Tignes and the Espace Killy 2017/18 (Closed - No more posts please!)

A snowHead

@BMG, I hate putting people off but as I see it we need another metre of snow or so before there is some decent off piste. Fridays snow will certainly help the pistes but it will not be a game changer. Currently confidence is quite high for early next week bringing significant snow fall but it is all going to arrive at high speed so the avalanche risk is going to be high and vis through the week is going to be tricky. So you are going to be on piste predominately which will be fine but there are not going to be many blacks open (especially as Face will be shut for racing). As ever if you are cash limited I would save it - if not then you will still have a good time but given your profile then it could be disappointed. I would love to be doing what you describe but am currently social skiing with mates which I do enjoy, but also starting some skinning on piste to get fitness levels up. Hope that helps.

Yonks ago someone asked about the Maeva apartments in Le Lac on the Palafour Galary/Rue de La Poste, well today a whole load of advertising hoardings went up - the block is being converted into swanky apartments, not sure when they will be finished.

A snowHead

Thanks for the info on the apartments. It was me that asked about them yonks ago.

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

@BMG, reckon a week in the Alps has to be much better than a week in the office!! if your "advanced" Do some drills? Ski on one ski, high speed carving on just your outer ski, ski some moguls, loads to do IMHO!

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If it has to be next week I would suggest Austria. It has been dumping down and off piste is apparently awesome in zauchensee

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just a quick heads up, there will be a ski/board second hand sale in the Alpaka at 7pm on Thursday run by TDC (ski school). There's normally everything but the kitchen sink on offer so pop along and have a beer as well.

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@Kenzie,

But I really must clear out the scrapheap under my spare bed - some are just not fit for use. Oh and another new pair arrived today.....

Well it was another tip top day in Tignes and Val D'Isere, not a cloud in the sky, the merest hint of a breeze and pleasant temperatures. Today was the first skin of the season and a couple of us skied down to just above Les Boisses and then came back up the hard way to the top of Chaudannes. The pic shows us at the changeover point at the Colchique junction and if you look closely (about 25% in from the right) you can see that their was a lot of overflow from the top water storage area for the hydroelectric system - it was even quite noisy where we were stood, coming along the road from Val it must have been a crescendo:

There was a lot of work going on in the Brev sector with snow cannoning, piste bashing, lift servicing and general safety work. We had a chat with a friendly pisteur who told us the plan is to open up all the way to Les Brevieres on Saturday. However, he was not so impressed with the non-skinners who followed us down having ignored all the closed signs, but he must have been feeling benevolent as they got a skidoo ride. The resort has now confirmed most of the runs, with the exception of the legendary Sache, will be open.

As for the weather, it's over to Frank:

There may be trouble ahead
But while there's music and sunlight and love and romance
Let's face the music and ski

Tomorrow morning will be very similar to today but a few high clouds will encroach by mid-late afternoon and the breeze will start to pick up. There will be a dramatic change around midnight, the wind will begin to howl and it will start to snow, Friday will be a whiteout with high winds and snowfall all day and low, low temperatures. Expect most of the high lifts to be closed, the links to be closed and maybe a delayed opening as the pisteurs deal with the avalanche risk. Now forecasting the actual detail for the weather from Saturday is a bit tricky as the isobars are wiggling about like a pan full of boiling spaghetti, but here goes. There will be light snow showers all day but I am currently expecting the wind to drop around breakfast time and hopefully that will allow the lifts to open after safety work is complete, the sun will be notably absent and it will be cold. Snow chains will likely be mandatory for changeover day. Unfortunately, the wind seems like it will return on Sunday, but we will have sunny periods and snow showers, but very low temperatures means the wind chill effect will be marked. Its all a bit uncertain after that but three days of sunny periods and snow showers are on the cards.

After all it is free

Another glorious day but we did see the aftermath of a nasty accident with the PGHM helicopter and a lot of paramedics attending to someone - hope everyone is OK.

Yes more blue skies and a gentle breeze and more laps of Double M, again its in great condition. We then decided to head to La Daille which was chaotic - seemingly the Marmottes lift was having a moment which meant everybody had to head down. After a lap of the Palet Bowl it was time to head down the 'piste noir' to Bourg for some provisions, which allowed me to take a picture of Les Brevieres which shows there is more than enough down there for the opening on Saturday which given the weather is probably a good thing:

I know its difficult to believe but very shortly the weather is going to change dramatically. Through the evening the cloud is going to thicken, the wind will pick up and it will start to snow just after midnight. The wind is not going to pick up as much as we thought yesterday until mid afternoon. However, I expect some high lifts to close and the links may stay closed to ensure everyone is in the right valley. It will snow all day, we should get between 10 and 15cm and it will be very cold. Saturday will start windy and snowy but the wind will drop and the sun may peep its nose out from behind a cloud - there may be a chance for some decent turns in the afternoon, but the avalanche risk will rise and there will still be lots of rocks off piste. Sunday looks breezy with a mix of cloud, sun and light snow showers. The best guess for Monday is windy with heavy snow showers, Tuesday will be similar with less wind hopefully, the rest of the week could be summed up as fast moving snow showers with a glimpse of the sun. We will have had significant accumulations of snow by the end of next week, but maybe not as much as some of the excitable apps suggest.

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I use a whole series of charts and take into account the GFS and European forecasting systems. But as I said on Wednesday the atmosphere is highly dynamic and tying down the detail will be difficult. Since I wrote my report and you checked the appsthere have been another 3 runs of the models and it does look like the snow will heavier (I would guess moderate) but this will depend on the actual track of the most intense parts of the front. That said the current run shows that it will be raining in Val D'Isere on Sunday morning and sleeting in Tignes - what the weather gives with one hand it takes with the other.

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Sunday is my first day in Tignes so I've been following the apps for a while and they've been predicting 50-60cm on Sunday for a few days now. Bad for me but good for the season ahead.

I appreciate you have both local knowledge and more expertise than me but your temperature prediction is markedly against theses forecasts which are both suggesting very cold in Val D overnight Saturday/Sunday.

We shall have to see what happens I guess and be prepared for all eventualities - we can't change it after all!!

snow reports

Looking from balcony towards Lavachet there's a decent amount of fresh snow. I've heard anecdotal oh about 15cms. Several avi blasts, one which shook the building about 8.45 Shocked

Generally Meteociel gives far more extreme temps than actually occur (ie the thermometer on my balcony), perhaps they use a standard adiabatic lapse rate from a sea level temperature, generally this does not happen in the mountains. It is going to be cold over nights but currently there is a marked warming in the atmosphere on Sunday morning. If you look at Meteo France as an app it tends to be much more realistic. Unfortunately for Tignes it is benchmarked in Brev at 1550m which masks the winds at my altitude so I use Val, here's a link:
http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/val-disere/73150

You know it makes sense.

That occluded front for Sunday looks particularly nasty. My run back to GVA might be interesting on Sunday night.

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

@Ray Zorro, And bad for us too on our first day in Val, but still infinately better than being in the office/workshop/wherever.

A snowHead

@chocksaway,
Due to be travelling by bus-train-bus from Val Thorens Sunday morning. Arriving in Le Lac about 1230. Worth coming on Saturday instead do you think?
Woke up with a hip issue this morning so would like to give it until Sunday before hauling my skis about.
My temptation is to leave to Sunday due to heavier traffic on Sat.

A snowHead

@Mark1863, Now there's a conundrum. The snow will be lighter tomorrow but it is going to be very cold all day, so the traffic is less likely to cut through to slush so chains are probably going to be mandatory all day, so although traffic is not forecast to be heavy there are a lot of UK coaches and Spanish up here........ The snow will be heavier on Sunday but it will be warmer so the main roads are likely to be clear especially late morning when it is likely to be raining just below the Dam. On balance Sunday!

@thecramps, Could be worse - you could have spent all week on 15 hour days setting up a race course in all weathers........

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@chocksaway, your kidding me. A ski race course? I'd pay to do that.

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@thecramps, I'm sure you could pay someone nearer home to let you carry coal or bags of animal feed around in the snow.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As Dinah Washington sang:

What a difference a day made
Twenty-four little hours

So from Bluebird to whiteout overnight. We had between 10 and 20cm of fresh snow overnight depending on where you were stood (or blown over) in resort. The winds did drop this morning and some of the lifts were open, but those pernicious isobars squeezed together and the winds picked up rapidly over lunchtime. My phone was beeping regularly with updates on lift closures from the Tignes app, hope nobody got stuck in the wrong valley. The sun did pop out for a while but it is now snowing moderately again. What the picture (taken on the way to the bread shop) doesn't show is how quickly the clouds are moving:

Again with this weather system, details are going to vary day to day and varying forecasts are different for tomorrow. So, we are expecting light to moderate snow tonight and into tomorrow with high winds. The daytime temperature is going to drop by 8 or 9 degrees. However, that will be largely academic as the winds will be blowing hard. I expect few lifts to be operating in the morning and a good deal of blasting to occur, luckily I am going out for a meal tonight! There may be the odd sunny spell in the afternoon and the winds will ease a little with a few more lifts opening, I doubt we will see the links open though. On Sunday we get a blast of mild air so the temperature will shoot up by day but very high winds will limit outdoor activity. We are currently expecting moderate to heavy snow all day, the most active part of the weather system is going to pass just to the south of us, so no promises either way. By mid afternoon the snowline may just reach the level of Val D'Isere. Monday looks very similar to Sunday at the moment. Tuesday and Wednesday look much better so there may be some decent off piste to be found - so make sure your safety kit is ready with fresh batteries fitted.

For those travelling tomorrow the traffic on the roads is not expected to be heavy but I suspect chains will be mandatory all day if you do not have snow tyres. The good news is that I can't find any flights into Chambery tomorrow as delays would have been almost a certainty. Geneva airport looks OK at the moment and there is a chance of a light snow/sleet shower at Lyon and Grenoble, as Lyon has 2 runways and Grenoble has only 2 or 3 flights tomorrow I can't see too much of a problem, maybe the odd delay for de-icing before take-off. Over in the UK only Manchester is suggesting a slim chance of snow showers.

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@chocksaway,
Thanks for that. A logical response. Got a sciatica attack according to the quack and it will give me an extra day to recover. I had not picked up on the difference in temperature but I think that is the deciding factor.

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In Brev and we have had appox 20-25cm and still snowing.

Will be interesting in the morning as I have to go down the mountain at 5am!

After all it is free

@Philip1972, So you have got what was on my balcony this morning!

@chocksaway, Looks like it!

I cleared about 6" off the car at 10 am ish, and there is a few more on it now.

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Oh and does anyone know what time the 60 coaches will be leaving tomorrow?

I certainly dont want to get caught behind them!

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snow reports

Quick query - we are in Val until 26th but we are leaving early so we have to return rental skis on the 25th. Anyone know what opening hours are like for rental shops, or are they all Fermé?

Or are we looking at having to return kit on 24th? IIRC France takes Christmas Eve rather seriously, so same question - does everywhere close up early in general?

Blimey, its really snowing now!

You know it makes sense.

@Richard_Sideways, In Tignes its just another day, apart from an extra church service.

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

In VT and snowed heavily last night. Poss 40cm since yesterday morning. High winds. Waiting for @chocksaway, with the poubelle report. The only reliable Tignes snow report.

A snowHead

Difficult to say how much we have had exactly cos its blowing a gale, but in the last 24 hours the resort are saying 20cm in the village and 30cm up on the GM. Gusts in excess of 120kph last night at altitude. Snow chains obligatory on the roads for non 4x4 with snow tyres. One or two chairlifts are starting to run, feeling sorry for all the staff in Val who were up at 5 to get the race course prepped, it is -11 on my balcony and with the wind chill it must be horrendous.

A snowHead

Oooops forgot to mention - for fans of the Queue de Cochon la cigogne has been visiting again. The little chap arrived a few days early on Thursday evening early but Mum and son are both doing fine and Duncan was back in harness again last night producing a fab meal.

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@chocksaway,
Pretty much same in VT, winds and poor vis, few lifts open. I cannot see anyone skiing at the moment. Time to get the wide skis ready for my return to Tignes. Still bombing the snow.
Edit - just 3 lifts open

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After many years of no skiing we're taking our 2 kids (6 and 8 y/o) to Tignes 1800/Les Boisses at Easter. We've never been before and both kids are complete beginners. Is there a ski school in 1800/Les Boisses, or will we have to get to 2100 for 9am?! Any recommendations?

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There were a few brave souls that made it put this morning, I preferred a coffee. But the weather did oblige and there was the odd patch of sun this afternoon and the wind did drop (a bit) so we ventured out for an hour and a bit. The wind has done strange things, some of the gullies are have quite deep snow thanks to the 20-30cm of fresh in the last 24 hours, other areas of off piste appear barer than previously, especially at the base of the Chardonnet bowl. Most of the pistes are in much better condition, just a few areas had been scoured.

I felt a bit sort for the folks manning the Children's fayre this afternoon - even the goat and the sheep had to have a patio heater. there was also a gang of troubadours - but they moved out of shot!

Tomorrow is going to be a beast! After a cloudy evening the snow will start falling again in the early hours and the wind will pick up dramatically and continue to rise in speed through the day. The snow will be light initially and then increase in intensity. Expect late openings tomorrow (and an early morning call from the pisteurs), the links will probably not open and most of the high lifts will be shut. the good news is that the warmer Atlantic air does not come quite as far east so we shouldn't have any rain. Monday will just be as windy and snowy, but it will be warmer so ther might be a bit of sleet in the lower villages in the afternoon. Overall we can expect somewhere between 40 and 70 cm of snow over the next 48 hours. Tuesday will be less windy and we may see a few lihght snow showers in the morning and sunny periods in the afternoon. Wednesday looks OK before more wind and snow showers from Thursday onwards.

For those travelling out on the first charters tomorrow, there are going to be problems both in the UK and over here. But it is quite complex because the temperatures are hovering around zero at the airports, a degree or two either way could mean the difference between snow and delays of just getting wet as you walk across the carpark! Newcastle and Northwards will be OK, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are forecasting snow showers so some delays will be inevitable. The London airports are hedging their bets with the chance of rain snow or sleet. Over here it will be similar but quite windy so bumpy. They all forecasting snow early morning with rain later. Its in the lap of the Gods, which is appropriate as tomorrow is Santa Loreto in Spain and she is the patron saint of aviation!

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In the lap of the Gods this morning. 0915 bus out of VT. Supposed to get to Tignes around 1230 but I think anyone’s guess and by whatever method. Wish me luck I think I need it. Can hear the JCBs out on the road.
Edit - not actually snowing yet.

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Definitely snowing in the Espace Killy. Just hard to tell how much. Live slalom coverage from Val d' just starting on Eurosport and it looks to be snowing heavily.

Tignes.net site seems to be running a bit slow this morning.

After all it is free

It started snowing at around 5am, the resort is quoting 8cm in the village and 20 at altitude in the last 24 hours. As Tigski's balcony has just disappeared it is now, officially, snowing heavily on the chocksaway scale (first time since I got here!). Looks like the high winds, like the snow are a little late arriving - keep an eye on the links

Mark - if you are still connected traffic showing as slow between VT and Moutiers and on to Tignes, but traffic (with appropriate tyres) is flowing freely up here. Traffic will be heavy to Val cos of the racing so as it starts at 9.30 it should have calmed down a bit by your arrival time.

Viz ok today above La Daille, a total whiteout above the trees.

6” of fresh powder everywhere.

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Saturday was much better for watching the racing although bitterly cold above the valley floor.

We found some really good untracked powder above La Daille and below Solaise. Everywhere else was blown clean of snow. That will change today and Val Radio are predicting 50cm in the next 24hrs.

Wind prediction tomorrow is 130km at altitude Shocked

so how much snow will stay is uncertain.

Help!!

Tignes and the Espace Killy 2017/18 (Closed - No more posts please!)

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