After another clear night and plummeting temps (the suns effect still mean that during the day the temps feel like they rise sharply but plummet when that sun disappears or any wind appears!) it was chilly heading out first thing. With both Clare and I heading off to work and kids to school it was the usual hectic start to the day!
Anyway I headed into town and I was surprised as it felt quite busy in the meeting area which was a nice surprise!
So for the next 4 mornings I have a nice guy from north London who is new to the sport having done a few days a few years back but apart from that very new to the sport. He was very keen to get back in his comfort zone so we started on the magic carpets up Solaise and initially even holding a braking snowplough was not that easy for him. But little by little and using a couple of tricks of the trade I basically bypassed the snowplough turning phase of learning for the most part and went straight to forced parallel turns and will now work backwards to get him learning the necessary skills! Anyway after a few laps of the carpet it was time for an ascent up the Madelaine - it was never going to be the prettiest but it was now or never!
It was OK that first decent but over the next 3 descents it got better and better and I'm hoping this afternoon he followed my suggestions as to how much to do and what not to do etc. I have another 3 sessions with him so tomorrow it'll be a lap of the green triangle if all goes according to plan.
I took lunch under the Sun Bar before gearing myself up for my second session with my seasonnaires. The afternoon session was a really nice mix of working on moguls as well as some time spent on carving.... now our program is only 5 sessions not 6 it means I have to combine moguls and carving all into one session which is MUCH mess than ideal but hey ho.
By the end of the session it was certainly getting much colder so we were looking for the sunny spots where we could!
When I finished I headed home for a quick cuppa before picking Olivia off the school bus and doing homework with her and then playing a couple of games of Uno before Ben and Clare got back from Bens swimming lesson and we all settled down to dinner before getting the kids into bed.
Tomorrow should be another busy day as Olivia has club in the morning whilst Clare chills with Ben at home.... I am out working with the aforementioned guy in the morning and then in the afternoon with Olivia back at club I am taking Ben for a quick ski and then ill need to change out my ski stuff then head into town to meet Olivia from her day on club and also my friends (whom I head a beer with last night and my old house masters wife and kids) come around for a cuppa and some cake... yes it'll be another busy days!
Things have just got a little more complicated during the time I have been writing todays blog as Olivia has been sick in her bed so that has taken a while to sort but now she is settled in my bed with Clare and I am on the sofa for the night - so if she is not on form in the morning then we might have to re-arrange all those plans - doh!
In other news I thought one of the photos below from Radio Val today was a good example of community spirit in these parts!!!
Otherwise I must dash as I am now way behind schedule this evening after the event with Olivia of the last hour or so!
TTFN
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Steve Angus, tested positive so not going skiing to Austria today , my holiday provider Crystal has amended my booking at no cost and now booked for Val d’Isère for 5th of February 2022 . . can’t wait fit it .
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?
vipul wrote:
@Steve Angus, tested positive so not going skiing to Austria today , my holiday provider Crystal has amended my booking at no cost and now booked for Val d’Isère for 5th of February 2022 . . can’t wait fit it .
Every cloud and all that eh........ Get well soon!
Since I posted last night a LOT has happened.... however before I talk about my 24 hours I just want to add my voice to the cries of delight regarding Dave Ryding winning Great Britains first ever World Cup Ski race.... I dont think (for those of you not into ski racing) it can be understated what an incredible achievement this is. A lonely voice on many an occasion as I tried to educate people to the amazing talents we have within ski racing in GB but boy was that shown today. It has been coming a long time and has shown that GB really CAN produce some amazing racers and today was that day. Lying in 6th place after run one (which was decent in itself) Dave totally got the feeling of the snow and used awesome tactics to carry his speed and not allow himself to scrub any speed off.... quite incredible! He knew it as soon as he crossed the line and with the other racers after him making mistakes from which there was no way back from it was an incredible moment! Jae / Alain and his whole team well done and of course Dave your status in British ski racing history is guaranteed! Well done.
Usually I am able to watch the racing OR at the very least record it... but I forgot to record it and was out (see below) when the racing was on. The word spread around the community very quickly with about a million WhatsApp and facebook / instagram etc channels going off the scale - my phone was red hot! It got worse though as the highlights program on Eurosport I thought I had put on to record too but again I pressed the wrong button (doh!). Anyway I have caught up I think on social media.
So I am really tired this evening as I ended up sleeping on the sofa last night and didnt get a lot of sleep. Clare had to come in to the sitting room a couple of times as Olivia was sick another 3 times poor thing - luckily in our bed she had the bucket and got it in it!
Anyway this morning it was a no brainer to allow Olivia to have the morning off club and Ben was having a lazy morning too! Meanwhile I went into town as I was teaching the same guy as yesterday and we headed up Bellevarde and did a lap of the green triangle. The path at the top of Borsat which avoids the steep pitch seems to have changed a little though - much wider but flatter (well until the corner when it gets much narrower and steeper than ever before - I dont know what they have done but it has gotten worse that work around than ever before - annoying / weird!)....
Anyway he made real good progress and he even had a go down the blue Club des Sports piste... all in all a really successful morning - tomorrow I am going to utilise the blue options up Solaise I think again with him!
I headed home at lunchtime (once again it was lovely and sunny out there) and refuelled before taking Ben skiing... we had arranged to meet up with a couple of his besties and various mums and dads etc at the top of the Funi and we had a really fun couple of hours blasting around the Grand Pre before one family peeled off and then we skied back to La Daille together... although his little legs got tired and I had to carry him a short way!
A couple of hours was perfect timing before I headed home to have a cuppa and change so could get into town and see Olivia who had been OK to go to club this pm. I was stoked to hear that the whole of Club had shuffled into the clubhouse under the Sun Bar to watch the 2nd run of the slalom live and Olivia was really happy for Dave but also for me and eager to tell me that Dave had won - awesome! Not such great news for Clement Noel though! Anyway Olivia was knackered beyond belief and ended up falling asleep on the bus home. We were taking the bus down to La Daille with the friends of mine that I had met up for a drink with the other night and they all came to ours for a cuppa and some cake!
After a couple of hours they headed home so we could get the kids into bed - thank goodness as they were starting to fall asleep on the sofa!
So there we are.
I am shattered so looking forward to an early night and then its another morning on the mountain tomorrow! The weather is going to be same as, same as! Sunny!
I am hearing very very vague rumours of some sort of horrendous accident down here in La Daille this evening and earlier on saw 2 police cars and an ambulance all with their lights flashing away heading into town so not sure what that is all about - will report more as and when I hear anymore!
TTFN
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Firstly thanks for the session at the start of the week. We definitely upped the output and the stats proved it at the end of the day.
We did notice lots of blue flashing lights this evening at the La Daille gondola around 1930 and that all the piste bashers had also returned and re-grouped which was very unusual and worrying.
muppet - my pleasure - glad you enjoyed! Good work!
Horrendous
So yes following on from what is written above I have heard more details about what happened last night.... its not for the faint hearted so skip this paragraph by all means! Anyway it would appear that last night circa 1815 when the last of the Folie staff were leaving they get to ski down to La Daille. They are told (its common knowledge in the ski industry that any runs over about a solid red run steepness have winch points on them where the piste bashers need to attach themselves to the mountain to hoist themselves up / down as they piste the slopes) that they should only ski down green runs to get down to La Daille where they will therefore not come into contact with a basher! Alas for whatever reason one of them decided to ski down another route and a combination of a piste basher (it would be lit up like a house on fire!) and the hidden (you can't see it generally strewn top to bottom of a slope under tension) winch cable ended up in an awful incident whereby the worker concerned perished! So the gendarmes etc were on site and it was rather messy! the guy was announced dead at the scene... an investigation has been launched! I have it on good authority that the guys head / neck and the cable were involved in the grizzle death as you would have to really not see a flashing piste basher to crash into it! So sad!!!!!!!!
And I have also heard in another unconnected incident that a seasonnaire worker at the Yule hotel took his own life last night..... 2 awful incidents!
ANYWAY onto nicer things to talk about!
So it was a rather relaxed start to the day and I certainly slept better last night thankfully but Olivia needed to get to Club and I needed to get to work. So after breakfast it was the normal Sunday gear up and I took Olivia to club and then met my guy... he is progressing very quickly and he is so eager to keep improving its brilliant to see. So I spent the morning working on blue runs for the most part - we tried all the options up Solaise including some of the harder options. However it certainly is going to be a busier week this week than the last couple... this is in part due to the 700 odd Danish students here. Not only them but everyone is very keen first thing on a Sunday morning (the first day of many peoples holidays!) to get going so at one point there was even a short queue for the Glacier lift - I was somewhat surprised! The Danish students meanwhile tend to group into VERY large numbers and ALL ski at the same time - slope management with these HUGE groups all skiing at exactly the same moment in time in a very direct line down the slopes is somewhat tricky! I reckon there was about 100 of them with about 3 of their leaders at one moment in time - Crazy!
Anyway my guy did really well and I ended up skiing him all the way to Fornet where he was having lunch at Atelier d'Edmond!
I jumped on the bus home and checked the post boxes briefly coming home before getting back to a yummy Chevallot lunch Clare had bought!
What ensued after that was a lazy afternoon playing with the kids, watching the Kitzbuhel downhill and generally chilling out before getting the kids bathed and ready for another week at school! And here I am once again!
I NEVER get tired of views like this! Looking down from the top of the Fornet cable car towards Val
Ben meanwhile this morning had a really fun morning as Clare took him up to Val Kids play area at the top of the Solaise and he enjoyed the sledging up there and playing in the play area... what a fun morning he had!
So tomorrow I am planning on taking my guy all the way over to Tignes as that will make him really happy!
Otherwise I think that is all for now. Another long week begins!
TTFN
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
God, how ghastly.
After all it is free
After all it is free
How terrible. Thoughts with the skier's family and also with the driver of the piste basher. That explains why muppet saw the piste bashers returned and re-grouped.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I've just booked to go out in Mid-March (fingers crossed etc etc). My wife had her best skiing ever in the years of 2018 and 2019 when she hired Head SuperJoy skis. I'm now trying to find a hire-shop in VDi that has these skis on its rosta... but am having no luck. Anyone with local knowledge able to give me a pointer to which shop (and level demarcation) I should be hiring from. I'm sure I'll need to talk to the shop on Day1 to swop out whatever stock they initially allocate over to the Heads, but it'd be a major step forward to at least know which place to start with.
Thanks in advance
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@jamescollings, I think Intersport rent Head SuperJoys I’ve seen quite a few pairs about, including my own. I’ll keep an eye out when on lifts and I’m also taking a relative to Snowberry this evening so will check with them.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
thelem wrote:
How terrible. Thoughts with the skier's family and also with the driver of the piste basher. That explains why muppet saw the piste bashers returned and re-grouped.
As an aside, I am astonished that staff are allowed to ski down after work in the dark. I also wonder if the staff have an end of shift drink, as in many UK establishments. Surely their employer has a duty of care for them until they leave the resort? I would be furious/litigious if a child of mine was hurt (or worse) in such circumstances.
What a disaster for the skier and family, 22 years old
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.
According to Radio Tignes (English Language, but not French) 4 staff skied down in total and the young man who perished took a different route to the others. It also said they were supposed to to take the last bubble provided for them at 18:00. Went on to say there is a growing problem of skiers and others using the pistes when they are officially closed and being groomed.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Ski lots wrote:
According to Radio Tignes (English Language, but not French) 4 staff skied down in total and the young man who perished took a different route to the others. It also said they were supposed to to take the last bubble provided for them at 18:00. Went on to say there is a growing problem of skiers and others using the pistes when they are officially closed and being groomed.
The French have a very different (IMV worse) health and safety culture. Managers seem very unwilling to actually enforce it. Similarly, employees will not call each other out in the way that is encouraged elsewhere. Much of this is related to hierarchies of one kind or another.
I've seen some horror shows in my time. I suppose (guarantee!) the responsible manager will simply say "not my fault, they signed the safety paperwork".
Edit: I'm not saying that a manager needs to put adult employees on the bubble every evening, simply that they need to know that they are sometimes watched, and that there are consequences for breaking safety rules. There is absolutely no understanding in France that these could/should include termination. There is also no understanding that managing people requires an interest in them, and a duty of care. Makes me bloody furious.
Hurtle / thelem - indeed awful
jamescollings - sorry can't help... sounds like muppet is on the case for you though!
JamesHJ - duty of care and things like that are very different over hear. Everything is very much - 'your on your own' and as I say the idea of health and safety is 'if you are alive you are safe, if you are dead - well it doesn't matter anymore' - that is the way it works... hence things like legislation for speed on the slopes or whatever it might be will never be introduced! Also the idea of terminating a contract or whatever - this is France where the employee rules - hence there is little no customer care!
Ski lots - they need to get the last lift down ONLY if they dont want to ski down! Yes more and more people go ski touring and get back late in the evening so yes that is a growing problem yes. Lots of people ski down after the folie kicking out time etc to. It is a growing trend thats for sure!
Kenzie - thanks so much for that - great to always have that to see! Again WHAT an incredible moment in British ski racing - I think back to my childhood and millions of episodes of Ski Sunday and not a whiff of a podium let along a win!
Success
Usually on a Monday morning both Olivia and Ben need some nudging to get up but this morning was different they were both awake and arguing before we woke up - wow what a start to a Monday morning! Doh! Anyway we managed to get the kids sorted and on the bus - phew! I needed to get my tools out and sorted as needed to pop to our rental place to sort a little issue out after skiing!
Anyway I headed into town and met up with my guy for the last of his lessons with me. We got ahead of the game and headed over to Tignes via the Borsat route. We found some really nice snow for the most part although the Fresse piste at the top had been really badly pisted which made it somewhat tricky to ski it! Ho hum! Anyway getting to Tignes whilst it was nice and quiet was nice and getting around the far side was a real treat for him - he loved it and felt he really was skiing now!
I found an iPhone 12 on the slopes near the bottom of the Palafour so handed that in - hope the owner retrieves it from the liftie at the bottom of the Palafour! Anyway we headed back to Val with lots of satisfied smiles on our face. I was a little annoyed though that the lifties had forgotten to put up the ski school line on the Marmottes lift so it was a crazy free for all! The queues were bigger than they had been that is for sure.
I took lunch out the sun (yes the sun is pretty intense even though it is January!) under the Sun Bar before heading to meet the new female tenant in our flat who along with her friend and between them have booked a few sessions this week with me. Being a young seasonnaire (1 who hasn't skied for a few years and grown physically a lot in that time and coupled with the seasonnaire attitude of 'straight line it then whack the brakes on' she needed to learn to steer the skis. It was a little bit of an issue in that she didnt have a lift pass which meant we instead opted to lap the Village. Little by little progress was made but more work to be done tomorrow but boy it was tiring lapping the Village over and over again - no rest - haha!
As soon as we finished I popped back to their flat as there was some plumbing to fix which is causing problems so I hope I have managed to sort that out - pretty please! No sooner as that was done but I collected Olivia from her gymnastics class and then it was home to the usual bath and bed time routine!
Tomorrow will be similar although I now have a run of an off piste booking to start with.
TTFN
An alternative view at dusk from outside the school as I waited for Olivia to finish gymnastics!
P.S. an update on the accident the other day.... even more gruesome (I think).... at the junction before the FINAL pitch down into La Daille on the OK piste where you can peel off right to the funi is where it happened. It looks like the guy saw the basher starting to go down the piste but not realise the winch was operational behind it.... he struck the winch and was knocked over (they thin)... anyway the piste basher at this moment in time unwittingly started reversing up the hill using the winch and crushed / mown down as it came back up the hill... it was only when the driver was moving forward once again and noticed the snow etc that he realised some thing was very badly wrong... so basically the poor guy might not have died from the initial contact wit the winch cable but more likely from being crushed / churned up by the basher!!! The pisteurs had a horrific time collecting the body parts the next morning!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
^ crikey that's horrific what an awful way to go. He was from Nantes, my husband's hometown.
Thoughts are with his family and friends. The poor piste basher driver must be traumatised too.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Steve Angus,
Obviously you're very young if you didn't watch the Men's WC Downhill in Val Gardena in 1981 when Bartelski was less than 0.2sec from winning the race.
I skied with Bartelski once in the 1980s but I doubt I'll be skiing with Dave Ryding.
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?
I didn't realise that Franz Klammer was 7th in that race.
Nor did I realise Konrad had been involved with the Back Up Trust. I was a volunteer with that charity for a year.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:
P.S. an update on the accident the other day.... even more gruesome (I think).... at the junction before the FINAL pitch down into La Daille on the OK piste where you can peel off right to the funi is where it happened. It looks like the guy saw the basher starting to go down the piste but not realise the winch was operational behind it.... he struck the winch and was knocked over (they thin)... anyway the piste basher at this moment in time unwittingly started reversing up the hill using the winch and crushed / mown down as it came back up the hill... it was only when the driver was moving forward once again and noticed the snow etc that he realised some thing was very badly wrong... so basically the poor guy might not have died from the initial contact wit the winch cable but more likely from being crushed / churned up by the basher!!! The pisteurs had a horrific time collecting the body parts the next morning!
This is probably one of the worst incidents I've read about on this forum for a good while - how awful, tragic and heart-breaking for everyone involved. Just as a side note ... and is a matter of awareness etc ... is the winch rope coiled back on the basher after use? And, more importantly, where are the ground / piste anchor points situated? I'm sure this is topic that the vast majority of mountain users are not familiar with at ll.
Anchor points are often an "A" frame structure set back into the edge of the tree line or rock face at the top of steeper pitches. A length of chain or wire hawser/cable is usually left permanently attached to the anchor post.
edit. At around 2mins. 25secs you can see just how far the piste basher can be from the fixed anchor point with a lot of cable spooled out.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 26-01-22 10:48; edited 1 time in total
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
HoneyBunny - indeed! Horrible!
welshflyer - I was born in 1977 so of course know about it but dont have first hand recollection. Folklore!
Kenzie - great clip - thanks. Ski racing has come a LONG way since those days!
franga - yea I think the video covers most of the points you make. The anchor points are quite inconspicuous generally but some are more obvious than others. A few places you will see them. As you ski down the Face and you get to the wall there are about 3 anchor points on chains there. As you ski down Madelaine on the right hand side after the very first pitch there is a point there for the piste bashers to do the steep part of the top of the Arcelle. There are more under the Manchet Express as you come up if you look carefully too. There are plenty of others about! The anchor points themselves generally dont both anyone and tucked out the way - but when a cable is flowing from it they can be lethal!
GeorgeVII - thanks - shows plenty of the detail of winch cat system!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Success
It was the usual start to the day but not a usual end to it.
This morning I had a regular to the ski school whom I had yet to teach so whilst I recognised him it was nice to actually ski with him. The order of the morning was for off piste and we warmed up with one of my favourite warm up pitches down from the top of Glacier Express through the glades back to the same lift.... as predicted a couple of my hidden spots still produced untouched powder - OK old and stuffer pow but pow non the less... a good start to the day! This was followed by a trip into the Cugnai .... I decided that chalk and more chalk was the order of the day! The descent was good and it was great top to bottom and better than expected... there was even some pow about in a couple of places! We finished with a bus stop and some piste technique - a successful morning all in all! Yay!
As usual lunch under the Sun Bar and then I had the same girl as yesterday afternoon. The aim today was to get her up Solaise and ultimately onto the Madelaine! After a fair few laps of the magic carpet it was time to take the plunge... I was a little apprehensive based on how I knew her ability to cope might pan out but full marks to her - she coped admirably and did a grand job.... good on you girl. We ended up doing 3 laps in the end.
The problems of the bottom of the magic carpet became apparent in the afternoon again. For those not aware (this is typical of the problems these days) people come down skiers left of the magic carpet at mach 3 and hook right in order to make good speed across to the Madelaine - rather than just taking a chill pill and slowing down numb nuts! Anyway someone was coming from the other direction back from Madelaine and there was a collision so once again there was someone airlifted off the hill! Makes my blood boil the rush, rush, dont care about anyone other than myself attitude found on the mountain!
As soon as I had finished up the mountain I had to dash home... Clare was off out doing a massage for a couple of hours and then we were meeting with parents of a friend of ours in town for an evening meal... so it was all down to me to sort kids out and get them into bed etc before the babysitter arrived - eeeek!
So yes we have just come back home after a really lovely meal out in town.... stuffed now!
OK im tired so off to bed now.
TTFN
Some nice (it was nice) old pow down from the bus stop... pretty tracked admittedly yes but also nice
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Anchor points are often an "A" frame structure set back into the edge of the tree line or rock face at the top of steeper pitches. A length of chain or wire hawser/cable is usually left permanently to the anchor post.
edit. At around 2mins. 25secs you can see just how far the piste basher can be from the fixed anchor point with a lot of cable spooled out.
Thanks for taking the time to post this, much appreciated.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Steve Angus wrote:
we warmed up with one of my favourite warm up pitches down from the top of Glacier Express through the glades back to the same lift....
I don't understand what you mean by this. Aren't the only options the three pistes that run under the lift and the one that runs past the bottom of Cugnai? Do you mean coming off the piste somewhere near the bottom of Cugnai?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
thelem wrote:
Steve Angus wrote:
we warmed up with one of my favourite warm up pitches down from the top of Glacier Express through the glades back to the same lift....
I don't understand what you mean by this. Aren't the only options the three pistes that run under the lift and the one that runs past the bottom of Cugnai? Do you mean coming off the piste somewhere near the bottom of Cugnai?
Yes a warm up off piste is what I meant yes. Not as far down as Cugnai though.
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.
More success
I was truly shattered this am - just have not stopped for several days... so I think I will need to make it an early night tonight so this will be brief this evening!
It was a lazy start as the kids were not at school being a Wednesday! So I made my way to the meet point after a relatively relaxed start to the day!
I met my guy and today we headed Bellevarde way. I called in a few options that I thought might work and BOY they certainly did. Variations around the Borsat led to fresh powder (tbh with you I was somewhat surprised the quality I found and quantity) turns... yes I know 3 weeks since it last snowed and even without skins on and no more than 5 mins of polling and I was able to get him fresh snow. So that was an awesome start to the day.
It wasnt quite so good under Pisteurs but educational in the lesson context. And with the warm sun shining down I thought id have a go at trying a spring option from the Collet piste back to Fontaine Froide. It would have worked and did to an extent although lower down when we got back in the shade it hadn't turned so spoilt it. Doh! Anyway I can't believe the option for a Spring slope is there in late January - incredible!
We finished the session with some piste work down the Face. Lunch was the usual at the Sun Bar before I met my Wednesday seasonnaires group!
The team were raring to go so we headed up to work on some moguls and then (since our program is now 5 sessions rather than 6 I have to condense 2 sessions into 1) carving... they did some amazing work I was most impressed! Trick of the day this week was Ollies and Nollies which they thought was quite fun!
After skiing I had another quick drink with our friends in the Rosee B. It was nice.... it was also nice to see the place busy and popular today after so many quiet weeks for them! Whilst I was in there I bumped into a guy that I had not seen for 20 years since I did my very first season in Val - the season I spent in my car (that is a whole other story for another time!).
And that was that for another day albeit the job of getting the house and kids sorted for the evening!
Anyway must dash as really need an early night - more of the same tomorrow.... go, go, go
Ready to roll (I take a touring set up with me on off piste days just in case a ski is lost / someone falls etc etc etc and I need to get back up to them!) for the day
Ready to drop
Fresh turns await those who know how and where to find them
Some nutters climbing UP so they can ski back down the colouir that isnt really one between moniteurs and pisteurs!. Are they mad! I counted they got they got in 10 turns for their efforts!
TTFN
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
^ is that the place where some guy fell off the cliff to the right and died the other year? (sorry to ask, bit grim)
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Yup it is.... Couloir next to grand pré lift (moniteurs !). He was wheelchair bound actually after if my memory serves me correct.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Steve Angus wrote:
Ready to roll (I take a touring set up with me on off piste days just in case a ski is lost / someone falls etc etc etc and I need to get back up to them!) for the day
Indeed, should be standard. My off-piste set up is touring anyway, and always keep skins in my pack instead of taking them out if I "think" I won't need them for a negligable weight saving. You never know what might happen, mountain is boss, and also like to know that when I pick up my pack in the morning it always has all the kit in it and not have to faff around.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
A change of scenery and focus
Why do kids that are obviously so tired still insist on getting up so early in the morning! Arghhhhh! Anyway it wasnt too stressful a start this morning as Clare was not due to start until 1000 so getting the kids out the door was relatively easy but it'll be great for the kids to get a little break from school over the holidays (although not sure how much rest they will have as there will be a LOT of skiing going on!).
Anyway I headed into town to meet for my lesson and rather than another morning of off piste we decided to work on moguls. So moguls it was. It was the usual mix of ridge lines, drills and taking in manageable bumps in the Tommeuse area so it was a tiring but successful morning! Everyone under the sun instructor wise seemed to be in the bumps teaching this morning so it was nice seeing everyone.
One thing I did notice was that it seemed a lot busier this morning - there was a queue for the Olympic lift even before it opened this morning and at times there was a threat of a queue even at the Tommeuse! Blimey and we are not even at the end of January yet! Talking of conditions the pistes are still in reasonable condition but getting very scrapped in plenty of places.... one thing is for sure they are not soft in many places. In fact the usual mix of hits and whacks are the usual injuries being reported... this snow also encourages some rather faster speeds of descent. I noted today (its only been about 5 years since I thought this should have been done) that they have extended the netting out at the bottom of the double magic carpets at the top of the Solaise.... the issue is many people come down from the top of the Solaise gondola (on the gondola 'side') and take speed to hook around the corner to the Madelaine lift. In doing so there are sometimes people coming from the other direction and it has lead to plenty of close calls of a head on collision on a few occasions that I have seen over the years! The other day there had actually been a collision there and the chopper came in! So it was great that the netting had been extended... goes a little way to combat the rush, rush and hustle, hustle, testosterone filled skiing out there that goes on... the macho attitude of so many skiers and boarders... forces people to change tact! The pistes are being well looked after so lets hope it continues that way.
Meanwhile the off piste is still gagging for fresh snow!
Where there is little natural snowfall there is always the back up of artificial snow.... luckily Val and Tignes have PLENTY of access to that... in fact it turns out they have now used 550 million cubic litres of water in the production of snow so far.... unfortunately it also means they they have just about used up all the available water in the reservoirs. It has been vital for the last month or so but if we dont get any fresh snowfall soon and with almost all the water used it it will mean we will be in trouble in a few weeks time... and come March - well it'll become a massive issue! So fingers crossed fresh snow comes soon!
Visitor numbers have also been released today and last week was 25% down on the comparable week in the 19/20 season which I thought was quite incredible. Further still the whole season so far has been 21% down.... so based on that I hope we can get back to within 10% by the season end but we will need to go some to re-coup that much!
Anyway lunch was the normal under the Sun Bar before I headed off with a nice couple from the home counties! We had to have a little tweak to our planning as one half had to head off for physio half way through the lesson but we worked hard to make some good changes to their skiing. I pulled out a couple of drills I haven't used for while and we also headed to the Val glacier where I haven't been to for a while. It was lovely up there as usual!
It was just as well we didnt head in the Bellevarde direction as there was some issues with the Olympic much of the afternoon and it was stop / start much of the time! Doh!
Anyway thats another day ticked off.... another full day tomorrow before a pretty quiet weekend on the whole and then another full week coming up next week!
TTFN
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Re Visitor numbers - from March onwards I assume the comparison will be with season 18/19?
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?
Kenzie wrote:
Re Visitor numbers - from March onwards I assume the comparison will be with season 18/19?
I would hope and assume so yes? Talk about cooking the books if they compared it to 19/20 or even 20/21 attendance figures - wool / eyes / pulling would spring to mind if they did that!!!!
Theres one thing for ground hog day and that is routine so that was the order of the day this am getting the kids out the door (nb to ourselves we really need to get Olivia in particular into bed earlier for a few nights as she is so tired and grumpy at present!) Doh!
Anyway I headed to the meeting point and immediately noticed that it was a tad colder than it has been of recent. The plan of action for this morning was to do carving so we headed up Solaise and I played the 'traffic' by lapping the glacier lift a few times (the first handful of people on the lift in the morning ride it but then head straight to the Fornet on the up and over!) utilising the amazing corduroy (as the yanks would say). It was perfect for getting on the case with carving thats for sure. Great work over the course of a few laps!
We then dived on the up and over knowing full well that the Cascade red would be quiet enough and wide enough still to continue working on the carving and we could also use the runs on the way there to get so more drills in place!
The main issue up there was that it was jolly breezy - in fact almost windy and you could defiantly sense that another layer would not go amiss!
By lunchtime we headed back to Fornet and bussed back into town.
Today I treated myself to lunch at Sun Bar (that Friday treat) and it also gave me an opportunity to warm up as I was a tad cold!
The afternoon I took a young 18 year old girl out for a polish up on her technique... a classic 'teen' skier / chalet girl/boy skier.... i.e. bolt upright, swing the arm about and do Z shaped turns.... so we spent much of the session working on blue and red runs trying to alter that... in fact we did some laps in the state and BOY was the snow lovely and chalk like in there - truly awesome snow! Bellevarde side was much calmer wind wise which was nice and with the sun shining it was jolly pleasant up there. We finished the afternoon off with touching on carving! A successful afternoon all in all!
I headed home and Clare was already in town to collect Ben from school and take him to his swimming lesson so I got to spend a wee while with Olivia which was nice!
So im not working tomorrow and am hoping that I will be able to take Ben (Olivia will be at Club) over the road to see the La Daille gondola as my friend is running it tomorrow morning and Ben might be a lucky boy and be able to peep through the window to see the lights and buttons and how they work and ask all the questions he can think of about how the lift works! Either way it will be a chilled day tomorrow I hope!
We also have an old work colleague friend of Clares staying tonight for a couple of nights so she should be arriving very shortly so must make this a quick one tonight!
TTFN
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Steve Angus wrote:
Kenzie wrote:
Re Visitor numbers - from March onwards I assume the comparison will be with season 18/19?
I would hope and assume so yes? Talk about cooking the books if they compared it to 19/20 or even 20/21 attendance figures - wool / eyes / pulling would spring to mind if they did that!!!!
19/20 would be comparable for Jan, it didn't lockdown until we had our 3 hour ski holiday in March...
@Steve Angus, Hope Ben wouldn’t deny us entry through the turnstiles tomorrow
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
endoman - yup indeed!
muppet - he was far too interested in the control room to worry about who was getting on the lift I can tell you that!
So much for a relaxed day
So our friend arrived very late last night but that didnt stop the kids being up nice and bright and early this morning to greet her. In all fairness the kids were not up too early thankfully. Anyway we had a brief and rushed family breakfast with the kids having baguette and nutella (their fav) and I had eggs on toast for the first time in a long time. Then it was all systems go to get Olivia ready for club and Clare was off out the door to her lesson.
As soon as they were gone I got Ben ready and we headed over to the La Daille gondola.... and Bens friend came with us. Wow what a treat. We were allowed into the control room and the boys got to see what all the buttons and screens did and how they stop and start the lift. We were only their for perhaps 10 minutes but the boys haven't stopped talking about it all day! Amazing! Thanks L.
After that we headed up the funi and then walked across the snow and down on the Olympic before then heading up the Solaise to the Val Kids area for some sledging and snow fun! The boys had a whale of a time.... although I was somewhat puzzled and perturbed that in the Solaise gondola the ONLY person wearing a mask was me (of course the boys were too little to wear one) but the other 5 French persons in their - not one of them bothered - ffs - staying fit and well is really important in this game in this particular season so please keep your germs with you next time please!
Anyway at lunchtime I headed to collect Olivia from club and get her home. Saturday lunchtime was the usual mix up of tummy fillers before Olivia headed back to club meanwhile Ben went for a play with his friend for a few hours before we reciprocated back at ours!
Meanwhile an old university friend of mine whom I had not seen for 25 years nearly dropped me a bell on Facebook as he is out for a couple of days on a lads trip! Anyway a couple of other of his uni friends are with him whom I also remember from those days too are with him... so anyway we went for a few beers at the Rosee and it was so nice catching up with him after so long. He had not changed AT ALL. So we caught up as if the last 25 odd years had not happened and spent a good couple of hours having a good laugh... what a great time.
I needed to head back by 1715 as Clare needed to get out to do a massage booking that she had and I was in charge in getting kids dinner etc sorted and the kids all ready for bed time - there was just one problem in that Olivia was at a friends house after club had finished so co-ordinating with her friends mum to get her home took some sorting but we got there in the end. Anyway finally about an hour ago with all present and correct back home, feb and watered they were tucked up in bed..... and relax!
So our friend is out for dinner this evening once again with her parents (its their last night) and I am catching up before hitting the sack. Tomorrow I am busy in the morning before I think we are going to have a relaxed family afternoon before its back to school on Monday morning. Since Clare and I are both working in the morning we need to get the kids off to kids club! That will mean that its a busy start to the day tomorrow - eek
In local news there was chaos on the roads and airports today what with fog and 'paperwork' carnage because of covid and on top of that since the resort is looking at being 70% capacity next week the roads were very busy into the valley (and out of actually) this week (today)! Whilst this is not great news on transfer day it does mean that business levels should get very good and this is still before we get to half term... Half term is going to be chockka! I also hear that numbers are going to get to record levels through March and April apparently! We shall see.
TTFN
Boys loving the view from the Olympic lift this am
The olympic flame still stands proudly at the foot of the Face!
The Val Kids area is a great asset atop the Solaise
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Steve Angus, dare I ask about the duct tape?
Interesting to hear about potentially record numbers in March and April, not surprised after last season and many rebooked requests, out of interest is this based on current bookings? I've just returned from Les Arcs and considering a March visit to EK but I'm not so keen on hugely busy slopes and lifts, I've been before during Paris holidays and it got pretty hairy on double M and other pistes back into Val Claret, then again busy pistes are better than the UK!
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.
Minion1980 - the duct tape - the clip has snapped off so the goggles dont stay put and if he puts the googles up they slide off so the tape is to make sure they never leave his head! Yes Val employ a specialist organisation that surveys tour ops / hotels / online lift pass booking trends and everything in-between to work out what they think is going to happen but it is primarily based on current forward bookings etc. In the grand scheme of things the potential records to be broken are marginal so its not as if will be twice as busy as normal for that time of the year - maybe just 5% busier that sort of thing!
Could we finally have weather on its way?
I had a strange nights sleep in that I woke up in the middle of the night with a grumpy stomach but managed to get back to sleep. Luckily when I woke up this am I was feeling great again. Getting the kids sorted in the morning and out the door took some sorting but we got there in the end.... Clare dropped them both up at Village and then started her lesson whilst I was meeting atop the Olympic! When people are coming over from Tignes it takes a little co-ordinating of times and places etc. So anyway I headed up the funival and met atop the Bellevarde. It was the usual chaos of first day on the mountain for so many people which meant the rush to get on the slopes first thing resulted in a very busy start to the day atop the Bellevarde but as the days go buy hopefully people will space out some more. What I did like to see was that there was not really too much in the way of queues for the most part so lets hope that continues!
Anyway my team was a solid bunch of 'newbies' to the EK so we worked in the Bellevarde sector and even took a trip down to La Daille working on a few aspects of their skiing before finishing on the Tommeuse. Despite some tired legs I liked the ways some changes were made and certainly a few things clicked into place - hopefully! Ill have another session with them tomorrow morning but I am also off piste tomorrow pm as the heavy weather may (or may not) move in.... hmmmm time will tell!
So there is this talk of some heavy weather but I think the 'heavy' aspect is mainly confined to wind by the looks of things so lets hope its not too bad! How much snow we get could be interesting to see but I really dont think it is going to be game changing and this month of Jan has been absolutely shocking the amount of snow that has fallen - it will be welcome but sods law if all of Feb is one long blizzard!
In local news a Czech tourist decided to try and drive his car up the road from the Fornet to the Col d'Iseran - WHAT was he thinking? Anyway managed to get all of 100 metres up the road past Fornet before getting stuck - that was an expensive snow plough tow out eh!
Otherwise not much else to report.... another busy week dawns as we get closer and closer to Feb half term!
TTFN
A new week of holidaymakers about to set off from top of Bellevarde!
That'll be expensive!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Minion1980,
Re ski kit - if you can't fix it with duct tape it"s f*cked. (Old seasonnaire truism)
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
, my holiday provider Crystal has amended my booking at no cost and now booked for Val d’Isère for 5th of February 2022 . 
who hasn't skied for a few years and grown physically a lot in that time and coupled with the seasonnaire attitude of 'straight line it then whack the brakes on' she needed to learn to steer the skis. It was a little bit of an issue in that she didnt have a lift pass which meant we instead opted to lap the Village. Little by little progress was made but more work to be done tomorrow but boy it was tiring lapping the Village over and over again - no rest - haha!
