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Confessions of a 30 something seasonaire or “Hello from Les Arcs”

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
pam w, I skied fresh tracks with zero lift queues all day, in one of the so-called French ski-factory resorts. Just have to chose where you ski with a bit of care.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Well after a quiet day yesterday and an early night with a DVD as I was smidge under the weather, then today dawned bright and sunny and it was time for ski-school again. A nice morning blasting around the place and stopping for a few exercises, but mainly ensuring we skied in the sun - always a good plan in my book. Then after lessons hooked up with Max the Saffer for a quick 'up and down' on Ecureuils (the 'black') closest to Pesiey, and this was emanently skiable albeit with a few stones in places - why are my skies like a magnet for stones? Then with life left in my legs I went for a bit of a tour across to the 2000 bowl, planning the itinerery for Sunday, when my buddies Nick & Jo come out to stay for a week. After finding Plagnettes quite amusing due to the lumps that had now formed. I then went for a quick blast around some of the blues before heading back via Bois De l'ours lift for some photos. H@eaded to the Arpette as the plan was to meet there at 14:30 for lunch but as it was completely rammed and I wanted to avoid 'crazy friday' - having seen 2 blood wagons and one ambulance (in 2000) I didn't really want to see any more. I took the option to bail, and returned home via Col D' Frettes and L'ours, which is still as yucky (snow wise) as it was the day before.

An amusing thing happened in the squirrel last night - about 17:30 in walked this french lady looking somewhat confused. One of the ski esprit guys started chatting to her in comedy franglais, and it transpired that she was lost, had got split from her mates and didn't know how to get home. Actually she didn't even know which bit of the resort she was staying in, getting very confused between 1800, Plan Peisey and Peisey so far aneough if she'd been about 5, but she was at least 18 if not mid 20's. "Just call them we said" - "I don't have a phone she said"...FFS who the hell goes skiing without a mobile. Noelene who was probably the best French speaker in the pub, got roped in to help out, and eventually we pointed her in the direction of the Navette Gratuit back to Peisey which we eventually worked out was where she was staying.

Seconds Out round 2 - come 5:30 I drive down to vallandry to drop of the laundry and find a space where a rather pretty blonde girl in her mid 20's was waiting. As I get out of the car she stops me and having spotted the British Plates says 'can you tell me how to get back to 1800 by road?' - hmm I think, not sure I fancy walking up foret in the dark with no torch and in ski-boots. Being a sucker for a damsel in distress I offer her a lift to Bourg St M, whereupon she can get the funicular upto 1600 and the navette back to 1800. It transpires that she was also skiing without a phone and was relying on those radios to keep in touch, which as we' all know once you drop into a different valley can get a bit flaky, although it's not like there's a ridge between 1800 and Vallandry. She was a little more clued up than the french bird, at least she knew what part of resort she was living in, and the name of the apartment block. Still gives me an opportunity to overtake a frenchy on the way down the hill (done it both up and down now) before dropping her at the funicular. Didn't get a kiss (damn!) but did get a few beer tokens, so can't complain to much and gave me an opportunity to pop into McD's for some internetting..

But why oh why doesn't everyone just pop a mobile in their pocket when they go skiing?


Watch out the ski-thieves are out in force in Les Arcs at the moment, one pr from the english girl above nicked from the porch of her appartment block (eventful trip!) and one pr nicked from outside the Peisey lift having been left for 10 minutes..
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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?
Good work on the overtaking. Twisted Evil Can you take a picture when you are doing it please.
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Quote:

rather pretty blonde girl in her mid 20's


Quote:

Being a sucker for a damsel in distress


I'm sure there is no connection between these two statements wink
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I wonder what the French is for... "she was asking for it Your Honour"
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Bode Swiller wrote:
I wonder what the French is for... "she was asking for it Your Honour"
What are you implying sir! Very Happy Twisted Evil
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I knew that line would get the wags on this site posting wink

Boris No absolutely no connection between those statements at all - I'd have provided the same service to any damsel in distress wink

One thing I didn't post yesterday, was how busy MaccD's was at 7pm - the queue was out the door. No idea why, is the food in the restaturants around the resorts that bad? Oh well after my rescue job I returned up the hill around 8pm for dinner back at my place. Headed out to the squirrel for a couple of beers before knocking it on the head around midnight - the ski esprit lot were in full effect as it was one of their numbers last nights as she was going home due to homesickness - still if they will employ kids then I guess that's what you expect.

Plan A for Satruday was to head up to the top of the Aiguille Rouge with Eamon & Joan, so I took my board for the 1st time in a week, so I could do some justice to the black. Having dropped it into a ski shop for a brazillian and an edge, I thought it would be glam, but actually it was rubbish. God knows what they'd stuck on the base but it was like glue on the snow. This was so-offputting that I only got as far as the Transarc mid-station before pulling the cord and heading home. Had a interesting discussion with the shop and they've promised to sort it for tomorrow so would be interesting to see what happens!!

So grabbed the skis and set off again for some blasting - got in touch with a mate working in a bar and hooked up with them around 12noon at the Derby. I hadn't realised quite how much skiing they'd done as they were seriously seriously quick, and gave me a bit of a challenge to keep up. We did a full lap of the mountain (ex. Villaroger) and including my first trip up the Grand Col for the season. I seem to remember that the black was not quite as bumpy previously so opted to take the red instead which was nice. Did a couple of the reds off Arcabulle - they hadn't knocked the lumps out of Teppes overnight so that was a bit of a challenge for me. before heading all the way down to the slowest chair in the resort and heading over to the 1600 side. Quick crepe in the arpette, and then a bit more 'random skiing' - taking runs that you just like the look of without really caring were they head up. My ski buddy had to head off for work, so I stayed out a bit longer and did a bit more. From the top of the Arpetter the view was fantastic - but the most amusing bit was looking down into the valley and looking at the sunlight glinting off the line of stationery traffic. Sometimes being a seasonaire rather than a tourist, is just sooo tough wink Took the Gd Renard home which was really icy and starting to get quite unpleasant - very noticeable how come 15:30, once the sun dropped out of the sky that it got bloody cold very quickly and the visibility dropped, and the icy pistes such as the home run got tougher.

So now the frenchies are going home, I feel the need to comment about their skis. What I don't understand is those people who have appartments in the resort skiing on skis that look like they should be in a musuem - there were at least a couple of pairs in our appartment block that were straighter than a roman road. The other thign that seems weird is the number of appartment owners and thus one would imagine regular visitors during the season, that still seem to rent skis. Perhaps that explains whilst they are so keen to hop down pistes that are closed by the pisteurs due to poor snow / stony conditions - Ours being the classic run.

Tomorrow, picking up some mates from GVA before hopefully getting on the slopes in the arvo, so probably an early night tongiht...
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Sounds like your having a great time. ENJOY snowHead Laughing
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bertie bassett wrote:
also skiing without a phone a


Slightly off plot but what did we do in the olden days before mobiles and 2 way radios? Probably watched out for our mates more and didn't rush off with the certainty of being able to get back in contact again over the ether.....
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
.
Not that I'm suggesting you do it but I'd love to try this couloir next time I come to Les Arcs (between Comborciere and l'Ourse - that's part of of 1850/2000 in the photo). Ever spotted it from the valley?
There is lots of off-piste at Les Arcs, mostly outside the main ski area - some of it very tough off the back of Aiguille Rouge, but plenty more. Even more at La Plagne, of course. You do need a guide, though.


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Wed 7-01-09 16:58; edited 3 times in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Well I can say with certainty that the Cruseilles autoroute is open - it's a lovely bit of road with virtually no traffic, as most people's maps or sat navs don't feature it and being slaves to their TomToms then people can't use their brains. I had to turn off the Tom Tom though as it got very annoying, keeping trying to route me in other directions, when I knew I was on the right road. Still arrived in GVA about 2hrs 5 minutes from when I set off which was nice (via the side of lake Annecy). GVA was quite busy but no totally mad - good way of finding the name of transfer companies however - simply be at GVA at around 10:30 and walk around arrivals noting the name on the jackets / boards being held-up. My friends were a little delayed (thanks BA) but we were back in resort and heading up the mountain at 3pm. Nothing really taxing however, more of a general pootle about Peisey-Vallandry to warm the legs up prior to heading down to 1800 to grab a lift from there. This was more of a challenge than it should have been as the lady in the office had sold my friends PV passes, not les arcs passes. Still the nice lifte let them on and so we then nipped back to derby before heading home for a well earned dinner in La Vache - excellent as ever.

Monday was bright and sunny so time for a little 'tour of the resort' and now that the Frenchies have gone home the resort should be empty right - well not quite as the Russians are here. If we thought the frenchies could 'typecast' themselves with their old straight skis and rearentry boots, then the Russian ladies all seem to shop at the same ski-wear shop. Anything with fur, crystals or a pattern on the back of the jackets seems to be de-rigeur. I did see a rather (un)fetching pair of tight leggings with blue patterns set off by a matching pair of blue dior sunglasses. I'll try and get some photos if the weather gets better for another 'rogues gallery'.

The 2000 bowl seemed quite busy, but most of the rest of the resort is relatively empty - 10 spaces outside the appartment blocks is the order of the week. So we did a bit of a 'full tour' including a trip to the top of the rouge, grand col and some of the other runs in the bowl beforing heading back over to go to the arpetter for lunch. Arriving @ 12:45 no queue for the counter, and empty tables so that's a good sign. After lunch skied hard the runs above 1600 and 1800 and showed my buddies Rouelles for future use. Took the last lift up the Derby @ 16:40 (- now got an extra 15 minutes of lift time) so we headed home tired and worn out! Dinner in La Refugre (Vallandry) but flaked hard instead of making quizz night.

Tuesday brought different weather - cold cold cold, and a light dusting of snow - went out for a bit and found that it was a day to stay in the trees and work on some exercises - which we did somewhat relentlessly before retiring for an early lunch in the Arpette. PM didn't do that much, and I sacked it off around 14:30 to head home - my friends stayed out for a few more runs. Still as we sit here in the Squirrel then the snow is lightly falling, so if it picksup a little and snows a bit harder then it could be a good day tomorrow although it's forecast to be super cold. Still a couple of beers in the squirrel tonight should warm us up nicely.
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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.
bertie bassett, is the new motorway section easy to find? I ususlly drive out of the airport and follow motorway signs for France and then Annecy and Albertville...
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 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
Boredsurfing, yes very easy, once you come through the border just keep on driving straight on the autoroute, following signs for Annecy. Coming back the other way is just as easy - just make sure you get into the correct lanes at the peage just past Annecy. The new section of road makes a big difference to the journey time from GVA to the Tarentaise.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

Watch out the ski-thieves are out in force in Les Arcs at the moment, one pr from the english girl above nicked from the porch of her appartment block (eventful trip!) and one pr nicked from outside the Peisey lift having been left for 10 minutes..


am i silly.... whats PR?? read this on another thread and meant to ask the Embarassed

bertie bassett,

hit n this thread the other day, not managed to read it all yet but ... can you take pics of these lone chicks tho wink lol.

What budget are you on for the season... are you going to work?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Libertine wrote:
am i silly.... whats PR??

Yes. A pair Wink
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
rob@rar, awwww thats just not an obvious abreviation !!! lol.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
rob@rar, Thanks, I should be OK then Very Happy
Is the new bit into Albertville open as well?
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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?
Boredsurfing wrote:
rob@rar, Thanks, I should be OK then Very Happy
Is the new bit into Albertville open as well?

Yes, the Albertville bypass is open as well. It's obvious when you approach it from Ugine, but less so coming down the valley (for this you turn right at the roundabout by McDonalds as soon as you enter Albertville, then on to the bypass itself).
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rob@rar, Thanks Very Happy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
rob@rar, by "coming down the valley", do you mean from Chambéry?
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eng_ch wrote:
rob@rar, by "coming down the valley", do you mean from Chambéry?

I meant from Moutiers, but I suppose up the valley from Chambery you would need the same directions to get on the bypass Smile
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rob@rar wrote:
eng_ch wrote:
rob@rar, by "coming down the valley", do you mean from Chambéry?

I meant from Moutiers, but I suppose up the valley from Chambery you would need the same directions to get on the bypass Smile


Oh I'm with you now!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
bertie bassett, am enjoying your blog here. Glad you're living the dream. Every morning, crammed on the tube into the city, I dream of chucking it all in and doing a season...

Suspect the wife, kids and bank manager might object however... Happy

Coming to LA on Saturday, if we get into the Squirrel will look you up.

Bon Ski!

Furgie
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Crisis in Vallandry come wednesday morning - bother Vallandry and Grizzly were shut due to a power failure, leading to a number of pissed of locals. Didn't seem to be much in the way of busing people upto Plan-Peisey however but we didn't head down to check it out (no surprise!)

Not much change come wednesday in terms of weather, and we didn't have a definite plan but heaed over to the 2000 bowl, and played around on the sides of tuffes (or is it treppes) come about 11am, then decided to take lanchettes and ski down to villaroger - this was my 1st time this season and what a lovely run it was. Just a bit icy on the lower parts especially once past the top of replat and further down. Took the opportunity to head for lunch in La Ferme, which was delicious - the new extension upstairs is great and felt really snug. Got stuck into a great omlette there before heading up the hill and then further playing in the 200 bowl, including a couple of laps of grande col, although I took the red rather than the bumpy black. Quiet dinner in Wednesday then headed out for a couple of beers.

Thursday, similar weather but a bit warmer so we also headed out without a massive plan. Did a couple of hours on my board after getting it re-waxed by the shop that screwed it up earlier in the week, and it was much much better, but given the pistes were so hard gave it a couple of hours before heading home for my skis. Met back up with my mates at the top of the transarc and then decided to head up Aiguille Rouge, for the 1st time from the top on skis. I chickened out on a couple of the bumpy bits, taking the red alternative but didn't find it too hard despite the lack of visibility in the top section. My buddies decided to head down genepi, whereas I went for the more scenic route home down reservoir. Having down that then we had to head to Chalet de l'arc for lunch which was well up to its usual standard - although the tarte frambroise was a little unncessary

Good to see the old cliches - the table next to us had a La Plagne ESF instructor entertainging some Russian woman - obviously he was providing guiding services and taking round all the best restaturants. When it came to paying the bill the russian lady took out what can only be described as a 'roll' of 100 and 500 euro notes from he ski suit, and dropped 100 on the table for a lunch that couldn't have been more than say 60 euros - how the other half live!

So needed to burn off those calories so set my mates off to attack comborciere which they described as thigh burning whilst I went for a bit of a tour of other bits of the mountain, before heading home for a bowl of soup for dinner. Tomorrow the plan is to go and check the snow in La Plagne, and then I might have a rest on saturday before heading to Cham for a McNab board clinic which should be interesting!
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Enjoy the McNab course... Neil and Keith are top blokes... have been twice but not this year - need to practise and then maybe go again next season!!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Friday dawned bright and sunny (for a change wink) and we decided to head over to La Plagne for a day to see what my friends thought of the resort. Up early and onto the Vanoise for 09:15 start ready for a fun day out. Took plan bois and then Bijolin to get blasted by the sunshine. Headed down to Crozats, at which point my comment about the ‘snow being rubbish in la plagne’ became apparent – this part of the resort which gets probably the most of the sun was definitely struggling with the snow coverage as it was quite patchy and brown in places. Popped up the ridge to the top of the Arpette and then rather than taking my usual route down to Belle Plagne and then to Bellecote, decided to head down Les Marmottes to the bottom of Inversens – is this run new? I don’t recollect having taken this run on previous occasions, and the offpiste bit between Inversens and the ridge line was one of my favourite runs on a previous visit to La Plagne.

Interesting to see how keen Jean Claude the ESF instructor was at attending to his Russian client on the lift ahead of us:-



Got to the top of the Roche De Mio with the view of heading to the glacier, but as the queue was ridiculous we came up with plan b and headed down Les Sources. The snow here was also quite poor, but largely due to the number of skiers that had been down it.



Worked our way from here across to Plagne Centre, narrowly avoiding a muppett of a brit who did a small jump from off-piste onto piste and came to a complete stop right in front of me, casuing me to crash turn / stop to avoid him - If i'd kept going I would have probably crashed my ski right into his shin/ankle and given I was going quite quickly, probaly would have broken it. I pointed out the error of his ways in no uncertain terms and then skied on, generally taking random lifts before heading up the Grand Rochette. Got chatting to nice English lady in the bubble who suggested that Les Etroits (off the top of Cretes) was a fun run to take, and so having headed down to that part of Plagne Centre we took Becoin up and then my buddies attacked ‘teleski difficile’ whilst I bumbled around the place generally taking photies. Interesting to see how much more development is going into Plagne Soleil – below is the new couple of blocks of apartments (to the left as you go up Melezes).



and Les Granges Du Soleil



Compare to when I last visited La Plagne - NYE 03'04 week, then I'm amazed about the amount of new development that seems to have gone into La Plagne. Virtually every village has had a significant increase in bed capacity - several hundred in Soleil as per photos, and just an amazing amount in Belle Plagne. Plus even places like Aime seem to have new blocks shoe-horned in, and whilst these developments are generally well presented and nicer than the old blocks then it's a bit scary when you think in terms of 'piste busy-ness'. Yes lifts have been improved to increase uplift (e.g. Roche De Mio bubble) but that's just going to add to the traffic jams on the pistes themselves, which no wonder why people can consider La Plagne - 'crazy busy' - it was definitely noticeably busier on friday than Les Arcs had been the same week, by a factor of about 50% I would guess.



Whilst I was bimbling about I came across a most curious contraption which consisted of a person on a pair of skis in ski-boots, but then there was a set of handlebars coming up from between the skis, and was linked to the skis themselves via some kind of dynamic joint. By turning the handlebars this allowed the skis to edge and hence turn in a given direction, as well as allowing the skis to move forwards and backwards relative to each other. Whilst this didn’t seem to be a contraption for disabled people perhaps it was designed to give older people a taste of skiing – each contraption was being used by people over 60 and being assisted by an ESF instructor (although probably less hands-on than Jean-Claude on the lift!)

Hooked up again with my buddies, who thought Les Etroits was probably the best run they’d done all day and decided to go to Croque Neige for a lunch snack, which certainly filled the space and was an interesting contrast from the luxury of Chalet De L’Arc the previous day. Croque Neige is definitely a good spot for more of a snack lunch and it’s possible to eat for less than 10 euro here, which has to be a good deal

Was a bit early for St. Patricks Day though..



Being on Skis rather than on the board, I took the opportunity to grab the Teleski out of Plagne Centre and then jumped straight onto Verdons Nord – this is actually a really good route to get high, as not many people seem to take the teleski, and I guess Verdons Nord is not a chair that many people take as it’ seems a little hidden away. Stopping at the top for photies we then had a decision to make – back down to the centre and make our way across to Bellecote via the Melezes lift, or to ‘push the button’ and head down from Nord to the Champagny sector and up the other side to Roche De Mio. Given it was 14:40, and previously having run into big queues in the Champagny sector it felt like a bit of a ‘call’ but with some heads down approarch to lift queues and pistes then it worked out well and we made it to the top of the Roche De Mio around 15:12.

Set off down the M25 – if there ever was a run to make “La Plagne inherently dangerous?” then it’s this bit from the top of the Roche De Mio, back towards Belle Plagne. Given it was just after 3pm, and in an ‘un-busy week’ this bit of the motorway felt very very busy and it was quite hard to avoid collisions given the number of people and the sketchy snow which was icy in parts. I think the problem is that it’s a ‘destination’ – i.e. people feel they’ve achieved something have been to the top of the Roche, and it’s actually a good route back to Bellecote or Belle Plagne from Champagny or for those returning from the Glacier. Still at least La Plagne employs coppers near plagne centre to flag down speeding skiers.



Having got past that bit then it was foot down and blast it down the tunnel run towards plagne bellecote, stopping to pole the tunnel itself as the entrance was full of tourists waiting for their mates. Made it down to the Arpette at 15:20 – so plenty of time to catch the Vanoise. Always important however to avoid Russians in their loud ski-wear, and whilst not quite a fartbag – it’s certainly an interesting pattern! Further down the hill took L’esselet (red) rather than staying on the blue, which would be a lovely run in good snow conditions, but today it was really rather unpleasantly stony, leafy and really not that nice at all. Still at least it meant that we didn’t miss the turn after the top of the Montchavin lift and so arrived at the Vanoise, just after 4pm. Of course they had to ‘emergency stop’ the car just at the mid-way point on the VE just to get people a little nervous and left us swinging there for a good 3 minutes which felt like 30 before normal service was resumed and we returned home.

To sum up the view of my mates (experienced black, off-piste skiers who have skied Whistler, Fernie, Tignes, St. Anton amongst others) then they really liked La Plagne as they felt it had a lot of area and lots of potential for off-piste, provided you treat the motorway as a mechanism for moving between off-piste stashes, and the snow plays ball.
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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.
So whilst the Russians have come (and now gone?) then it must be Dutch Week or something - driving out of resort on Sat PM at least 50% of the cars coming up the hill were dutch. Still the traffic on the N90 outwards was light and made it to GVA in just over a couple of hours, so dropped my buddies and headed to Les Houches (Cham) for the hotel and the clinice. Met the crew seem like a pretty friendly bunch and the hotels not bad I guess.

Sunday hopped in the minibus upto Le Tour / Vallorcine and started on the learning tree. Lots of work on stance setup, angle and body movement was the order of the day - the snow here was pretty good, softened up after about 10:30 and definitely felt nicer to ride then les arcs the previous week, as less patches of ice. Pretty busy come the afternoon as a lot of frenchies seemed to be tempted for a day out on the piste in the sunshine, still gave us some slalom poles to carve around wink
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 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
bertie bassett, love the photo of the kindly ESF instructor on the lift....
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w, Shocked It was very cold in La Plagne last week Toofy Grin
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
So here in Cham, and have to say that it met all my preconceptions totally. Thank god i'm doing my season in Les Arcs and not the dirge that is called chamonix. Now I know that one mans 'amber nectar' is another mans poison, but Cham is just a pain in the butt and I wouldn't bother coming back here unless I'm on another clinic.

Why don't I like it: -
a) It's a sprawling mess - it seems to stretch for miles along the valley - the town itself is far too large for my liking for a ski-resort.
b) It's got a number of separate ski areas with no / limited interlinking - therefore if you're in less Houches and want to ski Le Tour / Vallorcine then it's a long long bus / car ride to get up there
c) The pistes in each area are limited in number, and even at what should be a less-busy week seem quite busy
d) Given the vast number of 'free-riders' - then any fresh powder will be tracked out in about 5 seconds.

Now I appreciate Cham is an all year round place and not just a ski-resort and that it's not piste skiing that people come here for but even so - give me a 30m walk before I put my skis on over a 40 minute minibus ride any day of the week.

As to the clinic well that's going very well - finding it a bit hard to un-learn the last 8 years of sliding my board around turns but I'm sure I'll get there in a day or two - and the quality of the instruction is awesome! Still it'll be nice to get back 'home' to les arcs and at least have a shower that you don't need to hand-hold to make it work..
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
thefatcontroller, Actually that photo was taken on Friday, which was one of the warmer days of the week...
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
bertie bassett wrote:
thefatcontroller, Actually that photo was taken on Friday, which was one of the warmer days of the week...


Actually was in La Plagne to Friday wink Laughing . Yes it was warmer but that just meant it was bloody freezing as apart from the rest of the week when it was f**king freezing Laughing
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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?
Hi,

I'm off to Les Arcs this Saturday 17th and will be spending a lot of time in La Plagne, great blog and pics, nice to see there's some nice snow for me.....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
How jealous am I of you!!!

We're coming to Montalbert on Sunday 18th - any chance of an update on the conditions?

Not stayed here before so any advice on the runs would be welcome! Puzzled
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
waterskibabe, Best post here. lots of help if you ask them there.

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1131339#1131339
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
bertie bassett ....

Thanks for your advice on the best blue runs for me ( beginner ) and the boarder boyfriend. Finding the blog very entertaining, keep it coming !!
Makes me want to chuck the job in and move over there completely .....

Your photos of the fartbaggers have now given us an idea and we are now going to be on a mission when we get there on the 31st to find some more cringe worthy sights .... why do they do it ??
Saw a nice one in tignes last season which I think you would have liked - metallic gold fartbagger ... on a man !!!! Still he thought he looked good Smile

Have fun in cham ... I've been there before ( injured on day one and out of action for rest of week ) and totally agree with you about the lack of inter linking - stayed in Les Houches and if you wanted to get to the other end it took a good hour or so by bus ....
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
bertie bassett, We're out on 17th for 2 weeks - cant get there quick enough Toofy Grin Looks like a fair bit of snow for us next week snowHead
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
waterskibabe, are you driving on Sunday? Looks like you might (with any luck) need those snowchains. snowHead
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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.
genepi wrote:
bertie bassett, We're out on 17th for 2 weeks - cant get there quick enough Toofy Grin Looks like a fair bit of snow for us next week snowHead


Coolio - we'll have to hookup for a vin chaud or genepi or something!!

Looks like you're timing might be spot on snow-wise..
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
So today we nipped through the tunnel to a proper ski resort and to look at Mont Blanc from the other side. Found some lovely deserted pistes in Courmayer with still very fresh snow despite the lack of recent snow-fall. The wide and empty pistes were perfect for practising and I finally started to feel like I was carving the odd turn rather than sliding them. Lunch was a fab pizza followed by hot chocolate to die for. 2 more days of practising before going home for the freshies...

Still the views were pretty nice..

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