 Poster: A snowHead
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For a change of scene I'm skiing Zinal and Grimentz this weekend, staying with ise in his very lovely new chalet. There's been a lot of snow in the last few days, but with fairly warm temperatures it has a fairly high water content so un-pisted snow is very heavy at lower altitudes, making a mockery of my feeble off-piste technique. On piste conditions were generally very good, although the runs into the village were very weird because they were water saturated then frozen - unlike anything I've skied on before. Skiing today (at Grimentz) was hampered by occasional poor visibility and by limits to the number of lifts that were open because of the high avalanche risk (4) keeping the pisteurs busy all day. Saw some very dramatic, and very sobering, avalanches triggered by explosives or gasex cannons. One in particular was huge, taking out the entire slope. Had a wonderful Rosti for lunch, and did a few laps on an old 2-seat chairlift which was playing very Swiss accordion and yodeling music all day! Definitely knew I was in Switzerland  Also waved hello to brian's apartment next to the Grimentz gondola. Very nice!
It snowed lightly this morning and is snowing lightly now, with a heavier snowfall expected tomorrow. Our plan was to do a little bit of touring so I had rented some touring kit today (Legend 4800s, skins touring bindings) so spent a little bit of time trying out skins for the first time - bit easier than I expected it to be, but with continued avalanche forecast likely to be high we've abandoned that plans so I swapped my Legends for a pair of Stockli Snakes BC. Will be interested to see how they compare to my Karmas, but I doubt they'll work miracles with my off-piste abilities 
No photos I'm afraid as forgot camera 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 3-03-07 18:40; edited 2 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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rob@rar,
Great to hear that, hope the snow condtitions pick up for the off-piste.
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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've been in Laax today and conditions sound identical - superb high, wet and heavy low
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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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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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A fun day skiing around St Luc and Chandolin. Limited terrain was available in the morning because of very high avalanche risk and very high wind. Snow above 2000m was excellent, very silky smooth. Below that it was very heavy because of rain at resort level overnight and this morning. Hopefully the weather will be slightly better tomorrow and more terrain should open up as the pisteurs have been flinging explosives left, right and centre. The Swiss guys do love their big bangs!
Highlights of the day were the wild ride up a St Luc drag lift which had lots of wind blown snow on it and turned into a real adventure with huge ridges and troughs to navigate, and sampling the cholera at one of the St Luc huts. More details in ise's blog shortly
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| sampling the cholera |
Some photos from today courtesy of ise's blog.
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brian
brian
Guest
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rob@rar, good stuff ! Was Monsieur Walrus operating the 2 seat chair with the accordion music ? Quite a guy 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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quite a gent too - he swept the snow off the seats with a broom when I went up with a friend in heavy snowfall a few weeks ago.
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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 bottom one looks like you've been round in a circle !
good pics [thumbs up]
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You know it makes sense.
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| debbi wrote: |
| that bottom one looks like you've been round in a circle ! |
Upside down once or twice, but sadly not round in a full circle 
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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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rob@rar, looking good  What happened to the lime green?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rob@rar, I think you need to get your weight back a bit more
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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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FAQ
