The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, I will probably never visit yr Manor, but still read every fascinating update. On.my view the best and most helpful thread EVER on SH, and that of saying something.

Don't get disheartened, wel love you.

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, can't express how much I have enjoyed and valued your posts on life and work in Val and Tignes. We're coming in two weeks, after three years of trying, and a big choice of venue for our kids first time, and our return to, skiing was a combination of your insight and a friends recommendation. So, in a nice way, it's all your fault Very Happy

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

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@Steve Angus, as with others I appreciate and enjoy tuning into this blog.

I wouldn't sweat a couple of folks having a bitch though I know it's not easy. I've always thought you've kept things anonymous and positive enough.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Steve Angus, another one here who always takes the time to read your posts - a wonderful and genuine insight into a life that many of us would love to have had the guts (and skills!) to try. I've been to EK twice this season and have often used your posts as a reference point for conditions, where to go etc. Please keep them coming.

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

@Steve Angus, another reader of your posts most days. Love hearing about the conditions as you find them and also the juggling of family life especially on the days when you are both working. Please don’t be discouraged.

After all it is free

Minion1980 - thanks so much. Appreciate. Hope you sorted the binding issue!
lynnecha - thanks - yes ill drop you a message - that would be lovely! Also thanks for your kind words on the blog - glad its your happiest minute of the day! Also agreed it really is a nice community it really is - thats what makes it just that! Its good just logging on here and there - amazing!
Grinning - that makes me grin too! Yea I know blind sided me too. I intend to get back on it for sure!
Jehu - thanks - will do!
Frosty the Snowman - thanks that really makes me smile and especially when you are never likely to ever come this way! Appreciated!
Axe - ah cool glad this blog might just have persuaded you a tiny little bit. Awesome!
franga - again thanks ever so much.... I do try ever so hard to get it right and whilst its a lot of work getting all these nice comments makes it worthwhile! Ill take those kind words about me and my teaching - amazing! Thanks so much!
Layne / Iski - thats really +ve - yes certainly keep it anonymous and +ve is the name of the game
rainman - ah thats cool to know - I like to know people take my words to help guide them! Im excited to hear another lurker reader - amazing!
Pamski - amazing - another one - really smiling now!
Hurtle - ah good old Hurtle - cheers so much.... EoSB??????

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@Steve Angus, hope we’ll all still be enjoying your thread long after any sideline snipers have disappeared. snowHead

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snow reports

Back in the game

Monday morning saw the usual battle trying to get the kids out of bed in the first place but we got there... with Bens teacher out of action for the day I got him to Village and then headed for my morning lesson. Meanwhile Clare is still on her run of full day bookings! So after dropping Ben off and Olivia off to school (she is so tired and with cross country skiing on the school curriculum today as well as gymnastics afterwards she was always going to have a long day!) it was onto to my first session.

Extended family friends of Clares and it was time to get the confidence levels picked back up so we headed up Solaise to get the better terrain for what I wanted to achieve. First thing I noted was that we had about 5cm of fresh snow up top (about 1cm down in town!) and with the wind blowing slightly in pockets it was much deeper some places but mainly it meant the snow on the piste was lovely and soft and fun to play with!

Anyway we had a really decent morning but the numbers of people trying to ski the Glacier Express was pretty crazy! After a few laps up there we then moved on to doing some laps of Datcha before finishing with a descent down Solaise which was very successful so all in all a really successful morning!

After the initial veil of thin clouds and the breeze which had made it a little chilly first thing it was nice when the sun was trying to break through as the morning progressed and it was feeling warmer! Amazing!

I once again took lunch under the Sun Bar before gearing up for a similar lesson plan as the morning but this time decided that the terrain on Olympic would be more useful! By the afternoon of course with things warming up / with the fresh snow it was getting a little choppy in places! In some places moguls were forming too. Anyway we broke things down nicely into simple steps and it was great to see that despite only a few weeks worth of skiing the core basic skiing skills were really really strong - most impressed! As we have a second session coming up, today we kept it pretty simple terrain wise before we up the ante onto reds next time.

I collected Ben (Clare was to head to get Olivia from town after her gymnastics) from Village and then headed home. It was rather crazy with a tired Ben and Olivia but we managed to get them both into bed at a decent time thankfully - phew!

Yes in other news as had been reported elsewhere Tom Daley was in town last week (British gold medal diver) - I originally had heard this from Clare as she realised she was sat next to him on a chair but there was some decent video footage that emerged of him at Cocorico last week - good old Daily Mail coming up with this !!!!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10602855/amp/Tom-Daley-PANTS-pulled-overexcited-fan-crowd-surfing-France.html

The weather for the next few days should be similar to what it was today I think - a mix of some wind (not strong), sun and cloud but this should keep the snow excellent right the way through to the start of the Easter hols! Yippee!

The snow at resort level is definitely starting to turn but only just - its good!

Forget this amazing icicle Ben found hanging from the roof in the underground parking where we keep our car - AMAZING - its like a truncheon and about 50cm long but its the layers within it I found particularly cool.

Only in Val d would you have a winch point atop a green run!!!!!!

If you have no idea what I am talking about then some slopes need a special basher with a winch on the top like in this photo!

Smile you're on camera!

I'm another who loves your thread @Steve Angus read it most days and very appreciative of your tales of life in the Alps. I know from here how tough life has been for you guys over the last couple of years, and as the clouds lift you don't need idiots bringing you down. Ignore them and onwards!

Finally on my way out there tomorrow morning for a short-ish break and can't bloody wait! Sorry i couldn't convince my wife on booking the lesson we spoke about privately this time, but glad it sounds like you're pretty much booked up whilst we are there anyway. But I think next time we will definitely be looking for lesson with you.

You know it makes sense.

i love also your thread...keep "walking"
i will be probably with the family in the week 16-23 April.
Unfortunately you will not be there, otherwise i would love to come and say hello (or buy you a beer if you want)
For lessons it is not possible unless you can also offer snowboard lessons Blush

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

@Steve Angus,

A snowHead

There’s trolls in every business Steve. Just ignore them. Your posts are always positive and a joy to read.

Seeing all of the other people who have now tested positive for Covid, we wonder if that’s what we had. We tested negative but that’s not always 100% accurate. It floored us and we still have reduced lung capacity.

Good to see the difference a small bit of fresh snow has made. More coming this week too. Only here for another 9 days so loads of catching up to do for our list days.

A snowHead

@Steve Angus,

Remember:-
'Them that can do seasons do them. Them that can't tend to have a mighty chip on their shoulder about it.'

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

I scooted by Sun Bar yesterday but couldn’t spot you. Should be back over that way tomorrow, if I can spot you a pint is on me.

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Just read your earlier post re the miserable idiots who like to cause trouble. Thankfully yours is one of the most positive and informative threads on SHs. I read it regularly even though we are now “officially” 3V based. Btw- thanks for your advice re traffic for Sat 26th Feb. We escaped at lunchtime on the Friday, did our usual manic non stop (save loo, fuel and dog piddles), got to St M at 1.30am and felt very pleased with ourselves, particularly as we got to ski on the Saturday rather than sit in horrendous traffic jams!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

dunc999 - thanks so much. Yes it has been mighty tricky but I will ignore and carry on - thank you! Thats fine re persuading the other half to have a lesson - yes pretty full up much of the time - so can't complain really can I!!!!
turms2 - thanks - indeed I shall! Snowboard lessons - yes I teach snowboarding too! But yes I am away at the EoSB (End of Season Bash) those dates I am afraid. Try Steph Weihe at Pro Snowboarding for lessons then!
Hurtle - excellent see you there. I think I am as excited as everyone else as I'm 'going on a ski holiday' that week - thats what it feels like even though its work its a change of scenery etc! Yippee!
bar shaker - thats really +ve kind words - yes I guess so! Blimey yes does sound like you had 'it'. Yes the snow was pretty heavy etc today but it'll dry out overnight and make for better conditions tomorrow both on and off piste!
Kenzie - I like that saying - is that yours?
raino - how very kind - a pint at lunchtime - I try and stay off the source when in uniform. All good!
Perty - thanks so much - makes me happy. Also glad the traffic advice worked out - a slog but for extra skiing can only be worth it really eh!

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Sahara

We woke to a little fresh snow on the ground but much warmer +ve temps which overnight into the morning is surprising. Anyway it was pretty grey and cloudy start to the day (as it turned out the cloud base at circa 3000m never really deteriorated too badly and actually dissipated totally leaving blue skies by the end of the day!). Olivia and Ben were off on the bus and then I headed over the road to meet the team.

No usernames but I met my team over the road in La Daille and we headed up. I was pleasantly surprised how much snow there was - a good 10cm BUT it was JOLLY heavy at that. So the plan for the morning was to work on dealing with the chop in short turns and our journey took us on the Johan Clarey piste as well as a lap into Val Claret. Later on as it got more bumpy we also descended Fontaine Froid a few times. They pointed out that it was nice to be pushed outside their normal comfort zone and the snow / terrain did that nicely. The weather was generally OK but the snow was sticky and that makes legs tired so the slopes were certainly quieter in the afternoon than the morning!

The other big thing to note and the elephant in the room was the Saharan sand... the Foehn wind had whipped so much into the atmosphere that as soon as the clouds dropped their load in the form of snow the sand came with it... so everywhere had a tint of yellow about it today! We always seem to get it about once a season and today was that day. The yellow sand tinge colour should stay around until we get another dump of snow - whenever that might be!

The snow was so sticky and I had just been saying to my team in the am about how you need to be strong in the stomach muscles and power through snow like that and not let it throw you about when I head to eat my words - quite literally! Going down the Johan Clarey piste one of my skis literally stopped totally dead in the snow and I went head over heels - doh - somewhat embarrassing just as I was about to warn them!

I took lunch under the Sun Bar as usual and then headed out for the pm session and it was the same as yesterday pm but the plan was to push the boundaries a little more and mainly develop some pole planting as well as dealing with moguls. I think by the end of the lesson she was somewhat chuffed when she came down her first red run and in tricky conditions too - good on ya!

After skiing I collected the kids and we headed to the Ducs de Savoie Esprit chalet hotel in town and Clare met us there. It is Clares cousins and their kids staying there on holiday at the moment so we had a fun hour or so playing (well the kids did whilst the adults chatted) and ate some yummy cake etc before heading back to do the usual evening routine with the kids and into bed. And you guessed it here I am once again!

In other news one of the motors for the Olympic lift is having some problems which means they cannot run the lift either at full speed at the moment or with cabins at full capacity so that is causing some queues at the moment! Don't know how long that problem with last for but its worth bearing in mind especially if you are (for example) racing to get back to Tignes at say 1600!!! The queues were well out the door at that time. It works the other way as the queue to download at lunchtime was out the door at the top too - again I have NEVER seen that happen before! I think it is already fixed but the Mont Blanc lift was having issues today too!

Finally I wanted to address the point about masks and wearing etc. I think I mentioned the other day that masks ARE still needed in enclosed lifts AND the buses around town at the moment but I have also said that I plan to wear a mask as much as possible and the simple reason for this is nothing to do with catching 'it' and dieing or anything but the status that people come from 4 corners of the earth on holiday AND let their guard down and totally intermix... either way IF I was at all unwell it would mean taking time off work - this means a loss of income (as self employed persons) letting people down on their holiday (imagine a beginner can no longer learn to ski as the instructor is off work) or possible a child cannot have their lesson so stuffs up the parents plan and if that parent had lessons with another instructor etc that shafts them too. Also since the season is only a few months long a lost day in the Winter is a BIG deal So either way I just want to feel fit and healthy for all the reasons above!

Anyway tired so off to bed.

TTFN

Johan Clarey piste

The yellow tinge is hard to see but it is most definitely there!

Smile....

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

@Steve Angus, another regular here - best blog on the internet, never mind just snowHeads! Ignore the idiots. This unattributed quotation seems appropriate: "There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict. Walk away; the battle they are fighting isn’t with you, it is with themselves."

Can't be too careful on the covid front. Just got back from a week in Pas De La Casa; despite being careful, wearing masks and sanitising etc, 4 of our party of 8 now have symptoms and have tested positive. Be careful out there folks!

After all it is free

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Keep up the reports @Steve Angus - stuff the idiots!

I am a regular reader and always appreciate the answers to any daft questions I submit !

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Steve Angus,

Feel free to use the saying. And how many times a season do you hear a version of:-
"I'd love to do a season BUT ...."?

Yellow snow:-
https://www.facebook.com/Meteo.Haute.Savoie/videos/3161921364079709

snow reports

@Kenzie, that video! Shocked

Is Avoriaz French for Mars?

You know it makes sense.

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

moosepig - thanks! yes those are good words. Blimey re testing +ve - hope you feel better soon! Yes some of the pics of the yellow snow is pretty crazy eh!
Subseaeng / Ricky B - thank you!
sheffskibod - will do. Keep up the daft questioning.!!
Kenzie - haha very good! The most common question BY FAR though is "what do you do in the Summer"
Cymro66 - thank you so much!
Minion1980 - Thats awesome news yes! Yea I know the weather is all over the place! Hopefully more settled tomorrow!

A snowHead

Hot

The kids were somewhat tricky to get out of bed this morning - roll on the end of the season and they can truly rest up!

Anyway I had the job of getting Olivia to club this morning which is always a bit of a moan from her with the walking required from the bus stop but anyway she was dropped on time. What I noticed as I then walked to the meeting point was that it was hazy but also the sun was trying to break through. The main thing though was the warm temps! I met my lady as I had had the other morning and the plan was to take her from where we had gotten too (blue runs and ramp it up onto red runs by the end of the session). So we did some work up Bellevarde and what I found amazing was how busy it was up there - haven't seen lift queues and that number of people up there for quite a while. We did a decent number of laps of Fontaine Froide too and I was about to test her down the top part of the OK Orange but then realised that Marmotte was having issues and had been shut so we changed tact. Ultimately we did a lap on the black at the bottom of Solaise from the Rogoney lift (Combe Martin) and it was nice to finish on a high!

The snow quality was much better today overall but you can see the yellow sand about still though!

Talking of the Marmottes lift it does look like there are serious problem after the Marmottes had problems today so it will be shut for about 2 days my sources are telling me.... in a nutshell try and avoid the area like a plague!

At lunchtime it was really lovely to catch up with lynnecha and her husband at the Sun Bar. Sitting in the sun was so nice chatting and catching up! Hope to see them back in town before too long again! Good ski guys! Before too long it was time to head for my pm session.

The afternoon was totally different to the morning in that I had a guy from the home counties who had only done a few days skiing and lessons over the last few years but was on the cusp between ready for the magic carpet and the Madelaine lift! So we did plenty of laps on the magic carpet developing some skills and he was definitely ready for the Madelaine. All in all he did really well up there but I think tired legs got the better of him after a couple of falls.

Anyway it was a good afternoon and I ended up taking 2 layers off during the course of the afternoon - phew it was hot!

I collected Ben (I had seen Olivia skiing on the mountain with her club in the morning and having lots of fun - hitting the jumps in the park and all sorts - go girl) after his ski lesson and his day with his little group of skiers and then got the kids home! We made a concerted effort to get the kids fed, showered and into bed in good time.

Tomorrow will be different again and I am teaching a young child as a beginner - first time this season. Should be fun hopefully!

TTFN

Before Marmottes broke down.

P.S. The Olympic I think is back to normal again - but dont quote me on that - I just 'think' so.

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, do you know what caused the snow to be so sticky yesterday? We were in Les Arcs and found our skis wouldn't run over the snow at all.

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

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@Steve Angus, seem to be quite a few lift issues across the EK just lately, does this seem worse than a normal season?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Steve Angus, great to catch up this lunchtime. We managed to avoid most of the chaos resulting from various lift closures- and we seem to chase the crowds away on Glacier Express so we had it nearly to ourselves. Hope the rest of the season continues to go well for you and the family.

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After all it is free

Speaking of breakdowns, watching a rescue from the centre of Tignes right now from Almes lift, people stuck both going up and going down, pisteur sat on top of a pylon. Have photos but not sure how to upload!

Could be an exercise, the people on the up and down sides just seem to be too perfectly lined up! Impressive to watch.

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Looks like an exercise to me, I can see it from my window, there was nothing going on at 5. Even the victims seem to be in uniform.

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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