 Poster: A snowHead
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| Now light snow in Cervinia. On a non snow basis whilst not much is happening does anyone know if the Baita Cretaz restaurant is accessible from a blue run? On our first day I want to get a first day adult (30 year old bloke), there without mishap after his lesson or get the instructor to drop him off. |
Yep it's right off blue no5, just above town. Ate there yesterday with the family. It was busy but we got in without reservations. Food very good and service friendly. The new Rocce Nere at Plan Maison is good too. We ate at the outside restaurant today and very impressed, excellent food... And stunning view of Cervinio on a clear day. There is also self service and a bar. Also Blue skier friendly.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Another +1 for Rocce Nere, self-serve was quick, easy and I thought good value. Mind you, with that view and today's weather any price would be good value.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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A few people in our hotel with International passes disgruntled at the Zermatt link not having opened any day this week - previous days were not surprising given the wind and weather, but today was harder to fathom - anyone know the reasoning for the glacier lifts not running on Zermatt side?
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Had the same issue. Been here 4 times and crossed into Zermatt 8 or 9 times in far worse weather. Paid for the pass today going on the conditions and was baffled by it staying closed all day. Lesson learned.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Jonesie71, Does Roche Nere do table service? We don’t do self service unless an emergency!
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The 22nd is looking like a decent snow day!
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| @Jonesie71, Does Roche Nere do table service? We don’t do self service unless an emergency! |
Yep, table service available and popular. Not eaten there but portions look sizeable.
And a trip to the toilet DOESN'T involve stairs 
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| @Jonesie71, Does Roche Nere do table service? We don’t do self service unless an emergency! |
Yep and I thought it was excellent yesterday. My son had a steak on hot stone that was top notch!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@numbfoot, @Jonesie71, thanks both 
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And the snow for 22nd holding up well
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For what it’s worth snow forecast reckons 20cm
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| @BobinCH, wine in Switzerland beggars belief. Really poor wine in my opinion for 45chf. That’s the cheap end, out of proportion expensive to even beer and coffee. I assume massive tax but I have no idea. |
I'm sitting in our apartment with a CHF 7.95 bottle of Fendant from the Co-op, and it's excellent, in an unshowy way. It obviously depends what you like - if leathery Aussie Shiraz 14.5% is your regular tipple, then Switzerland can't compete. If you look at all those vineyards clinging on to the north side of the Rhone valley, on the train from Geneva, you can imagine why it costs more to make wine here. Not much is exported, so I'm happy to make the most of it when I'm here.
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| And the snow for 22nd holding up well |
Yep. Snowing down in Täsch right now and it looks like it will continue through most of the day and into the night. Nice - but again not a big enough dump to transform things.
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You know it makes sense.
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@caughtanedge, only buy in a restaurant. 7.95 is cheap though, translates to roughly 32chf.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@JohnMo, I do hope they are a little wrong. The BBC forecast can’t give the weather in real time in Liverpool!
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Poster: A snowHead
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snowing in Zermatt now - train is closed above Riffelberg which is... unusual. They say it's because of the wind 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Gifthittli chair also closed (up from Riffelberg). Sunnegga not so bad.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| caughtanedge wrote: |
| snowing in Zermatt now - train is closed above Riffelberg which is... unusual. They say it's because of the wind |
90 kmh at the top train station at Gornegrat. I don’t think anyone would enjoy stepping off the train and trying to ski down through that.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is it me or has Italy generally had a dry season so far this winter? Doesn’t seem to be as much snow as usual?
They might get a lot of snow in March and April though.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@VolklAttivaS5, short answer: yes, you're right.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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A glimmer of hope around the 9th or 10th. Please get better, we arrive on the 13th
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Reappearance of the snow around5th and 6th
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Does anyone know of a place I can hire Step On boots & bindings in Zermatt?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@skidm, no, but suggest resort reviews?
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Just came back from a week in Zermatt. The snow was OK, not spectacular and a bit disappointing for the time of the year, but fine for on-piste skiing. Off piste was rock hard and not worth bothering with although I imagine there were a few secret stashes for those in the know. I found the runs over in Cervinia a bit better for snow overall.
There was continuous snow for most of the day on Monday 21st, but it didn't really translate to the epic conditions I was hoping for the next day, but it gave everywhere a much needed top-up. As the Klein Matterhorn was mostly closed on the Monday and Tuesday, Sunnegga was very busy and the queue for the underground train up stretched the length of the tunnel so quite a long wait although not as bad as I first feared. The new Kumme lift then had mechanical problems, with loads of people stuck on it for several hours so it made everywhere else super busy
On Wednesday we headed up to the Klein Matterhorn area, but I think everyone else had the same idea and the queues again were huge, particularly for the glacier ride lift up to the top. I started to think that Zermatt at half-term week was a bad idea, but once over in Cervinia though it was fine.
Otherwise the rest of the week had great weather and much smaller/non-existent queues everywhere as everything was open, including the Cervinia links every day, and so crowds were more dispersed and so it re-affirmed my love for the place
Regarding masks and other covid precautions:
Switzerland - Supposed to wear masks on enclosed lifts and public transport (including Tasch, Sunnegga & Gornagrat train, resort buses). Most people were being good & respecting it, but it wasn't strictly enforced apart from on a couple of bus rides. Buffs were OK as face masks.
Italy - supposed to have a covid pass and wear FFP2 masks on enclosed lifts, but passes weren't being checked and the lifties were happy enough with any masks (including buffs) but they were making sure you were wearing something before being allowed in the bubble lifts. In case they start to enforce it more you could buy the masks there although I had some in my backpack just in case.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Tue 1-03-22 12:13; edited 2 times in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks @twoodwar, and ooops, didn't mean to post that in this thread.
Will be in Zermatt this weekend so will post here about the snow conditions.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Whitters, that pretty much reflects my experience last week. I did make an effort to get to the Matterhorn Express lift by about 8:20 one day, and got to Italy almost non-stop. Espresso macchiato in the Ventina for 1.50 euros  , well before 10:00.
I did find that they were enforcing the Covid pass in Cervinia, at the 'bottom' lift station - where it's open to public access from the road. But not at any of the higher stations. Everyone just walked past the scanners.
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@caughtanedge, interesting that they checked yours - I went on the bottom bubble at Cervinia 3 times, the middle one once, the cable car once, and the bubble at Valtournenche once, and it wasn't checked at all. Maybe they just do spot checks early on in the day as I suppose I was getting there after 11 each time
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You know it makes sense.
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I was also out last week and would concur with the comments made. I was mainly out there to get the two year old granddaughter on skis. This went very well. It meant I was only on skis myself on the Thursday, with son-in-law, who is strictly a piste skier.
We had snow all day Monday and through the night on Tuesday but it never got that heavy. It was typical of what has been going on since the turn of the year. Any snow has not been huge. If there had already been a lot of snow on the ground or it was happening every few days, then snowfalls like last week would be really helpful – but on their own they simply don’t create enough to transform the area.
As it was it made the whole area look very pretty and the piste skiing is very good. It looks like some people made a decent stab of skiing off piste with it but the cover is thin. One can tell how poor things have turned out by the fact that there is only one major itinerary open – that is one of the ones over by Furggsattel (there is a minor one open just by the Furi lift). That is really poor for this time of year. And there doesn’t seem to be much hope of anything major coming up.
Anyone coming for some spring skiing I am sure will have a great time on piste. But for off piste skiers this is not a good Zermatt/Cervinia year.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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OK, this is a post just for Zermatt piste nerds.
When I was skiing with piste-bound son-in-law last week I spotted a change which had previously not caught my attention. To me it was disappointing but piste junkies might be pleased about it.
At the far north of the area as you come down the north side of the Rothorn you end up on red piste 15 alongside the new Kumme gondola. Itinerary 18 branches off to skiers’ right. Then itinerary 17 use to cut across the piste (it was actually quite a tricky manoeuvre for those using the itinerary). However, the bit of what was the itinerary below red piste 15 is now a piste (with snow making). On the piste map it is marked as red but hasn’t been given a number (it simply looks like a shortcut between 15 and 9, avoiding the dog leg via the Tuftern restaurant). However, in reality it is marked as a black – and looks steep enough to be classified as such.
I didn’t get the chance to ski it but will try to make sure I get on it next week.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@hd, Great picture.
That is of course on the north side of the Rhône valley (Zermatt is on the south). I have been watching the radar on a regular basis. This year the snow coming down from the North West (the most common route) seems to have regularly got stuck on that side. No idea why. I am in Zermatt next week then Verbier (well Nendaz) the week after. My friend based in Nendaz has been given me updates of a similar position to ours. The 4 valleys (incl Verbier and Nendaz) are also on the south side.
I am ski touring quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. Of course with touring you can almost always get far enough away to find a good stash. I can see us heading over to the north side of the Rhône valley though.
I shouldn’t be on too much of a downer because of the poor off piste this year in Zermatt. We have still really enjoyed ourselves. One son, his wife and two friends are in the apartment in Täsch at present. Other than my son they are confirmed piste only skiers. They are having a great time.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Well it’s been flopping from constant sun, to a fair bit of snow. The latest iteration is sun. The 13th is getting closer now though, it’s starting to get serious : 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Can anyone help. If you have a 6 day aosta Valley pass and ski a day from cervinia, can you buy a one day extension for zermatt? Or is the only option a whole one day international pass?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| pisteoff wrote: |
| Can anyone help. If you have a 6 day aosta Valley pass and ski a day from cervinia, can you buy a one day extension for zermatt? Or is the only option a whole one day international pass? |
Given that you can upgrade a Cervinia pass for one day in order to ski over I would be surprised if you couldn’t do the same with an Aosta pass (which is basically a Cervinia plus pass).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| JohnMo wrote: |
| pisteoff wrote: |
| Can anyone help. If you have a 6 day aosta Valley pass and ski a day from cervinia, can you buy a one day extension for zermatt? Or is the only option a whole one day international pass? |
Given that you can upgrade a Cervinia pass for one day in order to ski over I would be surprised if you couldn’t do the same with an Aosta pass (which is basically a Cervinia plus pass). |
This is the full pricing: it doesn't say you cannot use the 35e supplement on your Aosta valley pass... but doesn't explicitly confirm you can! though tp be sure you could just ask them (they usually respond quickly):
https://cervinia-api.therocks.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Tariffe-SkiPass-21_22-A4-web_NEW.pdf
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| Well it’s been flopping from constant sun, to a fair bit of snow. The latest iteration is sun. The 13th is getting closer now though, it’s starting to get serious : |
Everything is currently crossed for something resembling snow on the 13th now!
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| LDP816 wrote: |
Everything is currently crossed for something resembling snow on the 13th now! |
We could certainly do with it. But there is nothing doing in the reliable range. Just got back to Täsch this afternoon. We had intended to have at least one day cross country skiing but the course is completely unskiable. Either ice or even bare patches in places. In the first week of March! Looks more like it usually does in April.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We arrive in Cervinia Sunday, fingers crossed, and if I’m not drunk with skiing and beer, will try to give an idea of conditions in the midday heat. Also whether the run down to Valtournenche is skiable
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| We arrive in Cervinia Sunday, fingers crossed, and if I’m not drunk with skiing and beer, will try to give an idea of conditions in the midday heat. Also whether the run down to Valtournenche is skiable |
I did the run down to Valtournenche twice today: once about ten o’clock (coming straight down from Klein Matterhorn) and once just before lunch. On both occasions it was superb. It really is a great run, all be it it can turn into a sheet of ice in bad conditions. It also suffers from the fact that although there is a fast modem gondola up from Valtournenche to Sallette, you then have to get that stupid slow chair lift to get you back to the main area of Valtournenche’s good Red runs.
It is really interesting how well the pistes are holding up right across the Zermatt/Cervinia/Valtournenche area. Up until today, this week the wife has been out so I have been walking. In theory that has been snowshoe walking but most of the time the snowshoes have been strapped to our backs. It made it very clear to me there was no point even trying to go off piste on skis. If I thought it was bad on the Swiss side there is even less on the Italian side. And yet the pistes are glorious (helped by the fact one is skiing in glorious sunshine with blue skies). I think there are a few reasons for this: the November/December snow established a base; the snow making is very good; although there was a hot spell, generally temperatures have been low (still pretty cool even in the sun today).
Not sure how long the lifties can keep performing their magic overnight on the pistes. Still no snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future. They had the snowmaking blasting away on Cervinia’s Ventina slope at 3 o’clock. Madness to have to that in early March.
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FAQ
