 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Will be in tignes next week and just realised that the combined downhill will be on sunday morning (10.30-) at Val d'Isere.
I can see roughly on the piste map where the course is. I've never been to this ski area before.
can anyone help with recommending where along the course i should try to get to for a good vantage point ?
I'm assuming that there will be open runs next to the downhill course ?
cheers all,
Gareth,
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Are they using the 'new' 2009 course this time? Is that from the top of Solaises area back into town? Or is it on the OK/Orange run into La Daille?
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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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Stand at the bottom and you'll get a view of more or less all the course. I'm not sure if there are any vanatage points next to the race piste.
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Guvnor, It's the Face du Bellevarde (the 'new' course used for the '92 Olympics and for next years World Championships).
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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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fatgaz, It is on the "Face" piste. I suspect that the Olympic gondola will be used by the resort for official purposes. if not then ride it up and down all day long and you will get the most amazing views.
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Is it the womens on the Solaises in 2009 then?
Anyway, if it is on the Face, then get to the deck at the Sun bar.....although I suppose it'll be a bit busy, so anywhere at the bottom
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Bellevarde is probably best seen from the bottom as rob@rar said. Otherwise I think you'd need to go off piste for vantage points. (the old OK was better higher up and had lots of places you could access from other pistes).
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as Rob @ rar says, the FACE run hosting the course is very visible from the centre of val di'sere - ski down Santons and as you ass under the SOlaise gondalo, the course will come into view to your left
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Along the course there (I think) are three options. (1) Near the top. Will be busy with other people who are using the L'Olympique and Funival lifts. Move a little further downhill and not much of the course is visible. (2) On the traverse between the Belvarde Express and Loyes Express chairs. May be OK but you are on the same sloping plane as the course and so may not see much of it. (3) Near the bottom. Lots of good vantage points around the nursery slopes from where something around 75% of the course is visible and also the results board (a big electronic thingy).
There may be some access to the side of the course, I don't know. During practice a few people can be seen on weird bits of rock that have better views. I would recommend the bottom and take some binoculars.
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err, OK.
just had a look at the pist map - i can see how the whole area of the 'face' will probably be closed to public traffic as the blue and red runs (from the bellvarde express and loyes express) cut right across ?
is that sun bar at the top of the bellevarde lift ?
so the santons blue run will take me down towards the main arena. I guess if the olympic gondola is not publicly available I'll need to walk through town to get to the ffunival railway to get back towards tignes ? not entirely clear which way to go to get over to stantons from tignes from the map.
thanks peeps.
Gareth.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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To get to santons from tignes you need to head over to the top of belvarde then down fontaine froide. Getting back, i rather suspect you will be able to use the olympiique gondola, but if not there's a free bus service to the funival as it's a fair old walk
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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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If I were going to watch, I'd catch the old Olympic chair up from the bottom of the face, and stand near the lovely restaurant that's just below the really steep bit after the dog leg half way down. I'd also order the duck salad for lunch, and the vin chaud to keep me warm.
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fatgaz, The sun bar is at the bottom of the Face, near the gondola station....huge open roof terrace
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You know it makes sense.
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As part of the bid for the 1992 Olympics, which were centred on Albertville believe it or not, the French committed to a number of new facilities and race courses being constructed.
A race course was therefore designed for the Face, by a former Swiss racer (Russi?) I recall, even though a perfectly good racecourse was already in existence at La Daille and the Face was re-engineered to some degree to make the course possible. One of the claims made for the Face course was that it gave spectators at the foot of the mountain the ability to see far more of the race than at any other course. Whether that is absolutely true I am not sure, but it seems like a pretty valid claim because on most courses you only seem to get a brief glimpse of the racers as they whizz past. If the claim is correct then I would think the best place to watch the race is from the bottom.
Most of the downhillers preferred the old course because the dog leg in the middle of the Face means they have to slow down too much and paradoxically because the lower part of the Face is pretty steep, they have to route the course to slow things down further.
The OK course at La Daille by contrast, is an ideal pitch all the way down with the terrain offering a much more natural route. For those reasons as soon as the Olympics were over they went back to using the OK course and as far as I know this may be the first time since then that the Face has been used for racing. It probably does make sense to run a combined on it rather than a pure downhill.
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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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richjp, they're running a pure downhill on it on saturday  then super combi on sunday...
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Poster: A snowHead
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The old OK is, if anything, too flat. It is possibly the best course for ordinary skiers to try at speed (except you must slow down for what would otherwise be a blind jump half way down and the bottom section is generally too crowded to take fast).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowball, good trees off to the right if there's fresh snow though.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Should be a good pow. day for anyone out there 
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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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Canceled.
Any news
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Is it going to be re-arranged?
and are the events that were meant to go ahead tomorow, are they continuing?
I was well looking foward to watching it. I'll just have to be content with watching skiier cross and womens DH from St.Moritz.
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OK, third and last time I will write it - super combi scheduled for tomorrow IS EXPECTED TO GO AHEAD 
following from eurosport website:
"Organisers said a men's super-combined - a downhill plus a slalom leg - scheduled for Sunday would go ahead as planned.
The postponed downhill should be held in Kvitfjell in Norway between February 27 and March 3."
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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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vivski, any news on the super combined tomorrow? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'm down the Tarentaise in Les Arcs and I've heard rumours that the super-combined might go ahead. Can anyone confirm...?
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| I'm down the Tarentaise in Les Arcs and I've heard rumours that the super-combined might go ahead. Can anyone confirm...? |
Sun forecast for tomorrow so should be no problems for super combined.
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FAQ
ah well, meant to be better tomorrow so the super combi can go 
