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

A snowHead

Nice

Clare was again doing the late night massage so by this morning she looked pretty shattered but she has been catching up on all this work by taking a late pm snooze - haha!

Anyway what is also working well is the new electronic clock in Bens room... again this morning he was NOT up early. Yay! Although I do miss my morning cuddles! Hey ho.

So it was the usual getting the kids off to school and then getting myself ready for work. It was another 0930 start so pretty chilled - yay!

With the sun back the first hour or two of the day means pretty firm snow conditions but the late afternoon cloud cover really helps the snow NOT degrade too much - another yay! I fitted in a live broadcast at the start of the day and then it was showtime.

The plan today was slightly different as the parents had a lesson of their own this afternoon so they were not to come with us today... so it was just me and the boys. Apart from the constant bickering and not really listening to me I thought it was a decent result as we were not constrained to location for the day and it gave me the chance to get to Brev for a bonus trip this season (more on that later!).

So off we went for a double chair up Bellevarde and then off towards Tignes. Ahhhhhh yes of course the Scara is on.... queue millions of teens skiing probably a little too fast on busy public pistes and then hustling their way to the front of any queue they so wish showing no respect to those in the queue.... its that time of the season when there are loads of associated groups over in Tignes too so plenty of dodging to be done. Dont get me wrong I understand the life a racer but at the end of the day more respect to other slope users who are equally entitled to be there should be felt!

Anyway we did a whole lot if variations, bumped into Phil Smith and congratulated him on his sons MAJOR sub 30 score in the SL race the other day (seriously impressive!) on the Johan Clarey piste as well as doing 'round the world' the wrong way. We stopped for a late cuppa / hot choc at The Corner.... OMG the boys had a sausage roll each.... they generously allowed me to have a bite (I was looking forward to my lunch so restrained myself from having one myself) and BOY they really are the very best sausage rolls in the whole world... if you have never been to The Corner (just around the corner - excuse the pun!... from the bottom of the Tuffs lift in Val Claret) then please do. Ryan and the girls have a good thing going on there and his pies etc are blooming awesome!

Anyway we made our way (it was quicker than I thought it was going to be) to Brev for lunch!

Now this is where my day was really made.......

The Plat du Jour at L'Armailly - over the bridge at the bottom and its right in front of you, was non other than steak and chips with a side salad and with a roquefort cheese topping..... yes please to a medium rare (proper French style)..... OMG the very very best. To say it was a dream come true to have that as plat for €25 was an understatement. YUMMMMMMMMMY

Anyway the boys had fish and chips and then we waddled back to Val - decided to download rather than ski the Face.

I must say the snow really held up so very well today... in fact skiing to Brev - we only had soft snow (slush) BELOW Boisses - quite incredible at this time of the year and that was at 1330!

After work I had to get the kids from school and im shattered. Clare is once again working tonight so having a power nap!

TTFN

Still drooling over this!

Thats quite impressive over in Tignes.... and from another angle...

. .
How many ski lifts can you see (and which ones) in this shot.... hopefully you have good eyesight!

Which lift is this?

Which lift is this? There are several clues to give it away - I can think of about 3 clues in this photo

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

@Steve Angus, that avalanche has come away in the pattern of a face, the two crown walls at the top are the eyebrows.

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

@VolklAttivaS5, You’ve clearly been drinking the same as me tonight, I saw the same thing Shocked

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

It's even got a tear drop on the left eye.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@chocksaway, @lynnecha, it’s amazing.

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

The lifts you're riding are Merles and Marmotte Express I think.

After all it is free

@GeorgeVII,

Do you mean the Borsat Express or Marmottes?

The Borsat is a 4 man, Marmottes is a 6 man.

The photo looks like an 8 man which would be Tommeuses.

The 8 man chair I think is Tommeuse
The 6 man chair I think is Merles?

Too many 6 man chairs to choose from which are possible

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I think the 1st one is Merles (Borsat Express you go up to the right of the pylons; the backs of the chairs don't look like that on Marmottes as it's not a Doppelmayr lift)
Second one appears to be an 8-pack so Tommeuses. Other clues... (not that you need them once you spot it's an 8-pack) you can ski under it; you go up to the right of the pylons; the shadows suggest a lift travelling west in the morning when you were heading to Tignes.

snowHead

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

VolklAttivaS5 - ah yes re the face pattern - how funny - I can see it now. Yes I can see that too lynnecha - how funny.
GeorgeVII / welshflyer / VolklAttivaS5 / moosepig - loving all the chat.... but yes it was Merles in Tignes and Tommeuse indeed... especially like your detective work moosepig - re the clues - yes def the travelling west clue based on where the shadow is - good spot. Also a very cryptic on - the little bowl with no tracks in - most of the bowls under Tommeuse people dont ski into usually. Very good chat and detective work folks!

F'ing idiots

Clare was working very late again last night but still getting her afternoon naps in so she was fine getting up this morning and once again the kids behaved but then again I did a tactical and intentionally left the tv remotes out so they were watching tv when I got up - ho hum!

Anyway the weather was a carbon copy of the last few days and it really is a little like late Winter at the moment - chilly and frosty first thing and the sun is a welcome addition but the cloud in the afternoons takes the sting out of any slush that might form.... it really is the best Spring conditions I think I have ever seen.

Clare took the kids to kids club and I headed to the meeting point. We have decided that with the British Children's Ski Champs falling the same week this time next year (we think / assume) that we will get Olivia over to take part in the champs next year... lots of her acquittances went over there today and did OK so next year my dear, next year.

So the plan for today was to work on race performance and since lunch was booked at L'Empriente at bottom Grand Pre (the new place) at 1400 we decided not to go too far. The other thing was the boys really wanted to ski the Face so needed to get my timing sorted for that.

So after the two chairs up and skiing around and working on some technique we hit the Face at about 1100... I like to think I got the timing spot on... it was grippy and nice snow at the top without being scrapped too badly but lower down it was just about softening up WITHOUT being lumpy and bumpy yet - result.

Meanwhile the Scara race continues on the OK Orange - gosh I hate it when this time of the season is on... know we have talked about it above but really its bonkers and so disrespectful to other mountain users when its on / likewise the GB champs too. Its not the numbers of racers / the runs they use exclusively (e.g. OK Orange) but what they do when not in their area... utilising normal ski runs as a facing track of their own and scaring etc other slope users but also things like using the lifts / taking them over e.g. Marmottes. Today was no exception.... I was happily skiing down the Face at reasonably careful speed with my two boys and we had just done the 'wall' when I noticed high up above us as we got close to the bottom of the wall a couple of racers coming AT SPEED (already) over the drop away and then hitting the deck and straight lining in a tuck... there was two of them and I could see they were on their SG skis so obviously having a friendly race at full speed top to bottom of the Face. So essentially they were travelling id say at 60+ mph in a tuck right down the 'open' and slightly bumpy and quite busy steeper part of the Face... this is plain dangerous. Travelling at that speed and being big lads at that it would not take too much to kill someone. Now I do this job every day and I see some s***t skiing out there but this is as dangerous as I have ever seen I think. Imagine Lewis Hamilton driving the Monaco race circuit when it was open to the public and pedestrian crossings in operation etc.... lunacy. One guy got close enough to me that he whacked my pole as he came past - I now have a sore wrist this evening... its not broken (wrist) but sore.

To be honest id quite happily have seen the guy break his neck or something. Anyway my mind races if I had had the chance to shout obscenities at him etc.... grrrr makes my blood boil. Imagine if a little kid had been skiing down there and he had just made a bad decision.... as it was at the bottom of the Wall there is that little lip and a couple others were taking air off that at speed - again thats relatively blind too. arghhh!

Anyway with the Face ticked off (boys were happy) we went for a choc break at Marmottes. We had just finished a drink when a New Gen group came past. I had noticed the other day when I saw this same group that one of the 6 kids or whatever it was was HUGE - I mean like 6 foot tall. Poor (teenager I guess) kid in with little kids about half his height. Anyway with a bib on he looked somewhat out of place. So back to today.... the little female instructor that was teaching him came past us as we sat by the fireplace in Marmottes and said kid was limping extremely badly as she supported him... uh oh. Im guessing kid had had a fall at some place... maybe in the Marmottes itself. Anyway there was (only in France would this happen) a couple of pisteurs having their late morning 'coffee' break in Marmottes .... that means they were each having a pint on duty.... haha. Anyway FULL MARKS TO THEM as soon as they saw this boy basically being carried by the female little instructor they jumped to the feet and came to 'take over' and ultimately this kid was carted off in a sled. I was most impressed that the pisteurs were straight back on duty when they saw this - chapeau to them.

Anyway we could not have a slide down the Stade Bonnivie as Gerard pulled the course so we made our own on the Borsat green instead.

After some more work on racing we met up with the family for lunch. BOY was it nice food at L'Empriente - well worth it... totally yummy. Personally I had the chicken supreme - amazing.

After lunch the weather had moved in and was chilly and with clouds coming in thick.... so it felt somewhat like Winter again. So it was time to head back down. Although it doesnt help when people are loading chairs and not really concentrating and thinking ahead / using peripheral vision etc... the number of misloads at bottom Fontaine Froid as the liftie had not quite got the loading ramp quite right today was startling... the lift must have stopped about 30 times as we went up it to download on the Olympic... grrr people you need to concentrate and have massive spacial awareness all the time when you are doing this job!

After getting home (later than planned because of the lift issues) I literally had 10 mins turn around time before having to go back into town to get Olivia. Clare had collected Ben earlier from kids club whereas Olivia had headed over to the swimming pool mid afternoon for a friends pool birthday party. So when I arrived at 1800 there was a lot of resentment about coming home... I finally prized her away thankfully and it was time to get her home and then them both fed and into bed.

Im just living day to day at the moment with Clare largely working a full time and a part time job at the same time.... arghhh!

Think that is all for now.

TTFN

This was some of the Alpine Experience team making tracks somewhere out there yesterday - quite incredible Spring conditions out there still! Good on you!

First thing in the morning it looks rather lovely out there doesn't it!

snow reports

@Steve Angus, well I’m delighted to have got those lifts right considering I haven’t been to Tignes since 2014!

Yes, no excuse for caning it down an open piste like that, highly skilled or not, it’s dangerous. It was a game between two ‘Billy Big Balls’ who think they know better I suppose!

Jumping off on face. Stay safe. High speed is fine but not showboating when a piste is crowded.

You know it makes sense.

VolklAttivaS5 - blimey that is good! Good memory! yes indeed re Billy Big Balls / or 'Arrogant A***holes head to head to head' more like
AndrewBailey - yes thats exactly what it was - showboating - im sure if challenged they would simply look down their noses and shrug as if to say 'we know better'. Arghhh!

Moguls day

When we put the electronic clock in bens room I made the mistake of saying he could only come in for snuggle 'when the big first number was at least 6' (I should add we have intentionally set the clock slow so it should only make it 15 mins before the real alarm goes off that he comes into bed)... I didnt think it would mean he would come in at times starting 11.... or 12..... though.

So anyway what im saying is I did not sleep too well and Clare also got back very late last night too - so disrupted nights sleeps all round!

This morning it was the same formula getting the kids out the door and with the sun shining it was time for dejavu feelings.

I met my team who were having their midweek blues in terms of energy levels but we got going. The dad just gave me his credit card today as there was no plans to actually meet up with them all day and they had a lesson with a colleague in the afternoon anyway! After my experience of yesterday and my general dismay for going anywhere near the Bellevarde as much as possible I wanted to get a long way away as best I can so I actually headed Solaise / Fornet way. It was a chilly start to the day and once again the snow stayed amazingly good all day... even skiing down the Plan M on Solaise at the end of the day the snow was in mid Winter like condition - quite incredible really! Anyway no sooner had we started to head up Solaise but I got a message from the lady who manages my flat (well the one I should be inherit soon) in Bournemouth to say that there was water pouring in from the tenants upstairs - oh yes a leak. So I spent about 20 mins making some phone calls at the top of Solaise trying to get the balls moving - arghhh frustrating but now this evening all seems to be on track sorting itself out - phew.

Anyway today was all about skiing more challenging slopes and in particular moguls.... so the boys wanted challenge so they got it. We skied (well survived really as it was truly awful) Marmottons (Arcelle piste itself was awesome) and then cruised around towards a hot choc break via piste drills up on Cascades. After that we did several laps on amazing snow on the Val glacier - totally amazing snow. We worked on moguls still using the ridges at the side of the piste - perfect!

Before lunch the boys wanted another challenge so we took a ski down Foret. As it goes it was in pretty decent nick actually - phew.

Lunch was taken at Crossettes and even arriving at 1345 the queue was still big - doh. Anyway we queued and waited, and waited for our food to come. They were actually overwhelmed and it turned out that when the food arrived they were out of chips for the boys (yes I know) so we were given lovely rostis instead... now you would have thought the world had ended the boys were not impressed... I was a little embarrassed as its not as if they gave them brussel sprouts instead of chips - rostis for goodness sake! Anyway as 'compensation' they were given free choc bars for pudding. Meanwhile I had the plat du jour which was an amazing filet mignon with smashed potatoes and a side salad - as always lovely food!

We headed back into town and did a couple more laps on the Solaise (NB why does everyone insist of taking 38799 lifts in order to get back to the centre of town when we could more easily (as we did) simply bus is back in one move and then you can do more skiing from there - simples) and then finished up.

One thing I noticed from today (and it is the way of the school hols) was that there is so much blinkers going on.... from people blocking lift queues up by just standing there and no one can get by.... to people spread out across slopes and you literally can get by.... to so many skis taken off outside restaurants that you can't get through..... ah the list goes on. Also today there was loads of people skiing leaning so far back they were horizontal, no poles, on stupidly flappy skis and pushing the skis around they may as well just give up! Doh - school hols.

Anyway Clare is not massaging tonight and was also able to collect the kids so it had been a relatively chilled evening.

Tomorrow the weather might be a little more unsettled but we shall see how that impacts things.

TTFN

Looks quiet out there but really it was not that quiet - promise

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

Sounds like it’s very busy there in the week leading up to Good Friday. Fortunate that snow conditions are holding up well, even late afternoon, as that must spread the crowds around as much as possible.

Ref your fully justified rant about the ski racers putting recreational skiers at risk with their behaviour.
I guess this happens whenever ski racers are in town, or any other town for that matter.

If so, then why is such a predictable event not clamped down on by the resort authorities? It would be easy enough to put out warnings beforehand, clamp down on a couple of idiotic examples on day one and make sure, through social media, that they’re ‘on their case’.

Are the authorities just not bothered about safety, especially during a week when lots of children will be skiing? Puzzled

A snowHead

PeakyB - yes indeed the good snow etc does definately help. It was another 'winters day' today with fresh pow - what an incredible Winter it has been! Yes ski racers and public will always have the conflict youre right! Ive been on both sides of the fence.... racer side, coach side and now instructor side so have seen from all sides but to blatantly answer your point... no I dont think the safety aspect is shown anything more than lip service generally. People know that I dont beat around the bush and say it as it is in my opinion and in this case I just simply think Val d'Isere couldnt care less / dont do enough / turn a blind eye to it. However to be honest I just dont think they are aware of things like this being an issue. In the same way they dont realise that things like the bun fight that could be the Marmottes lift at this time of the year severely annoys so many paying holiday makers and there ' must be a better way' is something they should put any effort into sorting... lots of burying heads in the sand on so many issues.... but that is so often the French way of dealing with things. All those years back when I taught in Canada and also in NZ if there were issues you felt needed attention then there was always a way of reporting and trying to make things better but that is never the way in these parts... I guess thats why I am more than happy to call them out.... have done so in the past and will continue to.... 'could do better, Val d'Isere, could do better!'

A snowHead

Powder in April you say!

The alarm clock thing continues to work with Ben - yay. Anyway it was a very easy start to the day as I was not starting until 1000 this morning - wow what a chilled start to the day!

The weather was looking OK initially but by the time I finally got to the meet point it was chucking it down with snow / a strong breeze and thick clouds.... wow could this really be happening and how long will it last for?

The boys were dragging their heels again this morning but we headed up (the parents enjoyed a lazy morning it turned out). It felt colder today as the lack of sun and breeze etc made it feel colder but I certainly did not change my layering today! Anyway with no snow overnight I was surprised at how fast the snow was layering up out there... by the time we got to the top of Bellevarde there was a good 10cm of snow on the piste which made it just perfect for skiing on... even if the vis was not perfect!

Anyway after some warming up and skiing about in the green triangle for a wee while and enjoying the 10cm of snow we decided to do a practice race timed run on the stade bonnivie. That plan was working just fine after course inspection and slipping until we saw Gerard pulling the course in as 'no one was using it' - arghhh what a pain in the back bottom is all I say!

Plan B was to ski powder.... given the weather hardly anyone was on the mountain so we were able to get fresh turns literally on the piste or immediately next to it.... ultimately we were to do about 6 laps of Grand Pre and had simply stunning snow... it was cold, shin deep powder... just like mid Winter. There was next to no breeze and slowly but surely the vis improved.... talking about lucky! I dont think the boys realised how privileged they were!

After a lot of laps and smiles we bumped into the parents who had made it up and so we skied with them for a lap before heading to the Folie and the Fruitier in particular for lunch. Everyone was in a happy mood as the sun was starting to come out so steaks and other yummies were had (boy my steak was awesome it really was). Amazing!

By the time we finished we were able to have a nice ski down soft bumps to La Daille and still fitted in a lap or two on Rogoney to finish!.

Clare got the kids and we are both shattered so we got the kids into bed and now its almost time for bed myself. Got a few jobs to get done this evening and then tomorrow is the last of the run on this booking and that will be followed by a day off on Sunday before a new weeks starts.... boy its all go eh!

Anyway TTFN as always.

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

A nice last day but slightly frustrating start

I said above that I am never shy to call Val out when they are a little rubbish with things... today I had one of those.

With the sun shining and the temps cold it felt a little like a mid Winters pow day to start of with. Olivia was off to club - she had a slalom flèche race sprung on her this am but she did just fine... got bronze speed again. Ben was off with his buddy Tom for a days playdate and I met up with my team and another instructor who was on an all dayer with me!

So the boys always prefer taking the two chairs up the Face so thats what we set off to do. I always make sure the second chair (Loyes) is running which it was. However when we actually arrived at the start of it it was shut. People had already been on it but it must have developed a problem.... doh. We were advised that it would be about 30 mins until it was running again.... so with that the boys and I did a lap down the Face whilst the other instructor and the mum waited (about 15 mins in the end) for it to open. Bad timing.

My beef is that (whilst these things happen) there was no apology, no further notice put up bottom of the Bellevarde chair to warm people and no PR to say what went wrong / offer and apology / explanation etc. Now the thing is that a world class resort like Val should be better connected up so info could be forthcoming and more explanations / apologies could be on the app etc but the problem is nothing like that ever happens. Most world class resorts would jump on things like that especially in North America. I just think its resting on laurels things like that and a bit lazy.

Anyway ultimately we skied to the bottom and then had to queue to get up a now busier Olympic lift (I think a lot of weekend skiers came in today which is VERY rare for us but being Easter weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). We finally got going and headed to Tignes via Borsat and had a nice ski around.

Late coffee stop was taken at the Corner - R decided we ALL needed a famous Corner sausage roll which was delicious as always! It was also nice to see some British ski royalty in the form of Chemmy Alcott having a coffee in there too.... quick chat (I used to work with her husbands brother here in Val about 10 years back) and the boys wanted a pic with her and then we were off.

So we slowly but surely headed to Brev via Tichot etc and had some lovely empty lunchtime slopes... it really was lovely! The pistes were holding up so well and it was brilliant skiing. Getting lower to Brev of course got slightly slushy but nothing too bad at all!

I was incredibly surprised that L'Armailly was fully booked... its a Saturday in April at 1415!!!!!! So anyway we ended up eating at Bouida which was nice enough!

Getting back was simple enough and after dropping them off at their chalet I walked to get Ben from his friends house and now I am struggling to keep my eyes open... shattered doesnt cut it. Tomorrow I finally have a day off...... kids are skiing and doing other things tomorrow and Clare is working so hopefully I can get my batteries recharged!

TTFN

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

I should add - that when I mean 'last day' I mean with this client / booking for the week... im back teaching next Monday. haha!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Steve Angus, Chemmy must have been there most of the morning! Still probably meet some real skiers there compared with the rarefied atmosphere of the posh end of Club Med Laughing

You'll need to Register first of course.

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

A day out of ski boots

Apologies folks firstly but that photo above is NOT my photo - that was from the Radio Val website... I have not been anywhere near ski boots or the mountain all day.

After a decent nights sleep and getting the kids out the door (Olivia is with Club all day) and Ben has been playing with his friends at kids club followed by a lesson this afternoon, I have had a chilled one. I enjoyed my eggs on toast this morning - seems ages since I treated myself to that in the morning!

Anyway Ben loves going to play with his friends and Olivia was equally excited after we watched over breakfast a good documentary about Michaele Shiffrin on TV! So off they went in their ski gear for a day leaving Clare to head out to teach (just this morning) whilst I did some chores (first time this 'Winter' have put the laundry on the balcony to dry!!!) and pretty much watched some TV / wrote some emails etc.

I also spied the pisteurs doing a rescue with the help of the PGHM chopper from an injured person on the Spatule.... my birthday present of super powder binoculars came in useful there.

Ill be going to collect the kids from town later on and enjoying the rest of my day off.

Just two more weeks left of lessons coming up... this week is about 2/3 booked up lesson wise (the resort is only about 50% full this week so hardly busy) and then the week after that similar so the finish line really is well and truly in sight now. This time in 2 weeks time I shall be getting the annual French tax return started as well as getting involved with Olivia and Clares birthdays... yay. Suddenly it will be May and chill time.... yay!

In other news the kids enjoyed their easter eggs this morning and we have a large amount of choc to get through as a household now as Clare decided the kids did not need all the eggs they were going to have so we are going to finish the excesses off - haha!

Haha.

Back to work tomorrow morning.

Happy Easter Sunday everyone.

TTFN

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

So quiet

Im so confused which day of the week it is with all the bookings and work days non stop im getting totally muddled up where we are at date wise. So when I went to bed last night I was convinced it was Saturday night and then when the alarm went off (Ben came in just before the alarm went off) this am I really had to kick myself to get out of bed!

Anyway Olivia needed to get to Club (they were doing a GS practice on Borsat piste this am) and Ben was heading to Village this am (lesson this pm) and Clare was back on her usual school hols family she has been teaching a lot of this Winter. Anyway it was all go but not too stressful - the kids enjoy getting ready for ski days (usually) so that makes it easier - haha!

Unfortunately the 0825 and 0830 buses didnt seem to turn up this morning which meant even at the start of the line down here in La Daille the queue was huge to get into town and even at that time of the day - whoops! Anyway Olivia and I got the bus into town and she headed off for her days skiing whilst I met my new booking for this week.

A long time lurker on here and it was the first of 3 sessions brushing up his technique that we started with. I always start a session / new booking ascertaining what their experience / abilities are as well as 'likes' and 'dislikes' in skiing e.g. ice is 'ok' but moguls not etc. So I decided that heading up Solaise would probably be the best start and so we set of. The Bellevarde side was looking slightly more busy than the Solaise side and this might possibly be linked to the new ski racing that is happening up that side this week.... the Benelux countries championships week (Belgium / Netherlands and Luxembourg). So that means that (whilst MUCH smaller than the SCARA) the OK Orange is out of action for this week. The pure numbers of racers is much much less thankfully!

So we started on the Glacier Express doing some drills before moving to the steeper blues of Datcha and then later on taking the Plan M down. By ramping up the challenge we were able to refine the technique and add more 'ingredients' into the mix slowly but surely. It was good to ski the Plan M as not only was it quiet (for once) but it also challenged his nemesis of ice and of course it had a hard freeze on it. But that also meant that we could go up Olympic and ski Fontaine Froid and take on the softer snow there too and again improve his technique. It was a good session with 2 or 3 clear things for him to go away and work on this afternoon before tomorrows session when we are going to shift focus onto the second half of the turn.

Anyway with a cancelled pm (something about an injury to the client) that might mean I have a few free pm's this week now I was able to ski home and get some bits done.

Ill be collecting Ben from kids club later and Olivia should be making her way home from Club by herself this afternoon... after the race practice this morning her group were going to have a go at Biathlon this afternoon - thought that sounded pretty cool!

Meanwhile the weather started sunny and bright this morning with a veil of high clouds and the veil has gotten thicker this afternoon so is now overcast. I dont think too much will come of it but in many ways it helps keep the snow decent at this time of the year - should stop a REALLY hard freeze thats for sure!

The resort is starting to think about the end of the season now but there is still this week and next to go so if you are coming out then conditions really are still very good and likewise if you are coming out (this season or next) and you want lessons / guiding etc then another shout to drop me a bell.

Anyway TTFN.

Bearing in mind it was about 0900 on a Monday morning - absolutely no one around! Incredible! Conditions awesome - where is everyone!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Just about snow

The kids were up earlier than anticipated this morning so we were all up and dressed way earlier than planned. Ho hum. So anyway it was a repeat of yesterday with Clare taking Ben to kids club and I took Olivia to Club des Sports. Luckily the buses seemed to be running just fine so all good.

The meeting point seemed a lot quieter (not that it was busy yesterday really) today but that might be because it was overcast and trying to rain / snow even down in town.

Anyway it was a toss up between heading Bellevarde way and not having the real choice of terrain I wanted (Fontaine Froide only really for what I wanted to do) as skiing potentially down into the rain in La Daille was not an option. The other option was to head Solaise way as we had done yesterday and hope the freezing level was not going to be an issue but on the flip side if we broke through the clouds we could head high to the Val glacier. So I headed that way and the clouds and vis was certainly varied!

We did some work on the middle and end of the turns today and having done some work the glacier runs we hit Arcelle. Skiing the Arcelle was revisit to a tough place for him as he had bad memories of skiing there last time he was here at Easter and it being sheet ice. For those who know Arcelle you know that you have to get your timings just right to get the best conditions on there. Anyway with the cloud cover yesterday afternoon which will have stopped it getting too soft AND the rise in the freezing level overnight it was going to be good from the get go today. So apart from the bad vis when a bank of cloud rolled through a couple of times it was a great decent and we ended up doing it twice! His skiing really came on again today and I think in 20 years of teaching he must be one of the only persons, if not about the only one who really was able to listen, understand, compute, watch the demo and then copy it very closely - I was most impressed - certainly makes my life easier when that sort of thing happens!

To finish we took a trip down down the front and back to town with the usual big banks of snow and poor vis coming through.... at times it was the thickest fog you could ever imagine! Meanwhile the moisture was threatening and by lunchtime it was pretty much raining but only just rain and not snow so I think it will be another semi powder day tomorrow at altitude! This season just keeps giving!

I am about to head out for a beer with an old friend and client shortly - got a few out at the moment! Meanwhile Clare is working all day and then has been invited to a 'Cocktail Masterclass' evening and dinner at her clients chalet - oooooooooh dont mind if you do eh!

Tomorrow the weather could be similar to today - eeek!

TTFN

You might be able to guess which piste this is from what is written above

snow reports

Surprising snow

If yesterday the kids were up early then today was the complete opposite as when I got up Olivia (normally the last to get up) was the only one up. Clare had gotten in so late last night after her cocktail evening that she was slow getting up.

Anyway we got there and the weather outside looked much more promising than it could have been.

I dropped Olivia at club and Clare did the usual with Ben and then it was show time. With the weather as it was I was in two minds as to which side to go.... ultimately as the client brought his teen daughter with him we needed to work out where we should head and when and how the timings would be divided up. So it was surprising that when we got to the top of Solaise just how much fresh (but heavy) snow had fallen - a good 10-15cm - wow! It meant the pistes were a little choppy but where they had pisted late last night it was wonderful snow. Game on. We did some work on the Glacier and then the plan had been to ski Arcelle but it was not open which was a little puzzling so it meant we had to ski Solaise Plan M instead.... so we worked our way down doing some exercises and little by little the snow got heavier and more chopped up so was hard going.

As there had been a request to do the Face by the teen daughter we changed sectors and headed up Bellevarde... the weather was improving all the time and with a little breeze up Bellevarde but with lighter snow it was really nice. The pisting was awesome that side so we really found our rhythm and chance to work on technique before splitting up where I took the daughter down the Face. The Face was really lumpy and bumpy and not that easy so it was a really good challenge for her but watching some people struggling so much to get down there I did feel sorry for them!

Anyway it was a really nice morning and we finishing on a high on great snow before I headed home. It was a short turn around before I had to head back into town with Olivias SL skis as her Flèche GS race this afternoon has been cancelled as the snow is too soft to make it safe.... SL on the Legettaz will be a decent runner up! Anyway so I took her SL skis up and her shin guards whilst her GS skis came home with me.

Im popping out for a beer with a friend shortly and then it will be time to collect the kids from their various ski related things this afternoon and that will be another day done - can't believe it is mid April now and only a week of lessons left or so - wow!

TTFN

P.S. I took the screenshot below from Radio Val this am - thought was quite an interesting set of stats!

The magic carpet is once again buried under snow - when will this season ever finish!

And this is why I always tell people that the Val glacier area is always quieter than the Bellevarde in particular!!!!

It just keeps coming

It was the same old start to the day and everyone is very much in the rhythm of these things now thankfully. So it was pretty easy although the fatigue from everyone in our household is starting to show. Ill do another week or so of these updates and then end of next week ill be 'hanging up the keyboard' so to speak. Haha. Of course during the 'Summer' (as instructors we generally talk about only 2 seasons in our lives, Winter and Summer) ill be doing monthly updates. Similar on social media - hanging up the updates as of next week.

Anyway today looked once again like a Winters scene... snow on the ground and much colder once again - in fact it was something like -15 with wind chill at the Val glacier I believe this morning - quite incredible bearing in mind its mid April now!

With Olivia we headed to the meet point and I met my client for the day. A new booking for a one off session... in fact his wife had bought him the session as a present. A very experienced ski tourer with lots of off piste experience the session was to be a combination of teaching but mainly guiding to the best snow out there.... and he was in luck with the 20cm'ish at altitude that had fallen - game on!

The only thing that was to be an issue was the vis and it was 50:50 which direction to head but I knew we would have more options Solaise direction so off we went. The quality of the snow was exceptional and apart from not being able to see anything we noodled around Madeleine and Datcha and all the usual suspects up there. But despite the clouds thinking about clearing and the sun thinking about sticking through it was obvious that to be more adventurous we would need to either go much higher or try our luck slightly lower. So indeed we went to the Bus Stop and found some incredible powder, untouched and wonderful vis - game on!!!! Much lower down it was heavier though so with the Laisenant Express not open (interesting) yet we bussed to Fornet and hit the cable car and then chair up... unfortunately (well fortunately I suppose as well) the Signal drag was not open yet (making noises but nothing more yet!) so we felt our way out into sunny bowl and again the snow was amazing... at least we could see lower down and enjoyed plenty of pow turns back to the chair for a second time.

I knew I was in the right sniffing area as LOTS of other guided groups etc were circling waiting for the moment to arise when the signal drag would finally open and on this second lap we waited for all of 30 seconds until the drag opened right there in front of us - game on. Up, up into the cloud once again but I knew it would be worth it and boy did the Grand Vallon not disappoint! Skiing the guts we had waist deep pow turn one after another and of course dropping down low we could get out of the cloud and see what was happening - it was truly stunning, smiles all around. It was just go, go, go in that sort of snow... respecting all the other guided groups etc around us!

It was so good we went around for another lap and this time went slightly right and by now the clouds were trying to break up - awesome! Right down the middle again and taking in the mini couloir half way before across the flats and finally a decent down towards the Mangard - wowsers game on!

Maximum turns for sure!

Legs a little tired when we finally got on the bus back into town but smiles all around!

I had a rushed lunchtime getting changed from ski stuff into boarding stuff then headed back to the meet point to meet my pm session.... session 1 of 3 of a group of YSE seasonnaires who ski but want to learn to board.

We had a great afternoon and we shall have more fun tomorrow.

I hung around sorting my shoes out then collected Ben to get him home. Meanwhile Olivia did quite well in her ski race and once again got the Bronze time but then went on a play date with her friend.

Managed to get 2 tired kids into bed about an hour ago and I won't be long after them.

TTFN

Even at the meet point there was boot deep pow this am!

You know it makes sense.

The season clearly needed a late start itself. It just keeps giving this April doesn't it!

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

Delivered again

The kids woke up far too early this morning. Doh!

Anyway I was in a rush this am... I needed to get my weekly TDC snow report recorded as well as get to the office to get kit for my off piste am... go, go, go.

So I got that all done and still managed to pop into Chevallot to pick up my lunch for later.

The am session was an interesting one. Not sure I have had it before but a nice lady from London with her 3 (2 very grown up) teen age kids for an introduction to off piste. They were relatively experienced skiers but new to 'proper' off piste and the procedures involved! Anyway with the weather looking mighty fine (yes a few whispy clouds about but generally pretty decent) I decided that Bellevarde would be the best direction to head. So after a tester off Verte we did a few funky variations through the Jardins de Borsat and found some great Winter powder. There was some good skiing to be had and they performed pretty well actually! We did some nice drills on the piste too.

Laterly we tried something south and it was just about turning with a little sun crust but whilst back on something north under pisteurs the snow was lovely and light and deep! Yippee!

I had a rush at lunchtime changing into my boarding gear like yesterday but managed to get it done before heading back to the meet point and catching up with the the YSE girls for the pm boarding session.

They were all present and correct and excited to get going for round 2 and it turned into a really good session. The snow was just perfecto on the magic carpet and they managed to get as far as heel side turns.... well done girls. We / they have their last session with me (which will also be my last lesson of the season) next Thursday afternoon - awesome!

Meanwhile Ben was busy completing his Bronze medal in his group lesson - go my boy (Clare picked him up today) and Olivia did even better - super proud... she got Silver in her slalom race. Silver OMG thats so good. Not only did she do that but she was fastest in her group out of all boys and all girls!!!! Wowsers. Proud dad moment no 234325.

This evening I have pretty much tried to stay awake... had a takeaway and written this. Looking forward to a sleep!

Tomorrow and over the weekend I am not working and tomorrow im heading down the valley with the kids food shopping and treating them to a McDonalds for lunch - well anything to get them along for the ride with me! Its also Clares last day of the season tomorrow and I think she is looking forward to finishing up too.

TTFN

Thought readers might find this of interest!

I can't actually see which Olivia is but she is there somewhere!

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

Eve of the first family day off since....

With only Clare to get out the door this morning I was frustrated that I had a nightmare and woke way tooooooooo early this morning and then dozed for what seemed like far too long before hearing the kids get up again too early! Grrrr not a (small) lie in I had hoped for!

Anyway Clare sorted herself out before I got myself and the kids sorted and we hit the road to head to Bourg! I had to run a couple of errands first up and then we went food shopping (well initially the collecting part of a click and collect) before into Super U itself! I was dreading the journey down as thought there might be some puking from the kids but they were both OK actually in the end - being in the front helps (we have a 9 seater!) with me.

In the store they were both really helpful actually and apart from the 'can we have this, can we have that' for everything I escaped with everything on the shopping list and only a couple of extras... in fact when I said 'you can help me choose the ice cream flavours' I was at the time looking at the various Haagen Dass / Ben and Jerry flavours.... so circa €5 a pop... but they saw a pack of cheap frozen lollies - bingo thanks very much ill take that - save a few €.

Haha!

So since everything seemed to going on time I was surprised to get them to the bribe of the day - a trip to McDonalds! Oh yes..... I know, I know! What you have to remember is that Mcdo's is NOT something they ever see (only TV advertising!) UNLESS we go out of Val and in the Winter they barely leave the resort if at all! So anyway its not as if they pass it on the school run each day or whatever.... so we all really enjoyed it - naughty but nice! Love the use of reusables for all the food these days!

Anyway coming back up there was still no puking yay!

So then with the kids watching some TV (much easier than them mucking about!) I put all the shopping away and then put the car back in the UG parking for another wee while!

There was just enough time to catch my breath and then we headed over the road to see Mr and Mrs SnowTrax for a cuppa and some cakes etc.... ah how nice.... for various family reasons they have not been out here (nor will be for the near future) as much as before! Anyway that was really nice to see them!

With Clare home from work we entered the normal evening routine and the kids im hoping will have a really long sleep tonight mainly because (we think) tomorrow is the first time since Christmas the NONE of us needs to be up and anywhere at all tomorrow! Ahhhhhh how nice. We might even have a family swim and other fun and games tomorrow! We shall see!

Meanwhile the weather today was wet slushy snow fall and the peaks were obscured all day. I dont know how much will have fallen but assuming its cold's tonight it could be another powder day tomorrow. The resort itself meanwhile will be very quiet this week.

TTFN

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

Ah the lure of McDonalds. The ultimate treat when you're a kid.

Enjoy your family day off tomorrow. Hopefully you're having a nice lazy start.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Owlette - thanks so much. The day off was actually today and it was a chilled one!

0730 - no bad!

It was 0730 when I finally got out of bed this morning but I think I heard the kids about an hour before that and dozed! Yay that'll do!

So it was a VERY lazy start to the day... family breakie and chilling.... in fact no - one was dressed until gone 1000... haha! With the weather looking average out there and with lots of avalanche control work going on there was not much incentive to get out. Boring jobs like taking the bins out and changing everyones bed sheets were the highlight of the morning! Haha! We even fitted in a family game or three of Uno and a few other classics.

With a snack lunch out the way Clare had a couple of errands to run whilst I had the task of trying to keep the kids entertained by taking them to the swimming pool!!!! I think it worked out well as we arrived just as the big floats came out in the laps pool and lots of the kids friends turned up.... there was a lot of playing about and I basically become the chief 'trying to knock the kids off the big float' games master..... effectively they all lay on the big float holding on for their lives whilst I tried to flick them over.... my arms this evening are knackered! Haha!

Anyway 2 hours in the pool is enough for anyone to be honest. After washing everyones hair and having lovely long hot showers we headed back home. Clare had her chores done and we have just had a family meal of Fajitas (one of my favs) and the kids are tucked up in bed.

Whilst I am teaching most of this week (a client from the start of the season from Australia who is back for another week (or 3 actually!)) Clare is mainly with the kids... tomorrow they are all going for a ski together over to Tignes and one of Clares very oldest friends and her family are there on holiday this week so they are all going to meet up. I might actually try and coincide my lunch tomorrow with young 'E' at the same time and place as Clare is meeting her friends at Aspen Burger tomorrow lunchtime - hmmmm might try!

Anyway not much else to report from today.... the finish line really is in sight now! Haha bring it on! I will be doing my last daily update and social media will start winding down from Wednesday or Thursday.

The resort is going to be very quiet this week so it will be nice cruising about having the place to ourselves!

TTFN

Whilst waiting for the bus back from the swimming pool I thought this looked quite cool the way the Olympic appeared from and also disappeared into the cloud / fog / never never!!!!!!! Spooky!

You'll need to Register first of course.

Based on my memory, rather than any facts, recent seasons in the Tarentaise always seem to end with a great March, then more and more snow through April….then the lifts shut down and it’s all over!

I’ve no idea whether the data supports that but it certainly feels that way to me. Do the ‘powers that be’ ever discuss keeping at least parts of the area open a bit longer? Or would it just not be economically viable?

Skiing in early May up there (which I’ve done on lovely fresh snow) seems a lot more appealing thank early December to me. snowHead

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

@PeakyB, STGM have been proposing that from the mid noughties. They basically want to press on with the Glacier and Double M as long as they can and then stop till the Autumn snows arrive.

There was pushback from the resort to keep, firstly the 365, then 12 months and now 11. More marketing than common sense IMHO.

There’s also the issue of persuading people to come. But they could attract racers before they head to the southern hemisphere. Essentially that was what summer skiing was, even then it wasn’t profitable really.

After all it is free

@chocksaway, thanks, I'd be happy with just the glacier and double M in May, if the price was right. I suppose Val Thorens is the other contender for staying open later.

@PeakyB,
The Tignes closing date is actually creeping forward. Back in the noughties the glacier/Double M (and sometimes other areas around Val Claret & le Lac) were open until 8 May (a French holiday) earliest. If the 8th fell on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday then closing day would be the Sunday - so potentially the 11th.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Back in the 80s, Tignes boast was Skiez 365 Jours Par An. I remember ski-ing there on my birthday, one yr, on 25th June.

Help!!

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

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Snow Reports - weather - snow conditions