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

A snowHead

P.S. (to my blog from today) today marks 6 years since I lost my dear Dad - miss you Dad... he would be have been 100 on this coming Tuesday!

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Less crazy

After a BONKERS afternoon / evening yesterday I was happy to get into bed last night and slept like a log all night. I felt better this morning and ready to roll. Ben was happier and all in all it was a good start to the day! Still some rumblings from our tenants and I am awaiting more c r a p coming in on that at some point but for now its settled. Also my mum seems to have had a better day so thats good news.

With the kids on the school bus I headed to the meet point to start the first of 6 full days with the same family... in particular 2 x 11 year olds who I have taught a few times in the past and not seen since before Covid. The mum is off skiing due to a previous injury at the moment and the Dad working remotely half days and the other half on the mountain! So anyway it was nice seeing them and the nice thing is with 6 full days with them you can really develop them. Their goal is to ski the Face by the end of the week - that should be doable - yay! Lets hope the weather allows that... the weather today was sunny and warm again but it might well go downhill in the next few days!

Anyway we did some laps up the Solaise / Fornet on the Madelaine / Glacier Express / Datcha and a quick down the L and up towards the Fornet with a hot choc break thrown in. It was a successful morning - a reminder to get stance width right / slide the skis around the corner and then later pole planting! It was a good session. We met the mum for lunch at Bananas before the adults headed back to their chalet to work and I took the kids for a few more hours on my own.

The afternoon the kids and I had a change of scenery and headed up Bellevarde and some laps of crocodile alley as well as the Park and also the Petit Cross... the boys enjoyed a chilled afternoon!

I headed home after dropping the boys off back at their chalet and it has been a pretty simple evening all in all... Olivia was collected from her gymnastics by Clare and Ben and I had a peaceful hour at home!

I must say with the clocks changing it is chilly first thing in the am and boiling in the afternoon and the evening are much longer - it is now 2000 and just about dark now - bliss!

Meanwhile the local school children (the slightly older ones) had an amazing morning at the top of the Solaise - we saw much of it going on - with the kids being able to watch and learn about piste bashers / avalanche searches and how the dogs are used as well as how searches are organised - it looked like an amazing field trip to me.... some photos below from Radio Val of the event! Lucky kids wouldnt mind going to something like that!

Separately I am hearing some very vague reports about a couple of deaths in the resort today - one off piste somewhere up the Manchet and another somewhere near the Edelweiss but I have NO other details for now. I will report if I find out anything more!

Anyway some pics to finish off with.

More of the same tomorrow as the weather slowly starts to deteriorate but whether over the next few days it leads to snow or not we shall see! The freezing level will be key.

TTFN

School holidays, busy, slushy pistes? Where?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Sadly:

https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2022/03/28/un-jeune-homme-de-21-ans-decede-dans-un-accident-de-speed-riding-a-val-d-isere

https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2022/03/28/un-skieur-de-60-ans-se-tue-apres-une-grosse-chute-a-val-d-isere

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@Steve Angus, I have been in val since sat skied tignes Sunday piste remarkably empty no lift queues at all slick pistes but really enjoying them . Today I believe I spotted you at top of glacier express .
Hope your mother is ok and recovers quickly .

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

Quick bit of advice as we're finally off to Tignes on Sunday after a 3 year involuntary absence from skiing. Staying in Val C with the family and aiming to get over for Val D for a bit. I absolutely hate narrow/scraped pistes (add gradient/crowds in to finish me off). I do them as a means to an end and not for fun. To get over to Val D from Val C is there any way of avoiding Santons (or is it not as bad as people make out?). Don't mind an easy black but don't think that's an option and not sure there's a red. Happy to download if necessary but not sure easiest way. Or could I ski down via La Daille and bus to Val D? Any tips greatly appreciated!

After all it is free

@Kettonskimum1971, take the Olympic gondola down. It's nice and quick and you get a good view of the Face and people struggling on it as you go down.

From Val Claret either....

Up Fresse, then down to (and up) Borsat, down to (and up) Fountain Froid to the top of Bellevarde, and download on Olympic. This is all Green (although the top of Fresse can be very dark green!). You can make a decision on whether to attempt Stantons once you get to the bottom of Fountain Froid.
or
Up Tufs, down Edelweiss to (and up) Marmottes to the top of Bellevarde, and download on Olympic. That's all Blue.

The top half of Face isn't too bad (depending on conditions obviously), the only tricky bit is from 'lemmings leap' down to the Peau de Vache bar/resturaunt. From there, there is a red run down (Joseray) although that can be a dark red.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Sorry this is not a snow report but a request as there seem to been very knowledgeable people in this thread. Just wondering if I could get some recommendations for somewhere to get a good takeaway (pizza, kebabs, burgers etc) on Saturday evening? We are expecting to arrive in resort from around 7:30 (hopefully) We are staying in Pluton building near the post office and everything nearby looks to be sit down restaurants, would be nice to know somewhere to go in advance to not wander around trying to find something after travelling all day. Also, any recommendations for one or two family (with 9 year old) friendly places to out durning the week? Smile

We haven’t stayed in Val D’isere since my son was a baby and first time self catering so any recommendations greatly appreciated.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Had an amazing week back in Val. Great snow and brilliant apres. We even managed a fun afternoon at La Folie Douce. I avoided all the blacks as the conditions were pretty scraped and icy, but there was still some nice snow to be found. Did a trip down to Brev on the blues and reds and it was WARM down there.

Was lovely to bump into Steve's other half Clare at the Rosee Blanche, she was telling me how well the kids are skiing. Sorry I didn't see you Steve, maybe next year!

The only downside is I've returned with Mal d'Isere. I'm so ill with some horrible virus which I was convinced was covid but several LFTs and a PCR test say otherwise. Two people in our group did get covid though, so it's very much around. They were indeed making people wear masks on the buses from La Daille, but that was about it - and nearly everyone took them off as soon as the bus left anyway!! rolling eyes

snow reports

chocksaway - thanks for getting that - got more info myself and indeed was going to put it in todays update. Sad news!
vipul - Glad you have enjoyed your time. Yes that will have been me you saw atop the Glacier Express - was there yesterday morning (and this afternoon in actual fact!). Thanks re my mum - yes she seems to be on the mend.
Kettonskimum1971... is Santons as bad as its made out - NO... but you gotta get the timing right - until about 10/11am its usually OK... not that steep but narrow yes and gets busy and bumpy (yes) but until mid am its usually OK! Personally as others have said ski to La Daille and bus to town OR download on the Olympic. But indeed sugarmoma666 is correct you get a good view from the gondola! Be slightly careful on peoples opinions on The Face though.... it is NOT the hardest black in Val but what does make it tricky is how many people churn it up but also the LENGTH and the fact it goes on and on therefore tiring on the legs... Lemmings leap half way down is indeed steep but it doesn't let up that much lower down and as far as the Joseray piste red option instead half way down - many people think that is harder than the Face itself so there is no 'easy' option.
Judwin - some interesting options there - thans
kwood - takeaway pizzas - home delivery options best - look up Val Pizza / Pizz n Love / Flash - all will home deliver - Flash closest to you probably! Family friendly places - most places will be OK but somewhere like Fondue Factory is fine for family dining - not the cheapest though!
HoneyBunny - glad you had a nice week - welcome back! Yes Clare said she saw you at Rosee the other day - next year perhaps! Yes masks are obligatory in enclosed lifts still (technically) and the buses but everyone doesnt seem to think you need to and there is indeed lots of COVID still around! One of the reasons I'm being as careful as possible to make sure I stay fit until the end of the season! But sorry to hear you have a bug - get well soon.

Happy 100th birthday Dad!

The first thing I thought about this morning was my dear Dads big day - RIP Dad!

Anyway I am pleased to report that my mum does seem to be back on the mend which is great news - some heavy duty pain killers is getting her through it all - yay!

Anyway the weather was looking pretty good out there... surprising as I thought it was going to be cloudy right from the start of the day. Anyway the thermometer was not showing particularly cold temps and with the sun shining I decided on balance that adding an extra layer would be a good thing - there was a breeze and a thin cloud layer so I think I made the correct call.

The kids were pretty much on the ball this morning which always helps on a work morning so after they were shipped off I headed into town!

This morning it was just the boys so we headed Bellevarde way and worked on lots of technique as well as a trip to Tignes to test the boys out on the Johan Clarey piste (they did well and it was in decent nick!) and we did the fun run as well as giving the boys some fun times as I taught them how to ski backwards! It was a good morning and boy was the hot choc break at the Toviere good - great hot chocs there!

We met the parents at Gigi's for lunch and we had a really nice lunch. Luckily I wasnt paying but boy it is expensive in there - see a snippet of the menu below! The dad and I went modest and had a Tartiflette - totally amazing one at that... but around the table there was a HUGE steak (with equally eye watering price tag) as well as grilled Octopus and all sorts of options - amazing options! The only issue was that the service was a little slow.

After lunch we dived down to the Arcelle which was too soft by then and we also did some faster skiing down blue runs before heading down the front and the boys legs were done by then so it was home time.

The kids were in the garderie until 1800 so Clare headed into town to do some errands before collecting the kids so I was at home for a while and it was lovely and peaceful.

The weather is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow and possibly rain will fall - we shall see. But little by little it will get colder and we might actually end up with snow in a couple of days time - hmmmm we shall see!

As mentioned before details of the sad deaths yesterday have come to the fore... it was a young speed rider on the Banane side of Bellevarde in the am and then a 60 odd year old skier off piste somewhere up Fornet and there was also a skier taken to hospital off piste somewhere on the Solaise too! What a day of it!

Some photos to finish! (Can you tell I'm tired this evening?)

Clouds rolling in from the north but all day on the southern side of the resort it was much more sunny...

What Val looked like - probably circa 1945

Anyone for Caviar at Gigi's - if you take a mortgage out perhaps!

But the views are good eh!

TTFN

You know it makes sense.

When soggy, head high

As predicated the clouds were thick and numerous this morning and it had been snowing / raining lightly overnight... it wasnt that appetising to be honest. However the kids needed getting to kids club and Clare and I are obviously in the thick of it school holidays wise so as the saying goes, "no rest for the wicked'.

Anyway I headed off with both kids and after dropping them got to the meeting point. There not only was the clouds (thick ones at that hanging about mid mountain level) that were not allowing much sunlight through but the temps were above zero and we hadn't had a freeze. All in all it was not going to be an easy day.

With the team ready I headed off with the boys for a ski over to Tignes.... the vis came and went and the slopes were in decent enough condition but it was not that busy (predictably). I decided that heading right to the very top might be a good call (I hadn't (closures / time / weather etc) actually been able to get to the top of the Grand Motte this season) and off we went the chairlift route... There was no queues the whole way and up top there was ankle deep dry powder up there - pity we couldnt see much.

Hot choc break was taken at the Corner - the boys reckoned it was the best sausage roll they had ever tasted so that was a good call and of course €1 tea is a winner there.

The boys have been desperate to do the Face and today was the day - the snow would be perfect consistency and the vis was just about OK and it would NOT be too lumpy and cut up etc.... so anyway the boys nailed it and we ended up doing 2 laps.... they were definitely ready for lunch after that ... today was a quick fix back at Bananas which went down well!

Later on we pottered about up Bellevarde again but with tired legs we didnt stay out too much long!

Clare collected the kids and you can definitely feel the fatigue in the air thats for sure.... not long to go now kids!

The weather for the next few days is going to be much of the same - not easy.

Meanwhile something different to entertain the visitors at the moment is that they have a jacuzzi set up atop the Bellevarde at the moment - bookable in advance (free) but pretty cool non the less.

Snow was nice but vis not atop the Grand Motte.

TTFN

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

I headed the opposite way to fornet glacier it was watery sunshine up there with some powder on piste very enjoyable

A snowHead

vipul - excellent glad you had a good day.

And repeat

I woke early again this morning and to be honest I am feeling totally shattered so won't make it a long one tonight - to be honest there isnt too much to report really.

Anyway getting the kids out the door was quite tricky but we got there in the end.... and then with the weather looking similar to yesterday but worse I headed out into it. It was not only colder (yes a little snow had fallen and especially up higher) but more precipitation had also come down. The clouds were thicker too.... doh!

I met with our local friendly seamstress on the bus to hand her my work trousers as they have a rip in them and then got to the meet point in plenty of time. It was definitely NOT looking that promising out there but we headed up to work on some moguls and it was all in all not too bad a day weather wise and actually (like yesterday) got better. We lapped around mainly on the Tommeuse and covered lots of good points despite the weather and the soft lumpy snow - not the easiest of conditions at all!

We took an extended break at the Toviere mid morning and by the time the boys had consumed waffles and all sorts etc time had flown by! However after the break and before lunch the boys started flagging due to fatigue / the cold and any other reason you can think of.... so we had to change plans a little before there was a melt down. To be honest they were playing up a little as I think they were just knackered and the weather was tougher than they had bargained for.

With the weather etc we decided that lunch again at Bananas would be best and again it hit the mark before we ventured outside once again. The boys were totally refreshed for the afternoon which was nice as the weather had improved so with empty slopes we decided to give the Face a good go after lunch and it was in excellent condition - yay! What I did notice was a certain A N Other instructor from a certain ski school (and he was of a certain age (young)) taking his two early 20's clients down the Face... they had OBVIOUSLY had a very very very boozy lunch (at the Peau du Vache) as the two students could barely stand up and definitely looked more at home on the magic carpet on day 1 rather than the Face!!!! It was a complete mess and as we made our way down they must have only NOT fallen over on about 2 of the turns... there was constant kit everywhere.... one guy had 'forgotten' his goggles after another fall about half way down and we had to return them to him.... you could smell him before you got anywhere near him..... dear or dear!

Anyway I finished up and headed home and then we had Clares step brother, his wife and the cousins around for a cuppa and a play (even though the kids are a bit older). It was a nice couple of hours before we then got the kids sorted and back into bed.... wow I am shattered! Must get to bed.

The weather tomorrow will continue to keep us on our toes thats for sure.

TTFN

The Snow Park was DESERTED this morning - we were the only ones in there - could not believe it!

This was about as 'nice' weather wise' as it got today

The odd person up Toviere!

A snowHead

Worrying that people ski while so inebriated. Are instructors expected to prevent their clients drinking too much?

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Jehu - it is worrying indeed. Instructors and drinking.... well things like that in France are very much self policing... something bad happens and you are for the high jump but its up to you to make sure it doesn't and no-one will police it! thelem - agreed re 'choosing' your location better but I dont agree with this concept that the Face is the 'hardest run in the resort'.... it might be a tricky one but def not the hardest... yes the length of it and the intimidation of the run and how imposing it is makes it a tricky one but I think runs like La Foret or Marmottes or the Epaule du Charvet are overall harder runs... anyway its NOT an easy one thats for sure.

Its really a return to Winter

I watched out the window this morning as it looked like winter had returned..... and like yesterday morning it was tricky getting the kids out the front door. It was cold - 5 and there was a breeze blowing but the snow was settling on the ground. Much like yesterday am the weather appeared to be having a battle between clearing up and closing in. Anyway you know 'its serious' when you go UP a layer and I was double down jacketed this morning.

The snow at the meeting point had frozen hard which is the first time in a few days (well about 2 weeks probably that it has done that!). It would mean that without a decent amount of snow that it would be just be hard all day long. Alas I recorded a snipper for inclusion in the latest Ski Podcast as well as a live broadcast from the meeting point before the boys showed up. I gave them the option of which side we went and they opted for the Solaise side (we soon changed when they announced they 'wanted one of those hot choc stops where you get cream and smarties on top' so that would mean the Bellevarde restaurant!) so up we went. I could see that a lot of people were aiming to get up the Bellevarde side and there was a small queue of people waiting... but Solaise was deserted and as soon as we got up there the clouds were opening up a little and this revealed about 5cm of powder on piste.... yippee. We wasted no time at all about blasting a couple down the Madelaine and then down the Arcelle (sublime) and also a few variations up there... it really was very good and with no one about really it was special. The supporting nature of the hard base (not icy at altitude) with the snow on top meant it was a great intro to the concept of powder for the boys!

We had a wonderful first 90 mins but then with the aim of hot choc the Bellevarde side we went that way and it was at that moment in time it started going wrong.... the clouds, wind and snow were really starting to move in hard... so the boys soon good dispirited and cold so we ended up taking a slightly earlier than planned hot choc break at the Bellevarde along with precisely 1000000000 other people.... so getting a seat / table and then queueing to get the drinks and then drinking then took a LONG time. Anyway the boys were warm again after that so we headed out for another ski and pretty much straight away they were complaining about being cold again.... the issue is that they go from skiing things like the Face at a decent speed to moving about 0.01mph when they want to dig their heels in which means they get colder and colder. Alas we decided to ski down to La Daille and that way we could get away from the blizzard.

After all this it was now lunch time and with the Bananas totally rammed we changed tactics and headed to the Petit Danois which was a nice change of scenery - but wow the portions are huge in there!

After lunch the storm had not let up and with the Dad now in tow too I thought the Solaise would be better this afternoon being slightly lower and more sheltered from the storm coming in from the North - hmmmmm not so much. There was now about 20cm+ of fresh snow on the pistes up there (of course no one about still - dont think anyone is really ready for the weather at the moment!) but the vis was totally non existent! It was a half hearted attempt at getting some turns in really and it didnt take too long before realising that retreating home was what they really wanted so we skied down to Laisenant and headed back!

Clare got Olivia from her school homework club and then Ben was brought back from swimming so the evening was not too intense.

The road really is starting to get narly out there this evening - in fact a taxi went off the road between town and La Daille and tipped over onto its side off the road down onto the lower path by the Cret Parking - dont think anyone was hurt but still. I think it is going to be quite interesting on the road tomorrow though even though the forecast is NOT for mega amounts of cars the weather could make it interesting.

This weather will continue for another 24 hours minimum so we are getting some serious accumulations thats for sure... it will probably mean top layer slides galore BUT it will be where the wind has led to decent accumulations that we might get some interesting slides happening BUT it will be when it warms up and potentially the weight of this new snow leads to some full depth stuff again... it will get interesting thats for sure!

Anyway some photos to finish from today.... I didnt bother trying to get photos when the weather got REALLY bad and snowy this pm - dont think my hands would have liked that!

TTFN

This group without packs jumped straight off the back into the Col Madelaine which was an 'interesting' and ballsy call... hey ho some people think avalanches will never happen to them eh!

This was the ONLY time we glimpsed the sun all day.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Wasnt expecting that in April

I thought I was being very clever this morning as when the alarm went off I crept out of bed and into the sitting room and with it all quiet in the hallway and the lights off I assumed everyone was still fast asleep.... whoops as soon as I came into the sitting room I realised I was actually the last up! Doh!

Anyway I needed to get ready for work of course and Olivia for Club... Clare and Ben had a mixed day of playing with his friends / collecting Olivia from club and having another friends mum around for a cuppa!

Meanwhile I headed out into the cold and doom... it didnt seem to be quite as bad as yesterday but certainly colder. The thermo at the meeting point was suggesting -7 but without wind to note I hoped it wasnt too bad up there. There was no chance the sun was going to make an appearance though! Plenty of people were keen to get up and ski even though it was a Saturday... the roads - glad was nowhere near them today! If the cold was going to get me then it would have to get through an extra layer today!

With the full team including the Dad up for a last day blast I wanted to head Bellevarde way as we would have more options that way!

A warm up run on Fontaine Froide (yes about 30cm of cold fresh snow had fallen!) turned into 3 laps as a certain young man dropped his pole off the lift and poor old me had to ski the deeper powder under the chair to find it - missed it the first time but second time lucky!

Anyway we then headed Tignes way and worked on some technique but mainly just had some fun with the wind / vis and weather fluctuating somewhat all morning. The cold meant we took an earlier hot choc break than planned and we were in The Corner so quickly.... hot chocs and a sausage roll for the boys fired them up for more skiing and we headed 'around the world'. In all fairness it was colder and starting to snow hard again so once again I changed plans and decided a sneaky trip down to Brev could be a good option.... at least that way it would be warmer and vis better.... although some moaning from the boys but when we finally got down to Brev we were all ready for lunch!

It turned into a long lunch at L'Armailly and it was an AMAZING steak and gratin - truly the best!

Coming back towards Val and the weather was really nasty once again and when we found out the park was closed the team decided that a slightly early finish would be best so we did just that. But what a day - skiing 30cm of powder on the piste in April (cold light pow at that) AND skiing in good snow all the way to Brev - wasnt expecting that!

Clare had the kids at an event at the club des sports after skiing so I had the house to myself for an hour or two - but mainly spent that time clearing the mess of the day up....

Anyway the weather has finally broken this evening and it should not improve a little tomorrow before getting warmer again. Being school hols there is no rest for the wicked and were both out on a full day booking tomorrow.

TTFN

Go on work out from which lift I took this pic from today then? Tricky!

Oh yes!

Pisteurs had been hard at work this morning blasting and even under the FF lift it had slid! Spot the blast hole!

Thats my track immediately under the lift! Looking for the dropped pole!

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NOT JEALOUS!!!

No No, not at all jealous!!

looks fantastic conditions, just hoping it keeps on snowing until the EOSB.....(so, selfish too!) Very Happy

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

snowornever - sorry! But yea keep on coming weather wise until the EoSB. Todays photos might make you even more jealous - sorry!

Glorious

Despite it being a Sunday (is it Sunday as every day seems the same at the moment!) I still managed to do my Sunday favourite of eggs on toast and nutella on baguette for the kids! Somehow the morning seemed very rushed but we got there in the end! Clare took the kids to the kids club (we decided that since they are on the home straight for the season (and term) that today they would NOT be skiing - just playing with their friends at kids club!) and I headed to the meeting point to meet my team!

The sun was shining and the temps very cold - it felt like mid Winter all over again! The pics below will make you all jealous I am afraid!

Anyway my team was a group of 15 year olds. It is about 5 families that all come together regularly to Val and book several instructors between them... they come every year and ski with TDC and I have not skied with them before but everyone else seemed to know the various parents and obviously the kids knew each other! Despite one missing lift pass which held us up for a few minutes when we started we got going and I mixed up (as is always the way with teens) some technique with some fun and mileage! I was surprised when they all asked for a hot choc stop half way through the morning and not surprised when one of them managed to drop the whole of his choc and cram all over himself - doh! Anyway the firm favourite of twirly birds won them over and a run through the park before a VERY quick descent down the Face home. What a fast paced morning it was in the end!

With the sun shining hard once again I headed to under the Sun Bar for lunch and then met my afternoon lot! So the afternoon was a family of 4 wanting a brush up on technique mainly as the boys had grown so much since their last skiing a few years back! Again I headed up Bellevarde and then worked my way around some blue and red runs and worked on a variety of technique stuff with various members of the family. The boys later on were stoked when I showed them how to do backwards skiing and flat land spins and then ollies and nollies - they were stoked! Some of the technique changes were good too! Bravo.

I rushed home after skiing as we had a family friend coming around for a cuppa and Clare was out collecting the kids. With everyone home we were treated to some YUMMY and NAUGHTY treats from Chevallot and the kids were also totally spoilt as they also both got a big toblerone each - nice!

It was a lovely couple of hours and look forward to seeing her again in the Summer when she is next back out.

Getting the kids fed and bathed etc was the final challenge of the evening before we are once again back to the evening.

I am still tired and a few more days to go before some time off so I think I will sign off again for another night and leave you with some photos of today.... needless to say today saw about 30cm of cold wintery powder all over the mountain and the sun was shining (it did move in a little this evening but nothing too serious). There was a couple of avalanche incidents today but as far as I know nothing too serious happened!

TTFN

After all it is free

Wow! I’ve enjoyed good snow in April plenty of times but that looks special. Hopefully set up for a bumper Easter and through to the end of the season.

PeakyB - yea totally!!!!

Feeling more Spring like again

The kids were surprisingly on it this morning and were up and moving very early when we asked which was good. It actually felt like we had more time than ever this morning which was nice! With the kids on the bus I headed to the meeting point and I noticed that whilst it was chilly this morning there was not a cloud in the sky and it would surely get quite warm! The quality of snow was immense and it once again felt like mid Winter conditions up there.

My am booking this week is a young lad - a nice little lad and he enjoys his skiing and today was all about getting him back in the swing of things having not skied for a few years. Solaise was our target this morning (we shall probably head Bellevarde way tomorrow but shock of shocks the blooming Scara starts tomorrow which will mean lots of entitled teenagers thinking they own the mountain and blocking the Marmottes lift (drives me crazy!)) and some jumps off the side of the piste / backwards skiing was all interspersed with technique and games.... of course obligatory hot choc break at The Lounge was slotted in to.

It was a really nice morning and hopefully we will ramp things up more and more as the week goes on. Whilst we were having our break I bumped into an old school friend of mine - someone I haven't seen for a couple of years - in fact someone I have only seen a couple of times since we left school some 25 years ago - wow!

Meanwhile I have heard that off piste wise things are holding up really nicely out there (given its April) and that you can still get really nice snow if you go 'pure North' so I reckon after a couple more days of hunting north off piste out the Spring slopes will once again come into season on about Wednesday - just in time for potentially for a new dump over the weekend!

By lunchtime it was warming up and with the sun beating down I headed to the Sun Bar to shelter from the sun once again.

The afternoon was spent with a couple of early 20's girls who were out visiting a friend for the week. They had already had a couple of lessons with a colleague getting them going from scratch the last couple of afternoons. Today was all about getting them to the next level and onto a steeper slope aka the Verte. They were fired up and we did some initial runs on the Grand Pre and then some more work on technique before heading to the Verte. They did really well and I hope they are now ready to explore the mountain with their new found skills - good on you girls!

After skiing I came home and collected my repaired work trousers from Kurk the seamstress in the Portillo and then collected Ben off the school bus (bless him Clare went to see his teacher for a regular meeting and she said he is one of the nicest and kindest boys in the class which was nice to hear!). No sooner was that all sorted than I had to go into town to get Olivia from her gymnastics lesson - all go! By the times the kids were in bed I was knackered... I can't wait until Saturday afternoon when I get some down time... need it - still another busy couple of weeks coming up!

The April town council happened today and whilst (like usual) much of it is not very interesting they did today talk about the pricing policy for next Winters lift passes and other dynamics re lift passes.... of interest some of the notable things decided (if I understand it!)

* The age limit for FREE lifts passes for juniors next year is being changed from 'under 5's' to 'under 8's' - that is a big change if its correct
* Lift passes are now going to be €60 (this year €62) a day as a flat rate... 2 days €120 / 4 days €240 etc etc etc.... however the worry is without incentives people might just get passes 'a la carte' so on bad weather days people will just decide not to attempt skiing - this will not be good for mountain restaurants!
* to encourage people to ski on the Saturday when its quiet, they are going to offer 7 days skiing for the price of 6 pass wise.... this will also hopefully encourage people to spread out departure times on a Saturday making the road less busy!!!!
* season pass prices are going to be changed to about €1000 a go but this will be a flat rate so 'locals' won't get such a good deal but on the flip side tour ops won't pay quite as much as before.... its a bit of a gamble by the STVI but we shall see how it comes out!
* due to a change in the law regarding season passes and an escalating price of them some resorts are doing interesting things - apparently Courcheval is going to limit a 'locals / workers' season lift pass to only 2 days a week usage - hmmmm not sure that is going to be popular or how they will work that!

In todays photos before there is one particular one (the first one) that stands out for me.... can you tell why?

.... yes that is a group of 8 British tourists (I heard them speaking) all standing RIGHT in the middle of the get off zone off the Grand Pre lift... just where the sign basically says 'move'. Just goes to show people really are totally oblivious and have 'holiday heads' when they are in the mountains! The stupidity of some people on a daily basis in this job never fails to amaze me... people seem to come on holiday and leave all common sense behind and do some bizarre things. Im not going to go on a rant but you see it all in this job.... constantly.

Quite some engineering goes into these lifts!

TTFN

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Well done Ben

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"Just goes to show people really are totally oblivious and have 'holiday heads' when they are in the mountains! The stupidity of some people on a daily basis in this job never fails to amaze me... people seem to come on holiday and leave all common sense behind and do some bizarre things. Im not going to go on a rant but you see it all in this job.... constantly. "

Completely agree, other pet peeves are groups stopping in the middle of the slope in a blind crest or other choke points. I've also seen a lot of amateur 'instructing' going on from English tourists this week, usually dragging a debutant down something they are ill equipped to handle. I have never understood the infatuation with ticking off coloured runs when you should ski the conditions and enjoy carving beautiful turns down something - even if it is a blue and you don't have bragging rights in the bar later on in the day.

Talking of lift engineering, over here in the 3V, the new Masse lift was paused yesterday for "VIP guests" who turned out to be a bunch of staff from Val D'Isere who were over having a guided tour of the snazzy new lift. Are they planning something equally as speedy over in Val? It's difficult to think of anywhere in Val (or Tignes?) that hasn't got decent infrastructure already.

You know it makes sense.

@Perty, in Val the Vallon bubble upgrade has been years in the talking (and delayed by covid I think). In Tignes Grand Hunt & Aguille Rouge have been embarrassing slow links for years. Tichot will also need upgrading when the Club Med monstrosity is complete, rumours abound of a bubble going in higher than the current chair to take the pressure off Grattalu.

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

@Steve Angus,
Regarding "yes that is a group of 8 British tourists (I heard them speaking) all standing RIGHT in the middle of the get off zone off the Grand Pre lift... just where the sign basically says 'move'."
British students in the Espace?

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

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

@Grinning, 1400 Newcastle Uni students in Tignes. Our daughter seems to know half of them rolling eyes

The journey over was hit by serious delays and they all missed the start of lessons and the pre booked, pre measured ski hire has been a shambles.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Steve Angus, i will believe it when I see it .

You'll need to Register first of course.

When I was at Newcastle in the mid 1980s there was a coach of 40 going out in January and another coach of 40 at Easter. I think there was also a racing trip before Christmas.

How times change. 1400 students! There were only 8,000 at the entire University back in 1983. Presumably the cost just goes onto their loan? I wonder how many of them will be able to afford to ski again after graduation?

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

I went to Tignes on a coach from Sheffield on graduation, there were 2 of us. The rest went to Tenerife...

After all it is free

Grinning - scary eh!
muppet - interesting - that would really peev you right off wouldnt it!
vipul - the Vallon lift - hmmm yes I think so too!
Peter S - ironically I did much of my skiing in the EK back in the day as a student. I actually repped for the tour op for a while too. Anyway I seem to remember in 1997 we paid £300 for travel, apartment accommodation and lift pass for the week here in Val over New Year - BARGAIN! The company was a company called On The Piste... this has since disappeared but the founder went on to found non other than On The Beach which we of course see advertising all over TV these days and the guy, Mr Simon Cooper become a good friend of mine.... in actual fact I taught him and his family a few years back!
endoman - 2 - that it????? - now that is PLENTY of leg room on a coach though!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Getting hot again!

Not only had I gone down a layer today but I ended up taking a further 2 layers off during the day - blimey Spring is back again!

The kids this morning were up and very proactive much to Clare and mine amazement... they were both on the case. Without asking they were dressed and doing their teeth etc.... amazing! So all in all it was a very nice start to the day.

I headed to the meeting point and it was apparent that it was going to be another lovely day. When my young lad Im teaching was ready we decided to head Bellevarde direction and this was so we could do things like the fun run as well as crocodile alley etc. The only thing I really wanted to avoid at all costs was the Marmottes lift.... mainly as 1000 young teen racers are in town for the Scara on the top part of the OK Orange and basically what this means is they totally take over and hog the Marmottes lift and in other words their arrogance and entitlement means using the lift is not only busy but they are quite rude and forceful taking over the lift, pushing in etc!

Anyway we got going and had a very successful morning - it was jolly good and the pistes were awesome again! He put loads of effort in and I was most impressed with his progress.... he cracked me up though with the amount of hot choc he consumed at break time though!

With the sun shining I headed to the Sun Bar for some shelter... and chill for a while.

After that I met for the pm with a nice guy (hi) who is a lurker on here (well I think he is as I dont know his username)..... anyway it was another welcome session when you watch someone ski and there is not massive 'issues' to sort out just polishing up a few areas and developing things that are there but need more precision etc. So we did some laps on Fontaine Froide as well as some laps on Trolles and generally developed all things short turns wise. Early pressure was needed and being tall lots of settling at the end of the turn was needed too. It was a good first 2/3 of the session.

After doing some time on that we worked a little on carving and may well do lots more on that tomorrow. It was a really good session and nice to see some really good foundation skills at hand from the offset of the session and things to build on.

This evening we have had company in the form of an old school friend of Clares over for the evening with their 2 kids for dinner and some fun times. But boy its carnage in the house when there are 4 kids about.... took some sorting out thats for sure. It was a really nice evening and nice to see them.

Tomorrow the weather might crack a little but it won't get much colder thats for sure (I dont think).

Lacking some inspiration this evening Im afraid so will sign off now. Some pics of the Scara racing I snapped from the Marmottes lift when I rode it early doors (before all hell broke loose!).

TTFN

Most certainly at the Bellevarde restaurant!

Help!!

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

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