 Poster: A snowHead
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Any news for those hoping to get up to Ste Foy this morning? Some friends got stuck for the night at albertville for the night. Sadly they are in a hire car sans chains ... Any advice welcome
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have just read every single post on this thread and feel so sorry for all of those who've been stuck. Hope you all make it to your destinations soon - for those of you arriving on hols, wow, you should have a fab week of snow.
Take care snowheads!!
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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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Update...the BSM-VDI road is open, traffic is moving up the mountain, however it's not good further towards Geneva apparently. Currently sat on a hotel lobby floor waiting to hear from the Bens Bus rep whether we persevere with this or go and stick another day on the pass! 
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The roads from Bourg to Tignes, Val D'isere, St Foy etc are open.
Drive carefully the snow will still be here when you arrive,
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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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Would seem that the Col du Lautaret is still closed according to the website which they have not bothered updating since 15:00 yesterday and the phone line is constantly engaged, so no too sure how my friend is getting to Grenoble this morning as he's not answering his phone, so daughter could still be stranded.
The amount of wind in the valley would point to the Col being closed though as it's the wind that can be the real problem taking viz down to less than a meter.
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@Jesnoid, tell them to buy some chains. My cleaners put snowsocks on and were told chains or nothing.
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Having been travelling to the Alps for 25 years and having read all the threads I can't remember anything like this. It sounds truly horrific and I can only sympathise with those who have had the most horrific journey especially those with children and babies. We are a resilient bunch us skiers and good snow and conditions helps us forget the journey - so fingers crossed you all have a great week skiing when you do finally arrive (and the conditions continue to be great when we arrive next Sunday !) 
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[quote="davidof"][quote="Lizzard"]@Renry, what do you want their TOs to do? The only thing a rep can do in these circumstances is sympathise and get shouted at.
from what I was reading the poor reps where not getting a great deal of support from their employers, that all I was getting at.
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@Jesnoid, restrictions still in place until 15:00 - without chains they're staying in the valley. Roads are now open, but it's likely to be slow going.
Oisans now more or less back to normal, though they're still insisting on chains for access to Aloe d'Huez and 2Alpes. 16 people who rocked up without them yesterday spent the night on the floor in the fire station in Bourg d'Oisans.
Access to Toussuire and Corbier now open.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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According to La Plagnes facebook page the road up and down is open but only for vehicles with chains. Winter tyres only are not acceptable.
It is still snowing ....
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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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I feel for all of you , I also have been travelling back and forth for years and the only one anywhere near as bad as this was 35 years ago when there was a landslide in Moutier with a boulder the size of a house that shut the main road on half term changeover day , everything had to be redirected through the railway goods yard , transfer times of 24 hrs from Lyon airport to Les Arcs !
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@Renry, I was surprised to see pretty much nothing from the TOs on social media yesterday. I would have thought they'd be tweeting updates and info, not because it's particularly useful, but because people feel better if they think they know what's going on. That includes the reps, most of whom were effectively paid a tenner for the day's work.
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You know it makes sense.
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Everything has combined to make that the worst transfer day for a long time.
The fact that some unfortunate person has died, makes feeling excited about the new snow seem rather shallow. 
(Spelling corrected)
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Sun 28-12-14 9:42; edited 2 times in total
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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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@boredsurfin, been trying to find your informative La Plagne facebook page - which one are you looking at?
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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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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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@Boredsurfing, The social media side of info output from the resorts was useless IMO. Twitter is best in these circumstances and the resorts seemed non existent on it or way behind time wise.
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thefatcontroller, IMHO the resorts have only to into Sm this year, Paradiski are very good La Plagne is patchy and only during office hours both rely on retweeting. LP traffic report was updated every 4 hours or so but was limited to the road up. However, we learnt lots of useful local info from Montalberts facebook page such as when the busses were running up to LP and when the link to LP was opening. Previous seasons we would have relied on info being exchanged in the local bars and ski shops.
Also reading David Offs excellent updates on Twitter we learnt that mobile and internet networks were falling over because of overloading, even the traffic radio info packed up!
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 28-12-14 10:06; edited 1 time in total
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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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The drive from Flaine to Ste Foy took 16 hours. Most of it from Ugine to Bourg. Best comedy moment was an X5 with modest personal plate X5 RCH trying to put chains on by committee. Although I wouldn't have missed it for the world, I'd rather have got here in the planned three hours or so. Anyway, five hours' kip, breakfasted and ready for all that white stuff. Woo hoo!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Any news on the route around the north and east side of Lake Geneva? Heading to Val d'Illiez via this route but not seen any mention of it - only the routes from Geneva. Grateful of any news on road conditions. Thanks.
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Col du Lautaret reopened this morning. Around 15,000 people spent the night in emergency accommodation, according to the prefecture in Savoie (plus the 16 in the fire station at Bourg d'Oisans  ). Add to that the people who got stuck in their cars, those who gave up and got into hotels en route, and the usual Sunday transfers today - roads could still be pretty busy all day.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Yeah, but I'm working in the assumption that these guys (snow clearers & recovery) are smart and once things improve they improve quickly? We've not used the north & eastern route around L Geneva before - it's all new for us!
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I'm about to drive from Chamonix to Geneva airport and back again - as far as I can see on French m-way sites, there are no major issues, and I've already been down the main road a few km to Les Houches this morning and it was cleared. Anyone have any other info?
Thanks
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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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N90 heading towards the resorts is nose to tail gridlock for miles and miles...avoid if possible!
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You know it makes sense.
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rob@rar Thanks - that's the most useful site I've seen, and seems to confirm ok. It also confirms that other areas are still bad!
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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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@footsoldier, not sure where they get their traffic data from in other countries, but in the UK I find it spookily accurate. Driving across France on Friday I found it good at telling me when I would hit traffic and when it would clear.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Google maps traffic also shows the N90 still very slow
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wow what an epic journey that was. Left Reims at 3am and arrived in Ste foy exactly 24 hours later!!!!!!
Carnage on the roads. I suspect we were lucky as we left Reims so early unlike the majority of others.
It was nose to tail all the way from chambery to moutiers before it eased a little.
Police road blocks for checking chains, but they are only asked if we had them not enforced fitting before carrying on, unless that was because I had 4wd.
As we came into bourg the queue for people trying to get out up that hill was horrific!!!!
Good luck to anyone still stuck or making their way out today!!!!
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| @footsoldier, not sure where they get their traffic data from in other countries, but in the UK I find it spookily accurate. Driving across France on Friday I found it good at telling me when I would hit traffic and when it would clear. |
It's one of the many companies these days that makes use of bulk mobile location data.
"Only TomTom takes existing traffic information and enhances it using anonymous data from 80 million mobile phone users on the road and 1.6 million connected TomTom devices. This makes TomTom’s Traffic revolutionary - able to deliver the world’s most accurate traffic information."
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@nozawaonsen, I knew that's where they got the traffic info for the UK, so good to know they use the same data elsewhere. On several occasions my TomTom has routed me around some monster traffic jams, although I don't think it would have helped yesterday as sadly it doesn't have the capability to convert cars in to helicopters.
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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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@rob@rar, Also how many people in the queues yesterday had data running? Also hear there we big internet and mobile issues in the area.
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@thefatcontroller, yes, that might well be an issue as the traffic info is delivered to the TomTom devices by mobilephone data and if the cell towers stop working because they are overloaded that just compounds the problems on the road.
I switched to the Three service provider so that I wouldn't have to worry about the coast of data roaming - meant I could follow yesterday's chaos on snowHeads, Facebook and Twitter without racking up a big bill.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| @Jesnoid, restrictions still in place until 15:00 |
don't the restrictions apply to the prefectorial decree that anyone arriving from Lyon or Grenoble is not to enter the Savoie? I suspect chains will be needed for a lot longer than 3pm today. Chamrousse was unreachable for many on Friday when I drove up there and that was before the snow.
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Funicular running ok?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Snow Chains
Motorway service stations in the Tarentaise and Maurienne have been supplied with chains. In Albertville Feu Vert will open all day. There are also chains available at the Langon rest area between Chambéry and Albertville.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sun 28-12-14 11:21; edited 1 time in total
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@thefatcontroller, I imagine all the French drivers would have been using data and presumably that is the data that Tom Tom would have been interested in (assuming they could gather it). Not that there would have been a huge amount of alternatives they could have suggested on many blocked routes.
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FAQ
