 Poster: A snowHead
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| AxsMan wrote: |
stewart woodward, Fair point, except that every time I've been down it, the path through the trees has been signed as 'closed'  |
Yes, the part where Verte passes throught the trees was definitely roped off last week. As for "going for it" on the 'orange' piste, this was the only spot where I witnessed a blood wagon taking someone off the mountain last 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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How funny, having been in Val D last year, having only done one week of skiing before, me and my friend were amazed by how much nicer and kinder the runs were, though granted towards the end of the week everything got a little scarily icy. We both said we wished we had gone there for our first week rather than st anton, and then gone to st anton a little more able to cope! (cant wait to go back there) We spent an hour of our first morning there sat 100 yards down from the ski lift figuring out how to get back up as we did not like the look of down at all. We suspect our choice of first resort was flawed, but at least it made us learn quickly. I am sure the grading at Val was easier than the grading at St anton.
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| kladski wrote: |
| How funny, having been in Val D last year, having only done one week of skiing before, me and my friend were amazed by how much nicer and kinder the runs were, though granted towards the end of the week everything got a little scarily icy. We both said we wished we had gone there for our first week rather than st anton, and then gone to st anton a little more able to cope! (cant wait to go back there) We spent an hour of our first morning there sat 100 yards down from the ski lift figuring out how to get back up as we did not like the look of down at all. We suspect our choice of first resort was flawed, but at least it made us learn quickly. I am sure the grading at Val was easier than the grading at St anton. |
St Anton first Val D second- no fear then 
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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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| richmond wrote: |
Your comment about misleading peeps into thinking that they are better skiers than they are suggests that there is some sort of absolute standard for runs of a particular colour. It doesn't matter how easy or hard blues, reds, greens, blacks, whatever, are; what matters (arguably) is consistency so that skiers who can manage a blue in one resort are not put in danger in another because a blue there is really a double mega black with knobs on. Which resort is 'right' is not important. |
When you grade on the hardest bit of a run which might be tiny (eg: Jockeys in Courcheval which has one dinky steep), you can lull peeps into a sense of unjustified security and then they get onto Les Suisses (same resort), which is a totally different kettle of fish. I rather like the average approach as I think it reflects a clearer picture overall than the hardest bit. Many resorts do mark similarly, but perhaps because so much of the 3V and Tignes/Les Arcs etc seem to do hardest bits, then wer're not getting the full picture. There is no agreement between the resorts, or between countries, and as desirable as it might be, it's very unlikely to ever happen. this has also been discussed at great length before.
I've said it before - I'd like to see at least 6 colours and everyone using the same method of grading and the same % - but it's sadly pie in the sky.
You will have to come back and ski some of our runs again!! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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It is interesting that Trolles is considered an easy run. When I started going to Tignes it was one of the very few black runs there, a lot of the runs that are now black used to be red.
The bottom bit of Trolles was probably about the steepest piste in the area (At least the bottom pitch , the rest was never really black and wasn't marked as such on most of the maps) with very large moguls and quite a few skiers would fall the whole way if they fell. The pitches parallel to it on the same face of the mountain used to have slab avalanches form time to time so I don't think it was completely my memory of it being steep. They did though do quite a lot of work with a bulldozer to create a path so you could bypass the steep section.
In general there has been a lot of piste widening in the area and I don't think many of the runs are undergraded with the exception of a few back to the base in Val which are probably there for marketing purposes.
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easiski, good point about false sense of security. I think that different approaches to grading are all part of life's rich pageant. Finding something a bit scaly on a low graded run is all part of the fun of learning and is character building (I once heard some frightful hearty rural woman describe otter hunting as 'character building for the otters', so finding a steepish bit on your blue run is geting off pretty lightly).
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george owen, thanks for the advice. Looks like I'll be set to have a great time.
Only 10.5 weeks, and counting!! 
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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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| T Bar wrote: |
It is interesting that Trolles is considered an easy run. When I started going to Tignes it was one of the very few black runs there, a lot of the runs that are now black used to be red.
The bottom bit of Trolles was probably about the steepest piste in the area (At least the bottom pitch , the rest was never really black and wasn't marked as such on most of the maps) with very large moguls and quite a few skiers would fall the whole way if they fell. The pitches parallel to it on the same face of the mountain used to have slab avalanches form time to time so I don't think it was completely my memory of it being steep. They did though do quite a lot of work with a bulldozer to create a path so you could bypass the steep section.
In general there has been a lot of piste widening in the area and I don't think many of the runs are undergraded with the exception of a few back to the base in Val which are probably there for marketing purposes. |
As I've said above my first time in Val D'sere was over 12 years ago. I remember huge icy bumps on Trolles. Now there is a steep pitch which last time I was there I tend to straightline to get down the long flat bit to the next chair. The bottom pitch is steep but not long. As you say there is an alternate route to the side. I think its a run that is well pisted now due to it being a key link route
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
It is interesting that Trolles is considered an easy run. When I started going to Tignes it was one of the very few black runs there, a lot of the runs that are now black used to be red.
The bottom bit of Trolles was probably about the steepest piste in the area (At least the bottom pitch , the rest was never really black and wasn't marked as such on most of the maps) with very large moguls and quite a few skiers would fall the whole way if they fell. The pitches parallel to it on the same face of the mountain used to have slab avalanches form time to time so I don't think it was completely my memory of it being steep. They did though do quite a lot of work with a bulldozer to create a path so you could bypass the steep section.
In general there has been a lot of piste widening in the area and I don't think many of the runs are undergraded with the exception of a few back to the base in Val which are probably there for marketing purposes.
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I have been going to Val d'Isere for over 30 years and the pistes have, mostly, become far easier because of widening and regular bashing. The Face used to be a vast mogul field, as did Plan, and was much narrower in parts with a distinct gully in the lower part; it was widened heavily for the 1992 Olympics.. Traversing between the old chairs on the Face as a relative beginner was an interesting exercise. Mangard had a gully part way down and I can remember a whole ski class of children in a heap in it. Silene in Tignes used to be called the Cocaine and was a red with a very narrow bit where it starts to steepen with basically no choice of route. I have to say as I get older, the easing of the pistes suits my ageing knees.
What has happened, however, is that tour companies haven't altered some of their descriptions much. Face may have been mean and twisted years ago; it is wide but reasonably steep now. If you are a reasonably competent intermediate, the lower half is excellent in the morning when relatively quiet, provided you can get your edges set right. Undoubtedly, the easiest and pleasantest way down to La Daille is the slalom slope if it is open. There are no easy runs down to Val itself. Mangard is usually OK down to Fornet and L, which has varied between blue and red over the years, is not too difficult in my opinion for someone other than a complete beginner.
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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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That's quite the thread resurrection here! Almost twelve years
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You know it makes sense.
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Welcome to SHs, @Alvis - an interesting first post!
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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| balso wrote: |
| That's quite the thread resurrection here! Almost twelve years |
Sorry. I couldn't see the dates when I posted for some reason.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Some great runs above bellevarde, grand pres and club des sports (?) are fab, just be careful not to miss the lift out and end up on Santons. Why not get some lessons from Steve Angus who posts on here. Can thoroughly recommend him
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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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Glad someone pointed out above that vertex goes through the trees and not left down the lower part of orange , however Diebold (I think ) which is blue does merge for the last section.
Santons was regraded to a red last season
Finally there are tricky sections of Mangard too the section albeit short that is to the left off the road section at the top.
Also for a slightly nervous blue run skier the first drop onto the road by the lift as you enter Mangard can be tricky if moguled badly.
Love the blast from the restaurant to the end making sure you schuss early including the last turn to make sure of no walking.
Overall I love the challenge of VDI
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The run to avoid is the run down to the resort base from Solaise especially after 2 pm. It gets crowded and there are often 50 m stretches of boilerplate ice.At one time it was graded blue but I think it was red the last time I was there. Just download.
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FAQ
Its prob the least black black in the resort. Probably double daimond black if in La Plagne 
