 Poster: A snowHead
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Snow coming down all around, seems like a great time to start the new thread. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'll re-post here, small pre-opening this weekend at Flaine!
https://www.flaine.com/actualite/post/preouverture-domaine-ski-flaine-2023
Flaine partially opens this weekend!
Partial opening of the domain this Saturday December 2 and Sunday December 3, 2023 .
Price of the day ski pass: €10 (season pass accepted).
Free for skiers under 8 years old and people aged 75 and over only on presentation of proof of age.
Ski lifts open :
Tête des Verds chairlift
Desert Blanc chairlift
Meadow Carpet _
Michalet rug
Open trails :
Maple
Bissac
Spruce
Larch
Serpentine
Crystal
Breakfast offered by the Tourist Office on Saturday December 2 at the foot of the Tête des Verds chairlift.
Additional Information :
Slopes open from 8:45 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Purchase Pass: only at the Grandes Platières cable car ticket office, from 8:30 a.m.
Free P1 parking .
The Flaine Forum barriers will be closed.
Elevator No. 1 open from Saturday, for the weekend.
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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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Beautiful bluebird day today with pretty good snow. I'm just ignoring the weather forecast for the next 36 hours and just going to skip straight to the weekend.
[img]https://imgur.com/a/YIaUFaC[/img]
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@coldrainsnow, only 'pretty good'? One of the days of the season and it's still november. Yeah best not to look outside again until Sat morning, by which point I should be on a lift up to Flaine....looking forward to some lifts.
We picked Flaine over Avoriaz hoping it will be quieter. And at half the price with a free breakfast thrown in....was a quick debate.
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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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Hahaha okay the snow was great, just didn't want to make anybody else too jealous.  Yeah we're hitting Flaine on Saturday too, apparently the only thing that can get my teenager even more excited for his first day of the season was a mention of "free breakfast" lol. I'm looking forward to some lifts too, although my quads are feeling today's descents more than the climbs!!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A little jealous is fine  , it's social media for snow addicts
Hope that road is cleared early.....mate has brand new winters but no chains, front wheel drive.....the adventure might start before we even get there
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They usually get the road cleared pretty early unless it's actively dumping. That being said we often park at Vernant during the season just so we don't have to go up and over the little col (and it's free).
Rain all day here at 1000m across the valley... although from what I could see up high the snow was sticking around quite a bit. Flood warnings issued and Avalanche risk at 4/5 however. Currently looks like rain throughout the night and then getting cold again first thing in the morning....
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Rain and sleet up until about 15:00 today and then it turned to snow and is coming down pretty good right now! We'll see how much damage was done by that rain tomorrow.
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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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@coldrainsnow, I was going to post just so you weren't the only poster on here but @polo, beat me to it.
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If you are a British disabled skier and try to apply for a discounted disabled lift pass from Les Carroz, don't bother, seems they will only accept French disability orange cards. British VI skier with a certificate of visual impairment indicating severely sight impaired refused, so means have to pay twice to ski as can't ski without a guide, who will need a pass as well.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Zorrac, Get in touch with Sainte Foy Tourist office I’m sure you will find them most accommodating….. with it being a Commune owned ski resort they are very user friendly and are friendly towards disabilities .
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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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@Zorrac, bit of social media pressure required?
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@coldrainsnow, I was going to post just so you weren't the only poster on here but @polo, beat me to it.
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Haha thanks @under a new name... don't worry, I'm very familiar with talking to myself.
@polo did you all make it up today?!? We are opting for tomorrow now with the kids football game finally cancelled, hoping for some sunny blue skies and lots of snow! It's been snowing hard all day here at 1000m, I bet GM is getting walloped pretty well. I know that anything can happen but this is a pretty great start to December.
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You know it makes sense.
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@coldrainsnow, yep stayed in Morillion 1100, and went out to a new bar / restaurant opening....dragged ourselves to Flaine for 830 and then waited 3 hours for the lifts to open, free breakfast was welcome. Finally got on some lifts, but viz was poor most of the day. As for the snow, pretty good . Tomorrow will be amazing as hardly anyone used the higher lift, but lower down it is well tracked now.....saw some scary 'dips' along the way....5m wide holes, and nothing was bashed so pistes are already mogulled. My mate is going again tomorrow but I am elsewhere
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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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Absolutely fabulous day at Flaine today, sunny skies, many ungroomed pistes, and "pretty good" snow. Had a blast out there with the fam, and my 14 year old officially dropped me on the final descent down Almadine with no hope of me catching up. I'm afraid it's all over now.
It's always so striking driving in and seeing the whole mountain covered in perfect powder, and driving out and seeing nothing but tracks everywhere haha. It only felt crowded a couple of times, with pushy people in the queue for Desert Blanc, but like always it was easy enough to get away from the masses on the slopes and we got in and left before the traffic jams.
One day at a time, but this is quite an amazing start to the season.. I'm assuming they'll open again and do the same thing next weekend if the weather lines up.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Another pre-ouverture at Flaine this weekend, this time a little more costly (30 euros without a pass and you have to pay for parking), but the DMC will be up and running at least.
Had a great day off the Tete de Saix today, snow is still amazing, although they are bashing the hell out of all the pistes down low aux Carroz to get ready for the season.
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Ouverture partielle du domaine ce samedi 9 décembre et dimanche 10 décembre 2023.
Tarif normal du pass ski journée : 30 €
Tarif réduit (8 - 14 ans) : 24 €
Abonnement saison & skillico acceptés.
Gratuité pour les skieurs de moins de 8 ans et les personnes de 75 ans et plus uniquement sur présentation d'un justificatif d'âge.
Les remontées mécaniques ouvertes :
Téléphérique des Grandes Platières (DMC)
Télésiège de Tête des Verds
Télésiège du Désert Blanc
Tapis du Pré
Tapis Michalet
Tapis du Bissac
Les pistes ouvertes :
Érable
Bissac
Azurite
Épicéa
Mélèze
Serpentine
Cristal
Émeraude
Faust
Tanzanite
Informations supplémentaires :
Ouverture des pistes de 9h00 - 16h00.
Achat Pass : uniquement la caisse du téléphérique des Grandes Platières, dès 8h30.
Parking du P1, P2, P3 payants.
Les barrières de Flaine Forum, Forêt, Front de Neige seront fermées.
Ascenseur N°1 et N°2 sont ouverts.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Any signals to suggest how Les Carroz/Grand Massif will be last week in Jan? Looking like a safe bet?
Thanks
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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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@AllTheGear, it's a bit far out to know anything!
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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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@AllTheGear, yup, lots of time for things to happen both good and bad. Right now the snow is pretty great at mid and high altitudes and the base is quite good. It's all a bit more faible below 1800 or so after the rain last week, but they bashed the pistes pretty good all thru GM. Time will tell!
I'm off on holiday for two weeks so if you can line up a massive New Year's dump that would be ideal.
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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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Fair enough thanks.
I’m planning a DIY trip for 16ppl for the last week of Jan.
Aiming for Les Carroz but trying to find the sweet spot of when to commit to accommodation. Waiting it out to see how the snow is vs being left without affordable accommodation options for the group!
I guess I’m gunna have to probs bite the bullet and hope for the best?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@AllTheGear, I mean even with the multiple melts last season the pistes stayed skiable up at Flaine all winter. Off piste and the stuff down lower was more hit or miss depending on the storms. End of Jan is overall pretty safe, you'll be able to get on something good if you're willing to go up high and let's hope conditions are excellent and you can go everywhere with ease!
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Gotcha thanks - ok I'll pull the trigger on accom and probably sit tight on ski pass for now. Then worse case we can bus it to Flaine every day.
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@AllTheGear, consider buying passes now - we were in Morillon for the first 2 weeks of Jan '23, just after the storm that wiped out everything below 1600m. We spent the first 5 days driving 45 minutes round to Flaine, but on some of those days they would only allow you into Flaine if you already had a ski pass, you couldn't buy day passes in resort
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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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Oh damn - thanks that's good insight..
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@AllTheGear, yup, that's actually the worst case scenario - that they close the bus connections and only let people ski at Flaine that already have their passes. Hopefully it doesn't come to that again this year!!!!
And, right after all that nonsense happened, we got a great powder dump.......
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We’re staying in Flaine for a week this Saturday. Child has morning ski lessons, will it be worth getting the Grands Vans lift across to the higher parts of Samoens etc or will it be a total long nightmare to get back into Flaine & not even worth it for the conditions (did look like snow to at least 1500m on the webcam)? Never been there, I assume it’s going to be annoyingly busy at all lifts and we have short days already with the young child!! The interactive piste map doesn’t seem to work or maybe they won’t turn it on until official full resort opening and at that point we’ll know how limited our options are..
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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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Just been in Flaine / GM for three days - awesome conditions for this time of year. Some closures I think just down to relatively not busy.
In reply to grand vans question above - dead easy to get back from the top of samoëns morillion - all blue runs just one slight tricky bit in the blue dolomie which leads to verdant chairlift for access back to Flaine. I think there is a track to avoid the steepish 100m or so, the rest of it is very straightforward.
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Thanks for info. Not worried about the ski runs even if it they were hard, I’m worried about a queue bottleneck over Christmas from the top of samoens morillion back into Flaine & whether it will be worth the effort given those resorts are even lower than Flaine & we have just under 3hrs of ski time (though ski school is next to Grands Vans lift so it’s our quickest way up to some proper runs). I assume from this Saturday/Sunday the resorts will get much busier due to school holidays! I don’t want to get over there & then realise it was pointless & will now take 30mins of waiting to get back across.
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You know it makes sense.
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The general flow of skiers sees queues heading to Flaine in the morning and then queues heading back late afternoon. So going to Flaine from Samoens/Morillon late afternoon is against the tide so you'd be unlikely to see any large queues. The final blue pitch down to the Vernant chair can be icy and mogulled at the end of the day but, as neilkav says, there is normally a pisted track to the right that avoids it.
As for snow cover, the Samoens base is at 1600m and the runs are mainly north facing so the cover will be little different to Flaine.
But yes, expect it to be busy everywhere!
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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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In Flaine for a few days. Conditions are quite good, tiny bit of fresh snow yesterday and very light snow at the moment. Low cloud at resort level yesterday but the sun was shining at the top of the DMC and Aup de Veran. None of the drag lifts are open on the south/south east side of the bowl but that might change this weekend. No queues, which is lovely. Annoyingly, the Foret drag is also closed which means having to get a bus back to Montsoleil or going up Grands Vans. They have been pulling snow off the sides of the piste onto the pistes which makes the snow to the sides of the piste almost unskiable. Overall, a promising start to the season.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Lots more fresh snow in Flaine overnight, fantastic conditions and very quiet before the hoards arrive tomorrow. Samoens and Les Carroz also good, Morillon 1100 a disaster with hardly any cover at village level which is a real shame, second year 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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Saturday was a superb day. Lots of fresh snow , very quiet, lovely sunshine and blue skies.
Les Carroz hardpack and bumpy lower down so we skied around Grand platieres and off piste at the top of tête de saix. Super super day.
Is Morillon open ? Partly maybe. Looked terrible on webcams.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Assuming they aren’t super young & have had 1/2 day of skiing lessons then I’d say they’d probably manage the blue into Marvel green run. Just need more snow as it was almost gone on boxing Day, a 1inch layer of snow for some parts, we saw some skiers go the wrong way & get stuck on a massive mud slope, I assume you’d just ski in mud in that instance as it looked pretty slimy, I’d of rather sacrificed my skis than my boots in that instance as at least the skis would keep you afloat of the worst of the mud.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Any snow overnight up high in GM? (tete des saix/Flaine) From my perch across the valley it's hard to tell. Just rain over here to 1600 meters.
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@Pasigal, wouldn’t have thought so!
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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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Thinking of a day trip to Flaine tomorrow as Les Gets has taken a hit with the rain.
How's it fairing up?
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FAQ
