 Poster: A snowHead
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What is the worst snow conditions, lack of snow, that snowheads have experienced on a ski holiday?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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La Molina, a very long time ago, over Christmas and new year. No snow at all, and too warm for the canons. We were bussed to Pas de la Casa, until it was cold enough for the snow canons which sadly meant we stopped getting bussed over, and had 1 run open for every one.
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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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Never had a bad one. People pay me to go skiing as I always bring epic conditions. Any offers.....?
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Auffach 1990 - zero skiing in the resort (a resort we had been moved to at late notice by the TO when they pulled the resort we had been booked into for 8 months  ) so they were bussing everyone to Gerlos which was the nearest place with skiable conditions. From memory, the bus took at least an hour and half in each direction and as, at the time, I was commuting about the same distance to work every day, I REALLY didn't want to get up at 6 every morning on holiday, to set off at 7, in order to ski on crowded slush with thousands of others, also being bussed in. I think I did it once, then spent the rest of the week reading, spa-ing, sleeping....... It was a long time ago, but still rankles especially as the resort we had originally booked, had amazing conditions.
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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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Soll, bout 25 years ago, we were there for 2 weeks in March and the resort closed after one week, they bused us to another resort but horrid queues and not much more snow.
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A boiling hot Alpe d'Huez one April about 20 years ago. Ribbons of white cannoned snow for pistes which were deep, heavy slush by lunchtime and huge puddles by the end of each day.
Oh, and massively crowded.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 27-12-16 21:23; edited 1 time in total
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This one in EMB, but not grumbling. Wife is happy as she is a none skier so more a family winter holiday
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Very first trip, boxing day 1988. Went to St Lary with 2 mates who could ski a bit. I'd just done the first 2 dry slope courses.
We were staying in the village and there was no snow at all. Had to get a cable car, bus, cable car to get to the one icy run that was open....
And that was it for 2 weeks! They did a free trip to Lourdes one day and it was 21C 
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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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Megeve, New Year week 2006/7. My first ever ski trip, and nearly my last! We had to get two gondolas up to a little nursery slope somewhere up the mountain, which didn't have snow on it as such, rather a thin layer of ice with bits of grass poking through. The resort only charged us €20 for the week for access to this slope, so bad were conditions. I'm told it wasn't quite so bad for those who could ski and therefore access more terrain, but still pretty dismal all the same. It was discovered at the start of the first lesson that the ski hire shop had set my bindings up incorrectly (too big) and I couldn't clip in. As they were already as small as they could go I missed the lesson and wasn't allowed to join for the rest of the week either as I was the too far behind the rest of the class! It started snowing heaving shortly before midnight on our last evening, and we woke up to find several feet had fallen overnight. Took us about an hour to dig the cars out of the car park so we could drive back to Calais  .
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Went to Caspogio (sp?) in the late seventies. No snow at all, we had a 45-50 minute bus ride each way. Of late I've taken to doing last minute snow trips, so conditions are pretty much guaranteed to be good - if you book 2 days before you go you know whats there and what the forecast is.
The only exception is when I head across the pond, so two years ago I went to Revelstoke and it wasn't great - freeze thaw top to bottom and no fresh for weeks before I got there. Japan next season so that'll be booked early and I'm hoping for a better result.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Gämsbock, gosh, that really is a sad tale. Megeve is dire this year- several Megeve instructors are to be seen in Les Saisies this week. One told me there,was "rien" there.
My worst snow conditions were in Les Saisies last new year, very limited slopes horribly crowded with folk being bussed in from far and wide. But I was here for weeks, so wasn't bothered. I don't ski at NY - far too busy even when conditions are good.
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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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Les Gets, around 10 years ago. Arrived first week in Jan for a two week break. Temperatures +7 on arrival and spent the first few days in bed with flu watching the snow melt. Four days in, and the resort was closed for skiing, with buses taking skiers to Avoriaz each day. In week 2, it was little better, even raining to the top of Avoriaz with soggy wet snow throughout. Best skiing was in Flaine, and even there very limited. I heard that it was even raining at the top of the grand motte glacier that week.
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The last time I ever booked a resort in advance... some decades ago. My previous trip had been Les Dex Alpes, where lack of snow meant that the harder runs were all closed, leaving only the flat top with cover. So I thought I'd find somewhere that had the tough runs at the top: Alpe d'Huez. That was a great theory which didn't work out ... "the top" was all closed, and all there was lower down was a thin white strip amongst brown nastiness, uncomfortably crowded.
The tour company bussed people to better resorts... something which is seared in my mind as they played awful "x factor" style pop music with whining female vocalists. That was dire, but the thing I'll never forget was my fellow tourists who were in tears with the emotion of the music. The "There must be better songs to sing than this" quote came to mind and I never booked in advance or went with a tour operator again.
I have been in Revelstoke when they have had top to bottom ice, but I just drove somewhere else. Also Fernie in the pouring rain isn't great: same remedy. Being stuck in a ski resort with no snow isn't a mistake I'll make twice.
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You know it makes sense.
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My first visit to Whistler in December 2011. After a spectacular November with 3m of snow and a powder opening day, I arrived on the 8th Dec to find there had been 2 weeks of temperature inversion. The first hint I had as to how bad it was when on a chair lift, a couple of locals were commenting on how sorry they felt for any visitors..........
So I got freeze/thaw cycle ice moguls and +5C temperatures for the 2 weeks I was there
Conditions weren't much better in December 2013 or March 2015.
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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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La Plagne, mid March sometime in the early 90s (not sure exact year). Patchy snow with rocks and grass showing through pretty much everywhere, about 40% of runs open, most of which were pretty dull and busy. Boring, ugly resort.
Pas de la Casa, ditto in every sense but less busy.
Cervinia, late Feb 2012, whole ski area open but very warm (+18ºC) so the snow was pretty horrible. Much better on the Swiss side. However it was gloriously sunny with no wind so a pretty good week and vastly superior to the previous two mentions.
All this has taught me is that altitude means very little.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Morzine late 80's New Year. A single strip of snow from the top of the chair that goes up towards Pleney and a nursery slope outside ski school for the beginner kids. Avoriaz was a little better but it was a case of drop kids to ski school, bus and lift to Avoriaz, couple of runs and lift and bus back to collect the kids.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sauze D'oulx 1989. No snow in resort (one slope with artificial snow), so a daily trek to Sestriere by several lifts in order to ski. Worst bit was we had booked for TWO weeks. Haven't booked a two week holiday since.......
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 28-12-16 11:50; edited 1 time 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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@martinm, my first ever trip was to St Lary in 1990 for Boxing Day to New Year.
Tons and tons of snow in the village, even more up top.
I assumed that skiing was always like that...I had no idea at all that these were epic conditions.
(Sorry about that!)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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January 1989.
Bardonnechia, Italy. Artificial snow only. 1 chairlift. 1 blue piste 1 km long. 6 days.
March 1989
Borovets, Bulgaria. Scorching temperatures. 2 or 3 runs open. 6 days.
We booked Colorado the following year and weren't disappointed! 
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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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Westendorf, late 1980s. On the transfer coach from the airport to resort the Tour Operator Rep was saying that unfortunately there'd been insufficient snow for skiing, but that they were organising other events for the week like cycling archery etc. Rather disillusioned I went to bed the first evening, but when I pulled back the curtains in the morning I was amazed and pleased to see that there'd been a huge dump of snow overnight which saved the week for skiing!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Our first ever ski trip was to Niederau and was a great success. Our second ever ski trip was pretty much the same week the following year and they had no snow at all. After spending the first day having a walk in the valley we spent the rest of the week being bussed to Kaltenbach. Couldn't get lessons there but had a great time anyway. Like the place so much that 10 years later I'm posting this from Kaltenbach.
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Les Gets, Jan 2007, lots of rain and no snow, even the snow up at Avoriaz was slush.
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Wow!! Not just the last 4 Christmases which have been dodgy!!!
Perversely reassuring to read of the tales of woe from as far back as the 1970s (thought that was still the ice age!) 
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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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| philwig wrote: |
| Alpe d'Huez. That was a great theory which didn't work out ... "the top" was all closed, and all there was lower down was a thin white strip amongst brown nastiness, uncomfortably crowded. |
Ha, sounds like you were there the same time I was!
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My first ever ski trip was cancelled due to absolutely no snow. Maybe that should have been a sign 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Snowsartre wrote: |
Wow!! Not just the last 4 Christmases which have been dodgy!!!
Perversely reassuring to read of the tales of woe from as far back as the 1970s (thought that was still the ice age!) |
Yep, can't remember exactly when we went as was a chip but it was circa very late 80's.
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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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@Valkyrie, +1 for kaltenbach. we were there last week, stayed in fugenberg after sight seeing n Salzburg, and drove to kaltenbach to get a couple of days skiing in. could not believe how reasonable the prices of food/beer were on and off the mountain, we had lunch at the restaurant by the chair/t-bar close to the top of the gondola, and for a family of 4 with drinks came to 50euros, so much food that the next day we reduced the amount and shared chips as we could not eat them all!!!
we will definitely be going back again as the family fell in love with the area (kids especially with the pool in fugen, went there xmas day for a 2nd visit)
went to the church in fugen on xmas eve to see the nativity and hear "still nacht" be sung in the original place where it was fist performed nearly 200 years ago was special, even for a Bah Humbug like myself!!!!
hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.
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Early 1990s Vaujany (back door to Alp d'huez) at Christmas. One short green run on artifical snow (about 200 meters length), or over to alp D'huez where two blue runs on artificial snow were open. The blue runs were beaten into fields of snow mounds surrounded by mud by lunch time each day, with a skier stood on top of each mound. One day we drove to Duex Alpes to take advantage of the glacier. Two hours to get up to the snow plus 30 minute waits for each T bar.
We had an extra three days skiing in Chamoix over New Year. Fortunately the snow arrived on transfer day so had great conditions in Cham.
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You know it makes sense.
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March 2007 or 8 in Meribel. It wasn't that bad just no snow in town. But it was okay. I got the shits from some restaurant just across the main road from the lifts. They cooked it with hay on it and set fire to it. I couldn't see the point of the hay. It wasn't edible in the slightest. Other than that we have been lucky. When we arrived in Wagrain before Christmas 2014 there was no snow in town and we were worried but it snowed that night and we had a good holiday.
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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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Anyone who has skied a few times or done a season or two will have seen a Crest whitestrip on a green mountain at some point.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Having read this thread I will make it my New Years resolution never to complain about icy or slushy pistes of a lack of powder ever again.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Scotland (west) Easter before last, plenty of snow but loads of wind meant slopes were shut
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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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isola 2000 in 1986ish, a two week holiday and the first week only the dry slope was open, isola is a desolate place at the best of times, back then it was just one block of buildings with one bar, it was dreadful, but on the middle saturday we had 5ft of snow and that transformed everything.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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ADH about 5 or 6 years back. Well it all looked white but i soon realized everything was smooth like a marble countertop. You could just about control direction with a light touch and a prayer, alas 90% were just flailing around and blocking the pistes anyway.
So off side piste i thought, hey breakable crust is no ones favourite but beats this. Well that crust was not breaking, took me a few hundred yards to come to a stop while sliding sideways over rolling smooth white waves, followed by a slow and careful traverse back to the crowded piste.
2 or 3 days of that and the snow arrived, good thing, chalet was getting a bit tense by then.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| HoneyBunny wrote: |
A boiling hot Alpe d'Huez one April about 20 years ago. Ribbons of white cannoned snow for pistes which were deep, heavy slush by lunchtime and huge puddles by the end of each day.
Oh, and massively crowded. |
exactly the same for us in 2014! Still a great trip spent it in the park.
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1999 Obertauren at the same time as the Galtur incident
Blizzards and whiteouts just about all week
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 28-12-16 21:29; edited 1 time in total
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Worst weather conditions I have had while skiing was when it was incredibly windy with freezing pouring rain. That trip was terrible!
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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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Unfortunately this year in Les Houches, Chamonix. °dont go to those low down Austrian resorts “ was the advise from those in the know. 
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Mine was a DAY TRIP to Chamonix, from Gatwick (with Thomas Cook I think) in mid March 2003 I think. A friend's idea, not mine! After many hours spent travelling and collecting rental skis, the afternoon was spent skiing on piste on very deep 'treacle', in hot temperatures. It was impossible to turn or carve properly and the experience was energy sapping.
Totally unenjoyable, but some lessons were learnt: Avoid very short trips to the Alps and always choose resorts with higher altitude slopes when spring skiing.
In contrast our next trip was to Ischgl, in February 2004 - a great resort with friendly people, good skiiing and a fantastic holiday.
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