 Poster: A snowHead
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Got back last night from 7 days in Les Gets. It was my first time in the PDS region, and despite the lack of fresh snow, our group really enjoyed the area. I can imagine with lots of snow and all of the links and runs in operation that it would be an amazing place. Now for the snow report:
1/ in the beginning of the week the cover above the Mid Station at Les Gets was very thin but skiable with icy patches. No lift queues in the morning. In the afternoon the maximum wait was around 5 minutes for the Chavannes express. The runs into the town from the mid-station were mixed, lower down the grass was poking through and it was very icy. In the afternoon the runs into town became very congested and very dangerous. I was with 6 mates (a mix of skiers and boarders of varying levels of experience) and each one of us was collected (on each occasion by a skier) making our way back to town.
2/ mid week things were looking grim for Les Gets. The area above the mid station had deteriorated and become very icy. The runs back into town should not have been open. There were a number of people sulking around town with various appendages in plaster casts. After two days in Les Gets we gave up and, despite warnings from our Chalet Staff that the conditions were rubbish, we headed to Avoriaz.
3/ Early in the morning with the sun starting to peak above the mountain tops - Avoriaz was glorious. Most of the French side of the resort was open early in the week and the Swiss side opened up a day later. The run across from the Super Morzine link was operational however there will need to be a bit of work to keep it that way if there is no snow. Above the Lac Intrets / Stade lifts the pistes were in good condition and in the morning there were very few people on the runs. This changed in the afternoon with some pretty hefty lift queues (average wait was about 15 mins). Despite the traffic the snow in that area held up. For beginners the wide Proclou run was pretty much deserted most days, however there was a bit of a wait for the Proclou lift back into town due to the traffic arriving from the Super Morzine link.
4/ The runs down into Les Lindarets (in particular the Prolays) should not have been open with lots of rocks starting to show and very heavy traffic all day. What is it with large groups wanting to stop and stretch out across the piste?
5/ The Le Crot down to Les Prodains was patchy from one day to the next. Some days it was icy, on other days the snow cover was good and soft. In the early part of the top section however the snow was mixed with rocks and loose stones - not nice if you have new equipment.
6/ It was sunny every day and I managed to get a bit of a tan.
7/ In both Les Gets and Avoriaz the emergency teams in the snow mobiles and helicopters were working pretty hard all week. If you are heading for the region over the next week or two please take care.
I will definately be heading back to the area in late Feb/ early March. In the meanwhile, I will have to put up with looking out of my gloomy office window on to the grey and smoggy streets of London dreaming of the Alps (snow covered or not!).
All the best.
5/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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chivdog, welcome to  and a brilliant first post!
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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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Will all look better by this time tomorrow (where is the fingers crossed smiley?)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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chivdog, welcome aboard, thanks for taking the time to write such a full report
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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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chivdog, I will be out there late Feb as well, hope there is snow by then!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| chivdog wrote: |
Got back last night from 7 days in Les Gets. It was my first time in the PDS region, and despite the lack of fresh snow, our group really enjoyed the area. I can imagine with lots of snow and all of the links and runs in operation that it would be an amazing place. Now for the snow report:
1/ in the beginning of the week the cover above the Mid Station at Les Gets was very thin but skiable with icy patches. No lift queues in the morning. In the afternoon the maximum wait was around 5 minutes for the Chavannes express. The runs into the town from the mid-station were mixed, lower down the grass was poking through and it was very icy. In the afternoon the runs into town became very congested and very dangerous. I was with 6 mates (a mix of skiers and boarders of varying levels of experience) and each one of us was collected (on each occasion by a skier) making our way back to town.
2/ mid week things were looking grim for Les Gets. The area above the mid station had deteriorated and become very icy. The runs back into town should not have been open. There were a number of people sulking around town with various appendages in plaster casts. After two days in Les Gets we gave up and, despite warnings from our Chalet Staff that the conditions were rubbish, we headed to Avoriaz.
3/ Early in the morning with the sun starting to peak above the mountain tops - Avoriaz was glorious. Most of the French side of the resort was open early in the week and the Swiss side opened up a day later. The run across from the Super Morzine link was operational however there will need to be a bit of work to keep it that way if there is no snow. Above the Lac Intrets / Stade lifts the pistes were in good condition and in the morning there were very few people on the runs. This changed in the afternoon with some pretty hefty lift queues (average wait was about 15 mins). Despite the traffic the snow in that area held up. For beginners the wide Proclou run was pretty much deserted most days, however there was a bit of a wait for the Proclou lift back into town due to the traffic arriving from the Super Morzine link.
4/ The runs down into Les Lindarets (in particular the Prolays) should not have been open with lots of rocks starting to show and very heavy traffic all day. What is it with large groups wanting to stop and stretch out across the piste?
5/ The Le Crot down to Les Prodains was patchy from one day to the next. Some days it was icy, on other days the snow cover was good and soft. In the early part of the top section however the snow was mixed with rocks and loose stones - not nice if you have new equipment.
6/ It was sunny every day and I managed to get a bit of a tan.
7/ In both Les Gets and Avoriaz the emergency teams in the snow mobiles and helicopters were working pretty hard all week. If you are heading for the region over the next week or two please take care.
I will definately be heading back to the area in late Feb/ early March. In the meanwhile, I will have to put up with looking out of my gloomy office window on to the grey and smoggy streets of London dreaming of the Alps (snow covered or not!).
All the best.
5/ |
I too got back last night. Have to say you missed the best of it. We heard a lot were heading for Avoriaz and we did not bother because it was reported to be packed.
Snow making was in full swing and large mounds were spread around by Tuesday. Tuesday was the worst day for queues. Once the beginners who had started Saturday had "spread out" among the open runs, it was easier. The only icy run I recall was the Choucas run that follows the road and the very top of the Chavanne - but only to the right as you look down.
My aims were to see santa and to get my kids skiing anyway - so mission accomplished.
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professorpool, Did they all enjoy themselves? Hope we have a number of converts.
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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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Good stuff chivdog - am also just back from Les Gets but wasn't able to go anywhere else with no car and kids boked into various lessons each day until 1.30. However, it turned out to be a pretty decent week despite reportedly only 15% of the Les Gets/Morzine area being open (all of it being Les Gets pistes from what I could see).
Very icy and treacherous conditions on many pistes as reported, and the runs back to town were very dangerous indeed at times with ice interspersed with patches of snow towards the edges and mostly ice toward the middle of the runs with some steeper mogulled sections looking a bit like a battlefield at times. However I saw more people stretchered off further up but that might just have been because I spent more time on those runs rather tyhan their being more dangerous.
From my POV a lot of the week was spent improving basic technique and breaking a new pair of boots in which were a nightmare to begin with but seem (thankfully) to be just about there now - they felt good for the first time on piste yesterday and my skiing stoped being interspersed by embarassing moments of utter naffness to my great relief  Anyway, I guess I used what pistes were available to good effect and didn't worry too much about lack of terrain as a result, in other circumstances it might have been different though.
The lifts were okay on the whole although there was a tendency on some for a bit of a scrum later in the afternoon - my major complaint was the way some of the snowboarders (in paricular) shoved their way onto chairlifts with little regard for anyone else apart from their mates. This culminated yesterday with some d*ck head snowboarder and his mates barging their way onto the Chavannes Express Chair when I was with my 7 year old daughter (me on the extreme left) and leaving me with no room so I had to jump to one side away from the chair before it reached us. My daughter was left with the moron standing on her skis taking no notice of her cries for help, then when the chair arrived she couldnt get on it properly so fell off just as it was turning to head up the hill. Thankfully there was padded matting to catch her an although shocked she turned out to be okay - the lifties were superb and stopped the chair immediately and checked her over, leaving me initially screaming expletives at the snowboarder (betraying my Scots origins as my accent got broader!). Anyway, watch out for plonkers like these folks particularly if you have little ones and if anyone who has a better command of French abuse than me could give me a few useful phrases for use if I ever need them again I'd be really grateful - you know, stuff like explaining which ski you'll insert first where the sun don't shine followed by the other of course!  
Anyway, if you're goung out there have fun, watch out for the ice and play safe and lets hope there's more snow soon 
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I forgot to mention that if you are arriving in Les Gets in the next day or two (ie. before the next forecast snow fall) do not head down any of the runs that link to Morzine - regardless as to whether the run is reported as being open. I did not personally attempt it, but a couple in party did and they arrived back at the chalet absolutely shattered and reported that the run had basically one or two cms. of snow cover over an asphalt base. Not nice.
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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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| chivdog wrote: |
| I forgot to mention that if you are arriving in Les Gets in the next day or two (ie. before the next forecast snow fall) do not head down any of the runs that link to Morzine - regardless as to whether the run is reported as being open. I did not personally attempt it, but a couple in party did and they arrived back at the chalet absolutely shattered and reported that the run had basically one or two cms. of snow cover over an asphalt base. Not nice. |
I think we are talking across levels of ability. What seems hard to one may not be just so.
Of the runs I skiied (which was pretty much all of them) only the choucas run was icy and it was clearly labled as such. It didnt bother me at all, but was at times a bit much for the bins..
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You know it makes sense.
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| professorpool wrote: |
| Three or four times I wanted to punch people in the head - that's not Les Gets, that's skiing (sometimes) and people generally. |
Personally I think it's *some* people, rather than people generally, but I've personally found the politest people in lift queues are those in Scotland, but then we are good at queuing in this country (if nothing else  )
| professorpool wrote: |
I think we are talking across levels of ability. What seems hard to one may not be just so.
Of the runs I skiied (which was pretty much all of them) only the choucas run was icy and it was clearly labled as such. It didnt bother me at all, but was at times a bit much for the bins.. |
I think it was dependent in time of day to be honest, mornings were less icy than afternoons in my experience - also I defy anyone to say any piste dotted with out of control, wobbling/falling/crashing novices is easy particularly when they're crowded and include kids.
I spent a couple of hours on a couple of afternoons skiing with a BASI 1 (IIRC) instructor and he was clear in commenting that he thought the snow/icy conditions were "challenging" and at times "difficult" although his skiing was still excellent. We covered most of the main runs that were open on the Les Gets side including the bowl on both days and that was very busy and very icy (and not marked as such IIRC) on the first day we did it.
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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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I think we are talking across levels of ability. What seems hard to one may not be just so.
Of the runs I skiied (which was pretty much all of them) only the choucas run was icy and it was clearly labled as such. It didnt bother me at all, but was at times a bit much for the bins..[/quote]
Not at all. We had a choice of skiiing on a very thin cover of hard snow / ice at Les Gets on 15% or less of the available runs with loads of traffic or spending 30 - 45 mins on a bus / lift to Avoriaz to ski on a relatively good cover of loosely packed snow with 90% or so of the available runs open with more or less the same number of people.
We didn't have to go to Avoriaz - even the sole beginner in our group was experienced enough to have happily stayed and skied in Les Gets. We just would not have enjoyed the experience as much. At the end of the day, if you like that kind of thing (ie. icy / hard packed runs), or have other reasons for staying put (ie. pre-booked lessons, transport, additional lift passes etc.) that's absolutely fine. I am not saying Les Gets was unskiiable, all I was doing was reporting on my experience, and that was that Les Gets was not ideal and potentially dangerous and Avoriaz had better conditions. If your experience was different then that's ok - but I would not say it was down to ability.
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Poster: A snowHead
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One thing for sure, the place was rammed with Brits!
You don't normally have problems with beginners - if you stay clear of the main blues and greens at the start of the week, surely?
That applies equally to any resort does it not?
I agree though, Les Gets was not ideal..
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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professorpool, It is rammed full of Brits because "half" the properties are owned by the Brits
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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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A little part of France that will always be ....
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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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anyone have any update on the conditions there after the recent snow?
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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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davejsy, My colleagues are there for the season and woke up to an extra foot or so of snow outside their on-piste apartment door. It was still snowing yesterday and very cold, but not windy. Today they report blue skies, a few fluffy white clouds, sunshine, but still cold. Greatly improved conditions
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Anniepen, cool, heading out to Les Gets beginning of feb, so its great to see some snow at last! Where abouts are your colleagues?
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Apologies for the lack of recent postings - we were over in Verbier for New Year...
Anyway, I skied in Morzine and Les Gets for the first time this season today after a late start (we thought it would be nice to have a lie in in our own bed after 4 nights on various sofas).
We did a quick circuit - Pleney; across to Les Gets; up Chavannes; down into the Les Gets bowl; down into the bowl under Nyon; up Troncs and down into Morzine via "the funny bridge" and the long traverse across the top of town.
In truth, we didn't intend to do this. We'd intended to drop down into the Les Gets bowl, get a few runs in and return to Morzine via the main link chair (Folliets). But, for some reason, Folliets is closed and returning to Morzine involves "a bit of a detour" via either the Fys chair - or the traverse into town. This wasn't a problem for us, but wouldn't have been horrible had we had beginners with us as the route had everything - powder, bumps, hard pack, ice, slush, grass and rocks - often within a 100m stretch.
Needless to say, the fact that Folliets was closed was extremely badly sign-posted.
Conditions are superficially ok, but the thinness of the snow cover is highlighted by the number of undulations in the runs that aren't normally there. In all honesty, we could do with the same snow again to bring things up to a normal level.
There are a large number of chairs not running, including Ranfolly, Grains d'Or, Chamossiere and Point de Nyon.
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davejsy, upper part of the village in the Gibannaz area
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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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Thanks PhillipStanton, keep the reports coming. Two weeks time
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Reading these reports I am=lmost feel lucky to have to wait for 4 weeks until were there.
We are staying at the Alte Neve Chalet hotel. Does any body know where it is in Morzine, close to any lifts ect and if any good?
Hope i all improves quickly for you all going out sooner than us
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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PhillipStanton,
Remember this ............. "NorthWestFace - I'm sorry that we can't convince you of the merits of the area - but we all have different tastes. " Your going to have to try a bit harder than that reporte
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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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| NorthWestFace wrote: |
| PhillipStanton - Remember this ............. "NorthWestFace - I'm sorry that we can't convince you of the merits of the area - but we all have different tastes. " Your going to have to try a bit harder than that reporte |
NorthWestFace - having just been to Verbier I can't say the place was in any better condition to be honest.
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bigtoe - I'll try and remember to have a look. The name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I saw the place...
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You know it makes sense.
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bigtoe, the Alta Neve hotel is on the main road from Thonon to Morzine, about 5 to 10 mins walk from super morzine bubble lift and a couple of further mins to the centre of town. Sorry, not sure what it's like.
cheers
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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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Well, things are looking up.
We skied the Plaine Dranse / Linga sector yesterday and on-piste things were generally good, excepting the (usual) areas of high traffic - like the bottom of Les Rennes - where the lack of base was showing. The bottom of Le Linga was actually in the best condition I've skied it. Off-piste fans should note that Tete de Linga was on a avalanche risk of 4 and that at the top of Le Linga there were fairly large chunks of debris from the cliffs above. (This compares with an avalanche risk of 2 at Col Du Bassachaux).
The off-piste under Rochassons is particularly sketchy and needs more snow.
We skied in the Linderats bowl and around the Fornet and Choucas lifts in Avoriaz today for the first time in over a week. The recent snowfall has done wonders for conditions - although the lack of base still shows in places. There was certainly enough snow on Pschott to make "Shrieks Like A Woman Ridge" (our name) live up to its name. I managed a couple of feet of air and wasn't even trying...
Anyone in Avoriaz this week has probably chosen well.
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Poster: A snowHead
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PhillipStanton, Thanks for the info. Friend just phoned 10 mins ago, she's off tomorrow. Glad to hear conditions improving. Come on the 20th!!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Last year it didn't snow for 2 whole weeks before I went, and didn't drop a single flake while I was there. Conditions were superb all week. Not a single icy patch, and no grass anywhere.
Lets hope the snow holds for 3 more weeks (need it to hold while I'm there too), cos I'm out there also on 20th/21st for a week. Done the PdS circuit 3 times now, and I still can't actually work out half of the places PhillipStanton refers to, other than Ardent/Lindarets (our starting point). Maybe I should do a few days in Avoriaz this time, rather than mostly hanging around the Morzine/LesGets area.
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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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| andy wrote: |
Done the PdS circuit 3 times now, and I still can't actually work out half of the places PhillipStanton refers to, other than Ardent/Lindarets (our starting point).
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Sorry andy, I'll try and be more specific.
| andy wrote: |
Maybe I should do a few days in Avoriaz this time, rather than mostly hanging around the Morzine/LesGets area. |
Most definitely. My favourite area is Plaine Dranse / Linga - up the Ardent bubble to Linderats, then take the left-most lift (Chaux-Fleurie).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We skied in Morzine / Les Gets today, so...
| PhillipStanton wrote: |
| Well, things are looking up. |
...I'd like to qualify that last statement.
We skied in Les Gets today - a variety of runs around the main bowl; down to Nyon; up to Pleney via the Fys chair; back down to Les Gets and then up Mont Chery.
Morzine / Les Gets - ice, rocks, holes in the piste, very heavy off-piste - sorry, folks, it's hard to be positive...
...especially as I'm about to spend a week doing my BASI Trainee Instructor course on it.
So, the qualification goes...
| Quote: |
| Things are looking up in Avoriaz. Morzine / Les Gets is looking decidedly poorly and patchy * |
*With the exception of Mont Chery that, whilst having far from perfect snow conditions, only had about 30 people on it - somewhat limiting the impact of the poor snow. The back side of Mont Chery had some absolutely lovely snow - although I couldn't coax MrsPhillipStanton onto one of the closed blacks.
On a positive note, the main Les Gets / Morzine chair (Folliets) is now running - as is one of my favourites, Perriers. Chamossiere remains stubbonly closed - which is a shame because it looks glorious up there 
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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, thanks for that
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We're not skiing today as our course starts tomorrow.
But it's very depressing out there - heavy rain and 4 degrees all night - so it should have snowed up at Avoriaz, but won't have done any good for Morzine and Les Gets.
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Just returned from Grand Massif - Although definately not ideal conditions there is skiing to be had.
The current Freeze Thaw temperatures need to drop dramatically to ensure a continued season though.
We spent 10 days in Morillon 1100 and saw a ton of snow and also a fare bit of rain!
Went to Avoriaz which was excellent - and only 40 mins from Morillon.
The links to Samoens and Les Carroz are open but a bit dodgy!!!
Get on your knees and pray to the snow god!!!!!
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PhillipStanton, please keep us posted. I am there on Thursday night so please sort out the snow for me
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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, Will it ever get any colder? Needs to build up before the Feb hol rush?
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Sounds like I'll not bother bringing my own skis next week, but instead, get some of those great Rock skis from a hire shop
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FAQ
