 Poster: A snowHead
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Couldn’t find a thread for it this season so here we go. We enjoyed it so much last year I sold a kidney and we’ve returned to Davos. So it’s Switzerland, eye wateringly expensive but there are some cracking hotel deals available here so it kind of evens out with France if you drink water and don’t eat steak
First day of skiing was yesterday, very warm in the village but the pistes above 2000m at Parsenn were superb. It started getting icy down towards Schifer.
The best piste run of the day was Furka run down to Schwarzeealp, almost empty, slushy grippy snow and just an all round smiley run.
We then did a couple of laps of the itinerary (Steinbock) from the top of weissfluhgipfel, nice bumps at the top and decent snow the rest of the way down.
Today we hooked up with Alex Braschel, an Austrian who has been coaching in the area for a few years and has started up on his own this season. Very nice guy, excellent coach, off piste is just not happening and people aren’t even touring or boot packing. So we made the most of it and worked on some technique, carving bumps, switch skiing and I also learnt that 53 year olds suck at nose butters. I was skiing with my kids 17 and 15 and we all got something out of it. We did a long itinerary with him down to Schifer (don’t know the name) a bit bony in places but no one around and very scenic.
We went back to the village for lunch and headed back up for a couple of laps of the itinerary on Weissfluhgipfel again, great fun again and the snow was decent. You get a bit of an idea here https://www.instagram.com/p/Co2dfOKLDI5/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
In the morning we had spotted nice looking snow on the itinerary (numbered 12 but doesn’t have a name) just below top of the Totalp chair, we never saw a soul on it all day. What a cheeky little find, steep at the top and chalky and grippy. We lapped it again a couple of times but each time headed off left after about 50m on to an open face which had just about the closest thing we’ll ski to powder on this trip 
We rode the slush run home to finish off a very good day
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Another cracking bluebird day. We started off doing a couple of laps of the timed slalom on Parsenn as my daughter needed to get some footage for GCSE PE.
We had another morning with Alex Braschel and worked on steep skiing on Itinerary 12. Snow was still superb so we did a few laps and got a few nice pics https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5miNFLAJU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
We finished off the morning by doing Steinbock on weissfluhgipfeln before going for a very nice lunch on the terrace at the mittelstation hohenweg.
In the afternoon we went to try the itinerary down to Schifer but it had closed, evidence of the deteriorating snow lower down.
The run back down to town to finish the day was utter carnage, it is one of the great runs to the resort in the alps but not when there are a thousand people on it trying to navigate slushy bumps.
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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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Nice report @Guernseyfreerider, we just came back from a week in Lenzerheide (-Arosa) up the road. Conditions pretty similar as you would expect but we had a super week. Kids had been hoping for some off piste but not much to be had. Hope you enjoy the rest of yours!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Powder Day!  https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co8OsUjA6ns/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
Change of scenery today, headed to the Jakobshorn. Pistes were pretty icy and not that much fun but headed up to the top on the cable car and just off the black at the top dropped into the bowl below the cable car station. Nice steep chalky section at the top leading into some very skiable chop with a couple of turns of untracked along the way. With the pistes not in great nick we kept lapping it; just a fun morning. Last year we skied untracked snow in the same spot two days after a snowfall, very strange when it is right under the cable car.
We headed down to the bottom to pick up my daughter via the cable car mid station. There is a cat track leading back to town, effectively an itinerary and the sign said it was not patrolled but not closed, we had used it last year. It wasn’t a great decision on my part as I thought it was going to be icy but still cracked on. It was horrendous, sheet ice a lot of the way down. Then about quarter of a way down we spotted some skis on the track and a bloke down below off the track holding on to a tree. It turned out he was following his daughters down and had crashed and they skied off not realising. He basically grabbed the tree as he fell and if he hadn’t, I don’t even want to think about it - the drop below was huge. He had been there 5 minutes when we found him and he couldn’t get help as he couldn’t let go of the tree or he was a goner. My son somehow managed to get him up using his pole (I was worried about him falling over the edge too). The guy who was American was unhurt apart from a ripped jacket but he seemed dazed, probably shocked, he was literally clinging on for his life. I insisted we ski down with him with my son in front and me behind. The ski down was hideous, not steep but sheer ice, he nearly lost it again, I just kept
talking to him and eventually we got him down. Awful end to the morning but thankfully my bad decision ended up being a good one for him.
In the afternoon we headed up for a couple more laps under the cable car and then the kids hit the park for a bit before we skied down.
Tonight we went to watch the Ice Hockey (highly recommended) unfortunately Davos lost again just as they did last year when we saw them, great entertainment though.
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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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Headed up to Parsenn again this morning, slightly later than usual around 09.30. It was the longest we have waited this week, around 15 minutes. The longest we have waited in line on the hill is around 10 mins on the Totalp lift which is a bit of a bottle neck, they are starting to work on filling all the chairs and there is a singles queue but to be honest I’ve been here twice now in Feb and lift queues are not really a thing. If you don’t want to take the Totalp just take the cable car on left of it which is never busy.
We spent the morning lapping the piste below the timed slalom above the Parsenn mid station filming for my daughters GCSE PE. Piste was empty with grippy snow perfect for short and long carved turns.
It was quite busy when we headed up to the main slopes and the snow was probably the worst it’s been this week, bit more cloud cover and drop in temperature.
The itinerary on Gipfel is still in good Nick although the bumps are getting bigger at the top and the entrance is getting sketchier . We skied off to the left to ski a baby Couloir and found a bit it completely untracked snow to the right of it. It was only a four turn special but decided against it as it looked ready to go.
We went for lunch at Hohenweg, i noticed a large portion of chips was CHF18 and I wondered how that fared in terms of most expensive chips in the alps
Afternoon we lapped the side of Schiferbahn trying to find pockets of snow in the shade off the side of the piste whihc was good fun.
Going to make last day tomorrow and head to Zurich for the day on Friday.
This place has endless possibilities for those who love skiing off piste, there are lines everywhere you look and for those who like groomers the runs are long and usually have great snow. It wasn’t our week for that but still great fun.
It’s Switzerland so you expect it to be lumpy but we’re staying in a really nice 4 star hotel , two adults and two kids in two premium rooms with great spa and pool £3800 for 7 nights B and B. There were cheaper options at Hard Rock Hotel and the Hilton.
Restaurants - Lokal is a really great gourmet burger restaurant with a bit of Asian thrown in, really well priced and great service.
Elio Italian is also good, very popular, great pizzas.
We went to Leonto Japanese last night at Das Grischa hotel, very good and surprisingly reasonable if you just order a big sushi platter like we did. Keeping with the theme of traditional alpine fare we’re off for Chinese at the Golden Dragon tonight
For coaching/touring/off piste skiing at all levels I can’t recommend Alex Braschel enough www.ski-with-alex.com great guy, fully qualified to take you where you want to go or just to work on your skiing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Enjoyed reading this, thanks.
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@Skimum1, heard great reports, it’s on the list 
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Nice TR and great pics. Sounds like a good Freeride spot in better conditions
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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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@BobinCH, you’d enjoy it, also heard great things about St Moritz off piste, not somewhere I’d thought of but sticking that on the list too
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A great end to the holiday. We were still raving about the Chinese last night (Golden Dragon) absolutely superb and not bad value (ChF60 per head including drinks) Woke up to see it snowing, unfortunately just a dusting but the pistes up at Parsenn were in excellent condition. We headed straight up to Weissfluhgipfel and skied the Nostalgie black run from the top (skiers left), never done it before but it’s great fun and links up to the main run down to Schifer. Slopes were very quiet today, there was a bit of flat light early on but it was pretty clear most of the day.
We headed back up the gondola and tried the itinerary on the Gipfel, it was absolute boiler plate but did the job of awakening my joints.
Next stop was Klosters, the slope down was absolutely deserted, it’s a proper thigh burner. We were going to head across to Madrisa but my daughter wasn’t well so we took her back to the Parsenn funicular.
After lunch we tried itinerary 12 off Weissfluhjoch. On the way up we noticed the snow had blown in there and it looked great. It didn’t disappoint, a nice little layer of fluff on top of a chalky base. To the left of the itinerary the slope really cambers above the rocks, nice and steep and a great challenge threading through the rocks. It was slufftastic and just good fun and we just kept lapping it for the rest of the afternoon and riding down far skiers right to Totalp where there was a thin layer of snow beyond the piste.
The ski down to town was slightly less manic than usual. We had a couple of beers at the apres bar at the base and then really pushed the boat out with dinner at Migros supermarket. A cracking last day.
Next stop Lech
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Guernseyfreerider, another interesting trip report. Really liked reading it.
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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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@Guernseyfreerider, Thanks for posting. I'm out there in a few weeks, so it was interesting to hear about the conditions. Have you tried the itinerary off the back of Jacobshorn down to Teufi? I think you'd like it if there was enough snow
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@DCG, unfortunately it was closed, the snow looked awful. I did it last year with the kids in great conditions top to bottom and it was one of the highlights of our trip - it’s an absolute beauty. Snow on the way so fingers crossed it’s open again when you are out
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