 Poster: A snowHead
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One of the very busy weekends coming up and looks like the Snow Gods are being a tad mischievous - still early but.......................
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 7-02-16 18:58; 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
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| Weathercam wrote: |
| One of the very busy weekends coming up and looks like the Snow Gods are being a tad mischievous - still early but....................... |
snow line at valley levels but seems more like Sunday and early next week that will be affected.
worth taking note if you are heading to resort next weekend.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Mon 1-02-16 17:46; edited 2 times in total
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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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@Weathercam, bloody well hope so!!!
(though I am travelling out on the 12th, so I hope it snows up to the Thursday and the roads are clear after that, then snow again in the evenings after that.)
I can but dream!!!!!
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hmm work trip to Annecy sans skis arriving late into Geneva on the 7th!
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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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If its 6 hours early its time to invest in snow chains! For the Tarentaise it looks like most of Saturday will be OK but Saturday night and Sunday is another matter! As you say lots could change...
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You're going to Combloux IIRC @terrygasson? I drove through this morning. No snow in the village but should be looking more wintry by the time you arrive. 
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hope so @pam w, its getting so close to going now it has come to the point of preparing meals to take with us for the apartment!!
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Me and the Mrs are flying into Geneva on the 6th from Egypt- hope we make it to Chatel before any chaos begins!
We were in Chatel last year for the 'Snowmageddon' dump, was awesome 
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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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Not looking that crazy to me...
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Eeep, I'm doing a weekend break in Chamonix - in on Friday night and back out Sunday evening! I do want more snow for people to enjoy, but I'd quite like to be able to travel ok too...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Varying reports...we're off to LDA on Saturday so on weather watch as we speak. Snow-forecast is saying a pretty big dump. J2ski less so at weekend but the 7-14 day forecast showing some regular snow most of next week.
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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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@under a new name We have a couple of inches of snow up the road from us in St Catherines, but thats about all for the Sinai at the moment... Any snow is pretty crazy for us!
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It will only 50-150cm for most resorts, spread over several days.
Nothing major.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Whitegold, have you ever been in resort on a busy transfer day and seen what just 10-15cm of fresh falling snow can do?
People who have never put chains on, people who don't have chains, people who continue to drive without putting chains on, people who just stop in the road to their put chains on as they're sliding all over the place, people who have been residing up a steepish hill and then have to get back down, cars blocked in as the snow ploughs bury them in snow, and then they don't have shovels to dig their way out).............
I could go on, but the idiot factor just goes off the scale!
You might know what happens in the UK with just a couple of inches, it's no different in France with people not used to the conditions from the large urban metropoli.
Even without the snow, there will be major jams across many of the main arteries into the Alps.
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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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@Weathercam, I'm not convinced @Whitegold has ever seen snow...
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Poster: A snowHead
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@under a new name, 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Saturday looks clear. MF has some quite high rain (to 1700m) at times on Sunday and Monday.....
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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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@pam w, yes forecast predictions have indeed changed, and on into the following week as well 
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terrygasson,
An interesting comment about your meals. How does that work? Do you fill a giant coolbox?
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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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@Bergmeister, taking some deep-frozen stuff is no problem. Well wrapped and insulated (e.g. in ski gear) no need for a coolbox. Works OK for flying, too. Also taking a few bits and pieces such as spices, key ingredients, is easy enough. Having a few days food planned without having to trog around shopping makes for an easy start to a holiday.
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Konnichiwa @Whitegold-san. You must live in Niseko if you think 150cm is nothing major. 
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@Bergmeister, we are two families in a large self catering apartment, I am driving. so will be filling a couple of coolboxes of pre-prepared frozen meals, that way should just be defrosting nicely for cooking when in resort. sadly we are also taking two slow-cookers as well, I have a big pickup truck, one for food to put on in the morning before we go out and one for vin chaude, that will be gently "mulling" all week!!
@snoozeboy, I also had a wry smile when @Whitegold, said up to 1.5m of snow was no big deal, not sure if he was being ironic!!!
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So it looks like the biggest dump of the season so far will coincide with the start of half term, and the start of the French vacances de fevrier.
In honour of Viz, here are my top tips to avoid last years nonsense.
1 ) Do not go to any resort accessed via the N90.
2 ) Leave the Rep alone to get on with sorting out any issues. They use Facebook on their phone to contact head office 
3 ) Do not bother trying to park in Ardent after 9:30 AM.
4 ) Do not tell anyone else about the car park at the Col d' Encrenaz.
5 ) Try La Panthiaz to avoid forming a massive queue on the road to Pre La Joue, this way you can re-discover the joy of T-bars.
6 ) Take a basketball in your hand luggage to help while away the hours spent in the sports hall of the local lycee on the first night of your holiday.
7) Do not waste time putting your chains on at the bottom of the hill where there is good light if the snow is shallow. It's much more rewarding to do it when the gradient kicks up just outside Aime, to the chorus of a hundred coach and car horns.
8 ) When you arrive at Ardent parking after 9:30, be sure to park your SUV in a jaunty fashion on the end of a row to inconvenience the maximum number of people.
9 ) Take the back entrance into the hypermarket in Bourg when coming down from Val, as this give those people behind you the chance to test their brakes on the hill.
10 ) Don't waste time and money getting a payment tag for the Autoroutes, just go through the beeper lane anyway as it is quicker, and after 3 minutes of hooting and gestutrng they will let you through anyway.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@terrygasson,
| Quote: |
one for vin chaude, that will be gently "mulling" all week!!
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Mind you don't evaporate all the alcohol from it!
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| Quote: |
it looks like the biggest dump of the season so far will coincide with the start of half term, and the start of the French vacances de fevrier
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Don't think so. For most UK skiers the half term holiday is the second week of the French holidays, which start the day after tomorrow. Which doesn't look likely to cause much problem on the roads.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The second week of the French holiday's IS the mozilla gorilla.
The first week (starting this weekend) only has one zone off.
The second week (weekend of 13.02) is the second week of holiday for one zone, AND the first week for the second zone, which this year is the zone covering Rhone-Alpes, and as you say this is also the start of the UK hols.
The post was intended to be like road between les Carroz and Flaine - best taken with a liberal dose of salt
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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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@WindOfChange, not sure it's the biggest dump so far, but a decent one nonetheless.
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| Quote: |
The second week of the French holiday's IS the mozilla gorilla.
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agreed. And it's too soon to have any sensible idea of what the weather will be doing then. Nice to see plenty of sow in the offing, though.
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
The second week of the French holiday's IS the mozilla gorilla.
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agreed. And it's too soon to have any sensible idea of what the weather will be doing then. Nice to see plenty of sow in the offing, though. |
No need to be pig headed!
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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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@nozawaonsen, well spotted !!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@nozawaonsen, I'm just pig sick that I won't be there. Well, actually I'm not - too busy!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@Weathercam, what are the rules on snow tyres around your way and in the French Alps?
20/30cms snow in the valleys (on the motorways) seems to make no real difference to traffic around here, even on the smaller/windier mountain roads, probably because everyone has winter tyres. Pretty rare to see people needing chains other than a few particular spots.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@clarky999, there is no rule to say that you must have winter tyres and many visitors to the Alps don't. There are signs indicating that chains are necessary when the road is snowy (many of these just sit there all year round, so are not necessarily very effective). At busy times the police will insist that all traffic going up the mountain (except, usually, 4 x 4s with GOOD winter tyres) put chains on.
The key problem is the sheer volume of traffic on busy transfer days. This can be almost guaranteed to bring traffic to a complete halt, sometimes for miles/hours, even on a mild, sunshiny day. Add some snow and....... add roads going up well over 2000m.......
Some of the worst problems, historically, have happened when landslides have added to those problems - some very busy arteries are prone to this.
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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've got to love resorts that are just a couple of km from the motorway, none of this rubbish. Admittedly the motorways themselves do get busy, but it's a far cry from those resorts with winding single lane access roads.
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@queen bodecia, yup. It's the future!
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@pam w, thanks!
Do you think making winter tyres compulsory in the alpine areas of France would be a good idea and help traffic on snow days, or do you think that the amount of traffic and state of the roads (and exposure to slides) would cause big problems anyway?
I only ask as it after being in Austria so long now, it just seems fairly common sense to say that you need proper tyres if you plan to drive on snowy mountain roads, so I don't really understand why France doesn't mandate that?
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@queen bodecia, and those resorts are horribly busy, give me a resort that takes a while to get to up a winding single lane access road anyday.
@clarky999, and yes @pam w, has spelt it out as I did when replying to @Whitegold, can be carnage as people try and get by without winter tyres and relying on buying chains in resort should it snow 
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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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| clarky999 wrote: |
| Do you think making winter tyres compulsory in the alpine areas of France would be a good idea |
They've talked about it but compared to CH or Aus most of France isn't in the mountains so it seems excessive.
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@Weathercam, Tignes (for example) versus Flachau (for example), I wouldn't have thought there was much in it in terms of busy-ness during peak weeks.
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