Aussies going ON A French adventure.

A snowHead

@sbooker, I’m heading to London first. The maximum is going to be 3 or 4 degrees when I arrive but not raining so I’m happy with that.

I always end up turning the heating down in Europe. Once I asked the owner of a family run hotel in Austria how to adjust the heating because the room was too warm. He looked at me very seriously and said ‘but it is not possible to be too warm’ ! I honestly think he took it as an insult to his hospitality Very Happy

A snowHead

In a hotel.in Germany on 2nd Jan it was 26 in my room at 11pm. It never dropped below 20...and I had the window open.l and the radiator off.The receptionist was very surprised when I complained

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

@Raven,

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@sbooker, I think you said the others in your party had a trip to Lyon on Saturday, how did that go?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Bergmeister, if you’re on the hill now I think there’s a good chance you’ll be skiing fresh snow over the next couple of days.

After all it is free

@sbooker, update on the London forecast. It’s currently predicted to snow Tuesday afternoon, when I’m flying in. If it happens, I’m sure Heathrow will run like clockwork, won’t it? Toofy Grin

@Raven, doubt your travel will be affected by snow in London...and you've picked one of the few days when there are no major strikes planned. Smile

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My feeling is that these apartment buildings are almost self heating when full of people, especially when you are in the middle. We've had one's on the outer at quiet times and it's much less warm.

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Temperature inside holiday accommodation in the Alps and in the UK isn't comparable.

We're in an Edwardian terrace, so insulation isn't great. The week before Christmas the outside pipe of our bathroom sink froze. It was so cold that the water inside the pipe had frozen solid. I didn't discover this until I ran the tap and the water didn't drain from the sink. I poured boiling water over the pipe which melted it just enough for a perfect cylinder of ice to drop out of the bottom. Up in our loft conversion, damp patches started to appear in certain spots on the walls. We could also see our breath in certain parts of the house. It was impossible not to have the heating on as it was so cold, it affected the house itself.
A week later we went to Austria where we had the windows open all night because it was so warm. Similar outside temperatures. Vast difference in build quality (my walls are basically 110 year old sand and horsehair). And as Layne says, we were in the middle with people above, below and on both sides.

Enjoying reading about your trip, keep us updated.

You know it makes sense.

@Layne, Good point. You’re probably right.

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

Update.

We checked in late yesterday after having lunch at a one (wo)man band restaurant in the old town of Bourg Saint Maurice. We all had a ‘formule’ for only 10 Euro. A (non alcoholic) drink, a main (sandwich, lasagne, pizza type stuff) and a desert (galette, crème brûlée, panacotta). Superb food and entertaining service.

We’re in Arc 1800. The accommodation is typical French appartments built in the 70s/80s I would think. We’ve got two. One for myself and Kylie. The other for the teens. They’re small but pretty well designed. Ours has been renovated recently. The kids has not. Eh oh!

My wife and the two girls got an early start to catch the train to Lyon for an overnight excursion. I am going to hang with the boys.

It was overcast early and started to graupel at about 11am (at 1600 metres). It quickly turned to snow and by noon it was snowing quite heavily. We checked out the higher elevations but visibility was not great.

We spent the afternoon in the tree lined runs between 1800 and Vallandry. The visibility was much better.

The snow conditions were contrasting. Above about 1900 metres it was quite nice and really good in places. There are some closed runs that we skied. They had really good patches of untracked snow. We weren’t the only ones skiing them but they certainly weren’t being hammered by most of the people on the hill. Perhaps someone who knows this stuff (someone with patrolling experience in Europe perhaps) can clarify but my interpretation of a closed piste is it is the same as skiing off piste. Or do I have that wrong? Should I not be skiing those areas?
Anyway below about 1900 it was either hard and icy, scraped out (despite recent snow) or obviously man made. Tom asked why it was like “a slushy” even though the temps were low.

Chilling in the unit with a biere and some cornachons at the moment. We’ll head out soon for dinner. Snow predicted for tonight and tomorrow. I was going to get a guide but I’m going to ski (they board) with the lads and I intend to get at as much of the new snow in between the pistes (and on the closed pistes) that I can.

A snowHead

@sbooker, you should not ski a closed piste. You don't know why it's closed ...it could e.g. be dangerous, have no snow below a certain point, being prepped for something.

For UK skiers our insurance would be invalid on a closed piste

A snowHead

@sbooker, ahhhh... valley prices! Very Happy

I don't have patrolling experience, but yes, skiing a closed run is broadly like skiing off piste. So it is not patrolled, risk of avalanche etc. Insurance would probably not cover you. Generally speaking I don't think it is against the rules, but it helps to know why the piste is shut - if it's due to avalanche danger then you should stay clear (obviously), and also beware of piste preparation (e.g. piste groomers might be working on it). But it might just be that the snow is a bit thin or icy. So... it depends.

Personally I would err on the side of caution especially in these conditions i.e. lots of new snow / changing snowpack / piste openings changing rapidly, unless you have reasonable knowledge of avalanche hazards. Depends on the piste / terrain though...

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

@sbooker, I don’t know if you saw this on the Les Arcs thread a week ago If you didn’t here it is a again , fascinating.

https://www.dezeen.com/2019/07/12/les-arcs-architecture-charlotte-perriand-50-years/

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@holidayloverxx,
Thanks. I did not see any reason why those pistes would be closed. (Aside from too much unskied snow). Laughing

But the insurance thing is a good point…..
Thanks again.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@denfinella,
I know not much about avalanche risk to be perfectly honest but these areas were all low angle. I highly doubt they could ever slide. But yes. I think they could have been shut due to previously thin cover. One had a non filled small ‘creek’ running through it. (Small enough to jump over).

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@sbooker, that could well be it

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@Rob Mackley,
Nice piece.
We’re in Les Lauzieres. You’re up the hill in more modern digs from memory?

After all it is free

@sbooker, Nah that Rob Rar , I’m in Sainte Foy when in them mountains but used to ski Les Arcs in my teens and have stayed in many places in 1800

@Rob Mackley, Too many Robs.

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@Rob Mackley, Oh. Sainte Foy. Sadly there is a free bus to La Rosiere but none to Sainte Foy. The two taxi companies I checked with want 110 Euro each way (for six people). I’m happy to pay for an experience but…….

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My understanding is that skiing a closed piste will definitely NOT be covered by any normal policy because it is, by definition, "skiing against local advice". It's not the same as off piste - some policies cover off piste, some cover it only with a guide. I have sometimes skied closed pistes with ski instructors - but they've made the point that it's only OK because they have said so.

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@sbooker, 9

Find a sunny day and take the bus to la Rossiere and ski over to Italy for the day.

Hot chocolate and pizza/pasta not to be missed.

@pam w, Got it. I will try to resist temptation. Now 50 the thought of getting at that safe untracked snow is similar to other thoughts 20 years ago. Laughing

How things change.

You know it makes sense.

@stewart woodward,
On my radar for Saturday. Changeover day being quietest on the pistes?

I’ve got to get the two newbies ready for those drag lifts by then. Very Happy

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

@sbooker, a piste can be closed for a number of reasons. The snow cover could be inadequate in places, the piste could be at risk of being avalanched onto by the surrounding mountain terrain, there could be piste groomers working on it (sometimes using winch cables in places, there have been nasty injuries and fatalitities with skiers skiing at speed into winch cables they didn't see, you can imagine what sort of injuries can result from that Skullie

), it could be closed because it's being prepared for an event. What is definite as others have said is that unlike off piste skiing you will not be covered by most (any?) insurance policies if you have an accident while skiing a closed piste.

My advice would be don't do it. snowHead

A snowHead

A snowHead

Can you get somewhere sensible if you fall off?

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

I stayed in La Ros several times. Never made it to Italy. One time the weather was too nasty, another time my lightweight niece kept getting lifted off her feet by the drag lift. She was a good skier, and good gymnast, and managed to land with her skis parallel a few times, but the last time she just dropped off in a heap so we all had to get off with her - but we'd not got far and getting down again wasn't a problem. But it's so long ago, I can't remember the details.

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@sbooker, the pistes you are talking about were closed at Christmas because of thin snow cover. We skied them a couple of times - insurance would have been invalid but risk was very low. Couldn't be bothered skiing down the track as much as anything. But yeah, you shouldn't really.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@sbooker, the public bus from Bourg St M up to Espace Killy passes close to St Foy on the main road. A taxi from there to the ski station shouldn’t cost much. Do the times of that bus not work for you to have most of a day in St Foy?

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@pam w, I guess in the event of an incident one could drag themselves to the nearest open zone which would be dependant on the injury. On the La Ros drag lift thing I’ll be sure to have the kids practice on one here before we go.
@Alastair Pink, Good advice. Thanks.
@Layne, I’m glad someone else succumbed to temptation.

@PeakyB, I’ll check out the public bus but from memory the times were not ideal. If it were just me or only two of us I’d hitch but the chances of that being successful with 6 are limited. Very Happy

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@Layne, Might head over to Les Coches which is your neck of the woods I believe. Any mid morning coffee and croissant recommendations?

After all it is free

We skied in Austria at Christmas and part of one of our favourite runs was closed because there was a section of about 10 feet that was completely devoid of snow.
At the end of the week I was stood on a higher run looking out over the closed run and saw a man and two children skiing it, even though the rope was still across. I watched as they then got to the empty bit, stopped, took their skis off, and walked that section.

To be fair, given the only other way of joining back up with the rest of that blue (that was open) was a steep red that was pure ice, it was the safest way for him to get down with his children. He was probably caught out as the run was marked as open on the boards and the map. We were caught out too, but opted for the icy red with varying levels of success.

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That La Rosiere drag lift isn't really that scary, but is one of the longer ones.

We took our daughter to La Ros when she was 7. She had all day lessons (from an ESF instructor, with Esprit) and progressed well - helped by having a childhood crush on the instructor (who must have been about 20) so she hung on his every word with obvious puppy eyes. Anyway she did so well we promised her the adventure of a ski trip to Italy on our last (free) day, and while we were a little nervous about the drag lift she managed it fine as a small child. We didn't actually venture very much further, did a few runs on the pass then had an Italian lunch in one of the cafes by the (closed) road.

I assume they keep that crucial connection as a drag lift because of the winds that can really whip up through the Petit St Bernard pass.

Help!!

Aussies going ON A French adventure.

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