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

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
As @stewart woodward, said, the pistes on the whole are in good condition. However, there are parts that are hard-packed and parts that are icy caused by the rain a few weeks ago.

Being in the middle of a busy period, some runs are getting scraped to the hard-pack during the course of the day but that is to be expected. Again, busy parts ( usual suspects such as top of Toviere, top of Borsat etc.) are getting soft bumps by middle of the day.

We've had a couple of colder nights recently which has helped maintain snow quality.

Nothing to worry about here.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Never been to Tignes before and the area is obviously pretty big, what are people's favourite zones? (I'm a snowboarder who mostly enjoys easy access off piste and going between trees when the conditions allow)

Edit: Should add we are based in Tignes Le Lac and have 5 days....
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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?
@mrvinegar, 3 areas where you'll find trees. La Daille. Down to Les Boisses(sp? 1800) and Le Breviere. And across the other side of the area in Le Fornet. If you get fresh snow Borsat and Grand Pre lifts should give you access to some easily accessible off-piste. (But so will Palafour, Aguille Rouge, Tichot, Toviere and Tommeuses to name but a few).
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GeorgeVII wrote:
@mrvinegar, 3 areas where you'll find trees. La Daille. Down to Les Boisses(sp? 1800) and Le Breviere. And across the other side of the area in Le Fornet. If you get fresh snow Borsat and Grand Pre lifts should give you access to some easily accessible off-piste. (But so will Palafour, Aguille Rouge, Tichot, Toviere and Tommeuses to name but a few).


Thanks!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Just a bit of hill fog floating around this morning which soon cleared to leave a predominantly blue sky day with a breeze at altitude where it was reasonably chilly. It also became apparent that the wind had been blowing last night which had made a mess of some of the off piste above 2700m. After an early fly down Henri (very good condition) we went up the Funi, well we set off, came to a juddering halt, somebody put a new fuse in and then we were off. The off piste around Genepy was heavily wind affected with firm Sasatrugi to test the technique, the wind had vlown some fresh snow into the gullies though for the odd nice turn. We then hit Col de Ves a couple of times where there was a whole mixed bag of snow, every turn different kind of snow, from very hard pack t the odd soft turn. Similarly down below the Altiport although the last pitch was good fun, but called for dynamic (aka knackering) skiing. The final run before knocking it on the head for Frantic Friday was Lognan, surprisingly good to say it had been in the sun, again energy expended though. As the temperatures pick up over the weekend I think we have had the best of the off piste until it snows again 9probably Wednesday) as any soft stuff is going to consolidate quickly as the freezing level climbs above the Grand Motte Shocked . Didn't use many pistes but mainly in good condition, but a bit hard where the wind has got to the crests in high traffic areas

Tomorrow will be much warmer, maybe 6 degs or so and the sun will shine all day, maybe the odd bit of cloud in the morning, so a warm day to sit in a traffic jam (its 13 degs in Chambery as I type, may well get close to 20 tomorrow for the afternoon arrivals). It will be a degree or two warmer still on Sunday but there will be a strong gusty wind at altitude, closing some of the lifts and gobbling the snow up lower down. Monday will be the same but without much wind, terrace bikini alert! Tuesday will be nice in the morning but it will progressively cloud over before becoming overcast and the snow will start after dark. Rest of the week looks unsettled and much much colder (thankfully as it will snow moderately at times).

Tomorrow will be the busiest days on the roads with 38000 cars entering the Tarentaise and 32000 leaving. There's no way of dressing it up the jams are going to be huge and the traffic lights will be in action at Saix and Aigueblanche. Be gone by 7 or wait till mid afternoon. For the arrivals be the hilly side of Chambery by 9 at the latest. Its the first day f the Grenoble and Lyon hols so the inbound queues will build quickly.

If you are flying: The UK is an improving picture, if you have an early flight you may well get blown across the car park but by first take offs the wind should drop to be within limits; it is likely you will get wet as well!. The only exception could be the Scottish airports, where if there is a heavy sleet shower then the winds may get close to the limits and it may require aircraft to be de-iced, so a chance of a delay. Over here Geneva and Grenoble looking good at the moment, Lyon has a chance of mist patches which won't cause a problem but, again Chambery may have issues, the forecaster there is going for temporary mist patches, close to the limits for the airport with a 40% chance of fog, which would shut the place until it clears. So there may be a bit of hedging of bets by waiting on the ground until the chance of fog has passed or some going round in circles until it does. With it being so warm any fog should not last long as the temperature rises quickly. Good Luck!
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Very quick 2 questions please:
1. Wanted to book Evolution 2 ski school for my two kids (6 and 9) who have had 6 x 2hr lessons on dry slope. Wanted mornings but they have no availability. Have a price for ESF for mornings. Does anyone know how good they are please? I know they are big company but heard horror stories about language problems.
2. Is ski hire price through them the cheapest I could get? Have looked at SkiSet and Intersport and they are similar but does anyone know of better way of doing it?

Thank you. Any help greatly appreciated.

Edit: this is for Tignes Le Lac.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Try these links Dougie - we've had some great prices from both:

https://www.intersport-rent.fr/en/rent/page/station.aspx?TelegraphSki&c=10984&utm_term=10984&partenaire=465&utm_source=465&utm_content=TelegraphSki&utm_medium=partenaire&utm_campaign=TelegraphSki_ TelegraphSki_en_home

https://www.ski-republic.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnL7yBRD3ARIsAJp_oLYmUu1QdGXu1-FTzmAhyEuBQlNpmdoQxk8OOTFRs19VMcSqTCoxfzQaAlTcEALw_wcB
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Thanks for that @mountainaddict The second link has given a much better price.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Dougie,

ESF are very good, don't believe all the horror stories.

They have enough capacity to split the groups into different levels which the smaller schools cannot.

If you need any help drop me a pm
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@stewart woodward, Thanks for the reply. Eases my fears.
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Many thanks to @mountainaddict and @stewart woodward again.

Fully booked now for our first family ski holiday.

If anyone is interested, there are a couple of discount codes for Ski Republic that I found whilst booking.
DMINUTE20 And YEAR20. When I pasted either of them on the booking process, nothing happened. It was only at the final stage of booking that I had another go. I pasted the first one in and it took €10 off. I pasted the second in then not expecting anything but it took another €5 off. Magic!

Many thanks
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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.
Hi - we’re planning to come to Tignes for week of the 22nd March, staying at the bottom of Val Claret near the little roundabout. I remember there used to be a rope-tow you could use to take you up to the lifts and avoid the walk/bus - is that still running (I was here two years ago but the mega snow-pack meant it was buried and not operational)
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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
@Pejoli, Sadly not, I think that winter did for it!

The calm and tranquillity of the busiest day on the roads of the winter! (that's official according to the local paper.



The roads have been horrendous today, by 8AM there was a queue from Moutiers back to Bourg, at the moment its basically queue from beyond Albertville to Moutiers. Luckily the patchy fog stayed over the town rather than drifting onto the airfield at Chambery, so at least that worked! Meanwhile up here, the sky was blue, the sun was out and just a gentle breeze to flutter the flags. We decide to have an on piste day over in Val D'Isere as next week will be difficult with the lift queues. So it was a 'Santons Saturday', a piste I love but normally avoid out of sheer terror of the put of control intermediates. And we had it to our selves. Up to the Solaise where the pistes were fabulous (although they must have just sent a delivery of fish up the mountain - the whiff at the bootm was more Billingsgate than Val D'Isere darling!). Coffee at Le Lounge was followed by more Solaise and then Piste L, which again was empty and fabulous. Back home via 2Moooses and the Palet Bowl. As it is unseasonably warm the sunny slopes wee starting to bump up after lunch. The roads are awash. Didn't see anybody off piste, nuff said.

In other news, property in Val is more expensive than the 16th Arrondisement of Paris at €11665 per sq metre. However, it would appear that money does not buy you common sense, a Maserati driver followed a mates suggested short cut to the car park and ended getting stuck on the Ski du Fond track last night! It was unceremoniously dragged out by a piste basher this morning Shocked

Tomorrow will be sunny and a bit warmer than today, however, a strong breeze in the afternoon may just take the edge of the heat, especially if the sun goes behind a cloud later in the day.
Monday bikini alert
Monday will be warm, sunny and only gentle breezes developing. The forecast for Tuesday has changed a bit. Timings are a little bit sketchy, but it will be 5 degs colder, the sky is likely to be milky in the morning, becoming overcast, the will be a wind and it should start snowing between 2pm and 6pm (ish), the snowline will be at 1500m.
Wednesday Jumper Alert Wednesday will be a whiteout with gales according to the forecast. Between 20 and 30 cm of snow and high winds which will close a lot of the high lifts, together with a lot of work for the pisteurs. The snowline will progressively drop to 300m - winters back folks!

For those travelling tomorrow, the roads should have cleared! The UK will be windy, rainy and flying from anywhere will be bumpy. As the storm drifts south the winds will be getting towards limits at Heathrowm, Gatwick and Stansted, so maybe some delays darn south when the biggest of the showers pops through. Over here you will need your shades!
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@chocksaway,

Wednesday looks like a sofa day rolling eyes
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
wibble44 wrote:
GeorgeVII wrote:
@wibble44, If you or a family member are on Farcebook then get yourselves onto the Tignes Seasonnaires 2020 group and ask on there.
I know there are winter seasonnaires who spend the summer months as chefs and hosts on large yachts. It might be worth putting feelers out as catering for 18 during a peak week may be a big enough gig to tempt someone out of their winter hols.
Thanks! Idea

@GeorgeVII we’re just back from our week and I wanted to say thanks again for the tip. We got a couple of suggestions from the group and we chose one which worked out great for us.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Perhaps a bit more cloud about this morning, but generally sunny until about 3pm, but there were some fab shapes in the clouds as the turbulence stirred things up. It was warm with a stiff breeze above 2300m or so, so the pistes started to bump up a bit earlier as the warm air got at the snow. The queues were not too bad as I suppose a few thousand folks are still on transfer today and the re were many tales of extended transfers yesterday! We hit Grattalu first, which was in very good condition and then up to the Grande Motte (cable car closed-wind) and then round the Bellvarde. Some of the snow was stating to get a bit sticky by 1pm (that horrible feeling of glue underfoot) especially on Fontaine Froide. The wind was making some of the cress shiny and the run down to the Foolish Douche was getting very hard. (JC) Trolles was in very good nick for a final run home.

The cloud will disappear before midnight and tomorrow will be blue skies and sunshine and gentle winds, it will feel warm in the sun. Its not going to be that cold over night, so any hard pistes will soon soften up before bumping up. Timings for Tuesday will be a little uncertain, there may be sunny periods before morning coffee but it will soon become overcast and snow down to 1500m will start mid afternoon, there will be a stong gusty wind building, this will close high lifts and may threaten the links, keep an eye on the signs around resort. Wednesday looks like a duvet day, a whiteout with lots of snow and high winds, so a slow start if any, just the lifts around the villages. Thursday is a bit of a conundrum with ebbing and flowing weather systems, but a mix of wind snow and sunny periods is the best guess.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
Many thanks to mountainaddict and stewart woodward again
Glad you got sorted Dougie Very Happy
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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?
@wibble44, Glad to be of help. Love it when a plan comes together Laughing Laughing Laughing
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Looking forward to coming out w/c 23rd March. Travelling by myself this time and had hoped to enjoy the Instructor Led Off-Piste with New Generation Ski School via Ski Club GB at £50 a day (or £80 for non-members). Have done this in Val Thorens. However only one or two folk (including me) have booked the sessions so it may not go ahead (similar story early in month too) Crying or Very sad . Should have booked a Snoworks course!

Does anyone want to sign up? Alternatively a link for individual day groups in Tignes at a reasonable rate to book at last minute.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Bit of a while off yet, we're arriving Easter Saturday (11th April), so starting to keep an eye on snowfall etc in the hope that it has good legs to last that late. We were in Tignes a week earlier last year and had some great skiing, so fingers crossed it will be similar, even if it is a few days later.

We've gone for the afternoon lessons with EV2 for our boys as that was all that was available when we booked last year, but in fact it meant they skied with us in the morning when conditions were best anyway, and then they had to be taught in the slushier stuff later in the day when leisure skiing wasn't quite so much fun anyway. Seemed to work out well (they are both capable of confidently skiing pisted blacks though, so not quite the same as first timers).
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Beautiful bluebird day Very Happy

Good overnight freeze gave firm pistes for the early risers but they soon softened up with the bright sunshine.

A friend did tour de charvet this morning and said it was good. You just have to catch it at the right time rolling eyes

Looking forward to tomorrow morning before 5 days of snow Very Happy
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@hawkesbaynz, Panic ye not!Other than the busy weeks the Ski Club ILG is often booked by most members the week before. Only a few days have been cancelled this year. I generally look on the Thursday preceding, thus giving members on holiday the chance to book and it also gives me half a chance of not booking on a whiteout day. Probably PM me the week before and if you are on one of the Inter/Advanced days, I can perhaps make it work!

@Infamy, Infamy Val D'Isere has got it infamy!,

I was one of @stewart woodward's, early risers. A couple of RAF mates were in Val, so I was on the Tov at 0845 to meet them to get ahead of the queues. So I whizzed down a firm Creux with a couple of Tignes ESF in front of me. I waved at the pisteur who was putting banners up just below the Folly and set off down Verte. As it was bright I did a couple of check turns before entering the gloom of the tunnel - good job as there was a piste basher coming the other way Shocked Shocked ! Someone hadn't coordinated. Not sure who was the most surprised him or me! Anyway met buddies and explained we would bus to Laisinant to get ahead of the crowds at Fornet. Laisinant stopped for 20 minutes so we only got two runs on Pisssailas before the queues started. Early lunch at Cascades and then Solaise Bowl tour over lunchtime. The pistes on the glacier are in ace condition, some of the Solaise high transit areas are getting polished and firm - new snow required...... luckily........

Finished up down Piste L and bus to Rosée Blanche for a well earned beer (or coffee for me as I still had to contend with the Folly drunkards down Trolles).

Tomorrow, the early bird will get the worm.... there may well be a suckers gap of an hour or two of sunshine before it clouds over rapidly. Not entirely sure when the snow will start but just after lunch would be the best guess; the wind will be blowing quite hard at altitude, so keep an eye out for the links being closed/closing if it picks up. There is still a bit of disagreement between the various models, so just stay alert. It will be about 7 degrees colder than today and with the wind it will be decidedly chilly, probably 2 layers chillier! It will be a Wednesday whiteout, snow all day and a strong wind. The gust have dropped out of the forecast have dropped out of the forecast so a day for the trees to La Daille and Brev. It will be another 6 degrees cooler, not sure I can get enough layers on, winter is back with a vengeance. Thursdays forecast is far from certain, cold, breezy and light snow, but there may be sunny intervals. The pisteurs will be busy so it will be a slow and progressive start after all the snow on Wednesday. Friday looks better but confidence is low but hopefully fast moving sunny periods. As we are looking at 40-70cm of snow over the nest 3 days its time to put your avalanche awareness hats back on, the next sunny day could lead to powder fever, which is likely to be more dangerous than a well know virus!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@chocksaway Thanks for that. Would be great to ski with you.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Well the suckers gap lasted a bit longer than we thought, so a morning of reasonable light to ski. The conditions underfoot were very varied, after yestedays warmth and the freeze over night there was some very hard pistes around La Daille and Bellvarde. As the sun was not shining directly, it took a long time to soften. But when it did, it bumped up. After one the light dropped quickly and there was some quite big snowflakes, a brief sunny period and then more snow; it then turned to drizzle for a bit. Its now snowing and the wind has started to pick up.

The big news in Tignes today is we have a new logo, its a bit like spot the difference though, yet to find a downloadable version.

Tomorrow will be a whiteout all day, there will be a gusty wind, so it will feel Baltic. The isobars have eased apart a bit so hopefully there will be some lower lifts amongst the trees open, maybe some a bit higher (Funival. Tichot??). The pisteurs will have something to do in the morning, so be patient. It will snow all day and through the night so Thursday will be a busy morning for the safety gang and Thursday will also be a whiteout, hopefully there will be some lifts open. Friday's forecast keeps changing: Mostly cloudy with lighter winds but maybe some snow in the afternoon or evening depending on how a ridgelet (not big enough to be a ridge) of high pressure behaves. Saturday currently looks K for an early escape, there may well be snow in the afternoon but the snowline will be around Brev, so perhaps some bother on the roads - more later!
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Well that was wild, snow and high winds all day! But the snow is quite light, I ventured out for a coffee at 3 and spoke to a guided group that skied down to the Lac du Chevril and skinned back and said the snow in the trees was fabulous. But as it has been snowing continuously and the wind has not abated the Avi Risk is 4 tomorrow, so if there is a break be very careful.

The snow will continue until late this evening and the wind will drop but then a second gang of fronts will attack us from the west and the wind and the snow will be back by mid morning. Clearly the pisteurs will have a mountain of work to do so any start will be slow and progressive, but if there is a lift open use it as we will be back to a similar day to today by lunchtime. Friday will dawn breezy with sunny spells so much more benign, the cloud will thicken and it may be thick enough in the afternoon to give a light shower of snow, this may not happen till after the lifts have shut. Saturday will be similar, cloudy until after dark when it starts to snow. The biggest problem will be for the folks in the outdoor car parks (and those parked in the roads as overspill carparks). The resort is already sending messages to tell people to clear their cars regularly, and there are free buses down to Boisses and Brev to facilitate this. Its going to be quite a challenge for the parking staff! Sunday is probably going to be aday of fast moving snow showers, maybe a bit more sun in the afternoon.
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@chocksaway, another duvet day?

The good thing about duvet days is that I can catch up on my UK paperwork rolling eyes
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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.
@stewart woodward, The problem is I had run out of paperwork by 11 o'clock! Onwards with Harry Potter in French!
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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
A very grey morning as the pisteurs work their magic; it wont be long before the snow arrives and the wind picks up again.

Chatting to a pisteur in the pub last night, if you were wondering about why the high lifts were shut, they recorded gusts of 54 metres per second during the day at the top of the Tov, that's 121 miles per hour Shocked Shocked
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@chocksaway,
Quote:

that's 121 miles per hour
No surprise then that snow hasn't settled on the roof of the Tov' restaurant or top lift station. rolling eyes
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
After steady snow this morning it is now snowing like stink snowHead
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@stewart woodward, that's why I am back in. Vis gone and wind picking up. But did 3 hours lapping Chardonnet and Grattalu, off piste was wind compacted fresh snow, great skiing. Might have been more powdery in the trees but the lifts looked like mayhem lower down.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
A picture paints a thousand words:



Still it was good snow and good for the legs! The wind picked up this afternoon and it snowed very heavily for a while the snowploughs were struggling to clear the resort roads and the cars parked on the roads are now buried. If folks don't heed the advice and clear them tomorrow Saturday could be a long day. Although it didn't feel like it, the temperature rose to around 0 this afternoon, so all those cars are going to have compacted snow which will freeze, it will also affect the quality of the off piste snow tomorrow below the main villages.

The snow will stop in the wee small hours of Friday and the wind will drop. The sun will be out for breakfast, some clouds will bubble up through the morning but the pisteurs will have a lot of work to do, so some areas will be late opening. Now, we have a toxic mix, a full resort, 2 and a half bad days so lots of cabin fever, loads of fresh snow so powder fever, its Frantic Friday and its Avi Risk 4 in the morning. Mmmmmm - take care!

Saturday will dawn cloudy with a gusty wind,, the wind will drop, and the odds are the snow showers will start not long after lunch - this has moved forward from yesterday. With all the goings and comings this is not going to help the traffic. Luckily the snow line will be around 1700m to start with but it will fall to 1200m for the later arrivals so stand by for some snow chain tomfoolery and delays on the way up. Sunday looks like it will start with sunny periods, before light snow showers in the afternoon, the snow will get heavier as the fronts get closer; these timings may well change. Monday - looks like more snow, but there may be some sunny periods.

The world outside has just disappeared, its howling and belting down.
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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?
Looks nice:-
https://www.facebook.com/tdcski/videos/182440629842900/
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Oh what a day!

Blue skies and sunshine until 3pm when some high clouds drifted in from the west. It was -10 this morning on the snowfront at 9.30 but the heat in the sun soon picked up. So it was like the dance of the 7 veils as more layers came off and lighter gloves were donned as I was out with New Gen and it did involve quite a lot of exercise. After a quick transceiver check we shot up Palafour and down the side towards the race track with the aim of getting to Merles, but it broke down as we got there so it was a quick trip down Combe des Militaires and onto Cote du Lac:



Wind compacted fresh snow but soft, not the powder we had been dreaming of as the huge winds last night kind of trashed that. Fabulous none the less. It was a quick bus trip and pack up Palafour and a bit of hiking to get to Epaule des Condus:



Must have had a bit of camera shake thanks to the heavy breathing! There are still a few very hard packed/gusting icy crests where the wind has stripped the snow. After a whizz up Chaudannes we headed down Come Legettes to the road:



The sun was now starting to work on the lower south east slopes so a little more compacted, time for other aspects. After a walk up the road we took Chaudannes and off piste down to Marais, a little way down Silene and then onto Dos Rond - more fabulous snow. It was then time for lunch. Next on the agenda was the Lavachet wall via the barriers, again, great snow off the ridges. As the majority of the weather has come from the west this year bits of The Wall are not that well covered. Up to the Eye and then Trois Murs was next, it really is wind scraped at the top but again off the ridges just fab. We had a peep through the Mousehole but the bowl had been scoured. And for the second time ever for me we went down Couloir des Filets into La Cascade rather than cutting back to the Sache piste at the normal cut off:



We then had to negotiate the trees, not great as some of the roots are still showing thanks to all the earlier warm weather and rain. Home for tea and medals.

Just before I get onto the weather I would point out I was with a professional, so please don't follow the routing unless you are convinced you know what you are doing Very Happy
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
And now to the weather, the cloud will ebb and flow through the night and there may be a few sunny spells before morning coffee. It will be a lot less cold than this morning. The wind wont be too bad lower down, but may preclude higher lifts. The sky will soon become overcast and light snow will start sometime on the afternoon down to 1500m. Its all a bit wishy washy, so no real time on the snow, hopefully later to let the traffic escape. However for late arrivals chains or snow tyres will be required I think. Sunday is going to be a mixed bag, windy and gusty and snow in the early hours, then a break for some sunny spells and then light snow in the afternoon intensifying later. Monday looks like being grey and mostly snowy, maybe a glimpse of the sun in the morning. Tuesday is a long way ff but best guess is light snow showers and reasonably fast moving sunny periods.

The forecast for the roads tomorrow is for 36000 vehicles leaving so queues are inevitable. This may be ameliorated by the fact we have a lot of local areas on holiday so hopefully some will ski tomorrow and some will leave tonight, looking out of the window a lot are leaving now. the roads will be fine in the morning, for the guys coming up, its only a short of last weeks number at 32000 but with the afternoon snow the last few miles are going to be tricky for some. Last week once you were through Moutiers it was OK, I suspect there will be a crawl up the mountain roads this week.

For the fliers you will wake up to high winds and very blustery showers, but these should abate by first departures to within flying limits (though it will be a close run thing at Birmingham and Bristol. But the likelihood of getting wet going across the car park is high and it will be a bumpy ride. There will also be a strong southerly wind here, so again a bumpy landing, especially at Lyon and Grenoble. If could give problems at Chambery as its a strong southerly as you can only take off heading north there (or you may hit the hill), so a tailwind deparyre which is problematic onn a short runway. So maybe a bit of hanging around for it to abate. Good Luck all.
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https://www.facebook.com/pisteurval/videos/198702361237164/
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Hi Everyone,

A group of us are going skiing in April and I’m wonder if you could answer a ski pass/insurance question I have.

I have purchased the ski passes and did not take the insurance it offered as I have sorted travel insurance with winter sports cover.

My friend has told me I should have taken the insurance it offered when purchasing the ski passes as this covers you for mountain rescue without paying and winter sports insurance doesn’t.

Can any of you that may know more about this clear things up for me?

Thanks, Dan
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Always take the ski pass insurance . It is far more comprehensive than travel insurance is as far as rescue from the mountain is concerned . If you’ve fallen over and hurt yourself you want first class evacuation you’ll get it if you have the local insurance . I’m sure they don’t but the last thing you need is the mountain rescue wanting your credit card before they take you off the mountain .
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@DanB234, You can take your lift passes into the sales office and add insurance. From memory it's about €3 a day. Just consider the potential cost of a rescue/recovery like the one in the video that Kenzie has posted.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@DanB234, Unless your winter sports insurance is very explicit about helo rescue in the key features (andyou carry that) then its as @Rob Mackley, says. Even then I have both. Don't panic though - just pop into the ticket office when you get here with pass and receipt and they will add it to your lift passes in the time it takes to say "Welcome to Tignes".

I did feel sorry for the couple near the Apex 2100 building digging their car out with a dustpan last night!

Different days! This morning was about 13 degs warmer than yesterday and the wind was stronger than forecast. This has made a bit of a mess of the off piste snow in the interim.... There was a lot of cloud about early on but enough light to ski on fab pistes. Not surprisingly we headed for the trees to be out of the wind and the snow was quite creamy, dead smooth and nobody around. Later on in the last few metres to La Daille it got a bit sticky as the warm wind worked its evil magic (again!). The light went around 12 and it started light snow at 2, its still not settling on the roads.

Light snow will continue until first light tomorrow when we should be left with sunny periods; howeer, there may be the odd light shower. The showers will intensify late in the afternoon and it will snow and blow all night. this will continue all day Monday, the snow line will move up and down the valley, it may be a bit damp in the villages in the morning. The winds should allow lower lifts to operate once the slopes have been declared safe. There's not much agreement on Tuesday's weather, starting with snow showers and then improving is the best stab at the moment, its a messy Atlantic chart (excuse matrix no 27!). Wednesday is even trickier, a horoscope would be more accurate, maybe fast moving snow showers, maybe not!

Onto the travel, the roads cleared quite quickly today, downhill was clear by just after lunch and inbound so far there appears to be no jams at all. Either everybody has left it very late or the forecasters have got the numbers very wrong. Will have to peep at the carpark tomorrow. the roads may well be snowy up here by late afternoon so snow tyres or chains may well be required. No real problems for the fliers, but blustery showers in the UK, it will be bumpy, especially so north of Hadrian's Wall and at Leeds where gusts will approach limits in the heaviest showers. Maybe a small wait to let it blow through.
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