 Poster: A snowHead
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Not me unfortunately, but some friends out there.
| Welsh phil wrote: |
We've had one one of our worst days skiing ever today. The chalet is great and the chalet girl is even better! The view of the Matterhorn the first day was very impressive but that's it for the good points so far. It took us nearly an hour and a half just to get on the slopes today. Having taken the bus to the top end only to find all the lifts up there were closed because of the wind so we caught the bus back down to where we started. It then takes you 4 modes of transport to get to the top none of which involve putting on your skis and skiing! Most of the snow has gone. All the south facing runs are grass. What snow there is is hard packed sugar with a liberal sprikling of stones. Considering this was one of my 50 places to see before you die places it's not wowing me yet. Still, it's only day one so I'll give it bit more of a chance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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 Noooooooooooooooo
I'll have to quadruple the amount of Snow dances being done.
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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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minx, south manchester? I'm in Marple: howdy, neighbour
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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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nbt, howdy back - Cheadle Hulme  Getting a bit windy here
Please keep me updated on his reports. Ta.
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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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That's a bit unbelievable, I just put the phone down to someone in Zermatt who described the conditions as excellent.
Probably should have checked what lifts were running before setting out, had they looked at the report they'd have known they were 80kph winds and lifts were closed in many stations, Grindelwald ended up evacuating people from a lift over there. They should give this "great" chalet girl a hard kick, she ought to have got the report for them. There's some closures today if she's not bothered to find out again
The lift company number is Tel +41 (0)27 966 01 01, they'll explain what's open or not.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks ise, nice to see you back 
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| ise wrote: |
| They should give this "great" chalet girl a hard kick, she ought to have got the report for them. |
Why?
Is a chalet girl supposed to be some sort of brain substitute?
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| This time, Welsh phil wrote: |
Surely that's the point; two thirds of the resort is closed and the information provided is not clear enough to stop us from going up the cable car before we find out it's closed. We had to go to that area because Anna had skiing lessons and that's where she was told to meet.
Yesterday was much better for skiing. Still only one third of the resort open but it had put down about 5cm of snow overnight which made everything more rosey. Because everyone is crammed into a small area the resteraunts are full which meant we had to eat outside in about -10. We lasted about 25 minutes before finally managing to get a seat inside just before hyperthermia set in. Although the skiing was much much better we are getting a bit bored of the same runs time and time again.
It snowed much of yesterday evening and night giving us about 5 or 6 inches of powder today. We spent 2 hours frolicking in the stuff basically off the same run this morning before we had to stop to pick up the girls at 11. This proved to be a big mistake. We decided to book a table for lunch because of the overcrowding. We could only book for 12 which meant there was no point leaving for a ski before then. So by the time we eaten, having been served by another waiter with face like a smacked back bottom who can't be bothered to find out what the soup of the day is, it's now 1pm. We look at the boards and the lower part of the Matterhorn is open so Rach, Rod and I set off on the train up to the top to head back down to the Matterhorn side. We make our way across and the weather is not brillient but we've skiied in much worse conditions. We finally reach the gondola to take us up the Klein Matterhorn and low and behold the bloody thing is closed again. So it's back on the bus down to the town and back up the funiculer again by which time it's bloody 3:30 and there's only time for 1 more run through the trees before we have to head home again.
Now don't get me wrong, I know the conditions are not the best but they're not the worst by a long way. The overcriwding and poor linkage due to the closures are cauising much frustration and the service you receive considering you pay £9 for cheese on toast is rubbish and did I mention they haven't banned smoking in the bars and resteraunts.
Let's hope for lots more snow and lower wind speeds to make this a much more pleasureable experience I'm sure.
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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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they're a bit "glass half full" your friends
It's a bit "odd" the boards didn't point out the KL was closed, the website had it on all day. There's still 70kph or more winds, not really ideal at 3800m. I also happened to call the lift company myself, I'd planned to do a route over there and to check something else, and they told me it was closed.
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nbt, Zermatt sucks... I bet more of Cervinia was open, they're not hamstrung by BS H&S regulations...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you can't ski every weekend, then being in a resort with snow is a bonus - we have previously been in resorts without snow and that truly is awful
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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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Some people this week will be having a miserable time, the conditions are actually pretty good in terms of skiing but the weather's horrible. Some good skiing in the gaps in the weather though.
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Not logged on for a couple of days, here are the updates in the meantime
| On thursday, Welsh Phil wrote: |
We had a nice sunny day today but the winds are still a bit too gusty to open the lifts over to Cervinia. As pointy things go the Matterhorn is pretty special so the blue skies brought it out a treat. The snow off piste isn't the best, a bit like a mild version of the crusty crud we got in Courmeueur when the powder disappeared. On piste is excellent until the inevitable icy mogals form in the bottlenecks as the day goes on. We also found a cafeteria self serve restaurant which made eating a lot less steressful and quicker if not that much cheaper.
So nearly all was good today except the resort let's its self down again. We got to the top of the cable car onto the Matterhorn glacier to find the choice of T bar or a chair but the chair wouldn't open until 10. You think after 3 days closed they could get the chair to open the same time as the cable car. They also closed the higher chairs in the afternoon because of winds we assume but there's no clear communication which means that massive queues build up before people sort of take the hint and wonder off.
Let's hope these winds die down so I can enjoy myself for a full day and not find things to whinge about.
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| And then on Friday, Welsh Phil wrote: |
Not much to report yesterday. Sunny skies and no wind meant everything was open so we headed over to Cervina. The runs over there are very blue wide open cruisey runs. Much easier to get in the resteraunts, no queues for the chair lifts so a much more relaxing day.
Rod has decided we're to have a late start today and Rach is not feeling too well. I'm really nervous worying about Wales. Sunny blue skies again today so a nice relaxing day on piste I reckon.
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Wonder how he'll fare trying to find a pub showing Wales vs France? Today (Saturday) is their last day skiing, so if he can avoid the news then he could always watch it on the BBC i-Player tomorrow
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You know it makes sense.
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We were in Cervinia last week, skiing Zermatt on several days, Started off a bit warm, slushy in the afternoons, but got steadily colder, and with a large fall of snow on Friday 21st, and very cold temps conditions by Saturday were absolutely superb. Were very impressed by Zermatt skiing - well linked, miles of interesting pistes, and mainly uncrowded.
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