 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
It's suddenly occurred to me that the only black run I've actually done in Val d'Isere is La Face! I just wondered what people's thoughts were on the difficulty of the others, and how I'd fare on them.
I don't find Face a problem at all, it was only a bit of a challenge when it had giant slushy bumps on it last April. In fact it's my favourite piste anywhere! When I did it at 10am one day, it was like a nice red.
In Tignes I thought Descent, Leisse and Trolles were easy (which they are, to be fair), and I enjoyed La Sache and didn't find it especially tough.
I really fancy giving Epaule du Charvet a bash, and also Rhone Alps and maybe Piste S but I've heard Epaule is scarily steep. I'm not a huge fan of massive bumps....!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Piccadilly, Most runs depend heavily on conditions for their degree of difficulty, for what it is worth last time I did Epaule I thought it easier than Face as it was less icy.
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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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Piccadilly, EdeC is no different to the Face I would say, perhaps a little more sustained - it's a lot less crowded though... sometimes bumpy sometimes bashed but it gets a lot of sun which can affect the going in an adverse manner.
which one is 'S'? is that on Solaise? If so very nice and runs into the other black Combe Martin under the solaise chair - I love that one.
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Epaule de Charvet is pretty steep but mercifully short.
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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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The face is over-rated... Me bad for saying that? It's certainly a very good ski, but I don't get the hype surroundving it. Piccadilly, are you back in val this season? We're booked for march. 
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it's not the difficulty of the Black you should be worried about, it's the difficulty of the Blue Santons. How that was ever graded blue is totally beyond me, total farce. As stated above conditions are more crucial than the actual grading.
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T Bar, true, although I prefer ice to big bumps!
red 27, yes S is on Solaise, sounds like I've been missing out!
queen bodecia, maybe it won't be tooooo bad then..
shoogly, yes, I suppose it is a bit. Looks worse than it is. Oh yes, I will be back this season, I'm already booked for Dec 16th, and will do a last-minuter in March, probably the 17th. Cannot WAIT! As you can tell I'm thinking about it 
Kel, ugh yes, Santons is carnage. Permanently icy and strewn with beginners at the end of every day! Having said that, it was empty last time I attempted it (but sheet ice, probably why). I'd rather do Epaule I think!
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In icy conditions, Face is simply treacherous and probably most difficult run in EK. Some would argue Foret is tougher. It is certainly different kind of challenge. The 3 blacks you mention in Tignes are not difficult, short runs with a steep section that most intermediates would manage comfortably and lots of runoff at the end if you are not able to control your speed. The naturides in Tignes are much harder, try pacqerettes or grizzly, definitely very steep and bumpy. Of course, when you reach the level you are at, as someone has said already, all blacks are easy if conditions are favorable, but can certainly be unenjoyable in bad conditions, and I would consider ice much more deadly than slush
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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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Frozen moguls being worst of all, cannot see how anyone could enjoy that!!
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patricksh, skiing is like sex in that respect - what one person regards as a vile perversion is another's romantic fantasy
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think that Epaule du Charvet is much harder than Le Face. It is only the piste that I have regularly seen people walking down. It tends to have pretty big moguls and the run out at the end means you really have to go for it from some way up the slope to avoid walking. It is my favourite way down from the Belvarde.
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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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Foret is prob the hardest as narrow and gets mogul'd up quickly.
Face is only difficult as it is usually sheet ice. But it's wide.
The sache black in Tignes has a hard bit but is good fun after a snowfall
The grizzly under the tomeuse lift is worth doing once. Good skiers only. Very short and only tough at the top.
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I was lucky enough to do Face on two consecutive days (once on skis, once on a board) in pretty good conditions (not sheet ice, just vaguely choppy snow).
It was a piece of le pissoir.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Kel wrote: |
| it's not the difficulty of the Black you should be worried about, it's the difficulty of the Blue Santons. How that was ever graded blue is totally beyond me, total farce. As stated above conditions are more crucial than the actual grading. |
ha, I read the first couple posts and thought the same, its not so much the difficulty or steepness but the volume of people and how narrow. Even when its bumpy you can still straight line the last section to clear the flat if a gap in the people appears.
Face is sometimes difficult when they bash it smooth and it becomes ice, especially if you dont have an ideal ski with any hint of an edge. Although it could be debated that even the teeth breaking sliding on ice is better than santons at the end of the day
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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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Guerlain Chicheret and Pramecou are other pistes in Tignes worth doing for completely different experience. Not so steep but high and windy, isolated, lonely, narrow, steep drops to the side, can be a bit freaky in flat light. And Golf is a fantastic piste, decently steep and nearly always some powder
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Poster: A snowHead
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| patricksh wrote: |
| The 3 blacks you mention in Tignes are not difficult, short runs with a steep section that most intermediates would manage comfortably |
I know, that's why I said they are easy!  oh and thanks for the other tips!
If (say) Foret is super-steep, narrow and has giant moguls I'd probably give it a miss as I prefer to ski runs rather than survive them..
So of the runs I've not done we have:
Foret in Le Fornet
Marmottons off the Manchet Express
Piste S, and Rhone-Alpes/Combe Martin off Solaise
Epaule Du Charvet
Stade de competition/Raye in La Daille (not sure if I've skied that or not, I might have done)
Tignes:
Campanules and Paquarettes off Toviere
Pramecou
Guerlain Chicherit
Aguille percee
Golf
Oeillet
Epilobe
Lots of naturides in Tignes...including a couple of little ones like Grizzly and Aster
Suggestions/tips/comments of 'doubt you're good enough' welcome
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Marmattons is great fun
Epaule is best avoided in flat light, high bumps, steep, and narrow with dropoff to the side early on
Piste S- if I am thinking of correct piste, pretty significant moguls also
Rhone Alpes- can get icy too
Aiguille Percee- worth going thru eye of needle, make sure snow cover ok, you don't want to be turning your skis on bare rock
Oeuillet- good- red saxifrage section almost the hardest bit. Enjoyable moguls
Epilobe - good views of lake, it actually feels much steeper than it is
Only ones to avoid until you are sure are pacquerettes and grizzly
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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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I have never done 3000 or tunnel, they have always been closed- anyone can tell me what I'm missing?
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^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
patricksh, thanks for the tips. I will give some of them a go and report back!
I didn't know Aguille Percee actually went through the eye of the needle, I thought people were just traipsing up there for a look/photo!
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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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| Piccadilly wrote: |
^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
patricksh, thanks for the tips. I will give some of them a go and report back!
I didn't know Aguille Percee actually went through the eye of the needle, I thought people were just traipsing up there for a look/photo! |
Aguille is normally accessed via a narrow traverse from the lift. I'd imagine the route in through the eye requires a lot more snow than we normally see in Feb.
Similarly, Face and Stade, and Olympic are very challenging when race prepared ice. Golf was great last year.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Piccadilly wrote: |
^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
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Haven't they removed the short drag lift which served Tunnel? Short piste with steep top if it is the one I'm thinking of.
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Has anyone mentioned la Sache and Silene in Tignes? They are quite nice when not too bumpy 
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My greatest ever achievement on skis was the Epaule du Charvet - I managed to get down it without sh!tting my pants.
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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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Paquarettes - as others have said - is a totally different proposition. Fall on that and it's boing, boing, boing, bash, 200m down the mountain
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Another vote for Epaule Du Charvet, also I like Foret (down from Signal to Le Fornet), and Col Du Vez. Face de Bellevarde is good for a end of day burner but I prefer to blast down La Daille if I was doing a big on piste last run especially the run thats at the far side over the bridge etc, through the rocks (cant remember what its called). Run down to Les Laissenants is a cracker too, think thats a red (not)?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| snowball wrote: |
| Piccadilly wrote: |
^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
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Haven't they removed the short drag lift which served Tunnel? Short piste with steep top if it is the one I'm thinking of. |
Drag still there, but rarely in operation.
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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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A favourite, unmarked itinerary. The top is definitely blacker than most of the marked black runs in EK though.
1) Signal-> Le Grand Vallon -> Le Fornet
From the stop of the signal button drop skiers left out into the bowl, you can ski staright down the middle aiming for the top of the cable car which is always in vision. can then very easily intersect the top of the le foret black and into the fornet trees if there is any fresh snow.
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You know it makes sense.
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Worst run in the EK is the Verte to la Daile.
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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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| mountainaddict wrote: |
Isn't that the avalanche-prone bowl where a British skier (who was skiing with a guide) was killed in recent seasons  ? |
Are you thinking of Easyjet Captain James Whalley:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=72051
That was a little further to the East - from the Col Pers, I think. Doesn't stop me from thinking of going that way on our tour next spring.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Snowpie wrote: |
| Has anyone mentioned la Sache and Silene in Tignes? They are quite nice when not too bumpy |
Have done Sache a few times, love that run. Only attempted Silene once, and it was horrible. The moguls were enormous.
| Kenzie wrote: |
| snowball wrote: |
| Piccadilly wrote: |
^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
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Haven't they removed the short drag lift which served Tunnel? Short piste with steep top if it is the one I'm thinking of. |
Drag still there, but rarely in operation. |
I think it's permanently out of action now as they've completely removed the runs from the map. I've checked my maps and the Tunnel and 3000 pistes were marked on there for 2010/11, then taken off for 2011/12.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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patricksh, The last time I did tunnel was four seasons ago. Because someone had left the door open there was a lot of snow in it so had to crawl. The first 20 meters of icy moguls at the far end were not pleasant - after that the run was nice. It was a nice if somewhat odd tick to get. The 3000 poma didnt open at all last year - will have to wait and see what this year brings. Now you can't jump off the 'up and over' chair (not that I ever did!)its a long hike to get at those slopes.
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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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chocksaway,
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Now you can't jump off the 'up and over' chair
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Not meant too maybe, not can't, I saw people doing it last season.
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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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T Bar, Nurse the Screens!
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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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| Scottish Scrutineer wrote: |
| Piccadilly wrote: |
^ They're not on the piste map anymore..
patricksh, thanks for the tips. I will give some of them a go and report back!
I didn't know Aguille Percee actually went through the eye of the needle, I thought people were just traipsing up there for a look/photo! |
Aguille is normally accessed via a narrow traverse from the lift. I'd imagine the route in through the eye requires a lot more snow than we normally see in Feb.
Similarly, Face and Stade, and Olympic are very challenging when race prepared ice. Golf was great last year. |
There will be no issue with not enough snowfall to allow you do Aiguille. Unless there are unusually strong winds which blow the snow off
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Clearly a lot more blacks around Tignes now than the last time I went, will have to go again
Even when I went 4/5 years ago the Tunnel run and 3000 were never opened, I might have done 3000 at some distant time in the past but can't remember it well other than it's quite short and the top bit of the drag was steep.
chocksaway, yes I remember seeing jump marks there are well before the fast chair; scary!
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One of great things about EK is variety of different types of black pistes
Trolles/ descente - steep but loads of runoff so technically easy, all you need is confidence to point the skis down the hill
Face - msny would agree, simply the cream of groomed blacks
Many decent mogul runs, eg S, silene, foret
Golf- steep and nearly always powder to be found; many other good naturides too
Paquerrettes - simply gnarly, if you can do this you neednt be afraid of most off-piste
Guerlain Chicheret- lonely, isolated, freaky
Sache- all of the above at some point
Aiguille Percee- who doesn't get a thrill going thru eye of needle at top of mountain
Can't wait to go back!
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I've skied la face loads of times, love it, not the hardest black around but not one for overconfident early intermediates to get stuck on either.
A couple of years ago I skied it the day after the WC men's super G was held there. Race prepared, with a noticeable blue hue, it was a different beast all together! On the brown side of scary!
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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, if you were wanting to do your very first black in and around Tignes, which would you pick?
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Leisse
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FAQ
Anyone done it? I've never seen it open in about 7 winter trips to Espace Killy.....
