 Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry to hear about your daughters toe. Maybe as well as the antibiotics you could dip the toe in hot salty water regularly.
Hope your ski hol goes well
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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At Geant Casino supermarket in Albertville. Bit of Fog and lots of rain on the drive down. Got bumped up to 9.05 on the tunnel instead of 9.50 last night so plenty of time.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 24-03-20 0:45; edited 1 time in total
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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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WiFi poo-poo in apartment. Yesterday had a great half day under blue skies. Snow has now arrived big style. Off over to the trees at Vallandry.
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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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Do you pre book underground carparking there @Layne, if so which one and how much? Enjoy the skiing!
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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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| jubnut wrote: |
| Do you pre book underground carparking there @Layne, if so which one and how much? |
No.
There is plenty of street parking in Les Coches. I always manage to get a spot close to the apartment we are in.
And at this altitude and with the openness of the parking it's less of an issue getting snowed in.
On this occasion we managed to get a spot with a bit of shelter also so hoping to not have to do too much snow clearing later in the week.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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So we came down to the welcome drink this evening. No Vin Chaud but instead Chocolate Chaud laced with some booze. And brought the laptop down to see if it was much better. And it is. Hence, I am now typing this in the freezing cold. Need to find better spot or head to the bar.
Anyhow, yesterday the check in to the apartment all went well. Got a feeling we've stayed in this one before but it's been fully renovated recently so hard to be certain. Anyhow it's a really nice place with all new surfaces and appliances. And lovely and warm. The only thing that is a bit poor surprisingly is the lighting, which is a bit ad-hoc and a bit limited. Still very good. And cleaning is apparently included in the price.
We did about 3 hours skiing yesterday. It was pretty sunny but there was some nice stashes here and there. And we all enjoyed it. Kids get on well with their new kit.
In the evening we had a pre-prepped Spag Bol, turned in around 9.30/10 and slept like logs. Knew the snow as coming so no rush to get up. And were late out. Because of the wind anything above the tree line was closed, over our way at least. But the VE was happily running so we did most of the day skiing over at Vallandry sandwiched between short stints above Les Coches.
Looks like more of the same tomorrow and most of Tuesday before we get some sunshine for a couple of days. Looking good!
About to tuck in to dinner, wine and cheese. See if I can post a photo...
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Thank you for the info @Layne,
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Pretty much a repeat today. Same weather, same routine. We were out a bit earlier but my son who'd taken out his board was struggling sinking in the deep snow on shallow off piste so decided to switch back to ski's. Me, the missus and daughter skied off piste down to Montchavin while he changed over. Great fun.
Skied a lot through the trees over in Vallandry after that. Had to take refuge in an apartment lobby in 1800 for lunch. Staying in Les Coches and having the VE is a godsend in these conditions. Still snowing this evening and forecast is for it to ease off tomorrow as the day goes on. Will no doubt be slow opening on Wednesday but could be an epic couple of days.
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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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Awoke to a third day of snow subsequently turned to rain below 2000m which meant after going out late we got quickly really wet. And the snow became very sticky. So after 1.5 hours we called it a day. My sons gloves for example were literally sopping wet.
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@Layne its not much fun when it rains, happened to me a couple of seasons ago in ADH, wrote off the day and it rained for 24 hours constant. but strangely after it stopped the pistes were still fine.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Russeh, yeah I've been soaked before. Last time was in La Tania two years ago on the last Saturday. Very similar to today. We've decent gear but not much can handle proper mountain rain. Still, it's just one day. I've just done our online extension for Saturday at 36 Euro's each which should be a great days skiing. Tomorrow is looking good if the resort can get some of the upper lifts open after the three days of snow.
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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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This was on Saturday before the snow came:
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You know it makes sense.
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And this from Sunday - getting the Vanoise Express over to ski the trees above Vallandry:
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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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Damn you @Layne. I trust that this thread will be knee deep in epicality this time tomorrow 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Nice report Layne. I’m stoked you have had good snow!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Apologies for going off grid. Our apartment was in a dead spot from the satellites and so it was difficult to make any further live updates from the trip. Wednesday was a bit of a disappointment ski wise. We awoke to a gloriously sunny but chilly Christmas Day - which was certainly nice after three days of almost incessant snow. But the wind and temps made the off piste crusty and so piste cruising was the order of the day. For the most part that was pleasant enough. We discovered on this sunny days that at almost precisely 11:30 everybody was out on the slopes and wanting to get somewhere, hence there were heavy lift queues. On Wednesday for example we hit Verdons Sud and Borseliers down in the Champagny valley at this time and both were stacked out. It was similar around 3.15 in the afternoon. But apart from these 30 minute bottlenecks queuing wasn't an issue. What I really don't understand about the lifties is why the don't do more to encourage the punters to fill up the seats. One time at Arpette out of Plagne Centre while waiting in line I saw two empty chairs and two chairs with one person on. And numerous times at this and others with 2 or 3 people on 6-man chairs. I am sure people can be parted from the friends and family for a 5 minute chair ride. As a family we certainly split when getting on busy lifts. But I digress. So Wednesday we just cruised on piste all over La Plagne. On Thursday we did something similar but on the Les Arcs side. We did find some decent powder stashes, notably at the top of Comborcieres and over in the Grand Col bowl.
The best days for off piste though were Friday and Saturday. Friday started unpromisingly. It had snowed overnight and it was continuing to snow hard in the morning. But I went out early by myself and had some fun of the side off the Mont Blanc piste at the top of Bijolin. An easy shallow slope it's great on a powder day when you don't have much vis. I then skied down to meet the rest of the fam. And we did some more easy off piste. By lunch things had brightened up and with the sun and better vis came opportunities to hit more powder stashes. Saturday was sunny also and with less folks around an opportunity to buzz through some of our favourite lift serve off piste - such as from the top of Crozats down to the bottom the Bauches chair lift, the ridge from Roche De Mio and doubling back off off Verdon Nord. All in all a fine weeks skiing with a massive variety of conditions but a lot of welcome snow.
The packing and driving out of resort and home went really well and smooth. So a great holiday. Will post some more pics and vids over the next couple of days. Work tomorrow for me 
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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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The heavy snow from Sun to Tue was a testimony to me why being based in Les Coches is such a great idea. Above Les Coches itself you can lap around the lower lifts Plan Bois/Lac Noir/Pierre Blanche/Montchavin to access a good variety of pistes including a couple of challenging blacks - Murs and Pelees - that will be left unpisted for a long while, aswell as some great skiing in the trees. And equally you can take the Vanoise Express, which seems to suffer little from the wind and stays open during the whiteout days, to give further access to further great slopes and arguably even better skiing in the trees above Vallandry and 1800. It's rare to have such conditions for 3 days in a week - the forecast appears to be wall to wall sunshine this week for example - but there is very little downside to the location either.
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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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A couple of very minor gripes. Welcome drink in the Les Coches square on Sunday the Vin Chaud was replaced by a boozy version of Chocolate Chaud. And no choccies being given out by the lefties on Christmas Day!
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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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| Layne wrote: |
| A couple of very minor gripes. Welcome drink in the Les Coches square on Sunday the Vin Chaud was replaced by a boozy version of Chocolate Chaud. And no choccies being given out by the lefties on Christmas Day! |
You should have gone to the righties then!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The missus
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Last Monday - early morning snow in Les Coches
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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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Kids heading into the forest later on Monday:
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Tuesday nights tipple
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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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Looks like you had a great time.
I hope to get similar conditions when I visit same time next year.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Layne, Your comments about empty lift seats are echoed by the local French folk as well, making matters worse is that the Appetite lift now only has one liftie and one operator! Apparently on Xmas eve there were two revenue protection officers checking the passes but only guy operating the lift. The locals were furious with CdM (the concession owners).
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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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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| @Layne, Your comments about empty lift seats are echoed by the local French folk as well, making matters worse is that the Appetite lift now only has one liftie and one operator! Apparently on Xmas eve there were two revenue protection officers checking the passes but only guy operating the lift. The locals were furious with CdM (the concession owners). |
Well, I'm glad there is a recognition, at least in some quarters, of the issue. That side, whilst it seemed especially bad last week, it's an ongoing issue. My perception may be wrong but it seems that some don't seem to particularly mind the queuing and/or think they are entitled to sit with there skiing group. But for me it's up to the lift company and their employee's to take the lead here and say look guys, it's a busy time of the day and/or a busy lift and we need to and want to get the throughput as high as possible. Seems common sense to me and an obvious way of ultimately keeping the punters happy and everyone smiling.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Layne Of course but one could think that lift queues are a tool to control the numbers on piste and thus safer pistes!..
Today the Verdon Sud lift is closed due to a mechanical fault. Busiest day of the season outside of February. The queue for Colossus will be epic as people try to get back over to Plagne Centre and all the villages that side of the ridge, unless you know the walking path, that one lift from Bellcote is the only way home on skis 
(Or get the bus Bellecote to Centre)
Edit: Verdons sud was fixed around 3pm
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Layne thanks for the report, the pics & the video. Really enjoyed reading it. Brought back great memories of 3 recent trips to Paradiski.
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