 Poster: A snowHead
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Out and about between Super Morzine and Avoriaz today with brother and his gf - a bit slushy in places but still fantastic. Bloomin lovely and sunny lunch at the self service place next to the bubble.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have to come clean. FlyingStantoni, was seen recently in a busy bar wearing, ok, I'll let you guess, but imagine what a Swiss man might wear on his feet in summer and you'll be close. That was why he was stopped by the ESF instructor whist skiing the back of Fornet. Not because of the avalanche risk but the fashion crime he was about to unleash on the après ski of Morzine!! 
I only wish I'd been warned.
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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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^^^^ and you promised not to tell zzz... 
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for these updates. Heading out on Saturday and hopefully if the forecast is correct there will be a bit of the white stuff on Sunday/Monday. Hope there will be some sun too though to go with my beer in the afternoon!
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Haha these couloirs you are talking about have lots of names.... The locals and instructors have some and they seem to get renamed each year by seasonnaires too. Think trying them in the near future is out of the question...unless you enjoy crevasse gap jumps and monster rollers where the snow has slipped and folded up! Beware, new snow will just hide these hooooge cracks too!
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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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DJL, I saw the aftermath of the Grand Conche one on Saturday when I was there, but not the actual incident. Lots of brown earth showing at the top as a result. I wasn't surprised when I saw the news about Mosettes in the paper on Monday.
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Chatel piste report showing avalache risk 4 today and Onnaz and Ombrieux (both steep runs with similar aspect) closed. Sounds like it could be slidey. Hope it cools down and we get that bit of fresh snow before were out on the 10th. How are conditions on the hoof?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Conditions here on Swiss side are fine really considering the sun and heat. Little slushy after lunch and hard on the legs, but really plenty of snow to keep us happy and more due Sunday/Monday with a nice drop in temperature to fluff everything up! On a sobering note however, this new snow will coverup all the nasty Cracks and things. The locals on the this side call the mammoth cracks...whales mouths!
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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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We had intended to be doing some day tours this weekend, but the temperatures and avalanche risk have kept us on piste.
Very good snow and cover, despite the high temperatures for the last couple of weeks and not noticeably any worse than last week - excepting the the number of off-piste avalanches has more than doubled since last weekend. There were a couple of very high traffic areas showing some signs of wear (unlike last weekend), but nothing serious and all stuff that the pisteurs will be able to manage.
Some lovely slushy snow today.
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Another avi 4 day, so another day of non-touring.
Parked at the beck of that small, rubbish satellite of Les Gets today, which had rubbish snow and holds absolutely no appeal * Good snow everywhere else around Les Gets - much of it didn't get an overnight re-freeze, so lovely, lovely spring / slushy snow. Some runs are closed because of the risk of avalanche from above - Cruex on Chamossiere and the link run over to Nyon.
All in all, a very fine day had by all.
* Only part of this statement is accurate.
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You know it makes sense.
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| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
Another avi 4 day, so another day of non-touring.
Parked at the beck of that small, rubbish satellite of Les Gets today.... |
"the beck"? Are you a northerner talking about a small stream or are you incredibly posh?
By the way, it was snowing in Upper Wharfedale today - 50 miles of utter freezingness on our bicycles this morning.
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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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Just woken to the sound of the snow plough! Taken a peak outside and can confirm Champery is white again. Hard to believe a it was pouring with rain in the early hours. Too dark to see the webcams yet
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Poster: A snowHead
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-3.4 at 8.30 at our chalet in Les Gets. Trees all white again, roof white, and still the teeniest bit of snow coming down.
Delighted to find lovely snow here again yesterday having been away for four weeks - came back via Switzerland, Nendaz where there were lots of brown patches.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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andy from embsay, frightfully posh darling, frightfully 
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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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We parked at Ardent yesterday and had intended to scoot through town and drop down to Prodains. When we got to Prodains we found netting and pisteurs blocking the way because the Grand Combes lift wasn't running due to an avalanche onto one of the pylons. People were being discouraged from skiing down to Prodains as the only route back up to Avoriaz was the cable car. There was also substantial netting at the fork at the bottom of Arare and at the top of the Interets lift.
Instead we did a run down the Fornet bumps (steeper skier-cross run was closed due to avi risk and the main skier-cross bumps were icy and yielded the feedback from skimotterat that I was skiing like a giraffe in a bathtub!); down the bumps on the Linderats side of Cubore (which were barely bumps at all); down the Linderats valley and back over for a run down Arare.
On our second trip up the Interets lift, I "encouraged" MrsFS plucked up the courage to pop into the pisteur's hut and ask if the runs down to the bottom - despite the netting. She was in there a fair amount of time and emerged with the news that pistes down had been pisted, were "open" and were in good condition - the netting was in place because they couldn't otherwise keep people on piste.
So, we "ducked" the netting.
There followed what has to be the best run of the season - top to bottom down the arête and Coupe du Monde runs down to Prodains with perfectly prepared hard-packed pistes, blue skies and absolutely no one on them.  My word. The bottom lift was running, so we lapped the bottom a few times before heading in for a late lunch in the place that does horrible chilli, sandwiches, burgers and curly fries.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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FlyingStantoni, When devoid of bumps the Coupe is my favourite run pretty much anywhere. Just the right angle to encourage (slightly too much) speed and most of it doesn't have any funny slants Must have been a hoot.
Bit of a worry about the Grandes Combes lift. It's pretty key to that whole sector. There is a report here http://www.morznet.com/reports/news/closed-grades-combes-closes-route-to-avoriaz.html with some photos. It looks like a very small slide that has come down to the pylons but an absolutely huge volume of snow above the cliff with a big crack above it. If that lot went it would be a major issue.
Hope the current colder weather stabilises everything. Were flying out on Saturday for the lad's week and the lad's week wouldn't be the lad's week without a couple of Coupe du Mondes!
I see you're still rubbing by on that lousy lunchtime fare. We tried it at half term and had to sit outside in the sun. Awful
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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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| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
| There followed what has to be the best run of the season |
Yep 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimotterat took a photo and I'll try to get it posted up. A reasonable volume of snow was around the pylon, but you're right that the big worry has to be the snow that hasn't fallen off yet.
I forgot to say, but the mountains are looking the most avalanche-scarred that I can remember ever having seen them. I still can't believe the number of locals who were out randoing on Saturday morning up the Col de Ratti in avi 4/5 conditions.
| DJL wrote: |
| I see you're still rubbing by on that lousy lunchtime fare. We tried it at half term and had to sit outside in the sun. Awful |
The chilli was rubbish.
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FlyingStantoni, "giraffe in a bathtub" - I like it 
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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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FlyingStantoni, overachiever? 
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I've amended my signature accordingly
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Nicely done alan empty. I've got an order in for your crown
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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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Those of you who have been around long enough, will remember that the original Grand Combes lift , or Machon chair to the rest of us, was wiped out by an avalanche in the early nineties. It was fairly early in the season so rather messed things up. The current chair is the third one up Machon, the second being replaced a few years ago. Interestingly the wall chair (no idea of the real name) was also wiped out by avalanche a while back. It was also out for the whole season. It made doing the circuit much more fun when the average punter skier had to ski rather than chair the wall. Finally, shortly after the Mossette chair was built, one of the pylons was moved by one of those big curly snow slabs sliding into it and it too was closed for part of the season. So, it is not that unusual for lifts to be damaged in good snow years.
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Snowing!!
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You know it makes sense.
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zzz, that is really interesting - thanks for posting - we didn't come here till the very late nineties.
I think the difference nowadays is that we all know so quickly about all these things happening - soon as there has been a slide or some other incident, a photo has been taken and posted on various websites.
And still snowing in Les Gets at 8.30
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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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Pamski, No problem. I should add that the chairs had no one on them at the time and I suspect the avalanches were induced by blasting.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It looks lovely out there.
I am, unfortunately, inside. Working. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
I am, unfortunately, inside. Working.
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Me too. But happily I'm going skiing tomorrow
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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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FlyingStantoni, it was indeed very lovely today.
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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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Skied from Morzine over to The Place That Does Not Exist today whilst teaching a friend to telemark on the way there and back.
Very warm and I was down to a fleece, rather than a shell, but there continues to be excellent coverage everywhere and not a brown patch or blade of grass anywhere. The bottom of The Figment Of The Piste Map's Imagination was extremely slushy. Excellent fun - even if I did scare myself by not looking before crossing one of the roads  .
Short turning on telemarks down the Pleney Stade was hard bloody work!
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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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FlyingStantoni, Glad it was still good in 'nowhere'. My OH reported that the bottom was very slushy yesterday afternoon and he wished he had joined me in the gondola. We had done it four times from about 9.30 in the morning when it had been excellent - and for about the first time ever I also saw cars on those crossings.
We saw a small child the other day on the Pleney Stade with maybe father - small child was obviously absolutely terrified and the screams of terror stayed in my head for hours, really very sad. Seemed not like a pushy or over-encouraging adult but rather a cruel one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Heading to Morzine for the first time tomorrow (first time skiing in France too!). What's stability like offpiste atm? Pretty terrifying around Innsbruck atm - what isn't covered in debris is covered in glide cracks...
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FlyingStantoni,
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He is nothing if not direct with his feedback
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So true
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Really looking forward to heading to Le Lavanchy for 4 days next weekend. Its the first time skiing in this area and we were hoping to ski/board over and drop down into Switzerland. Is this still possible with all the avalanche scares. Have you had fresh snow this week?
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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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No real fresh snow at all and forecast is for increasingly warm temps until next weekend at which point it may precipitate in some form!
Skiing to Switzerland is fine. The avalanche risk has been two of late but I'd expect it to increase as temps rise.
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Some glide cracks around the Pre La Joux area and Danger Avalanche signs in places giving access to the lift served off piste which don't normally have signs.
I don't really go off piste so can't say much more than that.
Great first day though it was getting slushy low by 12.00
In th Avalanche Bar in Chatel now. 150 Brits, 20 French, 30 neutals. Great atmosphere and England 14 - 9 up at half time!
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FAQ
You out first week of April, 
