 Poster: A snowHead
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 S3V, the Three Valleys Lift Co. is due to open a €2.8 million complex on December 9th at the foot of Mont Vallon, 2,100m above sea level. Referred to by its creators as a 'Comfort Zone', the new building will have restauarants, a shop and an exhibition space and will be accessible to non-skiers, via the Plattiéres 1 and 2 gondolas and a downward ride on the Plans des Mains chairlift...
Claude Gardet, director of lift services for the Three Valleys in France, says that there is a need for more facilities not directly related to skiing because “skiers now average about 3 hours of skiing per day”. (Well I guess that leaves the slopes clear for the rest of us)
A hostess will greet guests on arrival, answer questions and store skis in free lockers. The three eateries will range from a sandwich bar to a gastronomic restaurant. The exhibition space will show videos and displays about the local flora and fauna, and there'll be a large (about 300m2) sun terrace with deck chairs. People will be allowed to use the facilities without having to buy food and a small shop will sell on-slope necessities such as sun block, gloves and sunglasses. It will also be possible to recharge ski passes.
Mont Vallon is a beautiful and peaceful place, close to the Tuéda Nature Reserve. So will this development spoil the environment and tranquillity? S3V says it has taken into account the sensitive nature of the surroundings and conformed to the strictest of building standards-known as HQE (Haute Qualité Environnementale). It has been designed by architect Jean-Pierre Chiantello using wood and local stone to 'integrate into its setting'.
Perhaps this is a sign of long term planning from S3V as many believe that climate change will result in skiing becoming very limited below 2000m.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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el Hen, any photos available yet? seems weird that it is opening next month and they only have artist sketches.
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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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Perhaps they're waiting for the snows to come to make it look nice before they release photos?
I guess we need a local snowAgent to go up there and scope it out 
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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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i just had a look and there is a photo of the building (or building site) on the merinet.com site
I am goin out on Dec 7th and will definately pop in for a coffee...
Admin is there a way to insert photos directly into posts, or is that too space hungry
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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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Here's are rather blurry and indistinct photo from the website:
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Thanks for the tip, scottp
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Free lockers to store skis while you eat and admire the multimedia display about local flora and fauna. Sounds almost too good to be true! Reports from scottp and others will be very interesting...
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Is it called the comfort zone because the skiing in Meribel is uncomfortable 
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boredsurfin, It can get a bit uncomfortable at the top of Mt Vallon. Last March they had 180KM winds at the top. It should be good addition because when skiing up there you used to need to come down to Mottaret or one of the Mountain restaraurants in Les Menuire to get a coffee...
I also seem to remember that they put in an Avalanche Camp near there where you can test transcievers, probes etc....
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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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all they need now is faster lifts-queues are usually slow with those dreadful bubbles
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a new 6 chair lift has been put in Le chatelet near there
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