Les Deux Alpes - Summer 2007

A snowHead

ChickenDhansak,
Thank you for the advice.
Im sure we will have a great time.
Brian

A snowHead

flexrip, Sorry I was off line for a couple of days. If you read this then look me up - my fliers are in all the tourist offices with my phone number on. Be sure to give me a bell and we'll meet up for a coffee or beer. As you know Roger C and Mrs C will be here + R32 and mrs R32 are still here + Lizzard and Mr Lizzard who are always around. Annie & her family are staying in Venosc. We might get another mini-meet! Very Happy

the last 2 days have been very hot in resort, and Grenoble was nearly unbearable yesterday when I took Late Starter and her boys down to the train. I imagine it was pretty warm on the glacier but haven't been up, and will probably not be up there until Roger C's lessons next week. At the moment though, it's as it should be for summer - really nice and sunny with a slight breeze to keep you cool enough. Very Happy

My BB is still not sorted - I now have all the bits needed and find that in spite of saying they have sorted my ADSL line, they haven't. That will mean the end of next week for me to be properly set up again. I'm not downloading anything big as it takes too long and costs extra, but have discovered that I can download photos via the Windows system, so will have a shot at taking them and posting when I'm up next. Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

It was really nice up there today. Roger C and Mrs C are up for a couple of days. At 10.10 it was still pretty firm after a good re-freeze overnight, and even at midday it wasn't slushy. Very Happy

Some of the lower parts of the glacier are looking the worse for wear now, but on the whole the skiing is remarkably good for this time of year. Much better than last year. Virtually no crevasses appearing yet, and it's August. Very Happy

You need to Login to know who's really who.

It couldn't have been more different today. Firstly, the forecast was for showers and later thunderstorms (which was correct). Secondly the lift company didn't want to sell me day passes for Roger C and Mrs C, but I managed to persuade them. Very Happy

We went up and actually had some pretty fair skiing for a couple of hours, but weather-wise it threw everything at us - rain, hail, snowstorm, wind, sunshine and pretty much all at once!!! rolling eyes

We had a delay getting down when the wind got up really badly and they turned the Jandri Express off, but eventually it started again (very slowly) and they packed each cabin to stabilise them in the wind and off we went. Back to 2,600 to find we had to get down there in the cable car and then the Village chair lift. I parked the Cs in the Bon Canon having some lunch and went off to get the car to take them back to the centre. A very adventurous day altogether.

Forecast is better for tomorrow, and as it's been pouring and thundering and lightning all afternoon (but is not particularly warm), I'm hopeful that it will have been hail and snow up on the glacier. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

easiski, Not surprised the lift company were cautious after seeing the recent "windy" video. Sounds good though. lets hope fro a cold & wet October.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Frosty the Snowman, It's been an on and off thunderstorm all evening too. R32 got soaked going all of 75m to get cash (we ate at the Bangkok)! There are still huge hailstones lying around on the street. At this rate I'm quite hopeful for the glacier tonight. Very Happy

I won't be going up tomorrow though - Mr Lizzard has promised to come and plumb in my washing machine (volunteered by the Mrs!)

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

easiski, They've obviously decided the '12 in a cabin maximum' under windy conditions they tried when we were there is not the best option - hopefully they spent the 'offline' time packing different numbers of people in to see the best result rather than just trying a different tack as an experiment Shocked

Would make more sense to have more weight I think.
That must be at least a season's worth of adventure in the last two weeks.

After all it is free

Late starter, they've always packed them before, so I was very surprised at the 12 thingy! It wasn't nearly as bad though, they were being very careful indeed! Shock

Pleasant day today - very hot in resort in the afternoon, in fact it was much too nice to do anything much except read my book on the balcony. Very Happy

I didn't have any intelligence from the mountain though, so nothing to report. Next going up on Monday with Annie and junior Annie, so I'll see then. Very Happy

As already mentioned by easiski, Mrs C and I had a couple of mornings on the glacier wed/thur of this week. Conditions on Wed were great, there had been a good freeze overnight and it was lovely and sunny as you can see here:

I hadnt managed a lesson since last year's PSB so it was good to have the opportunity to work on some of the weaknesses in my skiing. The slopes softened up nicely in the sun and it was relatively quiet so we had a great session.

We did some interesting excersizes involving skiing on one ski and another that involved hopping that I remembered from the PSB lessons. After lunch Mrs C and I had a great walk down from the mid station of the Jandri Express although a wrong turn meant we did a bit more uphill than planned Shocked

Thur is was raining when we left our campsite in Freney D'Osians and set off up the hill. It was also very dark with some rumbles of thunder. Anyway as we were off to sample the delights of the Burgundy region that afternoon we were keen to get up to the glacier and give it a try. After some sterling work by easiski in the ticket office (see above) off we went. It was even quieter up there than Wed but as you can see the weather wasnt quite what you'd expect in August! Glad we packed the fleecy hats, goggles and mufflers........We had a mixture of rain/snow/hail/thunder and even some sun!

There hadnt been much of a re-freeze overnight and by the time we headed down conditions on the lower sections were less than ideal as you can see here!

Anyway it was the first time summer skiing for Mrs C and I and we both really enjoyed it. A couple of hours on the slopes in the morning to try and improve your technique ahead of next season and time to do some walking or whatever in the afternoon. LDA seems to be very well set up for this type of mixed activity holiday and we'll certainly be back there in future years Very Happy

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

easiski, Was great to meet you and all the other snowHeads. Thanks for taking us to the Bangkok, was well worth getting wet...Binh was spot on. Cool

Will be pleased to get back to work for a rest, Missus R32 will be back down in a few weeks to finish off the decorating!!

Shocking video of the Jandri Lift evacuation on the other thread, must have been terrifying for all those people Shocked

.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

R32, it was great to meet you too. Glad you liked Binh's - he's a bit odd, but the food is excellent isn't it? I still haven't seen the video as I'm still waiting for the BB to work. Deffo not on yet.

going up tomorrow, so I'll try to take the camera (forecast very good). Very Happy

snow reports

Roger C,

It looks a bit icy in the last photo!!!

johnboy, more like wet slush when we were there last month.

You know it makes sense.

johnboy it was indeed icy underneath but with the added fun of rivers of meltwater/slush running down the slopes as well! that line running diagonally from top right to bottom left above Mrs C's head in the pic is a stream ready to catch the unwary on their last run of the day........

to be fair though it was only the last bit as shown in the pic that was bad, further up conditions were very good on wed and still ok higher up on thur

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Roger C, I was caught by the stream too, Easiski jumped it, I followed her, but my skis didn't follow me. Embarassed

A snowHead

Helen Beaumont ooops! Was the water cold???

easiski had warned us about the stream so after watching some others to see where was best to cross we got over in one piece!

A snowHead

Roger C, I missed the water, and left my skis in it.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Helen Beaumont, To be fair, you only left one ski in it! Laughing

It was fab today, but I forgot my camera. I'm afraid I still don't have everything as well organised in the new place as I used to in the old. Also I don't want to leave it near the door where anyone can see it - they probably wouldn't know it was a cheapie ..... shades of .....

Anyway, the bit that looks so grey and horrid in Roger C's photo is now white again. We were on Muretouse which was good, the snow was just loverly - a little soft on a firm base. It got a bit softer by 12.30, and the last bit was pretty wet but otherwise OK. That last bit is getting better now that the most of the snowmelt has happened - they've moved the stream to the right hand side of the piste and then across at the very bottom, so it's much better to ski. Very Happy

The weather forecast for tomorrow isn't very nice, but better again on Weds. No high winds forecast though, and we may get snow down to about the middle on Thurs - whoooooooooppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. snowHead

You need to Login to know who's really who.

easiski,

Will this help conditions for the PSB??

brian

johnboy, no, you need to wait until it starts to cool down around October and then pray for snow.

You'll need to Register first of course.

johnboy, As brian, said "no". Good for the summer skiing though. Very Happy

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

[quote="easiski"][b]

Sorry we missed you. The last time I checked my mail was the night before we left (29th August).
Big pity, because the resort was pretty quiet at night.
We had a fab time though. Loved the resort. So much to do after skiing. Defo back next summer (end of May) and winter 09. We have already booked Livigno for next winter.
Had a good laugh with a few Irish guys in Le Cellar (Great food). Liam and Alan. Say hello please if you see them, and Jan in the Polar pub.
The Irish lads are working there for the summer. Thinking about doing this myself within the next year or 2. Im 10 years in an office at this stage and i'm 30 next year so it seems about the right time, and I hate working 9 to 5. Id much appreciate advice on how to be a ski instuctor speaking only english or other good ways of making money.
I know the courses cost a lot of money (for new zealand - 10 week course - it was around £4000).
We where very impressed with the amount of ski area for a summer, especially after the hail. They where nearly the size of golf balls, they felt like golf balls too. We also got caught in the Jandri lift that day too, cant complain though, as Ive been stuck in a lift for 3 hours in Austria before.
Just a lack of more difficult runs would be my only complaint, but overall we had a ball.
I was looking out for Roger C and his wife. Suprised we missed them as I was looking out for the pink Jacket.

Speak to you soon and sure we will meet up at some stage, I'll post some of our pics when I download them.

All the best, Brian and the gang.

After all it is free

flexrip, I'm glad you had a good time. WRT the difficulty of runs, of course if the glacier is steep there would be too many crevasses to ski on it! Therefore virtually all the skiable glaciers are fairly gentle. However, if you'd come at the beginning of July (or even in June), you'd have been able to ski the Dome (red), the Snowheads Wall (very steep on the right looking from the resto) and possibly the Echines des Chevres (off piste down to the bottom of Signal) ....

If you do a search of snowheads, the question of how to become an instructor has been discussed many times (or just look through the older threads on Bend Ze Knees). You will need a second language for sure, but don't need to be fluent.

anyway, today was absolutely horrid! It had rained hard, and the glacier looks similar to the pic of Hintertux on that thread. However, we did ski, and it was OK (certainly not good like yesterday). Possible though, and that's a bonus. Assuming the snow, forecast for tomorrow and Thurs does arrive, it will all go white again and be fine. Very Happy

Hi all ! My wife and I are summer ski virgins Embarassed

but have taken a late decision to go this year to LDA on Saturday. We realise that we have left it very late, but what can we expect in terms of runs open ? We are both more than happy with blues and greens as we're not great skiers and LDA seems to offer these on the Glacier. And is there somewhere we could possibly meet up with any friendly folk on the Saturday night for advice on lift passes etc. Please excuse all the 'newbie' style questions but we're both just excited to be going !
Thank you to everyone who posts on here as it helped us get some idea of what to expect. d&m Blush

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

D&M wellcome to snowHead

s - i'm sure easiski will be along with advice but in the meantime rest assured that the slopes on the glacier at LDA are ideal for learning/practicing your technique and not steep at all. The most difficult bit is at the bottom, the horrible looking bit in my pic above.

Last week all of the glacier was open but as you can gather from this thread the situation weather wise changes quickly. For passes, buying daily ones could be a good idea as it may be closed for some of the time you are there.

I'm not sure however how much more exp a collection of daily passes is than a 6 day or whatever. Another option is to have a lesson with easiski who can get a discount off the daily lift pass rate Smile

If you are planning to do some walking in the afternoons make sure you have your route well sorted as the signs and info seems to be more catered for the mountain bikers. We got a bit lost and ended up doing much more uphill than planned, not good when it's so hot........

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Roger C, the walking (I assume you mean 'walking' and not 'working')in 2Alpes isn't up to much. Better off getting in the car for 20 mins and doing Mizoen to Les Clots, Danchere to Lac de Lauvitel, La Berarde to one of the refuges, tour of the Signal de l'Homme ................ etc.

snow reports

Lizzard, spelling error fixed!

Next time we are there I'll have to get more details from you of recommended walks......

D&M, I'm more than happy to meet up with you when you arrive. My mobile number is on every page of my website (see below), so you can contact me when you're comfy! Just ask - no problem at all. Very Happy

Your question about the runs has already been answered.

OK, today it was cold, a bit of wind (not too much) and it was snowing. Shocked

So I've taken some pix. first the incredibly dreadful suit and hat combi that came up in the lift with us this morning. There are also views looking down from the top of the Dome Sud lift at 3,400m and also looking across to a very black sky from the same spot (that was over the Ecrins). One more is .............. what we were looking at when we left. Young Master Annie pulling a face! Laughing

Seriously though - look at the snow! Very Happy

The skiing today was actually OK, the snow was firm all over and some of the fresh stuff was sticking. Very Happy

Far fewer puddles than yesterday and already looking whiter.

It's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow, so it could be worth a non-working trip on Friday. Confused

You know it makes sense.

Thank you everyone for the replies ! I will give you a call once we get there easiski - had a look at the website, cheers. Can't come until Saturday as Eurotunnel & halfway hotel already booked !
Thanks again D&M

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Hmm. Bizarrely, it is beginning to look easier to go to the LDA than the Lake District for a few days this month. What sort of hours is glacier skiing sensibly on - 0900-1300?

At this stage I am just chewing over the possibility - got to look at cost and family politics, too!

A snowHead

achilles, i think the jandri express (lift from town) opens at 715am then the glacier lifts are open 745 until 1pm, sounds like you could be lucky with some fresh snow if you head over in the next few days...........

A snowHead

Roger C, thanks for that. Next thing is to look at hire car cost. Last time I transferred from Grenoble airport by bus I had a lot of waiting around to do at the airport and Grenoble station. OK when going for a week, but not for 2-3days skiing. If all looks on, I then have to casually mention what I am proposing to the household's Ways and Means Committee.

[edit] there is the bijou problemette that I still have only a paper British Driving licence. Anybody know if that is a problem when hiring a car in Europe these days?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

achilles, Old paper UK licences definitely NOT a problem ...

brian

achilles, I only have a paper licence and hire regularly. Is there any benefit in changing to a photo one ?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

brian,

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

brian, I've changed so that I don't have to carry my passport around with me. It works as full ID in France - very handy.

achilles, Roger C's, info is correct. Hell of a bunfight early though. However with fewer teams and clubs around it mightn't be so bad now. Snowpark lift (Soreiller) runs until 13.30 if you want to risk it. Shocked

brian

easiski, I see, that is handy.

btw, isn't the funicular open a bit later if you wanted to keep skiing ? Or do they stop skiers using it ?

brian, they stop skiers using it after 13.00 - unless of course you want to copy the skier in V8's vid in B z K.

A thoroughly cold and miserable day today. I didn't go up, and can't see anything higher than about 1700m because of low cloud. A very good chance that it's been snowing all day I would think. I can't get the webcam to display, and the plugin won't load....

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Yuk. Don't think I can do it. Bad flight time (for domestic reasons) out on the 19th by Ryanair on the 19th - no return flight available on the 23rd. Oh, well. It was a thought.

Help!!

Les Deux Alpes - Summer 2007

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Snow Reports - weather - snow conditions