 Poster: A snowHead
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Simple really - what is the road upto the resort that scares the wits out of you every times you go up or down it. I hate it when the 'drop side' doesn't seem to have any form of barrier or restraint, and you think if you put a wheel over you could end up looking like you're trying to be in a james bond film. Does it make a difference on a tour bus or when driving yourself - I certainly recollect the tour bus upto plagne 1800 made me feel a little edgy..
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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5am in a coach in snow and ice coming down from Peisey in Les Arcs was a buttock clenching experience
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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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| thefatcontroller wrote: |
| 5am in a coach in snow and ice coming down from Peisey in Les Arcs was a buttock clenching experience |
Whose buttock did you clench and did they appreciate it?
Alpe d'Huez is pretty scary - plus there are at least 23 bends.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Reminds me of a million punter complaints. Ooh the driver was incompetent, it was dangerous, he doesn't know what he's doing, overtook people on blind corners, drove too fast, didn't have any chains, XXXXX TO is irresponsible, I'm going to complain .... blah, drone.
Actually Madam, he does this for a living, has driven the route more times than you've had a good moan (he left school early) and is a responsible driver who has no wish to damage himself, his coach or his passengers. The person who has no clue is YOU, you silly cow. Now shut up.
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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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DCG, there are 21 - they are numbered.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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The la Rosiere road is the worst I have done. Lots of tight U bends, narrow, with steep drops. Last time I did it I was cradling a sick child (not mind) and a bag of tepid vomit.
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I remember shitting it in the back seat of the coach up the switchbacks to Champaluc (sp?). But I was only about 8 when I was there.
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Lizzard, spot on. I usually find the standard of coach and driver to be exellent, but with legroom for dwarfs & pixies.
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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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| Fergus wrote: |
| I remember shitting it in the back seat |
I think this was scariest roads, not worst thing done in a coach. Is 'myself' missing from that sentence. God, I sound like Hurtle 
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 3-11-08 20:06; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Apparently access roads to New Zealand ski fields have their moments:
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On the way up the mountain, when the sun was shining and the sky was pure blue, we had remarked that this was a treacherous piece of road.
Trapped in the blanket of fog, unable to see much past the bonnet of the car, and knowing that a wrong turn could send us hurtling to the bottom of the hill, it seemed even more treacherous. |
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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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Valberg in the Alpes Maritime .. everything else will seem like a German autobahn after that ...
if you've done it ..you'll know what I mean !
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| Lizzard wrote: |
Reminds me of a million punter complaints. Ooh the driver was incompetent, it was dangerous, he doesn't know what he's doing, overtook people on blind corners, drove too fast, didn't have any chains, XXXXX TO is irresponsible, I'm going to complain .... blah, drone.
Actually Madam, he does this for a living, has driven the route more times than you've had a good moan (he left school early) and is a responsible driver who has no wish to damage himself, his coach or his passengers. The person who has no clue is YOU, you silly cow. Now shut up. |
classic - punters hey!
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| Quote: |
Ooh the driver was incompetent, it was dangerous, he doesn't know what he's doing, overtook people on blind corners, drove too fast, didn't have any chains, XXXXX TO is irresponsible, I'm going to complain .
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Yes, to all that. From Kapaonik, in Serbia, to airport. Asked driver to slow down several times, he was going far too fast downhill, on a very icy road. The inevitable happened - huge skid down about quarter of a mile of road, ending up with the back of the bus (the bit all the kids were in ) over an enormous drop, bus turned 125 degrees, facing back up the road, across both carriageways. Driver tried to move bus, which lurched forward a foot or two, then back (towards the drop) another metre. "Please remain in your seats" said the rep. "No", I said, "we're getting out, from the back". And so we all did, back row first, standing knee deep in snow up in the bushes on the high side of the road, looking in awe at an 8" slab of solid ice under the wheels. Sent scouts up waving red flannel petticoats up and down the road to stop other badly driven transfer buses crashing into ours. The TO rep just stood there being useless; I think she was in shock.
The drivers are generally good and competent, but not absolutely always.....  My OH had an insurance-financed private taxi to Lyon airport once. The taxi driver drove fast with a cigarette in one hand, his mobile on the other, steering with his elbow down the bends from La Plagne. And a lot of the cars I see in ditches in the snow have local number plates. They're not all gods of the road.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
lot of the cars I see in ditches in the snow have local number plates
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Pitcher which goes most often to the well etc.
Tip: if you are a nervous passenger, sit in the middle of the coach. The ends will swing out over the edge and frighten you. And if your child gets motion sickness there is more movement at the ends of the coach.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Actually Madam, he does this for a living, has driven the route more times than you've had a good moan (he left school early) and is a responsible driver who has no wish to damage himself, his coach or his passengers.
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Well they do a really good job of appearing to be clueless then
Well certainly the one we had in Italy many years back
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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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I have to admit although I haven't driven any of the access roads/cols to resorts. As I still have Loser Plates (sorry Learner plates).
I quite enjoy being a passenger hurtling down hairpin bends.
I don't think Alpe d'Huez was bad at all, I don't recall any sheer drops without protection.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Well they do a really good job of appearing to be clueless then
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You don't know the road. You have failed to appreciate that he is overtaking just there because he could see what was coming two bends ago. He knows this and he looked.
He has swung the coach right out to the edge of the road just here because if he didn't he would catch the roof on the overhanging rock which you have failed to see.
He doesn't need chains at this point because he is driving a big heavy vehicle equipped with snow tyres. The cars which you see stranded beside the road (probably to Courchevel 1850) are expensive overpowered rear wheel drive vehicles driven by Parisians who have never seen snow.
.................. etc.
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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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I can imagine that me driving the red rocket up any resort access road would make a blind no armed coach driver seem the utmost in competence. Sorry Tim if you read this it'll be reet.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| The la Rosiere road is the worst I have done. Lots of tight U bends, narrow, with steep drops. Last time I did it I was cradling a sick child (not mind) and a bag of tepid vomit. |
Definitely La Rosiere, it was bad enough going up in the dark in a taxi with a cracked windscreen, worse coming down in heavy snowfall in a minibus with no seatbelts.
I don't remember Les Arcs as we were too busy talking to the rep who had just been sacked for serving bacon and eggs for dinner, and dragging firewood through someones bedroom. He was also in our bus the week before, going to start his new job .
Flaine caused travel sickness in one of our kids, La Plagne nearly caused a divorce, as it was the first time hubby had driven to the Alps, and I was the one in the passenger seat hanging over the edge, the Col du Lauteret is gorgeous in good weather and awful in snow and wind. Col du Monetgenevre in a coach is like being in the Italian Job, although we didn't have to blow the bloody doors off.
Lots of hairpins to Les Deux-Alpes, but I've never felt scared (thank you julesb
Sea to Sky highway from Vancounver to Whistler and back is also quite hairy, lots of accidents,but breathatking.
The transCanada from Calgary to Banff is boring, but very pretty once you get into the National park.
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Swirly, do NOT drive up the Traverses to 2Alpes please. There is nothing wrong with the main road from the dam.
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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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Lizzard, haven't really looked at that part of the journey yet, any advice gratefully received. Unless it's snowy (which is kind of a big thing) I doubt that any road up to a big resort would come close to some of the country roads in the UK e.g. hardknot/wrynose in the Lakes 30% gradient, very twisty, single lane with crumbling edges and a big drop.Of course the top of that can easily have a fair bit of snow on it in winter and probably won't get ploughed or have the police at the bottom turning people back.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think it's the conditions rather than the road. We're so used to steep narrow windy roads that they don't bother us. Scariest was coming down from C1650 a couple of years ago in a driving blizzard and sheet ice on the road, took us 2 hours to get to the roundabout at the bottom. Always makes me laugh, though, how scared the Germans are of the road up to Flims and Laax which is a big wide road with a couple of slightly sharper bends but no hairpins
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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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The winner is the road to Zinal. Nothing I've done even comes close to that one.
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| eng_ch wrote: |
| I think it's the conditions rather than the road. We're so used to steep narrow windy roads that they don't bother us. Scariest was coming down from C1650 a couple of years ago in a driving blizzard and sheet ice on the road, took us 2 hours to get to the roundabout at the bottom. Always makes me laugh, though, how scared the Germans are of the road up to Flims and Laax which is a big wide road with a couple of slightly sharper bends but no hairpins |
Depends on the driver - did a bit of a tour of the savoie once the lifts were closed on sunday (hence this thread!) The road upto la ros, completely dry and in good sunshine scared the beejesus out of me, but then I get scared watching movies when the tracking camera goes over the top of a building...and it's taken me a long time to enjoy chair lifts, but I still can't turn round...
OTOH I though the road down from plan-pesiey was fine...
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You know it makes sense.
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rob@rar, You really must come down here then !
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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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| Agenterre wrote: |
| rob@rar, You really must come down here then ! |
I really mustn't! The Zinal road was my limit, although it was dark and a proper blizzard. I had to use the sat.nav to see which way the road was going It was the most scared I've been when driving, worse than the time when I nearly drove a landrover into a volcano. Next time I go up the Val d'Annivers I'm going in daylight.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The road to Fox Peak in NZ in a motorvan was quite interesting. Unmetalled needing chains and some pretty big drops from memory.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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bertie bassett, we were driving, own familiar car, all-wheel drive, been driving in snowy winters for some years...
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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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Scariest resort journey?
Any road to / from resort with Mrs SM in the driving seat......
or the passenger seat for that matter. 
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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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Hunter Mountain in New York. I've seen scarier drives, but this is the scariest for an access road. There's a part with signs saying falling ice and rocks and there's a cliff next to you and it's really narrow.
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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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scariest roads are anywhere the pommies are driving. civilised world's worst.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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slim pickins, clearly you have never driven in Italy.
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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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Boredsurfing, I love that drive, winter or summer.
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I used to drive through Moss side every sat and sun night. The trick was to always leave enough space in front of the car at traffic lights so you could get out when the locals made contact.
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FAQ
la Ros chalet-owner and I felt relaxed the whole way. I am now suspicious that on the way up I probably dozed (after a night's "sleep" on the Eurostar) and on the way down we had had a large somewhat liquid meal in the nice place in les Eucherts and I was probably too "relaxed" to notice 
had a similar experience years ago coming down from Plagne Soleil and I dont usually care...the driver was trying to keep up with a local plate white van and they normally leave everything for dead, regardless of conditions 
