 Poster: A snowHead
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Can anyone provide a first hand report on current conditions? Will be there mid-March.
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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 guess it's not a popular place then!
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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've been there twice but not in the last three years. There's not many from UK out these as far as I'm aware so you may not luck into someone on the ground to give you current feedback.
Unsure of your familiarity with the area, but we've stayed at Grimentz and zinal in January and mid March, both times good. The villages lift straight in both to larger plateu which are generally pretty snow sure so I'd not anticipate a problem up the top anyway. It has been really hard to read any of the snow depths this year more than most in all the areas I look at, but I feel you'll get as much chance of good snow up there ahead of quite a few places.
If you've not been before, it's certainly well worth the time, great place to ski.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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ssssshhhhhhh 
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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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@ski3, Grimentz terrible? I may have missed an ironic tone perhaps. Or maybe not. Sure, the cafe at Zinal is a bit weird in its pricing structures but the skiing in the Val D'Aanniviers as a whole is excellent. Zinal was top to bottom boilerplate at Christmas. Became somewhat hilarious trying to put in as many turns as possible on what was essentially water-ice. But then came the big post-Christmas dump and everything improved a lot. Between Grimentz and Zinal, there was a lot of great skiing to be had. And around the corner in Verconin and Nax the skiing was superb. No people. Lots of untracked. Lots of motorway. Excellent.
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@valais2, yes I was trying to convey an ironic tone in response to @KenX, saying to keep it quiet. As you rightly point out, it's a gem of a valley to ski. Also you get more of it to yourself without the crowds of some locations which hold a much higher profile. 
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Conditions are great according to my colleagues who are there at the moment. Lyndsey Vonn was training in Zinal on Wednesday so if it's good enough for her..
@ski3, there are an increasingly larger number of visitors from the UK year on year.
I will be there next weekend and again mid March. Conditions have remained good over the last 13 years that i have been going until at least mid April, the only runs that suffer are the returns to the Villages but as there are Gondolas and Cable cars to down load on it is not generally an issue.
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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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Piste conditions are still good and generally reliably better than resorts facing south eg Villars and Crans. This is a good local weather blog : http://annitrek.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
I will also be there mid/end March. PM me if you want any recommendations.
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I'm in Grimentz right now. It's been snowing pretty constantly since Tuesday. The pistes were in pretty good nick before that, are excellent now. Off piste seemed nicely covered by yesterday.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@skidm, just back from a long weekend in Val d'Anniviers and the snow conditions were very very good. It snowed quite a lot on saturday and was unusually extremely windy. Yesterday morning was glorious with lots of fresh tracks and blue skies. It clouded over just as we left at 3. It's been snowing all night and there is a lot forecast for this week. You should have great time especially if they open up all of the big black runs.
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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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Been in Grimentz since Friday 29 December. Snow fall per day since 30 December: 26 cm, 18 cm, 7 cm. Snowing heavily again now (8pm on 1 January) so am expecting another 20 to 30 cm overnight. Pistes are in excellent condition. Air temperature between 0 and 5. Light winds in the day times so far (due to increase significantly this week). Off Piste good but avalanche risk between 3 and 4. An avalanche related fatality locally already this season and high skier numbers last weekend has raised offpiste management with some managed areas closed for the foreseeable and heavily "bombed".
December 2017 total snowfall (according to a local pisteur) at 160 cm compared to December 2016 at 4 - yes, 4 - cm!
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Just back from a brilliant day in Grimentz/Zinal. While daughter did gates, i had an instructor guided off piste morning in amazing conditions...fabulous. tomorrow looks grim so probably gonna had around grimentz trees...what a brilliant place this is. Woops. No, terrible, awful resort, what was i even thinking coming here.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@coddlesangers, sounds like a great day. Who did you use for guiding, if you don't mind me asking and where did you go? I am out at the weekend for the week and might be looking for a guide if things stay in good nick, which it sounds like it will do if not be even better!
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Poster: A snowHead
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It was with Paloma from ski zenit, was a combo of instruction and a bit of guiding as that's what i was after, we stayed largely around sorebois so didn't really leave "resort". For a full days guiding into proper wilderness I'd recommend Stefano from ski zenit as well..
http://skischoolgrimentz.ch/#discover
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks I'll take a look.
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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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@Rareperk, I am here for a couple of weeks so do message me if you want to meet to ski. I can also give you guide contact details.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm staying in St. Luc Sunday night to Wednesday morning and plan to ski Zinal/Grimentz on Tuesday. My wife is likely to come over with me, and she is a laid back intermediate skier.
If someone elects to tee up a guide for Tuesday, I might be able to swing a kitchen pass to join in that, however. I have no touring experience, but a lot of lift served off piste experience.
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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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@chrisJersey, @mr. mike, thanks for the messages. My 22yr old daughter will be with us until the Wednesday when I will drive her down to Sierre to get the train back to Geneva. She is highly competent skier but not that interested in off-piste. We'd be happy to meet for a ski before then (unless she succeeds tempting me to snowboard for a day), Thursday and Friday would be possible for an off-piste day or two. I've skied with Nick Parks' outfit before, they are excellent. Happy to liaise via this thread or personal messages.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Rareperk, Rareperk, I'll try to get back with you on Monday via this thread. Assuming we stick with the plan to head to that end of the Val on Tuesday, will try to set something up. If you are both "highly competent" or beyond, you probably don't want to spend too much time with us because we wouldn't want to slow you up, but, as this is our first trip to the area, I would appreciate a bit of local knowledge and orientation.
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Poor conditions today (really a stay in bed day) with Zinal appearing to have no lifts working at all (high wind is likely to be the issue that side) and very limited lifts (3 or 4) in Grimentz. 13 cm snow overnight at 2200 m so some powder to the sides. Avalanche risk 3 (variable) and visibility poor. Weather mild but still precipitating at 1200. Incidentally Vercorin also appears to be closed today (www.rma.ch)
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Yup. We drove over from Grimentz to Zinal yesterday only to find the telecabine shut due to high winds....decided the gods were speaking to us and telling us to go home and have a nice cuppa, so that's what we did. Have to say the conditions on Monday and Tuesday were really really exceptional, here's hoping skies clear for anyone coming out next week, you'll have a blast.
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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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Yesterday was horrendous! We took the bus from Zinal to Grimentz, went up, sat in the cafe for ages, did one run, Crets, then back down in the gondola!
Haven’t ventured out today yet, but it doesn’t look much better. The Zinal cable car seems to be running though, so we might head up for a look since it’s our last day.
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34 cm snowfall last night up at Sorebois but also a season record of a wind speed at 159 kmh. Afraid to say it but really very poor ski conditions today with limited lifts open again and rain up to 1800 metres on the Grimentz side. A lot of significant slides are visible on a number of different aspects. I ski toured through the trees on the path to St Jean but the path itself was closed (some exposure past St Jean). Away for a few days but back Sunday night and hoping for colder temps.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Staying in Saint Luc and want to ski Zinal/Grimentz at least one day. What's the recommendation on getting to and fro? I'm aware there's a bus option, but, if one has a car, is it worthwhile from a time and flexibility standpoint to drive or too much hassle to do it yourself, find and pay for parking, etc.?
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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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Parking's a doddle in Zinal, 5chf a day for the on street parking beside the telecabine. Its an easy enough drive as well from St Luc, just the descent from St Luc to the "valley" level, and then a few hairpins on the way up to Zinal. I'd drive personally.
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That is what I will do then. thanks for the input.
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You know it makes sense.
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@mr. mike, if you have never been to the valley before you would probably enjoy a walk through Grimentz at the end of your days skiing, the old village is extraordinarily quaint. The road from Zinal was closed this week so you would have to drive up to Grimentz via Vissoie, so you might be best to park in Grimentz. There is a huge car park in Grimentz but I am not sure how much it costs to park there as we stay within walking distance of the cable car/gondola station. The skiing over in St Luc is great in itself by the way, make sure to ski down to the Gite du Prilet at some point as that red run is awsome. Enjoy the Val d'Anniviers it's a very special place.
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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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thanks for the tip. That sounds pleasant. Car park you are referring to is the big (actually 2 big) surface parking areas I see on google maps sat view just left off Route de Moiry just beyond the Coop Supermarche? Looks like you would drive under the gondola that connects over to Zinal and then pretty promptly turn left into the lot?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@mr. mike, yes that's the one, you can park at the side of the Route de Moiry as the cable car passes overhead but spaces are limited there, you may be OK midweek in January though.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Snowing heavily now at Grimentz level (raining until about an hour ago)
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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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heavy snow and winds had about 1/2 the lifts closed on the St. Luc side today. Skiing was good once down to treeline, but unfortunately that only left a few hundred meters down the bottom of the lift. Nice lunch at Ilhorn, however. The staff were very surprised to see us. My wife and I the only visitors to make it in today I think.
British Airways managed to lose my ski bag, and 24 hours later status continues to be "still tracing your bag", so I think it might be a goner. Plan to ski Grimentz/Zinal on Wednesday and then exit the V d'A postskiing to drive to Les Gets.
Recommendation on where to rent skis for a day on the side of the valley?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@mr. mike, we always recommend Val Sports in Grimentz but have used Do Sports too. There are another couple and I think all of them are of a very high standard. I am driving to Geneva on Wednesday so unfortunately I’m not about. The skiing was mixed over here today, visibility terrible above 2200m but the snow was good, below 1800m the snow was very wet and heavy. All of the lifts bar Comb de Durand were open, unfortunately the Piste du Chamois has not been open yet this season. Have a good couple of days in the Valley, I’m sorry to hear about your luggage. It’ll be in the abyss that is Heathrow I’d expect.
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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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85 cm fell last night. Top lifts and runs closed all day. Excellent powder conditions to the side of the pistes at Bendolla. Avalanche risk 4.
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Just arrived in Grimentz, the drive up in a biggish motorhome was a bit more exciting than normal. First day of the season tomorrow, so much for a warm up week in the Jura and pre Alps! I think we are in one of the best spots for the next week though.
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@BoardieK, yup 
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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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Agreed. Risk dropped to 3. Abondance itinerary skiing well first thing. Pistes in excellent condition. Side pistes fairly tracked but still skiable. Left hand (lookers) top drag in Zinal still not open. Grimentz lifts fully open.
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FAQ
will I be allowed back if I say it's too expensive?
