 Poster: A snowHead
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My annual question - does anyone know what infrastructure improvement will be made to the 4-vallees region this summer? I think they are introducing snowmaking on the Prarion slopes? Are they going to improve the link from Siviez to Veysonnaz? I believe Tele-Verbier is improving the link to La Tzoumas?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@1556garyt, Gary, I think you may be being optimistic 
Only changes in Verbier are a tin can to ski through on the path from Carrefour to Mayentzet (avoiding collisions with people coming down from the combe heading towards Le Rouge, who go over the top of the can) and apparently the Rouge drag is be extended a wee bit at the bottom and shifted a metre or two at the top. There are rumours that the final objector to the new Verbier/Savolyeres links has died/been bought off, but it will be a while before that has an impact.
I thought there were environmental considerations which made snow making at Prarion a no no? Haven't heard anything about the Siviez/Veysonnaz link and it doesn't appear in TeleNendaz plans - sadly.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Although the WWF-Télénendaz agreement endorses the deployment of new snow cannon, helping with the perennial issue of those south-facing slopes, it does nothing to help with the problem of the connection from Prarion to Plan du Fou i.e. the ancient draglift and télécabine, which is a real barrier to movement between Nendaz and the rest of the Quatre Valées. This is a Télénendaz sector - it seems to me that they simply don't have the finance or clout needed to do anything in the near future to replace this with a modern Combimix/Express Chair/Gondola.
The new (2014) bubble up from Siviez to Plan du Fou is excellent, and makes the PdF slopes much more accessible (replacing the brutal chairlift and drag). Doing the run down from PdF to Siviez a few times is much more viable now.
Planards-Esserts: Last winter saw the introduction of a short but useful new piste which drops down off the link between Savoleyres-Planards down to Carrefour, about 3/4 of the way along, and connects with the Verbier learner slopes. This meant that Verbier skiers returning home from Savoleyres no longer had to get the bus at Carrefour or ski over to Médran. Unfortunately, this didn't remain snowy for that long and was mainly grass once it got warmer.
The last major upgrade will be the replacement of the ageing 4-person bubble between Savoleyres and Verbier. The main problem I've found with this is not so much the relatively slow speed, but that it's much less tolerant of high winds than everything else, so La Tzoumaz skiers face being stranded in Verbier if there are high winds. And of course, it's slightly anomalous that there's a fast modern télécabine up from La Tzoumaz to Savoleyres (9 mins) and this remnant up from Verbier. There is definitely some work going on along the new route, but I haven't yet visited this summer so am not sure exactly how this is going.
The plan was for a long Combi-mix (10-person bubbles and 6-person chairs) between Les Esserts and Savoleyres, with part of the route underground in the avalanche-prone section. The chairs would be added at Les Planards. There seem to be some powerful owners objecting to this route although the owners along the route of the 'old' Savoleyres Sud bubble will be delighted to see this dismantled. My reading of the annual Report is that Federal planning permission was granted against the objection of various owners and that the final approval to authorise construction will be this year. In which case it'll be next summer 2016 that work begins.
Here is the 2014 annual report which details developments:
http://www.verbierbooking.ch/multimedia/docs/2015/03/Rapport_annuel_2013_2014_mini_OK.pdf
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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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@msej449, you are correct . The real challenge for the 4-Vallees is to properly link up Nendaz and Siviez (replace the current Plan du Fou link) and better link Siviez with Veyssonaz. Until that is done, the satillite resorts will remain disconnected and there is little credibility to the claim of it being one large ski area. I know some people like the fact that it is difficult to get between areas but I personally am not a buyer of that concept and would much prefer a more Joined up area.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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To be fair to Télénendaz, the big issue with Prarion are the giant larches: these are an ancient enclave left over form the last Ice Age - there are only two other sites in the Alps like this. It's hard to see how you could put in a chairlift, or anything with a lot of pylons without serious damage to them. Even if you could replace the drag and old gondola with a strung télécabine even just removing the drag's pylons might cause damage. It's hard to see how the equipment needed would drive around the area without impact. The new gondola up from La Tzoumaz needed new concrete foundations for the main pylons, even 'though they were then put in place by helicopter. The PdF gondola gets older and older and I don't see what the solution to replacing it will be. I suspect that the snowgun argument was that they would obviate the underlying impact of skiing on thin snow, which is a reasonable point. If it was Téléverbier, I'm sure they'd propose a single new gondola to replace the draglift, so they'd actually be removing a load of concrete and metal. But the cost is probably beyond the means of Télénendaz.
One plan I have seen (but not recently) is for a new télécabine from the FC Sion training ground outside Riddes up to La Tzoumaz. The football club has plans for a new stadium and this is one possible location. So there'd be a new sports complex, training ground and stadium and lots of parking. But this is long-term stuff. At least FC Sion and Téléverbier would have the sort of funding to do this.
And I agree with the 4 Valleys point - Nendaz is effectively isolated until they deal with the connection issue. I can't see anyone skiing down the precipitous black to Prarion and then chairing it up to Tracouet only to have to get the drag back then queue for a crowded gondola up to PdF.
And the two seemingly endless drags up to the Greppon Blanc effectively isolate Thyon/Veysonnaz. I've done it once, but that was enough: there's still a hike across to Thyon and by the time I got to the Thyon-Veysonnaz slopes, it was time to come back. Subsequently I've just driven from La Tzoumaz to Veysonnaz and was then able to spend the day there without constant anxiety over the return trip.
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There has been some development on the Prarion link recently. Apparantly the greens withdrew their opposition to snow cannons a Month ago. Approval was then given for snow cannons on Prarion and to replace the drag lift/old cable car with a telecabine the same as the new one from Siviez to Plan de Fou. Fantastic ...... but wait for it...... When Telenendaz tried to start the work they found out that the planning approval had expired!!! They summonsed another meeting to try to renew the planning approval and lo and behold .... the greens changed their minds and put in another objection.
This is totally ridiculous.. They should put the cannons in anyway and accept a fine as some other resorts have already done.. they would recover the cost of the fine in a Month at most.
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They had agreed but, as I understand, last Friday, they changed their minds. Not sure if an appeal is going ahead but at the speed things happen here I'm not holding my breath!
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