@lynnecha, @alj, Thanks, and as it's you I got the camera out as the sun has come out (the storm now seems to have passed a bit early, but its still windy up top).

Palafour looking good:

Roads a bit slushy:

So for today its just Bollin and Tichot. Have a scan of the webcams in Tignes, it looks like late spring in Brev but at the top of the Toviere it is going to take a long time to clear the Terrace at the Tov Restaurant and I can hardly see the door to the posh bit of the Panoramique Restaurant. There is a lot of work for a lot of people to do to get everything open for tomorrow Very Happy

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Looking at the webcams, Val D'Isere "Front de Neige" is just below the snow line, whereas Lac is just above it.

snow reports

@Old Fartbag, Well the obvious answer from Tignes would be "That's because of all the hot air in Val" wink

But you are right - about 2000m.

Hi guys

... After these conditions and the good snowfall .. what do you think of visiting Val d'Isere to ski next Wednesady 29 Nov for 3 days skiing .. Do you think open pistes would be enough ? Or shall I choose another resort (for example ) Val Thorens ?

Looking for a place where I can ski for 3 full days without repeating the same pistes so many times

Forecast till now says it would be sunny in Both VAL and VL

I don't know which one I go for ?

Your advice is appreciated

You know it makes sense.

@chocksaway, Thanks for the photos!

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

@GiveMe5ive, Given this is the Tignes thread, we would say come to Tignes, you will be able to ski back to Le Lac or Val Claret, you will not be able to ski back to Val D'Isere, if that's important. There will be more than enough pistes open for 3 days worth.

A snowHead

The whole of Trolles has slid, looks like it was triggered by the Gazex at the top but it has gone full depth all the way down.

A snowHead

And now for the weather, the storm abated a little quicker than we thought and we had a sunny but breezy afternoon. There are a few flocons going past the window as I type at 5 o clock, but they won't last long. The break in the weather has allowed all the resort elves to get onto the pistes and hopefully there will be quite a lot open, but given the quantities of snow towards Le Fornet (up to a metre in places) we may need to allow a little time tomorrow for a full opening. There has been a lot of avalanche blasting today, Meteo France have not declared a formal risk, lets just say it will be high.

Tomorrow will be a nice day, there may be a breeze at altitude and a few clouds around the peaks, but there should be a lot of sun and it will be quite mild for late November. Sunday will be very similar, but with less breeze. I think there will be less clouds on Monday, the breeze may return and it will start to cool down, it looks like Monday night will be the first time it will be cold enough to use the snow cannons at resort level. But given the vagaries of localised mountain temperatures I am sure someone will be on standby to 'turn on the taps' if it is cold enough (especially towards the bottom of the race pistes in Val D'Isere. The clouds on the peaks will return for Tuesday and it will get slightly cooler again (especially at night), the prognosis for Wednesday and Thursday are very similar.

So as they say at Le Mans "Gentlemen start your engines", the season starts tomorrow!

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

@chocksaway, with not much snow in the forecast surely next weekend's races (the ones moved from the US) must be doubtful? The finishing area at La Daille looks like a big muddy puddle... Puzzled

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@head_like_a_rock, I think there will be a lot of worried officials, but they are only missing the last 2 or 300m. The local paper reports that they are confident that it is going to cool down to allow them to make snow. They will make it in 2 or 3 places and ship it in, I also expect diggers and lorries to be making their way to Le Fornet to lorry load it to the race course. That strip into La Daille will be Val's sole focus over the next week, paying punters skiing back to their pads will not be.

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@chocksaway, en route to vaval disere now. I will pop you a message when we come ovef ti tignes

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@chocksaway, will Santons or Epaule be open or is downloading the only way to Val?

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@holidayloverxx, Looking forward to it, was in the Loop this afternoon,much scrubbing going on in the kitchen. At least the weather is benign tonight, last night would have been a shocker Shocked

@Ray Zorro, I can't say for sure as there are no webcams that reach there but looking around I think download will be the only way, unless you fancy a trek down the last 200m down Rhone Alpes or Santons - it would be quite a hike past the Clochetons! Even then the last snow is going to be thin so I suspect the pisteurs will play safe and close them. Luckily the download on the new Solaise Gondy will avoid the queues of 2 years ago where people were coming down the old cable car till well after dark!!

After all it is free

The sun came out, the sky is blue, there isn't a cloud to spoil the view, I'm off skiing Very Happy

@chocksaway, enjoy! looks like it will be a fantastic day. Looking forward to your report later...

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@chocksaway, Enjooooy

Would be nice if you tell us how many pistes and lifts are open ...

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Thanks

Help!!

Tignes and The Espace Killy 2016/17 (Useful links in Post 1).

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