 Poster: A snowHead
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@swskier, I would expect that you would drive into whichever carpark you want to use, get an unpaid ticket at the barrier, go into the ticket office the next day to convert it to a prepaid ticket for the period of your stay.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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240kph gusts at the top of the GM today, unsurprisingly it's a duvet day in resort.
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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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Anyone know any ways to get discounted ski passes, or are we beyond the time of year where they do discounts now?
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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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| Mountain Surfer wrote: |
| Anyone know any ways to get discounted ski passes, or are we beyond the time of year where they do discounts now? |
Just go to the ski pass link at the start of this thread, discount available now but will soon end.
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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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@Mountain Surfer, As @BFG_Skier, said. But also get yourself onto the mailing list from Tignes Development his the main Tignes website, they sometimes do all in deals in low season.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Afternoon all. Anyone know where one parks one's car now that there's a Club Med on the main VC car park?
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Afternoon all. Anyone know where one parks one's car now that there's a Club Med on the main VC car park? |
Did someone say they are also building a Car Park?
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| Old Fartbag wrote: |
| Dr John wrote: |
| Afternoon all. Anyone know where one parks one's car now that there's a Club Med on the main VC car park? |
Did someone say they are also building a Car Park? |
I've heard that, but doubt it's going to help me tomorrow (should have specified).
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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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@Dr John, The Golf carpark will be free right now.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Old Fartbag wrote: |
| Dr John wrote: |
| Afternoon all. Anyone know where one parks one's car now that there's a Club Med on the main VC car park? |
Did someone say they are also building a Car Park? |
I've heard that, but doubt it's going to help me tomorrow (should have specified). |
That is most certainly true.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Dr John, Its a bit of a schlep with skis from the Golf car park. Might be easier to park in Lac and get the bus?
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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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@chocksaway, schlep is exactly what I was just thinking. Far end of GM not much better either. Lac might be an option. How often are the buses? Presume they're free?
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You know it makes sense.
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@Dr John, Buses are free but only every half hour, timetable here.
Suspect the 200 places will fill up very quickly.
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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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| rjs wrote: |
| Suspect the 200 places will fill up very quickly. |
I'm sure that's true. Whenever I've parked in that car park for pre-season skiing on the Grand Motte there has always been way more than 200 cars or minibuses in the car park.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Well at least my NHS QR has been accepted by Tousanticovid app. I think all I need now is my declaration d'honneur. From Thursday I am almost going back to a 2m rule with anyone and keeping outdoors. That will be 14 days before travel. My booster is booked for 4 days before I go.
Tignes beckons. There seems to be some fledgling signs of a change in the weather come early Nov. Glacier reports from me can begin on Sun 14th. Remain in the EK to 2/1/22. Doing quite a bit with snoworks.
The Jam Bar is my fav place for a beer etc. You will find me in there most afternoons post skiing. Looks like it has survived.
Decided to train it down in the end as I could not find a cheap transfer from GVA.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Grinning, @paddyhambo, @Mark1863, and anyone else I might have forgotten, do feel free to PM a few days before arriving and if it's feasible, happy to get a few runs in. Like @Mark1863 will be dipping into some Snoworks stuff so not all my days will necessarily be my own. And - terribly remiss off me - hope I can finally fix my major omission of not having skied with @Chocksaway yet!
Will try to hold the fort until @Mark1863's updates start to flow and @Chocksaway is in residence. And I will start to chip in some info at the start of the thread regarding parking. But a quick summary of the situation at Grande Motte as viewed yesterday.
Comfortably 2/3 of the old car park has been taken over by the new C-M building. The remaining 1/3 has been extended sideways towards the tubing centre / workshops. So in round terms, 30% less parking here than before.
As alluded to above, yes, it's now a schlep from this parking to the funicular. People are either walking (in most cases in street shoes and putting ski boots on in the train or up top) or waiting for the bus.
Given that all the parking is free until season start, the other option is to use any of Rosset / Lavachet / Lac car parks and hop on the bus. All three of these simply involve crossing the road to get to the bus stop. Golf is less attractive as it's not serviced by the bus so just makes it a longer walk or a walk + bus ride from the remainder of Grande Motte parking.
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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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Motte skiing last weekend was fun, if obviously limited. Good snow on Saturday, very much more icey on Sunday with large lumps of glacier sticking out on the pistes in parts, I think they could have put a warning up personally like what they do for the crevasses. We parked in Lac and got the bus, very little hassle at all. There were some spaces in the small remaining GM car park, but we just didn't fancy the 15/20 minute walk fully kitted up. We had a little stroll around Lac both days, Saturday to go shopping in Carrefore because there were zero restaurants open in Val (and only the Blue Note bar, which is fine cos Matt is a mate), and Sunday had a nice lunch on the deck at L'Escale Blanche, burning my bonce in the process cos obviously forgot the sun cream.
The Club Med development is absolutely huge, taking up all but 50m of the GM car park as was. What effect it will have on the lift queue's in peak times remains to be seen, but I suspect it won't be great. Only 3 ways out of VC front at the moment and they regularly get clogged up, I suspect with an additional thousand (guessing) Club Med punters on the doorstep VC will be somewhere to avoid for large parts of the day. Just guessing like, might be wrong, it has been known.
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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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@Dr John, It's a concern, it will all depend on the capacity of the new Tichot gondola and where it goes to, details are a bit sketchy. Hopefully not just to Grattalu!
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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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@chocksaway, wasn't aware of a new Tichot gondala. Great, but as you say if Grattalu isn't upgraded also then it just moves the pinch point. If it went up to top of Merles as a two stager via top of Tichot, that could be good. Of course, then they'd need to sort out Grand Huit (looooong overdue). And when on earth are they going to fix Aiguille Rouge? Sorry to say that Tignes has fallen far behind Val in lift development last 3/4 years.
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@Dr John, I think I have to challenge your last statement. Investment in lifts has been pretty similar between the 2 resorts over the last 15 years. It does ebb and flow as new expensive gondolas go in, in the past the same money would buy 2 chairs.
As a counterpoint I would highlight the following lifts in Val. First the old 4 person that is Borsat, Vals single contribution to the links between the two resorts. It has limited capacity and past its sell by date. Mont Blanc, Grand Pre, Cugnai and the Vallon Gondola should all be on their way to a museum. Ultimately it's about queues, a busy morning on the Solaise is a shambles, rarely do you have to queue for long in the Tignes villages.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| And when on earth are they going to fix Aiguille Rouge? |
It's the next lift to be replaced after they've finished Marais. Don't know what impact Covid has had on the schedule though - the new Marais was meant to be open for this season.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| First the old 4 person that is Borsat, Vals single contribution to the links between the two resorts. It has limited capacity and past its sell by date. Mont Blanc, Grand Pre, Cugnai and the Vallon Gondola should all be on their way to a museum. |
Borsat takes sooo long. But it's a detachable, so would replacing it make much difference? I wouldn't want to add any seats as it already gets chopped up at the top and you want it to be accessible for beginners. You could move the loading point to the other side of the Fresse run, which would help a bit (especially because the ground there is so flat so it's not even much fun to ski), but you'd need to find somewhere that was accessible from Fresse and Mont Blanc runs. And maybe a new link from bottom of Borsat to the Pranoid piste to keep people off Borsat who are actually just trying to get to Tignes.
I'd like to see Grand Pre upgraded, it's a good one for beginners to lap. Less bothered about Cugnai - it's too out of the way to attract many on-piste skiers. Do they both get jammed on powder days?
I think I saw that plans were being drawn up to replace the Vallon Gondola, but again I don't know what impact Covid has had on those plans.
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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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Right then. Parking updates done, all on page 1. I will try to keep the info fresh but do chip in with anything to add or change.
Snow conditions: wot @Dr John, says.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
@Dr John, I think I have to challenge your last statement. Investment in lifts has been pretty similar between the 2 resorts over the last 15 years. It does ebb and flow as new expensive gondolas go in, in the past the same money would buy 2 chairs.
As a counterpoint I would highlight the following lifts in Val. First the old 4 person that is Borsat, Vals single contribution to the links between the two resorts. It has limited capacity and past its sell by date. Mont Blanc, Grand Pre, Cugnai and the Vallon Gondola should all be on their way to a museum. Ultimately it's about queues, a busy morning on the Solaise is a shambles, rarely do you have to queue for long in the Tignes villages. |
I assume you don't remember the previous Cugnai lift. It was a two-man suspended by a solid metal pole between the two seats. If you were not precisely lined up on take off you got a painful clout.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| thelem wrote: |
| Dr John wrote: |
| And when on earth are they going to fix Aiguille Rouge? |
It's the next lift to be replaced after they've finished Marais. Don't know what impact Covid has had on the schedule though - the new Marais was meant to be open for this season. |
Those two were to be replaced years ago (approx 2009 if I recall) but then there was the financial crash.
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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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| Kenzie wrote: |
Those two were to be replaced years ago (approx 2009 if I recall) but then there was the financial crash. |
This time they've at least got as far as decommissioning Marais (not sure if it's been physically removed, but it is not on the piste map). Without a lift there the runs down from aiguille pierce will be very quiet.
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@chocksaway, of course no ski area is perfect, and we're still nit picking about one of the best served ski areas in the world. That being said, and in the spirit of lively debate, my counter to your counter would be that Mont Blanc, Grand Pre and Cugnai are all lifts to nowhere, whereas Grand Huit, Aiguille Rouge/Marais are essential links in a chain (what poor old Brev has done to be served so shabbily is anyone's guess). Cugnai will be the last on anyone's list, including mine from the very selfish reason of limiting numbers into the Cugnai valley. Upgrading Col des Ves & Palet drag would open up a pretty large ski area (and reduce queues on Grattalu), far larger than Cugnai. The Valon bubble is indeed a shocker, but anyone with any sense takes the chair & drag, but I'm not a huge fan of the whole Fornet sector anyway apart from access to Grand Vallon, Col Pers and Col de Montet. Good point above from @thelem about Grand Pre as a beginners lap. Anyhoo, as I said we are nit picking here, but that's natural given our mutual investment in the otherwise marvelous area.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Dr John, Indeed we are.  But I suspect that with no income from the last 1.25 seasons, those lifts we would change will be a couple more years.
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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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@chocksaway, I fear you're correct.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Marais has needed changing for years. Old, cold and mind-numbingly slow; it was always almost as quick to take the Ugly Rouge, Palafour and Ugly Percy to get up to the needle and you stayed a lot warmer in the process. Mind you, there was rarely a queue at marais 
Bit confused where they were/are going with the lift "developments" in Les Brévières. It's now the only base area in EK that doesn't have a simple lift/bus alternative if the main lift breaks down. There used to be a choice of lifts out of LB (the chair was always most welcome in the heat of spring) but now if the new bubble breaks, you're a bit stuck. There's a bus between Bourg and Tignes which stops at LB but only every 90 minutes or so and it's not part of the free shuttle service. Nice new lift compared to the old Sache, but still a single point of failure. I wouldn't stay in LB for that reason, and it puts me off skiing down there in case I get stuck. I'd rather stay in Le Fornet, at least there's a frequent free bus along the valley if the cable car goes on strike. So what are they trying to achieve?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| moosepig wrote: |
| Marais has needed changing for years. Old, cold and mind-numbingly slow; it was always almost as quick to take the Ugly Rouge, Palafour and Ugly Percy to get up to the needle and you stayed a lot warmer in the process. Mind you, there was rarely a queue at marais |
That chair was a lovely way to have a snooze on a sunny day! My biggest fear in taking it was that I would drop a pole after I drifted off.
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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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@moosepig, You are right, it is a single point of failure in Les Brev. The problem appears to be the road below the dam, for transport on that classification of road everyone has to have a seat and supposedly a seat belt for a routine service. Can't remember where I saw this but it was something official.
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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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| Dr John wrote: |
| @chocksaway, what poor old Brev has done to be served so shabbily is anyone's guess |
I think the answer is straightforward - Brev and the new developments around the dam are now marketed to "families" - for that, read loads of small beginners.
As long as they have a nice new bubble (and it is very nice) serving the runs allowing groups to lap that area, they are not that fussed about the rest of us - my guess is that the rationale is that if you are decent, you will be able to get wherever you want, and a 15 minute delay is not tragic?
We still take trips down to brev on sunny days to have a beer or sometimes lunch, it is still a nice spot.
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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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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @moosepig, You are right, it is a single point of failure in Les Brev. The problem appears to be the road below the dam, for transport on that classification of road everyone has to have a seat and supposedly a seat belt for a routine service. Can't remember where I saw this but it was something official. |
That's what I've heard re Brev buses; but having skiied Chamonix with their 'all pile on' bus service between villages I have my doubts as to it's validity as an excuse. I suspect local politics/feuds. Plus, if Brev got a free bus service then the rest of the Commune (such as Reculaz & Chervil) would demand them. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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If the bubble is running as far as Boisses/1800, then you can go up the two poly tunnels and walk perhaps 100yds to the Bus Stop in Boisses, and from there get up to Tignes Le Lac.
It's far from ideal though, and is one reason we won't consider staying in Boisses or Brev any more. The Bubble and Aguille Rouge are both now single points of failure.
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| GreenDay wrote: |
We still take trips down to brev on sunny days to have a beer or sometimes lunch, it is still a nice spot. |
It is indeed. A group of us in season 19/20, got marooned there one day when the bubble broke just as we arrived. We hung around a bit, then spoke to the lifties who advised it wasn't going to be a quick fix, so repaired to Sachette for a long and lovely lunch, eventually getting the bus back to Val around 5ish, even blagging the driver to drop us off outside L'Hibou to continue the revelry. We were all seasonaires so we knew the lay of the land, how to get back, and an afternoon missed skiing wasn't an issue. If we were on our one week a year skiing, as is the case for the majority of punters, it would have been significantly more annoying.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| A group of us in season 19/20, got marooned there one day when the bubble broke just as we arrived. We hung around a bit, then spoke to the lifties who advised it wasn't going to be a quick fix, so repaired to Sachette for a long and lovely lunch, eventually getting the bus back to Val around 5ish, even blagging the driver to drop us off outside L'Hibou to continue the revelry. |
You're forgetting a few top up bottles of wine at Bouida.
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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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@john2, haha. Probably not the only thing I've forgotten about the afternoon.
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@Dr John, ref your lunch at l’Escalee BLanche - has the extension/refurb been completed and what’s the verdict and have the prices gone up dramatically? As always loved the pizzas from there and good value too - four cheese pizza with added chorizo mmmmmm 
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FAQ
