 Poster: A snowHead
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Arno, didnt know you could do that to a DH boot. my burton snowboard boots also have a vibram sole, wouldn't choose anything else. they just need to design a snowboard boot that can kick steps better.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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norris,
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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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Arno, nice I shall pass on to my skiers friends, although I always have fun watching them hike in slippery boots!
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| There seems to be something about that run though, maybe the challenging notices at the top, which just makes idiots want to throw themselves down it rather than take the chair. |
My friend who is a competent intermediate skier, once said when referring to The Wall "There is NO WAY I would ever get a lift DOWN a slope"... basically he'd prefer to struggle down it at whatever the risk than take the other option at that junction which is the lift down. As it happened we never made it over there.
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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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pam w,
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The father who took a young girl down it when it was closed should be prosecuted for manslaughter
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Is that a recent story? Sounds horrible.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was nearly a fatality!
Lost my pole getting off the chair at the bottom - pretty hairy trying to retrieve it between oncoming chairs!!!! 
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marmalade, that off ramp's pretty steep too, I wouldn't fancy riding down it with my back foot unclipped. I found the wall pretty easy, but, (it's a big but) conditions made it so, it was mid afternoon on a warm day so although it was bumpy the snow was really soft. If it was icy I wouldn't have gone near it. As it was the hardest part was getting past people sideslipping down it. We tracked left after 50m to get a run down the spring snow on that side: less people and less bumps.
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You die on The Wall by starting on the right hand side (looking down the slope) falling right at the top in icy conditions, lose your skis, slide down ever faster, then over the cliff that can be seen in the photos and whack your noggin on a rock. Jobsagoodun.
Is there any information about helmets on this site that I might refer to?
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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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red 27, Would not imagine so, this is a ski site not a fashion web site!!!!
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Is it really that scary how people make it up to be? In the pics I must say it seems quite lame. Don't the pictures and videos do justice for the scare factor of the slope? I'm going to morzine next january and I'm looking forward to tackle the wall.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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trustno1, I have skied 8 weeks and i wouldnt go on it. The scariest bit is the start, it just keeps on going over and over!!!
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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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What you mean by that? Is the start vertical?
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The real question here is did Arno ever ski that couloir?
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You know it makes sense.
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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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trustno1, You get off the lift then you ski down to where the start is and you can't see it, you have to slowly ski a bit more, then a bit more etc. It is very steep at the top which is why I didn't fancy it. The easiest way to go, is to get to the top of it, then traverse to the skiers left before heading down. The bumps are nowhere near as big and it's easier. Hope this helps.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My enduring memories of the Wall are seeing a ski with boot attached making it's way down on it's own bouncing head height over the moguls whilst on the other side two pisteurs skiing down with a blood wagon sled between them as if it it were a normal piste!
Despite looking closely from the chairlift we could not see where the boot and ski had come from!
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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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Does anyone go looker's left on the top picture? I see one route that just looks pretty mellow pitch-wise but with ridiculous exposure (2nd gully from left), and another that requires just a small mandatory air (3rd gully from left). I'm sure they've be skied, but it would be fun to know how many crazy Frenchies there are around Avoriaz.
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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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Zero-G, I agree - far more interesting question.
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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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Ricklovesthepowder, agreed. Looking over the edge we opted for a nice cup of tea in the hut at the top. The most disconcerting bit is the inability to see the runoff from the top. You are down the run before you can see where it is going to get easy again.
I've thrown myself down quite a few runs in the last couple of years, but wouldn't throw myself down that in a hurry.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hmm...sounds like there actually is some level of fear to this run. But I just can't help it - the pictures of it don't look that intimitating.
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the pictures of it don't look that intimitating
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well go and take a look..... pictures of ski runs can be very, very, deceptive and even pretty steep runs can look very tame. Deciding whether to do a run either on the basis of looking at photos is probably not too good an idea.
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The photos don't look intimidating because its basically not that intimidating as a piece of terrain. What makes it intimidating is conditions which quite often may include VW sized bumps, over trafficked moguls (deep icy channels) etc.
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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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Zero-G, no - I haven't been to that neck of the woods since this thread started
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my recollection - which may now be wrong, it was a few years ago, was that the top was very steep, with a whole lot of rocks with icy kind of channels in between them. The whole thing was icy and scraped. Quite horrible. Wouldn't have been remotely enjoyable, even if I'd stayed on my feet. I think I made the right choice to go down in the lift. Certainly, in those kind of conditions, you'd be a bit daft to do it without knowing something about self-arrest.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pam w wrote: |
| my recollection - which may now be wrong, it was a few years ago, was that the top was very steep, with a whole lot of rocks with icy kind of channels in between them. The whole thing was icy and scraped. Quite horrible. Wouldn't have been remotely enjoyable, even if I'd stayed on my feet. I think I made the right choice to go down in the lift. Certainly, in those kind of conditions, you'd be a bit daft to do it without knowing something about self-arrest. |
+1. Ive got the chair up to it several times from the Les Crossets area but never fancied it, just to many things that could go wrong in my opinion. Ive never got the chair back down, i just skied off the other side towards Avoriaz which is a great red if i remember correctly.
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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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wow just seen this thread, the pictures take me back, in 1983 me and four German lads thought it would be an idea to ski the first gully on the right (first pic), I made it about half way before falling, 2 metre skinny skis and the snow got deep after the gully to about waist deep.
More fun than skiing over the car sized moguls of pure ice we did the day before at the top of the wall. Funny never been back since 
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Done it once and like Ricklovesthepowder, says you edge towards it to see what it's like and are then committed, lots of bumps and people but got down OK. Next time I was there, a few years later, visibility wasn't good so whimped out on the idea mate did it Ok but he's a more ballsy skier than me.
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You know it makes sense.
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| trustno1 wrote: |
| Hmm...sounds like there actually is some level of fear to this run. But I just can't help it - the pictures of it don't look that intimitating. |
Pictures are often deceptive. Some very challenging runs look fine and easily skiable in photos. Stand on the top of it and look over and you'll see what we mean.
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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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Most of the Wall is in Switzerland, although technically the first few metres are still in France, so I would guess that the Swiss would hold any death records. Anecdotally most people I met in resort talk about one or two deaths per season. Whilst skiing away from the bottom once we glanced up to see a woman fall near the top and ragdoll quite along way down, people were going to her assistance (we were several hundred metres below her final resting point), but when we left she was not moving. It was a few years ago now, and she had not been wearing a helmet. A fall of that nature involving bouncing down some quite icy moguls at speed could cause head and neck injures, we hoped that she was merely stunned or concussed.
Because I have skied PdS for several weeks most years for the past fourteen years I have skied the Wall often. When you go to it after fresh snow fall it can be an easy delight. Similarly in late spring after the moguls reduce it can be simple. However, in poor snow years, and at a time in the season when the moguls are icy and become large & polished it can be more tricky. I have also been down it in soft boots on a long stiff snowboard (I was with skiers that day), so it is possible to board it, although not particularly enjoyable.
As to the chutes to the right in the photograph I have skied down them all on two occasions (both in a January period) over the fourteen years, being lucky enough on those two occasions to have been in resort when the snow conditions were just right. Because the ridge is served by good fast lifts it was possible to repeat them all for several laps.
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FAQ
). One of the scariest things is thinking of one of those show-offs who simply have to have a go at it, whether they can ski well or not, falling higher up and taking you out on their journey to the bottom. 
