Tignes and The Espace Killy 2018/19 (Useful Links Page 1)

A snowHead

@chocksaway, so why the broad Yorkshire accent?....perhaps you are aiming your prejudiced humour at those more fortunate than yourself, forgiven though if you are one of us

A snowHead

@chocksaway, Laughing

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

What's the aspen burger @chocksaway?

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@Skrabble, there's a popular American style café in Val Claret called the Aspen, which does an eponymous signature burger with just about everything on it. Worth going out of your way for Very Happy

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Re. Aspen Burgers being "worth going out of your way for..."

We were in there last week for lovely Nutella crepes (highly recommended for €4). From what we could see of other diners, the burgers looked massive and gorgeous but (as is seemingly the norm in France) were very pink in the middle Confused

- so definitely not my cup of tea...

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Evening all. Will be in Tignes Le Lavachet next month and looking for (i) bar for 500ml of a decent preferably local biere and (ii) place to eat when chalet staff have night off (not too posh...owt will do me). Cheers

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@chocksaway Agh, thought it might have been the old Americana burger (iirc) from the spar in le lac. Very nice and filling, nice to slide around on the afternoon working off the bait ball.

After all it is free

@chocksaway, Stacy may have nailed it by leaving her knickers in the dressing room

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@Markymark29, Just an in joke between Lynne and myself, as I live within the range of the bells of St Peter's, having been born in the Wolds, I am fully qualified to make self deprecating remarks in a broad Yorkshire accent! Regrettably I was also qualified in Whitehall speak but that qualification has now lapsed, thankfully.

@harvsurrey, Very Happy

- probably more to do with Kevin's bleating about never winning and a difficult divorce, given that he changes wives more often than I change my ski boots the well of sympathy is not that deep!

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@dobby, Tim has covered beer, the Box also do decent grub, or Brasero. After that it starts going up market in Lavachet.

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@timlongs, @chocksaway, cheers.

One more question for those with local knowledge. I’m happy on blues, reds and easier blacks and am looking for nice warm up area for start of hols. Any suggestions?

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

As promised, some pics from Espace Killy on 11-13 December 2018 Very Happy

. It's looking good for anyone out there now or soon, with more fresh snow from today wink

Interesting driving conditions....

But once the weather cleared, it was quiet pistes....

....and a bit of a powderfest Very Happy

A snowHead

@timlongs, noted with anticipation snowHead

Is there a website for said brewery?

A snowHead

It was a very grey start, but there was just the hint if a gap over breakfast but the 'collective' decided it was a good day for a day off as it looked like a suckers gap. The mist has come and gone all day. With 27cm delivered in the village overnight there will still be lots of fresh out there tomorrow and Tuesday. Out of the window I guess conditions were a bit tricky as I didn't see many folks off piste.

There will be more snow overnight and into tomorrow, how much is tricky to say as the centre of the weather system keeps moving and its only small. So how many cm and when it will stop is a conundrum that will be sorted by looking out of the window! Its likely to be better in the afternoon though, light winds and similar temps to today. After a cold night Tuesday should bring sunny periods, light winds and pleasant temperatures, probably the best day this week. a thin layer of high cloud may form in the afternoon. The sky looks like being obscure by clouds on Wednesday and it should start snowing sometime after lunch, when the winds will also pick up. the end of the weeks weather is far from certain but fast moving light snow showers with the odd sunny period is the best summary at the moment.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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The Coco Rico in Val Claret was banging tonight, its student week and clearly digital marketing is a remarkable thing. I was watching from a mates flat; it was quite funny watching all the smart phone torches being deployed in a fairly haphazard fashion to find skis in the racks. Trying to come up with a name for this phenomenon, but currently struggling! Very Happy

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After all it is free

Quite a gusty wind and snowy this morning, looking forward to better conditions around lunchtime. Only a few lifts open so far. For the record another 17cm in the village, 20cm on high.

One word for today - tantalizing. We waited until 1115 before venturing forth, there wasd the occasional glimpse of the sun which we thought might be the clearance, sadly not for another 3 hours! A strong wind at altitude made things seem a little chilly as well. So we headed down to Brev, the runs that are open are a bit thin (or the local plant life had a growth spurt over the summer). But the new gondola is all shiny and comfortable and its dead easy to swap from one t'other in Boisses, which now has a lot more bubbles. The snow was, well, kind of midweight, bit heavier lower down and the vis kept coming and going so even piste skiing the evr growing moguls was hard on the legs. The sun popped out over Grand Pré which allowed a dabble off the side, quite deep but definitely a decent slope required to get turns in! A final run down Familial was probably the best run of the day.

The sky will clear tonight and it will be quite cold which should help the snow. Tomorrow will be predominantly sunny, the odd cloud may appear and high altitude cloud may cover the sun just before it sets. The isobars look to tighten in the afternoon, so a breeze may appear. I suspect there will be a lot of powder fever tomorrow, there are still plenty of traps out there for the unwary. Wednesday will be grey and snowy, the intensity and duration of the snow varies from forecast to forecast as its quite a small weather system, but it is intense at its centre - here's hoping we get shwacked by the snowiest bit. Thursday would appear to be a day of cloud and light snow showers from time to time, with a possible hint of sun in the afternoon, one of those days. Friday: fast moving snow showers will predominate, some of them heavy and winds at height will shut qquite a few lifts given the current prognosis!

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Any news on the Grande Motte cable car? The website has shown it as closed for storm damage repair for quite a while.....

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@xtr, An inspection on 13th found that the load bearing cables had derailed at both stations and the middle pylon. Doppelmayer and Garaventa teams are now in place, the timescale appears to be 2-3 weeks from that inspection. Crying or Very sad

You know it makes sense.

wow, I arrive on the 29th and my plans were warmup from Toviere to Val Claret then all the way to the top of Grande Motte before the masses arrive for a lovely long cruise down to Val Caret!

fingers crossed.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@chocksaway,

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear that, although hopefully it will be fixed quite soon and running just fine for my visit in March.

A snowHead

@chocksaway, good to hear le brev' is skiable if thin. I'm arriving there this sat. Don't like the sound of the forecast for Sunday though with meteofrance showing rain!

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

^^^Ta for that and the other burger responses. Each to their own and all that -but I'd still rather have a cooked-all-the-way- through-frozen burger than a pink-made-on-site one wink

Shame about the cable car - a bit frustrating for our visit last week - but still plenty of skiing left to go at eh?

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@bar shaker, In the last 3 years they have replaced everything bar the towers and the building at the base on the Cable Car (some €12m) so hardly fair to blame them. I guess ultimately mechanical things at 3500m are going to suffer, especially in winds of over 200kph.

Certainly the best day of the season so far, so it must be time for a song from the 4 Seasons with a tad of artistic licence:

Oh, what a day
Late December here in 73
What a very special time for me......

Blue skies, sunshine and a cold night that had improved the snow no end. Luckily no one had ventured off the top of the Palet Drag yesterday so we just had to explore all of it as it had about 25cm of the closest snow to powder that we have had all season. Also, we did not attract any followers until the third run round so by the 4th run there wasn't a great deal of untracked left so it was then up Lanches and a trip down Telegraph, we weren't the first but still freshtracks. By this time it was well towards a late lunch so after 2 days of exertions I stopped and went to Bourg shopping. The 2 pistes that we crossed were in fine condition.

The moon will disappear behind high clouds this evening and then these will thicken so by morning it will be a grey day. Light snow will start between elevensies and lunch (or maybe a tad later), the intensity will increase late afternoon, about another 10cm would be a fair guess. It will feel damp below the Dam as the freezing level is quite high. Early birds and worms though.... Thursday looks OK especially in the morning with sunny periods, beware a stiff breeze strengthening as the day progresses, the cloud will thicken in the afternoon, still mild for the time of year. Friday will be windy and snowy, with a snowline falling from 1900 to 1500m. Currently we look to be on the edge of the weather system as the heavy stuff will pass to the north, so there is much disagreement on the amount of snow and there will be until Friday morning...... Saturday will be a day of fast moving snow showers, high winds and quite a lot of snow at altitude. As its the first big transfer day of the season its probably a good job the snow line will be around the Dam or higher or we would be in for massive queues and buffoonery, sadly its going to be damp in Brev. Sunday is likely to be windy and warm, but no rain/snow.

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Funny old day. Based on the forecast there was an early 'call to arms' this morning. At 0900 you could see next to nothing on Bluets, luckily it was pisted to perfection. So we decided to head for the La Daille trees, buy by th time we got to the top of Toviere there were sunny spells. Dark clouds abounded all around but we were bathed in good light all the way down Familial. The warm temps overnight have led to a settling in the snow, so it was high energy skiing. Spatule followed, which was tricky lower down in the heavy snow and the snow depth is not great. We then skied down Face which was not in a particularly angry mood, luckily. After a coffee stop, there was still some light but the clouds seemed to finally make it over the ridges from the south west and it soon deteriorated, time for an early bath. It is now snowing very heavily on the Chocksaway scale (not often that gets said), I might even go as far as saying its honking down!!

The heavy snow will continue for 3 or 4 hours and then it will ease off and stop by midnight (maybe 10cm in total). Tomorrow will be a day of variable amounts of cloud and some sun, it will be cold in the morning. Snow showers will return just around lift closing time (probably). It could be a frustrating day as the weather changes from hour to hour. Friday looks like a shocker, windy with rain or snow throughout the day. the snow level may well rise to 2300m by mid day. Again the main part of the front is passing to the north, so the forecasters are hedging their bets on amounts from a dump to not a lot. The windy and snowy/rainy regime will last until midday on Saturday, with a snowline at around 2000m. It will improve and the sun should appear in the afternoon. Might be a bit of snow cahin carnage between Boisses and Lac or it may just stay clear. At the mo Sunday looks like being warm (for the time of year) and windy. Its going to be a tricky few days for the avalanche forecasters, rain, snow, wind and temperature changes are a toxic mix. Stay safe!

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We woke to blue skies, a cold morning and 10cm of fresh, not quite enough to cover all the previous tracks in most places but in the gullies there was treasure to be had. As it had been quite warm when the snow fell and windy it was not light snow in the fluffy stuff of dreams sense, but it made for some good skiing. We hit Grand pre first and then spotted some lines to be had in the Jardins du Borsat, which was good so we did the same route again. Bits of cloud appeared in the morning (quite a bit more down the valleys I think) and the sharp breeze picked up. After a very good Marmottes hot choccy (still only €2) we did the lower half of the North Face of Borsat (too wind stripped at the top) and then popped up the Funi to do off piste beyond Rabotch and Genepy. All the pistes that are open above 1800m are still in very good condition, barely a stone to be seen. Off piste, especially at altitude there are still quite a few sharks around to grab you by the ankles, another metre would not go amiss. The sky clouded over just after lunch and a few flocons floated past the window.

A few changes in the forecast: The sky will be heavy with cloud tomorrow morning and a strong wind will soon develop, out of the wind it will feel much warmer. There may be a few flocons floating about in the morning but nothing of any significance. The main snow showers will start after lunch, initially the snow line will be around 1600m but it will climb through the afternoon and evening (a bit perverse) and it may reach 2300m by late evening. A brolly for the pub perhaps, if it doesn't blow away. The snowline will then drop again to around 1600m on Saturday morning.The winds will abate on Saturday morning, so hopefully the traffic will be able to get up the hill, but chains may well be required on the side roads in the village, and light snow should be replaced by sunny periods in the afternoon. Snow depths vary from forecast t forecast ,somewhere in the 5-15 range, unless the heavy weather moves south. Sunday appears to be a day of sunny periods and fluffy clouds and unseasonably warm, Monday will probably be a day of wind and showers, snow down to 2000m or so but timings are varying. For the big day sunny and breezy, with temperatures only around zero in the villages. After that sunny periods.

After all it is free

Amazing conditions today..... 'nuf said Laughing

Mornin'

Currently sat in the lounge at Geneva for the Christmas trip home, it was all a bit benign when I got on the O dark hundred bus this morning, I suspect its a little different now!

The snow will continue this afternoon and the wind will pick up - the shutters will be rattling tonight. Unfortunately the temps will raise and we may see rain in the villages from late afternoon. The forecast are varying on the detail for tomorrow, the precipitation will stop between lunchtime and tea time. The snow level will be somewhere around Le Lac and with the wind at altitude it may well be a day to stop in bed! Sunday looks like being predominantly cloudy,, maybe the odd glimpse of the sun in the morning. The wind will continue, but the air temperature will be quite warm - you win some - you loose some. For Monday it will be a mixed bag, mainly cloudy but the sun may pop out in the afternoon, but some of the remaining shower clouds may give a dusting of snow - its one of those days at the edge of a weather system! But by the time you are ripping presents open on Christmas day the sun will be out, light winds will prevail and it will feel warm, turkey dinners in the sun on the terrace?! Boxing day will be pretty similar.....

For the travellers tomorrow, not too many problems from the weather, it will be a bit windy in the UK, so a bumpy ride. On the Continent there is a chance of a shower, so if you are in the passport queue at Grenoble, it may be a bit unpleasant! Of course, there may well be drones and gilets jaunes to deal with. The roads are likely to be snow free to beyond the Dam (maybe further unfortunately) but with 30000 vehicles leaving Albertville for Moutiers there will be some jams at peak times due to the volume of traffic. Good Luck!

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Well it had to happen and I'm sure was expected by a few on here. With the conditions of the day we decided to head down to Breviere. An OK run to the bottom and hopped on to the new Breviere gondola. Alas the Boisse gondola was broken down just after around 9.40, leaving us to go for coffee in Breviere. Despite their best efforts it didn't start working until 11.30 so that was quite a few laps around. We did try the bus out of 1800 at one point, but the queue was more than the bus could take.

Next time I will remember to check the Boisse gondola is running before going down there Evil or Very Mad

Help!!

Tignes and The Espace Killy 2018/19 (Useful Links Page 1)

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