Tignes and the Espace Killy 2015/16 (Useful Links Post 1)

A snowHead

Hi all, I'll be out in Tignes next Saturday, getting very excited seeing all the photos, thanks so much for the updates!

Now a question: we have booked accommodation with ski passes included, and upgraded to the EK pass. We've just received our documentation which says we may need a passport photo for our ski pass. Can anyone tell me is this the case for EK or do we not need to bother getting photos? Thanks!

A snowHead

@Lauka, Hi, I'm not sue how the tour operators work - but if you buy a pass at the lift pass office they take your pic with a webcam.

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

@Lauka, no you don't need them and they are all hands free too so they stay in your pocket the whole time. Enjoy

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@Lauka, we bought our EK passes with Skiworld for this week and no photos required. They were pre booked and then just given to us on arrival.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

A game of two halves!!

There were a few misty patches as breakfast was consumed, but obligingly they disappeared before we set sail across the Espace Killy and left a glorious but chilly morning. However, by about 1030 Mont Blanc had donned his 'chapeau' - a sure sign of things to some. It progressively clouded over and it started snowing about 3 o clock. The pistes around the area are now in superb nick and off piste is filling in - although there was an understandable reticence about the off piste today. After a run down to La Daille it was up to the Solaise and the up and over - a view of Le Fornet on the way:

Still a bit limited on the number of pistes but they are working on it - indeed a pisteur had lost his shovel over the edge triggering an avalanche at the top of the up and over.

This is a view of the Solaise on the way back, equally splendiferous:

I think I can safely say that we now have a season on our hands so despite the efforts of the British Press to condemn us all to Benidorm its time to call work, tell them you have Icelandic Flu, put the kids on E bay and check out the late deals - there are still 7 day chalet holidays for less than 400 quid in Tignes for the week commencing 16th Jan.

The weather forecast has become no less complex overnight so there are a few changes compared to yesterday. However, one thing is for sure tomorrow is going to be snowy, windy and cold through the day - although it does warm up a bit late afternoon/evening leading to sleet in the lowest villages by then, but the wind will make this a purely academic figure as far as warm blooded skiers are concerned. So tomorrow's advice would be to stay low, head for the trees, wrap up and stay in your respective valley - the wind may mean the links are closed from the start (which may be a bit delayed as we are expecting 30-50cm over the next 24 hours). This also means the avalanche risk returns to 4 tomorrow, enough said.

Friday will be miserable with snow showers and sleet in Boisse and below, there will still be a breeze so again the rise in temperatures will be barely noticeable. Because the fronts have moved slightly the forecast for Saturday is warmer than forecast yesterday and the snowline will be around 2100, but it could be really quite snowy. Sunday is still looking like autumn winter and spring in one day and after that it becomes really unsettled - so its a bit of a wait and see!

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@chocksaway, we have to take a voucher to the lift pass office and collect them there. I think I'll just have to wait for the TO to get back to me.

Thanks all for your help!

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

@Lauka, try this: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=do+i+need+a+photo+for+a+tignes+ski+pass%3F

This gives the answer from STGM that you need a photo for an 8 day or longer pass but they have cameras there to "print" your image on your pass card.

Enjoy - you've got a nice week!

After all it is free

Is there any advantage to getting our lift passes in advance rather than just getting them in resort? There doesn't appear to be any price difference

@the saint, If you pay for a Pass Tignes card which costs €10 you get an immediate 5% discount, the card is valid for 3 years. Sometimes the Tour Operators offer some discount (ie they are giving you their commission back) - but you have to play the Euro Cost versus their exchange rate versus your credit card exchange rate game. Some companies used to take the pi$$ with their exchange rates others offered an average of 3 high street rates which was fairish - but they still made money by buying at commercial rates. The same applies to equipment hire where the commission can be as high as 70% for the high volume operators. The internet has of course reduced their opportunities as people can shop around.

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In the early season December 2015), we got a very healthy discount when we sourced our passes in resort from our apartment/hotel who sold us a group pass and gave us a voucher to redeem our passes. Total cost (bear in mind it was early season) for an 8 day adult pass for all of EK was... £128 each - BOOM! I'm still sure something went wrong but we weren't quibbling.

;o)

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Thanks for the replies. Anywhere I've found (what looks like online or in resort) seems to be €270. There's 6 of us travelling DIY so can't go down the tour operator route and probably not enough for a group discount. Was just asking on the off chance there was a slight bargain out there we had missed Happy

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8-10cm overnight but looking at the radar picture its is soon going to start with a vengeance. Currently moderate on the chocksaway scale but I think I might be dusting off the higher ends of the scale by mid morning. snowHead

It is going to be windy later - might have an admin day!

Avi risk 4.......

@chocksaway, Looks like it's now snowing quite heavily on the webcams.... roll on the 16th

You know it makes sense.

The lifts, at least the ones I can see from my windows, started on time this morning but the snow is coming down in buckets. The walk to Sherpa for the daily bread left me looking like Scott of the Antarctic. The young folks were out last night so not conscious yet. It will be a late start and and unambitious day methinks.

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

@GeorgeVII, Aye, has G Junior heard from Crystal - the 2100 is still a building site. I spoke to the band that played there all last year - they have not got a confirmed booking yet but he did say that the delays were caused initially by the discovery of asbestos. Also due to complaints of noise their working hours have been curtailed.

As Tigski's balcony has just disappeared it is now officially snowing heavily

A snowHead

@chocksaway, I put a quick note on the "other" thread last night. They reckon the first guests are supposed to be going in there this weekend. So the 16th booking shouldn't be a problem. Time will tell wink

.

@Bogusman, Laughing

ps. Should mention that all G juniors info is third hand at least. He couldn't care less really as long as he gets to Tignes rolling eyes

A snowHead

And for the first time this season it is now snowing very heavily on the chock's scale as I can't see the Palafour lift, indeed I can barely see across the blinkin' road snowHead

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

Snowing like stink this morning, at least 30cm up to lunch time Very Happy

Maybe slalom skis were not the best ski for the conditions but still good fun wink

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Crikey it's absolutely belting it down on the webcams. Still some hardy souls up Bellevarde and Toviere. I think I'd be bailing in the next half hour and heading to the pub to watch the snow pile up. Impressive depths even at Brevs.

Tomorrow is going to be EPIC, I am desperately wishing I was there!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@HoneyBunny, I bailed two hours ago. You know that moment when you stop thinking about having fun and start thinking about getting off the mountain safely? That was me around noon today Blush

Tomorrow is another day and if conditions permit I plan to take the three near beginners over to Val (downloading by the Olympic of course) and back via the Folie. That should round off their week nicely

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Hello again - we are now back to light snow but the winds are picking up, the higher lifts are closing and the avalanche risk has closed the Boisses/Brev areas, whether that is due to wind loading of the warmish temps 'loading the snow' I am not sure.

Meanwhile it would appear that the official Tignes website has now been re-launched so I can't find anything, previous links to it may also be duff - I think there was a thread about exactly this not long ago.

Anyway enough of Mr Grumpy a Happy Christmas to all of those who follow the Orthodox calendar.

You will not be surprised to read I ventured no further than the Jam Bar but out of the window I can see people trying to get down Palafour through a foot or more of heavy snow. Its quite mild in the village so I suspect the best off piste will be higher tomorrow depending on what tonight's wind does. The snow on m balcony has been consolidating rapidly. If we can see, the pistes will be in tip top condition.

And so to the forecast, the charts still look like a 3 year old has been let loose with a box of crayons Confused

so here's the best shot: Tonight will be wild with gusty winds and more snow, the temperature will rise through the night and the snow level will rise to around 1800m by morning. It will remain at this level throughout the day and we are expecting showers all day (another 10cm or so of snow). The winds should drop so the best conditions will be above 2100, below that it will be a little damp and grim. Friday night will be windy again and Saturday will see snow above 2000m so again a day for going higher. Currently it looks like Sunday will be like today - and the snow level will be well down the valley but that wind will be blowing. Its still a bit far out to be accurate for Monday and Tuesday but a mix of wind, high snow and a glimpse of the sun behind rapidly moving clouds would be a fair summary.

The official avalanche risk for tomorrow is 3 out of 5 for the area, there may be local exceptions where it could be higher and there is certainly no room for complacency.

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

The road between Lac and Boisses will be closed this evening between 21h and 22h30 (securisation)

After all it is free

It was truly vile today. Whiteout, with icy invisible moguls mixed with crazy heavy wet powder. Didn't stop a bunch of possibly British people (from the flag!) having a banging party complete with music at the side of the piste. Well, what we could make out in the conditions..

look, never mind all this stuff about how much snow is falling, we need to know, does the Alpaca still do a proper sunday roast dinner, or has this important duty been taken over by those lovely people at the brasero?? Toofy Grin

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@snowornever, Alpaka is now run by Skiworld so no Sunday roast, not sure about the Brasero but it was good on New Years Eve.

Blinking drafty tonight - but I guess there is no chance of an early night with the avalanche blasting down the road.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Roll on Saturday. Guess I'll be able to have a cheeky couple of beers when we get in at midnight. Dosnt look to hot for Sunday.
Who care though. I'm in the mountains and it's snowing snowHead

Another 30cm in the village over the last 24 hours and 40cm 'en haut'. We were rocked to sleep last night as the pisteurs blasted the slopes above the road to Boisse and sure enough we were rocked awake this morning - currently its like a war zone out there. Its still snowing lightly and it looks like a short wait before the lifts open. Must go and clear the balcony again snowHead

You know it makes sense.

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

@chocksaway, all this and you also have to watch out for the paparazi getting in your way looking for the bloke from 1D Toofy Grin

A snowHead

A snowHead

Photos look fantastic, getting very excited to be coming out a week tomorrow. Although the Tignes website is showing only 86/158 pistes open. Can anyone tell if that is just because they haven't had time to groom the runs with the big downfalls of snow? Would more not be open now there is a good level of snow? Thanks

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

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Just back in - a bit like a drowned rat! @snowsam, If you look at these 2 pages it tells you what is open across the 2 resorts, if its closed it gives you a clue. The magic is that 'manque neige' (lack of snow) has disappeared across the resort.

http://www.skiplan.com/bulletin/bulletin.php?station=tignes&region=alpes&pays=france&lang=fr
http://www.skiplan.com/bulletin/bulletin.php?station=val-d-isere&region=alpes&pays=france&lang=fr

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

@chocksaway Thanks for that. if you change the last 2 letters from fr to en in those address you also get the English page Very Happy

After all it is free

How many snowheads are out this weekend?

@snowsam, Absolutely - but for some reason MacAfee gets a monk on with them on my laptop Puzzled

Well we had weeks of groundhog day sun now the reverse. Today was a battle of not going too high because of the wind and not too low because of the sleet. A virtually unsolvable conundrum, which I spent less than 90 minutes trying to solve Wink

. The visibility was also poor, but the pistes are/will be in great condition. I suppose the highlight of the day was when a pisteur jumped on the chair in front of us with a large box of explosives, clearly they had run out. Shocked

To give you an idea of the levels of snow at 2100m here is a view of the roofs around Le Lac. Most were clear about a week ago and remember that consolidation has happened quite quickly because of the relatively mild temperatures and heat from beneath:

The weather remains as unpredictable as an English Lotto win! Tomorrow will see rain/sleet/snow showers through the day with a snow level of around 1800m, the winds on high should be a little less. Order is returned on Sunday for a day of snow to a level below Les Brevieres but the winds will pick up during the afternoon. I generally use hyperbole rarely but currently Monday's weather is approaching biblical, again snow all day down to lowish levels but the wind will be howling, standby for a day in the chalet or on the village drag lifts at best. It will still be very windy on Tuesday with snow showers but the sun may make the odd brief appearance. Wednesday will be a mixed bag but the accuracy of the forecasts for then is low.

The avalanche risk tomorrow will be 4 out of 5.

For the travellers, the whole of the UK will see showers and gusty winds when it is raining but nothing too alarming. There is a slight chance that Leeds will disappear in hill fog until breakfast. Over here will be showery with the odd respite in the afternoon, as currently published the cloud levels and visibility should not cause issues - but Chamberys forecast does not include the lowish cloud that Lyon is forecasting. Like last week if the forecaster changes his mind there might be a problem - the vagaries of mountain forecasting. The English Channel will be bumpy! Once you get here the roads will not be overly busy with 19000 cars coming and going, this may lead to the odd traffic light control at peak times but as the snow line will be well up the mountain life should not be too difficult.

And finally, as it's Friday, here's a quiz. What is this picture of?

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@Timg60, I'm out Sunday for a week with 11 others .... a few of them are Snowheads and the rest are ripe for conversion.

Help!!

Tignes and the Espace Killy 2015/16 (Useful Links Post 1)

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