Poster: A snowHead
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What it says on the tin.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Anyhoo, it's all falling nicely right now. Grands Montets and Flégère partially opening tomorrow, the Grands I tthink if I heard correctly, open every day from tomorrow.
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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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Snow, then rain, then snow again. Roads a complete poo-poo show at 8am this morning!
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Morning Snowheads
I am heading out to Chamonix this weekend for a few days of skiing pre Christmas and was wondering what the conditions are like on the pistes?
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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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I’m a few valleys further east and think Cham had more snow. It’s good where we are and cover looks great on the Cham webcams. Should be even better after more snow on Friday and then a sunny weekend! I’d say you timed that very well
https://en.chamonix.com/webcams/grand-montets
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@BobinCH, Thanks Bobin, its hard to gauge from the webcams with most of the pistes shut until the 17th Dec. Nice to get a report from someone local. Looking forward to it!
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Quote: |
Grands Montets and Flégère partially opening tomorrow |
What's the latest on the GM cable car? Any progress?
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@mountainaddict, well, apparently, the insurance companies have all agreed to pay up ...
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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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^^^^^
Old mate’s got me covered as far as ski ability is concerned.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Conditions up on Grands Montets today were surprisingly good.
Top of Bochard down to 2400m was a 10-20cm layer of heavy powder that skied beautifully. Below that in the right areas there was nice windblown dust-on-crust. After 2pm Pierre et Ric was decently skiable slightly spring-esq albeit narrow in places.
Fair few people on the skin track up to the Rachasses.
Definitely not the worst Xmas skiing I’ve ever had.
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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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@snowdave, b&s-i-l went up Flegere for a few runs, seemed quite happy
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under a new name wrote: |
@snowdave, b&s-i-l went up Flegere for a few runs, seemed quite happy |
Same here
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You know it makes sense.
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Been up brevant today.
All the blues are open from the top of plan praz and you can loop the parsa lift and the cornu lift for the red both lifts got very busy after 11.30 but before that was no queues.
Conditions at 9.00 were hard and started softening up at 11.
Going to hit le tour tomorrow and see what's open there
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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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I'm looking to book something last minute for myself starting on Saturday. It has been hard to find true conditions. Can anyone give me a proper outlook on the conditions?
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Poster: A snowHead
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15cm of snow due tonight above 2000m.
Less than 50% runs open.
Getting warmer on sat and Sunday.
Pistes are not the best slushy in places and icy in others they are stealing the snow off closed pistes to keep the open ones running.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@ally12259, I would 100% not bother booking a trip to Cham starting on Saturday unless you can see decent snow on the forecast next week.
It’s like April skiing.
Icy in the morning, slushy in the afternoon with grass, mud and rocks to avoid.
I’d say there is c50% area open so it’s crowded given it’s a peak week, and the less than perfect conditions mean there are a lot of people out of their depth having trouble and falling over.
There must be better snow at one of the high altitude resorts which would be preferable to book?!
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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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That maybe sounded a bit harsh; if you’re here you can enjoy yourself, but there must be somewhere with better conditions since you have a choice!
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Was over in le tour today after 10cm of snow last night.
Flat light so you could not tell what you were skiing into that got worse and by 12 was a whiteout with about 15m viz so not the best day today.
Agreeing with the above am seeing lots of people on blues and reds that should not be. Saw few people coming down reds today in full snow plough and were falling on every turn.
Tomorrow going to go to flierge
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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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flierge?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Flegere
I would blame autocorrect but not even that could correct my spelling
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@Ghostlybadge, it's a cracking typo.
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Q@Ghostlybadge, Flierge is better. I am going to put it to my mob and see if it sticks for this season.
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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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@HammondR, Flierge and Bumvent?
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Hi, I am arriving in Chamonix today. Can anyone advise which area currently has the best snow?
I am also considering a ski day in Les Houches, is this a waste of time with the current conditions?
Thanks.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@dh900, My expectation is that Les Houches will be upper runs only and probably very very busy. I'm not even going to look. Mind you, we aren't bothering going to look anywhere for the foreseeable.
Annoyingly it looks as though it rained up to at least 2,000 last night. Your best bets will be Flegere, GMs and La Tour, but everywhere is busy.
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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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Ok thanks, hopefully it gets quieter later in the week.
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@dh900, it may well do. I was thinking that next week was "New Year's week" but per another thread, it's probably this week in which case it will quieten off markedly. Still don't think Les Houches will be up to much.
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You know it makes sense.
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It rained up to 2700m last night. It did snow about 20cm before that, so up high there’s a thin raincrust on top of powder. Once a few other people have chopped the crust up the skiing is ok, but taking the first turns in what looked like powder was hard work.
It’s also very warm. Like spring, but without the base.
I was on the first lift, but bailed by midday.
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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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Flegere- Warm start, slushy bumpy blues, slightly bumpy greens and big ques for 1 of 3 chairs open.
Hit a nice head sized rock from the chairlift back to the cable car.
Skiing done and now packing ready for the drive home tomorrow
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Poster: A snowHead
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We've been alternating between GM and Brevent for the last few days. Obviously limited, but to be honest has been pretty good and not very busy considering limited options. Varying conditions but just enough new snow high up to keep it interesting, although doing shorter days than normal. better than I was expecting last week!
Headed for Le Tour this morning for a change, but after a late night last night we started too late, and car park was full (they have made it a lot smaller it seems, to go with new lift...). Back down to GM but also incredibly busy and decided to give the queues a miss and went back to base.
Not been to Les Houches this season, doesn't seem worth it. Home on 7th, will come back when weather improves!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Quote: |
they have made it a lot smaller it seems
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@footsoldier, in line with Fournier's stupid thinking that you reduce car use by making it even more unpleasant to use a car.
Idiot.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 31-12-22 14:28; edited 1 time in total
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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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under a new name wrote: |
Quote: |
they have made it a lot smaller it seems
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@footsoldier, in line with Fournier's stupid scheme that you reduce car use by making it even more unpleasant. Idiot. |
I hoped that wasn’t the case, as a sign of things to come…so it’s deliberate?
Chamonix areas are not joined up enough for this!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Quote: |
Quote:
they have made it a lot smaller it seems
@footsoldier, in line with Fournier's stupid scheme that you reduce car use by making it even more unpleasant. Idiot.
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Might work if public transport was improved - one train an hour is a joke , it's two in the summer and all the buses are rammed. Also doesn't help that one can't currently access Le Tour from Vallorcine at the moment - which was always are preferred route from Argentiere (by train) when busy. I think a navette from Montroc might help as well.
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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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@philipb, there are so many things that could be done - it's a shocker. Apparently Fournier brought the Prefect up from Annecy in the summer to show him his wondrous cycle lane works ... prefect's response?
"Where is the parking for the effing tourists then?"
Gallic silence ensues.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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footsoldier wrote: |
We've been alternating between GM and Brevent for the last few days. Obviously limited, but to be honest has been pretty good and not very busy considering limited options. Varying conditions but just enough new snow high up to keep it interesting, although doing shorter days than normal. better than I was expecting last week!
Headed for Le Tour this morning for a change, but after a late night last night we started too late, and car park was full (they have made it a lot smaller it seems, to go with new lift...). Back down to GM but also incredibly busy and decided to give the queues a miss and went back to base.
Not been to Les Houches this season, doesn't seem worth it. Home on 7th, will come back when weather improves! |
We got up there at 9.10 and was in the 3rd little car park the other side of the drag lifts and that was full about 10 mins later.
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Very very crusty and hard at grands montets first thing this morning. If you love zipping around on corduroy then first lift up there is good. Off piste is terrible first thing in the morning.
We headed over to Le Tour to get some sun and some softer snow. There, the pistes were softer and shlushier, and bigger powder skis were quite good fun on them. Off piste continued to be pretty crusty and hard, until later in the afternoon when it softened up a bit. Nothing to travel for though.
Though the snow isn’t great, the weather is beautifully blue, and warm, like spring skiing.
Delicious hearty salad in Le Passon at the bottom, then home.
There is so little snow here that tomorrow I think we might go for a hike along le petit balcon!
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We've been up the Grand Montets for an hour or so this afternoon - more than enough for me. Horrible rain effected snow from about 2500m, no fun!
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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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When the snow is poor, do you think there is much point getting a guide? Could they sniff out some good snow? Or just wait til next time?
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MaxiD wrote: |
When the snow is poor, do you think there is much point getting a guide? Could they sniff out some good snow? Or just wait til next time? |
Hi Maxi, I was up near the Col des Flambeaux today (from the Skyway lift). It's been very windy up there so there is a lot of windslab about but the high mountain snow is definitely better than the rain-affected stuff in resort. Could be worthwhile hiring a guide if you're up for some touring around there or from the Midi?
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