 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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PhillipStanton, about time too, ten out of ten for style though. 
snowandtrek, yep, agreed. Roll on Monday.
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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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| zzz wrote: |
| PhillipStanton, about time too, ten out of ten for style though. |
I aim to please! Perhaps we should carry scoring cards?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just got back home after a fantastic week , thanks very much for laying on the fresh snow.I was a little worried last saturday sitting out in the sun wondering whether i should have bought my mountain bike instead of skis, but the snow was superb even if the visability was lacking sometimes, felt like we did the swiss wall blindfolded.
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mistermouse - having now finally done the wall a number of times, I can confirm that it's much more enjoyable if you can't see it! If nothing else it keeps the numbers down.
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PhillipStanton, we put off the wall till thursday after running away from it on sunday, but its like a cold swim..... its alright once your in. On another run in the soft stuff we lost one our group down a hole as deep as his 5'6" so we did the honourable thing and laughed while he struggled his way out 
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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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well my last day excellent snow just wish I could have seen more highlight must be coup de mond in reasonable visibility and brilliant snow at the end of the day played around lindarts as light was best there great weekend away shame I have to go tommorrow as it looks like there might be some blue sky
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a little extra thought in jan came out and it was spring its now late march and it feels like winter again!
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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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well back home now and done skiing for this season had a superb time in Morzine / Avoriaz snow conditions were brilliant will post a full review inn next couple of days - only down side was that as I left this morning there was a clear blue ski - lucky lot our guys left in the PDS 
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PhillipStanton, If you are talking about the one accessed from the side of Cubore then that will be the one known affectionately as Death Couloir.
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You know it makes sense.
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| zzz wrote: |
| ...the one accessed from the side of Cubore then that will be the one known affectionately as Death Couloir. |
'tis indeed the one accessed from the side of Cubore. But surely not the same one - this one was, if not a pussy cat, then hardly definitely domesticated! Now the one to skier's right down the angle - that could well be aptly named Death Couloir...
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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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PhillipStanton, agreed. Looked at that one for years but never had the bottle.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Day two of the off-piste course and not a good day for skihog's plans. The idea was to head over to Torgon - using pistes to get over quickly to Chatel and then doing more off-piste as we headed from Chatel over to Torgon.
It was all going swimmingly until we got to the bottom of the Combes lift above Pre La Joux - great weather, excellent on-piste snow, and Combes (the main link over to Linga) wasn't running. It was only after a few minutes that we realised that nothing was running. 
A phone call over to the other group suggested that nothing in Plaine Dranse was running either.
Being in a bowl with only the option of a 15-20 minute uphill trudge we opted to have a coffee and see how things developed. We had the coffees and realised that nothing was improving, so decided to bite the bullet and hike - when the the button lift (which removed the need to hike out) opened. We dashed over, made it to nearly to the top of the drag when...Combes re-opened. So around we turned and returned to Combes.
From Combes we took a trip down the Hidden Valley (cut-up, but excellent snow) and then down to the bottom of Linga. Only to find nothing running again - and the word "EDF" being used a lot. A look over to Chatel identified that nothing was running there either. So we bussed back to Pre La Joux, took the lift up and headed over to the off-piste near Chaux des Roses...
...to the hanging powder bowl - with the cliff-gap exit. I've often looked over to this bowl with part amusement and part sympathy for the poor sods who've come off the Chaux des Roses chair, ducked right under the rope and done a "let's follow those tracks". The shortish powder bowl (not even nice snow today) leads to a line of cliffs with a small (1.5m) gap in the middle of which is a small ledge that needs to be negotiated and a rope to help you down. You often see those poor sods hunting around, trying to find the non-comedy exit.
Below the gap is a 25-30 (ish) degree slope that funnels down between some rocks and then opens out again onto a nice open slope.
In short, it's not somewhere you particularly want to fall - largely because there are so many rocks around and you could fall quite a way. And you can be seen from the piste below.
I'm told by zzz that the gap and funnel bit can be straight-lined if the snow is good. There is no way that I am, or will ever be, that brave.
So that means getting through the 1.5m gap sideways, whilst holding onto the rope. Which would be fine if you're on 150 skis. But I was on 183s today. The ledge itself was ok. Icy, but ok.
The narrow funnelling slope was somewhat less fun as it was icy, smooth and concave. It would have been fine on shorter skis - but on my 183s I had to side-slip on my tips and tails.
The "nice" open slope below was, in fact, refrozen bobbly concrete. For the first time in quite a while I managed to completely freeze on a turn. Stupid really as the hard job had been done by then.
MrsPhillipStanton and another member of the group did the sensible thing. They hiked out.
Photos and maybe even video to follow if I can get them...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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PhillipStanton, looking forward to the video  . I have to say that I've only straight lined it when the snow has been great and I've been the first one in.
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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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General synopsis of the snow. Most of the off piste, certainly when exposed to the sun, is now pretty tough going but hey, its nearly April. The snow on piste is generally back to freeze and thaw but now with a great base. There is still wintery snow to be skied high up and in the shade. It looks like a great end to the season.
PhillipStanton, that's a longish hike, glad we took your advice and didn't take MrsPhillipStanton there the other day. Mrs zzz has had a similar experience there as well. Enjoy the rest of the course. keep us all posted.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| zzz wrote: |
| PhillipStanton, looking forward to the video . I have to say that I've only straight lined it when the snow has been great and I've been the first one in. |
...unfortunately the pictures and video haven't worked out for now - bloody cables.
[rant]
Why is it that the EU doesn't do something useful like standardise camera, mobile phone and computer cables...
[/rant]
Completely agree with you zzz that the off-piste varies wildly between great and argggggh! The on-piste today was as good as anyone could wish for - although heavy traffic areas of central Avoriaz were wearing thin (but then, when weren't they).
On the chair we were talking about how the snow compared to this time last year - and the consensus was "pretty good".
skihog was over in Val d'Isere last week and reckons the snow here is as good - though not as good as Tignes.
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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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Oh, no posts from me for a few days as we're ski touring as part of the course.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A couple of very interesting days.
Yesterday started with a skin up the side of Mont Chery in Les Gets a bit of a ski around Mont Chery itself; a bit of off-piste on the south-facing slope (in lovely sping snow) before heading over to the Les Gets bowl and then Chamossiere. Unfortunately, the weather closed in stopped us enjoying any off-piste (the snow was heavy and going to be hard work even if you could see it)...but did force us into Chez Nannon
From there we headed over to the Refuge Abricotine - which is at the bottom of the Mossettes lift on the French side. Not far from home - but a great adventure never the less. We had the place to ourselves and, as the evening wore on, the party games came out
Today we headed up the Mossettes, dropped into Les Crozets a couple of times to warm up, then dropped into the Val de Morgins via a north-facing powder bowl from the Croix de l'Hiver. A beautiful slope - we just that hint of dodgy entrance! We then headed by piste over to Torgons to do the "Torgons Wall".
Somedays I can ski rather quite well. Other days I ski passably. Other days I ski badly. And then there was what I did on the Torgons Wall.  If I managed to link more than 4 turns together then I'd be very surprised. Although, saying that, the general consensus of our group is that it's harder than the Swiss Wall - primarily because it has a sustained pitch; it's narrow; it serpentines down the slope with all sorts of adverse cambers going on (so it's very hard to ski the fallline); the bumps are really, really crazy shapes - and it's got a tree right in the middle of the run, halfway down 
And so, it was a Torgons conclusion
The snow?
The on-piste around Avoriaz and Les Crozets is great. The south-facing slopes in Morgins are a mess (someone coined the phrase "to leave no turn unstoned") - as are some patches of Chatel - although the main slopes in Chatel are good. Torgons was good when we got there.
The off-piste has deteriorated very, very quickly and is only really enjoyable on directly north- or south-facing slopes. The rest is re-frozen concrete at the moment.
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PhillipStanton, would that be the "Couloir of the big rock"?
The Torgon Wall is brilliant isn't it? I can't believe they actually want to call it a piste (they do don't they?). It's outrageous. We had a hoot on it last year when we followed a very lairy party of Brits (I will be no more specific than that) who were mouthing off about the easy black runs in the area, their general skiing derring-do, etc., ad naus., and how quickly they'd get to Torgon down the "black".
Yeah, right.
The last I saw they were taking their skis off and walking back up. We roundly advised them not to, but...
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| David Murdoch wrote: |
PhillipStanton, would that be the "Couloir of the big rock"?
The Torgon Wall is brilliant isn't it? I can't believe they actually want to call it a piste (they do don't they?)... |
"Couloir of the big rock" - that'll be the one. Probably. We're doing some of the other ones tomorrow.
I really must take a camera out one of these days...
The Torgon Wall is officially an itinerary. Even the entry was nasty today - narrow, well-trodden and with a hint of ice. My word I was rubbish down it. 
They have a "beware of the guard dog" sign just after the gap in the fence (ok, so it's probably something more skiing related).
One of our group got to the top and decided better of 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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PhillipStanton, It's a terrific little couloir, the one of the rock. And if it is the same one, everyone enjoying a beer in the little restaurantette at the bottom has a perfect view of how well you ski it.
Unlike the Torgon wall where the restauraant clients have a nice view of your face as you look over.
I think the beware of the dog sign translates as,
"Are you really sure you're good enough for this as if you're not you'll probably hurt yourselves really badly and we, the poor ski patrol, will have to break off from our poker game to take you to hospital. We won't be very pleased..."
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Today's report is brought to you by special guest MrsPhillipStanton - PhillipStanton not having gone out today...
...over to you MrsPhillipStanton...
... and didn't he miss a good'un. We started out in Champéry, being the second night away of our tour, and were pleasantly surprised to find some nice fluffy snow up top which made our warm up all very cruisy. When suitably warm we traversed over from the top of the Ripaille drag, then skins on and coats off, and skinned up to the Point de Ripaille. Now skinning up Mont Cheri the other day struck me as a bit pointless as there is a chairlift to the top, but this was something else. My classic comment at the top was "so do we go down from here" was well received, and the ski down through the trees (or wrapped round one in the case of one of my colleagues) and through the new fluffy snow was very special.
After a pit stop we set out in quite heavy snowfall and seemed to have the whole of Les Crosets area to ourselves. Lovely snow conditions so where was everyone? Off piste areas a little unpredicable as lumps and bumps with inviting layer of fresh snow on top.
Then, after inspection from the chair we went down the Swiss Wall in both snow and sunshine. This was about 1pm by then and it was in great shape, nice soft bumps with first sign of slush only at the bottom.
The ski day concluded with the Valley de la Manche and a late lunch. Not a patch on the freshies of Sunday but still pretty good except for towards the bottom where someone has been down there mixing glue in with the snow! The path out of there is getting very patchy and I discovered exactly how slippery mud isn't, but didn't give the tarmac the same test.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sounds like a far cry from January when I was in Champéry. You lucky  s
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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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MrGeeTee is visiting us for the weekend and we thought it would be good to do a bit of a tour - so headed up to Plaine Dranse; across to Linga and back; back over to Linderats; over to the Fornet bowl and back. All quite quickly.
Pistes are generally very good; although the off-piste is generally horrible unless the sun's been on it.
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Hi - does anyone know when the ski season ends? Was hoping to get a weekend trip to Morzine either easter weekend or 20th April...
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You know it makes sense.
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wonderwoman - snowandtrek will have the exact dates, but Morzine closes after Easter, but Avoriaz will be open until around 1 May.
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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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Heres a little gem I did the other day and thought it would be nice to share it. It may a good one to do to avoid any crowds over easter.
From the crappahut go up to the col de coux. Allow 1.5 hours. Then a right up to a minor summit marked as La Berte 1992m. From here lovely powder fields lead down north easterly. From here you can drop down into the grand paradis ( as we did) or skin up to la lapisa and into the lift system. Theres a little bit of walking on the grand paradis, but its generally skiable ( sat) to the chair lift ( closed) don't worry though the navette is still running to Champery. Its a fullish day trip, and alow time for snacks and piccys. We set out at 10 from the crappahut and got back to Morzine at a little after 4. Skiing is not difficult, but very pretty. People had been up to the col de coux, but the other side was untracked. Being north easterly the snow should stay in nick for a little while yet too. Enjoy!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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crasher, indeed that is a nice route, did you have to walk much from Marks place up towards the col de coup or is there snow for most of the route?
PhillipStanton, always a pleasure.
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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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wonderwoman, Morzine/Les Gets shuts 21st/22nd April and Avoriaz the 29th April. Give us a call we may have some deals on weekends available.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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toiletduckuk, Can't agree more it was tooooooo busy up there.....hope it will be better today (Monday)!
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toiletduckuk and snowandtrek - I was being ironic with my two posts above - we've hardly hit a queue in two days - except from the almost invevitable queue for the Intrets lift.
We must be doing something right in our navigation. Hauts Forts was far from busy - even on Sunday.
Off for a daytrip to Flaine today - I'm sure we'll find crowds there as we haven't got a clue where we're going
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PhillipStanton, We'll (Naked and Myself) will be over Morzine tommorrow, is it busy? Is it worth it? What's forcast?
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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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PhillipStanton can probably advise on where to dodge the armies - but since Easter started it's been hellish here for punters, and pretty hot every day - though it's currently raining...
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toiletduckuk, If you were me(GOD HELP YOU!) would you make the effort to come over? We're armed with GS skis and Visiors and intend to bag 15 kids each!
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FAQ
