 Poster: A snowHead
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.... just to clarify the road to and from Bourg St Maurice from Val d'isere IS open at the moment.... just Fornet is cut off and no pedestrian movements around town allowed! The situation is evolving all the time.... www.radiovaldisere.com for more info.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Things are conspiring against me to go skiing next week.
Hernia investigated - check.
Too windy for Ferry - Chunnel booked - check.
Now just
gales across northern france (TGV cancellations and lines down galore according to french radio)
likely snow through the southern half of france on the motorway system
apparently 10,000 cars already queuing to go up the mountains.
I have to say I wouldn't want to be flying in tomorrow with a coach transfer at peak times. Suspect Sunday arrival for most people!
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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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rob@rar,
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pam w wrote:
...remember the day everyone arriving in Bourg St Maurice had to sleep in school halls
Yup, remember it well. Was in Arc 1800 and had a brilliant day on the slopes in great snow and no queues Happy
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yep do I ever we were in St Foy had the place to our selves for the day, skiing knee deep powder all day 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| red 27 wrote: |
| Piccadilly, the road up to Ischgl is fairly major - I think they will keep that open. It's the airport that might be more tricky |
He's made it to the road and they've started their climb so they should hopefully be OK. Said it's snowing heavily though.
The more I look at the snow reports, the more I'm thinking we'll be lucky to make it to La Plagne tomorrow...Saturday night in some school gym awaits.
Snowmageddon indeed.
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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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My missus has just travelled Grenoble to Paris, no problems, it is only a bit of wind. 100km/h is hardly extreme weather.
Regarding snow, yeah high altitude resorts risk being shut down for a bit but it is 10C at Chambery as I type this, you'll only encounter real snow on the roads coming into resort. Ok I wouldn't travel after dark in the mountains.
Keep calm and carry on.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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davidof, I think its this afternoon that it turns for the worse. Cold front will plunge the temperatures.
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Yes Bergen, I wouldn't want to travel up to resort after 4pm but I think people should be able to get to the foot hills.
Looks like there may be a lot of road closures though in the Savoie this afternoon.
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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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if anyone is driving to Tignes or Val d'isere this evening then listen (or get a friend to listen to) www.radiovaldiser.com - the mairee are making the decision at 10pm tonight whether to close the road.... at the moment you have to have chains and/or snow tyres and prefereably a 4x4 with snowtyres with chains - the conditions are pretty awful out there!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'm amazed nobody has been transferring today; lots of TOs having Friday-Friday trips this year in December.
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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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James the Last, maybe lots cancelled because of the lack of snow
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Just got to our overnight at Laon - the most straight forward trip we've ever had so far..... It is a bit windy mind. I'm glad we were under the channel rather than on it 
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You know it makes sense.
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MazDave, hope you're not staying too near the cathedral - those damn bells kept me awake all night once!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wags, sounds like it could be worse. Bonne continuation, as those froggies say. 
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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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Wags, I hope it gets sorted. Let's Hope you get epic skiing when you get there. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Time to leave the house.. wish me luck!!
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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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Piccadilly, Good Luck!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I wasn't sleeping well and couldn't resist getting up to look out of the window - an end to sleep for today! It's blowing and snowing very hard. Looking at ledauphine.com there are a lot more road closures and widespread electricity cuts - Praz sur Arly, Megeve and Samoens are amongst the places mentioned - timing not clear from the report I read. Roads leading to Flumet, La Giettaz (not clear which one, presumably the Gorge d'Arly), Bonneval, Hauteluce and others are closed because of avalanche risk and the road between Chinaillon and Le Grand Bornand cut by an avalanche. The focus of the heaviest snow seems to have shifted northward.
Geneva Airport and Chambery look OK at the moment. EasyJet say there are major problems at Lyon connected with the security strike and have cancelled some flights.
There must be a lot of people out there working hard to try to keep things going - the flashing light of the snowplough up the road outside just made me think of that.
Good luck, everybody travelling today; keep warm and well fed.
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Pedantica, Slept like a log thanks - we are on the cheap side of town. Etap. £33/room....
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| pam w wrote: |
| I wasn't sleeping well and couldn't resist getting up to look out of the window - an end to sleep for today! |
Snap! Woke up to the sound of the snowplough, heard the wind whirling, looked out the window and am now wide awake.
Both routes into La Giettaz closed last night. We had a party of 9 arriving - they phoned us from the Carrefour in Sallanches to say they were on their way, completely oblivious to conditions up the mountain, and we told them to stay put as we'd already booked them into the Ibis right there. They took it in good spirits fortunately.
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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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miranda, what a good job they phoned you. Looking at the forecasts, the focus of the heavy snow is now round our way, with much less forecast down in the Tarentaise. We had very little yesterday - not much rain, either. Not much precipitation at all, actually. But the more northerly resorts (what the French call the préalpes, maybe?) are getting a pasting the next couple of days. I hope your guests manage to get up to you before long. Where is the road up from Sallanches closed?
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Just woke up here in Val d'Isere, top of the Tarentaise valley and it is still blowing and snowing very very hard here... I too woke up to snowploughs doing their thang on the road outside.
On another note just heard that some bookies in the UK have slashed their odds for a white Christmas in the UK this year!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w, I think it is just closed from Flumet. There was a window between 7-7.30pm when a convoy was allowed through to let school kids come home who'd been stuck. It said it was just closing for the night so hopefully they'll be able to get up here asap. One of the locals posted a photo on facebook of being held up by snow across the road between here and Flumet, but this was before 7pm so they'd obviously cleared it to let the school kids through... I hope nothing more came down overnight. We had everything yesterday down at that level - snow, sleet, rain, hail and a LOT of wind.
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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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Drove from Meribel to Les Arcs today. Road down from Meribel was straightforward (although the coach that had almost slid off the road - saved by a tree - was a sobering sight), but there seems to be more snow in Les Arcs. Local police were checking all vehicles at the bottom of the hill in Bourg (main chainage area just passed the SuperU). It looked like no winter tyres and no chains and you were turned around; winter tyres and you were asked to put chains on immediately, winter tyres and 4x4 and you were let through. The road up was the worst I've ever seen it, especially above 1600m up to my place at Arc 1800. If your car is suitably equipped you shouldn't have a problem, other than ill-equipped drivers getting stranded.
The access road to Arc 2000 was still closed when I came up the hill at 11.00am
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rob@rar, glad you got there OK!
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You know it makes sense.
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The road here opened as scheduled at 10am and the guests arrived promptly after that, having had a good breakfast and raring to go.
BUT they'd hired a minibus from the French side and had been given the wrong size snow chains by the car hire company! Completely ludicrous. Fortunately we managed to get them sorted out and they were too excited to care but, really...  So, a warning to others to check the chains before you set off!
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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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miranda, yes, need to stress that. We met people here who had hired two vehicles from the SWISS side of Geneva and had no chains for one of them. The snow on their departure day was forecast to be horrendous and they'd never done chains. We showed them how to put on the pair they had, then they bought another pair in the village, having had the assurance from the car hire (Europcar) that they'd reimburse them. They emailed us later to say they'd have had no chance of getting out without the chains.
We often advise people to practise putting on the chains (and thereby check the size is right) whilst still in the garage, if they arrive at a snowy time. Of course, they never do. 
Hope your guests have a terrific time. Are your lifts open? Rather few of ours are, today - I think they just couldn't piste it all in time , it was still very windy this morning after 30cms of snow overnight and I suppose even round here there are some slopes with avalanche risk.
Our French friends two doors away arrived at 1 am. the road hadn't been ploughed for a while and the snow was ultimately too deep for them to push, in an ordinary car - a 4 x 4 with good clearance could probably have made it but they had to abandon the vehicle at the bottom of the chairlift and walk up quite a steep road with 3 small kids (youngest just 2) and essential supplies. We were fast asleep and unaware or would have been happy to help.
An ordinary car can't cope with a lot of snow on the road, however good your snow tyres and chains. I've often wondered how much but never actually put it to the test! I suppose it partly depends on the consistency of the snow. Last night's offering was lovely light powder, not the clag of the previous 24 hours.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, a couple of drags were open on this side but not the chair or the lifts at the top on the La Giettaz side but a fair amount of Combloux and Jaillet were open. Everything scheduled to be fully open tomorrow. If you do plan to make it over here this season, I'll just mention that it's "Ladies Day" on Sunday January 8th - free day pass for the Portes du Mont Blanc area for women! (€24 for your OH). Yes, yesterday was very heavy stuff, but it is lovely and fluffy here too now. Can't wait to get the skis on
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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"Ladies Day" on Sunday January 8th
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thanks - good idea, and we definitely want t get over there. We can't ski tomorrow - off to Genova.
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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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Got to Chinaillon this afternoon no problems. Hill up from Le Grand Bornand was ok in 4WD chains were ok for others it seemed. Had to avoid people dragging suitcases up the road to the apartment because their car was stuck at the bottom. Still snowing steadily too. Fire is lit, beers are in the snow on the balcony - Skiing starts tomorrow.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Fire is lit, beers are in the snow on the balcony - Skiing starts tomorrow.
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that sounds terrific.
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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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took the altibus up from moutiers today to val thorens meant to be leaving @ 12:15, left 12:45 and arrived 14:30 - bus had put it's chains on in the station car park and les flics were stopping people below st jean de belleville to make them put chains on - bit unneccesarily imho as with decent winter tyres you could have made les menuires with no issues.
at the moment it's snowing lightly in val thorens - road would appear to be open however chains will be neccessary - http://www.valleedesbelleville.info/
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MazDave, Great news - glad it all went well. Happy skiing tomorrow - can't wait for Wednesday now!
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bertie bassett, glad you got up there OK.
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The road down from Champagny to Bozel was passable with chains or winter tyres this afternoon (at 1pm when I set off) and the snowploughs were out in force. I was talking to a couple at the gondola this morning who had driven up to Champagny at 10pm on Friday evening, they had winter tyres and managed ok.
The road from Bozel down to Moutiers was clear as was the road/ autoroute from Moutiers to Geneva. Heavy snow around Chambery but it only took just over 3 hours from Champagny to Geneva, even with the slow start down to Bozel and having to take the chains off there.
Stuck at Geneva airport waiting for the delayed flight to Liverpool, I was here 4 hours before it was due to set off and it has been delayed by 90 minutes, expecting the laptop battery to fail anytime now.
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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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Mr NN was a star on the drive up last night - chains on faster than the French!
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Friends have just got to St Foy OK in an X5 with winter tyres. Had to dig out 1m of snow to get to the door though
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FAQ
Am enjoying the hospitality and the company of other stranded souls at Hotel Le Roma in Albertville 