 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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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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So am I Boris, 
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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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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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Lou, Nearly bought a place in Les gets but Montalbert won on the mileage available 
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You know it makes sense.
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Boredsurfing, that's where I would like to buy but am open minded, so hence am trying out other locations until I match 5 numbers and a bonus 
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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provenjohn,
Shouldn't that be "brilliant, some hope" 
Edited cos what I wrote didn't make sense!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 26-01-11 0:20; 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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Here is todays on the spot, on-piste snow report for Les Arcs (not including the 2000 bowl) - mainly a cut and paste from the trip report on 'the psite'
Whilst they were at ski school this morning BMF_skier and my self had a stooge about. We took Villards then ran some of charmotteger and then plan bois through to Derby. Charmotteger is getting rather scraped. I should think around 50% of the main skied area in that region is the getting the wrong side of scraped. Plan bois is still holding up well. We took renard across to the restaurant behind the flocon lift and then a section of aigle followed by a bit of foret, back to the Derby lift. Those sections are still in quite good nick and fairly skiable. Once back up Derby we hit small sections of renard and belette to try access transarc (and avoid the dreadful Maitaz) we tried sneaking above the transarc station and got onto Grand melezes, but I don't think that route saved us anything and in the finish snuck in some paths through the trees to get across to Chantel and back to pick up the kids at Vagere. The home route wasn't too bad until we got onto grand melezes which higher up is starting to develop large scraped patches to catch out the unwary, and the odd patch is present on the run down the lifts at the end of chantel, but all in all I think is preferable to using Maitaz and the transarc approach.
This afternoon I had my second lesson with Arc Adventures (Domenic). Now this report will not be to the usual high standard as for a lot of time I did not have the foggiest about where I was on account of the fact that I was taken 'off piste'! and taken from one piste to another. From the top of Vagere we did a fairish amount of Carreley. This piste although a tad narrow in one place was in fair condition and not too bad at all to ski on.
Back up Arpette (though I couldn't swear blind how we got there!) and we started down arpette (which is a hardpacked path right at the top) and we took a swing onto col des frettes. That red is getting scraped in places, but on the whole is not too bad snow wise. Somehow we made it across to Clocheret and up.
We took the top end of clapet (same condition as yesterday), and then I think took the second half of Clocheret which is still holding up well). Finally we ended up on the last part of arpette to run into the top of Chantel - skiing on one leg along the paths and alternating which one we stood on. Those paths are not yet scraped, but are very solidly hardpacked.
As you might imagine the higher pistes are holding up better than those lower down - The usual suspects (maitaz and the transarc approach) still look as bad as ever from a chair - we avoided sking them today, with skiers doing all sorts of weird things to get down them. Some of the less popular reds are in quite fair nick with a half reasonable surface on even their steeper pitches, but the more popular ones are more scraped as you might imagine.
Roll on two foot of new snow before we go home, but I bet we won't get it!
More tomorrow!
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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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| Quote: |
Shouldn't be brilliant, some hope
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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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Rumoured that some bars in 1800 have reduced prices 'to compensate', if that's true, it can't be all bad then
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| Quote: |
houldn't that be "brilliant, some hope"
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Conditions might well be brilliant in early April, in the parts of the domain which have a good aspect/altitude mix. I have known a lot better conditions in early April (in a fairly low altitude resort) than exist in the French resorts at the moment. Even in an average year, I believe it's the case that the off piste conditions will be better in early April (or into May in some areas) than in mid January because the snow depth is likely to be better. Just need to get the timing right in terms of what slopes you tackle when (on or off piste).
I expect better conditions in early April than early January this year. 
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pam w, I hope so, as I am going 9th - 16th. TBH I've been skiing from mid-Dec to mid-April and most dates in between and have found little correlation between the time of the year and the snow conditions. It's basically luck of the draw as to how good it is. And half the time it varies a lot through the week. I pretty much always ski in areas 1300m+ so can always ski. It's just a question of how good it is and how much your ski's get trashed.
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Here is today's snow report cut and pasted from my trip report thread:
We set out for the VE this morning and took Vagere. Looking for grand melezes down to plan bois. It has to be said that while it had been just about the skiable, the top of grand melezes was verging on pure evil this morning will big plates of re-frozen hard pack to negotiate so much so that we peeled off left and took in the loop that goes past the restaurant (a peice of 'barmont'?) onto plan bois which we don't usually do. As per usual the hard pack surface of plan bois is still holding up. Retour plan peisey is more or less similar through the trees, but the final 500yds down the hill to the VE took some negotiating - they were doing their best and had spread lots of man made and material from off the edge of the piste, there were also mounds of man made every now and them. This led to a very unpredictable surface - lumpy, bumpy, icy bits, the odd sheer surface - it wasn't for the faint hearted! However, I put the ski lessons to good use and my big green stiff skis came into their own pushing the undesirable stuff to one side with a lot of assistance from my legs - I was ready to stop by the time we reached the VE!.
Once over the other side we ran mont blanc down to the lac noir gondola and then hopped the bijolin chair (the hundred yards between the too being a mixture of conditions ranging from scraped to fairly well covered with man made with icy pebbles in it). We dropped down to Salla, which was heavy going, but there was a good effort on the man made down there. Arpette (really well compressed hard pack, but skiable) took us to Belle Plagne and we dropped down to Plagne Bellecote via the Carlina restaurant for drinks. The Colossus chair Mira and bridge pistes took us to La Plagne Centre where we had lunch at Le Chaudron (recommended!) - these were hard packed, but again skiable - close to the centre they had clearly been busy with man made and the surface was relatively deep and mounded up in places, but despite being heavy going it was quite skiable.
We then did the grand rochette gondola and took pte rochette, Les leitchhoums and arolles back to the arpette chair. The first part of this was on a fairly well covered slope off the top. The little paths around the mountain were in a very hard packed state and overlooking that edge there were not really my cup of tea. Once off the edge and heading across to Plagne Bellecote it was still very hard packed with occasional icy refrozen hardpack surfaces. Les arolles was a fair bit better - that heavy skiing mixture of man made and icey pebbles, but well mounded up in places and very tiring to ski on for any length of time.
Back up arpette and onto the skiable hardpack type surface again. I wasn't leading but I think we took mainly mont blanc back to the VE with the odd section of red thrown in just to liven up proceedings. The paths are mainly hard pack, and steeper pitches that heavy mixture already described, but already thin and sheer on some middle sections. I put into practice my ski lessons and did short turns in the heavy, but deeper snow on the piste edges Toofy Grin The last confluence point before the last tree path section down to the VE needs some care - you get down most of the slope OK on averagely decent snow (for around here), then just as you let your guard up you hit around 30ft of sheer surface where someone has put a broom over the refrozen hard pack (It is possible that you might utter something you shouldn't when you hit it!).
Back over to the Arcs side of things up peisey 61 around and down foret (still hard packed, but skiable) to the Derby lift. We nipped the top section of belette to grab access transarc (a hard packed but skiable path with just the odd sheer icier surface). Under the transarc lift and grand melezes hadn't got much better in our absence, we then snuck through the tree path to get to chantel (chavets? - it's not shown on the map) and home. Chantel seems more skiable today, maybe its had some man made, but there are still scraped areas.
The last 30 yds down to the appartment is fraught with danger - that gets more icy with each day, as does the piste path from the appt to the lifts. In fact it might not be safe to ski down that for much longer if the sheer patches at the end get much larger and we might need to find an alternative way round.
So another day when the La Plagne side of things wins hands down. Far more man made about, and a much bigger effort put into keeping things covered - the busy blues are getting hard packed and the area is not without sheer patches, but these are less than our side. If it wasn't for having to return for lunch in the appt. I'd ski over there more.
Some areas around 1800 are getting decidedly dicey with the sheer refrozen surface, you can lose a downhill ski as soon as look at it. Grand melezes is now quite a pickle to ski down, the area as a whole looks more sheer with every passing day. This area certainly needs some snow! The little appt path had my over on it yesterday on the way to ski school where I just lost the downhill ski so its getting really dodgy in many places.
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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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| Quote: |
So another day when the La Plagne side of things wins hands down. Far more man made about, and a much bigger effort put into keeping things covered - the busy blues are getting hard packed and the area is not without sheer patches, but these are less than our side. If it wasn't for having to return for lunch in the appt. I'd ski over there more.
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We have now been in Les Arcs for 7 days and conditions have not improved. With no snow for 2 weeks and none forecast, both areas are living on snow making facilities or snow scraped from 'between' piste areas. It's also warmer over the last few days. The 'dusting of new snow' suggested on the weather sites, over the last 7 days, has not appeared. Early morning , when the pistes have been refreshed things are slightly better on the 1800 'side of the hill' blues and reds but by the afternoon you really have to be careful. Even the instructor that Megamum had early in the week commented, he hasn't seen conditions like this, at this time of year, and he has worked in Les Arcs for over 10 years.
The majority of pistes we skied on Wednesday in La Plagne, were 2000m+ and that does make a heck of a difference. We'll be in the Arc 2000 bowl on Thursday, that may allow a more direct comparison with La Plagne areas we skied.
We have 3 more skiing days in Les Arcs, (we return to the UK late on Saturday) we'll be skiing higher and only using the lower runs to transit back to the appartment. Unfortunately, we need to do this twice a day!
I just hope, for those coming out here next week, that the weather forecasts are wrong. If not, sharpen your edges and bring skis that you don't mind having gouges in them!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Dunno bout anybody else, but I seem to be checking weather & snow reports for Les every 5mins lol
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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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OK, we are back for lunch from having been in the Arc 2000 bowl. We intended to ski the Vallee d'arc and come back via the combourciere chair, but having done half of eidleweiss from the top of arpette and plan down to the marmotte chair, we decided to abandon the attempt. The 2000 bowl is starting to ice up now. The blue paths are still very compact hardpacked snow, but anything with any degree of pitch to it is starting to get sheer sections at 'inopportune' locations down the slope. The unpredictablity of the surface is what is dangerous - if it was a constant lack of snow or constant icy pebbles etc. it would at least be predictable, but as it is you never know when you are going to hit a 'plaque' of refrozen hardpack snow and lose the downhill ski grip to it. It is only going to get worse this afternoon - we were over there very early this morning and still found some corduroy on the paths, but even then the steeper sections were dodgy and clearly is not going to improve as the day progresses.
At the moment the jury is still out on whether we give the legs a rest this afternoon!
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| Angry Squirrel wrote: |
| Dunno bout anybody else, but I seem to be checking weather & snow reports for Les every 5mins lol |
Same here, heading out on Saturday, it doesn't look good....
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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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I'm heading out tomorrow. Really hoping the '1cm' of snow forecast by snow-forecast.com turns out to be more...  On the plus side, the weather looks perfect for speed riding!
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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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Megamum, I feel for you - wears you down, after a bit, those conditions. We go back to our place for lunch, generally. it's a really nice ski down, so that's not a problem, but once you're in, boots off, something to eat, nice hot cup of coffee with the feet up.... the will to go back out can disappear quite quickly, especially when there's no pressure on us, as we spend a lot of time there.
JimW, a month is a long time in the mountains.
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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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pam w, otoh , the bar is always a pleasure, no matter the weather!
Megamum, is the toboggan run still open from top of Transarc? - that would make an "exciting" diversion for the family...
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| JimW wrote: |
| Megamum, is the toboggan run still open from top of Transarc? - that would make an "exciting" diversion for the family... |
I haven't heard one good word about that 'luge' - from anyone. It would seem no one can understand why they built it?? Anyone know better?
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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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allanm, don't be silly - it's brilliant! Scary? yes Dangerous? for sure. Stupid? naturally. Expensive? don't be silly this is France! Takes some getting used to? Yes- it runs down a 'red' single track mountain bike trail ffs. Do you have to be fit to do it? It would certainly help: my core ached for ever afterwards.
But what a buzz. Try it next time you're there.
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JimW, ^^^ Can't believe we're talking about the same thing. That's just so different from the opinions expressed when I was out.
Not sure my insurance would be valid either...? Dangerous sports and all that!
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| Quote: |
Not sure my insurance would be valid either.
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good point - I suspect a lot wouldn't be. worth checking before doing some of those "extras".
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pam w, ^^^ Guess it's off-piste without a guide really. Is full kit recomended as well? Mind you, from what I've heard, probe would probably be pretty useless at the mo... 
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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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allanm,
I guess it only really dangerous if you pick up too much speed and bits of you are hanging out the side. But when you get the hang of it (it's not a bob track, it really is just sledging on a thin track with edges) you can corner without too much brake, and keep going on the flatter sections. Hint: don't try slowing with your feet, the spray is a nightmare!!
A couple of our friends did go back up and down for a second run, and one more 'mature' lady in the party said how much she wished she'd done it at the beginning of the week so that she could have done it every day...
But I'm thinking that right now you'll either be grass sledging, or on sheet ice; neither of which I'd fancy.
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JimW, We are talking about that track you can see from Plagnettes and Arcabull...on the right as you go up in either chair???.... starts at Tuffes.... aren't we?...no we can't be.
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FAQ
