 Poster: A snowHead
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We have a dusting down to around 1550m - hopefully more up top - first lifts with the crew.
See it on the PTZ Cam link below
Ciao
G
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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 indeed doesn't look like much, but better than nothing  Maybe a bit more in the week (especially wednesday)?
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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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All of 5cm !
Not a lot of fun off piste. Dense cloud top of Yret and snowing and cold. Slush and mild bottom. Now in Station en route Briancon and back. Things you do for friends 
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Seems like the main precipitation on tuesday/ wedbesday will once again pass Serre Che and go rather to the dolomites. Also in the following days no snow forecast... I'm coming on saterday hoping the piste skiing will still be fine higher up. Hoping for snow but setting my mind to sun which is not so bad after all
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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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Amazing pics! It really helps when you know the area!
So this evening-tommorow a dusting of fresh, before the return of spring?
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Still on my list of maybes, along with VT, for 4th April. Worth it?
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Yesterday went down to the Queyras skiing in two different resorts and getting super sweet spring snow on untouched corduroy empty pistes still in the afternoon all for €66 for five lift passes !!
Today snow-dribble.com has light precipitation all day, as we walked back from Le Bez last night was raining and can see a light dusting at around 1800 though temps here at 1400 are already +5 so me thinks will be rain up to around 2000m
Day off today catching up on work and then road trip to Gressoney early evening to hook up with mates (Thurs / Fri ) who are up there and reporting very good conditions.
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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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Hi@Weathercam,
It' Steve again, I'm still here in Briancon and Serre Chevalier. I'm enjoying the resort but as you say the conditions are not great. I'm really keen to do some touring and wondered if the next time you went out I could potentially tag along? I'm not experienced, having been only once before, but I intend to go out in the next few days to practise my skinning technique. It would be great to see and ride some other areas with somebody who has local knolwedge.
Let me know, I'm here until April 2nd. I also have a car now.
Cheers
Steve
stevenpalmer@gmail.com
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Anyone know why the short cucumelle lift is indicated closed on the site today ? Is it a mistake ? There seems to be wind but on the other hand yvret is open... seems wierd to close such an important link. Im coming on saterday on wind is predicted for the whole week. So if they close these links so quickly...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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French Ski Champs on at the moment so Luc A into Chantermerle is closed.
Not so windy today, as it's a Sunday might go and have a pootle around.
More snow forecast but not for here 
Though LG might get some so that's an option for later.
Was in Sauze on Friday and then still have plenty.
Will report back and looks to be warm !
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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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@bart_bdv, could have been anything closing it. If Yret was open it was unlikely to have been wind. They don't close the links so quickly, there is usually a valid reason for it. So stop worrying and just go and enjoy it.
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It was really bloody windy on Friday, I rode that lift though so it must have been closed for only a short time. Conditions throughout the week were very mixed but we did enjoy a decent covering of powder on Wednesday which allowed us to track out the Monetier side of piste areas which were awesome, in fact Monetier was the best area of the whole valley in my opinion. Anything below 2000 was slushy by mid morning throughout the week and none of the runs back into the valleys were worth doing. Still had a great time though. Sorry i wasn't able to post whilst I was out there.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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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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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Been like a Bank Holiday Monday here !!
Loads of people out enjoying for many probably their last day of the season.
Our little building of ten apartments was the most occupied I've seen it all season!
And would seem the Italians (of which 6 out of ten are owned by them) treat Easter as a big social affair.
We had drinks and cake with one couple (my friends rent their rather large apartment out) late last evening and I found out something quite interesting, more on that later.
On Saturday night in the Cocoon it was like a busy night in February!
This morning awoke to a cloudless sky and temps minus 3, and it's not been like that for a while, classic spring snow conditions if timing it right!
We took the lift up around 10:30 and the pistes were quite busy, and then with many people skiing the spring snow off piste, and many a young (gung ho) child skiing steep lines behind their parents!
I think that many skiing today were Serre Che regulars, maybe with second properties here as the standard of skiing was very high with people knowing every nook and cranny it seemed.
We took the Yret up and saw many taking the route down below the chair, and chapeau to some of the young ones doing it!
Once at the top we did our thing of traversing away from the lift to see what the snow was like, and was a wee bit crusty so we changed our line into softer snow and then we were away into our own little playground.
Half way down came across a couple walking up, who had parked up at Chambran.
We continued down in lovely untracked spring snow, and I was exploring (carefully) with a few traverses and then dropping down into a bowl or two.
I did have an idea of skiing down and then skinning back up towards the Dome du Monetier but there was not enough snow to get around at the bottom of the ravine. Would seem the only way now is to hike up out of Montagnolle and the OH would not like the exposed ridge you have to take to do that. Though can't complain as she is pretty gung ho anyway!
So once back down, on with the skins and back up to Cucumelle chair.
Snow was still pretty icy on the ascent so straight lined the climb beasting myself.
Ski back down the pistes at 12.30 and was so slushy, mounds of the stuff!
Late afternoon was the Mojo BBQ and a great turn out by many that live and work here and Geezernaires like us.
And back to the Italians from last evening. We were looking at some maps and I was amazed at seeing a lift that used to exist, though I had seen some old lift mechanica in the village of Puy St Andre.
Anyway told some people in Mojo, not least a couple that run the very exclusive Chez Bear near Puy St Andre and everyone thought I was talking bollox.
So back home and upstairs to Daniella to look at the map and note the date, which was 1982 !!
So here we go with the pics.
Descent with walkers going up
OH downhill
Back up
And the lift that was a figment of my imagination, of course maybe the lift was never built, but why would it appear on maps?
And Skip doing his stuff
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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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@Weathercam, I have heard tales about the lift before, and that it was never used due to lack of snow, and was eventually dismantled and parts of it sold to Alpe d'HUez, but not sure how true those rumours are.
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@Hells Bells, I'm pretty sure it existed, otherwise there's no way it would be on the map. And I've seen a lot of old mechanica around Puy St Andre en route to Les Combes, and in PS Andre there is quite a large parking area, way to big just for a hamlet.
But over that way snow coverage is fragile, though as we said tonight, was there more snow there, say 30 - 40 yrs ago (global warming etc etc ).
This season has been really bad for snow lower down, and last year I was skiing down to Les Combes from top of Rocher Blanc, but not once this season.
I heard today, that last season 12.5m of snow, this year 2.5 which I think was at altitude, as I'd estimate in the valley, the total accumulation must have been no more than a 100cm.
It's all swings and round- abouts - next year we'll be complaining we have too much.
But it is all a wee bit ironic after one of the wettest summers on record.
And from Mike who runs Chez Bear re the lift after I sent him the map with it on......
That would be seriously handy today!!
I don't see a prorel telecabine... i think that was built in '85.
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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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Tad leant over this morning...
Left here at 11:30 and mission was to go up Vallons, hike the Roche Gauthier ridge (which they now piste) to L a Balme and then ski the spring snow on the former pistes that you used to access from the old chair which the OH did yesterday and I did part of.
We reckoned we could do two hike n'runs before snow would start to get too heavy.
As we were going up on the Vallons chair I could see a whole line of people hiking up Cucumelle, they might possibly get some good lines in at the top, but further on down would be pretty ragged, and would not be a lot of fun.
We hiked up with a couple of UCPCA instructors who were going speed flying and they thought the sight of the groups hiking up was equally amusing. Had a good chat with them as they were from Aix and kited around the Marseilles area, and had actually been to Worthing (my home in the UK) and knew of the kiting / windsurfing site I run there, so all a bit of a bizarre coincidence!
First run I went exploring down the old black piste having to navigate my way through the rocks.
And second run opted for a steeper line with some lovely turns.
Run back down snow was so heavy OH opted to take the lift back.
It's probably the warmest day of the year so far, and later on I went out for a ride up a hill towards the Croix de Toulouse that Eric in the Coccoon had told me about, though could not go all the way as the road had not been cleared of snow, and from there (SerreLan), I'd need a MTB to do the last bit.
It was uber steep with so many hairpins and a very hairy descent with no barriers and the brakes and rims getting very hot from the constant braking.
Views down to Briancon, up the valley and across to Prorel were superb, and surprisingly a fair few walkers about.
OH attempting to fly back to the UK tomorrow from Turin hopefully French Air Traffic control strike will not affect her as she's been able to check in.
Temp was still +17 at 18:00 somehow don't think we're going to get the overnight freeze that we've had the last four mornings, and tomorrow is forecast to be even warmer, so I'd guess around Turin mid to late afternoon could well be mid 20's !!
Been busy with the camera today
The Cucmelle chain gang
The pisted climb up the ridge
In the background center of pic is the off the back run we do from Yret
If you look carefully I'm the very very faint dot center of picture between the rock bands
View from the bike ride over Briancon
Cycle route https://www.strava.com/activities/281504921
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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@rogg, sounds like it. You literally boot pack straight up behind the old chair lift hut and then round the "knob" of the Tete then you take a ridge before carefully putting your skis back on to traverse along the ridge then side stepping back up to get to that face.
Now without the lift being there you have to hike all the way along the ridge from the Vallons chair to that point then hike up to the ridge.
Most people hiking along from the Vallons to the old hut then continue down to do the Balme Couloir.
As for today, high wispy cloud with blue skies, forecast is for possibility of rain later.
I'm out on the bike when it warms up a little though will pack rain jacket.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Bit of a detour, especially if you were wanting to go to La Grave from Grenoble........
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Poster: A snowHead
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@KenX, it certainly is. Let's hope it doesn't remain closed for too long.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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What will be will be, could be good though for an empty La Grave if we get Ja'vril but forecasts looking bleak on that front
Last few days the gantry signs have said the road was going to be shut on the 09/04 14km after La Grave, maybe some one dislocated a rock or two last night 
This is an interesting article in Le Dauphine http://www.ledauphine.com/loisirs/2015/04/09/quel-avenir-pour-le-ski-de-printemps-en-stations about future of holidays from next year.
So here in Serre, next week we have the ESF National Championships which will mean many a piste will be closed.
Party time will be based between one of my local bars, the Cocoon and Chez Tonton, so will probably be the usual amateur French DJ(s) liking the sound of their own voice talking bollox into the mic
Think we'll avoid there next week.............
As for today, little cycle ride over to Sestreire and back via Montgenevre.
Via Lattea links all closed and Claviere looking very tired.
Good news for cyclists is that the old road with the galleria tunnels is still open (there is now a new tunnel that bypasses the old road).
Was not too bad a ride, and all the ski touring has helped keeping a degree of cycling fitness as that was 4hr 20min in the saddle.
For KenX who'll appreciate this stats 84.7km and 1,965m vertical
Tomorrow I've been invited by Riquet for their end of season ski event, testing skis going with a guide and of course lunch.
Just hope Yvres who is of similar years to myself will be there
Pic from today, old git keeping his winter tum sucked in, banner announcing Sestriere is the finish for the 20th stage of the Giro
Strava log https://www.strava.com/activities/282630013
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Great morning yesterday!
Was invited by Riquet Sport in the village to their "friends" morning ski and then lunch and a little more, if you so wished........
Tagging along as it were was a guide mate of Etienne and an instructor / guide, who it turned out lives just below me, (I only ever see him in his car) and Bob from White Doctor skis.
Was reasonably amusing at first as everyone was suggesting where to go and I just followed and within ten minutes our group was two groups.
Pace on the piste was as to be expected very fast and a very high standard of skiing, again as to be expected. We were all on various demo skis, I was on some all mountain Factions.
We regrouped about twenty minutes later to do the ridge hike to hike up and around the Tete de la Balme.
Ironic in that I had never done it before and now twice in four days
So a few pics of the ridge hike.
Looking down along the ridge from the summit
Then Charley doing his thing
We continued to try and ski spring snow, and I was sort of relieved that I did not end up skiing any lines that I did not know about. Though for sure with decent snow I would have been doing stuff I'd never done.
Then back down to Aravet for some water skiing and BBQ.
Luckily there was no pressure in the group to do it, and I took my role as cameraman very seriously 
The local young freestyle dudes were really going for it all with Charlie mustaches.
Back out on the bike this morning me thinks.
Been hearing how next week is going to be bonkers busy with 5,000 ESF instructors letting their hair down at the end of the season, evidently can get very messy.
All the bars will be serving drinks in tough plastic glasses (that you pay a euro for), buses running the length of the valley till 02:45 - so might have to take advantage of those to go out in Briancon next week.
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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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Yesterday sunny and warm again (each day getting progressively warmer / hot) and decided on a cycle round to Puy St Vincent, which is a nice ride if you take the back road out of Briancon through Villar St Pancrace dropping down to Prelles and then the back road round to Vallouise then a loop up to Puy.
Fair number of cyclists around and what I always love about this time of year how so many people are out doing stuff, making the most of their surroundings in shorts and t's.
Cycling back up the valley from Briancon was amazed to see Belgian, British and Dutch cars driving presumably "home" heading for the Lautaret obviously unaware that the road is closed the other side (for at least three weeks I heard today), having missed the signs on the over head gantries. You would have thought that some additional signage was merited. Maybe there's a gendarme the other side of Monetier ?
The road closure has also caused chaos for the majority of the 5,000 ski instructors heading to Serre, not least for the teams from Deux Alpes and ADH !
Have to say the center is certainly busy and heard that it was crazy down there last night. Worry is that the competitive team type spirit mixed with testerone and loads of beer could well result in some scenes.
Back up the hill today and I decided to try a few options going off the back, and then climbing back up. First run was superb as I came off the Gauthier ridge and skied some superb spring snow before traversing across to below the Col de Mea.
I then skinned back up before finally boot packing up the rocks and shale to the summit of the Tete Balme ridge, which was a mistake as my original plan was to ski the face facing West off the ridge and then climb back up to Col de Frejus and the Cucumelle chair.
This time of year it's all about timing and the slope I chose to ski down had been in the sun too long and had warmed up and I was more than a little concerned that it might go with me on it, not at all clever.
I would have been better waiting for half an hour or so and skiing the west facing face that would have started to transform nicely, so lesson learnt and now know what to do, just as well the OH was not with me, mind you would not have climbed the exposed ridge.
Pics of the day.
Came off the traverse track you can see left of picture skiing down face in the middle of picture and then climbed back behind ridge right of picture
This is a nice shot looking down over the Col de Mea drags, Clot Gauthier chair middle of picture and Eychauda drag top right.
Once back down on the pistes and below the Vallons lift snow was so dire I actually took the Pontilllas lift back down
Tomorrow pick the OH up from Turin and have a little plan involving the bike, but think I'll have to leave the dogs here as it will be just too warm where I'm planning on leaving the van as it's at 500m near Susa, and reckon temps could be in the mid 20's there.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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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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Great posts and pictures. I have fond memories (20 years ago) of skiing off the top of the old Balme chair where you did, got some great pictures. Also some cold-cold rides up that old chair!
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So yesterday last day of the season here in Serre and we had around 5cm of fresh up top, though we only went up around noon.
We met some people for lunch in the Bivouac as many restaurants that were open last year on the last day were shut!
Always a tad depressing as the season closes, but being optimistic weather looking good for some cycling and ski touring for a few days this week.
Not too sure if this link will work, but again is another photo story put together by Google Plus of the photos from Sat - worth a look
https://plus.google.com/u/0/111493980577115590779/stories/e2538c95-3a1d-3384-a9bc-b72b4b58bef114ccdd48680?cfem=1
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