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TR: 2014 Ski Maurienne Sans Frontières

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
TR: 2014 Ski Maurienne Sans Frontières
...or the new gear test!

We'd already been in 2013 and 2012 but with loads of new and untested gear it was good to be back on familiar ground.

All our gear lasts us well - Mrs A's skis must be 17 or 18 years old now. But recent events have made us more inclined to spend our money rather than leave it in the bank. I've been accumulating gear slowly as I've seen bargains but we were both dependant on new boots with Tech (Dynafit) inserts. Suddenly, everything happened and I spent a mad week fitting bindings, cutting skins and sorting all the loose odds and ends.

Graham at Rivington Alpine fitted both our boots and did an excellent jobs of punching out the heels for my massive Haglund's bumps.

Worries elsewhere meant we didn't start looking for flights until they were at silly prices but, with a little rearrangement of Mrs A's work, we managed to keep the costs down by travelling Thursday to Thursday instead. Flights were with Jet2 Manchester to Geneva. The hire car was a Hyundai i30 through Jet2cars (managed by rentalcars.com) and Thrifty. From the Swiss side it was just over £200 including winter tyres and snow chains - more anon.

Thursday, 13 Feb 2014
Up at 4 o'clock for the 7:10 flight. All went bearably as, despite bleary eyes, MAN is much easier during the week. GVA was quick too and soon we were at the Thrifty desk. There was nobody around but there was a courtesy phone (no buttons) on the counter. When I called they seemed a bit surprised. "You will have to call Thrifty on this number...". I used my mobile but they had no record of our booking. "You will have to try the local office...". I rang the new number and found myself talking to a woman no more than 2 metres away on the Hertz desk. Why hadn't I looked up Thrifty? It's another brand of Hertz.

With that little diversion sorted we soon had the key. I checked that we had chains and that they were the right size, loaded everything in the back, switched on the headlights and we were away by midday. Quickly feeling peckish, we stopped at the Aire des Ponts de la Caille in pouring rain for butties. We arrived at the Hotel Bernard by 2:15. Then trotted off to the Tourist Information, photos in hand, to buy our Ski Maurienne Sans Frontières lift pass - good value at €115 for 5 days.

Friday, 14 Feb 2014
Back to a favourite (possibly our favouritest) resort of Albiez-Montrond. The place is quite small but there is a good variety of runs and, best of all, everyone is polite and courteous. They are mostly French but we did hear one English couple - he was on tele gear. The weather wasn't brilliant but at least we could see and there was plenty of snow. It's a picture-book village with ski in-out convenience and absolutely perfect for beginners - and for getting the feel of new gear.







Back in St Jean we found that the half-term early-birds had filled our hotel and some of the restaurants. It seems that many of the French arrive in the valley on the Friday evening so they can go up to resort early on the Saturday morning.

Saturday, 15 Feb 2014
We drove all the way up to Valfrejus only to find that, because of high winds, the lifts were shut. "I've got my skins in the car" I said - but Mrs A hadn't so we drove back down to Modane and up the other side to Aussois. In the end it was nearly midday before we started.

We'd never been before. It mostly faces south so, with the sun and the wind, most of the off-piste was pretty crusty and very hard work. There's a promising bowl up at top around the Fournache but it was still difficult. We needed some shelter for lunch and, after following the long blue that winds down through the trees, sure enough we found a picnic bench. It even had a roof and a tap - but there were piles of rubbish too. Why are some folks so lazy?





Sunday, 16 Feb 2014
At St Jean the forecast was for rain all day. We needed somewhere easy to get to and opted for Le Corbier. We loaded the car in light snow while a bus-load of locals passed us obviously heading for the slopes. As we drove up the hill the snow got heavier and the car started sliding about. We got to the turn off for Le Corbier but it had seen little traffic so I kept straight on towards La Toussuire. By now we were behind the bus again. As we neared the town it stopped to let another vehicle coming down the hill past. As it tried to move forwards again it just lost grip and started sliding backwards. There was a queue tight up behind me so there was nowhere to go. Fortunately, the road sloped to the left and the bus slid over into the snow-bank on the other side before it reached us - clipping, on its way, another car that was coming down. I gingerly inched past and into town where I was lucky to find somewhere to park.

It snowed heavily all day so we had much good, if a little slow, skiing. With snow like this we didn't want to venture into the flatlands at the top that join up many of the areas of Les Sybelles and just stuck to Le Corbier and La Toussuire.





On our return we found the car needed some digging out! Fortunately we both had our avy shovels. We also opted to break the seal on the chains which turned out to be self-tensioning - and quite complicated at first sight. It took some puzzling over the manual and a good deal of swearing to get them on.



On the way down the hill we met the bus again. This time with chains on and proceeding at a snail's pace. After a while he stopped to let the queue past but right down at the bottom of the hill we came to a halt again. After a few minute's wait we were waved on past a snowplough that had stopped at the side of the road. It was near a car that had gone off the edge and was now pointing straight down in the trees. We kept the chains on all the way back to the hotel. More swearing getting them off again.

Monday, 17 Feb 2014
The forecast was for sunshine all day so we knew where to head. Les Karellis offers an enormous variety of skiing for such a small lift system. I believe it was created as a cheap family resort but the quality skiing also attracts a few high-standard ski bums.

We started on the easy terrain at the southern end but soon noticed a lot of activity on the blue run that winds its way down the road from the Col de Charroute. It seems that a pistebasher had been buried by an avalanche triggered when it tried to clear snow from the road. I hope the driver was okay.



Perhaps because of this, nearly everyone was keeping to the piste. That meant all the more untracked thigh-deep powder for us! It was a great practice ground. The easy gradient made it very safe and the only problem was ensuring there was enough slope to keep going.

Later on we spotted two groups of tourers who'd come up the valley. One group were heading towards the Col d'Emy but turned back as soon as there was any sort of gradient but the others made it up much steeper ground to the col near the Paroi du Midi.

We headed down to Albanne for a Coke and then to the Lac de Pramol for a picnic lunch.



Then we headed to the northern section which has more intermediate terrain. Some of the pistes that hadn't been bashed were getting quite hard work.

Finally we headed for the middle section which contains the steepest terrain. Unfortunately, Mrs A's morning lessons wouldn't override her brain. Faced with the prospect of hundreds of metres of thigh-deep powder she opted to pole her way over to the piste instead!



But she still ventured out onto the easier-gradient stuff and had fun pushing the snow about.



Even late in the day we were still going round for more and didn't return to the car until gone 5pm.





Tuesday, 18 Feb 2014
The forecast was mixed so this time we chose St François Longchamp / Valmorel. Together they form Le Grand Domaine and offer spectacular value for one SMSF token.

Longchamp was noticeably busier than our earlier resorts. We even had to queue at the lower lifts - but for no more than a minute or so.

We started on the Marquis chair and then moved north towards Valmorel where things noticeably took a turn for the expensive! We poked out noses into the restaurant at the top of La Froide thinking we might have lunch but even just a bowl of frites was nearly €6.

We moved on and down to cross the river Morel. The slope was busy so I kept out of the way down the nice powder at the edge stopping to wait for Mrs A just before the bridge. A little while later I saw a rogue ski heading down the piste and then off into the powder behind me. I quickly recognised it as one of Mrs A's. The rear binding was twisted into the first climbing position and the brakes were locked up. I gave chase but there was no way I could catch it. Fortunately, the gradient eased and it came to halt by itself. Another 2 or 3 metres and it would have been off into the ravine with me in hot pursuit. It's a big ravine too and it probably would have taken me several exhausting hours to get back out again.

Ski collected, I walked back up the piste to find Mrs A fuming. Without warning, she'd been taken from behind, instantly landing on the snow and losing the ski. A young French woman of perhaps 20 paused to shout back a cheery désolée and carried on down the piste - ignoring the ski now heading past her. Handing it back we discovered the real damage she had wreaked. We were both fuming now.



It was probably a good job that we never found her otherwise there might well have been more physical contact and we would all have been in trouble.

Battle scarred we headed down into Valmorel where, slightly despondent, we paused deciding which expensive restaurant to head for. Suddenly, from nowhere, a woman with a cultured Edinburgh accent skied right across the front of both my skis. For a while I was speechless! An awkward conversation ensued but no contact was made.

Utterly despondent, we went to the slope-side Sherpa, bought Cokes for €1.50 and sat on the wall outside to eat our picnic.

Feeling better with some food inside us we headed back up the mountain. It was not at all busy off the Col de Roche Blanche. Mrs A looking good at the start of the turn - but I daren't show you the rest Wink



On the way back from Valmorel there's a black called Riondet that's tucked away and awkward to get to. Should be in good condition I thought. It was, but this didn't stop one poor soul coming to grief. The terrain is too steep and rough for a blood wagon so they had to call in a chopper. This spooked Mrs A who was already finding it hard going. But she still made it safely to the bottom without a tumble.



Back onto 'home ground' now we headed via the Col de Madeleine to the Lauziére chair and did both the black and the red. They were hard work and with all the day's sun even the powder by the side of the piste was tricky. Back into town we just missed the last 5:10 chair up into the bowl.

A long and eventful day where it was difficult not to associate money with a lack of respect.



Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014
The forecast was for more rain so, with all SMSF tokens spent, we chose to go back to Valfrejus and skin up the long blue called Le Jeu. We got all sorts of expressions from the few coming the other way.



At the top the viz was down to just a few metres and we were glad to have some poles to follow.



Mountain woman (and man):



We made it as far as the lift but were clearly too slow to manage it all the way to the top before closing time so we just turned round and went back the way we had come - very slowly. I was just taking a photo of the buried emergency phone by the stream at the beginning of the track when a pisteur arrived to shoo us down. It seemed confrontational to say we weren't her responsibility so we just shuffled along in the clag. At the bottom we found that the snow plough had blocked us in with snow so we spent another 10 minutes digging the car out before we disappeared into the "doggy" bar for hot chocolates.



Celebration meal at the l'Evidence restaurant (best in town?) and back to the hotel to pack up.

Thursday, 20 Feb 2014
Alarm set for 6 and we left just after 7 without any breakfast. The journey to GVA was quite stressful as we hit Chambery in the rush hour. What on earth possesses the French to drive so aggressively?

The car was returned to Hertz without trouble. We walked straight up to the check-in desk and were quickly through security to the gate. Got home mid-afternoon tired but relaxed after a good week.

So, how was the gear?

Apart from the unnecessary damage to Mrs A's ski tip nothing actually broke. This was something of a relief as I'd been trying out some new inserts:



They survived one high-speed collision and me forcing a heel to release as I tried to demonstrate how to press down on the front of the skis.

My skis are much stiffer and twitchier than I'm used to. Early on in the week I kept juddering the left one. I swapped the skis over but it was the same. I need to press down more earlier in the turn. On the piste they seem to have an enormous carving radius which I still haven't dialled in. Kick turns are a dream though. Everything is so light that they just fly round with little effort.

Mrs A seemed to adapt to her new skis with no effort. Although they are quite shapely the shovels are soft so much of that disappears easily. The only thing she noticed was that the downhill ski feels a bit unstable when doing kick turns on steep terrain. But they don't half fly round! One blink and you'd miss it.

Our boots seemed to be comfortable and worked quite well. I did have problems being stuck in my left boot at the end of one day. The locking pin on the upper lever catches the side of the hole in the cuff and I had to use the handle of my shovel to prize it open. The lower buckle seems cumbersome too. Mrs A doesn't like conventional buckles that have to be rotated to adjust. We spent ages while she would run out of thread and have to go back the other way and on to the next shark's tooth. Oh for the simplicity of Flexon buckles. In fact, we both found our boots very fussy with all sorts of bits and pieces that would end up in the wrong place. We just need to get used to them.

The bindings performed flawlessly except the brakes had a habit of sticking up after skiing deep snow and Mrs A got a bit spooked after a toe locked itself into a touring position. Unfortunately, the brakes cover the front two mounting screws on the rear binding which means it has to be adjusted every time I fit or remove them.

So, all in all, pretty positive. One repair and a few tweaks to do and we'll be set to go back to Termignon at Easter.

The New Gear:

Him
Skis: G3 Ace (length:177cm, width:116-81-104mm, radius:21m, mass:1.58kg)
Bindings: Dynafit Comfort (mass:502g)
Fixings: M5 (mass:32g)
Boots: Dynafit TLT5 performance (size:28.5, mass:1.26kg)
Per foot:3.38kg

Her
Skis: Movement Feather (length:159cm, width:115-76-105mm, radius:18m*, mass:1.00kg)
Bindings: Dynafit Comfort (mass:502g)
Fixings: M5 (mass:32g)
Boots: Dynafit Zzero4 C-TF (size:24.5, mass:1.40kg)
Per foot:2.94kg

* PhysicsMan's sidecut calculator estimates the radius as 14.4m.

The Old Gear:

Him
Skis: Line Darkside Carbon (length:173cm, width:110-73-98mm, radius:19m, mass:1.56kg)
Bindings: Fritschi Freeride (size:medium, mass:1.04kg)
Fixings: M6 (mass:61g)
Boots: Raichle Flexon (size:29.0, mass:2.04kg)
Per foot:4.70kg

Her
Skis: Atomic Beta Ride 9.22 (length:160cm, width:99-69-91mm, radius:19m, mass:1.26kg)
Bindings: Fritschi Freeride (size:medium, mass:1.04kg)
Fixings: M6 (mass:61g)
Boots: Raichle Flexon (size:25.0, mass:1.67kg)
Per foot:4.03kg


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 6-05-14 18:41; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Nice report !!
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Lovely report - thanks for taking the time. Reading about it is almost (but not quite) as good as actually being there Toofy Grin
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You seem to attract a lot of collisions. Possibly you should both learn more awareness of what's around you. Lessons might help.

Still, I'm glad neither of you died, even if you were obviously skiing slightly outside your ability levels.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I chuckle that you thought the Grand Domain to be expensive and by inference attracting the monied ... God help you in the next valley or more particularly the third one up!
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
That is one detailed TR. Cheers altis
Very interesting to hear about these out of the way places.
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