 Poster: A snowHead
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Somewhat unexpected additional 10-15-20 cms overnight have caught at least the Chamonix clearing on the hop with most minor roads mostly uncleared and tourists without chains littering the pavements and ditches.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've been driving north from Troyes to Calais today. Lots of snow and freezing rain. Traffic light northbound but seen several long convoys behind snowploughs southbound. A few crazy Belgians overtaking in snowy outside lane but most driving sensibly. High winds too and worse to come. Glad I'm headed for the Tunnel, not a ferry.
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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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Spot the car...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@BobinCH, 
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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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Apparently the motorway is closed between Martigny and Aigle since midday. You know it’s bad when the Swiss can’t cope!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Traffic grinding along through the Tarentaise - be interesting when all the Race spectators leave Val. They have just closed the Palafour lift (1410) in Tignes due to avalanche risk.
Still some people not been able to leave UK with Luton, Brum, East Mids, Stansted and Manchester all having been shut for a bit.
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| pam w wrote: |
| . Glad I'm headed for the Tunnel, not a ferry. |
Bet you are, Port of Calais closed and the Pride of Kent has run aground outside the port. 
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No problems round Grenoble, warm and pissing with rain to high altitude now.
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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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@BergenBergen, wow! Certainly blowing a hoolie here in Calais. Eurotunnel v busy and I'm stuck here for some hours. But I have plenty to read and no kids to look after = First Class travel!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Having survived the dodgy conditions on the French motorways today and not being sat on the mud on a ferry outside Calais port I feel, as people are wont to say, "very blessed". The car parks here are fuller than I've ever seen them. My parked car is being rocked by gusts of wind. I'll not be going into the Terminal building till I need the loo!
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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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Rosset beginners chairlift just closed due to avalanche risk now. And its snowing heavier than ever........
Risk 4 today - 5 tomorrow???
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Having plenty of time to kill have just discovered that 110 kms an hour winds = Force 11. But really, that is sustained wind speed. So properly Force 10 I expect.
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You know it makes sense.
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@pam w, well done, that must've been an epic drive. Hope the rest of your journey is safe and goes well.
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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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@under a new name, similar here in Serre Che.
Think that as the resort is not fully opened (just four of five lifts this long Italian weekend), and it's a Sunday staffing levels are limited.
Thankfully we do not have the higher temps that were forecast for today (still minus 5.5) and snow seems to be getting heavier as I type this.
Just hope these colder temps persist as a lot of precipitation is forecast for tomorrow and will result in substantial accumulations in the valley at resort level something we've not seen for a while!
Roads are really quiet though just back from up the hill and I tried to make it back up my steep 17-18% hill (4x4 VW van) even though road had not been cleared and did not make it*. Two mins later snow plough came through!
And at some stage I have to go up to the Lautaret to put a Cam in at my mates Gite but as I messaged him this morning think that's going to be delayed for three or so days!
*I have to tackle it from a nigh on standing start as I turn off the main road and can't really take a run at it. Then the bottle factor comes into play as if I get 3/4 of the way up and can't make it, my only option is to slide back down and maybe out into the main road or put myself into the bank
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Poster: A snowHead
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Apparently Chamonix have light staffing for Sundays, because, you know, it never snows on Sundays.
Idiots.
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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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On road home, artic semi jack-knifed just below les Houches. Two idiots just above Servoz stopped in their lanes putting on chains. Traffic at that point backed up an stationary to below the viaduct.
It’s the selfishness and stupidity of the behaviour that gets me. Chum’s client, stuck in the garden this AM was asked, don’t you have chains. Why, yes I do, says he, they just don’t fit this car ...
Idiots.
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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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| chocksaway wrote: |
| Still some people not been able to leave UK with Luton, Brum, East Mids, Stansted and Manchester all having been shut for a bit. |
My parents were due to fly out of Luton to Lanzarote at about 8am this morning. They sat on the plane for three hours before it started taxiing at about 1pm. They were told initially that the flight maybe cancelled. I told them to stay at the airport if that was the case as Luton and the roads in and out were gridlocked.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Rains has turned to sleet in the valley near Grenoble, but still rain higher up due to foehn arriving
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Having read all this I think we had quite a peaceful drive today from Calais down to Troyes, Val Moret. Here before dark so the dog could have a run. It was tipping down with rain when we left Sussex at 6.30 but we went through snow on the way to the tunnel. We are not generally tunnel travellers as we have had issues nearly every time we have used it in the past but straight on this morning, few cars around. Snow then at Calais and the motorway had the ploughs out quite a bit bit the snow cleared later. Just said to David that I think he will be doing most of the driving tomorrow as we get closer to Les Gets.
Hope you get home eventually Pam.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sun 10-12-17 18:17; edited 1 time in total
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We’ve just spent 4 hours on the viaduct doing 2 miles up the hill just to be able to turn around to go back home to St Gervais.
It is chaos. Saw 1 gendarme in all that time.
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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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and then it was gone....
Just driving past Martigny and it’s just as heavy down her and still going strong! Looks like Xmas 2018 is going to be very special in the Alps!
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Road has been closed from Tignes to the Dam, now 15 cars at a time with a police escort until 2100 when it shuts again
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| Road has been closed from Tignes to the Dam, now 15 cars at a time with a police escort until 2100 when it shuts again |
Ouch. That would explain why 8 of our ski group have got stuck in Les Brev and are struggling to get back to Le Lac.
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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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You know it makes sense.
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Switzerland was chaos today. Big snow caught them out.
Not surprised to see France in the same mess.
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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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@davidof, Ooops missed those words on this thread. Get the impression they are struggling to keep on top of it now. Pedestrian access between the villages of Tignes is now interdit!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @davidof, Ooops missed those words on this thread. Get the impression they are struggling to keep on top of it now. Pedestrian access between the villages of Tignes is now interdit! |
I realized I was repeating what you'd already said after I posted. PIDA tonight in the avalanche couloirs, in the US they use howitzers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@davidof, Is that the A Basin? I remember the signs saying don't touch any shell cases as they may still be live. Might be handy for dealing with Trolls though....
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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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@Whitegold, how do you know? Geneva was not chaos.
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
On road home, artic semi jack-knifed just below les Houches. Two idiots just above Servoz stopped in their lanes putting on chains. Traffic at that point backed up an stationary to below the viaduct.
It’s the selfishness and stupidity of the behaviour that gets me. Chum’s client, stuck in the garden this AM was asked, don’t you have chains. Why, yes I do, says he, they just don’t fit this car ...
Idiots. |
6pm drove down the back road from Servos, helped un jam a mess caused by the idiot's you describe, long enough to get our friend rental free of the jam. Back up in Servos putting my spare chains (they had broken and repaired theirs 4 times then ran out of spare links) in Servos and no cars coming up either the back road or Autoroute. 8pm heading back home to Les Houches form Cham, the Autoroute was briefly open and free flowing in the uphill direction, till some idiot blocked the tunnel access and it all backed up again.
2ft or more in our apartment complex during the day.
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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'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@under a new name, love that bit about the chap with the chains, but for the wrong car!
Driving again this morning from the Val Moret, I have just finished my two hours and all in the most appalling rain. Great relief to hand over. 10C still
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@Pamski, as usual, clients never fail to amaze/amuse.
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@under a new name, certainly with guests we call them the BLAH club, brains left at home.
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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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I arrived back late last night - the snowy French motorways were as nothing compared to 5 hours at the Tunnel..... but, to be fair, they probably had masses of spillover from the ferry delays. Looking at pictures on BBC news of 3 lanes of traffic nose to tail on a British motorway with the same amount of snow as I was driving through yesterday (ie, not a lot) but the volume of traffic is what causes the problems. How to get ploughs and gritters along a motorway full of traffic?
Equally, I came down the worst of the French mountain bends on Saturday with chains on (having had to put them on to get round the back of my apartment to load up). Even then, and driving VERY slowly, I was losing the back end a bit on the tightest bends - but I was one of the very few cars out on the road. Adding UK traffic volumes would soon have gridlocked those roads too, even if people were driving sensibly.
And once again I marvelled at the quantity of heavy machinery you see on the roads in the Alps. My very minor of most minor roads (sans issue, and serving only our apartments, a restaurant and two local houses) had been ploughed at least three times before I left on Saturday afternoon - but the snow was so heavy the road was still white. It's no wonder that the UK authorities, who have to deal with heavy snow once in a blue moon, and with much greater traffic volumes, don't cope.
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Doesn't sound good from the Dauphine report. So basically the police are incapable of stopping cars and lorries with no equipment taking the road up to Chamonix and completely grid locking the road system.
Same issue with Grenoble and Chambery last week with trucks blocking the cols on the autoroutes from Lyon.
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