 Poster: A snowHead
|
Well somewhat snowy eh
Ben slept pretty well and we were quite hopeful at breakfast time that he might be able to go to creche but I think it was the medicine Clare gave him at 0500 that kept him on form! Meanwhile Olivia was tired and grumpy which always makes the start of the day fun!!! Arghh!
Anyway we decided to keep Ben off creche and get cover for him at home for the day again... and it wasnt long until he was pretty unhappy and sitting on the sofa again feeling sorry for himself!
Meanwhile outside the snow was falling pretty heavily and had been all night long but crucially the wind lower down was OK (up high it was starting to rage though!). There was something like 15cm that had fallen so a totally new canvas out there to play with!
I headed to the meeting point and caught up with my team for the start of the 3 day clinic I am running... so it was 2 of the people from yesterdays private session plus another. A warm up run or two on the Village got us going and then with very little open and not much likely to open as the wind was getting strong and stronger we headed on the bus to the La Daille and got in a few laps on the gondola (even though the funi was open my team were not really quite ready to experience the conditions up top in that!). The snow was nice and initially not to busy or lumpy. It did get worse though!
It turned into a pretty enjoyable morning all in all.
I got home at lunchtime to hear that Bens temp was REALLY high, he was not wanting to eat or drink anything and just wanted to curl up into a ball on the sofa all the time poor thing. Ultimately he had a shortish sleep and when Clare got home she took him to the docs - turned out to be an ear infection so he is now on antibiotics and with the other drugs was much more chipper this evening thankfully and his temp seems to have come back under control!
I spent the afternoon doing some jobs at home and popped to collect Olivia from her art class and have been watching the night slalom from Schladming which as always was awesome and well done Dave Ryding - getting back to your best I hope!
The winds were really strong this afternoon and the snow has been falling heavily all day long. It should continue all night long although the winds are calming down thankfully. Lets see what tomorrow brings but already the av risk has gone up to 4 but it could be higher after another 24 hours of snow which might be the case!
Tomorrow night I might be late posting as I am heading to Bourg food shopping after skiing but ill do my best!
TTFN
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
35cm of fresh light snow in town. Only a few lower lifts open. Solaise closed, Fornet closed above Signal. La Daille open but only a few brave souls risking the terrible viz. Funi just opening.
Tomorrow could be epic as set to snow all day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
35cm of fresh light snow in town. Only a few lower lifts open. Solaise closed, Fornet closed above Signal. La Daille open but only a few brave souls risking the terrible viz. Funi just opening.
Tomorrow could be epic as set to snow all day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Steve Angus wrote: |
| sheffskibod wrote: |
Can anyone recommend some good restaurants in Val ? Local knowledge is good to have (rather than tripe advisor).
Places for lunches and dinners . On mountain or in town.
We are self catering last week March - Chalet Skadi which is opposite the Avancher Hotel and Restaurant (so planning at least one meal in there).
Have eaten on past trips in:
Hotel Auberge St Hubert (raclette - was OK)
Le Casserole (raclette and some other bits - very busy, bit rushed and honestly not so good)
La Baraque (a few very nice lunches)
La Gourmandine (again , a few nice lunches)
Peau du Vache (lovely burgers for lunch) |
That is a very large open ended question really!
In town my fav's are:
The Lodge
1789
Taverne d'Alsace
Petit Danois (if you fancy something a little more UK pub grub like)
Barillon (La Daille)
Gourmaindine (sort of slope side really)
On the mountain:
Peau de Vache
Signal
Ouillette
Marmottes (for value)
L'Armailly (tignes les brev!)
Hope that helps. |
Much appreciated - will have a peruse and get some bookings sorted before we arrive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
50cm and counting
The wind speed increased dramatically overnight once again towards 200km/h but the snow continued uninterrupted and by first light there was 50cm of fresh snow to have fallen in the last 36 hours. Being a Wednesday there was no school for Olivia and she slept in (until nearly 0900 Clare later told me) and Ben had a good sleep - much better form now the antibiotics working - yay! So it was a peaceful start as I got ready by myself and had breakfast myself etc.
It was still all calm as I left the house - most civilised! Anyway I got the meeting point in good time and I decided that busing straight to La Daille would be the best course of action. Ill give myself a pat on the back as I knew the La Daille gondola would be the first to open in terms of terrain that would suit my team the best! And sure thing the La Daille gondola ultimately opened first (by the end of the day most lifts on Solaise and Bellevarde got open). Anyway we lapped around on the bubble working on technique and the first lap was very powdery but it did turn to chop by the end of the am. My team made some nice changes as the morning went on - yay. Mid week fatigue was certainly present though!
I was teaching the (grown up) kids of a couple in my group in the am so I ended up joining them at Tuffs for lunch which was very nice. They have done an amazing job at the Tuffs this Summer expanding and modernising inside - its much bigger and more open plan than it used to be. Anyway I had a yummy croziflette for lunch and then we hit the slopes once again with the boys.... the plan was to work on general technique and then look at some moguls and powder skiing so we headed up the Funi... luckily by the afternoon conditions were getting better - still windy and snowy but calming down a little! Ive seen way worse thats for sure! A few laps up top before we decided to get lower to see what was what and at one point we skied the La Daille trees and BOY was the snow deep. But anyway a fun session had by all if not knackering!
After skiing I headed home and caught up with the kids and Clare for a little bit and now I have just returned from doing a massive food shop in Bourg so that will see us through until the end of the half term!
Tomorrow the weather should improve again and I have the last day of my clinic in the morning and then off piste with seasonnaires in the pm.... the avalanche risk being on 4 should make it a challenging day but the sun might make an appearance which will compensate perhaps!
TTFN
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looks like this week has been a little like christmas week.
Guessing the snow was much needed but hoping for a clear week when we are back at the start of March
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| harvsurrey wrote: |
Looks like this week has been a little like christmas week.
Guessing the snow was much needed but hoping for a clear week when we are back at the start of March |
Yes it is similar!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
@Steve Angus,
I am surprised that Piste L was open after such heavy snowfalls and strong winds. I am also surprised that people were skiing off piste on the sides of Piste L following the snowfalls. I would have thought that the Avalanche risk would have been 4/5.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Love reading your reports @steve angus.
Interested that you say both:
"the 5 seasonnaires do really their first off piste ever and what a day to start"
and
"so many incidents and close calls out there today"
Unlike you I'm not at all experience with off piste but curious to know how you approach that on a high risk day? Is it all down to slope selection / experience and knowing where to avoid?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Steve christmas day was great but your memory of that like most of us must be distant.
Enjoy
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
@welshflyer, Piste L was open this morning but roped off about an hour ago.
It’s probably due to the day warming up and, as for people skiing off the sides, you’ll never stop that as the Laisinant lift serves the same slopes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
Photo on Val pisteurs Facebook of people today happily going down a closed Santons. Time to pull passes??
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
welshflyer - it was open very first thing but yes I was surprised it was open at all. Your surprise at people skiing off piste on places like you mention are a surprise to me but unfortunately they're not as everyone seems to just go for it whenever there is fresh snow about without a care in the world.... as I always say skiing off piste is russian roulette - thousands get away with it but it doesn't mean that it was the correct decision. However that is NOT to say there are not ways to make it safe(r)! Yes the avalanche risk was a high 3 and closer to a 4!
MHskier - thank you... I enjoy posting. That is a great question and I can understand how that can sound contradictory! Basically it is a combination of slope selection (sticking on 'low hanging fruit' and shallow slopes as we say and making sure there is nothing steep 'overhead' / below us etc certainly minimises the risks.) experience and yes knowing where to avoid. But the main one is tackling shallower slopes where I know there will be fresh tracks to be had and thinking about whats above or below me and the group... that way we can effectively mitigate the risk. With higher level performing skiers / boarders it is trickier to do but thats where lots of training comes into play
harvsurrey - ha ha yes!
sproggski - yea the temps warmed so much today that the snow became more unstable as the day wore on. Piste L and Santons closed as the morning went on but (as you'll see in the pics below) that didnt stop people ducking the ropes and putting themselves in HUGE danger... TRUST ME the pisteurs really know what they are doing and they dont close pistes for the fun of it! As endoman mentions....
'Closed' and 'Danger of avalanches' - it couldnt be clearer really could it!
I forgot to post this video yesterday of more of the PIDA work from the heli yesterday - this time up at Fornet... quite impressive what they released.
https://www.facebook.com/pisteurval/videos/567307620665160/
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
You have my sympathies.. it’s now 23:01 here and I’m dressed in black....
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
@Steve Angus,
What did JY Smith have to say?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
@Steve Angus, it’s all very sad. I have always recognised that big, complicated issues such as the UK’s membership of the EU are always going to be ‘on the one hand’, ‘on the other hand’, and there will be shades of grey. I also feel so strongly that it’s about the future, not the past, and the next generation will lose so much as we pull up the drawbridge. I’m sorry, I’m sad and I can understand how hard the future uncertainties are for you, your family and your community.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So basically little change this season or next, but from the 21/22 season it will be much harder to hire Brits to work as chalet hosts. I can certainly believe that, but I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion that if you don't have British staff then you can't run a chalet. It's an unnecessary complication, but as long as Brits want to go skiing without taking a long haul flight, they will head to the EU and businesses will find a way to take our money. If you're considering doing a season on a British passport though, then I'd definitely do it next year. All the best to everyone who will be affected by it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
@Steve Angus, for a second I had forgotten that the “download” is no longer a chairlift, heart has just left mouth!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Truly awful day today. Been in Val for 10 days and now on a Snowdrone to GVA.
Thursday has to be one of the best ever days off piste for me but it’s been a great trip. Am fat the great skiing and boarding, I’ve DJ’ed in the Saloon Bar (twice) and finally got to do a big Folie VIP afternoon (on expenses).
Great trip. Hope it gets colder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| bar shaker wrote: |
Truly awful day today. Been in Val for 10 days and now on a Snowdrone to GVA.
Thursday has to be one of the best ever days off piste for me but it’s been a great trip. Am fat the great skiing and boarding, I’ve DJ’ed in the Saloon Bar (twice) and finally got to do a big Folie VIP afternoon (on expenses).
Great trip. Hope it gets colder. |
Sounds like a good trip indeed.... horrid day this end - didnt venture outside!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| bar shaker wrote: |
Truly awful day today. Been in Val for 10 days and now on a Snowdrone to GVA.
Thursday has to be one of the best ever days off piste for me but it’s been a great trip. Am fat the great skiing and boarding, I’ve DJ’ed in the Saloon Bar (twice) and finally got to do a big Folie VIP afternoon (on expenses).
Great trip. Hope it gets colder. |
Finally understand the username....
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Hermit
Well today was one of those days that at anytime of the year is miserable... but today was more so being that it is in the middle of the season!
The kids once again were good to us so I have gotten so much sleep in the last couple of nights I feel full of energy again - yay!
It was a leisurely start and after a family day yesterday it would turn out to be a similar one today! Much of the am was spent playing games with the kids and having a nice lunch and Clare also ventured out for a walk! After Bens ear infection we did not want to risk taking him for a swim and Olivia would need her energy for the afternoon event.
Olivia is to be one of the ski models (we still dont know exactly how it is supposed to go) for a film / promo vid or something and (talk about bad timing) this afternoon was supposed to be filming day. There was not really much options wise to re-arrange so as planned Clare left with Olivia after lunch and Olivia was in her BRAND NEW (supplied by the tourist office) Degree 7 outfit! A few hours later they came home and Olivia was asked to carry skis around, do a kick turn, do a little bit of skiing and a few posed shots all to video camera. I have seen a couple of shots that Clare got of the action happening and she seems pretty decent so I am now looking forward to seeing the final article!
The BAD NEWS OF THE DAY was that it has rained and rained and rained all day - well just about snow at times down here in town and wet snow at best up top... with temps even now this evening at 2130 above zero in town the snow has been ruined even more than it was and certainly is a right off lower down the mountain until the temps drop (off piste I am talking about). So much so that the avalanche risk was put up to 4 this afternoon and a slide ripped out half the Banane - OMG. With more rain and awful weather forecast for another 24 hours before snow on Tuesday it could be rather interesting to put it mildly. To make matters worse it is also supposed to be windy as well - oh no!
Photo courtesy of Radio Val - The Banane went big down to the ground.
So the rain continues...
The evening consisted of another nice evening meal and family time as we gear up for another week!
Im looking forward to catching up with my best friend (tomorrow hopefully) who is out here from today on holidays, this week, perhaps tomorrow!
TTFN
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| endoman wrote: |
| bar shaker wrote: |
Truly awful day today. Been in Val for 10 days and now on a Snowdrone to GVA.
Thursday has to be one of the best ever days off piste for me but it’s been a great trip. Am fat the great skiing and boarding, I’ve DJ’ed in the Saloon Bar (twice) and finally got to do a big Folie VIP afternoon (on expenses).
Great trip. Hope it gets colder. |
Finally understand the username.... |
Me too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
@Steve Angus, wowsers that’s quite a slide 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
@Steve Angus, rain in early Feb?
You should have nipped across to Arabba with your factor 50 for a few days on the Bash.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Ignoring the off piste (as that is totally screwed!!) - pistes are holding up well today. Soft and slushy lower down and not what you’d expect this time if year but nice enough to ski. Windy up top though
Different story after pisting later then plummeting temps tomorrow??
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
It was weird to get on slopes this afternoon and experience spring like snow conditions in beginning of Feb!!! Still really stoked to be here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
BobinCH - yup!
PeakyB - I should do a mid season event shouldn't I sometime - for a change of scenery!
Dashed - if it gets cold enough then the snow will hopefully improve somewhat BUT I dont think the temperature is going to drop that much. The wind is going to be more a factor!
MikeyK - indeed, glad you are stoked to be in Val!
Unskiable
The day started normally enough with getting the kids off to school / creche etc and it was a pleasant way to start the day. Meanwhile outside the weather had settled compared to yesterday and although it was damp about it was not raining. However I didnt take any risks and packed my rain trench coat just in case. Down in town it seemed almost too good to be true in that perhaps we might get a normal day on the mountain (well normal for these last few days anyway!).
What was noticeable was how much of the mountain had fallen off in the rain - SOOOOOO many slides everywhere on all aspects at all altitudes - quite amazing! The other thing was that there obviously quite a lot of wind up there - Solaise was about 30 mins later opening as they were still getting cabins down from their underground storage at the mountain top at 0900 and the Olympic was about 10 mins late opening too! However when we got to the top of the Olympic it was windy - REAL windy! However being on one of the first lifts up we slid down the slope as one of the first people and all I can say is imagine IMPOSSIBLE wind compacted rain crust on the piste that was unsociable - it was very hard work indeed.... there were bodies all over the place. With the wind blasting out face it was not the most enjoyable and D found the funny side of it thankfully.
We battled through it and headed low and unsurprisingly the snow from about the 'Steep bit of the Diebold' altitude got much better, the wind speed dropped and the vis improved... in fact we ended up going all the way down to La Daille and it was very soft and slushy at the bottom! Doh! On coming back up the La Daille gondola everything seemed to have improved massively so we stayed high for the reminder of the lesson and it turned out to be a good decision as things got better and easier!
I finished in town and attempted to meet up with my friend for a drink / lunch / ski but he was in Tignes by the time I got through to him so cancelled that plan and headed home - got some jobs done and then got Olivia off the school bus etc... The weather was pretty nice in the pm actually!
Tomorrow it is supposed to be really heavy winds and heavy snow all day.... that will continue all day before clearing up into Wednesday and the temps will drop! We shall see.
Right next to the Marmottes lift at the top slides have been coming down all over the place!
It is fascinating to note that if we get the drop in temps overnight that the av risk 2 forecast tomorrow will be reflective but I think the wind and fresh snow will make it more of a 3.
TTFN
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| endoman wrote: |
| bar shaker wrote: |
Truly awful day today. Been in Val for 10 days and now on a Snowdrone to GVA.
Thursday has to be one of the best ever days off piste for me but it’s been a great trip. Am fat the great skiing and boarding, I’ve DJ’ed in the Saloon Bar (twice) and finally got to do a big Folie VIP afternoon (on expenses).
Great trip. Hope it gets colder. |
Finally understand the username.... |
It has nothing to do with bars such as we drink in... although I like your angle!
I used to fly flexwing microlights (just like the ones next to the Palet cafe). You control the direction and altitude with a bar, much like a hang glider. When there's a lot of thermal activity during a hot summer, the aircraft get seriously tossed around. It's very tempting to shake the control bar all over the place, trying to correct the effect of the thermal air currents. You soon learn to only correct the really big ones  I flew for 7 years, including many cross channel lunches and lots of weekends down to the middle of France. Unfortunately never made it to the Alps, before packing it in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Damn, and I thought you were eyeball Paul.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
So, back home in Belgium after being in Val d'Isère during what was probably the worst 4 day stretch of the season:
- Saturday started reasonable, but quickly the clouds and wind came in and made the conditions reasonable, but less than average
- On Sunday the day started with some light snow, which soon turned into pouring rain (really really high up) that lasted well into the night. Stopped skiing even before noon after getting completely soaked...
- Monday skiable weather, but strong winds and VERY high temps meant lots of closed lifts (wind) and slopes (avalanches)
- Tuesday we were one of the idiots that went up with the Funival and came down to La Daille via the Orange slope. CRAZY poo-poo: hurricane winds blowing snow UP the mountain and visibility about 20 metres on the top half meant navigating blindly from one slope marker post to the next... Called it a day after that...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Skiwi222 wrote: |
- Tuesday we were one of the idiots that went up with the Funival and came down to La Daille via the Orange slope. CRAZY poo-poo: hurricane winds blowing snow UP the mountain and visibility about 20 metres on the top half meant navigating blindly from one slope marker post to the next... Called it a day after that...
|
I was one of those idiots too. My friends and I know the resort well enough to get down safely in those conditions, but you have to wonder how long it will be until someone who does not know the resort skis off the side of the piste and is never seen again - all for the sake of not having to refund the lift pass.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
