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Where are the best groomed slopes?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Having just come back from our 4th visit to Lech am Arlberg, I am sad to say that I don't think this is going to be my favourite resort after all. It's just that the preparation of the pistes is sub-standard. You need to ski between 9 and 11am for the best conditions, and even then you can ski across a piste with a 12" uneven gap in the middle. By early afternoon, the pistes are cut-up and very mogully. Whilst this goes to improve your technique, it can be quite hard work for those of us wanting a leisurely time after lunch. Goodness knows what beginners think when they ski the little blues around Oberlech. This seems to be how the pistes are after fresh snow. On Weds. (after what we thought had been about 4" fresh snow), we skied at about 9.30am from the first chair down. As I skied across the run I found myself knee deep in fresh snow. This was quite fun ! But surely not on a blue run at 9.30am?
3V and Megeve seem to have better prepared pistes. Where else?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
My limited experience of the US suggests that they may be more groomed, if that's what you want...
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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?
David Murdoch wrote:
My limited experience of the US suggests that they may be more groomed, if that's what you want...


It has a lot to do with amount of snowfall, and frequency of grooming.
Vail and Beaver Creek have a lot of grooming, and will frequently groom some of the runs 2-3 times during the day.
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Italy. It always appears to me that skiing in Italy is not intended to be strenuous - and well groomed slopes are just the thing to ensure that you look good and don't embarass yourself with any in-elegant tumbles as you cruise around in your 'I'd hate to lose them they are so expensive' Gucci sun glasses and fur fringed designer ski jacket. Above all, you don't want any suprises while talking on your mobile phone and skiing - especially when the hand not holding the phone to your ear is gesticulating wildly to make sure the person on the other end understands what you are saying and you are slightly off balance.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Good to see a contribution from The Ambassador to this thread. I've always found him to be perfectly groomed.

I've a hunch that grooming activities on mountains are going to come under increasing scrutiny, because they generate substantial air pollution. There's something to be said for skiing mountains as nature presents them - rare places like La Grave (France) and Mad River Glen (Vermont) provide this experience.

Some of the best grooming I've encountered was at Beaver Creek, Colorado, where there were even little flags all over the runs to indicate pebbles and mouse droppings. The trails were like white carpets. Apparently this resort (another one is Deer Valley, Utah) is frequented by extremely wealthy people who don't like to suffer fingernail fractures and so on.


Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sat 21-01-06 15:24; edited 1 time in total
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Stop The Brutal Grooming Very Happy
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Stop The Brutal Grooming Very Happy
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
More Brutal Grooming Twisted Evil
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Nothing wrong with grooming

More grooming on www.dogbiz.com
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Me I would have said the big snowy mountains made for sliding down - normally suitably attired with chairlifts, t bars, etc
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Apparently the Kandahar, Les Houches today. Twisted Evil
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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.
erica2004, Fresh snow on a groomed run - perfect! Overgrooming causes lots of problems - not only the pollution aspect, but skiers go much too fast - a few bumps a) teach you to ski and b) hold the crazies' speed down. I don't know the answer, because so many people have your reaction, but beginners can ski on ungroomed or less groomed pistes just as well as anyone else - how do you think we learnt in the days before piste machines??

I take everyone off piste a litte if possible- even first weekers - that's real skiing - sauntering down a perfectly groomed run is pleasant, but it's not the real thing IMO!

Of course, when it's snowing a lot it's impossible to make it perfectly flat and groomed anyway. I'm astonished that in the States they would consider grooming while people are skliing - strawberry jam anyone??
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David Goldsmith,

Now that's overgrooming! Laughing
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
agavin, Certainly the grooming in Italy increases towards the weekend. The times we've been skiing there and have been getting some nice bumps building up towards the weekend - only to see them totally flattened on Friday night!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
RobW, I'd agree, the Italians do like smooth cord and in Livigno the bashers are out by midday on Friday and on Saturday morning you'll not find a bump anywhere ... it's intermediate heaven.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'd say the beav is the smoothest place I've been but I got bored within a couple of hours.

The problems Erica2004 describes sounds more like skiiing of fresh snow rather than 2 week old packed to death crap. If beginners etc don't like it they can stay away for a couple of days I'm sure no-one else would complain.

In the US a lot of resorts would be in trouble with the regulars if they even considered grooming on a powder morning on anything other than cattracks.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I wouldn't go chasing the best groomed slopes, far better to learn to ski the terrain as it comes...it will turn out that way anyway in most places....

And you are better off seeing rocks and avoiding them than be fooled into thinking they have pisted over them and then blow out your skis
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
erica2004, The best resort I have ever skied for prepared pistes is strangley Lech, half term '05 empty pistes, smooth as anything I have ever seen, but then again I have skied alot in busy ( and challenging) resorts.
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Nakiska
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I'm not after perfection. 4" snow on groomed pistes is perfect, 12" of snow falling at a temp.0C makes for heavy skiing - even our ski instructor changed his skis at lunchtime. A few bumps is fine, but whole pistes became mogul fields.JT, True, but nothing natural about a mountain terrain that's been skied over by several thousand people.
BTW the avalanche warning was 4 and the helicopters were out in force creating mini avalanches. There were still hoards of people off the piste, and we saw people frantically digging for someone. I think the conditions on Weds. were particularly bad. Mostly I can ski reds well, but I chickened out of skiing the Zusertali on Friday. When I rounded the bend from the Muggengrat, the steep section looked vertical with huge moguls. Shocked
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Masque, Yes livingo does has a good number of piste bashers, it was a nice sight on the walk back to the room at night seeing them all over the hill sides.

No matter how well it was groomed the last hill down between the huts would always be a mogul field by mid afternoon and with beginners sking down it from the blues above would make for an intresting last run down Smile
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Quote:

Nakiska



NickW,

Helped by the fact that hardly anyone ever skis there!! wink

(But they have some good bumped up trails, also)
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Nick_C, that's why they let you ride the chair down. But there is a nice off piste run down further along the valley that is much nicer but you need to know where the wire fences are. The school guides will show you the route, though there is a story of a boarder breaking through the frozen crust of a slurry tank in one farmer's yard. Twisted Evil
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Zermatt is pretty good for groomed slopes.

AFAIK the whole of the Arlberg has a policy of minimal grooming, in order to make their slopes more interesting and challenging.
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Best pisted place I have visited is Termignon.
Was there on the last day of the season 2003, and they were even using piste basher's up to 14.00.
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Kramer wrote:
AFAIK the whole of the Arlberg has a policy of minimal grooming, in order to make their slopes more interesting and challenging.


I wish more places had the same approach.
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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.
erica2004, try Serfaus, Austria. Best European grooming I've seen. 100k of piste, mostly all done to perfection and relatively few people to ruin it. Otherwise, Deer Valley.
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just got back from schladming - runs back to the gondola (it's a red everynoe has to do to get home) on planai get a little choppy towards the end of the day but mostly very smooth - had the bashers out in the day when needed on the more popular runs. I think it may be because the entire resort seems to be full of aspiring downhillers though, so not one for the really nervous!

Les Arcs grooms well imo? especially Considering it's a pretty busy resort, so lots of people cutting them up. Serre chevalier was very good when I went, but that may have been the fact that the wind was high and was blowing a lot of the snow about all the time - keeps it even! Courchevel was fab in the mornings, horrible in late afternoon - too many people.

aj xx
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Mmm.. I think the problem was, I had a bad fall and lost my confidence a bit. I had a bad ski week and skied badly. Confused
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
In my experience many Canadian resorts offer the best compromise in that they keep well groomed the busy common routes down yet leave some not so well groomed or not at all for those more advanced.

NickW, I agree Nakiska is the most groomed place I've been to. I have never skied as quickly as I have at Nakiska but like Acacia mentions there's no one there.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
ajhainey wrote:
Les Arcs grooms well imo?

Yes, pretty good in my opinion, and seems to have improved quite a lot in the last few years. They don't bash every single bump flat though - several runs are left to grow decent size moguls, and other pistes have sections of bumps to the side which are great for learning on.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Ironically, last time I was in Lech I thought that they were some of the best bashed pistes I have ever skied. Heyho.
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