 Poster: A snowHead
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Wednesday - Sunny all day but some dark clouds in the valleys to start the day, cold on the face for the first hour. We skied Tignes, the pistes from the Motte were great, tried off piste by Rosolin but thwarted by the crazy piste basher tracks. Then skied near Genepy and skinned up towards Borsat. Found some lovely snow there. The traverse into the Familial is heavily skied, making it both fast and difficult. The track out of the Familial is well rutted, the Trifolet piste has grass, dirt and rocks showing.
Generally the pistes we skied had very good cover and were free of moguls, however they are very hard packed with a dusting of loose snow. The top section of Piste M from Solaise is good, although hard packed but from the tree line down it is extremely hard packed and not very pleasant. The the top there are big banners warning that the piste is only for good skiers. They are correct, taking the lift down to avoid that piste would be sensible. Off piste we have been doing gentle slopes, anywhere exposed we are crossing one at a time and leaving big gaps.
Some pictures of our skiing can be found on Jean Ribart's picture pages (linked from the Alpine Experience diary pages). I am the one in blue jacket, red hat and orange/grey rucksack.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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phillip33, I agree about Piste M. Sometimes it is bad and sometimes it is really bad. I just wanted to point out that I thought that today it was towards the really bad end of its rangeand so urge people to avoid it unless they love fast steep ice hard pistes.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is M really that steep. It was icy over new year but still very enjoyable on a board. It would be a breeze on two edges.
Rorie just at the bar at Stansted, see you later this evening if you are about.
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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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And now at the bar at Melezes. Yah!
It's snowing lightly too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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bar shaker, Jave a great time - can you let us know how things are at Melezes now?
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holidayloverxx, Thanks and will do.
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Great day today. The pistes are perfect. It was really cold last night so the bit of snow we had and the snow canons gave soft stuff everywhere. It was bluebird until about 2.30 and now it's just started snowing again.
It's really cold. -13 on the Grande Motte at lunchtime, despite the sun. Once the clouds rolled it, the temperature plummeted.
Double M was the best I have ever ridden it.
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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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What are conditions like folks? Is it still snowing?
Coming out on Sunday - cannot wait!!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I read once that Martin Bell listed the Piste Perdue - part caving part ski run - as one of his two favourite ski runs.
The other was the old dog leg at the top of Hillend, Edinburgh !
Excellent choices I have to say 
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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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Thursday - Cold day,but good skiing. The gentle slopes below Col Pers had lots of firm supporting snow, so lovely to ski provided you ski softly. But an aggressive turn would break through to the sugar snow below. Hardly any soft snow. Then the mogul field down to Point St Charles. It made for a nice off piste trip, but not a powder day.
Yesterday and overnight, just a little snow fell.Not enough to measure but enough to make some of the icy pavements around Val d'Isere even more slippery. Brilliant sunshine today, but cold.
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It was -13degC at Thomeusses at 2pm today. Seriously cold but it's keeping the pistes in excellent condition.
A coke at Loop was freezing on the side of the glass, late afternoon and water bottles in ruck sacks were frozen solid by lunchtime.
Fornet was epic today and deserted.
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You know it makes sense.
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bar shaker, if you bump into some old blokes from Middlesbrough then say hello to them for me
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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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thats what i like to hear. will be out on sunday. all i want is a little bit of powder one day thats all
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Poster: A snowHead
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Frosty the Snowman, There's a couple of people with dodgy accents that may fit the bill. Who am I looking for? 
benpudney, No snow forecast for the next week but staying F cold so should be good.
holidayloverxx, Ellie is doing a great job and I have nothing but good things to report. Beyond getting things back on stream, Ellie is putting her stamp on the house procedures and it's all good. I have just over a week to go yet but can thoroughly recommend it with Ellie at the helm.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Forgot to say, the pistes were the best I have seen them in Tignes today and when not carving (see elsewhere ) we were kicking up walls of soft stuff. It's so deserted too.
Some powder for the off piste would be nice but otherwise perfect.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 22-01-11 17:06; edited 1 time in total
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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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bar shaker, excellent news 
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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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Another very sunny day, but cold. We skied Col des Fours. The ski down from the bubbles was good as was most of the skinning up to the Col as it was on firm supporting snow. The very top section I found difficult, the track was narrow and icy in places, and I only had a couteaux on one ski, so I felt vulnerable. Skiing down, we had lovely powder snow almost all the way to the Refuge des Fours. After the refuge the way had been skied lots, presumably accessed via the Cugnai chair, so it was very firm and mogully, but much nicer to ski than the moguls above Point St Charles. Finished the morning with a blast down Piste M, very hard packed but very few people.
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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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Just back from a week.
We had 6 days of Blue skies. It was very cold towards the end of the week though.
The weather is going to continue like that for the coming week I've been told.
Virtually all pistes were open though more rocks were showing through in some places by the end of the week.
Some runs were very icy by mid afternoon. In particular the red run down to Les Brevieres and the runs into Val D'Isere from Solaise.
We did the Face on Wednesday and it was in good shape.
The most scary run was definitely the unpisted black from Aguille Percee.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We saw a dazed skier and one stray ski on piste m. He was at the point where the black run peels off, so he was on the flat bit beneath the first big drop. We didn't see the other ski until the lift reached the top. The ski was about 5m from the top.
In our group Orange was a big favourite.
I think my best run was the black run Sache which goes from Percee down to the Les Brevieres. The top section of that is a lot of fun. Steep bits with flat bits imbetween. The hard bit is just a bit narrow and steep before it joins the red.
The Face was a psychological hurdle since it had been talked up and I'd seen it from the lift that goes above it. It wasn't as bad as I expected since it does have some undulation in it so there are some flatter bits on the way down.
Things that scare me were the icy red run down to les Brevieres, the steep bit on Golf and coming off Percee on the unpisted black. The top of that was icy, mogully and steep enough to intimidate. Well, intimidate me anyway.
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Mad Sunday today. New arrivals in uncontrolled high speed snow ploughs - very scary but at least it kept the helicopter pilots busy.
Pistes were a bit of a mess by the end of the day as it was much warmer and then started freezing mid afternoon.
Snow expected Wednesday and possibly Thursday.
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bar shaker, next Saturday is looking particularly good for more snowfall also. This "dry" spell can't go on much longer, so really hoping that week commencing 30th Jan is going to see a turn for the better.
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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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Cold start to the day, but felt OK when we got to the top of the Grande Motte. Neither the Tignes Funicular nor the cable car were full. Skied some nice supporting snow on the way to the bottom of the Leisse, then some powder after skinning up a little from the Genepy.
Pistes are good, but many are very hard packed. The transceiver practice place has moved from the bottom of the Col des Ves chair, so have to find the new place before I can try a search!
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Just returned today from a good week in Tignes.
For those other intermediate skiers out there I'd say the pistes are holding up moderately well considering the absence of any recent snowfall (the mid week snow was just a scattering). I found the best skiing to be on the Tignes and Val D'I glaciers, though it was perishingly cold (I'm sure we saw a -19 one day?). My favourite was the red off the Val D'I glacier - think it is called Roche.
Otherwise the pistes have been a bit crispy in the mornings and then by afternoon some of them are pretty hard packed, mogully and begining to get a little icy. As others have said Plan M down to Val D'I is pretty slippery. But I'd reckon those of you lucky enough to be out this week should have some reasonable skiing and we just need to hope that the snow comes soon thereafter.
Now I'm off to start thinking about a late season trip!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Cold with brilliant sunshine again today. Traversed along from Borsat Express then across the rolling terrain skiing strips of powder and supporting snow down to the Grand Pre. Then into Tignes where some lunatic skier skied over the skis of one of our group before getting into a bad tuck and hurrying away! But soon after we did few minutes of skinning to get some lovely soft snow in the Little Borsat West.
Pistes are still very good, but noted some loose stones at the top of the Fresse and Isolee pistes (near top of Borsat Express).
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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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Another stunning day. The pisties are doing a fantastic job and everywhere was in superb condition.
I spent the afternoon in Park Tranquille riding switch, just to get some technique practice. It was in mint condition and empty.
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Another sunny day. We skied Col Pers, the high entry traverse was fast and icy, the steep bit just after the col is hard and smooth with many rocks sowing, but easy to sideslip down. We then traversed past glacier pers and skinned up a little. Had several short pitches with nice powder before skinning again to get out - the gorge is closed. The ski down was much easier than a few days ago.
Today starts with thin cloud cover, but it is getting thinner as the sun rises.
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You know it makes sense.
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Yet another bright sunny day. Most of the cloud was gone by mid morning. We skied the Sachette, wet over the ridge at the top of the Aiguille Percee chair, turned left, then own a big face that was so hard and smooth it was almost like a piste; nice to ski. Skinned up for 15 minutes on the other side of the valley to access some great soft snow. Skiing out was a mix of well tracked snow and some skiable soft stuff. Joined the Sache piste just above the tree line, the next few hundred metres of Sache are steep and narrow, today they were very hard packed with very little soft snow. A little lower the piste was still very hard packed but with enough soft snow to ski easily all the way into Les Brevieres. Be careful though, saw a sledge taking one casualty off of Sache.
Pistes are generally in good condition, but there is an occasional thin patch where earth or rock show through. The piste maintenance people are doing a great job with no new snow, I have seen much worse pistes in previous years.
This afternoon I walked from Fornet to Pont St Charles, the wind made it feel cold. Saw my first Chamois of this holiday. They were only barely visible to my unaided eye, but counted ten animals with the aid of my monocular.
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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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For all the locals in Tignes and Valdisere...what do you reckon- is it looking good for fresh snowfalls anytime soon?
Any powder to be found?
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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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Hornster, No, and Yes (if you put in a bit of effort...)
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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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Had some nice powder in Pays Desert today, but you had to be careful as to where the powder ended and the leg breaking snow started. Then over Col Pers where the log traverse to access the col seems to get more difficult each time. The steep slope immediately over the col has good snow cover, but rocks etc are plentiful. The flatter slopes that follow have had so many skiers that they are like the piste. The whole Col Pers trip was quite pleasant today. The Solaise pistes seemed very good, but I took the chair down rather than ice skating down Piste M.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The sky in the webcams look very heavy at the moment but that is just a tease isn't it!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Possibility of a dusting. Very windy today.
Trolles was fantastic today but the Palafour side was very cold in the wind. Heading over to Fornet for some honing and soft stuff tomorrow.
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bar shaker, is there much soft stuff around?
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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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Deep powder day today although not, strictly speaking, in Val d'Isere. We drove down to St Foy. Early in the day the St Foy pistes we used were in great condition and recently groomed. There were very few people around. We took the newish chair and then crossed over the ridge before skiing and traversing under the Foglietta. Then we skinned up Montseti for about 700m. Then we skied the powder, up to 2ft deep, and easy to ski. A while back there was a long Snowheads discussion about whether snowpough skills were useful. Today we needed them. After the nice snow we skied down a steep mountain road covered in hard packed snow. Too narrow to anything but a snowplough, it dropped from 2050m ASL down to about 1400m. Doing 600 vertical metres of snowplough is hard on the legs! A lovely day out.
Edit added "Montseti".
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 7-02-11 10:42; edited 1 time in total
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stewart woodward, Funny you should say that. Can we book in for some technique improvement next week? Arriving sunday night, usual place. Tuesday or weds suit if you have availability?
Cheers, G & C.
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FAQ
Not to be recommended for begineer or nervous skiers untill we have lots more snow.
