 Poster: A snowHead
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Done a few searches, but can't really find an answer to what I want to know.
I skied ADH several years ago & all the upper runs on Pic Blanc, Sarenne Glacier, Mines de L'Herpie were closed all week due to high winds - seen a few comments re high winds at ADH - is this a common thing &/or is it particularly seasonal (was early Feb when I was there IIRC)
As these runs were closed we never got to ski the blacks up there - how tough are they? I know Tunnel has a bit of a reputation - I'm looking for a resort for next year with some challenges, but skiing with friends who are not great lovers of black runs except when in exceptional or pisted condition (something I find fairly rare in the French Alps), I've skied the Swiss Wall, but couldn't pretend I loved it, so if they are all really tough runs it's going to knock a large chunk of skiing off the map - any info much welcomed!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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They're not really difficult in my opinion. The Tunnel is definitely challenging but the Sarenne and Glacier runs aren't very challenging. I guess if you were a nervous skier, the top of the Run from Pic Blanc is quite steep but the rest of the Sarenne is more like a red run. I think there's snow machines keeping the Sarenne run open to the end of the season now. I'm off to ADH for the first week of Easter but have a guide to go off piste - plenty of places to go if you're with a good guide. Just hoping for a bit more snow before I go!
Oh, and about the high winds, I've been lucky enough never to have been unable to ski due to high winds, but I guess it will be prone to high winds as it's at 3,330 metres! It has its own little micro climate up there
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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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This is the tunnel exit, with an 8 year old in front of the camera. The tunnel is the hardest piste but if a small child can do it, it is not that hard.
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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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@Russbost, I did find Tunnel hard: the moguls were huge, icy and there was a nervous punter perched on every single one! I guess that, like most things, it depends on the conditions on the day, but the fall I had on it did unnerve me somewhat. No other piste I skied in AdH, including Sarenne, was particularly difficult for me (I was at about Level 7 on Inside Out's scale when I was there - http://www.insideoutskiing.com/level.html .)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Pedantica, I'm a L7 also............... I never heard if that we page before
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@kiteman69, like many snowHeads, I'm an Inside Out groupie!
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Tunnel is best skied on a nice day after it is has softened up. Lunchtime is good because there are less people.
Everything else should be no probs.
Last time I was there in December 2013 the top was shut most of the week if I recall correctly. Quite a windy and at times snowy week. The Sarenne was also shut due to lack of snow lower down. There are couple of places that need a snow bridge iirc. But no probs the previous 3/4 occasions I have been.
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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 was there this time, last year. The Sarenne was open, beautiful at the top, but with quite a few bare patches lower down. It was only open for a couple of days that week, and was shut by early afternoon. It is not a tricky ski - definitely more red than black. Well worth it for the peace and views. And a cold beer at the restaurant at the bottom. IIRC you can keep looping the top bit (Glacier?) by pulling right to the chairlift.
Tunnel was open and massively mogulled - lots of people fall early and tend to go down on their bums, but once you get past the early pitch, it's relatively easy and has a great, speedy run-out at the bottom.
There is also a lovely black off the back of Auris - Col de Cluy, I think, which meets the bottom of the Sarenne.
I've been to AdH half a dozen times and only known it closed once due to high winds. I love it as a ski area.
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From the inside out levels I guess we're all between level 8 or 9, & from your descriptions tho' Tunnel sounds like it might be tough if conditions are poor the others sound encouraging.
Anyone got any recommendations for a good catered Chalet anywhere in the ADH access area, got to have a couple of rooms with baths rather than showers!
"if a small child can do it, it is not that hard" - dunno as I'd necessarily agree with that, I took my son & daughter aged 11 & 8 respectively down the Swiss Wall some years ago, they probably skied it better than I did, but that certainly didn't make it any easier! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Russbost, if you're all at 8/9, none of the runs should pose you any problems.
I can't speak for specific chalets, but can recommended Oz as a base for AdH - lovely and sunny, quiet little village, nice skiing that side and lots of catered places close to the lifts.
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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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Only been there once but I actually though Balcons was harder than Tunnel. But it may have been the specific snow conditions. When we got there it had been a while without snow and the pistes were hard< Wind has been a little high too so things were a tad scoured. Balcons had a fence/gate at the top saying expert skiers only which was a bit of a red rag on my first morning of the season. Turned out it was pretty steep with big icy moguls with a little grabby spindrift in the troughs. I skied the first three perfectly sensibly then stuck a tip in a pile of spindrift, ski popped off, I fell down the mountain and landed with the bottom of my rib cage on an icy mogul. The rest of the run was a little trying with a cracked rib!
The French doctor provided me with loads of good drugs (anti-inflammatories, painkillers, anti-spasmodics) and I was able to ski from the next day. Tunnel seemed very pleasant, even with a cracked rib
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I would estimate that most of the people stuck at the top of the tunnel in my photo were Inside Out level 5 or 6. Level 9 should have no problems with the tunnel... unless it is sheet ice.
let's face it, ADH is a big, south facing ski resort. The trick to skiing it in nice conditions is to follow the sun. Start with the Col du Cluy - nice east facing slope. Do the Sarenne mid morning when the sun has softened it, ditto for the Charbonnier etc. Tunnel early afternoon then head over to Vaujany, Villard Reculas, Oz for the mid to late afternoon.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Russbost, wot @davidof, said!!
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