Was on the south face of Roc D'enfer today. Cooked unfortunately. All south facing is pretty wrecked I think until we get a proper freeze and thaw cycle going. Sticking to north ish facing slopes for the moment.
We come over from Morzine so my son can have mogul lessons with him
Well worth the trip over given Pierre’s track record as a bump Olympian and great ability to teach.
Yes my son loves skiing with him and Pierre seems to genuinely have fun teaching him
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I don’t know Vincent but Pierre and Julien are both great guys. Obviously fantastic to be coached by an Olympian (and a good one) if you’re keen on bumps skiing!
Our experience with Julien is that he is a really good teacher. He studied Psychology in Canada so has good English and a pupil-centred approach.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Heading to Les Gets in two weeks today for a quick weekends skiing. The lift and piste status all seem good, so fingers crossed the conditions all stay good. Anyone know/have a reliable weather forecast for the next two weeks?
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@Roscoe, mostly dry and rather warm for the next 10 days so not ideal...
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
red 27 wrote:
@Roscoe, mostly dry and rather warm for the next 10 days so not ideal...
Oh no!! At least the majority of piste have snow cannons, so hopefully many will stay open!
As a side question, any recommendations for apres for both drinking and some nice dinner?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Roscoe wrote:
Oh no!! At least the majority of piste have snow cannons, so hopefully many will stay open!
Yes fingers crossed! I'm in Chatel at the same time
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.
red 27 wrote:
Roscoe wrote:
Oh no!! At least the majority of piste have snow cannons, so hopefully many will stay open!
Yes fingers crossed! I'm in Chatel at the same time
I'm at the Chalet Hotel Regina and hoped to be able to ski to the bottom of the Chavannes lift for just a short work home. Will this still be possible with the poor forecast?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
It would take a catastrophe not to be able to ski back to chavannes base. 99% sure it will be fine
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Roscoe, I find Chamonix meteo best for this general area (inc. PdS).
So my money is that it’ll be sunny and lovely and nothing to worry about whatsoever.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Any snowheads on the ground in PdS for a conditions update? Are the lower slopes starting to get a bit sketchy with the weather? Heading out next Sat for my first ski in 6 years! Staying in Montriond, so would imagine we'll be heading Ardent way. . .
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@davejsy, am sun bathing on Chavannes, crowds have gone and the pistes are good above 1500m. Had about 0.5cm powder this morning.
Plenty of snow still at 1200m though some brown patches on south facing lower runs. Cannons been running every night but some icy patches in the shade.
All things considered conditions are great as the base is thick, it’s sunny and nice temps
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@polo, cheers
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?
Did the Roc d'enfer circuit at St Jean d'Aulps this morning. Just cold enough for the snow machines to be running on the far side. Most pistes boiler plate but sun shining. The piste is shut back to the village and a shuttle bus is running from the lac drag at the end of the circuit back to the village.
Les Gets was crisp this morning with snow blowers running until quite late. Pistes held up very well in the bright sunshine and started refreezing later. A couple of the lower runs into Morzine were shut. Retour de nants and the last bit of lievre down to Nyon.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Given current conditions and the weather forecast, this video might be helpful for those - like me - who are due out there soon...
Reminds me of the dry years in the early 90's before snow making. Happy Days.
Webcam's showing good conditions. Lets just hope the warmer weather over the next week or so doesn't ruin it all!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Chatel was in good nick this weekend - and it's cold at the moment.
After all it is free
After all it is free
There is an excellent cover for that time of year above c. 1400m and some locals were saying on of the best conditions they have seen for a long time during the festive season. Sunny day / cold nights are bringing opportunities to make snow on the lower home slopes.
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I've just had a week in Les Crosets - excellent snow cover everywhere I explored (including Avoriaz and the Linga/PDJ side of Chatel), a good base with powdery snow on top for the most part. In Les Crosets it was only the Grand Paradis run down to Champery that was closed.
It was dry and sunny everyday and so it made for an almost perfect week's skiing, apart from the crowds on Jan 2nd in particular - a combination of a local public holiday plus great conditions meant it was super busy
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11 days and counting until we fly out to Morzine. Excitement levels very much on the up (if it's possible for them to get any higher!?)
Hoping for a huge dump of snow just before we get there, followed by blue skies every day, and big dumps of snow at night! We can but hope!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Whitters, Good news - thanks for the update
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.
swskier wrote:
11 days and counting until we fly out to Morzine. Excitement levels very much on the up (if it's possible for them to get any higher!?)
Hoping for a huge dump of snow just before we get there, followed by blue skies every day, and big dumps of snow at night! We can but hope!
Looks as though their might be some snow Thursday/Friday this week but then nothing after that. Obviously the forecast can change by the day so fingers crossed.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
We arrived in Chatel on Saturday and since then have skied in Super Chatel, Linga, PLJ, Lindarets, Les Crozets, Champous and Morgins. Pistes above 1400 all better than normal early Jan, only issue I saw was Morgins on the SC side where the pistes are open but brown. No crowds, sunshine etc have made for a better than average start to our season. I would love a huge snow storm but I'll take skiing open pistes with no people and barely a stone. Apparently we need to wait for a new/full moon to see a change in the weather (tosh probably but it sounds good).
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
coming out to PDS for a long weekend on the 18th jan skiing sat pm and all day Sunday Monday , staying in morzine and have a car so can be flexible as to where to start the day , would love some tips on how to find the longest red/black runs in the area and how to make the most of our short time there , have been before but stayed mainly in les gets area so haven't really explored much past avoriaz , not expecting to be exploring off piste as snow levels not likely to change before our trip . cheers fo any tips
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@alj, IME you're right with tosh, there's no correlation between phase of the moon and snowfall, other than the law of averages.
@Dabber, PdS doesn't have great denelevation (by alpine standards), so really long blacks or reds are in short supply. The best concentration of blacks is the Hauts-Forts sector of Avoriaz (you may already know). Good reds mainly off the frontier ridge, Les Crosets on the swiss-side (which will soften up first if there's some sun); Avoriaz, Plaine-Dranse, Linga sector on the french-side. Best bang for you buck in terms of "vert" and mileage (i.e. fast detachable chairs) is Avoriaz Plaine-Dranse Linga. Fastest access to the good stuff for you will be driving up to the Prodains bubble. Hope this helps - enjoy!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Dabber,
What @shep, said.
Also;
parking at Ardent is a good starting point;
Have you done the Circuit.
If you get a clear day its worth a shot.
This time of year I would do it anti clockwise (swiss side first as swiss side gets more sun in the morning).
Go via, Ardent/Avoriaz to Mossete France then head to Champoussin.
Nice Blue run under the bottom of Point de l'Au.
Great Coffee stop at Ferme du Gaby at the bottom of the Aiguiulle des Champeys Chair lift.
Take the free and regular bus through the village at Morgins to get from near Foilleuse chair to Corbeau chair.
Then head via Super Chatel Area to Plaine Dranse before jumping back over to Avoriaz and Ardent Sector.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 7-01-20 23:18; edited 2 times in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Dabber,
And....
Coffee mid morning in Plain Dranse sector of Chatel at Chez Babeth on another day is worth a shout. But she is overpriced and can be very grumpy at lunch time.
Sat PM if you only have a half day..... Maybe....
Park at the front of Mt Chery in Les Gets and hit up Mt Chery.
The bottom half of Mt Cherry was closed last week but the reds and blacks on Mt Cherry are fab and it should be very quiet. Great for a half day. Fast, well groomed pistes on the front side and a equally fast red on the back side at Chery Nord with some unpisted blacks on Chery Nord too.
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?
@247snowman wrote:
@Dabber,
And....
Coffee mid morning in Plain Dranse sector of Chatel at Chez Babeth on another day is worth a shout. But she is overpriced and can be very grumpy at lunch time.
Sat PM if you only have a half day..... Maybe....
Park at the front of Mt Chery in Les Gets and hit up Mt Chery.
The bottom half of Mt Cherry was closed last week but the reds and blacks on Mt Cherry are fab and it should be very quiet. Great for a half day. Fast, well groomed pistes on the front side and a equally fast red on the back side at Chery Nord with some unpisted blacks on Chery Nord too.
AND ANOTHER TIP.
Pick up the piste Map in the sector you are skiing.
1 Morzine/Les Gets
2 Avoriaz
3 Chatel
4 Swiss side
all have piste maps with their 'detail4 on which makes navigating in the different areas easier.
Would anyone be able to help with piste difficulty rates for Les Gets?? I'm going with two beginners, they have skiied before, but are very nervous, and wanted to understand which blue's would be suitable and which wouldn't be. So basically which are the "easiest" to "hardest" blues ranked? So that I can take them on the easiest first to build confidence to hopefully try the more difficult ones when their confidence is up.
Will start them on the few greens to start but want to move away from them asap really.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Les Gets is a good base for beginners and nervous skiers and I don't think all the greens/blues around the Criox chair are generally wide and not too steep. The only one to watch is the final part of the run in to the village/bottom of Chavannes lifts. This can be lovelly...but can also be icy or quite mogally towards the end of the day. Not "We're going to die!" bad but can certainly be "My beginner legs are too tired for this!" bad
Les Gets is a good base for beginners and nervous skiers and I don't think all the greens/blues around the Criox chair are generally wide and not too steep. The only one to watch is the final part of the run in to the village/bottom of Chavannes lifts. This can be lovelly...but can also be icy or quite mogally towards the end of the day. Not "We're going to die!" bad but can certainly be "My beginner legs are too tired for this!" bad
Thanks for the heads up regarding Chavannes home run. That was the planned journey home so will try to prepare them and pick them the best line to follow.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Dabber wrote:
coming out to PDS for a long weekend on the 18th jan skiing sat pm and all day Sunday Monday , staying in morzine and have a car so can be flexible as to where to start the day , would love some tips on how to find the longest red/black runs in the area and how to make the most of our short time there , have been before but stayed mainly in les gets area so haven't really explored much past avoriaz , not expecting to be exploring off piste as snow levels not likely to change before our trip . cheers fo any tips
Going up from Ardent is a good option as mentioned earlier. If you are after some long runs you can easily link together top-to-bottom runs around Chatel that start at c. 2000m and drop to c. 1200m finishing at bottom stations of Super Chatel, Linga or Pre La Joux / Pierre Longue. These are all nice reds 3 to 4kms in length:
Top Morclan to bottom Super Chatel / 800m / 3.5K signposted for advanced skiers with steep reds and one black at the top to the SC 'plateau'. Take middle red at the top after cat track that veers slightly right form the chair.
Top L'Echo Alpin to bottom Linga / 900m / 3.5k fast leg burner with deviations for less advanced skiers (French national downhill racecourse)
Top Cornebois to bottom of Pre La Joux / 800m / >3K Follow red 32 run but bottom 1/3 below treeline is not groomed and generally moguled - needs good snow
Top Rocasshons or Chaux des Roses lifts to bottom of Pierre Longue which both link to red 36 to the bottom
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Ozboy, +1
Abricotine is also pretty long.
And Grand Paradis is also long.( but Gd Paradis is not open at the moment as the bottom is v low and could do with a bit more snow).
Col du Portes Du Soleil is long from the top of Mosettes to the base of La Foilleuse in Morgins.
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Top of Arare, all the way to Prodains is a long black most of the way. Good finish to the day if you're parked at Prodains.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
@WindOfChange, I am yet to do these runs into Champery and Morgins but very much want to. I read somewhere the run from Col PDS to Morgins claims to be the longest in the PDS but wondered if this involved long flat cat tracks to make up the distance to appease the marketing department?
The new layout of Abricotine is great as they have extended the red all the way to the new Cases chairlift bottom station. I have read elsewhere that at 8kms down to Ardent it is the longest in the PDS but that involves a lot of straight line tucking on the green section and some polling - not one for boarders.
There are also claims that the longest run is 11 kms and perhaps that could be the one into Morgins?
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Poster: A snowHead
We can but hope!
