 Poster: A snowHead
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Well the sella Ronda opened last year on the 17th december and that was a poor start to the season so it sounds fairly reliable.
Mid December is very early to ski in Europe but if needs must.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
 not in much of the Alps last year, they didn't. With only a handful of runs open with ancient, compacted, manmade snow, therefore very crowded, it was truly grim. |
As rob@rar said, at Val Thorens the on piste conditions were actually pretty good all through the first weeks of December. I was there at the same time he was, although our paths never crossed, and though some of the pistes were a bit icy at times, as he said skiing was pretty good high up and you could ski back to the village every day. There was no off piste though.
The thing that altitude gives is that when it snows in November, which it often does, high up it doesn't melt if it warms up and there is a dry December. I remember some of the photos I took show a dramatic cut off of the snow line at about 2200m and Les Menuires being green fields.
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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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Yes, the highest resorts were definitely by far the best. But many resorts don't have a lot of terrain at those sort of altitudes. And sometimes those will be closed by high winds and heavy snow. Mid December is very quiet so no problem booking late. New year is much more problematical because booking well in advance is almost essential.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@rob@rar, fantastic. Will you be at VT again in December? I think i'm going out second week December just to make sure the apartment is ok.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Skiing in December last season was abysmal pretty much uniformly across the Alps, some places (mostly higher resorts and resorts with glaciers) did better than others but only just. They were saved by colder temperatures on top and snow-making. First precipitation fell around 3rd week but it fell as rain all the way up to 2500m, so after that it was ok up top for couple of days, but sheet ice just below the snow line. These "better than others resorts" in turn had to deal with larger crowds as TOs who sold tours to resorts that ended up with no snow were bussing their tourists to places with snow. I guess public got spoiled as the last few years December skiing was pretty decent, so December bookings were quite high. But last December skiing was simply not worth time, effort or money. People were still mountain biking on lower ski slopes few days before Christmas. You can still have a very good time, but if you are a kind of skier who goes on ski holidays with intention of skiing bell-to-bell every day be prepared for a possible disappointment.
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| never summer wrote: |
| But last December skiing was simply not worth time, effort or money. |
Have to disagree with this. The skiing we had in the 2nd week of December in Val Thorens was generally very good for on piste conditions, with the bonus of a little bit of off-piste midweek. Yes the ski domain was much more limited than it normally is at that time of year, and for my group we had a tedious minibus ride to get to resort at the start and end of the skiing day (we were based in Meribel). But when we were there there skiing was very enjoyable, the weather was good, the lift queues were non-existent and the pistes were reasonably quiet.
I've skied in November and December for the last 15 years or so and always had enough snow to ski on. Some years I've been glad I've had access to high terrain as it's been a poor start to the season, other years it's be fine everywhere. The ratio of good years to bad years changes if your primary focus is off-piste terrain, but if that's the case late season skiing is always a better option than early season skiing. If it's your only ski trip of the winter it's fair to say that you would improve your chances of good snow by going mid-season, but if you don't have a choice of dates or you are planning several trips then early season skiing is a terrific way to start the winter providing you recognise and account for the possibility of poor snow.
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| emwmarine wrote: |
| @rob@rar, fantastic. Will you be at VT again in December? I think i'm going out second week December just to make sure the apartment is ok. |
Not sure yet, either Trois Valless or Hintertux before heading to Les Arcs for the rest of the month.
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