Tignes and The Espace Killy 2019/20 (Useful Links Page 1)

A snowHead

Utterly miserable in VC - roads are like a river. Sad

Skiing this afternoon was deeply unpleasant

A snowHead

Utterly miserable in VC - roads are like a river. Sad

Skiing this afternoon was deeply unpleasant

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Well today was a first, the first time I have seen an umbrella or two during the season, and its the 2nd of Feb George and Captain Snowy have summed up the conditions. A perfect day for cleaning the apartment! Just come back from the rugby and its still pouring down....... Confused

So it is likely to be raining/sleeting all night at resort level, we may see a bit of snow later, but I'm not optimistic. The rain will continue in the morning but to add insult to injury the wind is going to pick up as well, so the high lifts may be closed if you were thinking of going high to find the snow. The models are struggling to decide when the rain will stop, sometime between lunch and tiffin is the best I can offer, we may get a glimpse of the sun.. In addition, it is Avi Risk 4, there could be some massive slides as the rain mays the snow very heavy. As to the pistes they may well be very hard in the morning as the snowpack freezes the surface water. I wish I could be more positive....

On Tuesday we will get another weather system, the wind will swing round to the north and the temperature will plunge. So the snow line will be where it belongs, in Bourg! But it will be a whiteout with wind and maybe 20-30cm of snow. The pisteurs are going to have their work cut out. The snow should stop before lifts open on Wednesday, it will be a cold and windy day according to the latest forecasts and Thursday will be cold sunny and calm - Hurrah!

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Just back from post-rugby drinks in the QDC and it's still pouring with rain. The pisteurs bombed the Lavachet Wall and the top of Toviere at around 6pm. There's an awful lot of very heavy wet snow on those slopes now. Fingers crossed for whatever the next couple of days brings us.

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Yuck, rain??? What is that about at that altitude in early Feb!??

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There was a brief respite early this morning but by lift opening it had started raining again. So down the very black run (with a white line down the middle) to Bourg. Lots of very large avalanche activity down the valley and from the Sassiere. The drizzle stopped after lunch bt the wind picked up a little earlier than suggested so the high lifts started to close and the App was telling folks to get back in their valley in case the links close. I am now running out of admin to do! Palafour is absolutely rammed at the moment with all the holidaymakers getting a few turns in ahead of tomorrow.....

Winter returns.... about 3am tomorrow morning.

The wind should ease off for a bit this evening but then it returns with a vengeance in the middle of the night. The sky will be clear until around midnight when it will start to snow down to 2100m, but with the rapid arrival of the cold front the snowline will be in Bourg by the time the Blue Girl closes. So tomorrow will be a whiteout with snow and high winds, perhaps 20-25cm of snow in total, so a day where the avalanche risk will get progressively worse and the pisteurs will have to reassess. So expect a progressive start, the high lifts will be shut, maybe even some of the lower ones and if they close a run then obey the signs! Wednesday will be much colder than today (tomorrow will be so windy it would be academic) a few clouds clearing in the morning and the wind should fall light by early afternoon, leaving a crisp blue sky finish to the day. Thursday will be a spring like day, blue skies sunshine and light winds. Temps around zero in the village by lunchtime! Friday currently looks similar.

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Sounds like my arrival Wednesday evening is well timed. Will be in tignes til the Saturday. Fingers crossed on cold front + snow to cover up the rains damage.

After all it is free

@chocksaway,

Another admin day? It's blowing a Gale and any lifts that do open will be delayed Puzzled

Everything looks shut so far other than the Funival! ‘tis wild our there and not much snow so far - a dusting in town and continues with very small, light flakes which aren’t giving any accumulation.
A
http://m.val.co.uk/valdisereliftstatus.php

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Looks like its going to be a day of snow showers then a bit of blue sky to tease, not much sign of the wind speed dropping. Not sure I would want to emerge from the Funival in this!

@stewart woodward, Need to find some admin, might iron my socks!

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The Bellevarde webcam paints a nice picture of the folks who braved the wind and took Funival up

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@chocksaway, can deliver some laundry for ironing if you are getting bored!

Snowing quite heavily now in Lavachet. Only downside is much of it is being delivered sideways at about 60mph. rolling eyes

You know it makes sense.

@stewart woodward, despite only being about 100 mtrs away, your building keeps disappearing from view on a regular basis Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

You know it's a bit breezy when Combe Folle is shut due to wind Shocked

A snowHead

A snowHead

@moosepig, They probably don't want people getting over the ridge with no means of getting back. Only Almes and Tichot plus beginner lifts open now. (Edit..... Paquis now closed anyway)

@stewart woodward, #living dangerously Skullie

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Looks like the Funival is now also closed, no lifts open on the Val side at all Shocked

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Just been to the bread shop, it is really howling with some tremendous gusts. Still a few brave souls on Almes!

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Been snowing pretty much all day but only small flakes and blowing around in howling wind so impossible to know how much has actually fallen!

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Take a fan into your local butchers cold room, turn fan on, and chuck an open bag of self raising at it. That's today covered!

So a few lifts turned, and it was a day for the hardy. It is also the first time I have seen the locals up the avalanche risk by 2 notches to 4. I suspect they may up it again tomorrow given all this wind shifting snow about.

The snow will stop sometime in the early hours and the gust will fall away. But there will still be a significant northerly, the NE'ly wind in the villages. We may be sat in cloud at breakfast time but this willlift into fluffy clouds and then vanish altogether by late morning. It will feel cold in the breeze. The wind at high altitude will still be strong so some high lifts won't open early and the pisteurs will have to rearrange the snow into an eye pleasingly safe fashion. So a bit of patience required! Thursday will be much more benign, after a cold clear night. It will warm up quickly in light breezes once the early morning cloud has dissolved away. Friday should be a glorious spring day, warm and sunny. Saturday will be the same, perhaps a few more clouds in the afternoon. Nothing on the horizon for the first February road frenzy!

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Just a quick question for those who know Tignes. Are there any lockers around Le Lac? We’re staying in 1800 and my son fancies another swim after skiing today. Seems daft to go back down to 1800 to pick up the stuff then bus back up. Thanks

After all it is free

There are ski lockers in the Palafour building, upstairs behind Mountain story, or go thru the door left of the Jam Bar. Don't know the cost.

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Well that was all a bit peculiar! There was a bit of cloudd about but it obligingly vanished by mid morning. The pisteurs wee busy from first light and the openings were progressive, which meant some big queues until lunchtime, especially as Val did not open Borsat, so Tommeuses was mobbed, hence a long coffee break in La Daille. The snow was great on piste, but it did bump up in places as it had been bashed before the wind stopped blowing snow around. Off piste was mixed to be a master of understatement. The rain of Monday had run through the snow leaving the characteristic 'sillon', this must have then frozen before the snow really fell, so the snow had blown off and landed in the gullies. So it was a mix of frozen hardpack with some nice stuff in some, but by no means all, gullies. It was tricky. This phenomenon was evident even up to 2800m. This shot shows the off piste from Carline to demo what I am saying:

No fresh snow at all!

The best run was down Familial, once we had worked out the orientation where the snow had blown in, it wasn't uniform across the area. After lunch we tried the favourite spots from the top of Lanches, but even in the gullies there it was very compacted.

After a cold night tomorrow will be calm, there is likely to be some high altitude cloud, quite how much will be resolved by looking up. It should get better through the day. Friday - blue skies and sunshine, barely a breeze and quite mild. An extended frantic Friday. Saturday looks like a day of sunny periods, fluffy clouds and light breezes, just a bit cooler than Friday. Sunday will be similar, but the wind will pick up during the afternoon ahead of a wild Monday (probably!).

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Definitely a case of "flatter to deceive" today. First few runs around Chaudannes, Ag Rouge and Palafour weren't bad but the thin dusting of new snow was soon scraped away. 2x recovery sleds arrived to deliver injured skiiers in the short time it took me drink my Jam Bar coffee. Then over to Toviere. A couple of forays "off the side" into normally reliable terrain nearly shook my fillings out so piste skiing it was. As Chocks mentioned there were some big queues by EK standards. Down to La Daille and Rosie's terrace looked rammed. From there up to Bellevarde and across to Grand Pre and Fontaine Froid. Grand Pre had a field sized patch of death cookies about half way down the piste. All very unusual. At about 2pm Borsat lift started turning and opened for business about half an hour later. Visually, with a low sun glistening on the patches of surface ice, you could easily be convinced that it's glacial terrain beneath you. All it provided was a slow ride to access even more wind-scoured and crusty pistes. By this time the wind was howling as I approached Fontaine Froid.
Comedy moments back at the top of Bellevarde as the wind was turning deckchairs into box kites. In fact the wind was so strong that I had to pole and skate to reach the first steep roller on OK/Orange. Then the peculiar sensation of loose snow being whipped past my legs in the opposite direction to travel. Felt like I was doing about 30 mph when in fact I was barely making headway. For all that it was nice to have the sunshine and vis back.

As above - mixed day!! Some rattly pistes, horrible death cookies, filthy off piste but also some lovely snow both on and off piste, including a few face shots. Lovely! Happy

You know it makes sense.

Well we did wake to a milky sky, but it was a full fat Gold Top sort of milky, but gradually it improved thru semi skinned to skinned and then blue skies around 3pm. I was out with New Gen for a day off piste, so a little tricky to see the difference between the hard pack and the soft stuff. But we managed a couple of good gullies off Palet before wandering up Col Du Ves to one of the Grand Balme couloirs, which was a bit slick Shocked

at the top but once in about a foot of heavily compacted fresh snow, nice. After a couple more forays we had lunch and went for one of the Aiguilettes De Chardonnet (to the east of the Classic), steep and good snow:

After that we finished round the eye of the needle with a final run down Ski Man - a mixed bag. Unfortunately I had a tumble on piste(!) so have a complaining calf, so there may not be an on snow report tomorrow (but I will make it to Fish and Chips!).

After a chilly night, tomorrow will be sunny all day, mild and gentle breezes (so not many escaping early.....). Saturday looks like a repeat of today, milky skies to start and then clearing up. Sunday will be the reverse, sunny to start with, then a milky sky and then clouding over around nightfall. There may be the odd light snow shower by midnight. Hang on to your hats for Monday - very windy and light snow showers all day, may be a bit sleety around the lower villages too start with. I suspect not many lifts will be open if the wind arrives as forecast. Those leaving the UK this weekend will know what we are in for as it works its way south!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

All lifts in Tignes seem to have stopped thanks to a power outage, but got electricity in apartment. App asks folks to be patient as they evacuate the lifts with the secondary power.

A snowHead

The cleaner appears to have unplugged the hoover and plugged the lifts back in!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Thanks to the calf no skiing today, but "its only a flesh wound" so will test it on the way to QDC this evening. The major event seemed to be the power cut, about an hour, which stopped all the lifts in Tignes and Ste Foy but not Val curiously. All the back ups worked seemingly and everyone got off in a normal fashion.

Tomorrow will see a mixture of clouds, some high some fluffy but we should still see plenty of sun, no winds really and quite mild. Sunday should start sunny and mild. Some high clouds will appear in the afternoon and then the sky will become overcast before snow down to 2000m starts in the late evening. From early Monday the wind will pick up and it will be a whiteout, the snowline will be at 2000m dropping slowly through the day towards Brev. In the evening, it will continue to drop towards Seez. A lot of high lifts will be closed and the pisteurs will be busy. Tuesday will also be snowy, maybe the odd sunny spell but the wind will be howling. Currently the forecast would see most lifts closed but there is some high pressure trying to make an entrance from the south, so not a nailed on forecast for sure.

For the travellers tomorrow, the main problem will be the roads as the Feb madness begins. With 32000 vehicles heading for the hills and 26000 heading away there will be queues, so be away by 8 or get through Moutiers by 10 if your are heading to the slopes. The traffic lights will be in operation at the usual places. For flying, it will get increasingly bumpy from the North in the UK as the storm approaches but no significant issues. Over here it should be fine for flying, just a bit of shallow fog drifting about over Lake Geneva, but not forecast to affect flying.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@chocksaway, what’s the likelihood of flying disruption in the UK (Gatwick) on Sunday?

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@BertieG, Its a bit early to be definitive, as the airport forecasts only forecast 18-24 hours ahead. But some disruption is likely across the UK tomorrow and maybe Scotland this afternoon.

I will have to wait for the next forecasts at 1100hrs, then get my list of airport runway directions out. Aircraft type can make a slight difference as well. As the gusts are going to be around showers I expect there will be some holding whilst they blow through adding to delays. More later, might be a busy day!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

The calm before the storm (in more ways than one!):

I did pop out to try the calf (not bad but not perfect, especially on death cookies) and the place was just about deserted, looks like not many left last night by the state of the roads going downhill. So a nice morning for skiing, the high level cloud has come and gone.

The weather front has slowed up a bit so tomorrow will be sunny, mild with light breezes and a big queue at the lift pass office! High cloud will appear late afternoon and it will thicken through the evening. The snow will start after midnight but it could well be rain to 2400m, the level will drop slowly to 1800m by tea time Friday. It will be blowing hard all day and be thoroughly miserable in the villages, the high lifts will be closed. But high up there may well be 15cm or so of snow! Tuesday will be much cooler and the snow will fall all day, not too heavy at the moment, another 10-15cm. But the winds will blow closing lifts and causing havoc for the pisteurs, a slow start. But the winds around the village shouldn't be too bad that all lifts will be shut. Wednesday - a bit vague, best guess light snow showers and a strong breeze.

Okey-dokey, lets start with the roads over here, not busy and black!
For the fliers, over here there shouldn't be any problems, just a small chance of mist at Chambery which will have blown away by the first flights arrival anyway.

Now the UK, this prognosis is based on the 1100UTC forecasts and are only valid until 1200 UTC tomorrow, there are going to be delays and potentially cancellations. BA are already allowing free transfers to today or next week, Easy and jet2 are planning to run a full schedule but warn of delays. There is a lot of science behind this but the wind direction only needs to go up and down by a few knots or change direction by 20 degrees and it can make all the difference. Of course, it is easier at the quieter airports as they can absorb delays as they are not working to capacity Additionally, if the showers are heavy and braking action is less than good for the aircraft than the crosswind limits drop, so no promises but airport by airport here we go:

Birmingham: Looks like being OK for most of the time, but a slim chance of a heavy shower when crosswinds would stop flying.
Bristol: On or close to crosswind limits all morning except in large showers when there will be a wait for them to clear (gusts to 55 knots).
Edinburgh: should be OK (runway into wind) the odd gust may cause excitement as the winds build towards lunchtime.
Gatwick: At or very close to crosswind limits from early doors, getting worse in showers. Delays and cancellations almost inevitable. The wind swings towards the runway direction in the afternoon but 60 kt showers in the gusts would preclude ground handling.
Glasgow: bumpy but flyable until at least lunchtime.
Heathrow: Close to crosswind limits all day, beyond limits in gusts and showers. 65 knots possible in the afternoon. Expect cancellations tonight to facilitate some kind of management of flow. Wouldn't be surprised if its virtually shutdown, they will protect longhaul over shorthaul.
Leeds: Close to limits all day, outside limits in showers, expect delays.
London City: no forecast as its shut till lunchtime. But if its anything like the Heathrow or Gatwick forecast, then little or no chance as all aircraft are limited to a 25 kt crosswind as the runway is narrow.
Luton: Currently some flying will go on. But max gusts in the morning may reach wind limit rather than crosswind limits, delays certainly.
Manchester: Outside any big showers should be just about doable, getting better in the afternoon as the wind swings round from the south towards the runway direction.
Newcastle: Mostly OK outside the big showers.
Stansted: The wind will be down the runway, so OK there. But it may get close to overall limits especially in the afternoon.

Good Luck

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@chocksaway, many thanks. Good luck everyone flying tomorrow.

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Thanks for your weather advice this week Chocksaway.

Our Grenoble Manchester flight was bumpy today. Landed on the second attempt, with the Captain saying it was the worse conditions he had encountered in his 20yr career. He also said that he had thought hard about diverting to a different airport after the first attempt, but had decided that conditions were as bad / worse at the other UK airports.

Help!!

Tignes and The Espace Killy 2019/20 (Useful Links Page 1)

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