 Poster: A snowHead
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Soozy, does she wear mittens? might be worth buying some really thick ones, they work for me!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Soozy, it was much warmer today and snow conditions are excellent. Looks like there may be some fresh the day before you arrive.
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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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Snowangel She has just had gloves up to now, but I've just bought her some mittens as I did read somewhere else that they are warmer.
Chris Great things are looking good and not long to go now!!
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We're heading to claviere on the 4th, but will be skiing at serre chevalier for at least a couple of days 
let's hope the tems keep low and a wee bit more snow blows through that way.
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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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update for 2/02/07
I haven't been up for a week, due to work, sickness and transfers and children! But today i got it together enough to go shred for a good 2hour+ stint. Its a totally different mountian to last friday but it is still in very good condition. There is still off piste, but i didn't bother riding any as its rock solid! The pistes are in very good nick, not very icy but i think that might change this afternoon. No pebbles except on one particularly pebbly bit and its always the first to get that way (just on approach to the clot gautier lift) Its a beautiful day up there the sun is out and its more like spring! The very tops of the moutnains are very bare, but that isn't effecting piste riding. The fact that the off piste is so solid is a very good thing for when the snow comes, as there is a nice base on it so it will be much fun when the dump arrives!
All in all, very ridable and much fun!
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Snowangel
Conditions still sound very good. I thought things might have got icy or more bare by now. There's a dump on the way then?? Only 2 sleeps to go!!
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snowangel., wow thanks for the life story!!! You seem to be the resident expert there (sorry Helen et al) so... we came over xmas and have decided to come again this season. Half term was out so we've booked in from 3rd April. Any ideas what I can expect in terms of snow - get that crystal ball out!
I'm hiring a car from Geneva and although I've driven abroad before never in 'winter' So let's assume there's a shed load of snow still around and maybe even some coming out of the skies - will the roads be clear all the way to Villeneuve or is it like in the jolly UK - every time we get snow it's as though we've never seen it before and the gritters only come out when it's all melted away!!
Also!!! When we came at xmas we got ripped off, sorry hired all of our 'stuff' through a reputable travel company! I'm sure hiring skis, getting lift passes can be done cheaper directly with the shops. Which are the ones we should go to and which to avoid? Any tips for getting discounts. Well that's enough to be going on with.....unless you can recommend ski school - we had esf (?) which I thought were pretty damned good!
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dandtd, in April the roads should be clear, but if it has snowed recently, the Col du Lauteret can be snowy even in April. They clear the roads very quickly though.
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Soozy, should snow (how much who knows) next week from tues.
dandtd, so many questions, well here we go!
1/ snow in april can be awesome, can be sparse. 2 years ago we had an awful season but april was amazing with more snow dumps than we had the whole rest of season. Last year i got married on april 1st in 2 ft of pow, cant complain about that eh! WE also last year on the very last day still had the whole valley and links open. So who knows how good it will be this year.
2/ driving from geneva. Not sure which way your planning on coming. If its snowing you may need chains but you also may not. If you go through the frejus it does shave time off your journey!
3/ kit, I know your staying in Villeneuve but as you have a car if you dont mind driving to Chantemerle, i can put you in touch with a company where i get my clients 25% discount. It works out that your paying about 80e for ski's, boots and poles. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
4/ ski school. contcat these people http://www.ecole-ski-buissonniere.com/ they far outway the esf (in my opinion) if you quote 'The High Rock Chalet' you'll get decent service and possibly a wee discoutn but i will aslo get points towards my daughters snowboard lessons.
that is about it i hope! Any more questions just ask!
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| Quote: |
in April the roads should be clear, but if it has snowed recently, the Col du Lauteret can be snowy even in April. They clear the roads very quickly though.
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Very true, even tiny communities like ours have loads of very expensive equipment to clear roads quickly; imagine what that would cost on your council tax for use once every 5 years in the UK! The other big difference with the UK is that most of the cars are properly equipped with chains, and many with winter tyres also, and the police will stop the ones which are not from travelling up the mountain roads! But that doesn't altogether prevent occasional chaos, with people stuck for hours, especially on busy Saturdays. I used chains twice in April last year, on top of snow tyres, because the spring snow on the roads was quite slushy, if short-lived. You'd better hope you need chains to get up to the station; April with fresh snow is fantastic. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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update for 6th Feb.
resort is not so busy, thought at the weekend it was the state of the week to come as it was really busy with idiots that dont look around them, but today was very very nice.
some snow last night has revived the piste considerably. Its been snowing up there since about 12 and is probably still doing so. Meteo france says it shoudl carry on all day tomorrow, great news!
here
if anyone tells you teh snow is better in monetier, they're lying! I managed to force myself down the link cat track today (very succesfully i might add!) to ride monetier to find it no different to villeneuve and chantemerle. In fact the best snow today was up the prorel!
Anyway, looking good for more snow, its nice and cold and it looks and smells like a big dump is well and truely on its way.
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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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Ha! That cat track brings back happy memories for me (and unhappy ones for two beginner/low intermediate boarders from my group) I took over there last year...
Being fairly confident on narrow paths, I just banged down the middle, just occasionally flipping across the line to take off a bit of pace, but the learner-ish boarders were a bit more nervous of the drop off to the left... A sadistic skier in our little group snowploughed behind both of them banging his ski poles together all the way... they cracked. One panicked and dived headfirst into a pile of snow at the end of the path just before the top of the monetier sector (little legs with board attached waving about out of the heap of snow) and the other just sat down, took off his board and walked the last 100 metres or so... they still haven't forgiven me for taking them over there...
For me, the biggest ball ache was choosing the wrong run down... can't remember its name now, but we headed very much about as left as you can get on the way down to the bottom, and as we neared the lower stages it all got very slushy and was grabbing the board a lot... there's one bit out of sight behind some trees where the run veers off left that it cirtually flat for ages... no way could I carry enough pace in there to keep going to the next downhill bit, and I was tanking it down the section above there. I reckon there should be warning signs up for boarders telling them there's a flat bit ahead!
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snowangel., nice to have some real snow reports from people actually there - thanks!
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You know it makes sense.
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snowangel., It seems frantic at the weekend here too - I gues we're getting all the peeps that would normally go to the smaller, lower resorts - madness here on sunday! 
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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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easiski, oh it was horrid, two of us got ended up with black eyes due to stupid (as it happend skiers) people not looking before they pulled infront of us to stop, there was not a hope in hell of stopping despite best efforts made. It really anoys me that some people are just blind to what others are doing, and that is both skiers and boarders. It only takes a quick look up piste before you pull in to stop  oh well i may avoid riding on sundays after last weekend!
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Poster: A snowHead
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snowangel., Tricky one this. I was never taught to look uphill before stopping, besides how can we do that as a skiers blind spot is directly behind them. Piste rules state that you should stop at the edge of the piste and look upwards before setting off.
Does this mean that boarders who have been going on about the blind spot behind their heel edge are talking rubbish. Surely you are the faster and uphill person and therefore to blame. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Frosty the Snowman, its not the stopping its the cutting accross the piste, where you hvae the ability to look up, before stopping. This is exactly what happend. yes your right person uphill is responsible, iin an ideal world. But if your given absolutely no time to stop, an i mean your coming in pretty damm sharp and you slam the anchors on but there just isn't the space to stop. its still person up hill responsible but the person who cause that person to slam on the anchors needs to take some responsibility too!
it is very tricky, but the piste is like a road and ALL users (dont matter what your on ski's snowboard or even blades) need to look around more before doing things that cause other people problems. Its also hard as you dont want people to stop in the middle of piste or under rollers (there was far too much of that going on on suday too!) you want them to stop at the side of the piste (like these people were) just preferably with looking first! One of the incidents was caused by a skier overtaking me on my blind side then pulling infront of me and stopping dead! It was a busy piste i was right at the edge i had no chance of stopping despite trying and no way of getting around him without taking anyone else out!
most of the problems are caused by in experienced riders who, as you pointed out, aren't taught to look around them. If your not taught to do something you tend not to. They're also taught to snake massively over the piste, its not nessisary to do it but they know no different. This is boarders and skiers alike. Its only when you spend a lot (and i'm talking much more than a week a year for a few years) of time on the snow that you start really apreciating how others ride and what others need to be able to deal with others on the moutnain.
I ski and snowboard so i understand both things, if you've never done one or the other how would you know!!! If i ever have to overtake a skier or a boarder on a boarders blind side, i will be shouting at them not to move, then we all pass happily and no problems! Shame others dont have the same amount of consideration for the others on the piste.
Kids are probably the worst, but then that is kids, but they are also the scaryest as you just dont want to run them over do you!
I think there should be big changes in the way beginers are taught, so that they are taught to be more aware of others on the mountain.
i hope you see i'm not skiest in the slightest, i'm just anti people who dont seem to care about others on the mountain and are blind to what is going on around them. and that is skiers and boarders alike!
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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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I would agree (scarily enough, maybe for the first time on the public forum) with Frosty the Snowman here... I see it as being akin to the driving rule where if someone is boarding/skiing too close to the person in front to be able to take evasive action in the event of an emergency then they're to blame if they hit that person, not matter how stupidly they've behaved.
If, however, the person "downhill" comes in from the side without looking uphill, then that's entirely a different matter.
I get frustrated if I'm in a hurry walking down a crowded street and some little old biddy in front stops and turns in front of me just as I'm trying to get past. I don't "blame" them particularly as I do see that I actually caused the collision/near collision by being too close to them to react to their unexpected move.
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| carled wrote: |
If, however, the person "downhill" comes in from the side without looking uphill, then that's entirely a different matter.
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this is exactly what happend in both incidences. But no harsh words were spoken, much concern was taken that all parties were ok, its just a shame it had to happen. And honestly it could have been avoided if the other person had looked (and this incident he ws side on so had the oportunity) seen, and taken evasive action.
hey guys you know what its like on a very crowded piste, lots of people are often all far to close together, everyone needs to take responsiblilty.
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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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Always expect the unexpected!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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It is an interesting discussion point. Is a skier/boarder that makes a sharp turn accross the slope under an obligation to look upwards before making the turn. I would agree that education in piste safety is lacking amongst far to many users.
carled, Wasn't too scary I hope 
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Frosty the Snowman, I do feel in need of liquid stimulation, it must be said...
I personally would not expect to be in any danger of being hit if I performed a sudden stop or turn on piste. I would expect people to be far enough away from me that they could manouevre. That being said, I am always acutely aware of what is around me, using my ears and my peripheral vision, so I doubt I would put myself in any danger.
I do find though, that no matter how many times I tell them, my two daughters (aged 9 and 12) are bloody hopeless at being aware of their surroundings (not just on piste, either) and I have frequently seen (fortunately) near-accidents when an idiot skier (usually, but occasionally a boarder) has ended up skiing over their skis or close to them when they've stopped... sometimes even shooting through a standing group of skiers/boarders as our group reconvenes on the side of the piste somewhere.
As most of the big group I go with are volleyballers built like me (6'5" and wide enough with it) we often form a small posse to go and have words with the culprit, taking one of our group with the local linguistic abilities to explain what we think about their ancestry...
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snowangel.,
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If, however, the person "downhill" comes in from the side without looking uphill, then that's entirely a different matter.
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this is one of the biggest problems that i encounter, I try to ride looking everywhere around me and always look up hill before setting off, even waiting for a gap in the traffic, so to speak, and this helps a lot enough when I am down slope even though technically people should be looking out for me. The real problems exists when a skiier or boarder is traversing across a wide piste and may well have even been up slope at the beginning of the traverse but then cuts acrross the front of my heel turn (could just as easy cut across the back of me) and this happened last week. Yes I am technically up slope, but there is very little I can do except really digging in the heel and effectively pull out of the turn back up the hill. The problem does not exist on the toe turn because I can see and avoid the problem. All that is needed is a little of bit of sense irrespective of who is right and who is wrong.
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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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btw people....
its been snowing in the valley for a few hours, not settling yet but its getting heavier
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Nice big flakes falling now. I was uptop for a few hours and there has been about 10cms of fresh. Off-piste was 'interesting'. 4" of powder sitting on top of solid frozen waves! Piste 7/10, off piste 4/10 and rising!
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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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First lift this morning and another 15 cms of powder. What a difference. Yesterday's off-piste was difficult but today, pure heaven (apart from bad visibility). Still snowing and more to come! Piste 8/10, off-piste 8/10 and rising!
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You know it makes sense.
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chris, . Let's hope it keeps on coming. Out around 17th March.
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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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could ride for only an hour today, was awesome! still snowing slightly more to come tonight and saturday.
shame the clients i went to drop off ar stranded at turin and the ones i was supposed to pick up are stranded at luton! poor sods!
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Poster: A snowHead
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09/02/07 update
OMG what a day! First lifts in chantemerle, through trees to foret lift, rather tracked. Piste excellent! Over the back from the Foret chair, knee high pow untracked lovely jubly! Up Clot Gautier chair off to the left to villeneuve, off piste to the clot gautier drag - awesome lines were got. Up that drag, then i got first tracks to the right of it, and it was amazing! then accross the two other drags and into the gulley, again amazing lines all fresh trax! Up la balme towards monetier, didn't bother with the cat track, off the side down to the chair, another amazing line! Up to the cucamel and hiked up a bit then traversed a bit and then OMG words cannot describe how awesome it was!
There was some more hiking and more fresh trax,
all in all it is amazing here today! more snow due tomorrow, what a shame
here are some pics, this is a hikable only route over the back of the ridge just down from l'echauda
and looking the way we were heading
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brian
brian
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snowangel., droooooooool 
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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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snowangel., nice!
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It was one of those days where the memories will live on for the rest of the year! I did 6 hours of powder on all parts of the mountain. The adrenaline has worn off now and I'm left with a sense of exhausted euphoria.
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snowangel., i think you have just helped me make my mind up where to go in march !!
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chris, i'm impressed, i rode so hard i had to stop at 1.30 before i hurt myself!
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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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chris, you can keep calling me a youngun for as long as you like! after thurs i ain't no youngun anymore! But i do have young child + teenager to look after as well as clients to cook for etc!
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FAQ
