 Poster: A snowHead
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We've been walking around the ruins of old village of Tignes, now uncovered while the Lac de Chevril reservoir is being drained for repairs. It's a fascinating and eerie place, and there are a surprisingly large number of recognisable ruins - we were even able to explore the rooms of one old house... I've been writing about all this in my blog: http://grangedalice.blogspot.fr/ and later we are going to post more pictures....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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araird, Very interesting. I've also looked at your blog entry which you linked. Just a minor point, but your blog entry is incorrect when it states "Overall the scheme would produce nearly a million megawatts, enough electricity for 150,000 homes (such as city the size of Grenoble)." A million megawatts is about 10 times more than the total present day generating output of the whole of France! I think you might have meant to say "nearly a million kilowatts", but in fact according to Wikipedia the Tignes dam actually has a total output of just under half this amount i.e 428 Megawatts ( 1 Megawatt=1000 Kilowatts). 
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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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No sign of any zombies then?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
"Overall the scheme would produce nearly a million megawatts,
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Sorry, this should have been 1000 megawatts - as you say 428mw from the Tignes/Malgovert system, and an equivalent amount from La Sassiere, Viclaire, Les Brevieres, La Coche etc. which are connected.
My source is Denis Varaschin's excellent book "Tignes, la naissance d'un geant". Still, it's a lot of sustainable carbon-free electricty.
Davidof: no zombies but lots of spirits. Check it out for yourself, before it becomes a theme park in the summer....
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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.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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What's the name of the film you are talking about?
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It reminded me of visiting Oradour-sur-Glane...
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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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I didn't know the SS were in Tignes?
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Maybe, have a look at this:
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lots more piccys on the Tignes or Val threads
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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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| araird wrote: |
| What's the name of the film you are talking about? |
The Returned C4 series
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You know it makes sense.
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araird your picture is one of the best i have seen yet
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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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| davidof wrote: |
| Pretentious gallic tosh. . |
Best thing on TV in years. Best soundtrack too.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have written a kind of 'photo-blog' about my visit to the remains of old Tignes yesterday. It's a been a moving experience....
http://grangedalice.blogspot.fr/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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araird, Why has the valley been emptied of water? Seems an odd time of year to do it?
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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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The 'conduite forcée' pipes from Malgovert to Bourg St Maurice are being replaced, so there's nowhere for the water to go! They are also taking advantage of this to replace the main spherical valve at the base of the dam.
Interesting story here: when they finally closed this valve in March 1952 to allow the reservoir to fill (and flood the village) they were so worried about (further) acts of sabotage (that protestors might break in and open the valve and flood the whole valley below!) that they dismantled the hydraulic actuating mechanism and hid all the parts in different places away from the dam/power station. I reckon they must have restricted the inflow from the various streams/undergound passes that feed the reservoir to get the level as low as it is now (lower than the offical 'vidange' in 2000). There's more about the Malgovert end of things on one of my blog posts:
http://grangedalice.blogspot.fr/2013/01/moving-mountains-new-piste-to-bourg.html
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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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The 'conduite forcée' pipes from Malgovert to Bourg St Maurice are being replaced, so there's nowhere for the water to go! They are also taking advantage of this to replace the main spherical valve at the base of the dam.
Interesting story here: when they finally closed this valve in March 1952 to allow the reservoir to fill (and flood the village) they were so worried about (further) acts of sabotage (that protestors might break in and open the valve and flood the whole valley below!) that they dismantled the hydraulic actuating mechanism and hid all the parts in different places away from the dam/power station. I reckon they must have restricted the inflow from the various streams/undergound passes that feed the reservoir to get the level as low as it is now (lower than the offical 'vidange' in 2000). There's more about the Malgovert end of things on one of my blog posts:
http://grangedalice.blogspot.fr/2013/01/moving-mountains-new-piste-to-bourg.html
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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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araird, Ah, I see thanks. When will it be re-filled? Will the summer white water rafting be affected?
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| Quote: |
super-snowHead
Posts: 29209
Location: Hants.
araird, Ah, I see thanks. When will it be re-filled? Will the summer white water rafting be affected?
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Probably not, as the flow of the Isere is regulated by the various 'bassin de compensation' along the way. It looks pretty full and wild at Bourg and Centron at the moment - all the snow's melting...
EDF says works will be completed by end of 2015, and it takes 6 months to fill the Lac de Chevril
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That's very interesting, you should maybe write a blog about this stuff or post it on Facebook?
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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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Ah thanks, I will take a look.
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Interesting thanks! Several inernet sources (including wikipedia) seem to think the hydro isn't actually used? That seems really odd - surely better to use the hyrdo and slow production at some other less endless source power station?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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a.j., Hydo is one of those power sources that electricity companies love since it can be up to speed and generating in under 1 minute, great for on demand power during advert breaks etc.
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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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araird, wrote:
Interesting story here: when they finally closed this valve in March 1952 to allow the reservoir to fill (and flood the village) they were so worried about (further) acts of sabotage (that protestors might break in and open the valve and flood the whole valley below!) that they dismantled the hydraulic actuating mechanism and hid all the parts in different places away from the dam/power station.
Ironically one of the saboteurs, Henri Extrassiaz who received a suspended sentence for his activities and sadly died in 2011 (I would love to have met him) became one of the early visionaries in Le Lac becoming a Guide, founder of a ski school and builder of the Arbina. His 3 daughters now own a € multi million business!
a.j., Which bit of wiki were you looking at exactly - I found bot French and English entries but can see no mention of it not being used. It was certainly humming away above the turbine hall at the dam when I was there last week.
For those are interested here are a couple more links; firstly a quick description of the whole renovation in English and French from EDF:
http://energie.edf.com/fichiers/fckeditor/Commun/En_Direct_Centrales/Hydraulique/Centres/Les_Alpes/actualite_technique/documents/EDF_TignesMalgovert_Plaquette-BAT2.pdf
More evocative film and series of stills:
http://www.britishpathe.com/ Just search Tignes.
boredsurfin, I did find an EDF dated Feb 14 which said (in French only) the water is now at its lowest possible level and will remain so for several months - so probably through the summer. Given the popularity of the site I suspect we will have ice cream stands by the summer!
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You know it makes sense.
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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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a.j., Amazing how 'urban myths' now become perpetuated by 'cut and paste'. I'd love to see this battery! I will have to go and buy the 'official book' referred to in araird, 's blog. I wonder if they are suggesting the supply can be enhanced by releasing water quickly like Dinorwig in Wales that actually 'stores' electricity by pumping water up hill during periods of reduced demand and letting it rip when Eastenders finishes. As far as I can work out there is no uphill transport of water. More practically, I have spent a while on a chairlift when the whole electricity supply to the valley was cut - we definitely had to wait for the diesel to be fired up. Plus it would take a while for the surge to reach the main transformers near Bourg.
Perhaps the person who wrote this originally is the same one that spreads the rumours that you can still hear the church bells when they drain the lake and Hercules (the mural on the Dam) was painted by a man on a rope with his feet!
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Poster: A snowHead
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> Perhaps the person who wrote this originally is the same one that spreads the rumours that you can still hear the church bells when they drain the lake
aren't the church bells in the church in Tignes now?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Apparently they did have a hell of a time putting in the tunnels to take the water from the dam to the turbines, they relied on surveys taken prior to WW2 and discovered when they put in the tunnels that certain areas were very unstable.
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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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Some interesting pictures. Whenever one of the drowned villages in a reservoir here emerges there I always lots of interest though not usually much to see since the buildings were usually destroyed first.
My favourite empty reservoir tale is the story of a Derbyshire lake being drained and then one day someonefinding in the muddy lake bed a skeleton wrapped in a chain 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Are they going to renovate the painting on the damn as well? You can hardly see him now.
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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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No plans that I am aware of - the last estimate for re-doing Hercules was well over €3m. Not sure the mighty EDF has that much to flash about. T'is a shame though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| igLou wrote: |
The Returned C4 series |
Aren't they filming the second series this year? Not sure if this will screw them up or it's a convenient part of the story given the possible significance of the drowned village in the story.
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I thought the damn had burst at the end of series 1, although I was half asleep with ennui
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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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So you were "half asleep with ennui" but nevertheless watched the entire series, just to make sure you didn't like it?
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I wonder if the long time before the second series is/was made is because they were aware it was going to be emptied so wanted to use this for filming?
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FAQ
Though I never watched the end of the series.......and someone has deleted it 
