 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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| coldrainsnow wrote: |
@Boofont, sorry you weren't there today but we ate some frites for you on the top of DMC. But the way, inquiring minds want to know - what were the best frites in the domaine ?  |
Glad you had a good day. Gutted to leave tbh. Missing two days as we dad was bad, plus the conditions being as they were on leaving. However, we both agreed we would come back.
Ref “chip advisor”, sadly we didn’t try many places. Normally we try a different place each time but with the way things were losing two days and then one day we simply skipped lunch due to enjoying the skiing, we only tried two places. One was in Flaine Forum which I wouldn’t recommend, it was a pain to get to and I expected it to be cheaper - it was not!
The other, which is “K” restaurant as I’ve previously mentioned, top of Les Carroz by the Kédeuze gondola. I would recommend. It was good value, frites were good, free ketchup and mayo, and it’s an easy going self-service type place (although there’s a waiter served area too upstairs at the back I believe). The other food looked lovely but as I said, I’m council estate and don’t do posh lunches, and god knows how you can ski with a full belly! 
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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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Haha okay thanks for the report. Will have to hit up K at some point! We are on the same plan, we pack sandwiches and a liter of Orangina and occasionally augment with fries!! Our friend was in from Scotland yesterday and he came out of the DMC restau with five orders of fries haha, it was almost too much but we managed to nearly put them all away lol.
Hitting Diamont Noir right after sitting for an hour and shoveling down all those fries - that was almost too much. 
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The “Chip Advisor” thing was something we did as a bit of fun from when my lad started skiing when he was 8 and a fussy eater. Injected a bit of fun in to it for him and something that’s carried over through the years. It’s just the two of us, not always easy to keep him motivated! Lol.
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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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Haha we did a similar thing on a month long bike tour in France once, were on a pain au chocolat advisor mission and literally ate one at every little village we rode through that had an open boulangerie, trying to find the best one in Provence. I honestly think we gained weight on that trip despite pedaling for 6 hours a day!!!
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Wild day on the mountain today!! First day of the off-piste ski camp wife and I are taking. Morning started off okay, we made a bee-line to Flaine from Samoens and took the DMC up to the top. Dropped into the first couloir to the left of Diamont Noir when you're heading downhill - a line I'd always wanted to do but didn't want to do myself. Didn't do the normal entry because it was a bit windblown but instead traversed across a slightly spicy exposed ledge. It was fun and the snow was really good up there. Made it back up to Grands Vans just in time for them to shut it down, and that was the pattern for the rest of the day - lifts closing due to the high winds on anything exposed. Did a few tree runs into Les Carroz and then got over to Morillon for lunch, and I think that was the only lift left open for the rest of the day haha. Did the safety and AV rescue practice part of the course as the snow was coming down pretty good at 1600 then skied down in the rain for the end of the day.
The good news is that LPN was at about 1500m at 15:00, so here's hope it gets a little colder tonight and the snow could be pretty good tomorrow. It's pouring down low in the valley right now.
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@coldrainsnow, sounds like Pente à Jules. Usually pretty good, but often the entry (and avoiding rocks just below surface) worst bit, although need to veer left or right as you descend because ridge and holes in centre at bottom.
I usually see if it’s being skied on way up DMC.
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@BAN, yup, that definitely sounds like what it was. I'll need to start learning the names of the freeride lines I guess! 
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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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Got a bit of snow last night in GM, maybe 10-20cms in Flaine depending on where the wind blew and less down lower. Second day of the camp and we did a line off of the top between Faust and Lucifer that had some very nice snow, 2nd best pocket of the day. Did a very narrow windy tree-run I hadn't done before that had great snow too, except on the rocky ledge to exit back on the piste lol. Headed over to Gers for the afternoon, actually dropped in well before the lift was opened and ate our sandwiches at the bottom which was pretty fun. Snow on the left side of the bowl looking down was very heavy, not bad to ski but not great either. Next run was down the far right traversing across at the top and that snow was wonderful, best of the day. Final lap in Gers was in better snow on the skier's left side of the bowl, kept it a bit steeper and the snow was a bit lighter.
Pistes in Flaine are in great shape but starting to get mushy toward the bottom of Samoens. Unfortunately that looks like the last snow for a while... sigh.
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Have been piste skiing only the last couple of days. They’ve been holding up well. Depending on the freeze line, some days it’s been icy up top other days lower down. But all good, at least they’re open. Yesterday afternoon some lower pistes were getting thin in places. Low crowd volume makes for minimal waiting at lifts. Exception being DMC.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sounds like you guys having a blast, great to read. Any signs of rain that was threatened?
Counting down to my week in Austria, week on Sat! Avid readers might see some reports in the Saalbach thread! 
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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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was raining in Samoens village on Monday afternoon, according to a friend out there. 5cm or so new snow at 1600 though
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Getting warmer with some porridge skiing and some pistes thinning out badly.
Definitely need to ski higher up. Don’t think any snow is forecast unfortunately - hope i’m wrong
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You know it makes sense.
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On the plus side, not many people about
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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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Another good day today but the snow was getting worse and worse every hour. Still good off piste runs up high, we hit the last drop-in on skier's left off of grandes platières (pente à Cailleuse is what I think our guide said, but that's probably not spelled right... named after an OG pisteur that died in an avalanche there) and also the big dome at the end. Did a bunch of lines down from the top of Lindars Nord which still had good snow too in the morning. Fog came in around lunch and isotherm came up and then the snow kind of went to poo-poo up there too, we headed over to Aujon and did some fun little stuff in the afternoon. Snow was very very wet and heavy. I admit it's been really good to ski all of the different and changing snow, lots of good practice. Pistes back to Samoens 1600 were pretty mushy and thin by the end of the afternoon and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow.
I agree @Kennyboyo, place was empty at least lol.
We're headed to the Valée Blanche tomorrow!!!
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Poster: A snowHead
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 not sounding great on conditions... forecast is scarily warm without even overnight freezes for the foreseeable... Hoping there's some left for week and a bit when we arrive. Here's hoping for a change
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Rowlski, yup, hoping for a change here too but it looks like the high pressure will be settling in for a while. Austria about to get dumped on Thurs and Friday though...
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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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| coldrainsnow wrote: |
| Austria about to get dumped on Thurs and Friday though... |
Needs to dump there next Thursday and Friday too!
Hope it comes good for you @Rowlski!
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We just arrived yesterday for a short break. A very strange mix of conditions today, where some areas are like sheet ice (Tete de Saix) and some areas are like spring slush (towards Les Carroz). We went to Flaine today too, which was better, but still mixed.
We’ve been coming here for years and this is a bonus short trip, in between our other main trips, but I wouldn’t want to be here for a week, to be honest.
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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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Agree @porkpiefox, today on the pistes it seemed like the perfect storm of tough skiing conditions and way bigger crowds than earlier in the week. The icy sheets were claiming victims left and right all the way through the domaine.
We opted for some touring off the backside, dropping down to the Vallon de Salle from Grandes Platieres. The snow was okay, icy in some parts but some areas in the sun were softening up before lunchtime. Unfortunately my wife botched a turn on one of the icy sections and tore her meniscus... blargh. She was able to beast-mode it and skin back out of the valley, which was lucky. The rest of our group went across Col de la Portette and back up to Lindars and said the snow was good on the other side of the Col at least.
It looks like I've lost my main ski partner for the time being which is a real bummer. Hit me up if you're in town and would like to ski some (when the snow is good again), especially if you'd like to explore off-piste or do some local touring!!!
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Last full day today. Probably staying low for hopefully less ice. Ski as long as possible and then call it a day when snow porridge arrives in the afternoon.
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Ouch @coldrainsnow, hope your wife is ok, she did well to make it back with a knee injury like that. We’re with the kids, so won’t be doing any touring this week, we’ll just be piste bashing and probably following the @Kennyboyo, plan of staying low and finishing when it gets too heavy.
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@porkpiefox, yeah totally. she's crazy tough and we do lots of backcountry adventures together, but yesterday was a good wake-up call to always be prepared. We left our In-Reach at home, I think do a false sense of security because we were starting in the resort. Had we actually needed a big rescue and couldn't get cell service it would have been a bit tricky. We were in the middle of a 5 week traverse of the Sierra mountains in California with our kids during 2020 and she broke her hand, luckily we had a SAM splint and saw a doctor on the trail a few days later who confirmed that we had done a decent job lol. She hiked a few more weeks out and then eventually went to the doctor and the doc was like "why did you wait so long to come in?" of course nothing they could do by that point, it healed up very well on it's own.
@Kennyboyo and @porkpiefox let me know how the pistes go today, I have a feeling my teenager is going to want to head out tomorrow and I'd like to know what I'm in for snow-wise. He'll ski anything, he doesn't care....kids.
Be safe!
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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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@coldrainsnow, sorry to read about Mrs CRS also, although she sounds like a tough cookie.
Been reading a few bits about the warm temps over the Alps, not great. I follow a few Andorra Facebook groups, they're not having a great season at all. Let's hope things change.
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@coldrainsnow, we’ve had a good day. Didn’t go to Flaine, so can’t comment on there, but we definitely didn’t see the ice sheets of yesterday, even on the Tete de Saix. Yes it softens up as the day goes on, but Samoens, which we find has runs that spend more time in the shade, held up better. It was definitely a day for being out early and doing as much as you could before the slush got too much.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@porkpiefox, thanks for the report! We all seem to have caught the next round of nasty headcold going around, so slept in and going to pass on the skiing today I think. Glad you had a good day yesterday.
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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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Warm and sunny today . Not looking good for folks arriving today for the week unfortunately. Skied till 4pm yesterday but had to choose slope orientation and popularity carefully. Snowmelt slowed yesterday due to being a cloudy day but not so today. Cleaning the chalet today (fortunately friends own it so cheap accommodation).
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Flying in today and ready to hit the slush tomorrow. Hard to not get a bit disappointed beforehand! Hopefully it'll be freezing a bit in the night to slow the melt, but boy it is looking warm indeed. 4th year down here and it seems like we'll be experiencing bad conditions for the first time. Shorts are packed for more time for chalet patio beers than usual!
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You know it makes sense.
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@coldrainsnow, ouch, hope the missus heals quickly, impressive to be able to go on and get back like that after the tear.
@soren507, be interesting to see your on the ground reports. First day skiing there a week today for me. What resort are you at? Hope things hold up for you this week, fingers crossed!
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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'm off to samoens wed for a few days feeling fairly positive whats not too look forward to? sunshine amazing scenery plenty of snow depth in flaine - 4m on their snow report up top. I'm expecting some reasonable piste skiing even if its a bit soft n the afternoon.
my experience the warm weather doesn't do as much damage in jan, sun is low out for less hours north facing shaded slopes should fair well, plus it looks like humidity levels are low next week which helps. Its usually better than the doomsters predict but please do share if you're on the ground where is best to go in grand massif in the current warm weather.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Rowlski, we've just touched ground in Samoens where we'll stay. Such a great town that keeps us coming back!
@JDgoesskiing, hopefully it'll turn out alright! 4 ⁰C in Samoens tonight so quite freezing up top i imagine. Clouds not far above the town, but the past times we've been here they've also mainly been above the valley. Notering like taking the GME on a dark, cloudy morning and coming out through to clear skies before sam1600! Here's to the hope of some great Sunny skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@coldrainsnow, we had a good day yesterday too, albeit very different conditions again. A clear night meant the pistes were very hard packed, but without the ice sheets of Thursday. Obviously they softened up as the day went on, but not as much as on the previous two days, so in some places they were still hard in patches later in the day. A good short trip, anyway.
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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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Beautiful morning in the valley, with a good -3 ish degrees in Samoens town. Cold up top I imagine 
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@soren507, hope you have a good week buddy. Are the temps still high? What’s the forecast saying?
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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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Arriving in Samoens Friday evening with a small mixed group of skiers and snowboarders. As I have just said to the others about the conditions, we'll make the most of it - there's no point worrying about something we can't change. Great to keep reading the recommendations on this thread though
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Beautiful day in the massif today! Slightly warm, but nowhere as bad conditions as I expected. Significant freeze during the night and running cannons helped a bit i think, but again not too bad at all. Some places were extremely icy, especially around Samoens. We stayed in the villages region for the first day. Had to get groceries and breakfast before rental pickup, so we hit the slopes from 1600 at around 10:30. Dahu and Aouia were absolutely terrible, and so were Biollaire into Combe. Sairon and Plein Soleil were meh.
Hands down best runs were Marvel and Sortilege into Dolomie into Portet. Absolutely stunning views into the sunshine filled valleys with a clear snow-limit line with very decent not icy and not wet snow. Even the off piste had a slight fluff at Sortilege bowl area, but was rock hard everywhere else. Not the immaculate snow as we've been used to down here, but still made for a great day with the fam here.
Quite many people down here, but I imagine it will be way less busy during the week. Not more than 1-2 minutes wait at any lift other than Chariande express of course, so not too bad. We'll happily take the 10 minutes or so wait at that rather than struggle down Aouia tomorrow though!
@Boofont, Cheers mate, thanks. Always a pleasure to be down here. They are high but not critical. Have an image of the thermo at GME top showing 17⁰C when we left at 15.30, but clearly in the sun  i think it peaked at around 8⁰C up there today id guess. Should be slightly cooler next days but still up to 15 here in the valley and 8⁰C in Flaine. Still freezing during the night, and a bit more cloudy. So hopefully it will mellow the melt a bit.
@Alisdair, i think you'll be hitting a better period, even looks like some fresh snow could be coming next monday and tuesday!
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Welp, looks like i'll be hitting the slopes alone today and maybe the coming days. Ski buddy took a crash yesterday on the ice through the Carroz tunnel and wrecked both wrists which are swollen today. So if anyone needs a ski buddy let me know, i'm a 28 summers old (possibly 70's inside though) lad from Denmark. Not a speed chaser (anymore) but dont mind 45 mph/70kph tops and comfortable on reds (and may stuggle down blacks). 4th year skiing in GM and enjoy trying as many different slopes as possible
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Sorry to hear that that @soren507, sounds like we're in the same boat with our ski partners out. I'm heading to Morillon this morning mainly to see a friend I haven't seen in a minute, but if the snow's better than I expect and I stick around for the afternoon I'll send you a message!
How long are you here for, just the week ?
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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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@coldrainsnow, Yup, skiing monday through thursday sounds good!
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@soren507, We are a portuguese couple skiing, 45-50 (possibly 30 inside though ), we are outgoing and always enjoy meeting new people, we ski probably close to you level, and we are confortable skiing most pistes, but struggle a bit on bumps and terrible snow. Know GM well, we are based in le Carroz area, Prefer to ski on pistes that will have better snow (if we find them). This morning we have classes and probably won't ski too much in the afternoon as it gets too mushy. But tomorrow you are welcome to join us.
Hope you all have a good day!
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FAQ
