 Poster: A snowHead
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Well here we are in VT.
Bit of a slush fest going on, but the piste bashers are working hard to try and flatten it every once in a while.
Had an uneventful trip to get here. Contrary to expectation we did fit everything into BMF_Skier's little car!!! Bless its little wheels 
The Minimum's are already knocking off the 'firsts': First bubble, First cable car, first 6 seater chair lift, first restaurant meal on the mountain and a few reds with the ski school. Oh yes, the ski school - first morning this morning - talk about partially organised chaos - god knows how the instructors get through it every week  You seem to stand around for ages in a melee of kids, parents and instructors - then in the finish every child appears to get paired off with a green and white jacket and disappears as if by magic!!
The Olympiades appt. (meant for 6) is cramped with 4! They had the beds for 6 set up when we arrived, and you wouldn't want 6 adults in it for any length of time - the last 2 beds fit in the 'living area' and they leave about 1ft of space around the edge of them and no room to open doors, sit at the table etc. The kitchen area is 'compact and bigu' (leastwise I expect that's how and estate agent would describe it!!) No kettle!!!!! Only 2 electric hobs, a microwave, a filter coffee machine, No potato masher! no cooker, but a socking great big full size dishwasher in the space which could far more usefully be occupied by a cooker. Still I guess you can't call yourself a cook unless you can turn out masterpieces on 2 hobs!! It takes me back to my camping days 
Have knocked off tete rond, my notrious fond (which is actually quite a doddle now), gentiane - which is pleasant meander in the slush and several of the lower pistes - hoping to get up to Cime Caron tomorrow morning weather permitting - it blew a hoolie yesterday hence staying low then, and not so much time today with only 2 hrs with the kids at ski school much of which was taken up with the first day sorting out - hoping for more serious ski time tomorrow.
BMF_Skier has signed up for web access all week so hopefully will be able to post some more reports as things progress.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 14-04-09 17:35; 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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Hi - good to hear from you! I was wondering how things were going. Is it really 12 months ago we were in the Oxalys?? From your description the conditions sound a bit different this year - is it very different?
I'm not really surprised at the sardines sleeping arrangements which sounds typical of tour ops policy, winter & summer & lets them make a mint out of "under-occupancy" charges. It makes you appreciate the Oxalys big time, doesn't it?
Gentiane - did that one afternoon last year and recall it was a nice but rather busy & a bit slushy by the time we did it mid-afternoon. Seem to remember there was a bit of a "play-area" just off the right hand side of the piste where one or two were having fun and falls galore! My favourite run I think (apart from the nice green circuit via the Deux-Lacs & Knife/Fork restos) was Moraine - never tried Plein Sud as I was told by many I would not like it! Hoping to go back next year 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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Megamum, you almost never get kettles (or potato mashers) in genuine French apartments! Potato ricers, sometimes.
Val Thorens sounds remarkably like Les Saisies, slush-wise. Once it's as warm as this, the altitude doesn't help enormously. It's been really warm for ages and ages. Cleverer people keep telling me that slush isn't really hard work..... but I find it is! There are many different kinds of slush though - some really pleasant to ski, some definitely not. It's better on a snowboard, actually. Maybe this is the week for you and BMF Skier to take snowboard lessons? 
Glad the ski school is working out OK - that must be a big relief. Have fun.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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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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corona, Cloudy at lunch time on Wednesday, also v.windy. Hope it arrives. 
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Wednesday: Woke up to a stiff breeze - experience is proving that this is not good news for getting up high here. Sure enough we took the Moutiere chair once we had dropped the kids off and rode up into the teeth of a gale. BMF_Skier decided that descretion was the better part of valour and a warm coward was probably better than a cold hero so we made an early stop into Deux Lacs restaurant for an early hot chocolate and myrtille tart stop. BMF_Skier then decided that he would be better off with goggles and buff (I already had mine on  ) so we went to the Poma back into town where he rescued the afore mentioned items from the appt. and whilst he was gone I managed to 'blink in' a couple of contact lenses (which I also tend to carry) whilst standing on the relatively sheltered area of piste at the top so I could use my goggles which I carry on my helmet anyway. Suitably attired for the gale that blew for the rest of the day we set of again, but somehow we were not impressed with the concept of going up high, and decided to run the Cascades blues in each direction before collecting the kids. A lengthy lunch followed after which I took the kids out by myself. We looped Deux Lacs via its lift and I gave the kids the option of popping up Moraine, but they didn't want to go up into the wind so we went in both directions on Cascades again. By then it was getting really heavy. We were down low which wasn't helping the snow anyway along with the majority of the population of VT, and (I think) every lower resort in the valley and the slush was just getting deeper by the minute so we decided to call it a day.
There have been minor snow flurries most of the afternoon, but its only been in the wind and has not really made any impact on the pistes at resort level yet. Fingers crossed that it might get its act together overnight.
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FAQ
The warmer weather appears to have arrived here a week earlier than 2008. We have plus temps, including the nights, forecasted for the next three days.
