 Poster: A snowHead
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The back roads will have been blocked on Saturday, I guess, but I think that report was of a journey up on Sunday. With the prospect of that road being closed for weeks then perhaps Sundays will be locked too.
@Dyrlac, arriving at an airport Friday night is not going to help much. I'd be putting pressure on the syndicate to change destination, if you can find alternative accommodation. It sounds drastic but...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| richjp wrote: |
| I thought that the authorities usually blocked off those back roads for that very reason? |
Indeed. Those local roads can soon become completely gridlocked, so local police have been controlling access very closely since Saturday. I’d not rely on being able to take a clever backroads route at the moment, you’ll almost certainly be turned around.
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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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There’s an obvious solution to this problem which is to stagger arrival days. Will be interesting to see if officials try and do anything to facilitate.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| brovert wrote: |
| There’s an obvious solution to this problem which is to stagger arrival days. Will be interesting to see if officials try and do anything to facilitate. |
If they wanted to do that, they'd need to have started months ago - people will have flights/ferries and time off work booked so can't just shift their arrival day to suit.
Looking the size of the boulder and where it's fallen it's hard to see how they can possibly get this fixed this season at all, never mind in the next few weeks.
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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 suspect clearing the road is relatively easy. A couple of excavators and some trucks, then repair the road and barriers.
Making the mountainside above safe will be the harder and more time consuming bit.
You probably wouldn't do the clearance bit until you are happy that it is safe to do so.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Making the mountainside above safe will be the harder and more time consuming bit
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And persuading somebody to sign on the dotted line that it's safe.......
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Never any certainties in life..
The French are good at that.
c'est la vie.
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God forbid something happens to close the tunnel too as I can't think of any other way in or out ot the whole Tarantaise at this time of year. The RN90 is literally the only road between Moutiers and Aigueblanche.
The only passes are the Col D'Iseran, Petit St Bernard and Cormet de Roseland and obviously they are both shut and not suited to any volume of traffic even in summer.
The next couple of weekends are going to be horrendous.
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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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@dyrlac - if arriving Friday evening I would get through the tunnel that night and not leave it until Saturday.
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There’s an obvious solution to this problem which is to stagger arrival days.
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Would there be many rental apartment owners volunteering to be the ones selling Tuesday-Tuesday holidays?
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I can't think of any other way in or out ot the whole Tarantaise at this time of year
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Presumably the railway is still open? Not ideal but wonder if they could come up with some sort of 'park and ride' (with a fleet of buses at the other end) that can be used to shift even a bit of traffic off the affected area?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@JDL65, yes, so would I but then it's sleep in the car. And you'd have to consider leaving early Friday and missing a day skiing. Which is why I said I'd aim to switch destination. I also feel slightly claustrophobic about being stuck in a tunnel.
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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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And it only takes one shunt. My son was stuck for hours in an Italian motorway tunnel at Christmas. Unpleasant.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| richjp wrote: |
| I thought that the authorities usually blocked off those back roads for that very reason? |
Indeed. Those local roads can soon become completely gridlocked, so local police have been controlling access very closely since Saturday. I’d not rely on being able to take a clever backroads route at the moment, you’ll almost certainly be turned around. |
The coppers will turn back anyone without French 73 department plates
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You know it makes sense.
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And the coppers will turn back people with 73 plates, only letting them through if they have a valid reason. A minibus with 8 punters is not a valid reason 73 or no 73 plate.
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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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Quite right, I should have said automatically turn back. In previous years our chalet drivers with 73 plates will take the backroads and got waved through on busy transfer saturdays but the current road blockage is a much different kettle of fish...
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's a shame the Cime Caron is off. The pedestrian transfer from Orelle would have made train transfers to Orelle (St Jean de Maurienne has a train station i think) an option for getting into the 3V or at least to VT. Actually on looking at that, it looks like a decent transfer option generally - i might try that out next year if they get the Cime Caron up and running. Perhaps a bit slower (although not by much) than driving but there would be no traffic stress to worry about and I'd imagine it would be a pretty nice journey. Probably a good bit cheaper than driving or private transfers too.
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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="monkey"]It's a shame the Cime Caron is off. The pedestrian transfer from Orelle would have made train transfers to Orelle (St Jean de Maurienne has a train station i think) an option for getting into the 3V or at least to VT.
St Michel de Maurienne (st michel valloire - is the station name) is the nearest train station to Orelle at about 6kms, you’d then have to pick up a taxi as no buses to Orelle.
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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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Does anyone have any details about booking trains from Geneva Airport to Moutiers?
I can find tickets for Geneva main station to Moutiers, that's no a problem. But I cant book from the airport, at least on 2 sites that I tired. Is it just a matter of getting a ticket on the platform at the airport?
My flight (hopefully lands at 17.20) train is at 18.20 from the airport to catch the last train at 18.42 from Geneva to Moutiers. Assuming no flight delays looks like that one works....
Has anyone any experience?
I do have a bens bus transfer booked, but this is a plan b/backup I'm looking at arranging going on advice of others.
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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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| monkey wrote: |
| It's a shame the Cime Caron is off. The pedestrian transfer from Orelle would have made train transfers to Orelle (St Jean de Maurienne has a train station i think) an option for getting into the 3V or at least to VT. Actually on looking at that, it looks like a decent transfer option generally - i might try that out next year if they get the Cime Caron up and running. Perhaps a bit slower (although not by much) than driving but there would be no traffic stress to worry about and I'd imagine it would be a pretty nice journey. Probably a good bit cheaper than driving or private transfers too. |
Rucksack instead of suitcase and just ski down. Another good reason to have your own skis 
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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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| brovert wrote: |
| There’s an obvious solution to this problem which is to stagger arrival days. Will be interesting to see if officials try and do anything to facilitate. |
Some UK tour operators switched to Sunday transfers to avoid the regular Saturday snarlups (even without rockfalls or heavy snow).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| monkey wrote: |
| It's a shame the Cime Caron is off. The pedestrian transfer from Orelle would have made train transfers to Orelle (St Jean de Maurienne has a train station i think) an option for getting into the 3V or at least to VT. Actually on looking at that, it looks like a decent transfer option generally - i might try that out next year if they get the Cime Caron up and running. Perhaps a bit slower (although not by much) than driving but there would be no traffic stress to worry about and I'd imagine it would be a pretty nice journey. Probably a good bit cheaper than driving or private transfers too. |
Rucksack instead of suitcase and just ski down. Another good reason to have your own skis |
Am actually stongly considering this at least for Lad 3 and me, if anything it would make for a legendary tale ... we land at LYS at 1025, hopefully in Orelle by 1330, get to TS LOZE in Méribel by 1700 and then we'd be home free to La Tania. Just need to arrange parking in Orelle and work out the minimum viable luggage situation. Effectively a "free" half day of skiing (albeit with big ole rucksacks) on quiet transfer-day pistes. Rest of my syndicate is probably too soft to attempt this.
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@Dyrlac,
See my post in the Snowreports forum, Tignes thread about Friday accommodation.
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@afterski,
See my post in Snowreports forum, Tignes thread re alternative source of Friday accommodation.
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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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@chocksaway,
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And the coppers will turn back people with 73 plates, only letting them through if they have a valid reason. A minibus with 8 punters is not a valid reason 73 or no 73 plate.
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i am pretty sure that donkeys years ago, it may still be the same now, French number plates not only had the department no, ie 73, but also had another reference (it could have been a combination of letters and numbers), that meant that the vehicle was registered to a certain location in that department.
i remember having a conversation with one of my old mates from meribel, who had spent several years working there, and had needed to register his old RH drive car to his address in meribel, though am sure the local ident would have probably been moutiers. but he mentioned the bonus for this was that he would be able to traverse the old valley road on a busy day without being stopped by the gendarmes.
this was during the "wild west" days of airport transfers, when loads of ski bums would carry out transfers in mainly battered old motors 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@terrygasson, Not sure about that back i the day - but could have been. Licence plates are now national in France and the Dept badge at the end is just a 'badge of honour'.
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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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Back in the day a La Plagne logo air freshener dangling from the rear view mirror was enough to allow you to use the village roads in the valley.
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@borntoski,
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Is it just a matter of getting a ticket on the platform at the airport?
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Yes. It's about 3 CHF from a machine.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just to put a more positive comment out there. My clients landed in Geneva at 6pm last night. Taxi left at 7pm and had them in central Meribel at 9:20pm. Only 10 minutes delay at the tunnel.
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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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That sounds a lot better, but it was late on a Sunday evening, and not in the French school hols!!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| borntoski wrote: |
My flight (hopefully lands at 17.20) train is at 18.20 from the airport to catch the last train at 18.42 from Geneva to Moutiers. Assuming no flight delays looks like that one works....
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Do you have an EU passport? Last Saturday non-EU passport queues at GVA got as long as 2h
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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 land at Lyon on Friday at 2:30pm. Picking up a hire car at airport probably around 3:30 and then onwards to la plagne which is one of the resorts affected is it not. Does anyone have any idea what kind of journey time we are facing. Reading this thread and others it appears as if the section of the road where the rocks fell is ‘impassable’…..ie totally closed to through traffic…? Or is there a lane open at the location where a single lane of traffic is allowed through in each direction on a ‘stop/go’ basis controlled by the French/local police…?……Looking at google maps there isn’t any alternative route or is there…?
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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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@Sneachta2013, southbound to Moutiers is a dual carriage road that has a mahoosive rock in the middle of it. The road north from Moutiers goes through a tunnel. Currently and for the foreseeable future the normally dual carriage tunnel is being used as two way single carriage. There is no alternative but to queue at the tunnel. The delay shouldn't be too bad in the week (10-15mins), possibly longer on a Friday (30-40 mins), and comically bad on Saturday (anyones guess).
Hope this helps.
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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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| Quote: |
non-EU passport queues at GVA got as long as 2h
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Geneva airport doesn't always live up to Swiss "efficiency". Last time I flew OUT of Gva, on a Thursday in May, absolutely low volume time, the passport queue was shocking. The flight (easyJet to Gatwick) was several hours delayed anyway, and was then held further, waiting for the many people in the passport queue.
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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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Last Saturday, the bidirectional tunnel had a capacity of a thousand cars an hour each way. This Saturday the expectation is for 35k vehicles coming up the Valley. As the American cousins say “Do the math!”
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| terrygasson wrote: |
i am pretty sure that donkeys years ago, it may still be the same now, French number plates not only had the department no, ie 73, but also had another reference (it could have been a combination of letters and numbers), that meant that the vehicle was registered to a certain location in that department. |
no they just cycle through the number and letter combinations
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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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It took us about an hour or so to get through it on Sunday lunchtime, I’ve had worse queues at half term in the past.
I guess since it’s dual carriageway now restricted to single I will likely take twice as long as usual at least
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Does anyone have any updates on this? Flying into Geneva on Saturday 8th and heading to La Plagne
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FAQ
