Tignes, Val d'Isere & The Espace Killy 2013/14 (webcams post 1)

A snowHead

How are the runs down to Le Fornet and Les Brevieres bearing up chocksaway?

We're staying in Le Lac from the 13th but I need my annual fix of lunches at the Edelweiss and La Bouida

A snowHead

Not ventured that low for a week now. I will see what I can discover.....

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

chocksaway, that was an interesting report on the voting. Out of interest, who gets to vote- is it anyone who owns property in Tignes?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

So what are the rules on who can register to vote? I was told around 1500 are allowed to vote in Val d'Isere, which (I guess) is far fewer than the winter population even excluding tourists.

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As I understand it................
In the municipal elections all French folk who have their primary residence in the commune can vote. As you can only vote in one commune in France all the French 2nd home owners can only vote at their home village and therefore not in Tignes. For other nationalities of the EU you can vote if you have had a property for 5 years or more.
You also have to subscribe to be a voter (as ever a reasonable amount of paperwork!) - not sure how keen the French are on doing this so I suspect the high turnout rates reflect the fact that if you have subscribed you are likely to vote. The 1500 in Val that Dogwatch refers to are those that were 'inscrit' or registered to vote.

Anyway the sun is shining this morning so its time to ski! Cool

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@franga - We're in Brev over Easter and slightly regretting being so low! Still, it's a nice little village and i'm sure the lifts will get us up high Wink

Really appreciate all the updates at the mo. Sounds like the weather is going to be cracking spring conditions over the next week or so!

After all it is free

crashd, it will be fine, don't worry. I was there just a couple of weeks ago and the Sache was in good nick (even lower down). You can always download in the bubble. Brev is a lovely village and La Bouida is one of my favourite places to lunch. Enjoy.

Another spring day with blue skies and sun in the morning. A sure sign that spring is here was heralded by the closing of the Lac de Tignes to pedestrians. Not long before we see iceberglettes floating! Went to La Daille for 1030 where it was easily skiable, if a bit soft - so getting to the Eidelweiss will be fine as it is a bit higher. Might be a sloppy schuss/walk across the bridge to the Fornet Cable Car/bus though after a long lunch! Resort is busier than last week with quite a number of Brits and Belgians on holiday. From about 12 you could see the high cloud associated with tomorrows cold front approaching from the north-west. Looks like it could be a miserable day tomorrow lowish down but we should get a dusting (and no more) of new snow above 2500m - so if we can see the glacier tomorrow it will be busy. Top tip would be to take the Funi through the rain/sleet/snow levels area and stay up there (whilst I go to the Gym!). It will be quite a bit cooler with a sharp breeze though Spring service resumes on Wednesday.

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Thanks chocksaway,

Hopefully rain / sleet don't cause too much damage but I doubt it given the low precipitation forecast. Think our strategy next week would be to hit some of the low stuff early (if it doesn't freeze overnight) and then move higher / follow the sun.

Thanks again.

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franga,

Rain/sleet/snow showers were forecast for 4 days last week and all we got was dismal days and no precipitation. Hopefully the same tomorrow Very Happy

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Another sure sign of spring - afternoon avalanche control! I was sat reading with patio doors open and just before 6 the pisteurs set off the Gazex above the Trolles - nearly soiled my armour Shocked

. Not as impressive as last years when the avalanche was moving (slowly) for about 20 minutes - nonetheless good to know they are looking after us.

You know it makes sense.

chocksaway, another sure sign of spring was the marmots we saw while on Palfour this morning.

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

Blimey ... those webcams look pretty depressing. Please tell me it's all an illusion and we are experiencing a monumental dump of snow down to Les Brevieres Toofy Grin

A snowHead

Rain in Val Claret this am turned to snow quite quickly. Quite a bit which freshened things up. But clod wet windy and miserable. We had luch then an early basth. Very light rain in les Boisses / 1800.

A snowHead

Phew - bashers should do their magic tonight and when the sun is out tomorrow life will be good again

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

As briefed! The sun is now out (at 1600) - this morning would best be described by our kilted brethren as 'dreich'. Had to find the waterproof to go to the gym Shocked

but, afterwards, the tartlette de framboise from La Croiss made it all worth while. About 5-10cm of fresh above 2500m which as they say at that corner shop 'every little helps'. Might be a bit chilly in the morning compounded by a windy morning up top. But the sun will shine and there is the return of the charity cake shop outside the Maison tomorrow afternoon Little Angel

. Warms up towards the weekend when a few showers may appear.

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A bit cooler this morning so the snow kept better low down for another hour or so. Very busy around OK Orange with the French Schoolkids competitions (La SCARA) - shame they don't teach them piste etiquette Grrrr. Great spring snow around Genepy this afternoon - just magic with no one else around - and there was time for an Aspen Burger!!

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Quite a short report yesterday - so here's a bit of an photo epic!

Firstly - its most definitely spring - marmottes galore and here's the view from the hangar at 3pm:

Which looks a lot better than the resort runs into Meribel - buy high sell low!

This morning after a moment of sheer madness we decided to go to Brevieres (just for franga, - where is my medal for services to snowHead

). And not only that we did Sache - which was mostly great at 1030 - just narrow (ie half width) on the very steep bit where the Volkswagen moguls usually reside). It was still easily skiable but my thighs knew about it by the time we got to the bottom Shocked

. After that it was a charge round to Col de Ves where the snow was best described as variable off piste. As the hordes went to lunch it was time for the Motte - great on piste - again variable off.

After a well earned lunch and a trip to the bank (more admin!) I had noticed that the water level behind the dam was at the lowest I have ever seen - so off in the trusty wagon for a photoshoot - so here goes:

A view of the old village from the Tignes side (long range):

Closer in:

As you can see there is little but the foundations left after the houses were destroyed immediately after the village was evacuated (by order) in the 1952/3 and most of those are now filled with silt.

This one is taken from the same place looking towards Val a little more giving a view of the field patterns and a couple of hikers who are more energetic than me:

A lot of the locals will visit the homes of their ancestors - in the past when the lake was drained every 10 years to de-silt the sluice gates etc children would be re-baptised in the ruins of the old church to 'connect them to their heritage'. The cyncic might also say to give them a right to the land if the dam was ever abandoned - which is unlikely in the next decades as they are spending €1.3billion on a refurb of the whole system.

A lonely wall which survived the dynamite:

This is the main village from the Val road - old photos confirm that it was built on a cliff/bluff above the River Isere, the church was just left of centre away from the water as far as I can make out.

More ghostly images a bit further down stream:

And now for a shot of the dam - showing how empty it is - that's about 165m from top to bottom and when its full the lake holds 235 million cubic metres of water and the system (which extends all the way to Bourg) produces electricity to supply a town of 400 000. It was inaugurated on 4 Jul 53 by the President himself Vincent Auriol.

And finally here is a shot of 'the old and the new' the original village and Le Lavachet at the top:

And back to skiing (and its hazards) you can just see large 'springtime avalanches' to the left of the buildings in Lavachet - but then Lavachet does mean avalanche in the local Savoyarde language!

Thanks for attending the history lesson - hope you enjoyed it!!!!

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Excellent photo's. Thanks.

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Great photo's Cool

I was interested to see the old houses when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

After all it is free

chocksaway, great photos and commentary. We arrive Easter Sunday and will be great if the water level is still as low. I will have to have a walk to the damm if it is.
How was the snow down at Brev? We are stopping in Boisse and getting a bit concerned that by the time we get there, we will be on the bus up the Tignes each morning and getting the bus back at the end of the day

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franga, That will be next Thursday then - march on the regimental band!!

smagsmith, Snow down to Brev was still deep, if slushy at lunchtime (except the bit on the very steep black run) - I suspect in a week there will be no need to use the bus to Boisses on the way up t'ill - depending on stamina and fitness it may be a good way to go home (or download in the Boisses gondola). As the work on the dam and system is due to last 2 or 3 years I suspect the water will be as low or lower.

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chocksaway, thanks for the update. We are stopping in the Melezes, so hopefully we can ski home at the end of the day, and ski down to the Boisses gondola in the morning.

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Wow, brilliant photos. I've always wanted to see what the remains of the old village look like now. I snapped a few pictures from the coach as we picked up some people from Tignes on the way home a couple of weeks ago. I'd never seen the water as low before.

Why have they drained the lake, are they working on the dam?

Impressive pics, and lots of nostalgia for the locals, I'm sure.

I'll definitely be heading down there for some photography next week, looks eerie ...

You know it makes sense.

HoneyBunny, They are working on the whole system down to Bourg over the next 3 years. Last time I was down in Bourg in the dark the whole of the pipeline that runs a bit to the left (looking uphill) of the Les Arcs Funi was lit up like Piccadilly Circus - looks like it is being replaced. The electricity is produced at a number of turbines between the Dam and Bourg - gravity just keeps giving over the 750m drop!

After a hectic day yesterday today was much more gentle (hic!). Having arrived at La Daille for elevensies (same conditions as yesterday) we decided that the sun was over the yardarm (somewhere) and cracked open a bottle of Apremont - which was all very pleasant and had the potential to slide downhill rapidly. So we took the sensible decision - skied slowly back to Tignes and took up residence at the Arbina for a pizza and a bottle of Gamay. Needless to say a siesta followed........ wink

Should be a quiet day on the roads with 21000 vehicles coming up the hill and 18000 going down. Weather for flying will be fine at both ends - but it may be a bit bumpy landing anywhere north of the M62.

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

chocksaway, ahh thanks for the info. Amazing to see it like that. I'd love to go for a walk through the old village (might be a tad muddy).

I found a pic of it:

And the moment it was gone forever:

A snowHead

HoneyBunny, There's also some evocative stuff on britishpathe.com.

No skiing today - weather started nice and gradually clouded over - the clouds will hang around tomorrow (maybe with the odd spit and spot) and then normal spring service will resume on Monday. May be a chance of storms later in the week - but the snow/rain line will remain high if it develops. Weather-wise there should be no snags for flying tomorrow - have a good flight!

A snowHead

Awoke to a drizzly morning - so decided to do a bit of DIY involving - removing Velux Blinds - after a major faff the sun came out so I gave up and went skiing! Sun has come and gone all day - sunny periods really. Still lots of springlike conditions and plenty of snow on most pistes. Lots of Brits arriving for the Easter holidays. Next week could be a bit tricky to call weather wise - there seems to be a battle between warm air to the south west (0 degs at 300m or so) and not quite so warm (0 degs at 2000m) to the east - we seem to be at or around the boundary - will have to wait and see. Lots of sun though until late in the week when it looks to be unsettled and quite a bit cooler; who knows.........??????

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

Pop quiz, hot shots!

What's the best way over to the Motte from Brev? Same query for La Daille?

Last time I was in tignes we stayed in le lac so it was an obvious route but less so from Brev.

Any guidance appreciated Smile

D

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Up the brev bubble, short up again( not the long lift), then down to le lac, up the new lift that replaced the aero ski, then down piste h. Bingo, you are at the funicular.

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About 30 mins if you take it steady. Three lift & two runs.

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Not a cloud in the sky.....and perhaps a bit cooler than yesterday which meant that the pistes/spring snow off piste stayed harder longer. After lunch another group did Pays Desert and were surprised how hard. Lots of people around - lots of English and Spanish voices around to add to the eclectic mix and a bit busy at the usual crossing points. Cooling down a bit more through the week and showers forecast for the weekend which may even be snow at resort level!!

crashd, to add to Smagsmiths correct reply - Brev Bubble - Aiguille Rouge Chair - down bluets - up Toviere Gondola - cross the plateau - turn right for Val Claret and the Funii (Piste Henri - formerly piste H) or left down Creux and the Verte to La Daille.

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Brilliant day today. Morning spent off Grattalu lift with those pistes in great condition. Afternoon on the runs off Funicular Grand Motte. Amazed at the condition of the reds off the top (Dahu / Rimaye) and not many people around there all afternoon. Will add some shots later.

After all it is free

Slightly cooler today with a breeze (forecast to get stronger so the Cable Car was closed) - so it took longer to get soft out of the direct sunlight and even Leisses was 'good to firm' just after midday. Had coffee in La Daille where there are now some brown patches below the Triffolet restaurant but still skiable to the bottom although the slush was quite deep. Unfortunately the pisteurs seem quite busy - I suspect a lot of twisted knees and the like from rapid decelerations into the slush zone.

Comedy moment of the day occurred near La Souvana (little café on the left just before the bottom of the Palafour). A British yoof with twin tips was skiing too fast for the area down the very edge when an intermediate struggler turned in front of him. Applying the brakes to late he slid over the back of the downhill skier's skis and shot over the snow bank into mud, marmottes and grass! He clambered out and then complained that the downhill guy had turned in front of him and told him he shouldn't do that! Luckily no one was hurt so we set off on our way and then the same clown 'dusted me off' on the Millonex Piste - muppet.

Another great sunny day yesterday, but a bit cooler. Conditions great, given the amount of sun. Having a ball, although two of our party managed to leave phones somewhere out on the mountain, so will be retracing our steps today in an attempt to find them. rolling eyes

Going to be a couple of degrees cooler today, so firmer pistes.

Anyway some pics:

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Conditions still looking pretty good!

Help!!

Tignes, Val d'Isere & The Espace Killy 2013/14 (webcams post 1)

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