 Poster: A snowHead
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Edit: Extending this out to cover all those smaller resorts in the Maurienne Valley such as Valloire/Valmeiner, Valmorel & Le Grand Domaine, Val Cenis, Valfrejus, The Norma, Aussois and probably a whole load more...
Thought it would be nice to kick of this thread with the first fall of snow! I know it will have probably all have melted by next week, but it's looking good for now!
We normally do our family trip at Easter but it's GCSE year for our eldest so we've been forced to look at the dreaded Feb half term - I thought I'd try and make it a bit more bearable by looking at a smaller, less popular with the brit-crowd resort. Which is how I ended up with Valloire! Not sure if it'll work but it'll be something different!
I'm guessing not huge amounts of people are heading there this season but if you are please shout! And if you've been before and have any tips then I'd love to hear them.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 3-11-23 14:33; edited 4 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Handy Turnip, looks lovely, first proper wintery scene  I'll be following the Valloire updates with interest, as it's on the "possible" list for 2024/5. I'm hoping to ski in Valmorel / St Francois Longchamp at some point this winter, so not too far away.
Just a thought - would you consider converting this thread into a general Maurienne Valley one, as it might get more interest that way? I get the impression that people often visit more than one of the ski areas around here, due to the shared lift passes (Haute Maurienne, Skiogrande).
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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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Thanks @denfinella, good shout - I've amended the title accordingly!
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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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Off to Valloire in March. Love the Maurienne Valley and have spent a few Feb half terms in various resorts along the valley, but Valloire is our favourite. Had two half terms in Valloire and didn't find it too busy.
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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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Thanks @snowlamb, good to hear that it's at least not crazy busy during half term week, so that bodes well! I love the look of the town - we normally go at Easter so end up in one of the higher more purpose built resorts, so nice to go somewhere that has more of a towny feel.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I will be keeping up with this one as someone who has a place in orelle 
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Since it's friday and we've had a bit of snow, here's a few more webcams..
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@Handy Turnip,
Might be going in March. Going to see how the weather plays out first.
Ive been mid March before & it was slush 20c by the end of the week. Started off with fresh snow.
I personally prefer Valmeinier & Valloire own mountains than the shared one
Taken a day apart!
Where are you staying? If outside Valloire Les Verneys/Moulin Benjamin, then last bus is about 7pm
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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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on the ski pass front, is there a pass that covers the surrounding areas as I would like to do some single days in t he likes of bonneval, valloire, etc etc
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@Gored, yikes that's a serious change! We've got an apartment right by the Setaz lift, so will naturally spend more time on the Valloire side mountain I guess - and no need for buses!
@ajc2260626 - @denfinella referenced a shared pass earlier so may know...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Cheers
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Tempted by the cheap lift pass for Valfrejus and the fact it includes La Norma and a day in 4 other resorts like Aussois.
Anybody skied out there, is it any good for a mixed ability groups with some advance/ off piste skier's and some beginners?
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You know it makes sense.
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@Handy Turnip, that's an interesting option..... is there anything similar that includes valloire / valmiener etc?
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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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@ajc2260626, for multi-resort trips around Valloire / Valmenier look at the Skiogrande card. You can Google it, but basically you pay a small fee and then get a % off day tickets for each resort in the Maurienne Valley.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| ajc2260626 wrote: |
| @Handy Turnip, that's an interesting option..... is there anything similar that includes valloire / valmiener etc? |
I think Valloire includes a day at Les Sybelles (& vice versa) + a discount day for 3 valleys (via Orelle), so probably limited to Val Thoren
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We’ve got a place close by and you won’t find Valloire stupidly busy at half-term. There is some great skiing there and across in Valmeinier. As said above take a look at the skiogrande card which gives you access to the 17 or so resorts in the Maurienne Valley (cost last year was €7) but you get discounted daily tickets which will save you more than that.
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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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We went at Easter once. It was a late Easter but the snow was fairly decent, Valloire village was nice and we had a great time. Not too busy, but still plenty of life. Our daughters' instructor (Thiery) was superb. We spent a day at Val Cenis to experience its microclimate. Unfortunately, it was near whiteout but had a very different feel to Valloire. No time to get to the other small resorts and we consider it 'unfinished business'. Les Sybelles looked quite extensive and I often drive past it en rote to Italy (via Frejus tunnel) and think "I must ski that area one day'......
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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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No time to get to the other small resorts and we consider it 'unfinished business'. Les Sybelles looked quite extensive and I often drive past it en rote to Italy (via Frejus tunnel) and think "I must ski that area one day'......
4th biggest linked area in France apparently
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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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@andmelffion, I think les takes the area by measuring the m2 & not adding up the length of each piste run
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Be aware that one of the trainlines in that area has been landslided and some traintracks are closed until summer 2024.
Be careful if you book a trainride.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
Be aware that one of the trainlines in that area has been landslided and some traintracks are closed until summer 2024.
Be careful if you book a trainride. |
No need to worry, trains are stopping at St Michel de Maurienne and the rest of the journey up the valley will be by bus…the train only normally goes as far as Modane (8 mins by train)and resort buses run from there.
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Another dump of snow forecast for Thurs/Fri, with freezing levels getting down to 1300m in a lot of places..
At 2000m:
Valmorel: 38cm
Valloire: 29cm
Val Cenis: 17cm
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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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I was lucky enough to spend the past 10 days in Valloire. It rained on monday 30.10, snowed from about 2000m tuesday 31.10. I hiked up from Les Verneys 1585m with the dogs to welcome the snow and make a snow man.
On friday 3rd of november me and my partner hiked up together + put skins on for the last part to get to Thymel. We enjoyed our first turns outside of the new winter season, my partner kept sliding all the way down to Les Verneys, but I decided to walk from above Moulin Benjamin as I considered it too stony. We touched a bit but it was a wonderful winter day out.
Another layer of snow on saturday evening 4.11 in Les Verneys, nothing in Valloire centre, so the snowline was somewhere in between.
I'm very excited for winter, always but especially with these white peaks and snowy precipitation.
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| andmelffion wrote: |
No time to get to the other small resorts and we consider it 'unfinished business'. Les Sybelles looked quite extensive and I often drive past it en rote to Italy (via Frejus tunnel) and think "I must ski that area one day'......
4th biggest linked area in France apparently |
No, that's just a blatant lie. A very big one, to be fair. It's just 145km. Even Alpe d'Huez and Grand Massif are bigger and a whole lot of others as well. Val Tho alone is bigger.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Tristero wrote: |
| andmelffion wrote: |
No time to get to the other small resorts and we consider it 'unfinished business'. Les Sybelles looked quite extensive and I often drive past it en rote to Italy (via Frejus tunnel) and think "I must ski that area one day'......
4th biggest linked area in France apparently |
No, that's just a blatant lie. A very big one, to be fair. It's just 145km. Even Alpe d'Huez and Grand Massif are bigger and a whole lot of others as well. Val Tho alone is bigger. |
Best you take that up with their marketing team then as there’s over 300kms of slopes, or are you confusing Les Sybelles with Valmeinier/Valloire which is a completely different ski area in The Maurienne Valley
https://www.sybelles.ski/en/discover/the-skiing-area/
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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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@andmelffion, I don't think @Tristero was accusing you if anything - they were just pointing out (correctly) that Les Sybelles massively overstate their piste extent.
The "real" figure for Les Sybelles is indeed around 145km, so it's well down the list of the biggest French ski areas.
Valloire / Valmenier is a tad smaller at 130km, and Valmorel / St François Longchamp a bit smaller at 120km. (& so on)
Would like to visit all of the above regardless, hopefully in the next few seasons!
Back to the snow - looking like a reasonable base now above 2000m, which is promising given it's still early November
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| andmelffion wrote: |
| Tristero wrote: |
| andmelffion wrote: |
No time to get to the other small resorts and we consider it 'unfinished business'. Les Sybelles looked quite extensive and I often drive past it en rote to Italy (via Frejus tunnel) and think "I must ski that area one day'......
4th biggest linked area in France apparently |
No, that's just a blatant lie. A very big one, to be fair. It's just 145km. Even Alpe d'Huez and Grand Massif are bigger and a whole lot of others as well. Val Tho alone is bigger. |
Best you take that up with their marketing team then as there’s over 300kms of slopes, or are you confusing Les Sybelles with Valmeinier/Valloire which is a completely different ski area in The Maurienne Valley
https://www.sybelles.ski/en/discover/the-skiing-area/ |
it is well known les sybelles includes the whole area & not just the marked pistes. It is considerably smaller compared to the normal way pistes are calculated
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You know it makes sense.
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| denfinella wrote: |
@andmelffion, I don't think @Tristero was accusing you if anything - they were just pointing out (correctly) that Les Sybelles massively overstate their piste extent.
The "real" figure for Les Sybelles is indeed around 145km, so it's well down the list of the biggest French ski areas.
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Exactly. They also count the pistes over at Albiez-Montrond, as their ski pass is valid over there. As they follow the same pattern, that makes up for another claimed 35km (real: 18km). Staying in one of the Sybelles you actually don't ski there, as it's small, low and quite a long drive.
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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 know it won't last but snow all the way down to resort level in a lot of places..
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Poster: A snowHead
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Temperatures all over the place in the coming week - so more snow over the next couple of days, and then probably a lot of rain into next week
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Cheers @Gored, that's a good shout. All looking nice and white at the moment!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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They also count the pistes over at Albiez-Montrond, as their ski pass is valid over there.
The ski pass does not include Albiez-Montriond (confirmed by the lift company) nor are their pistes included in the Sybelles piste totals of 136 marked pistes, which I guess must all be quite short if only 145kms available from 136 pistes…skiing there myself in a few weeks so will do some checking and hoping the snow continues to fall!
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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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Val Cenis is planning on opening some runs in the near future. Piste bashers were out on the slopes today although it probably depends on the thaw this week. A friend ski touring described conditions lower down as "soggy"
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| andmelffion wrote: |
The ski pass does not include Albiez-Montriond (confirmed by the lift company) nor are their pistes included in the Sybelles piste totals of 136 marked pistes, which I guess must all be quite short if only 145kms available from 136 pistes…skiing there myself in a few weeks so will do some checking and hoping the snow continues to fall! |
That's at least what I was told a few years back. But anyway, around 145km is accurate - you'll see for yourself. That is, if everything's open.
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The last lot didn't last long but some more snow forecast for tonight/tomorrow, hopefully it'll stick around this time. Snow down to about 1300m in most places.
At 2000m:
Valmorel: 44cm
Valloire: 35cm
Val Cenis: 23cm
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| Handy Turnip wrote: |
The last lot didn't last long
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no and Val Cenis didn't manage its early opening
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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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Can’t add a photo but friends have arrived at our apartment this evening and snow fallen all the way down the valley into St Michel de Maurienne which is at about 700m, so hopefully should be good up the mountain.
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Looks great, can't wait! Going La Norma in Jan. Anybody got any tips of what is the most challenging runs (piste or off piste) in the Maurienne valley? Especially on the eski-mo ski pass...
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FAQ
