 Poster: A snowHead
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A little adventure and a few snowy pictures...
We'd booked the Eurotunnel for our trip at a great saving thanks to Tesco vouchers and thanks mostly to Helen Beaumont and pam w who both have posted about how to go about sorting it out.
We were getting the 0420 crossing on Sunday 20th December to arrive in Les Melezes, Tignes les Boisses around 1600, in plenty of time to sort out the boys' boot hire and to have a cold beer or two before dinner.
On Friday, our last day at work, we woke very early to see if the forecasted snow had fallen. It had, a few inches deep, so we drove into work before most of the world was awake to beat the mayhem. We couldn't get to the bank during the day to pick up our Euros as High Wycombe was completely gridlocked because the M40 had been closed. No worries, we'd get them at the tunnel terminal. We usually have a stash of Euros left over from previous trips abroad but we must have spent them all.
Saturday was spent last minute washing and drying (boys arriving home the night before with lots of dirty washing  ) and watching the news about Eurotunnel and AA roadwatch about all the roads round Dover being blocked. We needed to get a few hours sleep before leaving at 0100 for the long journey, but just didn't know what to do. The Channel Tunnel Queue thread started by Bode Swiller made our minds up, so we ended up booking a ferry from Ramsgate to Ostend for 0700, a five hour crossing. Still, at least we'd be on our way. We left home before 0130 to leave lots of time for snow on the roads but after the first hour the motorways were clear and we were there early. Nothing open until the ferry office opened at 0545 and still no where to get any Euros. The crossing was uneventful - there are an awful lot of oil rigs and wind farms in that part of the world.
So 1300 we're in Belgium and on our way at last. The first few hours were fast with not much traffic and good weather, in fact around 1430, I sent admin a text to say the roads were clear and that we'd just heard from friends that they'd driven straight onto the Eurotunnel with no problems.
Not long after Reims, snow started falling and laying thick on the motorways. We pulled into a service station somewhere around Troyes for diesel and hoping to find a cashpoint to get some Euros out but no luck there. I took a couple of pictures there:
I didn't notice the number plate on the car in the second picture at the time, it was just a random snowy picture, but the number plate is T11 GNE! I guess they had a long journey ahead of them too.
We thought about stopping and finding somewhere to stay for the night, but so many cars were leaving at each exit that we decided they were all thinking the same thing and there wouldn't be anywhere to stay, so we decided to just carry on. The snowploughs were out on both sides but as soon as they'd cleared the snow it lay heavy again. We were all following each other slowly, in whichever lane was clearest, doing not much more than 15-20 mph at times, while the odd car or more scarily, big truck, came past quickly in the other lane. We saw one big truck jack-knifed with his cab stoved in, and how three cars pushing on past us escaped crashing into each other we still don't know - there must have been a split second when they all reacted, but it was so close.
We had hours of this, intense concentration required, because the falling snow was mesmerising.
We normally take it in turns to drive a few hours each, but I hadn't slept at all while JohnQ had got some sleep waiting for the ferry and then again for a couple of hours on the crossing. And having absolutely no Euros meant our usual habit of stopping for a double expresso wasn't possible. So John kept on driving while I sat next to him being an extra pair of eyes.
Somewhere round Lyon the snow stopped and the roads were clear - it was about 2300. We stopped for a bit and bought some chocolate and red bull on a credit card - still no coffee to be had. But actually the red bull was a lot more effective! We probably got to Chambery before the snow started again, so back to very slow and careful driving. It was quite magical driving into Bourg-Saint-Maurice at 0300 - Christmas lights everywhere, no one around and snow lying thick and deep. We stopped and got some Euros out of an ATM at long last! We'd been in touch with Les Melezes to let them know what was happening and they were ok about our late arrival because other guests were having problems with their journeys too. One family ended up in Zurich when Geneva got shut and had to get the train back to Geneva for their transfer 
It took an hour to get up from Bourg to les Boisses, fresh snow falling and deep powdery snow on the roads. I wish I'd taken a picture or two because it was beautiful but we were all concentrating so hard on helping John drive we hardly dared move! We didn't have winter tyres, we had some snowchains but didn't need to use them - the 4 wheel drive just kept chugging on up the hill and round the hair pin bends, until we eventually arrived at Les Melezes at 0400, only 12 hours later than we'd planned. And we got a cold beer! 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 31-12-09 14:06; edited 1 time 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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RachelQ,
And I thought my 3 hr delay in Belfast was bad!!!!!!! 
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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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Crikey - what a journey! There's true snowhead dedication  Is there going to be a second instalment?
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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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RachelQ,
Yes, we need more!!!
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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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Well, there was always going to be a Part Deux, just needed to find some time to do it!
Chasseur, some of the staff were still transporting people from Geneva, so the place was still up and about and my first question "Is the bar open" was met with an "of course, what would you like!"
I'm rubbish at taking my camera out of my backpack/pocket when I'm skiing, mostly because my hands are cold and I don't want them to get even colder taking my gloves off.
The week was fantastic, the snow was so much better than we'd thought it could be. From looking at webcams and reading on here we'd thought we wouldn't be able to ski back down to Les Boisses, but after three hours sleep we were up for breakfast and out by just after 9.00. The sun was out, the snow was fluffy and we skied. Lots. We didn't even go over to the Tignes side on the first day - we really liked the skiing over on our Les Boisses and Les Brevieres side, especially when the light was flat. Our first coffee stop was in the Etoile des Neiges opposite the gondola in Les Brevieres and I'd forgotten that I'd read on here not to go there. We knew why when we got the bill - 25 Euros for 3 small coffees and a small coke. Never went there again! Today was JohnQ's birthday (it had started long ago somewhere around Chambery!) and after a few hours he was too knackered to carry on and went back for some very well deserved sleep, and Josh, Charlie and I went to the Armailly in Les Brev for a very good lunch.
The second day was lovely again, and we skied the itinerary run down from the Aiguille Percee. It wasn't very easy, and my super new technique went to pot a bit. I'm glad I was taught to side slip all those years ago - I just couldn't make myself make the first very steep turn in deep snow until I was down a bit lower down. That really made me cross because I knew I should have been able do it. 
Here's the Aiguille Percée (Eye of the Needle). From the top of the chair you have to traverse across underneath it on the side you can see, side step up and over the ridge and then drop down the other side. It's quite steep!
Late in the day on Christmas Eve it started raining, although we'd stopped skiing by then. It rained hard for hours and we all wondered what tomorrow would bring, but woke up on Christmas Day to fresh snow. Zero visibility, but lots of snow. We had a late start waiting for the visibility to clear a bit.
This was the view from Les Melezes in the morning
and our car not looking very much like itself!
Once the cloud lifted a bit the day was pretty perfect, this was the view from the top of the Aiguille Rouge chair looking back down the valley.
And the Myosotis red run that was great fun in deep powder
JoshQ is a bit of a natural on skis - so he should be, he's been doing it since he was four! And I guess the off-road trials bike competitions he does every Sunday make him pretty brave. His skis are off the snow as much as on it. Here's a little video of him doing a jump - nicely positioned right under a chairlift for ultimate posing! 
So all in all a wonderful week - we were lucky with the big snowfall as we arrived, and the fresh snow that fell during the week. Oh, and we only ever did buy the Tignes area skipass, and there was more than enough skiing for the week.
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Nice report RachelQ, glad you had a good Christmas. We will be in Tignes le Lac at Easter - luckily the long wiat is being broken up by a week in rob@rar's place early Feb
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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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RachelQ, Quite a journey chuck, but looked fab in Tignes! We had similarly great conditions in the same place two weeks earlier 
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RachelQ, Nice pics and seems like you had a great christmas. The conditions look brilliant and not too busy.
It must be a shame when the time comes to drive home.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FAQ
Though not surprised..... 
