Tignes and The Espace Killy 2019/20 (Useful Links Page 1)

A snowHead

Lol this weather ... just what I need driving in today !!!! But hopefully it’s a fun adventure and we arrive eventually

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@Jonpim,

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UK not the only place suffering from a tempest wink

So its a very quick conditions report - no ski. Even walking to the Jam Bar was a trial. 28cm in the village overnight and it hasn't stopped snowing. So lots of avalanche protection going on, selective roads closed around Val and Tignes and avalanche risk 4 tomorrow, even if the lifts open.

The weather: The snow and the wind will continue all night, the intensity may drop for a couple of hours this evening but it will be back. But it soon starts to warm up early tomorrow so the snowline will rise to 200om around 4am then drop to 1600m then rise to around 2000m, which should make the job of the road clearers easier (a bit). But there is discrd over the amount of precipitation, the locals have it snowing/raining down low all day, as do the Noggies, but the Swiss show it to fair up for the middle of the day..... But all agree it will have stopped by Sunday morning which will be much more benign with sunny periods after localised low cloud. The temps will be very mild for mid Dec. The wind will drop. The snowpack will be a nightmare with wind blown powder aloft and wet humid snow below, care will be required by the bucketful. Monday will start OK with sunny periods but the cloud will build in the afternoon, the wind will also return in the afternoon. On the whole Tuesday looks like a day of fast moving sunshine and showers, not too much precipitation and another unusually high snow line.

For those on a plane tomorrow, it will be showery, some may be heavy on both sides of the Channel. Around the showers there will be a gusty wind which will make it uncomfortable, but OK for flying with the possible exception of Chambery where there is a reasonable risk of a nasty crosswind until about 0900. With the turbulence off the mountains Biggles may opt for a short hold.

The roads - leave in plenty of time, they are working hard and the level at which the road goes black could be anywhere between the Dam and Seez. Inevitably some people will try and escape without chains, before hopefully the Police arrive to stop them. The traffic will not be heavy on the way down and it is relatively quiet on the way up, but most of the vehicles will becoming to Val for the WC, unless they cancel early. By the afternoon, it should be OK as that traffic gets in and the snow eases and the temp rises. Just hope the 50 buses coming to Tignes have snow tyres, or drop the pax off in Brev! Good luck to one and all.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Kenzie, What - to the tune of "No Jeremy Corbyn" Twisted Evil

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The App has just burbled: the road twixt Lac and 1800 close at 6.15am tomorrow morning for blasting. How long it stays shut is a flexible feast based on how much shovelling there is to do after the boom!

After all it is free

The road between Lac and Val C was closed for a while this afternoon. No buses. The lunch became a very long one. Our groups did some Avi training on the Lac tennis court area. At 10am there was 40cm of fresh there. At 1230 there was 55cm. Not sure how representative that is. My probe has the measurements marked. Pushed it in until I hit first hard layer.

@chocksaway, really really valuable updates here. I’m on a bus from Geneva to Tignes (Le Lac) at the moment, sounds like skiing tomorrow is not looking likely! But great restaurant recommendations in the meantime.

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It's 21:30 here and although I'm not absolutely certain what they were we have heard 4 or 5 loud 'thumps' in the last 20 minutes. I'd guess they're up on the mountain lobbing the dynamite about. Either that or the FrAF are up intercepting Airliners.

Stay safe guys. I don't fancy being out in this in daylight never mind the dark.

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@diaphon, Roads are passable, the road has reopened between 1800 and Lac (until 615am) but it will be slow going!

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We were hoping to get there for 11PM, but sounds like it will be later. About half way between Moutiers and Bourg St Maurice now 10PM).

Roads were fine in the end, though glad I wasn’t the one driving! Will be an interesting day tomorrow...

You know it makes sense.

Still wild this morning, hopefully we will see a few lifts open (for the brave) as the winds ease off (a bit) later. The first run of the slalom has been delayed until 11am on Face de Bellvarde - good luck and bon courage to all those who have been up from the middle of the night trying to prepare the Course. Its still snowing moderately and its quite damp (snow level about 1600m) so vis will be a nightmare - perhaps a pair of Eltons's windscreen wiper shades would be in order! (or it might favour those who have trained in Scotland).

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A snowHead

I suspect I will wait until Sunday before venturing out on to the slopes.

A snowHead

@GreenDay, Dangerous place, so 20 m from the meat fest and a similar distance from TimLongs Sapaudia beers at the Box!

Fish and Chips at QDC tested and found serviceable last night.

An oft used phrase in our group - the weathers bad today but its better than a good day at Glenshee! The first place I ever skied resplendent in RAF Cold weather flying kit - I remember one particular Poma that was determined to emasculate me Shocked

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Tichot open for the Brave, plus village lifts. Just free lifts in Va, probably cos any one with two legs is shovelling on Face.

Just cleared the balcony, yesterday it was fluffy luvliness, today medium weight and compacted, no gym required.

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Looking like an afternoon in the nearest bar for many...

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"..Was always said if you can ski Scotland you can ski anywhere ! .."

Very much my thoughts - remember lying down at the top of the White lady T-bar, while waiting for the rest of my Ski class, to minimise the effects of the wind.. (just copying the Gurkhas doing the same thing!)

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After all it is free

Crazy people out there on the roads today!

Decided to go Val Claret for lunch as there was no skiing. Road was pretty bad after Tignes 1800 and we were in a line of cars. At the front were to UK cars, a BMW 5 series and an Audi A4. I was behind the A4.

Anyway, they started really slow, and then sliding all over the place. Then they stopped, both sideways on a corner, half across the road. No snow tyres or chains on either car Mad

I went round them, and went to lunch.

3 hours later and I am driving down and the conditions are worse. Lo and behold the traffic stops, and there is Mr Audi A4 stopped, trying to get up the hill, still! Police turned him round and sent him back. He had been trying for 3 hours!

If thats you and you are on here, you should be ashamed of yourself. The garage you drove past sold chains and winter tyres, so why didnt you stop and get some?

Right back to skiing in Tignes...... or rather the lack of it. Frankly, it was miserable today, it warmed up so there was lots of damp snow in the village. After Tichot this morning, they did open Palafour which then stopped and then moved slowly to unload everyone, so presumably the wind at the top of it was a bit much. It then opened down to Brev, but by then I was ensconced in the instruction manual for my new transceiver, which was supposed to arrive today, but I guess he was delayed. In the 24 hrs to 0800 we had 35cm in the village and 50 aloft, so plenty of snow for Christmas and New Year now. As to the quality, it will be heavy down here and wind blown up there so it will be a challenge to find something soft and pleasurable. The snow pack is very complex and Risk 3 officially. The pisteurs have been blasting through the day, but they will be busy from first light so expect a gradual opening of the mountain.

The snow will stop towards midnight and the winds will abate. The skies will clear gradually through the early hours, we may be sat in thin cloud in the morning, but this hill fog will clear to leave a sunny (mostly) day with benign temperatures which will be nice, though it will mean the snowpack compacts. Monday will be overcast but it should be high altitude cloud so hopefully a milky sun may appear. Again, warm but do watch out for the winds increasing in the afternoon, the isobars squeeze in quite quickly, the linky linkies could be under threat. Tuesday will be cloudy with little chance of seeing the sun, again a strong breeze, a day for skiing through the tree lines pistes (NB if they preparing the races in La Daille). The cloud may be thick enough to produce a little bit of snizzle, its coming from the east hardly a retour d'est but might be a bit more snowy towards Le Fornet, again a wind will be blowing. Not sure on Wednesday - a mix of snow showers, potentially rain to 2000m and wind - bit early to say.

I know a lot of the Brit TOs are flying the first jolliday makers in tomorrow. So for air travel it will be windy bumpy and showery across the UK. There is a slim chance of wet sleet north of Hadrian's Wall and on top of the hill at Sir Geoffrey Boycott International, shouldn't be a problem. Over here will be fine, might be a bit misty at Grenoble early doors. The roads will be quiet (except for the WC traffic going to Val) and by mid morning I expect they will be black except the village side roads. Bon Voyage

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We stayed near Le Lac today, just playing around in the powder and chop that we could access from Almes lift and (once) from the Palafour lift. An extremely limited opening suited us just fine today, it was our first day this season and visibility was pretty poor, so going slow and pottering around was perfect. Looking forward to improving conditions tomorrow!

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Local avalanche risk 4 this morning, lots of 'results' from the pisteurs - stay safe. Also very strange snow on the balcony this morning, sugar snow but stuck together, if its like that on the slopes it will be a nightmare. Pistes of course will be fab-u-lous - and Yes, I did win the Strictly sweepstake again in Tignes Very Happy

Weather is spectacular today, what a difference to be able to actually see the mountains!

You know it makes sense.

A gloriously sunny day, with a strong breeze above 3000m and just a few clouds appearing at height this afternoon. First off the resort is a lot busier with holiday makers and students - but still no queues generally, but lets just say the dymamic on the piste and in the lift queues has changed. However, one place there was a massive queue was the lift pass office in Lac which I have never seen before. Now whether that was because folks had delayed buying because of the poor weather, the fact that Tour Ops have had their terms and conditions on commission changed (so they don't bother any more) or the fact there is no longer a 5% discount for buying on line, I don't know - something to monitor.

The snow was indeed odd off piste, on piste it was great. Certainly the combination of wind and temperature created some strange effects. Lower down there was a tricky crust, higher up it was very compacted and very high up sastrugi. I don't think my skis ever went more than 3 or 4 cm below the surface - unusual after 80cm of snow! But we did a couple of runs around the Palet sector and then got on the Funicular which set off, there was a loud bang and we moved a centimetre - electrical failure evidently. So we stood in what was becoming a sauna for 15 minutes. Luckily this allowed us to meet up with @TimLongs from the Sapaudia Brewery as he had been stuck on Borsat for 25 mins! By this stage Lanches had opened so we skied what will be the track of Cretes and down some pitches around what will be Genepy. After that it was the airport run - so good we did it twice - and was untracked. Here's Tim in the middle of the shot making great turns:

I then skied home as I was expecting a delivery from Huski (suppliers of frozen meals) which I won in the summer.

So what's to come: Tomorrow we will start with a milky sky, it will be mild for December and there will be a stiff breeze at altitude which will strengthen in the afternoon. The cloud will also thicken and the sun will be obscure by the times the lifts close. Just keep an eye out for the links closing. The rest of the week is a bit tricky as weak fronts ebb and flow but at the moment is a two out of 3 for a cloudy day on Tuesday with very light snow showers. Again, it will be windty but warm, the snowline may well be around 2000m. I expect high lifts to be closed. Wednesday is a conundrum, there may be light snow showers down to 2100m, drizzle below but there may be sunny periods. The wind is pretty much a given. Thursday looks cloudy with the odd sunny spell and maybe a shower. Sorry its all a bit wishy washy but that's mountain weather for you!

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

A snowHead

@chocksaway, Can you let us know your thoughts on the Hu.ski food please.

A snowHead

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

@muppet, @bar shaker, Separate thread started on Hu.ski - seemed unfair just to keep it to the EK Massif!

So having tucked into a hearty Tartiflette, I slept like a log and then though I had woken up in March! At 7.45 this morning it was 6 degrees with a really squally wind. Clearly, this is a real snow gobbler - the whole village is dripping.... The cloud was high, less sun than I hoped for, but you could see glimpses of brightness over into Italy. So there wer some interesting skies, not really sure that this photo captures it well though:

The light was just about good enough for on piste, needless to say the pistes were soft and off piste there are streams reappearing Shocked

. We decided to keep out of the wind and down to Brev, bit of a mistake, there is quite a bare patch where the pistes meet and widen on the approach to the village. We made for the off piste moguls to skiers left, bit tricky for an instructor with a gang of littl'uns. From the Chaudannes webcam in Meribel you can see what a mess it has made down there. We also had a cruise round Bellvarde and Toviere, where the usual bits of gravel had blown onto the pistes. As I knocked off it was 8 degs outside, but with our snow depths the vast majority of the area will still be fine for Christmas.

And the weather - still a complex picture so changes will happen: The sky will fill in tonight, it will be warm and windy and there will probably be some light precipitation with a snowline of 2000m or so, so dank in the villages. As its coming from the east and the system is weak, it is more likely to happen over on the Val side, in Tignes we may get away with mizzle. This will continue through the day, but it may stop and we may get to see a glimpse of the sunset, but it will remain windy. So high lifts closed and an Avi Risk of 3, lower down the softening snow will be the problem, up high wind transport of the snow. Wednesday will be like 'a box of chocolates' but probably a milky sky to start, sunny spells in the afternoon and maybe the odd shower. Basically, look out of the window, it will be windy this will abate during the morning and then return in the afternoon. Thursday may well be a better day - mostly fast moving sunny periods and a bit cooler, stand by for more detail tomorrow. Friday looks like being snowy and windy, with a snowline down to 1300m, but its too early to say whether its going to be heavy snow (French version) or light snow (most other forecasts) it depends on the passage of the centre of the storm.

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I know it is a long way away, but next Easter (1st week in April) I am taking the family to Tignes Le Lac. I have snow tyres but do I need chains. I have some but my friend, who is also taking his family, also with snow tyres, doesn’t. Did I read somewhere that said they were needed by law? Thanks for any info.

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Easter? You might as well start reading tea-leaves!

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Based upon my experience driving up here last weekend I’d strongly recommend buying a decent set and making sure you’ve practiced putting them on at least a couple of times. It took us 20 minutes to fit and away we went. A lot better then having to drive back down and buy a pair that you’re not familiar with or spending your holiday worrying about the car you’ve just trashed.

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Thanks for replies @msg101 and @brovert.

@msg101 - I was more asking about whether it was a legal requirement rather than a prediction of what the weather is going to be like. Sorry for confusion.

I have seen snow chain signs saying it is forbidden to drive certain roads without snow chains. Is the road to Tignes one of those roads?

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@Dougie, Strictly speaking, yes the signs will still be there in April, making it illegal, but nobody ever checks even in the depths of winter. If there is snow on the road in April, the police may well man checkpoints and check that you put chains on, if you have snow tyres then they normally wave you through unless it is very bad.

That is brilliant. Thanks for the help.

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@chocksaway, Monday was a mad day. Some really nasty wind out there. I too went low, looping down to 1800. Some patchy bits, so decided not to continue to Brev. Took Paquis lift around lunchtime and skied down to Val Claret. That was horrific! Very windy. Took the covered chair towards Grand Motte and when I got out at the top the wind had gone. Continued up Vanoise, still no wind. Skied back down to VC and the lower I got the stronger the wind became. Very strange!
I was also staggered how busy the EK was this weekend. Crazy.

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Tignes and The Espace Killy 2019/20 (Useful Links Page 1)

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