 Poster: A snowHead
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Had an excellent day skiing La Rosiere and La Thuile yesterday, with snowheads Bernard Condon, BruceW and PG. Just 15 minutes drive from Bourg St Maurice takes you to the lowest lift (Ecudets) and from there a long chairlift and slow green piste (the aptly named Escargot) and you're at the main part of La Rosiere. Snow conditions were pretty good, especially on the French side of the domain. There was a bit less snow around La Thuile, but even the hard-packed sections were't too bad and it was easy to get a good edge on even the steepest pistes.
There is a marked difference in 'feel' between the French and Italian sectors, especially around the resorts and the piste-side bars. I had the most wonderful Italian hot chocolate (I'd forgotton how delicious they were) which was so thick and gooey that the spoon almost stood upright in the cup by itself! Much better than the flavoured dishwater that calls itself chocolate chaud.
After lunch it got very windy on the link across from La Thuile to La Rosiere. Pistes on the broad ridge are pretty much stripped of fresh snow, and with a strong wind always seeming to be blowing into our faces we had to tuck on most pistes otherwise it was impossible to make any progress on the flatter sections. Once we dropped down into La Rosiere it was much calmer, and we blasted down several red and blue pistes at the end of the day. The final run down the Fontaine Froide piste was wonderful. It's a terrific red piste cut through the trees, wide, with a good gradient all the way down. The snow, even down to the car park at 1176m, was in good condition, with loads of edge grip. At the bottom of the piste is a tiny bar, not much larger than a child's Wendy House, which was so busy that it was like a sauna inside. We finished off the day with a (French-style) hot chocolate, which we paid for by handing over our skipass (which has a 4 euro deposit on it).
Cost of the day's skipass for the entire domain was 28 euros, but showing my Les Arcs pass meant I got a 10 euro discount. All in all I think a day's skiing for 18 euros was pretty good value for money.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rob@rar.org.uk, No lunch?
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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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rob@rar.org.uk, if you do that trip again you don't have to ski along Escargot, which is actually a path for walkers, from the top of Ecudets take the Sevoliere drag lift that runs parallel to Tetras piste. You obviously had a hot chocolate at the Roxi, bottom of the Fourclaz chair and the little hut at the Ecudets chair is the Vieux Chalet, make me wish I was there now.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| rob@rar.org.uk, No lunch? |
Yes, lunch in La Thuile at a place just down the road from the gondola. It was nice, but not outstandng.
| David@traxvax wrote: |
| You obviously had a hot chocolate at the Roxi, bottom of the Fourclaz chair |
No it wasn't the Roxi. It was a little place just below the start of the Chalet Express chairlift. Can't remember the name of it, but it's distinguishing feature is that it encourages visitors to write on the walls.
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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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David@traxvax, we decided not to do the drag from the bottom of the Ecureuil because it seemed to go on for ever last time I took it, and wanted to get to the Roches Noires chair as quickly as possible. Still I suppose we could have dropped off the drag midway somewhere.
[EDIT] can you get to the Roc Noir red and thus up the Roc Noir chair to the top (or the Landelieres directly up to the Fort) from the top of the Sevolieres drag? Can't tell from the piste map.
Yes a great day, and will defiinitely be going back to practice on the easily accessible off-piste around the runs, especially beside the reds down from the Fort, next time it snows. A hard crust at the moment, and it's pretty much skied out, a while since the last snowfalls.
A few photos, plus my summary of the trip, in the blog.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 26-01-06 14:24; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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PG, I really do enjoy your blog reports. Some great photos, especially like the one of the three others smiling after what was obviously a fun boys day out. Sounds like fresh snow and some directions to La Rascard would make for a top day. Thanks again for sharing.
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| Quote: |
| ... it's distinguishing feature is that it encourages visitors to write on the walls. |
That's very good. Most prisons don't serve hot chocolate.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| Quote: |
| ... it's distinguishing feature is that it encourages visitors to write on the walls. |
That's very good. Most prisons don't serve hot chocolate. |
It was a prison that I would have been very happy to serve some time in. There's a photo of the graffiti in PG's blog.
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