As per 1950, the lift pass office in 2000 has self service machines which offer the opportunity to either buy direct or pick up pre-booked passes. (FR and EN screens).
If you have a pre-booked pass, say from Crystal.....can you get a Carre Neige from these machines?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Popped to La Plagne yesterday afternoon, the one open run from Vanoise Express to Lac Noir lift was awful, scraped snow the entire way and bodies everywhere
Runs over in Arc are generally holding up well, at pinch points it’s very hard packed and scraped snow.
Could really do with a snowfall to freshen up the pistes.
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?
@Old Fartbag, interesting question - and will admit to being in the "don't know" corner on that one. However, I have found the Tourist Office very good at answering emails, so should be possible to find out.
Thanks Arctic Roll. Worked out very small difference in price between Classic and Essential, so Essential it is
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Arctic Roll wrote:
@Old Fartbag, interesting question - and will admit to being in the "don't know" corner on that one. However, I have found the Tourist Office very good at answering emails, so should be possible to find out.
Thanks.
I'm sure someone in the Snowhead Collective will report in when they try and purchase it. I was heading to Arc 2000 until my holiday was changed (upgraded) by Crystal, to Tignes.
The weather continues to be lovely and continues to impact the quality of the pistes, which are getting more scrapped as a result of the high temperatures and the increase in the number of skier who have now arrived in resort. It's very nice to ski in such lovely weather, but the hoped for change in conditions from this weekend in to early next week will be welcome.
A little video of the first half of Christmas week. Apologies it's a scruffy edit, still getting to grips with new cameras and a new editing application.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@rob@rar,
After all it is free
After all it is free
Very dramatic!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Brilliant video @rob@rar,
I didn't ski yesterday but have been out for a few hours today. The weather has been brilliant and the snow cover IMHO is standing up very well, but the resort is a lot busier than Monday. We even have lift queues. I'm not sure what was happening at Combettes first thing; lots of charis were going up empty but we had to queue for almost 10 mnutes. The rest of the lift queues were OK as the essentials pass was making a world of difference. Judging by the queue at Arpette les than 5% of the skiers have essentials passes so we were able to walk straight to the front of the queue.
As usual Arc 2000 was very busy and the 1600/1800 relativey quiet we had pistes such as Col de Frettes almost to ourselves (BTW it was a lovely run).
Piste of the day Dents du Peigne - that orthaned blue piste that no one skis on - wide, smooth, soft snow and all to ourselves.
Lunch was at wood Bear. The food, Gratin du Raviolli, was excellent, the table a bit cramped, and the most expensive lunch of the week so far - 21€ but enjoyable.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Nice cruise with both boys this afternoon, not sure what was going on at lifts but all barriers just open. Which came in handy for boy who only had a basic 4-hour pass but worked out the fast track lane would let him through
Snow lovely in places but really scraped and hard at pinch points. Unseasonably warm
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Boris, there seemed to be a problem with the barriers throughout the resort yesterday. They were showing 'free pass ' when anyone went through any gate.
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.
When you have a two week ski holiday there are times when you just don't feel inspired. Today was one of those days so we didn't set off until after 12:00. It turned out to be the worse conditions of the trip so far. The visability was not great, there were a lot of skiers about and the snow was starting to develop some bumps. I skied worse than I have done for 40 years. I just couldn't get balanced.
The snow is starting to thin in places and I imagine we will have some bare patches on Belvedere beyond the Charmettoger lift and on the low road to Arc 1600.
It was interesting with the essentials pass today. At the Vallandry lift I walked straight through and into a cabine (the lifty even took my skis for me and put them into the slot) whereas there was a huge queue for the classic pass bearers. At Derby there didn't really appear to be a seperate priority queue just a huge mass of people. We skied on past it. At Vagere there was nice single line for the priority boarding, but then when we entered it it just stopped. I suspect someone had the wrong pass and was just chancing it.
Piste of the day - Golet then on down traversee - empty, lovely snow and the visibilty improved.
Lunch of the day - a snack bar in Vallandry where I had a portion of chips for lunch. At 3€ this is the least expensive lunch I have ever had on a ski holiday
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@johnE, the priority line at Derby is right in the middle, can’t see it from the side but if you go across the back of the queue you find it. It does save time
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@johnE, the priority line at Derby is right in the middle, can’t see it from the side but if you go across the back of the queue you find it. It does save time
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@Boris, people were spilling out over the whole fenced off area. You couldn't get to it due to the crowds around blocking the entrance
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@johnE, one of those times you need to channel your inner Frenchness and barge through
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Rained overnight in Vallandry - hoping that translates to a little fresh snow higher up
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?
Arriving on Saturday. A quick question, do the chair lifts all start on time or do any start early.
First time in France and i'm used to the main gondola in Austria starting before the listed time to start getting people up the mountain. Typically, around 8-8:30. The lifts seems to start a lot later in France.
Unless you consider the funicular from bourg st Maurice the same as the Austrian cable car “up the mountain” there isn’t really the same concept in France. You are already up the mountain at your residence.
The lifts start on time unless there is some problem such as heavy overnight snow.
The lifts in France stop later in France than Austria, in les arcs, even this time of year some lifts will stop about 16:45. Later in the season it may be after 17:00
This may be because Austria is at the very east of the time zone and France the very west.
The last time we were in les arcs the earliest the lifts opened was 9.15 each day with perfect weather.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Is the Auguille Rouge cable car opening this year? Checking the piste map a few times so far it always seems to be shut. Seem to be various news articles about the glacier vanishing.
After all it is free
After all it is free
It was shut last week when we were there - no explanation why
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
They appear to working on the cable. I'm not sure what they are doing or how long it will take. I don't think it has anything to do with the glacier at the top.
The last time we were in les arcs the earliest the lifts opened was 9.15 each day with perfect weather.
This drove me potty at Easter. Ski school meet time was 0915 by the Dahu lift. We were staying down by Villards. Which meant I had to get two children along the flat, up the hill, and along another flat to meet them. What I wouldn't have given for the Mille8 lift to be open at 9, so we could jump on that and ski down.
Solved it for our upcoming Easter trip by booking Rob's place in Chantel. Bring on skiing to drop off.
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.
A day of 2 halves today. It was very murky this morning with signs of overnight rain then things start to clear up so we were out again late. The proposed visit to La Plagne abandoned. So twelve days skiing with an essentials pass and never once over to La Plagne. Do I care? No. We just skied around the Vallandry area
The snow took a bit of a change overnight. Low down we were getting slush and some bare patches appearing. Higher the snow softened nicely. The very firm pistes of last week gave way to spring type snow - a couple cm of soft snow and a firm base. Lovely skiing. The sun even paid us a visit later in the afternoon.
It's interesting with the lifts. The Vallandry lift only appears to have slots for 8 pairs of skis with boxes for monoskis etc behind. This has led to the attendents having to put skis in for customers to try and fill the lifts. The priority lane at Derby has collapsed. The bariers demarking it have been pushed over and it is now a free for all for every one. It has huge queues - over 10 minutes
Piste of the day - There was a good short list: Ecureuils whcig was brillaint at the top, but we only did the top so disqualified; Combe was lovely as I did it non stop top to bottom, but there were bare patches so disqualified. Winner - Vagere, a bit busy but excellent snow all the way.
Lunch: Rilax in Vallandry, a very filling Mexicaine soup for 13€. OK over four times the price of yesterday's lunch but very nice.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Must have fixed it fairly quickly, was all as expected this afternoon
Certainly a number of bare patches appearing now and slush on Liason Grizzly. Also doing laps around Vallandry this afternoon, avoid the mutters in Arc bowl having a last day blast.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Last night they had a live band at the the abrevoir (renamed arbre now). We had a great night watching the band playing and the young people dancing (1950s rock and roll), but it was drizzling as we walked back.
However this morning has started sunny and bright with a lovely view of Mont Blanc.
We’ll pack the apartment up this morning before an afternoon ski then head home.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Back home
Hope everyone heading out has a great time
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
We spent the morning packing up the apartment then 40 minutes searching for some misplaced keys.
It was a lot colder today so the snow had frozen up again. In fact almost everywhere was rock hard. As there were less people about today this meant we could career around the red pistes happily.
The priority lane at Derby was back in action but it was still the biggest wait of the day.
Piste of the day: bellette in valandry - smooth. Empty and just sufficient grip in the snow for some big fast turns.
Restaurant of the day: sorry I cannot recommend the chalet pre St esprit.
Any way finished skiing down cachette at 4:30, got changed and left the resort at 5:30 with the evening sun catching mont blanc. Beautiful.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Been snowing hard in Vallandry started about 4pm. This terrace was clear when we arrived
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?
Fabulous day today. Sunny all day. Did Vallandry, 1800 and 1600. Most of the pistes in good condition and a lot less busy than I expected. Did Secret for the first time which probably had the best snow.
Yeah great here. Did secrets yesterday with the 6 and 8 yr old with little snow over and hard pistes! Today flowing through 5inch+ snow on it!
Staying in 1950 but travelled over to vallandry today. Vallandry much quieter and great snow/ runs. 1950/ 2000 rammed, especially on the home runs.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Glad everyone got a good day's skiing yesterday. We got home about 11:30 last night.
After skiing on Saturday we set off and drove to a friend's gouse near Grenoble with the intention of skiing at Les Sept Laux, which we can see from his house, on the Sunday. Strong winds followed by heavy rain meant we abandoned this idea so instead we went for a walk above Crolle in the Charteuse. Oddly, the replacement knee that worked so well skiing was not so happy walking downhill, but it was nice to be out in the mountains.
After celebrating New Year and watching the fireworks from the surrounding area we set off at 9:45 New Year's day in lovely sunshine and quiet roads for home. About 60km from Calais it started to rain but apart from that it was a straightforward drive - two driver swaps and one refueling stop meant we arrived at the Tunnel 8 hours later. We only only had a 90 minute wait for a train and were on our way about 7:15. Now the driving got hard. The roads were crowded and it was raining and dark. Of course we were held up by an accident on the M25, that meant we missed the opening times for the takeaways at home so had to stop to eat. It took over 4 hours for the UK stint of the journey. By far the hardest section.
It was a good 2 week holiday with 12 days of skiing for my wife and son and 10 for me. The season passes have almost paid for themselves already. The next couple of week from the end of March will be almost free
I'm driving over solo from London to Bourg/1800 on the evening of 19th of Jan then back on the 27th if anyone is interested in a lift for a bit of petrol money. Room for plenty of luggage
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Can anyone recommend a guide for off-piste? The last time we were at Les Arcs was in 2015 and remember a lot of amazing stuff (with UCPA).
After all it is free
After all it is free
anyone got a recommendation for overnight ski servicing in 1800, edges need a sharpen and bases a good wax.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Rishie, try making enquiries at Compagnie des Guides de la Vanoise, Les Arcs. I've used them before. They do regular group excursions as well as private guiding.
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Poster: A snowHead
