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

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

raino / chocksaway - yea exercise for sure! But it is very impressive when they practice the work. Over here in Val when they practice out the Olympic lift - usually in about November - now that is impressive!

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Hot and sweaty

The kids were on top form this morning and I almost assumed that they had been cloned overnight. What a nice surprise. We were sorted nice and early and it made for a relaxed start to the day.

I headed into town and I was meeting at Oxygene ski school meeting point (slighty awkward!) as the client had other children skiing with them but I was tasked with taking the newest member of the family for a private today and tomorrow of a young lad of 6 on his first ever ski holiday! Yup time to get the next generation into the sport - bring it on. It is the first time this season I think I have taught a beginner kid - feels a long time ago since I did that.

Anyway after doing the introductory activities etc we headed up the Solaise (I had explained to the mother that if she wanted to save some € that we could work on the savonnettes instead as its free but she was happy to get a pass for the Solaise!) and worked up there. It was HOT work even though the sun wasnt shining as such - the veil of clouds is keeping the heat in and even overnight there was no freeze and I doubt there will be a freeze tonight either (on an aside it is going to make the off piste tomorrow afternoon tricky I'm doing!!).

Anyway for a first lesson it was pretty successful - more tomorrow and hopefully we can get turning etc on the short magic carpet as a goal - we shall see!

I tired him out so we ended up finishing a few minutes early... so that gave me a few more minutes to chill (and cool down) under the Sun Bar before the afternoon session.

The afternoon was a lovely lady out here for a few weeks holiday who had a small knee injury and a little cautious / fearful..... seems to be a lot of that this season! Anyway we had to be a little inventive as Marmottes lift is still out of order - should be fixed by tomorrow in selecting our terrain so we did a mix of green and blues and really got into psychology of the sport and breaking the cycle of negativity and replacing it with a cycle of positivity - anyone that has ever skied with me has probably heard me talk about that! Anyway we finished in La Daille and ill be seeing her again next week to move 'onwards and upwards'.

The kids were again in good spirits after school so all in all it has been a good day with the family - few.

This weekend (in case I forget to say) we have a VERY old friend of Clares staying with us along with his 2 kids... it will be a crowded flat for a the weekend but Bob is such a nice guy that I am looking forward to having him here. He doesn't have a wad of cash hence he is staying with us - so that means if I am not posting as much / long etc you will know why.

Also in other news 5 Ukranian kids started at school here today. One of them speaks (slightly older) some English and they are all being kept in one class together irrespective of age. However I am proud of the town (and the kids in this case) for lending a hand to some 17 Ukrainians in total here in Val that are being accommodated!

TTFN

P.S. The STVI are really starting to reflect a return in numbers of holiday makers and the resort this Spring seems to be getting busier and busier so after the slow start to the season the resort is now within 10% of where is would have expected to be and the gap is closing little by little!

Very weird thick warm veil of clouds about at the moment... never gets better or worse than this - its strange

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Had a great day back on snow for the first time in 2 years yesterday! Slopes are in great nick even with the warm weather!

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

Well that must have been the hardest off piste session of my life!

The kids this morning were awake (and arguing) FAR too early! I think Ben woke up went to the loo and then that woke Olivia, she then went to the loo after him and he then thought we were up so came into the corridor and that in turn meant he thought she was up for a play (she wasnt) and it went from there. So queue us all up and about WAY too early! It did mean that we were ahead of schedule and Clare was doing housework far too early!

Anyway I was able to pop to Chevallot on the way to work and get my lunch bought.... the main chevallot had a HUGE queue so I carried on walking to the other one.

I met up with my young lad from yesterday and his mum and I headed straight up to the magic carpet on Solaise and got going. The snow was perfect for developing his skills and he did so well.... amazing what a rest and a special breakfast can set you up for! A quick break in the middle of the session was all that was needed and by the end of the session he was pretty happily turning left and right and going through the hoops etc.

One thing that was the usual worrying sign up there was friends trying to teach friends.... sometimes as an instructor you just see mind blowing madness and sometimes you turn your head the other way and other times just roll your eyes... today there was a couple of young 20's from France teaching their friend... either the young lady concerned was going to get taken off the mountain in a sled or someone else will - that is the bit that annoys me - ignorance is bliss though! You can see it coming a mile off. Luckily we were long gone before she was in trouble!

I collected off piste packs from the office at lunch then came back to the meeting point to enjoy my lunch in the sun! For the first time ever I was disappointed with my lunch - the Fougasse was a little stale - doh! However on the flip side the Delice des Neige was on top form!

Lunchtime over and I met my team of seasonnaires - a new ad hoc group for a one off session off piste. I knew that it was always going to be a really tricky session but it was that and more. Without the clear nights and therefore the melt breeze cycle you can't really get Spring conditions at this time of the year which we dont have at the moment! Furthermore the clouds and humidity as well as lack of a freeze to any great extent even at the top of the hill was always going to be problematic and further to that the vis was not awesome.... decisions, decisions!

Alas Spatule was OK at the top but as soon as you hit the tree line it was rotten.... Cairn was similar but the traverse in was so bad that the pisteurs told me to drop in the lower half instead from below the Olympique.... so that was OK.... The ski down was OK BUT by the time we got close to the tree line it went awful so getting back to the Face was not good. I then changed plan and wanted to go high and that meant north and high and the Grand Vallon. On the way there we watched the pisteurs (as we were riding the Laisenant Express) cutting and purging the slopes of the Danaides down into the L.... The L was closed (like Santons and is usually the case at this time of the year from about lunchtime onwards!) of course. They only needed to stand on the slopes convex point and it was dropping off - the amount of snow coming down was impressive. They even had to shut the Face temporarily mid afternoon to do section of that too!

Sorry back on topic....

Grand Vallon was - well how can I say - educational.... chop refrozen and not softened yet for most of the descent and then there was about 20m where it was perfect before getting into rotten snow. DOH!

So all in all and having done this job for about 20 years now I would say that that was the hardest off piste session of my life! HOWEVER the seasonnaires loved the adventures which was the main thing!

I dropped the packs then headed home and it has been a chilled evening - Ben got back from his swimming lesson quite late but apart from that it has been a relaxed evening!

Tomorrow Clare is working and I will be ic getting Olivia to and from club and I am not sure what I am going to do with Ben but we shall see! We have our friends arriving tomorrow evening so not sure what time ill get to post and how detailed it will be - we shall see.

At least the weather is going to improve into decent melt freeze cycle from about Monday onwards this week! Yay!

TTFN

Grand Vallon ready to go!

After all it is free

Time to start packing!! Flight is 0740 in the morning, it's going to be a tiring day..

Cannot WAIT to be back in Val again, hopefully see you around Steve.

PS I don't understand how anyone could be upset/offended by your posts, they are full of so much great info and they're a fun insight into working as an instructor in a resort and living there. You're careful not to identify anyone, and you're never critical of anyone who might read it! So just ignore the haters and snowflakes and carry on - all the regulars love this thread.

Val Dizzle here we come!! I've waited four long years for this.

HoneyBunny - woohoo nearly time! Bring it on. Ill be around so you never know!

Thanks so much re your comments - I know!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Changes

It wasnt the most manic start to the day so that was nice... with the kids eating their breakfast I caught up a few jobs then with Clare off to work and taking Olivia to club, Ben and I had a chilled while. Plans changed somewhat as Bens bestie only wanted to do something (swimming) if Ben came so he went to do that whilst his mum had to drive a friend who was let down by the transfer company from Tignes to Geneva - she got pretty bad traffic as you can imagine - see the photo below.

I collected Olivia from club and it was go, go, go getting her home and turned around for lunch and back out for snowboarding a couple of hours later! At least Ben was away for lunch eh! So Olivia and I had a lovely eat (her favourite of toasted cheese and ham and tomato sandwiches!) and we watched plenty of ski racing. She was VERY happy as she had passed her gold award this morning on her skis! Yay - go girl.

Anyway after taking Olivia back to snowboard with club I picked Ben up and we walked home and had a fun couple of hours before a very old friend of Clares arrived with his 2 kids to stay with us for a few nights. All hell broke loose for the evening - sorting everything from beds to dinner etc! I also had to sharpen and wax Olivia's ski as she has a ski race tomorrow.

Apart from that my mind is a little bit of a haze. Of course much of the evening has had the rugby on as a back ground so that is fun! Come on England! oh should I say that. haha!

Tomorrow Olivia has her race.... I am off and Clare is skiing with her friend and I will most likely join them at some point!

TTFN

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

They need to build a bigger road! Almost missed my flight today and my coach was booked 7 hours prior to departure time. With all the extra accommodation built in the Tarentaise resorts in the past decade the infrastructure also needs upgrading as that photo shows.

snow reports

I thought “ bloody hell Steve’s done his report early”. Then I realised I am in New York! Good chat with a mate tonight who skied in val in the 70’s and some seeds being sown for a Utah / Colorado trip.

Sadly we had to leave a day early (due to children picking up a stomach bug), but at least we missed the traffic. Having been caught in the Tarentaise traffic more than once (Bourg to Moutiers 4 hours in 2012, Geneva to Menuires 11! Hours on a very snowy Dec 30 2017), one of the great bits of advice I picked up from here is to check the special weekend traffic reports/ predictions on Tignes.net and change travel times (arrival and departure) accordingly.

You know it makes sense.

Well I have been here all week but too busy to post.
Another fab week second one this season in Val but boy was it warm.

Certainly alot warmer than our opening week trip.

Looks to be warm again next week and certainly need some new snow.

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

Wow the weather is amazing. Temps are now much colder at night and the pistes are mint, as a result. Had a great tour of Tignes yesterday, followed by Quiches at at Ouiliette for lunch. We’ve got very brown faces!

Watched the rugby in PD’s with hundreds of fans from both ENG and FRA. Well done France, a well deserved win.

We had an amazing meal at La Refuge on Friday. Well worth the experience if you get the chance.

Forget the excuses for not doing a season. We now starting our 4th week and we head home on Weds. not quite a season but the best thing ce ever done. Find a reason to do a long trip, you will live it… especially if it’s in Val.

A snowHead

Minion1980 - 'yes' but for 99% of the year the road is plenty. Also with people complaining about environmental concerned / crowded slopes etc etc there is a school of thought that it would lead to more problems not less potentially! However (its NOT an ideal solution) leaving / arriving really early / as applicable etc is the way around this but the issue is that people (for arguments sake leaving at 0500 in the morning) arrive hours and and hours and hours early for their flight / accommodation.... so instead leave a couple of hours later and get caught in the traffic they have been trying to avoid). So to avoid this all further tour ops and hotels etc go for Sunday / Sunday rather than just Sat - Sat stay options which helps alleviate the issue... OR do long weekends etc. However the issue is that pushes prices UP and people want prices pushed down.... so ultimately to make prices as competitive as possible Saturday / Saturday rules the waves (charter airlines quite like that way). Its complicated!
endoman - haha enjoy the Big Apple
raino - yes things like that are good - following the official Twitter feed etc are usual.
harvsurrey - that sounds like a good position to be in - being too busy - awesome! Yes it was a hot week thats for sure.
bar shaker - Indeed we are back in the melt / freeze cycle once again - awesome! Thats good to hear the reports re La Refuge - top work!

A snowHead

Nice to be on the board

I thought the kids excitement would have them up mega early this morning but all in all 0700 I thought was a decent time for a Sunday morning. Anyway everyone including our guests had slept well. It was like feeding time at the zoo with baguettes and nutella everywhere - haha!

I got Olivia to the meeting point for her morning at club - it was her big day - her flèche race. Whilst Clare took our guests and Ben out for a ski I ran an errand in town and then at home did the laundry and did the washing up etc - house husband... but of course every cloud and all that as I could have the ski racing on in the background which was good to see.... even though it wasnt to be Dave R's day (I thought he could have had a really good one what with a bib no of 1 in those soft conditions!). I also got to pop over the road to see Olivia's ski race. I was very excited as she had bib no 1 too.... but for some unknown reason they went in reverse bib order which meant in effect she had bib no 72 - doh. Anyway I was a proud Dad watching her race down the Raye into La Daille. Bearing in mind the openers were in the low 40 second mark I thought for a year 7 old 58 secs was pretty darn good - good on her.

Anyway we still dont have the results so I dont know if she got it or not. Should find out tomorrow. What I do know however was that there was a nasty crash (should have been avoided) whereby one of the little ones finished the race and sped at decent speed out onto the piste in order to stop at the end of the red safety netting and in doing so zooming right across at high speed in front of a member of the public coming down at high speed under the gondola..... cutting a long story short the big guy broke his shoulder blade and snapped his pole in half whilst the little person concerned might have broken her nose - poor thing! All a silly little accident and if the netting had been better set up that would not have happened as the racers would have been forced to slow down to exit the finish area...

Whilst the kids got some more skiing in with club and Clare was up with the others I headed home to change into my gear, grabbed my board (might be the last time this season I am on my board so thought why not!), grabbed Olivia when she finished with Club and then we headed up for a lap all of us together. It was amazing seeing how much Olivia's skiing has come on - I was blown away! She is on the edge so much and really ripping the angles over - awesome to see! So we all stopped for lunch at the Marmottes.... that place really is amazing value.... so 2 little kids, 2 teens, 3 adults (from food amounts point of view) and according soft drinks all came to less than €100 - I really think that is good value eh!

So after one more run Clare, myself and the kids came home for a chilled afternoon of snoozes (all of us did a little of that), watching a movie and generally charging the batteries for tomorrow and the week(s) ahead. Today was my last day 'off' until the end of the season so only a about 30 days in a row now in boots - wowsers!

I made dinner, did bath time etc and now the little kids are in bed and tomorrow we start a whole new week. I think it is going to be chaos in the morning with the kids to get up and out and on the bus and Clare and I to get ready and out the door and off to work! Anyway we shall see... it'll be chaos in the evening as well but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Weather wise we are now well and truly into Spring conditions and it should be a warm and sunny week.

TTFN

(Val Pisteurs pic!)

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

Quick parking question. If I book into one of the Val long term car parks Saturday 2 to Saturday 9 April can I leave and return to the car park during the week using the same QR code. Reason for asking is that we are likely to to arrive early on the Saturday morning and want to ski but probably can't check into the apartment until much later in the day and ideally I would like to drive all our luggage round to our apartment after we have skied. But I don't want to find I can't get back into the car park!!

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I was too nervous to try last week... but what I CAN say is that the carpark recognised my UK numberplate on day1 entry and day8 exit, and I didn't need to use the QR code at all (even though I'd printed it out to be on the safeside)

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

stevios - Im pretty sure you will be fine yes... as jamescollings says the car park recognises number plates and should be just fine! We have seasonal parking naturally and we can come and go just fine! But dont quote me on that!

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Magic carpets rule

The start to the day was not as chaotic as I had initially thought it would be.... our guests kept themselves to themselves as Clare and I rushed around getting the kids ready for school and sorted with breakfast etc.... hot work! Anyway it all went according to plan thankfully and then I was on the bus myself to the meeting point.

For the am I had a session with 3 people from London but originally and individually they are from different countries (UK, USA and Italy originally). Having had a session yesterday with a colleague I had a good handover and was aware of where they were at. They were at differing levels so the plan was to have an hour and a half with 2 / 1 of them. I took the slightly stronger ones initially and we worked on the magic carpet to get things going but one of the guys had obviously been practicing something strange from what he was told yesterday so I had to change that quickly. Anyway after a while we were ready to pop up the Madelaine and do a lap. Thankfully that went well and we did a second lap which went even better. After that I worked with the slightly weaker of the team and we got some really nice turns happening on the magic carpet before we ran out of time.

I headed to town for lunch and wandered over to see the results of the flèche race yesterday and to see some of the time... unfortunately Olivia was just a tiny bit short of the time but crucially she is getting some really solid times. Some of her team mates got some eye waveringly good runs in - good for them!

Anyway after lunch under the Sun Bar (I like sheltering from the intensity of the Sun when you are in it all day otherwise!) I met my afternoon session and again a couple of ladies battered about confidence wise but ready with smiles on their faces to get stuck back in. We headed up Solaise again and after they scoped out the double / big / long magic carpet they decided it was a little too much to take on for their first run (poor things had been dragged down blue runs by 'well meaning' friends and family yesterday) so we headed to the short 'kids' carpet side and did some runs on there. Little by little their confidence grew and we headed over to the long carpet and ultimately I was super impressed that they plucked up the courage to do the carpet without me leading them down which means they should be able to practice a little tomorrow morning before they have another session with a colleague tomorrow afternoon and finally I will take them once again later in the week. I would hope that by the end of the final session on Thursday they might be good to come down the Madelaine with me - that would be the ideal goal - time will tell!

So this evening it was the usual Ben off the school bus, Clare got Olivia from gymnastics and our guests went sledging and are now out for dinner!

Otherwise the weather is going to continue to be warm and sunny for the foreseeable future! What a strange Winter it has been - apart from February it has been generally warm and sunny all Winter!

Anyway tomorrow I have more blue and red run lesson type skiing I think. Our guests are leaving tomorrow afternoon so we will have the house back and our kids can get back in their own beds rather than share a bedroom but it has been a nice few days having then here!

TTFN

Still plenty of snow even down low!

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

After all it is free

Back home now after a wonderful long (Wed-Mon) long weekend back in Val. We are lucky to be able to be flexible, as travelling out of the weekend rush definitely seems to be the way forward, had flawless transfers to GVA both ways.

The pistes are really in good nick, despite the warmth (it was glorious over the weekend!) and were all we needed as my wife is a very nervous skier having has a previous ACL snap. She skied really well though, progressing from Village to Madeleine and then all of the green triangle, with Grand Pre being her favourite. We did have one nasty, lumpy pitch down to La Daille gondola on Thursday with Marmottes not running (my fault for not checking at the top).

Just skied with her days 1 and 2 until 1:30-2pm and got back into the swing of it, working on form and technique, then Sat and Sun we got a routine where we'd finish with 3 laps of Madeleine, I put her back on Solaise to download and she headed for the hotel spa, and I had a couple of hours on Glacier Express & over the top to the Glacier and Fornet, skiing down both times (once M, which certainly got my thighs burning and once to Le Fornet - no fun at all really!) In hindsight I think she agreed a joint lesson with Steve would have been a good thing - so definitely next time!!

Enjoyed the rugby in Le Petit Danois, atmosphere was great. Can't wait for next time, it really is a resort that delivers on every front IMHO!

PieterG - excellent - yes thanks for re-confirming what I thought!
dunc999 - Excellent - glad your trip was good! Sounds like you approached the skiing and routes in a very sensible and sensitive way. It also sounds excellent the timing of your days with the downloading on the Solaise - well done. I just wish EVERYONE would think sensibly like that! It also sounds like you got your fun time in too - so everyone is happy! Indeed 'next time' - look me up - haha! Glad you enjoyed everything on all fronts - awesome news!

Satisying

The same this morning as yesterday morning getting the kids up and sorted and out the door - getting the swing of things and that was followed by Clare and I saying goodbye to our guests for the last few nights as they got ready and headed out for their final morning of skiing before getting in the hire car and heading home. So it was nice having them with us but also will be nice to have some space at home again (AND the kids back in their proper beds).

Anyway I headed off to work and I had a really nice guy this morning who really was quite modest about his abilities. We initially worked on his short turns and I targeted Fontaine Froid as it is south facing and wanted to get it as the snow was turning to get the best possible conditions - incredibly it didnt really soften up much until much later in the morning as there was stiff breeze blowing all day so that would mean it never really heated up too much and baked the snow (not just the south facing slopes but all aspects).

I was most impressed with the changes made and the skills developed - made for easy teaching thats for sure! Later in the session as I thought the snow would have softened nicely (it hadn't) we headed for the Tommeuse bumps.... luckily he was a strong skier so it didnt matter too much that the bumps were far from 'slushy bumps' but nevertheless we had a good session working on his bumps (has been weeks since I last skied any bumps). I had thought that if we headed to the Rogoney and being at lower altitude we might get snow that had totally cut up and be slushy bumps but his legs were shot so we finished a few minutes early.

Lunch was a little chilly under the Sun Bar so I spent much of it in the sun outside instead before meeting my afternoon lesson which was the same lady as the other day.... lots of smiles and getting her mojo was the name of the game... basically hitting it off from where we were last week! Some green, blues and even down (slight more cut up but nothing too bad) Fontaine Froid was the name of the game. The confidence is returning and the smiles getting bigger. She is back for a fair few weeks next season so she is finishing on a high for this season!

I headed home and this evening has been the usual with the kids but they were tired so getting them settled was easy enough!

Tomorrow will be a very different day to today... off piste intro in the morning (lets hope the snow is turning early enough but I suspect it won't be) for 5 people and then in the afternoon there are 11 seasonnaires going for an intro to ski touring so me and a colleague are running that.

Gosh this is a varied job sometimes.

In other news the Summer season dates have been announced for this Summer - 25/6 - 28/8.... and a reminder there will be a new mini golf course on the snow front area (lets hope the Yule Hotel are not going to run it and it will costs about €10000000 a go!) - still talk also of the air bag by the pump track - not sure what exactly this is going to be but we shall see and then there will also be disc golf at laisenant (I wonder if this is going to be instead of the camp site there?!?!?!). The town are also saying the rentable electric scooters will also once again make a return!

The two photos for today are very different as you will see.... wanted to highlight some of the official closing dates for the various resort and to remind people that there is very much a month or so to go until the season ends in many European resorts - yes things are not mid Winter but everyone seems to think that because it is Spring now in the UK the season is 'over'.... there will be plenty of options and if you know how to work it lots of decent skiing and snowboarding still be to had.... of course the EoSB in VT will be in full swing in a few weeks time too!

The other photo is taken on the Stade Bonnivie this am... its not often you get to see just one track by one very high standard ski racer in slalom gates and be able to see the line they have taken... but they guy had just finished when I snapped this. What is notable is that much of the turn has happened before you get to the gate so that allows the speed to be carried to the next gate. Beginner racers make the mistake of charging direct to the gate and then put the brakes on AFTER they have gone past the gate - dont be one of them!!!!

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Is it just me, or is that a short summer season? I expect them normally to start around 2 weeks earlier and similarly finish in mid-September.

We would like to head out again at Easter, not least because our daughter will have finished University term and loves skiing. But quite apart from uncertainty over piste conditions the flights have been reduced and those remaining look expensive. We may have to accept a lesser break for her going walking somewhere in the UK ...

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@j b, Having done a few summers in Tignes it is normally wrapped up by the end of August. During my major renovations, which started in the first week of Sep, work had to revolve around getting to the one supermarket that was open for a couple of hours and its bread delivery of 30 baguettes.

@Steve Angus, Bit of a typo on Paradiski in that diagram! I suspect even the end of April will be a big challenge, for all but the highest villages, unless we have a major storm.

snow reports

Having an amazing time back in Val! Sunny but quite chilly. Pistes are very hard/scraped in places. Having a fairly chilled week on mostly blues and a few reds, giving the blacks a miss this year! I’ve not skied properly for four years and my creaky knees are feeling it.

Cocorico is back to its rocking best - although where are the flames!??

They’re not enforcing mask wearing anywhere and no covid passes are being checked.

I’m gutted I lost my brand new Sungod shades on the first day!! They’re black with green mirror lenses. Can’t imagine anyone would have handed them in. Guess I’ll have to claim on insurance Sad

You know it makes sense.

j b - because generally Val is NOT a destination in the Summer it relies on passing trade more than anything and there is only passing trade when the schools are out in July and August! On the point on 'uncertainty over piste conditions' - firstly the actual quality of snow is usually the same at this time of the year and the 'worry' about pistes becoming unskiable etc etc - well only the very lowest slopes are likely to become problematic and I think the reduction in skiable slopes might only be a couple of percent... so personally I think any worry is not likely to actually affect things on a practical point of view... unless skiing to the resort or off piste is your prime objective! Anyway hope you sort something and have fun!
chocksaway - excellent point yes! Yes it is a typo. I do think the lower slopes like Les Coches are going to have a big issue this Spring!
HoneyBunny - they are checking masks quite regularly on the buses its worth pointing out... living in La Daille I see lots of people being denied boarding if they are not wearing a mask and the Police do spot checks. OH NO re the Sungod shades - what a nightmare! The pistes should start softening up a little more now as the Foehn wind dies down!
Kenzie - I think the graphic really means the whole area open I think!

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

A Totally different day!

Its Wednesday which means getting the kids up and out the door not to school but to the kids clubs (Bens at the Rond Pont) and Olivia at school! I left mega early at 0800 as I had to drop Olivia at school and then walk to Snowberry to pick up packs! What a start to the day sorting that all out - was ready for a rest by the time I got to the meeting point and luckily I got just that because my guys were late!

So it was supposed to be a corporate group this morning of 5 people from London on a work trip. In the insurance industry they were! Anyway one guy was there on time but the news was broken that 2 of them could not come (potentially hung over I think).... so that meant immediately I needed to reshuffle and condense packs down - it always means that those who have packs on their backs are now carrying a pack in a pack! Anyway about 20 mins later another 2 showed up and lets say there was some hangovers floating about and potentially some people hadn't even got that far - hmmm who knows!

Anyway we finally got going and initially I looked for east facing slopes for this introduction to off piste session and we certainly had a nice little outing on some mellow slopes which woke the team up! Later I worked the south facing and adjusted my timings and orientation to southeast facing slopes and by about 1100 it was just right! They had a really nice morning and they left happy... so all in all a successful morning! One did admit to me though that when no one was looking at one point in time there was a tactical puke on the slope! Doh!

With all the off piste kit I sat in the sun for lunch and chilled for a wee while at our meeting point. This afternoon was a very different animal as it was myself and my colleague Joe taking 11 seasonnaires on an intro to touring! It took a while at the start of the session to get everyone kitted up and sorted but we headed off up the Olympic and then quickly headed for Grand Pre before diving towards the Tour de Charvet and Mont Roup! Anyway the tour was really nice and with lots of differing levels of fitness etc the group soon spaced out and in the heat of the afternoon it was tough going! Alas I brought up the rear and I peeled off with some of the less gung ho members of the team. Some of the snow was truly wonderful and further on round the corner we met up with the other half of the team. All in all lots of smiles all around. Lots of suncream applied to though!

After polling back along the manchet back into town and sorting packs etc etc etc out I collected Olivia and headed home. BOY I'm shattered now though. Im glad the kids are in bed - I won't be long.

Tomorrow it is back to snowploughs etc - a very varied lift we have us instructors - haha!

With no new snow forecast the pistes are still holding up pretty well I'm happy to report... partly in reflection of this this week the STVI will pass the 1 million skier days on the mountain this season... we are getting closer and closer to the -10% down season mark now too now so getting better and better!

I will finish with some pictures now from today - mainly the tour this pm!

TTFN

Spot the Olympic lift!

ESPECIALLY at this time of the year it is very surprising the Tour de Charvet gorge is this empty!

A snowHead

Magic carpet'tastic

I was a little stiff this morning but with the sun shining (again) and the Foehn wind really dropped off it was time to hit the bus into town to the meeting point. The kids school bus was even early this morning so I was into town nice and early. I met my guy this morning and it was another first timer ever*

*I often hear people say when they describe their ability as beginner, intermediate and advanced etc... in reality it should be beginner 'I have NEVER skied before' intermediate (most people) and everyone else who thinks they are advanced but probably intermediate (or different shades of).

Anyway he had a pass and being on his own it was nice to be able to take him up into the sun (boy was he a nervous rider on the gondola though - haha!) and to the magic carpet atop the Solaise! The short carpet was pretty firm first up (being north facing that was not too surprising!) but he did the business and before too long we were over onto the long carpet! Apart from a slightly dodgy left leg when turning (hopefully he will practice that tomorrow!) he did really well. It was so nice to see someone so happy that 'I can do it' and excited just to be in the mountains!

I gave him the 'talk' at the end - along the lines of 'dont be led astray by well meaning friends and family as to where you can / cannot ski and also the talk about getting to the Folie for the work lunch (he was on a corporate trip!) on foot rather than attempting to ski there... so hopefully he had a really nice afternoon there!

I took lunch in the shade intentionally as the sun was fierce today and under the Sun Bar at that.... the usual! Anyway after lunch I was back up the Solaise to work with my ladies that I had had the other afternoon and today it was all about getting confident letting the skis skid around and then how to manage the skid.... lots and lots of positive reinforcement was needed but they absolutely loved it and are keen for a final session tomorrow when we will hopefully get up Madelaine. As I was explaining to them as a professional instructor I KNOW that their technique is solid enough - they CAN do it BUT what I dont know is how their minds will handle the challenge of hitting the fall line on a steeper slope and therefore how their minds may take over and try and 'help' the skis around etc - hmmmm we shall see! Lets hope they have their game face on tomorrow!

Anyway I headed home and checked the post boxes on my way home and then Clare was out for a drink with an old friend of hers at the Rosee Blanche so I was I/C the kids.... it was OK but Ben was mighty cranky - I think he is just beyond knackered again... oh joy the school holidays are coming up again and he will be busy skiing and doing all the other activities! Roll on May when we can all have a jolly good rest is what I say!

The weather is supposed to continue as it is for another few days but we might get a small deterioration early next week - time will tell!

In other news today was the Derby du Signal which is basically a mad off piste ski 'race' whereby from the top of the drag lift up the Signal you have to race to the finish line at the bottom of the Fornet... taking in a couple of check point locations etc along the way...... hmmm apparently the winning time is usually circa 3-4 mins which is INSANE really! Hopefully there will be some interesting photos that pop up tomorrow!

Tomorrow I am magic carpeting it again all day so hopefully I will be able to put more smiles on more faces!

TTFN

CHEESE!

A snowHead

@Steve Angus,

"3-4 minutes from the top of the Signal Drag to the bottom of Le Fornet" - that really is insane! Do they ski down the pistes or do they ski off piste over the back of the top of the drag lift. Where are the checkpoints?

That's faster than you could "speed fly" or "paraglide" down if that was possible (I'm sure it isn't possible).

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

It's 2.5km as the crow flows, which would be a 40 km/h average, but a fair bit longer by any sensible route.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We made it on the Madelaine - yea!

The kids were on top form this morning and getting them out the door was easy enough! With the sun shining it was going to be another scorcio day. I met my am team and it was a slight change to the norm... not only was I meeting at Snowberry but it was actually a very old client of mine from years back whom I used to teach boarding too... it has been a few years since I saw him last so was really nice to see him and this time he is starting anew and wanting to learn skiing! He is here with his girlfriend originally from Barabados and being a cricket fan herself we had a good chinwag about West Indian cricket.

The morning went really well and decent progress was made for beginners and tomorrow we look towards the big magic carpet and then perhaps the day after that the Madelaine - we shall see! We downloaded for lunch in good time as they needed to get their skates on to get to La Daille and upload for lunch at the Folie. Hope they had a good afternoon!

Anyway I took a nice lunch at Tartine as change / treat.... boy for €10 you get a MASSIVE Sandwich American - so basically a burger sandwich baguette thing with chips thrown into the baguette - I was STUFFED after. I made a quick trip to the post office to collect a letter and then before too long it was up the Solaise to meet my afternoon team - the same as the last few afternoons!

It was the big afternoon - to get them sorted and up the Madelaine... I KNEW they had it technically but it would be a case of whether their brains would allow them to start the turns / and also not panic when the skis hit the fall line. Apart from a couple of pauses on the way down they nailed it... so it went better than expected so not only were there lots of smiles but they wanted to do it again - SUCCESS! The second time was much better although they had a silly little fall or two at the end of the run as they were getting tired but it was laughed off... AWESOME success - well done ladies and see you next time eh!

I got home and had about 20 mins chill time before the school bus came in and Olivia was home.... she did her homework and it was jolly calm.... we even found time to play a few games of Uno which she enjoys! Ben got home about 2 hours later and to say he was tired was an understatement - I could hardly keep him awake as he ate a little of his dinner before he went to bed. Unfortunately he had only been in bed for a few mins when he was sick - I think he is just over tired and probably drank too much pool water or something.... anyway he is now fast asleep so we are hoping he is not ill tomorrow. I am working in the am so he had better be OK!

In the Derby du Signal - there was a heck of a party and it went really well... in fact there is a really good video on the Radio Val website of the antics on the derby which is really worth looking at! In terms of times - the winning time was 2 minutes 51 secs! Yup bonkers!

For this weekend they have revised the traffic forecast a little and its not actually looking mega bad on the roads (as bad as it could be) with only 51000 cars
cars but as always the arrive / leave early / late mantra applies!

I think I have forgotten to take a photo today I'm afraid so will use a nice photo from the Derby yesterday instead but I can assure you it was same as, same as today weather wise!

TTFN

You'll need to Register first of course.

Try and take it slow

As we move into the start of school holidays it was always going to be a day when I was going to try and not over do it and attempt to rest somewhat - I think I achieved it. Looking at my forward bookings I still have about 20% of my whole season to go tucked into 4 weeks so that equates to about 120 hours teaching so it is going to be a busy 4 weeks or so.

The kids were on form and then I headed to the meeting point with Olivia for her morning with club. She was excited as they were testing towards her next level and she had been 'practicing' in her head! Anyway I met up with my team for the morning session and we headed up Solaise (I seem to have spent a LOT of time on the magic carpet there this week) and after a warm up run on the small carpet spent most of the morning on the big carpet. What I did notice was that the Foehn wind was back and it actually felt chilly for a while this morning. Anyway the sun was still winning over (dont get me wrong) and the snow did soften nicely and the majority of the time on the big carpet was very successful - hopefully we can get on the Madelaine tomorrow - that is the main aim!

I collected Olivia after club and we headed over to Tartine as Clare had come up with Ben on the scooter and as the sun was shining we thought a nice family lunch in the sun before dropping her back would be the best course of action (and Ben and Clare were off for a drink later with Bens godmother anyway!).

So a snack sort of lunch including some hot dogs and chips and some soft drinks and a choccies biscuit each after that all came to about €30 which is not bad value I dont think! It was a really pleasant couple of hours. After dropping Olivia back and Clare / Ben off to see Lilly I headed home and managed about an hour of down time on my own - basically chilling on the sofa and watching something I recorded about 10 years ago I have never quite finished off watching. Meanwhile with the sun shining it was nice as the sitting room was in the sun.

Even when Ben did get back we decided that he needed some down time and he happily had a calm play in his room etc. All in all it was the calm chilled afternoon I had been craving! Clare collected Olivia and the evening was the usual mix of chaos interspersed with kids dinner / shower / story and bed time - yippee!

Tomorrow the logistics could be a little different as Clare is meeting up with her brother in law and his family for a ski about and I will be working - lunchtime we need to swap her into her boarding gear and on top of that it is Mothers Day so the kids will probably be rushing about trying to get Clare a million and one cards they have made - oh and of course the time change too - go, go, go!

The sun should be shining for another couple of days yet and the pistes are continuing to hold up well so for those of you arriving on holiday this week it should be good conditions! I had assumed that numbers this week would be off the scale but it doesn't seem like it will be that way after all - in fact Val is looking at 67% occupancy rate versus 75% last week - surprising - maybe it is the week after that will be busier!

Anyway TTFN

The Club des Sports are virtually first onto the Solaise this morning when it opened for race training

DEFINITELY gotta have these when our new flat is finally done and we (hopefully) have stairs in them!)

P.S. Dont mention English cricket to me!

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

Hey Steve - have enjoyed reading your posts. wondered if anyone on this thread had any advice about where to head over the next few days in tignes (or over to val) where there are good conditions? We have just arrived in tignes and it's been 10 years since we were here - trying to remember the territory and orient myself again! wondering about icy mornings and more soft afternoons. I know some of the snow has been a little patchy but also the pics look like the runs still in good condition. Wondered if you had any advice? Kids are now teens and can ski pretty much anything on piste and some off , and like fun stuff like parks etc too. Thanks to anyone who has any advice - there's so much - I need help!

After all it is free

Thanks Steve
we did grand motte today but lots of ice on the red - black was better and the other side of toviere - tommeuses was not bad but didn’t venture further toward Val D’isere as ran out of time .
We tried aiguille percée around 11 ish today but was very crispy on the piste. It was all obviously great mountain therapy regardless of course .. so where would you ski tomorrow on piste if you had a free day?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

What a day!

The day started far to early with the kids coming in to 'surprise' Clare on mothers day - doh!

When we finally got the day going Clare headed out for a ski with Olivia and Ben with the kids cousins who are in Tignes this week so a big meet up and ski about was planned and it sounds like it was nice morning followed by lunch at Marmottes for them.

Meanwhile with the clock change it was more chilly this morning but I got the meet point for 0900! And we were off. It was a little busier up there this morning mainly with lots of groups of kids getting sorted into the correct ski lesson group etc and a few adult groups likewise but all in all it was OK up there and as the sun got going it did get warmer but (shock horror) I DIDNT need my extra layer!

Anyway we had a good warm up on the long magic carpet and developed a few more parts of the technique before we pushed on to going up the Madelaine! The descent down the Madelaine went ok - a couple of falls but it was quite busy which makes it tough for someones first descent down there thats for sure..... its totally true how 'blind' other slope users are to their positioning and actions on green slopes and what an impact it can have... sometimes I wish so called 'expert' skiers and boarders could stand in the shoes of learning skiers and see it from their eyes! Hey ho. Anyway J got sore feet which made it trickier for him meanwhile T did very well but got a little tired by the bottom - bravo! As we were halfway down Madelaine we watched as the big SAF chopper from Courcheval with the doc on board came down and picked up an injured skier - nothing like getting your clients quaking in their books eh! Either way I posted on my insta today the 'process' and procedure the pisteurs follow in a heli evacuation like this - interesting if you are interested in that sort of thing - look me up on social media @SteveAngusSnow

At lunchtime I dropped them off for lunch at Gigis and then went to ski down the Solaise in order to head home! However I got the shock of my life on the way home... skiing down the Solaise at full speed was a couple of idiots CARRYING their young kids over the shoulders... I got some pics and video as I could not believe my eyes! I checked my app thing and I was travelling at over 30mph following them! Good grief idiots!

Anyway I popped home, had lunch on my tod then changed and went into town with Olivias board to change her out her ski things as Clare started her pm lesson and I took Ben home. That all went OK. When I got home I sorted out a handful of jobs as Ben chilled on the sofa - tired boy.

It was then that things started to go wrong! We left and Ben immediately said he was tired and wanted to be carried... no worries. So he was on my shoulders on the bus... again all OK. But then without warning he projectile vomited all over me, the bus seat / window and himself... I was standing there as we went through the tunnel in shock covered in puke and so was he.... BLESS him! I could not believe it and the bus driver was not that happy as you can imagine! I had just about enough time at the meeting point to do a very basic clear up (very basic) before Olivia got back and we headed home (luckily she was non the wiser as I kept her at arm lengths!)

When I got home I cleaned everything up and then started dinner etc etc but there was no sign of Clare which was surprising and she had not read my messages. Anyway it turned out that she had had an incident with her client who had picked up an injury and needed to be pisteured off the hill -doh! So I was on my own for an extra hour or two! Accidents do happen in this job but it feels like a big blow when it does happen - Clare is pretty gutted by it this evening.... accidents happen ma dear!

So I did manage to get the kids sorted, fed, bathed and into bed - whacked now though!

Things have continued to go from bad to worse this evening though as I got a call from the care home to say that it looks like my mum has broken her finger - they think she got it trapped in her bed frame sometime today... in itself you might think - so what... but the issue is that because she is so old and frail it is meaning her vital signs are off the scale and they are this evening worried about her general health - it never rains it pours eh! So amidst all the above I was fielding calls from the nurse at her care home!

Mothers Day was remembered though and I sent my mum some nice flowers and chocs etc today so hopefully she enjoyed those and this end the kids an amazing array of pics etc for Clare so all good on that front!

AND FINALLY I am also this evening trying to deal with the tenants in our flat here who are all having a little barney between them! Well its a MASSIVE barney actually and I think its gonna get messy with one of them moving out and asking for money back off the other which won't happen and ill be dragged in to it - its all a nightmare really!

Anyway think thats all for this evening - I'm done for today!

A new week starts tomorrow and I am on a full week booking with some kids - so onwards and upwards!

TTFN

Found this pic today - amazing memories of the old Solaise cable car (foreground) AND the old Bellevarde Cable car behind that departed from the same place back in the old days!

SAF chopper on site next to the Madelaine!

Yes the man is carrying his child down at speed - so is the man (not as clear) in front too!

TTFN

Help!!

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

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