Tignes and The Espace Killy 2014/15 (Useful Links Post 1)

A snowHead

Just back from a few laps of the Millonex drag. (Real hardcore Very Happy

) The snow off the side of the pisted bits was over my knees but pretty heavy. I can't see much more opening today as it is still snowing. Heavy on the Chocksaway scale. It will make a huge difference to the pistes once bashed down though.

@NE1, There are many other Poubelles in Tignes, but the one in front of Stewart is the only approved one.

A snowHead

@chocksaway, thanks and lol. What is the 'Chocksaway ' scale based on?

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

@NE1, It is based on how far I can see through the snow shower from Chez Moi in Le Lac - it is not scientific but it is consistent - so if you have been here and read my reports at the same time you at least have an idea - as opposed to the generic "its dumping".
So:
Light Snow I can see Val Claret
Moderate Snow I can't see Val Claret
Heavy Snow I can't see the Bec Rouge (specifically Tigski's apartment ) wink

Very Heavy Snow I can't see the Palafour Lift

Just had a coffee and spoken to one of the Pisteurs - they have had freak gusts of 40m/sec reported on some of the anemometers on high - that's about 140 kph or 90 mph Shocked

so I suspect Tigski is right its just going to be the local lifts.

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Palafour has now opened so we are having a very snowy version of frantic Friday out of the bed cam.

As for flying tomorrow - showers and gusty winds are the order of the day in the UK, there is the chance of a rain/sleet/snow shower almost anywhere in the country mainly before the first take offs - so I don't see an excuse for many delays unless you are unlucky and your airport gets parked under a shower and the temp drops that one or two degrees that makes all the difference. Over here, Lyon and Grenoble should be OK at the moment with similar weather to the UK. Geneva is forecasting light snow showers which shouldn't cause too much trouble but at Chambery the visibility within the more intense snow showers could temporarily be below the minima required for short periods so there could be delays especially around lunchtime.

As for the traffic it will be busier than last week so expect short delays at the choke points. Given the quite intense cold high up and the forecast light intermittent snowfall the roads up the mountains are still likely to be white so its likely to be snow tyres or chains.

Having said all that once you get here the snow will be fab. Very Happy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@chocksaway, you are somewhere near the Alpaka, aren't you?

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Yip!

Spot the ants (especially by the Savouna) on the Palafour just after it opened:

Then there was a big gust of wind and it closed for a while - note the queue for the Almes Poma and the bun fight for the bus:

And the new roof gets a decent test out at last - just waiting for the melt to make sure its watertight:

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

@chocksaway, we could have had a snowball fight across the balconies a few weeks ago - stayed in the gentiana and by the looks of the second photo you could probably see into our room.

After all it is free

Variable viz, variable snow fall, variable wind force, variable lift opening but awesome powder Very Happy

Just had another excellent meal at the La Queue de Cochon with [b]Mrs W ]/b]

I was approached by an American who told me it was such a great honour to meet a 'World class coach'. We chatted for a few minutes before he returned to his table
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I think he wanted to speak to Sir Clive at the next table wink

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Seems to be snowing out there more heavily than last night. I heard so much snow high up pisteurs couldn't get up high enough to blast it all today. Hopefully wind dies down and more lifts can open tomorrow

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@stewart woodward, Very Happy

snow reports

Today started badly at 3am when I was awoken again by the renters on the balcony next door. Unfortunately, I don't know many French insults - but shouted basic French sent them scuttling back in Grrrrrrr. Anyway in my tirade I did notice it was a moonlit night so that reaffirmed the decision to be on the first lifts. And when th alarm went it was a cloudless sky - so with all that pristine snow out there it was a Le Mans start . Very Happy

. The first run down the off piste by the side of Palafour proved that all the fresh above village height was heavy with the odd bit of medium (and I mean odd). There are lots of nice lines about on the mountain - but most of them have very few turns. I daresay between the trees lower down there may have been some lighter stuff - but not up here.

It was also a day to be careful - so avoiding steeps was a priority - but you needed steep to keep going - Catch 22 - but as ever discretion is the better part etc. On return some friends had seen sniffer dogs being loaded into a helo at the top of the Tov - fingers crossed - more later I suspect.

Anyway, having tried down Creux we ended up in the Tov valley bottom with a bit of a wait as al the lifts hadn't opened. 1st off was Mont Blanc - again not really steep enough and lots of cornices near the 'bomb holes'. Luckily the Val Snowpark Poma was open - and those slopes are quite steep - but with a lot of compaction from riders and machinery - so we could actually do 'heavy snow eights' (can't call them powder eights wink

). I think it was 5 laps before Marmottes opened and we headed to Grand Pre where it was the same story really.

By 12 the legs were in need of refreshment so it was to the Marmottes restaurant for a Steak hachee and Chips. Suitably refreshed we came out to find it rapidly clouding over - but the sun was shining up the Motte - so we punted for the gentle off piste by Genepy. Plans were spoilt by a big barrier at the top saying genepy was closed due to the avi risk - that's a big enough hint for me. So down Face for the circuit home - but we were defeated by Grattalu being closed. I know when I am beaten so it was time for the Bus!

It is now snowing lightly which will be the theme for tonight and tomorrow and it is going to be cold (for some days) the main road into the village is currently (3pm) half white and half black - I suspect it will soon be all white and chains or snow tyres will be obligatory, same for tomorrow. There may be a respite with a it of sun on Monday and then the unsettled weather returns and a good deal of uncertainty about the weather. How much snow we get mid week will depend on the low pressure system belting up the Med.

Bit of a delay there as the Met Office computer seems to be struggling this afternoon - so for flying tomorrow Scotland - you are good to go if a bit bumpy. There could be snow showers anywhere in England which could slow things up a bit (like Leeds this morning) if you cop for a heavy on. Over here - Lyon should be OK with only light sno, Grenoble are forecasting snow in the morning which will slow things up I am sure as runways have to be cleared. Geneva is forecasting snow with poor visibility which will reduce flow rates as low vis procedures are likely to be enforced, so stand by for that. Chambery at the moment is not forecasting snow - which is odd as its half way between Geneva and Grenoble - so if they change their forecasts to ones similar to GVA there will be problems - so fingers crossed.

Clearly if it is snowing down the Valley at the airports road conditions are not going to be good - so transfers may be extended. Bonne Chance!!

Lo and behold Chambery Airport have changed their forecast to snow showers - if they get a heavy one there could be delays......

You know it makes sense.

Looks like a big chunk of French airports have snow forecast!

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

@chocksaway, Great reports - damn those noisy renters on the night before Powder day!

Any news/views on ZCH for tomorrow? The forecast seems to indicate snow but I'm hoping they're able to cope...

(sorry for thread drift)

A snowHead

@red 27, As a special treat (and I'm not overly familiar with Zurich approaches) they are expecting snow showers all day but as far as I can see they will not infringe approach minimums but it may require some snow clearance or aircraft de-icing so there may be delays if you are unlucky. Still it should be nice wherever you are going!

A snowHead

@chocksaway, you're a darling Little Angel

Arosa - and yes it should be ok wink

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

Still snowing in Tignes Very Happy

The Poubelle monitor is showing a cheeky 5cm overnight with more forecast all day Very Happy

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And luckily it was a natural avalanche that triggered the search yesterday with nobody involved. It was in one of the couloirs on skiers left as you come down Double M.

Blowing a hoooooly in the village and moderate - heavy snow - its going to be a duvet day.

Some heavy snow showers down the valley - good job its Sunday wink

airport delays to be expected.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

On transfer bus to CMF about 10km away from airport, foggy and fair bit of snow on motorway, snow ploughs out, will be surprised if we fly from CMF today!

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Just got back from my first ever days skiing in the Espace Killy and I loved if. Flew in yesterday to Chambery - delayed by about 45min as a snow shows came through the valley. Apparently we were about to execute plan B which was refuel in Turin and try again later! Transfer surprisingly smooth - motorways busy and slow but the mountain road from Bourg was fine. Had to laugh at people in lay-bys trying to read their snow chain instructions by mobile phone. You'd have thought you'd try them at home first....?

Anyway things I have learnt so far:

If you are (like me) a nervous flyer don't use Chambery!

Everything I've read about the piste grading is correct

I will never, not ever ski La Face

I am too old for La Follie Doice! It's really not my scene.

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

Face isn't so bad - just a couple of steep and fairly wide pitches. The secret is to hit it at about ten or eleven in the morning, once the sun's softened the corduroy, but before it's been scraped back to ice.

I'm totally with you on the Folie though.

After all it is free

The weather today remained cloudy and snowy most of the day - there were a couple of suckers gaps but they didn't last long - so all in all glad I stayed in and completed a whole raft of domestic trivia.....

Most of this week will be cloudy and cold, maybe a few sunny periods on Wednesday. Not much more snow about unless the 2 Mediterranean lows shift about 100 miles north.

Lots of avalanche reports from around the Tarentaise including two instructors, sadly one was fatal. Still risk 4 tomorrow.

@chocksaway, Home in time for tea after a great couple of weeks in the EK/Tignes. We left at 6-30am in light snow and that got heavier as we got down to BSM. It continued to snow fairly heavily all the way to Grenoble Isere. Not sure if that caused any travel problems later in the day.

Great to catch up with the usual suspects and hoping to get back out in March. ( hopefully my knees will have returned to their normal size by then rolling eyes

)

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Agree the Face is ok in the morning, forget it later on in the afternoon unless you are really looking for a challenge for the last run down. Also agree on the Folie, although pricey the food is good for an early lunch, after 12:30 you'll be queuing for some time for food. Recent snow fall looks amazing and frantically trying to arrange a long weekend next week, the hotel we are talking to are throwing in ski passes for 4 nights or more - whoo hoo !

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@GeorgeVII, Glad to see you had a good time as usual Very Happy

It's snowing once again this morning Very Happy

Looks like about 10cm overnight with more forecast during the week.

snow reports

@GeorgeVII, Ay there were a few, as it started snowing more heavily - snags on the roads and Chambery had some delays of up to 4 hours and the going rate at GVA was 60-90 mins as it shut for snow clearing in the morning. You clearly ticked 2 extras box on the booking form - snow and no delays - how much extra is that?

Today was supposed to be cloudy with sunny periods in the afternoon - well they arrived early at 10am and stopped all day. Very Happy

There were clouds further into the east that we could see - but it was cold with a stiff breeze above 2400. Still with about 10cm of fresh windblown snow (softer lower down) there were fresh tracks for everybody. I was with a mixed on/off piste group so it was 'mainly down the sides' as we regrouped at every lift - which also means it was less risky (and yes there are risky areas just off piste I know - it just depends where). Anyway the Grand Pre bowl now has a lot more lines on it than it did at 9am Little Angel

The only thing that is certain about this weeks weather is that its going to be cold all week. The pressure charts are complicated which means most forecasts beyond 24 hours are not high confidence. There will be cloud, sunny spells and a bit of snow. As I type, the best day looks like tomorrow morning. The low over the Gulf of Lyon is still moving about a bit - it could still do to move a bit further north. It may bring snow on Thursday - and it (on current predictions) will be a south easterly - so it could be a Fornet Friday................. (see posts of about a fortnight ago wink

).

Update on yesterday's post, we did get out of CMF yesterday, albeit 7.5hrs late. Mix of poor vis at CMF then Jet2 needed to put a new set of staff on the outbound plane due to working hours restrictions. airport facilities and staff coped well with the delay.

You know it makes sense.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr just about sums up today. Even though the sun was out it was -12 at 9am in Le Lac and there was even a sharp breeze in the village. As forecast it then clouded over around lunchtime which didn't help.

But the good news is the pistes are in fabulous condition and there should be enough snow to keep them that way until after the Feb onslaught which starts on Saturday. Off piste - there are still freshtracks to be had as more lifts reopen after the storms (Col de Ves notably today). However even though the avalanche risk has dropped to 3 there were still some monumental avalanches that had occurred since yesterday. The whole of Moniteurs' Couloir had slipped (just to the left of Grand Pre) and the next couloir along had been naturally triggered from a slip above in the rocky outcrops, which would have been a shocker for anyone doing the easy traverse which leads back to Fontaine Froid. Additionally all yesterdays entry traverses (off OK Orange) into Spatule had been obliterated by a slip that had propagated all round the first outcrop. A sobering view for the dozens of people that had chanced it yesterday I'm sure.

It looks like we have seen the last of the sun until Friday - the forecast is very cloudy with a few flocons for the next couple of days. There will be no let up from the Baltic temps which are going to be exacerbated by quite windy conditions up high. Sadly not much more snow on the horizon as the 2 lows over the Med seem to be pushing south. Wrap up warm!

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

Yes fresh tracks on leisse and ves this morning. In the sunshine Smile

Boarder v nearly topped himself setting off a big slab slide left of aiguille percee and got carried all the way down to near the piste I really thought he was a gonner. But he seemed to arrive at the bottom with his head out the snow and still alive; lucky, very lucky. Bet He needed clean salopettes!

All the forecasts are saying more snow, but it's still clear outside and there was no new snow today whatever Snow report.com says.

Hope the visibility stays good.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Very sad news from yesterday, a French seasonaire was found dead by the Jardin Des Enfants in Le Lac by ESF staff opening the 'chalet' up. It is assumed that he fell asleep on the way home. Autopsy today.

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

Sad news indeed.

A British Gap student was found a sleep on the snow in Val D last Saturday morning at 07.45. Thankfully he survived.

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Is this happening on the mountain or in resort? I'm guessing these are drink related. The British student sounds very lucky.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Mike-H, Both in resort (as was the death in Val D where drink was proven to be a factor in the autopsy), will have to await the results from yesterdays tragedy before making a judgement.

As for today we awoke to predicted flocons and generally poor light so I opted for a gym and DIY day as they were supposed to last all day. After unblocking a fridge condensation drain and fixing a door handle (exciting stuff) I went and exercised the muscles that had not been doing much over the last month - I suspect I may feel that later. As I walked over to the Gym the sun came out (typical) for a couple of hours before clouding over again. So I suspect there was fun to be had out there- it also warmed up a bit and there was less wind about - good news for the mountain restaurants with terraces. There are still a few clouds now around the summits.

So the forecast tomorrow needs to be tempered with caution although the smart money is on grey skies and a few gentle snowfalls, and perhaps the same on Friday. But as most of the weather is to the East we shall have to see what sneaks over the Hills from Italy. It will cool down again for the next couple of days and the weekend looks quite windy.

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Degradation was the order of the day.... It started at 9 with leaden skies and the odd glimpse of the sun - so we opted for low and for the first time this season it was Sache - by the time we got there the light really wwas quite poor which didn't help with the moguls on the 1st half which were a lot bigger than ususal. They have also demolished the little hut with the Rescue radio - it is now solar powered and attached to a post. We then had a few moments where we could see as we approached the tree line and the very steep pitch - but then we ended up in cloud. the lower 2 thirds of the steep bit had moguls the size of 2CVs - luckily the snow was soft so some semblance of dignity was maintained wink

An uneventful trip down to Boisses was followed by comedy moment of the day when we saw an instructor from the bubble try and take his reluctant student through the trees from the Bubble as we went up. The bank was only a metre high - but the guy slipped, grabbed his instructor with both hands round the waist and the last thing we saw was alternating red suit/orange skis/ red suit and so on as they disappeared in a ball of snow.
Mid morning it continued to deteriorate and the wind started to pick up so after a quick halt at the Jam Bar we did a loop round the village and back home. It has been snowing very lightly most of the afternoon but in Le Lac we have been sat in a cloud for most of the time.

There is a chance of some snow tonight - depending on how far the system to the east/south east gets over the mountains and it is likely to be cloudy all day tomorrow. But then the sun comes out on Saturday Very Happy

which is great news for us that can ski Saturdays and also for the first Feb Holiday transfer weekend. They are estimating 21000 vehicles going down and 29000 coming up (between Albert and Mout) which is about 6000 less than a peak week but more than enough to cause traffic jams throughout the day. If I was leaving I would be long gone by 6.30am........

After that it looks like it is going to be a bit warmer than this week with a lot more sunny periods as we are on the edge of the high pressure that will sit over all the hardworking people in the UK.

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

So out of 10 how good is the on-piste conditions at the minute?Heading in 2 weeks time so just wondering how it is after the recent snow.

After all it is free

Pistes are all in excellent condition. Its stayed really cold all week and it's been snowing small amounts on and off. Some areas are pretty hard packed as you woudl expect and boiler plate is showing through on the main thoroughfares but if you stay to the sides you will be OK.

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Remember Fornet Friday from comments earlier in the week. Well we woke to about 10cm in Le Lac, there was about 20cm in La Daille and 60cm reported by Radio Val on the Pissaillas Glacier - but more of that in a minute......

So off we toddled at 9am - with a view of going to Le Fornet (but with early lift status reports suggesting that plan might involve an odd route). As the old saying goes: No plan survives 1st contact with the enemy -we got off the Tov Gondola to find it was nearly dark and blowing a gale. So Le Fornet was abandoned for the time being in favour of the Daille trees where there was a good amount of snow - more between the trees. But with the warmer temps overnight and the wind it was heavy going and most definitely not light fluffy powder. None the less it was good fun as well as being a good leg work out. We used Semanmille drag for the first time this season - but there was still a few hiccups - I set off and the damn thing releases another pole about 5 feet behind me which banged me on the back of the bonce -(good job I wear a helmet wink

)I thn had to wrestle the bloomin thing all the way up the slope - talk about trying to mate with an octopus Shocked

As we worked our way around we could hear a load of blasting towards Val - combined with the late opening of the Solasie (after 11am) we decided to stop where there wasproven fun to be had. By 11 the legs were screaming and fuel was called for - so for the earliest lunch of the season at the Rosée Blanche where the owner was confirmed the consistency of the snow - he had just cleared their 90msquared terrace and was knackered>

Suitably fortified we left and the light bulb had just come on (vaguely) so we set off for Grand Pré (after 2 laps of the snowpark) - more great turns and then the sun brightened significantly and boy were we rewarded. The snow between Collet and Fontaine Froide was a lot lighter and untracked - well it was until we went round 4 times. Today it had the perfect pitch for the depth of snow - and made all 3 of us feel great. Rapidly tiring now we set off for home - but the better light and signalled a green light for Friday Frenzy - so instead of queuing for grattalu we had a run up Col de Ves (quite wind blown snow) and then across the Altiport and down to the bus!

As it turned out the Fornet Glacier was closed all day - so winds dependant guess where we are going tomorrow - and its SATURDAY Very Happy

All I need now is for a rub down of the legs with an oily rag (or chalet girl).

We have now seen the last snow for the foreseeable future, tomorrow will have sunny spells and then the sun will be out for the rest of the week. It will still be cold until midweek when it will start to warm up. The weekend (particularly Sunday) will be windy - expect the top lifts to be closed after that the high pressure builds and the breeze will drop.

Travel tomorrow - it is mainly good news in the UK there is a chance of drizzle anywhere and it will be a bit bumpy around the London airports but nothing to prevent aviation except at Glasgow where there is a chance of dense freezing fog in the morning which would slow things up a bit. Saucisson side thee should be no weather problems - in fact it is forecast to be the most benevolent Saturday of the season (Yes even at Chambery). The other good news is the roads right into the carparks in Tignes are wet. these will dry overnight so driving should be much easier than recently. However, with the volume of cars there will be delays unless you leave/arrive very early or late.

Help!!

Tignes and The Espace Killy 2014/15 (Useful Links Post 1)

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