 Poster: A snowHead
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In the absence of roving reporter Stewart Woodward, I thought I'd get the ball rolling for the Tignes Summer Ski Season. I'll do my best to keep you all up to date with snow and weather conditions, as well as the comprehensive summer activities that Tignes has to offer.
Today was the first day of the Summer season here in Tignes, so I keenly headed up to the Funicular for a 7:30 start, and was surprised to see an empty car park, with only a handful of race team mini-buses (mainly Italians no doubt taking advantage of either the Col du Petit St Bernard or Col d'Iseran, both now open.)
Though pipped at the start by an alpine snowboarder, he was easily taken, leaving me the first punter down the slopes this year. Unfortunately the torrential rain we had at resort level last night hadn't fallen as snow up top and the descent down Glacier and Leisse was a bit hard in places. The best snow on the mountain was skiers right of the 3500 T-bar, and further down on Rosolin, where the snow was the best it's been in years. Firm and grippy, the conditions were perfect for big carve turns so it was no surprise to see the local Club des Sports racers hanging out there.
Spotted on the mountain were Lee from Melezes, who had brought their first clients up, Neil from Alliance, warming his legs up before a summer of snowboard coaching, as well as ESF 'Poubelle' Gabbi who had a heap of political anecdotes that were completely lost on me.
Leaving the mountain at lunchtime (no sign of slush at 12pm today) Tony from the Alpaka was spotted on the second hole of the Golf course, who had traded fresh tracks(!) for the first round of golf of the year in Tignes. Tony, a Savoyard name for 'he who always knows the weather forecast', said the freezing level is dropping to 2400m tonight so we could see some powder tomorrow. I'll let you know 
Also spotted were a few fisherman wading in Le Lac de Tignes and some sightseers on the Grand Motte. I hear mountain biking is open from next week, if you need the lifts to get you up there. Glorious sunshine so far today, with just a few clouds rolling in and out. The snow forecast looks like it'll be a light dusting tonight. Bring it on!
Also Tignespace has a 'Fete de Musique', which I'll be checking out later 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rorie, welcome to  and thanks for the report.
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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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rorie, Welcome, and keep up the good work.
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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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Hi Rorie
Great report. Are you sure you're having as much fun on that glacier as you used to on the plastic fantastic? How's your magic venture coming along?
Best wishes to you both!!
XX
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hi Gillian, I abandoned Ania in Poland for a few weeks so she can catch up with family and friends. In the mean time I start work on Monday, building a chairlift in Valfréjus, so my skiing exploits will be limited to weekends. No ski school work for a few months yet, but hey, I've got bills to pay  ! Hope the boys are well and picking up lots of medals.
Thanks Mrs W, easiski, and flowa, I'll try and keep regular posts.
PS Apparently it was Bikini contest today on the glacier, and I missed it! If I stick with my vegan diet, I might be a top seed for next year
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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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Mrs W, 
rorie, welcome from me also. Hope you keep the reports going over the summer - I've not been up the Grand Motte during the summer so very curious about conditions.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rorie, welcome. Glad to see you finally got round to posting.
The 'Old Crockr' still talk about our superb lesson 
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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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Sorry Mrs W, no photos today. I'll get some next weekend. I think Stewart Bernard is coming out for a Natives 'staff and sponsors' race so I'll try and get some shots of that.
Good to hear from you Frosty the Snowman. I think it was two years ago or more when I first signed onto Snowheads, but it took me this long to post anything!
rob@rar, I think today might have been summer skiing at it's best! Report as follows.....
Day Two- What a belter!
As predicted by local weather man Tony Alpaka, 15-20 cm of fresh snow fell last night, making a huge difference to what were pretty icy pistes yesterday. Also the Vanoise chair opened today, which didn't seem to appeal to the racers, leaving me lapping the red run (face), picking up fresh tracks for about an hour.
I spotted a few brave souls heading off-piste under the chairlift, but there couldn't have been enough snow to hide all the rocks and I couldn't justify damaging my skis when it was so good on piste .
Yesterday, the main run down from the top, 'glacier', was a bit of a nightmare to say the least. The previous nights rain had left a rock-hard, super-icy top layer of snow, but no sign of this today. Everywhere I skied- it was perfect; albeit a bit heavier by lunchtime due to sun, today the conditions were better than the last time I skied up there, back in April.
I didn't spot anyone I knew up there today. There were clearly more race teams on the mountain, but no queues anywhere. The first Nordic skiers on the cross country track today: three were Japanese Team Girls plus their coach. Plenty of 'dudes' (mostly French locals I think) were taking advantage of the snow-park, which looks to be in good shape.
Sunny all morning, clouds rolled in by the early afternoon.
Down in the village, once again I spotted a few golfers and fishermen, plus the picnic area was rammed, and someone had the barbecue going. Also, I took a walk down to Les Breviers yesterday and it looked like the Tignes Adventure Trail was open (monkey bridge, death-slide, etc.)
Quick 'hello' to Paul and Rob who were staying in the Alpaka last night. They had driven their motorbikes from Bilbao in North Spain, across the South of France, up to Tignes and were heading into Italy today across one of the mountain passes. Even more interestingly they both live in Stroud, my surrogate home-town in Gloucestershire. I've never met them before despite both of them knowing loads of people I know. Small world.
Okay, this is where I sign off until next Friday, as I've got to go to work for a few days.
cathy,
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Building a chairlift?? That's a bit clever!
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I'm not being hired for my brains, but I'll let you know how clever it all is next weekend 
There were a few Brits race training up there today, maybe someone else can pick up the mantle over the next few days?
Over and out!
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You know it makes sense.
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rorie, nice report. Very envious! I skied all day indoors yesterday, so not quite the same as your day ...
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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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rorie, great to have you on snowheads - fascinating posts.
Gillian, the links from your thumbnails got a flickr links that will not show the photos to mere punters, because they are private. Please, nicely, either make the photos public (don't know how, since I joined flickr only so that I could see your pics) or our own snowMedia zone zone for thumbnails that link to larger pictures elsewhere.
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Poster: A snowHead
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achilles,  How weird? Sorry. Think i've sorted the problem now. Can you see them now?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Gillian, yup. Thanks.
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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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Tony, a Savoyard name for 'he who always knows the weather forecast'.
What is the English translation of the Savoyard (or Teerachu?) word 'dude'?
Keep up the posting Rorie.
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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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Sorry Kenzie, five minutes of Google-ing and I came up with nothing. I have found the Arpitan Savoyard word for 'dude' if that helps? 'Brojho' is the local dialect equivalent of the French word 'mec', though it is argued in this interesting article http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2004/12/000294.php that perhaps there is no French word for 'dude' as it's usage is far more versatile than it's Gallic (or presumably Artipan) translation.
I'm back from chairlift building in Valfrejus. Cathy mentioned it sounded clever, and she was right, it's just that I'm not doing much of the clever stuff. We do a lot of work in holes and pour concrete, but it's really precise stuff actually; we're not even allowed a centimetre of error. Summertime in the mountains has been really sunny most of the week, though at 2000m there's always a bit of wind-chill so a jumper is required. I'm not looking forward to doing this job in autumn as we work 12 hour days whatever the weather, though as my ski school manager encouragingly said "if (I) survive a summer of pouring concrete, the winter at the ESF will seem like a doddle."
On with the skiing- It's been pretty rainy in Les Boisses this evening, and the snow report says that it's probably raining on the glacier too. I'm planning on going up tomorrow morning so I'll keep you all posted.
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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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Probably the best day of the season so far. The sun was shining, the snow was soft and I was lapping up every minute of it!
Driving up from Les Boisses, Phil Smith was easily spotted in his Retro-Eighties one-piece!
This was taken just off the side of Leisses where the off piste was great fun. Those Sahara winds have been dirtying-up the snow, but the skiing was great. Here's another piccy from a far:
I spent most of the time carving up Rossolin on my GS skis, before hitting the rut-line up on 3500:
The bumps come at you fast, especially on the long skis, but the soft snow was very forgiving.
The cross country track remains popular with a handful of enthusiasts who all have been skiing classic, rather than the modern skating style, probably because of the soft conditions. Only a couple of snowbladers spotted, reassuring proof that this cruel and barbaric alpine discipline is thankfully in decline.
Today was the opening of Palafour for mountain bikers and there was noticeably more people in the resort.
I finished off my trip to Tignes with a salade nicoise at the Terachu, sitting on the terrace by the lake. They opened on Friday and have a really nice menu, with rooms available too from 35Euro for a double... Bargain!
I'm back to work tomorrow, so no posts until maybe next Sunday (My international-jet-setting fiancée is stopping by for a couple of days, so I'll see if I can talk her into a love-ski!)
Merry Christmas from Tignes
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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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Okay dokey! Just a quickie! Skied this morning, mainly the bumps up on 3500, which are awesome. There's been a few teams training up there so the moguls are in great shape. Still plenty of racers to be found down on Rossolin and noticeably more of the general public too.
Everything's up and running in resort. Aeroski is now open for the mountain bikers, bike park is running and the activities area is rammed with sports teams.
That's it until next weekend. There is the Natives event here so I'll try and report back on that and get some more photos.
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Does it still cost £12.00 for a bottle of Magners cider in Tignes during the summer?
Would love to try the summer boarding over there but i just cant justify the rip of prices these days 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Probaly a daft question. How do they get there mountain bikes in the aeroski? Or are they attached outside?
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chect2000, On the inside, pulled into wheelie position.
There's a Natives event on this weekend in resort. I raced for T4 Nanny in the team dual-slalom, and we think we might have won. At least we were in the final and though the other team did finish before us, there were rumors that they missed a gate, but no clear decision was made so we'll have to wait for prize giving tomorrow evening.
Glacier was looking a bit ropey today, but there's some weather coming in tonight and the talk is that the freezing level should drop, so I could be skiing fresh tracks tomorrow morning. That'll make for an interesting giant slalom event!
There was fun and games on the the water jump this afternoon which I sadly missed as I had to go to Geneva.
I'll try and put together one of my more comprehensive posts for tomorrow or Sunday.
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You know it makes sense.
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SNOW ON THE FOOTHILLS!
What a surprise! There was was a surprise dusting of snow as low as Tignes Le Lac this morning, but with 120km/h winds on the Glacier there was no chance of skiing today. Sun is forecast for tomorrow so I hope I can sample some fresh tracks up there. Wishful thinking for July? I'll let you know!
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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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Fingers crossed for you for tomorrow!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Blimmey. It's summer and theres a covering of snow down to Le lac. How much is there further up??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rorie
Mrs MA & I are out there in a couple of weeks for six days ski/bike/hike so keep the info coming!
Cheers.
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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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Hi rorie, great posts.
We are going out to our new (to us) apartment middle of August for a week and plan to try the summer skiing for the first time.
It sounds like it might be better than I was expecting
Where can we get the weather info from when we are there?
Also, silly question but where do you get the lift passes from in the summer? The maison de Tignes was closed when I was there during the first week of July. We are still finding our way around!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Split1950 wrote: |
Also, silly question but where do you get the lift passes from in the summer? The maison de Tignes was closed when I was there during the first week of July. We are still finding our way around! |
Perhaps the caisse near the funicular station in VC - seeing as you'll have to be taking the Funicular up the hill anyway!
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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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Hi Split1950, bertie bassett is quite right, STGM office next to the funicular at Grande Motte is your port of call. I usually look on the snow-forecast.com for the weather forecast and it's normally pretty good.
I'm just back from work so I hope to get some skiing in tomorrow and I'll keep you all updated.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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where's rorie's weekend report got to then??!!
The standard has been set - so now he's got to keep them coming  !!
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Split1950, if you look up Meteo France they have mountain forecasts for all the resorts. I generally look at Meteo France and snow-forecast then choose the one I like the look of.
And, of course, you'll be able to look out of the window....
have fun.
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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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I keep looking at this thread hoping to find some up to date info and/or pix of the conditions in Tignes .... No info???
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worwie is too busy building lifts single handedley (if thats a word) to be playing in the glacier
needs some fresh at the moment isotherme is at 4500 at the moment so the glacier is proper icey.
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FAQ
