The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

I was in Val over the weekend. It was raining heavily all the way from GVA and was raining in the resort until about 7pm. It was like someone flicked a switch and the rain turned into huge flakes which began settling almost instantly. It was a great 'fireworks' display around the street lights.

By the time I left at 5pm on Sunday, it had snowed constantly. Our car park had approx 7cm of snow.

Driving back, the snow (freeze) line was down to La Thuile (1300m?). Glad to have had a rental car with snow tyres as the road was covered in places.

I was working on our apartment so didn't get to ride but bet today would be epic up the top.

A snowHead

Oh go on then even though I havent started my dailies - something to wet your appetite from the snowfall over the last 24 hours... more forecast!!!!

They have given some more space between the loading up to the Olympic and the Solaise now and loading on Solaise on the other (better) side is good news... however someone better get that digger moved before it gets snowed in when the Winter kicks off for real!!!!

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

Hi Steve are you going to carry on your periscope daily updates this season? They were a moment of skiing sanity in the madness of work for me. We can only get to the alps once this year due to DD's exam revision so I need some sort of ski fix, even a vicarious one, from Christmas to the end of the season.

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Sure will be doing the periscoping.... yes!

Again still not officially starting my daily updates yet a while (few more days yet!) but thought these would truly whet the appetite - both taken today!

https://www.facebook.com/steve.angus/videos/10157738211065416/

Hope they both work!!!!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Initially thought it was Olivia in the picture on first glance but now presume its Clare. How deep is it ?

Arriving in resort for the opening week Very Happy

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Cancelled men's Beaver Creek races to be held in Val d'Isere on OK 2nd - 4th Dec. We will watch the Super g on 2nd

After all it is free

Anyone know exactly what's likely to be open tomorrow (Sat 26 Nov)? I'm in Tignes for the weekend. Is there enough snow for the link to Val to be open? Arrived in the fog - so couldn't see the extent of the cover.

Don't know. It only showed 2 open this morning because of a blizzard. Lucky you, You have lots of fresh snow so you can have fun with whatever is open.

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@dw832, There was some info on the Tignes thread yesterday,

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@GeorgeVII, Thanks. Missed it. Will have a look.

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Well folks it has started - season 2016/2017

Before I start I just wanted to apologise for being tardy getting these daily updates going. Normally I start about a week before the season starts but the last week has been crazy one way or another so I am just starting my dailies today as the season starts. As always I shall try to entertain and inform and keep everyone in the loop about what is going on in Val and the Espace Killy. I shall also be utilising Twitter @SteveAngusSnow too and of course shall be doing daily video updates using Periscope too.

As always queries and questions etc I shall attempt to answer and I continue to provide the insider line as to what is happening. I shall of course be seeing some of you next week when I teach on the Early Season Bash over in Tignes.

I always find it slightly weird at this time of year getting back into the swing of things in terms of writing my blog etc and this year is especially tough as it was basically back in March that I was last doing my dailies... so bear with me as I get better day by day both here and in the other forms of social media.

Anyway WELCOME to this first update of the season and what at start already!

After so much snow a couple of weeks back the last week has really been marked with HUGE torrential rain at altitudes below about 2100m.... so this mean that Val as a town has gone from being in the middle of a snowstorm to a river. However up high this has also been the opposite with tonnes of snow falling. The wheels started turning and the focus as you can see in the picture above was the grand opening of the new Solaise Gondola!

So we headed up for a family slide about.

The new lift itself is brilliant; fast, efficient and with heated seats and wifi it is pretty snazzy! The top lift station is also amazing with plenty of picnic seating area, a small bar selling drinks and not much else (I say this as a good thing as just getting a drink there means it is a good place for picnics!). There is a public microwave, table football table, amazing views, a roaring fire and plenty more....

In other news they are working hard to get the mens downhill course that will run from the top of Bellevarde down into La Daille ready... the men should be arriving this week to start training ahead of race next weekend.

My first periscope of the season was today too:
https://www.periscope.tv/w/1ZkKzneLVPLKv and I do believe that that is also now a permalink

Since I dont have too much else to report I thought a series of photos might be a good way of illustrating the day.

So until tomorrow

TTFN

Great snow up higher

The lower slopes have been wrecked but I am sure this will change as colder temps mean they will be able to make snow again. Besides there is plenty of great skiing to be had at altitude that for this time of the season things are looking ace.

The new top building on the solaise is pretty cool....

The ski test up there is very varied and there are tonnes of brands to chose from

The old Solaise chairlift has not been 100% fully decommissioned at the top yet - it looks a little spooky sitting there still

Yours truly riding the magic carpet with my daughter - on her first set of skis and boots... she did very well sliding by herself without falling over to much... an aim for the end of the season would be for her to hold a snowplough all by herself but not so sure she will make that before her 3rd birthday - we shall see!

@Steve Angus, lovely to see you back. Hope you have a great season. Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

Now I know the season has finally started Toofy Grin

. Hope you have a great one Steve.

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

Great pics, and welcome back! Good to see the return of the Periscopes too.

Lucky Olivia having two ski instructors as parents, and learning at 2. What an amazing skier she is going to be!! Future world champ maybe?

A snowHead

Back in the saddle teaching

Thanks everyone for so many kind words and its good to be back doing the dailys again - I hope to oblige.

Well its not all rosey actually as I seem to have picked up a heavy cold already and despite a lovely long sleep last night I am feeling a little jaded tonight! However best not dwell on negatives as today was a good day.... it was my first day teaching back in the mountain since mid March and it felt good to be back doing what I was doing before many things went wrong a few months back!

We started the day with nice family scrambled eggs for breakfast which is a bit of a Sunday tradition... then I took Olivia swimming and she just loves swimming so she had a whale of a time and as usual there were lots of other little ones there that she could play with!

We had a slap up family lunch and then I headed out for my first lesson of the season... it was a promo lesson for YSE staff. Not usually a snowboard lesson to start the season with but today was an exception and it was snowboarding to start. I had a nice group that were basically beginners and they did so well. It is great that Val has the magic carpet area atop the mountain now where beginner lessons can take place. The sights and sounds of the ski testing going on up there along with the music meant it was quite an atmosphere!

They did pretty well and some of them made it onto turning so for their first day they did pretty well!

By the time I got back down the hill my throat was killing me and I felt somewhat washed out. I picked up a couple of supplies before heading home as Clare was preparing a nice family roast. It turns out that both her and Olivia have a cold too so I think something must be going around!

A nice meal and I am now looking forward to an early night. The rest of this week will be a mix between the odd lesson, some promo lessons for the chalet companies and I also have to finish off a little project I have been working on (DIY) down in La Daille. So although not 100% on snow this week it will once again be a busy one. Most tour ops start bringing people from next week onwards so that is when the season really kicks off!

In local news the resort are still hoping that they are going to be able to run the Mens World Cup Downhill race full length into La Daille next weekend but having cancelled the first training day on Tuesday they are going to have to work hard but a chopper is being drafted in to speed up the preparations. The Super G is on Friday so they can make a positive start then!

I think that is about all for today.... a few photos and my periscope to follow (I suspect I might have used too much data on my phone and I might have a problem filming until the month is up but I will tackle that problem tomorrow).

TTFN

Snow looks thin (which it is down low) but up high it is perfect!

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaKblNeWgrJX

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, are you a ski and snowboard instructor?

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

@Russeh, yes he is and a pretty damn good one at that (albeit I've only had ski instruction from him personally)

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Hi everyone,
Conditions last week-end in Val-d'Isere where far better than they were at the beginning of seasons in the last few years. Snow cover down the resort was thin (due to massive rain falls 2 days before the resort opened), but there's already more than 2 meters at the top of le Fornet.
Conditions off-piste were mostly for advanced skiers, with a thin snow-packed layer on top, but within a bit of speed and of bouncing, it was just narly for a first ride...
I joined one of the off piste ski groups from TopSki, and as we were gently tracking out the mountain, new lifts were opening all the time... We've had 2 amazing days of freeride.
Also, according to what our guide explained us, as the snow cover is already thick on top, it seems that there are good chances that the temperatures gradients stay weak in the snow coat, which would apparently be great for a good steadiness and a low risk of avalanches ahead in the season... I thought that lots of snow were increasing instantly the risks of avalanche, but it seems to be way more complex :-/
None the less, it rained pretty high, which is also apparently a good point for snow steadiness on lower slopes.
Snow is really a tricky stuff, it's good to have a pro making advised decisions and sharing his knowledge. Thanks for this to the guides who make their best to keep us safe and who sometimes risk their life for our pleasure.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@kitenski, cool - i'm probably going to book a lesson or two when i go out in Jan. Steve frequently comes highly recommended so might just have to give me a try.

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They are harvesting snow from a col abd trucking it into la daille for the racing...looking a lot better today.

After all it is free

Russeh - yes I am a ski and snowboard instructor this is true.... im blushing thank you kitenski. If you drop me a private message Russeh then I will be able to help further.... dates, level etc all helps!

kasperski yes the snow is excellent at altitude you're right. In terms of avalanche risk and all that it is an incredibly complex thing to totally predict.... but yes often the thing that really matters is the temperature gradient - if that is low because of a thick snowpack that comes quickly (as in this case) then it can stabilise nicely. However things change over time so as this layer gets buried by more snowfalls on top it could end up being a dodgy layer later in the season. Rain can make the snowpack more dense which can be good and when it freezes it bonds well. And yes mountain guides spend many many years focusing on learning about snowpack and avalanche risk etc. As instructors we spend a considerable amount of time training in this area but there are dangers out there and pro's do get it wrong sometimes! Glad you enjoyed the sliding - conditions for opening week are excellent!

Thank you Steve for your nice and interesting comment

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Colder

Well as holidayloverxx reports they have been working tirelessly to try and get the race course down to La Daille ready. In fact I broadcast live from the bottom of La Daille this am where preparations are coming along nicely. Just a couple of days ago it was looking unlikely that they would be able to run the race all the way down but it surely will happen now.

If someone could let me know that they are able to watch the periscope videos that I post here as I dont know whether the link is working that I post daily. Thanks.

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1ZkKznbmkyRKv

The snow cannons across the resort have been working overtime to try and get as much coverage especially on the lower slopes as possible and even more so now the temperatures are dropping - in fact they predict that it could be down to -12 as a low in the next 24 hours! More normal for this time of the year.

I caught up on some paperwork at home this morning before heading to La Daille as I am just finishing off some property renovation down there that I have been working on (amongst others) recently. I have a little teaching this week but it is a fairly relaxed (as always) start to the season.

The photos from today come courtesy from Radio Val d'Isere in the first instance (I thought it was a nice overview of the opening weekend with all the testing that was going on atop the Solaise).

The second photo shows some of the work that is going on down at La Daille...

I thought I would take this opportunity to remind people that if they have any questions about Val d'Isere or anything then please do not hesitate to get in contact with me either on here or I am Twitter too @SteveAngusSnow AND as well as that if anyone takes video footage of themselves and wants to upload it to Twitter and tag me in it then I will gladly give some feedback as I did last season!

Think that is all for now TTFN

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Yes that periscope link is working

snow reports

Yes that periscope link is working

You know it makes sense.

@Steve Angus, no need to blush when you're good at your job!

For all other snowheads, take advantage of Steves offer to video analysise you or your family skiing. I sent him two clips of my kids and he spotted a few things for them to concentrate on. Got to be better than googling how to improve for all levels of skiers and boarders and not often you get owt for nowt as they say in Yorkshire.

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

Getting ready and turning colder

This cold seems to be getting better... another good nights sleep has sorted me out.

We woke to temperatures down to about -10 and the snow cannons all over resort working overtime. In this picture taken on the snowfront you can see the huge mound of snow that was made last night that will be used to cover the nursery slopes.

There was a buzz down in La Daille all day as the preparations for the World Cup continue... they are almost there... the training runs are on tomorrow. So there will be Mens Super G on Friday, Downhill Saturday and GS Sunday... it will be on Eurosport im sure!

So the other bit of local news was that the town council in Tignes have approved plans for the building of a 62 million euro indoor slope (next to the Tichot lift on the ground where the 1992 acro ski Olympics final was held) and it should be completed in 2019. Well this is all well and good but they need funding and planning permission yet a while - we shall see! But they are keen to get the catchphrase "skiing 365 days' back in the running again!

I was working all day down in La Daille (on a renovation project I have been working on this Summer) but am back on the hill tomorrow so shall try and get some actual footage etc on the hill..... daily teaching on the mountain starts soon!

Not much else on the agenda at the moment so will sign off now.... if you want to see some rolling video then as always check out my Periscope broadcast from today!

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1vOxweMQqzNGB

A snowHead

Glorious day once again

Well I managed to catch up with quite a lot of admin this morning at home BUT this blooming cold is dragging on! I dropped Olivia off at creche as Clare was doing a promo lesson for staff and then at lunchtime it was a little chaotic as I had to collect her from creche (turned out to be bad timing as I interupted her lunch - think it was the staff (or maybe it was Olivia) that were more annoyed with me) then hand over the reigns to Clare and get myself ready for my own promo lesson with a Fish and Pips member of staff!

Anyway I was very productive heading to the post office and doing some other chores at home and out in town! The new thermostat for my tenants flat that I rent out finally arrived from the UK - only took a couple of weeks. So I have just been getting that new one installed too!

So the news in town is that they managed to get the first run of the mens downhill in today and it was great seeing mens downhill in action in Val once again as it has been a few years now!

The weather is cold and clear skies with no new snow forecast but the cold temps mean that they have been able to pump out a lot of snow nonstop so little by little the lower slopes are becoming covered and I should think that they may be able to get some of the lower slopes open by the weekend!

Anyway as Clare took Olivia off to a friends daughters 3rd birthday party - a disco in the Pacific Bar I headed to take a promo lesson and for the first time this season I headed up the Bellevarde side. I immediately knew that there was going to be an ability split so I handed the stronger person up a group and I just had the one seasonnaire who had skied a lot as a little girl but nothing for 10 years. In the 3 hours she made amazing progress so good on her. We skied all around the top of the Bellevarde area and it was great seeing so much good snow coverage. However what was fascinating was to see (I was not aware of it until today) that they have done a huge expansion job at the Marmottes restaurant.... it looks like they have expanded the restaurant in both directions lengthways which amongst other things means that the decking area has all but disappeared.

Anyway we had a ski instructor friend of ours from Morzine over for a cup of tea - she is having a weeks self improvement ski around here in Val this week then it was dinner time and before long it is the end of the day and here I am.

So a few photos and my daily Periscope to finish with today.

Panther loose at the top of the Olympic!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1nAKEkrrgzXJL?autoplay&t=1

TTFN

A snowHead

I remember eating lasagne on that decking 26 years ago, and only realising how cold it was when my beer froze over. Lovely restaurant, be interesting to see if it's increase in size changes it.

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

The sun continues to shine and the resort continues to be empty!

Well folks another day of sunshine and to be honest with you I am feeling completely washed out this evening... this cold is really lingering on so once again folks I will be quite brief as I need another early night!

Anyway they made a lot more snow overnight and the lower slopes are really getting closer and closer to be able to open. However I was stuck indoors this morning sifting through some more admin (wont bore you with the details but the ongoing saga of administering my dads estate and trying to sort things out for my mum is taking an age... and then there was the fire in August too... it has been quite a year). However I did manage to get to the doctors this am to see about the blood test results and really follow up what happened a whole year ago. If you remember rightly I had the infection in my ankle bone this time a year ago and despite the operation I never actually found out what caused the infection. Anyway a whole year later and I finally got around to go see the doc and he tells me that there was nothing to worry about despite him doing lots more little tests this am e.g. diabetes test.... anyway all is good!

By lunchtime and after a couple of long calls back to the uk to talk to solicitors I was down in La Daille and watched a little of the Mens DH training day and managed to fit in my Periscope broadcast too:

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1DXxyojbEXvGM?autoplay&t=2

So as you can see above, and thanks to Radio Val d'Isere, there is a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to get a World Cup race happening.... meanwhile down in town at the finish you can clearly see the difference between the great snow at altitude and the barren lack of snow in town.

I also got through my lessons rosta for the Snowheads PsB which starts at the weekend and it looks like I have a full calendar so I look forward to catching up with you all and having a slide.

Another quick reminder that if you are coming to Val seperatly from the PsB in the next wee while then there are lots of early season clinics in association with VIP Ski that we are running.... stay and ski packages. So look on the websites: www.tdcski.com

TTFN

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Conditions and weather this week are amazing.
Food options on the hill are poor, Marmottes still under renovation and a good dose of dust with what you have, Cascades food was dire yesterday but nothing else open.
Very few people about Smile

@Steve Angus, we've come across lots of groups of instructors (Esf, Evo, ucpa etc) from other resorts being videoed, assessed,drilled. Can you explain what they are doing ? They are not young gap year kids.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Steve - I'm back for the VIP/TDC clinic with Nick - if you remember (you left us early with your dodgy ankle). Looking forward to it again.

Cheers,
Dave.

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Hi Steve, I will be looking to hire touring skis - not sure whether to do this day by day (depending on what my group does) or stick with them for the whole week. From what I can see, only Jean Sports and Mountain Pro offer both "resort" and "rando" ski hire. Can you add any other choices and should there be a preference between these shops?

Many thanks in advance.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Apologies

Firstly folks really sorry that I did not post yesterday OR periscope.... I felt really under the weather and basically spent the whole day feeling pretty awful.... I feel a million times better today!

So firstly a few replies to yesterday and then later on I will periscope and then I will do another update later on too.

So firstly muppet pity that the food is not delivering for you.... the first week in the season everything is always hit and miss. It will be interesting to see how Marmottes and Cascades fair up.... they are owned by the same people and the Marmottes in particular when it is fully ready for opening when the tour ops start bringing the masses!

So as far as the...

After all it is free

No need to be apologising Steve - not your fault! We had a great week and would thoroughly recommend it and TDC to anyone.
Cheers,
Dave.

Feeling better

Well folks as I said earlier I am feeling a little better today so trying to get back on the straight and narrow so to speak.

This morning I caught up with a whole host of chores and Olivia had a friend from creche around which was hectic to say the least!

By lunchtime the friend had gone but as Clare and I had friends around for dinner we wanted to make sure that Olivia slept well tonight so we didnt allow her a sleep. Instead no sooner had we finished lunch but we were heading out for a family ice skate and you can see my daily video Periscope broadcast as I attempted to ice skate.

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1zqJVNYWzMZJB?autoplay&t=10

Ice skating is one of the many off snow activities available in Val and although (like most things here) is not cheap the views are pretty good! Olivia had a pretty fun time too. We had a quick trip down to La Daille too to drop Clares fathers' skis off at Le Toviere hotel where he keeps them and we had a quick drink. Clare then popped back home whilst I went into town to collect something and do an errand. Of course as the bib draw for the world cup was happening it was rather busy!

Anyway we have just had friends around for a lovely meal prepared by Clare so all in all another really busy day had.

Weatherwise it was wall to wall blue skies once again and there is still not really any sign of snowfall on its way but the continually low temperatures mean that they have been making snow like crazy and the runs into town are one by one opening up. In fact some runs are closed e.g. Le Face but not because of poor snow coverage but indeed as they are preparing for the World Cup next weekend on that run. There are winchcats everywhere so those people who duck the ropes are taking their heads into their own hands!

I only managed to catch the ski racing on Eurosport myself today but it looks like it was an exciting race!

So I really need to get to bed as I will be off early in the morning to get over to Tignes for the start of Snowheads so will sign off for now.

TTFN

Which idiot decided to dig up part of the high street on World Cup weekend!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

It wasn't World Cup weekend till about 4 weeks ago. I guess the had it planned to get done before the criterium next week.

Great reports Steve, keep up the good work.

Andy

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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