The Swiss Wall

A snowHead

@Harry Flashman, should also have said I've done it once, I think I fit into the survived unfallen camp, but wouldn't rush to do it again as the the "worst bit at the top" is intimidating because you can't see what's next.

A snowHead

It's much easier to drop in one of the couloirs and miss out on Piccadilly circus at the top. Then you just enjoy the best bits.

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

Anyway, the pisteurs are very twitchy about opening it in sketchy conditions.

I've watched from the chairlift (going up, I hasten to add) someone start to tumble at the top and starting to lose vital fluids not long after, ending in a rather still and bloody heap near the bottom.

Not my favourite ski related experience.

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So its cool not to like the Swiss Wall rolling eyes

Harry Flashman has got it spot on IMV. It has scared me every time I've done it and mostly I've been glad to survive. I'll no doubt revisit PdS and I'll no doubt continue to attempt this because a) I believe that each time I'll be a better skier for it and b) I'd rather ski down than take a chair lift.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@halfhand, why would you be a better skier for it? I'd echo Murdoch's comments above, the biggest danger is gravity propelled idiots descending on you from above.

If you want steep bumpy skiing in the PdS, Combe du Machon is a generally tougher and better run, or the black from the top of Abricotine into 'Crosets, or the one off the side of Mont chery whose name i forget.

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@under a new name, Maybe not but I feel more confident, which I feel improves me. But thanks for the tips on alternative tough runs. I'll make sure to check them out next time I'm there Smile

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Even if I went to the PdS, I know it's a run I wouldn't do. I'm fairly sure I have enough technique to be able to ski it, but what I don't have is the confidence! I get scared on really steep runs so I just avoid them - therefore avoiding the danger of falling and hitting anyone!

Just the thought of being stuck at the top, staring down it with no way back .. brrrrr. I'd be in the biggest traverse of death ever LOL.

After all it is free

I've always got the lift down! I actually find the lift quite scary, especially if you are a bit hung over as the whole valley is in front of you whereas usually the chairlift is facing the mountain.

@HoneyBunny, it's not the steepness it's the BIG bumps.

A bit like "Silence" or whatever it's called on the VD Blacks thread.

I did it as a stupid young Englander intermediate in about 1995... One long 'suicide traverse', a dodgy stemmed turn and then another looong suicide traverse back across the other way. It's wide at least - but fall in the wrong place (skiers right, half way down) and you could go over a cliff...

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I have done it once but in ideal conditions with soft new snow on it. No problem at all, but know that it could be a nightmare with the wrong conditions.

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I recall it once taking me 45minutes to get down some other run near the wall. There was a red run that was just a valley of moguls with no real piste. I traversed across onto what was accidently the steepest part. Was a nightmare.

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@T Bar, it must be said, he is an unusual idiot. Split personalities as well, I've heard.

You know it makes sense.

@under a new name, think you mean the Bouquetin on MC?

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

Never been to pds, how does the wall compare to l'épaule du charvet inval d'isere. Obviously the swiss wall is longer, but the edc can have some epic sized icy moguls...

A snowHead

@Pamski, That's the one I think, down to the old 2?3? man chair?

A snowHead

Swiss Wall is mostly a marketing exercise.

It's just a standard black run with sometimes a few moguls on it.

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

No, @Whitegold, not really. It's a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy however as attracts way more traffic than a typical run of that sort would, they tend to be less skilled, than, etc. so the entrance can appear quite daunting.

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@Harry Flashman, respect. There is no real shame riding the Chairlift of Shame.
People have died on the run - I had a guest who had a heart attack on the Wall - although that was more to do with "lifestyle Issues"
Twisted Evil

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Mind you, if you catch Boquetin in the right conditions it is fantastic! A coule of seasons ago I got to it as the pisteurs remove the closed sign. Beautiful virgin powder, I actually told my friends that they were not coming down it with me. No friends on a powder day!
The Swiss wall is not really that bad.I think people hype it up too much in their head so that when they get there they are already in the wrong frame of mind. Normally though the powder either side is much more enjoyable.

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I love watching good skiers do the wall. I saw one guy descend it [very quickly] with someone's [lost] ski over his shoulder!

After all it is free

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@T Bar, my wife's niece decided that her then boyfriend should try the Swiss Wall after only a few days of skiing. Don't think he particularly thanked her for that. They're married now, so must have been some weird test....

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@dobby, Good Lord, I don't think I would have been seen as suitable marriage material after a descent of the Swiss wall in my early stages unless by a dominatrix who enjoys the sight of a quivering nervous wreck as a spouse.

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@kioksor

The combe du Machon if you take the straight approach is consistently steeper.

I think it's called Bouquetin off Mont Chery is definitely steeper at the top.

The black under the Grande Conche chair in 'Crosets IIRC is steeper (albeit shorter).

The lower section of Renard in Linga is at just the very wrong angle to make the bumps easy to zipper. Whereas the upper section is at just the very right angle to be perfect.

Depends of course what you mean by tough.

And of course, the really tough one, the original "Aigle" from the pointe de Nyon, was demolished many years ago.

@T Bar, I am saying nothing..... Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

@under a new name, yes, that is right, a very old 2 man chair that can be the coldest place in the world. It's called the Planey, or something similar, lift. I remember getting off it last January though with another couple of friends, into bright sunshine at the top. There were only about six of us on the whole of MC that day and as we got off at 12 the lift closed for the 2 (?) minute silence after the Charlie Ebdo massacre. It was very moving looking over the peaceful mountains in the sunlight and a few tears dried away after that.

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

A snowHead

@Harry Flashman, I think (!) that Machon is consistently steeper than the wall (albeit a lot shorter) but doesn't have the intimidating bumps at the top. So psychlogically, it's way easier to slip in.

I'm fairly sure that bouquetin is a few degrees steeper at the top. Again, no intimidating entrance.

Psychological sport, sports psychology, I suspect.

A snowHead

Just as an aside, back in the day, Scott Dunn Champery used to have a client picnic under the cliffs skiers right. About 30m high?

On good days, one of the hosts used to arrive somewhat directly, off the cliff... Shocked

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

I had my first experience of the wall aged 11. It was my first ever skiing trip with school and the hotel was in Les Crosets, we had done a couple of days on the nursery slope and headed onto a chair lift, I distinctly remember laughing at schoolmates who had got off the chairlift half way thinking they were in the wrong place!!! After our instructor had got himself back on the lift to come and join us at the top we snowploughed our way down the moguls very carefully, although at that age I was fearless and made of rubber so it was all ok in the end! I do remember having to walk very carefully down the first bit though!

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How do you snowplough down moguls?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I think, @Pumba, you might be thinking of the wrong run. As far as I can recall, at least as far back as 1988 there wasn't a half way station on the "Wall" chair. I could easily be wrong mind you.

There definitely was a half way on the chair to Mossettes though but the run from there is only a red. Although understandably daunting to an 11 year old on their first week.

NB, it's almost always a bad idea to remove your skis to try walking down.

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Bouquetin ( Im going with that spelling) does seem steeper at the top. But gets so little traffic it usually has no moguls.
Mahon is less steep (IMO) , but gets lots of traffic (people joining it from the Coupe Du Monde) so has icy moguls most of the way down.
Both seem to be closed 50% of the time, or whenever I want to ski them which, in the case of Mahon, is almost never. And in the case of Bouquetin is whenever I can.

The WALL is all about the 70% entry point, where the moguls and the ice trenches between them make turning challenging.

Someone once told me "Moguls are made by better skiers then you" - at the time that was just about everyone on the mountain.
If you can't turn as sharply as the skiers that went before - your in trouble.

@Pumba, I'm assuming it was a SSA (Swiss) instructor. He was probably trying a bit of "sports psychology" himself taking beginners on the Wall - I thought the ESF were the crazy ones.
- think we all know taking skis off always makes a situation worse.

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@skiingwithdemons, I can't be bothered checking the topography but I'm pretty sure both Bouquetin and Machon are steep for longer whereas the Wall becomes quite innocuous quite quickly.

You'd be surprised how much we don't all know Twisted Evil

After all it is free

@under a new name, ashamed to say it was pre 1988 Embarassed

Winter 1982 and it was the wall for sure. Took the chairlift past it when I did a season a few years ago, didn't fancy skiing the ice on battered old park skis!

@Pumba, ahhh, that was the chair destroyed by the over enthusiastic avalanche blasting then, an avalanche that the pisteurs apparently out-ran !!!

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I can only recall skiing it once, and the moguls were the size of VW Beetles so not that difficult. Steep and scraped at the top, gentle at the bottom, and not a piste I would rush back to do again in that condition.

The thing I remember best about the PDS is skiing over the roof of a cow shed and ending up on top of a dung heap Embarassed

Help!!

The Swiss Wall

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