 Poster: A snowHead
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The wife and I are flying into Geneva on Feb 1st. We have a rental car booked, and nothing else, as I was waiting to figure out the best snow conditions until the last minute.
How does the current snow depth off piste and snow forecast look? Here are kind of my main areas I'm looking at:
-Dolomites (Val Gardena)
-Alagna
-La Grave
-Zermatt
-Chamonix (or Courmayeur instead?)
I'd really like to go to La Grave, but just want to make sure the conditions are prime. We both loved Val Gardena and Chamonix last year. I've been to Zermatt a long time ago as a child, and loved it, but not sure on the off piste. Alagna seems interesting, but maybe a lot of hiking to access the best off piste?
If you could go anywhere in the Alps on Feb 1, where would you go?
Thanks in advance!
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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'd really like to go to La Grave
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Unless you are really seriously into just off-piste skiing, and nothing else then you might look at resorts within easy reach (e.g. Les Deux Alpes, Serre Chevalier).
Generalising, the best snow depths at the moment are in Italy and other more southern areas (e.g. Courmayeur has a lot more than Chamonix). I was in La Grave yesterday - a first visit on a "beginners off piste" course - and the instructor with us, who goes there often, said that snow depths, especially lower down, were still quite thin compared to other years.
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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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Dolomites are having a very good season, conditions in Val Gardena are great at the moment.
Not been to the area this year, but I suspect Alagna is looking good too as it is on the south side of the main ridge, which is where all the snow has fallen.
Courmayeur seems to have more depth than Chamonix for the same reason.
No idea about La Grave, I'm sure others will let you know.
All that said there seems to be snow on the way for the whole alpine area this weekend.
From Geneva the Dolomites are a fair way, but it's perfectly possible. If I were you I'd probably book a few days in the Aosta valley and ski Courmayeur and/or Alagna (I'd actually head up to Gressoney if I was staying in the Aosta area, it's a shorter drive and it's the same ski area). Then have a few days in the Dolomites after that? Depends on how much time you have obviously.
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We are big into skiing (actually snowboarding) powder, and ski mostly of piste here in the USA. So, I have wanted to visit La Grave for a while, but only want to if there are good snow conditions. I know there are some really good couloirs in the Dolomites, which we have never ridden but really want to try out. Driving time from Geneva is not a concern.
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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. It appears that maybe the Aosta valley is supposed to get the brunt of the new snow coming in, or am I looking at the snow maps wrong?
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| a2thak wrote: |
| Thanks. It appears that maybe the Aosta valley is supposed to get the brunt of the new snow coming in, or am I looking at the snow maps wrong? |
The ones I'm looking at agree with you (also Chamonix getting a good depth too).
I've just got back from the Dolomites, only had 2 days and didn't ski any serious off piste, it took me that long just to get my head around the scale of the place... I'll be back though, the whole place just blew me away. It's not just couloirs, there is tons of stuff.
Thinking about it, if I were you I'd hit the Dolomites, according the threads on here this is a pretty exceptional season for them. You're coming a long way and you might never time it this well again. We found really good B&B accommodation via the tourist office website, staying in Selva. If you do go pick this up from a shop in the village: http://shop.planetmountain.com/en/107-freeride-in-dolomiti.html. Of course you could still stop of in Alagna on the way (I think the quickest way from Geneva would be to head through the tunnel to Courmayeur and head up to the Dolomites via the Italian Lakes).
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When you say Gressoney instead of Alagna, do you mean Gressoney La Trinite or Saint Jean?
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a2thak, if you have a car then either is fine, the main lifts head up from the head of the valley at Staffal. I think Trinité is closer, but St Jean has more in the way of hotels / bars etc (although it is still very quiet). Either way you'd want to drive up to the car parking at Staffal to get the lift up from there.
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