 Poster: A snowHead
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bobinch, I think you're right, hopefully though Saturday should be a good one. Snowing atm but I expect it to be clearish tomorrow morning but then sock in again.
Really deep snow off the back of Mt Fort today, possibly knee deep and although the chimneys are tracked (obviously and given the recent weather I doubt we'd have been there if they weren't) there was still plenty of good stuff on the aprons and lower down.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
She is my cousin too (in fact was a Bridesmaid at my wedding) and a very occasional poster on SnowHeads (though I don't recall her nom-de-plume)
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skidog, rungsp, Its was me! Thanks a mill again for the use of a base. We had a great time.... hope to see you soon!
RPF, great to meet you and enjoy the rest of the season!
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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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Should you be logging on from work??
Obviously your other half can....he is a banker and we all know they have nothing better to do, but you have a proper job!
Also: stay on thread....give us a snow report please...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Very nice day today, sunny in most parts although lingering cloud lower down in the morning.
Front side of Mt Gele, Tortin, Vallon darby etc all in very nice condition with freshies still to be had. Also had some nice skiing on the backside of savoleyres amoungst the trees in the afternoon. Topped it off skiing down to Le Chable, a little heavy near the bottom but nothing the factions couldnt handle.
All in all, a great days skiing 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| skidog wrote: |
Very nice day today, sunny in most parts although lingering cloud lower down in the morning.
Front side of Mt Gele, Tortin, Vallon darby etc all in very nice condition with freshies still to be had. Also had some nice skiing on the backside of savoleyres amoungst the trees in the afternoon. Topped it off skiing down to Le Chable, a little heavy near the bottom but nothing the factions couldnt handle.
All in all, a great days skiing |
Those are my flippin Factions....the cheeky begger!!
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skidog, sounded like a great day! We're skiing Verbier tomorrow. What route did you take to Le Chable? I dropped down from La Chaux last season but ended up in Sarreyer....
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| bobinch wrote: |
| skidog, sounded like a great day! We're skiing Verbier tomorrow. What route did you take to Le Chable? I dropped down from La Chaux last season but ended up in Sarreyer.... |
The La Chaux route is usually better, if you go do from fontany (what was previously the itinery from the top of the La Chaux express - how to spell it?? ) take the shoulder on the left hand side and head down from there. Shouldnt be too hard to find your way down if you follow previous tracks. Taking that route you end up above La Chable and have to cut across when you get to the bottom.
The shorter route is from the medran station. Follow the path (usually skiable) through the appartments underneath the lift going down to La Chable. When you reach the end of the chalets cut down to your left (following a walkers path). That takes you briefly through the trees before opening up into a field. You then ski down a few hundred meters before cutting left again over a shoulder and into a larger field with paths cutting across it. Get to the bottom of that and you follow another walkers path to your left for a while before opening up again at the bottom. Its usually tracked out by lunchtime after a decent snow fall lower down so should be easy to spot.
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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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skidog, thanks for the info!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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RPF, busy today too, at least busy for a Monday. Went out in the end as board turned up early so a few coats of wax and I was off after lunch, snow still good although most obvious stuff is tracked, still a short walk is probably all that's needed.
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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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Also should add there was considerable surface hoar all over the place yesterday a lot of which didnt disappear during the day.
Hopefully it will be gone before the next snowfall. With things getting busy it is likely to be skied out of it on the busier slopes but the less busy ones and in the backcountry it will be worth keeping an eye out if this ends up as a weak layer. 
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still plenty of lines to be had if you don't mind a hike. Some of its getting a bit creamy mind
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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bobinch, Are you guys still looking to do the Poubelle this week?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lightly snowing most of the afternoon and evening, so far about 5cm in La Chable (should be more up top). Hopefully it will keep up over night and there will be a bit of fun to be had tomorrow
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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parlor, bump runs? Have you been on the Rum again? Conditions have been superb for the last few weeks. Check out the TR's!
Come on where are the pics of you tearing up the famed Canadian Champagne Powder?
Gsyfreerider, not me but hopefully back for the weekend. SLF indicates that 15cm of cold powder has fallen in the last 24 hours which should cover the tracks nicely. Was hoping to do one of the tours from Rosablanche - Fionnay or Pralong - but the avalanche update (HAT) below suggests North facing lightly skied runs are still dangerous so I'm going to get some local knowledge first.
Tips for this coming week
There is a very weak layer on North’ish facing slopes and very shaded slopes due to the increased cold, which is creating the build-up of layers of angular/faceted snow crystals in the snowpack in these areas. Météo France is warning us all about these slopes even as they report increased stability on other (South’ish) facing slopes. More snow will be lots of fun, but will aggravate the already fragile condition on these slopes – especially North facing slopes that haven’t been compacted by lots of skier traffic on them.
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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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| Quote: |
North facing lightly skied runs are still dangerous so I'm going to get some local knowledge first.
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From what we saw today, definitely. I'd completely agree with the last paragraph.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nice.........keep the pics coming
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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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Flyin tomorrow morning, can't wait
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Getting a bit crusty (sun and/or wind) in places, OK on a board though  . Queues are immense, had to wait for 3 bins on Jumbo this afternoon. Gave up and went home; going touring tomorrow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I wonder how you managed to get such queues?
I was somewhat surprised today to find negligable queues.
Just lucky perhaps.
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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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rungsp, don't know got straight up to the top of Mt Fort this morning with no waiting at all. By the time we got back to Siviez it was horrific, worst I've seen all season. Could have been bad luck; at least we shouldn't have to queue tomorrow!
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First day today. Queues were moderate, about 10 minute lines at most except for the Chondola in La Chaux at 4 PM. The tracked out off piste is full of moguls, but nice and very soft. Some rock exposure on the top of Gentianes Tortin which was annoying for a bump run like that. Overall, looks amazing and massive off piste opportunities (definitely would be better with some snow though)...
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You know it makes sense.
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skiking4, we put the first two tracks down a route today, plenty of fresh snow still to be had.
As to queues, we were in the first bin up Mt Fort today. There were 5 people in it including the operator. Mind the south face was refrozen crud and pretty sketchy in places. Coming back from Les Masses the queues were no worse than normal until the Greppon Blanc which was pretty bad (still only 10 minutes but that's bad for there) and the Siviez-Nendaz Navette although we avoided this by drinking beer until there was no queue left.
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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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| Swirly wrote: |
| skiking4, we put the first two tracks down a route today, plenty of fresh snow still to be had. |
Hmmm hiking or not easily accessed probably. Not knowing the area, probably not the best idea (though I might be having a guide later this week to seek the fresh and ski the backside of Mt Fort (for bragging rights  ))
Hm 30 photos and videos taken yesterday (from Le Chable and train ride), 90 today. Man it's going to be hard to choose which I should put up for a massive TR at the end of the week, probably looking at 300+.
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Poster: A snowHead
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skiking4, yeah it was a bit of a skin to get away from the crowds. Hardly saw anyone from 9.15 till 2pm. You might have to watch the weather later in the week, it's set to snow from Wednesday. A guide will probably be able to find you some fresh off the backside still, there was plenty yesterday although it needed a bit of a walk (short) to access. Look forwards to seeing your photos.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Swirly, I don't have touring skis so I can't skin. Looking to have the guide Wed. or Thurs., so that might be a good thing. Thanks for the info Swirly.
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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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Swirly, pictures please!
skiking4, Swirly is a good guide  his "powder sniffing" skills are becoming legendary.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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bobinch, I only took 2! will put them up in a minute. The snow was fantastic though including almost knee deep soft stuff in the final couloir. Was going to go back today but got up at 7 and was buggered. Went back to bed
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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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Swirly, blouse.
Pralong sounds like a great tour. Although you're not going to make me very jealous with 2 photos.... You should have bought Gorilla a camera for Valentine's day!
I just skinned up the local hill after work. Dark and icy.....
But new skis with Dynafit binders on their way. Looking forward to the next tour!
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bobinch, turns out I took 3! I could have gone out today, we had planned to go and investigate where another skin track was going but I doubt we'd have enjoyed it. Got a few ideas for other tours though: there's one to Fionnay if you carry on over the next col from where we climbed then turn right and over another one that puts you in the next big bowl. Looks good on the map.
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Swirly, what about the Petit Combin... Is there a safe way up (without a helicopter)?
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bobinch, possibly, hard to say I'll have a look at the ski tour map, it looks like there might be a way up a glacier on the N-face or maybe up the West side, pretty big day though.
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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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Conditions are OK. A noticeable semi untracked section is the Rock Garden above Tortin. Of course its a decent hike there. A storm came by for about 45 minutes today. It might've snowed very lightly in most places, but I got stuck in a whiteout on Mont Gele with moderate snow. Great conditions, but it sucked not being able to see. Couldn't see the bumps so it was more of a pain then fun (was my favorite run the day before). Valon D'Arby was the run of the day today for me. Great conditions above the treeline and I followed two other skiers directly down the valley when the treeline sets in instead of traversing around and dropping into the cut paths. It was awesome besides the pretty weak cover (went over a couple rocks). Some fun cliffs up on top. Today I kept it pretty easy. Shins hurting a little. Explored Nendaz and La Tzoazz and Sayoleres... I can't spell. Stopped going to Les Masses by the Grepton Blanc lift due to drag lifts the rest of the way (annoying...). All in all good day. At about 270 pictures total. Last day w/ guide tomorrow
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Awesome day with the guide. It snowed about 5 cm total overnight and during the day. And then I did the backside for the first time and found lots of untracked stuff, including this one bowl with like a foot plus in it. Really sick. Valon D'Arby had some real good semi untracked stuff too if you were willing to take a high traverse, short hike to the left. Great snow everywhere up high. All in all, A+ day. Backside has to be one of my favorite runs ever.
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