 Poster: A snowHead
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@muppet, Thanks very much. Luckily she was more shaken up than injured but my friend decided to take a taxi anyway. Thanks for the replies.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Merles lift stopped for an hour this morning with an apparent electrical fault. Big queue developed quickly. The Aiguille Percee closed until Saturday. On the positive side some accessible spring snow available today albeit with rivulets under much of it.
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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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That caused big bottlenecks at Palfour which was cut up extremely early on
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Steve Angus, Thanks and you too.
Stopped in a nice git near Laon ( https://www.la-besace.fr/en ), got to a deserted Calais in good time, swapped P&O ticket for a DFDS one in 2 miuntes. I actually sailed 45 mins before my original booking time. DFDS ships are not as smart as the P&O ones and the Restaurant would better be described as a school canteen. Sandwiches next time. I then got stuck in a 90 min traffic jam as Dartford was only running one tunnel south to north. Going the long way round was not an option either due to other crashes etc. Bit frustrating. Most places seemed to have diesel.
On to the gardening!
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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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Thanks @chocksaway, for the (mini-)season intelligence. Hoping for a longer season next year. I still owe you that beer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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So we had a lovely weekend in Tignes over Easter. I had expected the GF not to like it because it's not chocolate box pretty, but she loved it there, and so much so we're going to come back in June when we'd planned on going to Morzine for a summer trip, albeit that's partly down to lack of suitable accommodation available in Morzine.
Really warm all weekend, my nose is rather sore from getting burned on Saturday, but conditions on the glacier on Sunday morning were the best we skied all season.
We drove down from Geneva in a hire car, which is my first time driving over there and found it really stress free, and it gave us the chance to spend a couple of warm sunny hours in Annecy on the way home.
The plan of skiing up in the green triangle off the Borsat and Marmottes lift was attempted Saturday, but sister in law really struggled with confidence so she ended up spending most of her time on the Lavachet button, but it did mean the GF and I got a good amount of skiing in on Sunday without any beginners.
What really surprised me about the resort was the decent amount of reasonably priced eating options at lunch time. We ate at the Les Marmottes restaurant on Saturday, and that was a reasonable €12 for the plat du jour, and Friday and Sunday we ate by the ESF office at the bottom of Le Lac where there's a Sherpa with a canteen area, I had a cheeseburger and fries and coke for €11.30 and we also used the bakery inside the shopping area within the palafour building, and there's an Asian place in there too which is delicious, and again reasonably priced.
All in all, a successful weekend, looking forward to coming back in the summer, and again in the winter some time soon hopefully!
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@swskier,
Pre-seaon bash?
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@Kenzie, would be fun, but unlikely, only a finite amount of annual leave, and i'm going to need it elsewhere
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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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Can’t resist a last bash given still decent snow depths so heading out in group of 5 to ski Fri 29 - Sun 1st, staying at Bec Rouge in Lac. Have skied on glacier in summer about 26 yrs ago (scary to reminisce in decades) but not been to T-VdI in winter before. We like getting the kms in and hope to be on first lifts and ski hard, following the sun round until grabbing a short coffee / snack then geting up high before an earlyish finish back through poss slush. Also keen to get right over to far side of Val on one day too if snow allows. We have a few youngsters with us as well so may show them some apres on slopes if somewhere that works well to be able to get back to VC/Lac. Very open to routes to follow sun, best way of getting to other side of Val and back, or any other great snowhead advice for v late season trips to Tignes 
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@dgschof - We are in Le Lac now. South facing slopes are soft by 10 and heavy slush by 12. We tend to start up Chaudannes lift and ski round to Val Claret by 1030 for a quick drink stop, then up Tufs to the area between Tignes and Val until 12.30ish, then a couple of runs from Grande Motte (Double M down) to finish, which makes the most of the snow conditions.
Olympique cabin to Val has been closed for several days now, may be out for the rest of the season. Means you would either have to ski Face or Santons to get to Val which may not suit. (Edit, or ski or take the funicular down to La Daille and take the bus across)
Folie Douce is 100m above Tommeuses lift bottom station, can take that up and then download on Toviere bubble direct to centre of Le Lac for apres. A few places in Le Lac plan to close end this week so case of checking what’s open then?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks Raino very useful tips
How long to / back from Le lac - Daille do you reckon?
Hope you had a great time and fingers crossed that temps stay low enough till May
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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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@dgschof, If you take the Toviere gondola up from Le Lac then 20 mins down to La Daille wouldn't be far off i'd imagine, maybe 30 mins if you're stopping regularly. It's only a couple of runs from the top of the Toviere gondola down to La Daille.
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Thanks swskier. If we ski over what's the santons run like? Some in the group will ski anything and are looking forward to the Face. Others happy on reds but more timid on blacks.
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You know it makes sense.
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Santons had a few bits of grass poking through at the start of April, even after the big dump. I would exercise caution.
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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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@dgschof, Santons is not too bad up to early afternoon, but seeing as it'as usually closed by early afternoon it's a moot point. FYI, the Face is a nightmare at the moment. I suspect that because the Olympique is currently closed* they aren't pisting it, with the result that it's becoming positively dangerous i.e. massive slushy moguls. Be warned.
*problem with the main cable apparently, which doesn't sound to me like an easy fix. Wouldn't be surprised if it remains closed until end of season.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Dr John, Interesting about the fault with the Olympic being the cable. What’s your source?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@brovert, Radio Val news report
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks - more great info - presume the belvedere and loyes lifts still going for return over to tignes?
Just trying to plan the days as best as I can but appreciate will need to take conditions as we find them and eak out the best/longest day we can.
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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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About 15-20 minutes from Toviere to La Daille via Edelweiss / Creux to Diebold.
As above, Face looking very “Black” - I wouldn’t want to ski it in current conditions. Bellevarde and Loyes lifts up it are running, usually busy as now the main link to the top.
Santons was a blue that was reclassed to red, it’s a long run down a narrow ish gully which can throw moderate skiers off. Does get churned due to use by lunchtime, closed by early afternoon. Also a long flat run out at the bottom which results in 200m of poling along.
The runs at the top of Solaise do look very ‘sunny’ - I haven’t been able to get over there this week but would expect them to go slushy early.
We’re now finishing our days at 12-1 before a late lunch, combination of tired legs and soft snow!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@dgschof, I think it might be a matter of taste. We have been skiing until after 4 every day. Skiing spring snow in the morning and moving to piste in the afternoon. Yes the runs get bumped up with slush, particularly those that face south in anyway. But at the same time it is very quite in the afternoons. Solaise actually stays pretty firm longer than most as the majority of the runs face north.
If you want to ski the “grand tour” I would certainly get down Santons early before it bumps up and eventually closes due to avalanche threat. If you then go straight to Solaise you will find it pretty slick, particularly the upper part of the ‘L’’. The snow is going fast on off piste areas exposed to the sun, but generally the pistes are in good condition. We went down to Breviers yesterday and the snow was getting a little agricultural, but still skiable. We are staying to the bitter end in just over 2 weeks!
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@ski lots That is very encouraging. Just being on snow in the mountains with friends will be great and it sounds like we'll get plenty of good skiing in.
Have a good final fortnight
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@dgschof, to be fair the forecast is mixed to say the least for the next few days, so who knows what it will be like at the end of next week - a bit of rain predicted this afternoon  .
Probably worth saying that the problems with the Olympic mean that it seems to be less busy on Belvarde and busier on Solaise than it might otherwise be.
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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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Checking out tomorrow morning from accommodation in centre of Val and planning to ski tomorrow morning before heading back via eurotunnel. To help expedite journey am planning to leave the car at La Daille rather than rely on getting bus back to our accommodation. Any suggestions on (preferably free) parking?
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Just put it in one of the ‘free’ spaces outside the supermarket in La Daille it’ll be ok overnight
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks @Steve Angus,
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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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Winter returned to the area today, with up to 5” of powder in places. Visibility was very limited at times. Some runs went from powder to cow-glue in a fairly short distance. A couple of inches of powder on top of slush was one of the more interesting phenomena as was the marmot that poked its head up in the middle of the piste as I was approaching.
It is still snowing here in VC.
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You know it makes sense.
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And a good few more inches down here in La Daille too and still snowing. Roads all white.
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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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Val pisteurs reporting 30 cms of fresh snow in the Fornet sector this morning.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Certainly some deep powder available this morning, but we found, this being the 4th week of April, it got pretty humid by late morning. Quite stiff on some of the pistes that had been left unpisted, until you got below the slush line, where it was a lot easier going.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great conditions remain. Very nice powder in Monday morning; great piste skiing yesterday with most higher pistes firming up; and superb spring snow this morning. The recent snow had smoothed out the rivulet bumps encountered previously and transformed quickly.
The area is busier than other Val final weeks, but the higher and north facing pistes are holding up brilliantly. As often happens seems a shame that Val is closing at the weekend.
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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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@skilots Now you have just made my week - head out tomorrow eve to ski fri-sun and if that report holds true over the weekend I’ll be very chuffed!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@dgschof, well unfortunately Meto France are suggesting precipitation from Saturday and “thundershowers” on Sunday, but in the last few weeks those thundershowers have been frequently predicted, but have not occurred.
Let’s hope it stays reasonably clement.
The shops and restaurants are starting to close for the season.
Have a good journey.
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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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@Ski lots,
Tignes will still be open, though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Kenzie, indeed we are staying until after it closes.
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Fingers crossed
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@Ski lots,
Hope you are enjoying the closing parties. 
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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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@Kenzie, too busy skiing; too old to care.
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Further problems on the lifts today. Breviers bubble opened late; Tommeuse broke for and an hour and a quarter this morning. Glacier Express shut late morning with folk on it - we were told it would be 20mins before it reopened, but didn’t hang around. Olympic and Bellvarde Express remain closed. We were told the Val buses are rammed as a result in the morning.
However, most pistes remain in good condition, despite a beautiful and warm day.
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FAQ
