 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm off to Flaine on Thursday and there looks to be a lot of snow forecast for the next few days and extending into the weekend. When you get snow you often get a lot of wind as well. What speed wind starts to cause them to close lifts? Any thoughts?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd heard, although sort of "bloke in pub"ish, that it's when there's a danger of the chairs/gondola hitting the pylon as they swing in the breeze.
Someone will put us right in a minute 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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oh dear  Flaine is forecast to have high winds over the next week or so although the worse may be over by the weekend. There's really not a lot open at Flaine itself and I'll be pretty surprised if the limited snow forecast this week will make much difference.
There's enough forecast to transform the rest of the domain though but wind is a real problem in the area and can shut all the lifts accessing the Tete des Saix which makes navigation between the stations quite impossible.
As for your actual question, it varies, most lifts have a sensor for wind speed and will stop in a gust automatically. The speed that causes a problem varies though, and the problem caused is due to the increased loading onto lift the wind will cause.
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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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It depends on local conditions I think. In my experience they keep the gondolas going so that the resort is technically open and they don't have to make refunds on lift-passes. In fairness, there are always sheltered lifts and exposed lifts. The companies put safety first.
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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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I'd not worry then, if you can get to Moillets in the car you'll have no problems at all. How long you there? I'll not be there this weekend, I've some stuff to do over the 4V way but I'll be there the following weekend.
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ise, Only around until end of play Monday. BTW is it the lifts from Flaine to Tete des Saix that close if it's windy or do all the lifts to there close? Also is there an easy way to find out which sectors are open in Le Grand Massif when in Flaine; the indicator boards only seem to say whether you can get out/back from Flaine and NOT what the rest of the area is like, and I won't have easy access to a PC.......
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Last weekend all 6 lifts up to the Tetes des Saix were shut, that the Grand Vans and Vernant were also shut was kinda academic coming from Morillon.
I usually ask one of the pisteurs of lift people what the state of the links is, getting the real detail is harder. They'll tell me in Morillon if it's open to Flaine or not but not how many lifts are actually running. There's some room for improvement with an integrated info system I think.
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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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Having spent a miserable hour on a chair in Flaine....howling wind, driving snow, freezing temperatures....being wound up one chair at a time every time the gale dropped enough to move the chairs safely I can tell you they keep the link open as long as possible! Be warned, if you go from one area to another the weather can change in an instant and the only way home can be a nightmare! Keep an eye on the signs, the linking lifts are all well posted and as soon as the red "Ferme" signs start to appear head on back asap.
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homphomp, which lift was that?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ise, Sorry, not a clue! Where Mr HH leads, I follow faithfully, sure in the knowledge that he knows where he's going! I know we were working our way back from Les Carroz to the main bowl in Flaine....it was a four man and was the only way back - everything else had shut down because of the weather....I've never been so cold!
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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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just wondered if it was one of the usual suspects  Sounds like the Vernant though.
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Chris I am going out there on Saturday for four days, staying in Sameons, also with a car.
So.. if it is windy where should we drive to?
Anyone got an idea how long it will take to drive from Geneva? The books say 1 and half hours
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You know it makes sense.
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around 1.5 hrs, maybe a bit less. From Flaine, if you still want to access Les Carroz and the links are closed you drive back down towards Les Carroz and stop at the 2nd car park which is Les Moillets, there's a restaurant there as well.
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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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We had our 1st weeks skiing in Flaine. The weather was shall we say variable-gales, lightning, snow,rain, sleet, the lot. Even the nursery slope chair was closed one morning
with the high winds. We didn't need an alarm clock, the avalanche charges woke us up every day!!! It's a wonder I ever skied again .
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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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| marc gledhill wrote: |
| I'd heard, although sort of "bloke in pub"ish, that it's when there's a danger of the chairs/gondola hitting the pylon as they swing in the breeze. |
Now that would be a strong breeze. The danger is probably more of the cables derailling from the pulleys in strong wind. That's why it is good if resorts keep 1 or 2 surface lifts.
My local resort stops the bubble lift when the wind is above 55kp/h. When I lived in Davos the cable cars used to run to 100kp/h... I've been in the Parsenn cable car when it was windier than this, not very pleasant. They lost the weather vane off the pisteurs hut roof that day.
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FAQ
. However we'll have a car so if we can't get out of Flaine by lift we could go by car instead to the Molliets and access some of the Les Carroz terrain for a change! Whatever we have it'll be better than being at work 
