The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

It wasn't that bad (relatively) up Solaise and over in Le Fornet in the morning but blimey it was absolutely rammed on the Bellevarde side and in La Daille this PM. Never saw Diebold this busy. Having said that the snow (piste) is in tip-top condition. Even The Face was "nice" at lunchtime. As you've mentioned @Steve Angus, it must have been the knock-on effect of the Borsat being shut.

A snowHead

There is always one bad weather day isnt there!

The trailing edge of the low pressure weather system that moved over the rest of the Alps in the last couple of days hit us today and we woke to cloudy skies and the promise of some wind up there AND the possibility of a little snow.

After dropping Olivia at creche I headed down to La Daille for the mornings lesson and like yesterday we were up the funival in double time to get on the slopes. I walked him down the steps at the top again and we skied the Verte and then the Borsat pistes in good time working towards parallel turns and there were some nice changes made but at this stage it is slow but steady progress.

Hot choc break was again at Marmottes and I was pleasantly surprised when we got back outside that there was a slight break in the clouds to reveal some sun as without the sun and with the stiff westerly wind blowing it was rather chilly out there.

Lunch was taken on the picnic benches outside the bottom of the Olympique with some colleagues before saddling up for the afternoon session. The afternoon was with 3 teenage boys from the UK southcoast (I told you some schools were still off) of the UK and reading between the lines I think they just wanted some time away from their parents to have a blast. The parents were cramping their style and slowing them down so the parents headed off with a colleague whilst I took the boys out.

Mixing some mileage, some 'fun' things like tricks and going places they had not been with their parents yet we had a great afternoon. There was even a little snow falling when we got to the top of the Tignes funiculaire but there was definately more cloud and 'weather' around this afternoon than in the morning. Nearing the end of the afternoon the youngest started complaining that he was feeling unwell which he had apparently felt unwell the previous afternoon as well. It meant we had to really slow down the last hour or so before we made it back to Val in the late afternoon!

And that pretty much sums up the day.

I popped to the post office after skiing today and also fitted in my periscope although for some strange reason half way through the broadcast the app unexpectedly quit on me so the update today is in two parts I am afraid!

Tomorrow evening I am catching up with an old university friend of mine for a beer after skiing before heading to her chalet for a meal so I am not sure what time I will be able to post tomorrow night but we shall see.

Stay tuned!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1mnxeVePqvrKX?autoplay&t=6
https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1YqxoWnBPgBxv?autoplay&t=1

TTFN

P.S. the town council met last night and the salient points were:
- lift pass prices to rise next year on average by 2.55%
- lift passes again this Summer will be free for mountain biking etc!

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

A return to sun

Not much to report about today really apart from to say it was a) sunny and warm and b) busy!

I headed down to La Daille first thing and managed to fit in my periscope:

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaJbPyqqqoKX

The sun was shining and it was going to be a lovely but busy one.

I spent the morning pottering around Bellevarde with my little man and then in the afternoon I was with the same boys as yesterday afternoon. The only difference today (apart from the weather) was that one of the boys in the afternoon had a rather sore knee which mean he was unable to ski as well as yesterday but apart from that it was a jolly nice day!

After skiing I picked Olivia up and we were into Fall Line for a drink with an old university friend and her husband and another old friend which was nice.... Clare then took Olivia to a 1st birthday party whilst I showered and changed and I have just come back from dinner with them all in Fornet at their chalet which was nice!

Sorry to be so brief but I am truly shattered this evening and really ready for bed so I am afraid that will have to do for now.

TTFN

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Spring really did arrive today its official

For me the first confirmation that Spring is here is always that first melt / freeze cycle but you know Spring is building when you get a strong cycle that leads to 'corn' / 'Spring' / 'Death Cookie' snow but today was that first day!

However before we all start thinking that Spring is here and we should all start leaving behind our thermals etc have a look at this from Snowforecast.com...

Now I KNOW they are ALWAYS the most optimistic forecasters out there; I suspect they are sponsored by the various ski resorts to give constant hope AND I also know that there is nearly always snow coming 'at the end of the week' BUT if this is half true then a metre of snow in the next week is pretty crazy!

Talking of snow amounts the resort is reporting that we have had so far this season a grand total of 2.45m (including the massive snowfall in November that all got washed away with the torrential rains) of snow compared to 6.19m to have fallen in the seasons to date.... so not the best snow this season but that is the way it goes.... and we are only about half way through the season so still plenty of time in reality!

Anyway back to conditions today.... it was lovely and sunny right from the offset and after dropping Olivia off at creche I headed down to La Daille one last time to take little Dominic for this ski. He was really excited for this last ski with me today and we did the usual walk down the steps and ski off down Verte. He LOVED the acticross (as I still call it) and we actually ended up doing a second lap of the 'green triangle' which also meant that I had to ski him down (well I didnt have to but I wanted to) the first bit of the Verte at the top of the Olympic which is no small feat in Feb HT mid morning but he did so well following me turn for turn down there - bravo!

After a break at Marmottes we did one final lap before downloading on the funival!

In this job sometimes it is the little things that put a smile on your face and today was one of those days. Dominic had written me a really sweet thank you letter for teaching him this week and I especially liked the line where he said 'thank you for taking me on the train' in reference to the funival! - ah bless him!

So the morning was busy on the pistes and the weather was warm... lunch was taken with Clare at Chevallot in town outside enjoying the sun which was really nice and then in the afternoon I was out with a long time client of mine who owns a place out here along with a friend of hers who was a REALLY excellent skier.... we worked on some carving before doing a lap down Arcelle (just to get away from the crowds) and it was there that I came across the remnants of the mornings death cookies (refrozen snowball like 'marbles' on the piste) down there.... at this stage in the season it does not make too much difference but it will before we know it. The Arcelle as a run does face west so is always subject to heavy melt freeze cycles but make sure you get your timing right to go down there - too early and it a vertical ice rink and too late and it is a river!!!

Last night the STVI practiced, as they are obliged to do, an emergency evacuation from the Olympique lift.... they are required to practice evacuations from each type of lift in the resort so such an evacuation is pretty spectacular when it is so close to the centre of town:

The roads on Saturday are going to be BUSY BUSY BUSY so leave early and arrive early (or in both cases do the opposite and leave late / arrive late) to avoid the worst of it.

And finally details came through late this evening and I do not have any more information as of yet but it would seem as if a British man died off piste in the Laisenant area of the resort late this afternoon - he perished whilst en route to hospital in the helicopter but apart from that I do not have any other information im afraid!

So tomorrow we look like we will have cloudy skies with some wind in the morning with the likelihood of some precipitation but crucially it might be as rain but it depends on the freezing level as it lowering rapidly at the moment. The afternoon should see some nicer weather. I am teaching in the morning but the afternoon I need to head down the valley so I have a half day off snow tomorrow!

A few photos to finish:

Notice the yellow tinge in the snow off piste in this picture - this is the remnants of sand blown in from the Sahara during the persistant southerly winds we had for a week or so a couple of weeks back!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1OyJAokRbaqKb?autoplay&t=6

TTFN

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Tricky weather but some fresh!

During the night it was rather windy AND it started snowing in the early hours... thankfully at day break the wind had died down (quite a lot) and we were left with about 5cm of snow in town! However the clouds were rolling across the resort at about 2500 -> 3000m altitude which meant there was always going to be big banks of clouds we were going to have to deal with interspersed with glimpses of the sun!

I met my am lesson (there was a slight problem with the buses first thing so everyone seemed to be running 5 mins late or more) and it was a 'combo' lesson whereby I had both skiers (just one in each case today) and boarders in the lesson and of course I need to chose which piece of gear I wear for the lesson and my skis it was. Anyway we headed up Solaise as at the moment we were standing there and looking at how the clouds seemed to be hanging it looked like the vis would be better up that side. The fresh snow we had meant that there was a little more than dust on crust and in some places the accumulations were reasonable and I have to admit that in a couple of places down the sides of the Arcelle piste we had a few powder turns which was a nice surprise!

Anyway the morning was spent working on technique and not letting the clients legs get too tired as the combiination of the fresh snow and the invariable bumps that form off the back of fresh snow and all coupled with firm piste in places after the sun bake of the last few days meant that I ended up teaching a little of everything from dealing with bumps to poweder turns on both skis and giving tips to the boarder all in one lesson - so that kept me on my toes.

At lunchtime I tried to go to the post office but found that it closed at midday (I could swear it was 1300).

Anyway I fitted in some chores at home (my afternoon session was rearranged in the end so I did not ski this afternoon) and then took the opportunity to head down the valley to do a food shop.

By the time I got back up, put all the food away (Clare was not feeling too good this afternoon so I was everything from the child carer to the chef this evening) and made dinner and got Olivia into bed it has pretty much gotten to now... so it was hardly an afternoon 'off'.

More details have emerged regarding the death yesterday afternoon. He was 59 year old man on holiday from Jersey and had ducked the rope to the right as you come off the Laisenant chair... he was skiing at high speed with a friend and the compression as you cross back over the Mattis piste road caused him to crashed and he catapulted over the side of the road down some rocks below. He died en route to hospital of a cardiac arrest!

I think that brings you all up to date for today - sun is scheduled to return tomorrow but also Clares mum is arriving so there is more than one visitor tomorrow! I am teaching in the morning before having 1.5 days off the snow - the first time I have not been on the snow for several weeks now so I am looking forward to not having to put boots on on Sunday that is for sure! I will of course continue to do my daily video broadcasts and this blog of course!

P.S. I meant to say I am a little jealous of my daughter as I snapped this photo of the menu from her creche for the food they were being served this week... they are fed jolly well!

P.P.S. Periscope did something weird today and the sound dropped out so once again the broadcast is in two parts as follows.

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1djxXvDMzVoGZ?autoplay&t=3
https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1zqKVbDMovmKB?autoplay&t=1

TTFN

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I'm feeling my 44 years this morning @Steve Angus, I used muscles I never knew I had yesterday. Thanks for a great session, Mrs franga had a blast too. Looks like a lovely day today. See you again soon.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

franga -

Simply lovely

I didnt have to set an alarm this morning as I knew two things would happen 1) Olivia would wake us up if we dare slept past say 7am and 2) Clares mum was arriving about 8am anyway with breakfast so we had to let her in..... as it turned out we were awake by 6.30am as normal.

So Clares mum came a knockin with chevallot goodies and we enjoyed a family breakfast (it was rushed in my case so I could get off to work).

The sun was shining big time and although the temps had dropped to -11 overnight it was set to warm up a lot and fast and indeed it did!

I met the team and we headed up Bellevarde and it was deserted (well it seemed that way after the chaos of the last couple of weeks). There was a nice 10-15cm of snow all over the place and the coupled with the sun meant it was gorgeous and a true bluebird day up there.

The pistes were groomed to perfection with this soft layer on top - exquisite!

We worked our way around the Bellevarde developing short turns and there was some great changes. It was especially good that the video I took allowed them to see what I was working on with them!

At lunchtime we all met up (Clare, her mum and I) for a slap up lunch at the Sun Bar and we really enjoyed sitting outside in the sun - it was rather hot!

The afternoon was a chilled one at home. Clares mum had taken the overnight train so was not in the mood for lots of exercise, Clare and I are both enjoying the end of the school hols (well the English ones anyway as the French local schools have one more week) wanted a relaxing afternoon. So it was a rather chilled afternoon and lots of cartoons on TV etc. We have just all had dinner together and I suspect it will be an early night all round for all of us. Tomorrow is the first day off snow (teaching wise) for me in over a couple of weeks so im looking forward to that.

The resort today produced a chart to show how the season total snowfalls for the last 25 years or so compares to this seasons (this season is 2.45m so far and the graph below is season END totals so there is still plenty of time to go and I suspect with the storm coming in this week we may end up close to 4m as usual).

Hmmm interesting reading. Also it is also worth noting that Val's weather station is at the BOTTOM of the mountain whereas plenty of resorts have the weather station at the top (not naming any in North America here!) which means direct comparisons are difficult!

Talking about the off piste quickly - they reduced the av risk down to 1/5 today which was an interesting move - I suspect the afternoon risks will continue to creep up in the sun but if we get a storm this week it could make things interesting again!

The traffic was pretty crazy on the roads today and there were long queus out there so hopefully everyone is now in town / at home.

Finally for today this was my periscope for today.

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1djGXvkzPDoxZ?autoplay&t=2

TTFN

After all it is free

@Steve Angus, thanks, interesting updates last week, as always. Some superb photos too.
Looking at the cumulative snowfall chart. 2010/11 was lowest total by far in the 26 year period. Even so, I enjoyed great conditions that season in late Jan and mid March.
Either I got lucky...or maybe there's no such thing as a really bad season in EK! Very Happy

A well deserved day off even though I do say so myself!

Firstly intermediate - thank you! Yes I really do think that 'poor' snow seasons are never as bad as they make out... yes the numbers of powder days are less but thanks (in large part) to things like artificial snow making you have pretty great piste conditions week in week out long time after fresh snow has fallen. But the pow days are less that is for sure but if you are lucky then you will probably never know it is a poor snow winter! Indeed when I think back to some of the best powder days I have ever had over the last decade or so I can think of days in November on opening weekend and then it went weeks and weeks until it snowed again which lead the UK press to talk about a snow drought (as usual).

Anyway back to today it was so nice to wake up naturally and quite late (after 7.30am!) wow.

After a very lazy start to the morning and watching things warm up nicely out there (it was chilly at -11) first thing we all suited and booted ourselves and took Olivia for a ski on the Village lift.

It was a fun few hours and she is ALMOST able to do a vague snowplough now - bravo!

A half time drink at the Sun Bar before we did another run and then lunch at Chez Paulo... it was glorious and BOY was it a good pizza for lunch! We were lucky enough to bump into Gav and his daughter so we had a great drink in the sun and a lazy hour or so before heading home before a lazy afternoon and ultimately lots of snoozing allround before watching the rugby and another good game it was!

This evening we are chilling and getting ourselves ready for a new week.

Thanks to Radio Val for todays photo!

Sorry not really much else happening on the news front today. The weather was lovely and sunny and by the end of the day it had clouded over lightly and tomorrow I think we will have some sun and plenty of clouds moving in later in the afternoon again before we get a large storm hitting us late tomorrow night and lasting more or less for about 36 hours.... it could bring quite a lot of snow - Yay! For those who read these updates regularly or know me you will know that I pretty much always dismiss the forecast until about 48 hours out - well that time has now arrived and they are still calling for decent snow so fingers crossed!

Finally my periscope:
https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1rmxPnEgjDQGN?autoplay&t=2

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Hi Steve, I’ve been reading your posts all season until now, finally, I am just days away from my first trip to Val D’isere! Thanks for being a source of great information! I hope you don’t mind if I ask for a little advice – my snowboarding husband has decided to give skiing a go (I appreciate Val D’isere may not be the ideal “learners” destination!), so he’s had a few lessons in fridges over the past couple of months. He’s parallel turning and looking quite confident and relaxed so I’m looking for advice on where to start our week off – are there any confidence giving motorways that aren’t too crowded and not too steep? Even a smallish area would be fine, where he can practice what he’s learned, improve his confidence and have a bit of fun? And what about areas to graduate onto steeper terrain, but nice and wide and not TOO steep?
Thank you ! Very Happy

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Hi, out in Val D next week for the first time, and looking for private lessons. Other than Steve (obviously!) any other recommendations? I've used Oxygene in La Plagne before to good effect, and they have a good price for 2hr lessons - anyone experienced them here?

Along same lines, I used AlpinResorts for ski hire in St Anton and was v happy, has anyone used them - realise they're a franchise so mileage may vary. I'm staying somewhere in the centre (I think...) so any other hire suggestions v welcome

snow reports

You know it makes sense.

I'll second Snowberry. Excellent service there. You can book ahead online and reserve your equipment.

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

Vasta, Pejoli, Old Fartbag - think the advice is pretty sound there... I dont think anyone on that list is anything less than excellent no... and me too hopefully! Snowberry are excellent yes!

SLB79 Thanks for the question and glad you are enjoying my posts and getting some good stuff them. Firstly snowboarding to skiing and vice-a-versa cross over is relatively easy when compared to starting either from a 'standing start' with no experience in either - so that will help! Val d'Isere has (in the past (but not so much these days)) a tag of not being great as a learners destination but I dont think it is bad now as it used to be especially with the new magic carpet area at the top of Solaise. Well done him on having lessons before he comes out to the moutnains as that will have him progressing well already. In terms of places to go.... start on the magic carpet (long Pim Pam (skiers right hand side)) up Solaise and then Madelaine (although that is NOT the easiest green out there but it is OK). IF you head up Bellevarde then he might find the first bit at the top of there a bit daunting so walk down the steps (immediately as you come out the Olympique) and head across to the Verte from there. The Verte DOES have a couple of steep sections on it before he gets to the Borsat chair and then again at the top of the Borsat there is a steep section but a path on the far side when he gets off that chair to get down that first 100 years or so.... then the rest of Genepy and Grand Pre are real pleasures... BUT it is quite a long way out there and the loop is quite long out there on the Bellevarde mountain with those couple of nastier bits... it is for those reasons that Solaise is often better! AFTER that then I think the blues up Solaise are the best.... Plan Millet up the Glacier Express, and other runs up there but DONT under any circumstances be tempted to ski down the green (Verte lower part) or any of the blues that lead to the valley floor in resort as they are tougher than their colour would suggest! Hope that all helps - good luck!

Better than expected

This photo was NOT actually in the last 24 hours and not taken by me but the pisteurs in actual fact but it is such a good photo I thought I would share it anyway!

Whereas this photo was also posted by the pisteurs and I thought it was rather sweet. A young little girl called Lucie thanking the pisteurs for getting her off the mountain when she had an injury and to hospital etc. BLESS HER

Anyway onto todays update...

The sun was once again shining (although the storm is brewing) and it was a nice start to the day as Clares mum got Olivia ready and took her to creche which took all the pressure off Clare and I.

I headed to the meeting point at 9am and met my morning lesson a delightful lady who was referred to me through this very blog - thank you one and all! After clarifying what exactly was the aim of the sessions (we have 3 sessions this week) we were off. She undersold herself a little and after a couple of warm up runs on the magic carpet we headed up the Madelaine and we worked on confidence in the fall line, controlling speed and direction out of the turn as well the fundamental of standing on the outside ski as early as possible in the turn. What a successful morning it turned out to be.

The afternoon could not have been more different. I met at the Fruitiere and I had a family (originally from the Netherlands) but now living in Belgium and the Dad spoke excellent English but the kids (11,12 and 2 x 16 year olds) spoke just 'OK' English. I am still not sure why they had chosen TDC for their lessons but it was fine as they wanted a combination of being shown around the resort coupled with a few tips and also some 'fun' with a few jumps etc for the kids. Anyway we headed up the Grand Motte and had a nice ski around up there before finally heading back to Val and it was a jolly nice afternoon.

I didnt get back until late and this evening has mainly been spent catching up on some emails etc and spending time with my daughter.

I did have a very strange incident coming down from the Motte this afternoon in that I was skiing along with a couple of skiers had a coming together close to me... cutting a long story short they both fell over and one of them (an English guy) seemed to end up on the ground with one ski attached and the other ski just vanished from what he, the other guy and myself could see.... the back part of his binding was left on the ground but his whole ski just seemed to vanish..... I finally found it in a ditch some 300 yards further down the slope from where the accident took place and when the poor guy finally caught up with me it was apparent that the binding was broken and would not go on... I gave him advice on how to get down from there and I hope he sorted it out OK with the rental shop!

And that brings you all up to date... the weather could be interesting to say the least tomorrow.

TTFN

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1PlKQZjdmBdGE?autoplay&t=5

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, just wondered how the new Solaise gondola coped with the February crowds from your viewpoint? Also the new transport at top of Solaise. Better overall than the old system??

A snowHead

Just to throw my two pence in on some previous posts/questions. I've just got back from half term week in Val D, and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds. I've been to 3V and Les Arcs outside of half term and seen busier pistes. The Solaise area up to Glacier and then particularly over the other side of Leissieres was pleasantly empty most mornings. For this reason I would recommend this area for a first timer who's had pre-lessons or a long-term absentee rather than the designated greens, as these were a lot busier, particularly on the Olympic side, which for me I'd find more daunting for a beginner than an empty but slightly steeper blue.

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

Thanks so much Steve for such detailed advice - I shall print off and take away with us! You're right about the crossover from boarding to skiing - I couldn't believe how relaxed he was, making really lovely turns when we went to the snowdome last weekend. This is why I think its so important to have a really positive first few days on the slopes - I remember many years back, my confidence being nearly destroyed by ending up on a piste that was too much for me. I laugh about that now, but it was terrifying at the time!
Thanks @aceandy78, you definitely make a good point about busy pistes.

Conditions look to be shaping up nicely for our arrival on Sat, all being well with the transfer, we should be able to sneak a couple of hours on the free lifts Saturday afternoon!

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intermediate - hmmm interesting question there... the gondola itself I thought coped VERY well indeed. There was literally a couple of times when the queue was out the barriers at the bottom but the queue shifted within about 5 minutes or so. The days when the chair queue was about 30m long and they had to get people into 4x4 groupings was long gone and they worked quite hard to get most cabins pretty full. As far as the magic carpets are concerned - the double magic carpet is really the only one that affected traffic flow up there... I dont think it is as efficient as it could be.... perhaps they will add a third carpet at some point!!!!! There were still the long queues for the carpet at the end of the day etc to get back down. But all in all the whole set up now is much better AND we have a really good beginner zone up there now too! However I think all in all the Solaise as a whole has become a little bit of a victim of its own success in that now with improved access up that side from the bottom more people are heading up there and that could be the reason for the longer magic carpet queues too!

aceandy79 hmmmm again some very interesting observations there and thank you for commenting. Yes I agree the lift system here does mean that even during peak season the lift queues can be reasonable! The Solaise side IS always quieter than the Bellevarde side... on that side you have people heading to Tignes / coming back from.... then you also have the Folie effect (especially in the afternoons) AND there is the park which attracts people too! But you are VERY correct in that getting to the Fornet AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE (and usually bus to the cable car up there is the quickest) in the mornings gives you nice and quiet pistes... read back to the post I made a couple of weeks back when I described how you can ski the WHOLE EK in a day even at half term! The problems with places like Genepy and Verte up Bellevarde are that they are through-fares for people going elsewhere and get busy.... you'll find that Borsat is the best green up that side and the quietest (and a great piste). You still have to navigate the Verte to Borsat anyway.

SLB79 - happy days - enjoy!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thats more like it!

At breakfast time the weather was turning from snow to heavy snow.... it had only started snowing around about 6am so there was not too much initially but it certainly looked like it was going to be a white out day up there. However the best thing was that there did not appear to be wind around which was a welcome late of addition!

Anyway I met the am lesson and we tentatively headed up Solaise and boy we were in for a surprise... the clouds really lifted and it actually good vis up there. Little by little you could see more and more until you could almost see the dam in the distance!

There was about 10cm of snow up there which was a very welcome cushion indeed. I think a lot of people decided that it was a duvet day from the offset as the slopes were pretty quiet all morning long!

We pottered around the various pistes up Solaise developing things and there was some nice changes, mainly in the confidence stakes and versatility was the name of the game and adapting to the conditions and lumps and bumps that invariably came about as the morning progressed with all the fresh snow.

Lunch was taken down town before I met my afternoon lesson which was the same booking as yesterday but today not everyone wanted to come play in the snow!

I planned to take the family a different place from yesterday and head the direction of the Fornet but stay low enough in the trees. The total accumulation by the late afternoon was somewhere around 30cm even at lower altitudes which was very pleasing to see. Up high (and they could not open the very highest lifts all day) it will be a lot MORE although with the wind starting coming in hard late afternoon this could change things around a lot.

It turned out to be a very fun afternoon sliding around up there but the team was VERY tired when we finished off with a trip down Le Foret!

This evening we have mainly enjoyed some pancakes and Olivia has been running around in her Elsa (from Frozen) dress that she has been wearing all day as it is Mardi Gras day and all the lifties (and some others) as well as the creche have been in fancy dress all day!

The snow and wind is set to continue all night long and by tomorrow we should the promised 40/50cm of fresh snow (perhaps) out there and looking at the radar models I think the snow will continue for a few more days yet a while!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1MYxNLBdbqvGw?autoplay&t=7

https://www.facebook.com/1130303713650017/videos/1918204964859884/
A little video form Radio Val showing the Mardi Gras antics today!

Foret piste

"Hey look im on the piste map, just here love"

Hmmmmmmmm

TTFN

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@Steve Angus,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Snow glorious snow

Well there was a lot of this first thing this morning by the pisteurs.... well actually there wasnt (it was GASEX and CATEX mainly) but still...

So we woke to the booms of the GASEX's going off in the distance and something along the lines of about 30/40cm's down here in town and a punchy wind.... visibility was pretty awful too. Anyway it was always going to be a slow opening up there but word came through on the 'network' that a) not too much was shifting when they blasted and b) the wind speed was dropping off quickly. Around about 7am there was about 100kmph winds at the top of Bellevarde so it wasnt looking that good.

Anyway when you live here you know that things can surprise you sometimes for the better or the worse quite dramatically and fast... so anyway I headed to the meeting point and it was obvious most people had taken one look out the window and turned over as it was rather quiet up there. Word was coming through that there had been about 1m in places of accumulations up there and the wind was calming down.... it was game on and the lifts actually opened pretty much dead on time (you see I thought it was going to be a long delay but alas it was dead on time).

My am lesson decided that her knee was hurting too much (and also this fresh snow would not be the best thing for it) and so she turned up with her husband and after doing one lap on the long magic carpet decided she would back out and he could take the lesson. So I had to replan the lesson quickly in my head as to what I was going to do and we had only one choice initially and that was to ski back down the Solaise. The snow was pretty nice coming down the front but everything that was skiing that side had to ski down there so it was chaos with the mix of lower and more accomplished skiers battling through all the snow. In snow like we had a red run like that was a REALLY tricky red run!

Anyway after a few laps and some technique development we did a 'breather' easier lap on the (now open) Madelaine and Fourche runs before finally coming back down the Solaise at the end!

By mid morning the clouds were starting to part and it was looking like the weather was picking up!

The avalanche risk was 3/5 today but as the snow moves in again tonight it might go up to a 4 tomorrow.... be careful.

I must say that it was like flies all over the car windscreen at times up there this morning and there was some pretty shocking class management in some quarters up there I observed! In one case the instructor was taking up the WHOLE slope with his 'snake' behind him and he was on his phone and totally oblivious to what was happening behind him as more than one kid was in a pile!

By the time it got to lunchtime the clouds were clearing (it wasnt to last) and the sun was coming out - there was by now a powder frenzy and some people were skiing some ludicrous big lines out there which was risky to say the least!

I did a quick lap on the Face and fitted in my video broadcast on Periscope (if you havent got the app on your smartphone then download it now and get involved in my next live daily broadcast)

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1LyxBjbvBwnxN?autoplay&t=6

After lunch Clare and I headed down to Bourg as Clare had a doctors appointment and we also managed to fit in a little shopping time as we needed to get Olivia some new clothes and also a birthday present as it is only a few weeks away.

By the time we got back up about 4pm it was once again snowing hard and that has continued all evening although the wind seems to have calmed down somewhat.... they reckon we could have a lot more snow again in the morning to deal with. I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow so better hit the sack now!

TTFN

After all it is free

PS Meant to post this from Radio Val d'Isere

It shows the percentages week by week of numbers of people staying in the resort this year compared to last along with numbers of bed nights.... some interesting stats there but the resort looks like it will be over 5% up this season over last!

Interesting stats, can't believe how few people are booked in for when we are there in week 16! Should be deserted.

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More powder

It was still snowing heavily at breakfast time and the snow had been coming down vertically all night long which is rare as we often get wind with fresh snow in these parts. Anyway I wasnt complaining. There was about 20cm of fresh in town and Radio Val reported that the PIDA was completed on time by 8.30 this morning which was a result and meant that not too much must have been moving out there despite the GASEX's and CATEX systems going off right from the first light circa 7am!

Anyway up top there has been well over 60cm of snow in the last couple of days so things are looking really good for March and onwards!

The visibility was not looking that promising first up and it really was a dejavu like yesterday! I had the same client as yesterday and we continued our work (up Bellevarde side today) on powder skiing and you did not have to travel anyway as the pistes were mostly powder and certainly down the sides of the pistes it was lovely skiing. As the vis was not great the pistes were far from busy and everyone was skiing at sensible speeds for once. Anyway we had a really good morning and despite a few stacks which are always tiring to get up from when in the powder the client did well. We found excellent snow in the Stade as the sides of most of the normals (Verte / 3J and Diebold got skied out) and then when we got bored of that we took a spin out to Borsat which would have been good if the weather did not move back in again and the wind picked up - oh dear!

He was rather tired so we finished a few minutes early and over the lunch hour, just like yesterday, the weather really cleared up but unlike yesterday it stayed that way all the way and should be good tomorrow until the weather moves back in again tomorrow evening just in time for Saturday transfer day - yikes!

The afternoon was spent back with my seasonnaires after a few weeks break over the Feb HT period. Only 3 could make it today and I had initially planed to do some carving with them but the problem with all this fresh snow is that everything gets VERY bumped up VERY quickly! So instead we worked on powder and then some bumps work which meant for a successful afternoon!

This evening I have been finishing my community service for this season (for my lift pass) by handing out free hot choc and vin chaud for the pedestrian evening in town... this week the theme (for some unknown reason) was Mexican. Anyway it was a hectic couple of hours but quite good fun non the less.

Tomorrow I am on my snowboard over in Tignes in the morning and then have another seasonnaires group in the afternoon!

Think that is all for this evening.

TTFN

A little visibility from time to time

Lots of snow everywhere

Moody

Skiers everywhere!

Mexican hot chocolate anyone!

And finally my scope from today!

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1mrGmebmvODGy?autoplay&t=27

snow reports

Coming out to Val D'isere the first week in April, so keeping a keen eye on your written blog and scopes Steve, love it.

Those visitor figures you posted yesterday evening are really interesting, would be good to see the numbers from other resorts too Very Happy

Love the Mexican costume Steve, suits you!😉

You know it makes sense.

Duplicate post

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

Duplicate

A snowHead

Love that photo from the Borsat. So wish I was in that powder today!

A snowHead

Hi Steve and anyone else - just a quick question.

We were in La Foile Douce on Tuesday (28th) afternoon (in the heavy snow storm) when the wind picked up and the weather turned even worse. La Foile Douce quickly closed and we scrambled our skis and headed towards the Daille gondola to head down to the village. When we reached the building we were informed by one of the officers that it was too dangerous to travel in the Gondola and we had to ski down! It was difficult to walk in the wind never mind ski in it! Many people there were screaming that it was impossible to ski in such weather (and a bit more flowery language!) and they had to let us on - someone even suggested just to run in a group and force our way on. Anyway, after a few minutes of hectic screaming back and forth the officer quickly closed the shutters and anyone who was lucky enough to be inside was allowed on the gondola and anyone outside could not get in.
What would have happened for those people who simply refused to ski down in such weather? And can they force people to ski down? Perhaps some of the people do not know how to ski at all??
Looking fwd to hear your thoughts

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

@01treich, not sure what you expect the lifties to do? If the wind was as strong as you describe the gondola cabins would have been swinging dangerously, look what happened in Cervinia earlier in the season with people stuck in a broken gondola for 8 hours in a storm. Would you have been happy to sign a waiver form before getting on?

ps. the more hard hearted amongst us would say serves you right for going to the Foolish Douch in the first place...

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newrealm22 - glad you like - thanks!
lynnecha - you like it that much you had to say it 3 times - ha ha!
bar shaker - it was nice up there that is for sure!
01treich - some interesting points there.... a few bullet replies:

- 'officers' - you mean lift operators (lifties) I guess?
- firstly the wind speeds are constantly monitored and when a certain level is reached everyone (lift operators) are put on alert to start putting signs up to return to the bottom / your home resort.... so not just a folie thing
- there will have been signs up at the top and bottom warning people that it was pedestrians ONLY that should travel up to the folie.... signs at the top saying that foot passengers should get down now.... these signs will have gone up way earlier in the day than when it got anywhere near danger levels for the gondola to shut down.
- unfortunately you are in the mountains and bad weather does strike.... in heading to the folie (and reading the terms and conditions of the sale of your lift pass) in the first place you must always be prepared for the worst. People get over egg'ed at the folie and putting pressure on the lifties to force them to let people on does no one any favours really.
- anyone who refused to ski down in the weather would have either had to walk down or pay for the pisteurs to take them down in a sledge (about €400 rescue fee from there something like that.
- they cant force people to ski down no - you would just be left up there as it is public land so to speak so you would be on your own.... but for failing to head the signage etc they would be covered if you tried to sue or whatever!
- those who can't ski at all - would have ignored the signs if they had headed up there.
- the liftie would be following strict protocol when he closed the shutters and he was taking a lot of pressure to break the rules he has to conform to let any extra people on.

There is SO much more that goes on and more information around the resort than meets the eye - its just that most people ignore / dont see the info!

On the plus side the new gondola set up (when it is built) should be a lot more 'wind resistant!'

Also it is worth noting that the folie is generally loathed in the resort as it is too much of a liability in many ways... yes it brings people to the 'party' and lots of people love it but the pisteurs dont like it as it makes their life really tricky at the day end (and pushes lift pass prices up as extra pisteurs are needed to clear the slopes at kicking out time).

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Nice - for a while

We woke to lovely sunshine and it was looking really promising out there first thing. Having looked carefully at the forecast I knew it was not going to stay that way for long! In fact there was a stiff wind coming in from the south and east that looked like it could be 'fun'.

I was due to be on the snowboard for the morning over in Tignes with a 10am start time. Anyway being a sunny morning everyone under the sun wanted a piece of the action and the solaise had a technical fault which meant that it was a little late opening so the Bellevarde side of things was extra busy! I mean REALLY busy!

Anyway I did make it over to find a nice Australian man over visiting his seasonnaire daughter over there for a couple of weeks. He had had a bash around yesterday afternoon (it was a snowboarding lesson) and this morning for an hour or so. I worked on some fundamentals with him until he was able to complete the toeside turns (his heel turns were already pretty good) and then we were able to head up the Palafour and do a run down there. It was nice to spend a different sort of morning teaching with different scenary and as I always say to people 'variety is the spice of life' and lovely to have that variety!

I headed back to Val at lunchtime and changed into my ski stuff, ate my lunch and then met my seasonnaires for their session.

By now the wind had gotten very heavy and was getting stronger all the time. The weather was strange as it was almost a retour d'est system and you could see the Aosta Valley was totally socked in but Mont Blanc and the other high peaks within this region of France one by one were losing their heads which meant the weather was actually a front coming in from the west.... so although the clouds at lower altitudes looked like they were coming in from the Italian side and dropping over the Fornet etc it was actually the stuff coming from the other way that is due to bring more snow (and yet more after that) in from the west... high winds and lots of snow is forecast tomorrow and the next few days in actual fact... it is going to be interesting!

So the afternoon was spent working on moguls skiing with the seasonnaires and there were some good changes made and we had some good laughs.... one of the funniest points of the afternoon was when I was showing them 'trick of the day' that I always do with them... today I was showing them how to kick turn and they all (like dominos) toppled over.

After skiing I fitted in my video blog and then headed to Blue Note for a beer with colleagues, Clare, Olivia and her mother and then just now we have enjoyed a really nice 'Cook' curry from Hu.Ski delivery down in Bourg!

Clares mum is off early tomorrow morning so I will sign of for the night now so she can get some sleep on the sofa bed. Assuming the weather is OK then I am teaching off piste in the morning - could be interesting!

Lovely and sunny leaving Val first thing

Busy last day of the school hols in Tignes at lunchtime

Cloudy and windy by the end of the day (and worsened more and more and more as the evening progressed)

https://www.periscope.tv/SteveAngusSnow/1MYGNLErwapxw?autoplay&t=1

Now the wonderful work of our very own Val Pisteurs from this morning is in this video taken up just on the skiers left as you ski down the short little slope from the top of the Vallon gondola down to the Cascades / Cema chair (the Cema Lake this is called - the area)

https://www.facebook.com/kevin.adnin/videos/10155080283148033/

....and then this is a category 4 PIDA initiated avalanche over on the Les Diablerets glacier in Switzerland this morning.... videoed from the chopper that dropped the bomb! This is the sort of size of slide that could take out a whole village if not controlled!

https://www.facebook.com/glacier3000/videos/907671902668989/

TTFN

P.S. This is the sort of problem you have when you forget to close the womens loo window at the top of the world... aka the loos in the Panoramic restaurant in Tignes and after a couple of days you get back up there and find this!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/Tignes.net/videos/1355805744442586/

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

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Following on from Steve's avalanche vid links:-

https://www.facebook.com/sportsafetygermany/videos/1824575611118200/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

There used to be a ski resort here

It was a rather interesting start to the day:

1) It was windy - REAL windy out there and there was winds of 182km/h at 6.45 reported and it was partly this wind outside that woke me up
2) As Clares mum was leaving about 6am my mind was awake before my body mentally and I certainly heard her creek outside (and it turned out that Clare was awake early anyway and saw her mum off so that kept me in a light sleep.
3) Olivia decided that since mummy was up and her beloved Granny Knit-Knit was leaving that she should start the day too... she was very good (Clare tells me) creeping around in the lounge playing with a toy before deciding to come into our bedroom and turn the main living room light on which made me jump out of bed.

So all in all it was an early start to the day.

Ill start with some photos from today:

After getting up and about I headed off with my off piste stuff to meet my am lesson. I was a little nervous for a few reasons... 1) the clients today are LONG standing clients of a colleague of mine and have skied with TDC for a VERY long time indeed and own a place out here AND know quite a few people here 2) they are very good skiers that wanted to get off piste if at all possible and 3) the weather was going to not only limit options but also make any off pisting dangerous.

I neednt have worried as it all worked out fine in the end. With VERY little open for the morning and the pisteurs unable to get up the mountain to do clearance in the morning at all (PIDA wise) the only thing at altitude running was the funival so we bussed it to La Daille and headed on up.

It was rather windy up there and you could not really see anything but it was snowing hard - really hard. In fact overnight we had not have too much snow fall but during the day today we had another 40cm or so - so nearly a metre of snow has fallen in the last week and as this forecast shows we have about a metre to come in the next couple of days!!!!

We lapped around and around a few times (the only options down were Verte, Diebold and 3J) and the piste was in tip top condition and the snow was falling so heavily that the tracks were being covered up the second you skied over them! OK Orange (at the top) was not open for fear of avalanche danger from above. Lower down you could get onto the Raye and no-one was skiing that so we got some great turns in down there. For a 'stinker' of a morning we got some great changes in and some awesome turns!

On the final lap and JUST (by all of 30 metres from the top and before it starts to flatten out) down from the top of the funi there was some commotion (in the crazy weather there was lots of commotion in general) as there had been someone fall over... it didnt look too serious to me but as I skied past (bearing in mind it was a REAL blizzard up there) a scandinavian (think he was) guy flagged me down and by the time I stopped I was out of sight of where the commotion was taking place. Anyway he told me that the man needed medical attention as there was lots of blood.... and I thought he said it was coming from his head as well. Anyway i took my phone out (and gloves off) and within 0.0000001 of a second my hand was frozen but I made the call to the pisteurs non the less.... it was a tricky call as neither of us could hear each other but I relayed what info I could to them based on what I had been told etc..... and that was that as far as I was concerned. The pisteurs were obviously dispatched from the top station up there on Bellevarde (all of about 50m above where the accident was) and went to help. However my phone kept on ringing for the next few mins but everytime I tried to get my phone out the pistuers who were calling me back had finished trying to call me and either way I did not know what else to say as I had given all the info I possibly could. Alas I think the man concerned must have had a nose bleed or something as I didnt hear anything more about it.

I got home pretty wet (as it was wet snow falling) and ready for some nice soup for lunch to warm up. Clare, Olivia and I were supposed to be heading to Bourg this afternoon for a kids 1st birthday party but the road was diabolical and with the Saturday traffic I did not want to run the risk of it taking 10 hours each way or whatever. Instead we went to another (2nd) birthday party at Rize this afternoon and had a lovely time catching up with some friends and eating cake etc!

The weather calmed down this afternoon but has moved in once again this evening so we may have lots more snow before tomorrow morning when it should finally clear up for a few hours before more snow moves in.

And finally this evening Clare and I enjoyed a take away pizza and now writing this.

I am not on the slopes tomorrow but instead taking Olivia swimming and then enjoying some family time altogether before Monday morning comes around once again!

TTFN

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1gqxvqdpelkJB

P.S. The bed forecast for the coming week is as follows now the official and accurate figures are in:

"9530 customers, which represents a fill rate of 65%. This represents an increase of + 3.8% compared to the same week of last year." So that will be about another 50/60,000 skier days this week!

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A nice day off skis

People often say to me 'why' on a day like this would you not ski.... well the answer is pretty simple a) I get plenty of slope time b) skiing is my job so time of snow is time off snow and c) I love the teaching aspect of the mountains and when no-one wants a lesson it is quite understandable to put your feet up BUT the most important reason is to spend time with my family and do the 'normal' things in life e.g. a lie in (pha no chance there) etc!

So the day dawned lovely and sunny and the sun streamed in to our bedroom window and it was LOVELY waking up naturally this morning... Olivia had a little lie in too but was still in turning the bedroom light on about 7.30.

After making some family scrambled eggs which is my stock family food I cook we had a lazy couple of hours watching some ski racing on tv before I took Olivia off swimming. As usual Sunday morning at the pool is Daddy Day Care but there are lots of kids there so it always quite socialable with the parents!

In the afternoon Clare and Olivia had a snooze on the sofa which turned into a 2 hours sleep which suited me down to the ground as I watched some more skiing and then the cricket which I am still watching in the background - come on England!

A pretty relaxing day all in all but it gets busy again tomorrow as another week dawns.

Weather wise as the day progressed it go cloudier and cloudier until finally it started snowing in the early afternoon and it got more and more intense and then the wind got up... now it is snowing very hard and it is windy. It should continue like this all night and all day tomorrow and we are likely to get a lot more snow.... the storms and fronts keep on rolling in!

The avalanche risk is creeping up little by little... and this afternoon (a reflection of the increased temperature as the day progresses on) it was 4/5 and this was further 'confirmed' with the fresh snow and wind that came in. If the storm keeps on raging all night and all day tomorrow then there is the very slight outside chance that we could get up to 5/5 which would only be the second time in 11 years that I have seen that happen - hmmmm I doubt it but it is possible!

My periscope video pretty much sums the day up I think in terms of the snowstorm!

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1LyxBjOPXkpxN

Got some pics and videos to finish the day off with today!

TTFN

A great video clip taken this morning (I think it was from Les Contamines) but pretty amazing flying eh!
https://www.facebook.com/luccioni.sylvain/videos/10154996816778608/

The Val pisteurs blasting under the top of the Borsat chair this morning!

Preperaring the charges - the Val pisteurs have an awesome view as they go about their work!

Sunny... then...

..becoming overcast and then...

snowmaggendon part 388!

P.S. I meant to post this the other day but this is the timetable for the bus that loops all the way around town and up via the Fall Line pub and up to the Manchet Valley so a very useful timetable (hope you can read it!) to have!

The 'train jaune' timetable

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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