 Poster: A snowHead
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21st Dec. Baqueira.
Rain \ snow with the freezing level around 2000m. Best area is Bonaigua, no one about and fresh starting to accumulate. Forecast for tomorrow is the same so we'll see how it shakes out.
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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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25th Dec. Baqueira.
It started dumping on Christmas Eve and continued into the night. Christmas day dawned a (mostly) blue bird powder day with knee\thigh deep powder. The fist run started in cloud but we were first onto one the tree lines 'blacks' to make a perfect start. Light snow made for perfect conditions. The rest of the day was spent off piste targeting the open itinerary runs. The resort has 'adopted' a few popular 'under the rope' runs and the pick of these today was off the top of the lift back from Beret. Superb, 45 degree powder run. It's bloody cold though, although the forecast next week is for an elevated freezing level 
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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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20cm fell on Christmas Eve across the Central Pyrenees along with very cold temperatures. On piste is very good but there needs to be more to help the off piste. Warmer and clear skies for the next few days..
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Pyremaniac, The best run of the day was off the top of the Dera Reina lift - "Clot der Os". This was "under the rope" last year but is now marked. I'd never got around to it before. I was surprised but pleased to see it open. One of the best runs I've had. Deepish dry powder on a steep pitch, 
Also open was the 'off piste' itinerary off the "costarjas" drag lift in Beret. That was pretty good, especially near the top but I took a cautious line as it was late in the day and I was on my own.
For old times sake I also made it over to Argulls where the wide gully accessed from the top lift has also been adopted ('Pala de Teso') and was open. Rocky (as usual) at entry but a nice pitch down. Heavier snow than in Cloty der Os. The narrow option, nest along also looked doable if careful of the rocks showing at the top. I'm guessing that this new run will become the bumped pretty quick now.
'Manaud' was also open but time was against me on the last day. The best bet for this one is to follow the contour around the spur to the skiers left which gives access to a nice easy pitch back to the piste.
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Just got back from a very pleasant New Year's in Boí Taüll. Sunny weather and good conditions on the pistes thanks to the snowmaking and the reasonably low temperatures, but nothing in the way of off-piste available. In fact, there was very little snow at all up to about 2000, which luckily is where the resort starts. The dry spell is predicted to last a while longer unfortunately. (The resorts don't mind though; they'd choose a sunny winter with acceptable on-piste conditions any time over a stormy one with lots of powder days; apparently many Pyrenean resorts only broke even the last two winters despite those seasons being absolutely top-class from my own perspective! Your average holiday skier prefers to book when there's a reasonable chance of nice weather.) The next snowfall still looks like it might come mid next week.
david@mediacopy, thanks for the detailed info! Our visit to Baqueira to catch the snowfall at the start of December was our first to date, and so we didn't know the resort at all. The interesting thing is that we ended up in two of the exact places you mentioned. We started around Argulls (well, the Ta Argulls bit; the hill opposite also seems to be called Argulls!), but we didn't go too steep because we weren't comfortable with the avvy rating given that we were in unknown territory. Mainly we were around the lower half of the Solei lift. Which lift does 'Pala de Teso' accessed from? Then we did the top of the Dera Reina lift several times: under the lift and through the powder round about the (closed) slalom piste. I didn't spot the Clot der Os itinerary; will look out for it next time. The snow in that area was excellent.
I kept looking over at the potential of the Beret/Costarjàs hillside, but decided to save it for a future visit!
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Pyremaniac, There is a lift that runs along the top of the ridge-line, above and parallel to the lower lift in the Argulls valley which gives access to that, plus some other steeper options along the ridge. It's accessed via a track behind the coffee stop. The furthest hill in that direction is Bonaigua and offers some good lines and can be a good option when the weather is bad.
What were the off piste possibilities with Boí Taüll ? I've never made it over - yet  I need to organise a Road Trip of the area...
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david@mediacopy, ah yes, now I see that run on the "opposite" hill.
When it fires, Boí Taüll had very good off-piste since it has wide open slopes at various gradients accessible to all levels of off-piste riders, such trees that exist are sparse, and all but a small part of the surface area is reachable from the lift tops. For a typical one-valley(*) medium-size Pyrenean resort it has particularly interesting, undulating terrain: a bit more "wild" than most, including a largely unfenced and unmarked enormous abyss running all the way down the middle which keeps you concentrating on white-out days! It also has a large highly-regarded snowpark, and outside of the peak holidays the resort is virtually deserted, partly due to its (somewhat exaggerated) reputation for inaccessibility and partly due to the simplicity of its facilities. (It's a vicious circle of course, since the facilities can't be upgraded if there's no gate money coming in...). In terms of size and mileage it's not Baqueira or Grandvalira of course, but I enjoy it for a couple of visits a season, partly /because/ of its lack of industrialization.
It's only round the corner from Baqueira so you should definitely pop down there for a weekend!
(*) actually there are two valleys since there are a couple of long, marked difficult runs round the back of the highest peak (the highest lift-served peak in the Pyrenees, it's claimed, at 2750m). They look great on the piste map, but I've yet to try them. They're closed at the moment due to lack of snow.
Talking of snow, our motivation for moving westwards towards the central Pyrenees this year has been the typically higher snow levels over there. Boí Taüll is one of those places which seems to always boast thick levels at the top, I guess as a result of its altitude, but you need to take that with a pinch of salt. They're currently saying 160cm at the top, but as you'll have gathered from my previous post, that doesn't translate to much lower down. I think their stated levels for the bottom (currently 50cm) gives a more representative idea of the general state of play across the pistes on non-powder days. It's pretty much north-facing, but one side has been badly hurt by the prolonged sunshine, with either very little snow or very hard snow off-piste at the moment. That said, when powder falls, it falls hard and fast, and is up there with the best of the Pyrenees. (Limited facilities also mean that many runs don't get pisted when it snows heavily overnight, so it falls to us to do the job for them )
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sitting here in the East thinking there must be more snow in the West. Can anyone tell me how much fresh you got over there? 5cm and counting here (Guzet/AX)
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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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I saw on the Vallnord webcams just how crazy the weather was yesterday - it looked like a good dumping. However, I've just come to check the Vallnord site and it's still stating that the PAL sector has loads of runs closed - including one of the two main green runs.
This is a real dissapointment for me - I'm taking my mum on her first ski trip in 2 weeks time, staying in La Massana (at the PAL end) and was really hoping that the whole resort would be open by end of Jan...
... this looks unlikely to me now, wouldn't you say?
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You know it makes sense.
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You might be lucky, snow/rain falling hard about 2000m at the mo but looking to fall.
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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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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Anyone for a round of Golf?
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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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Just came back from a weekend at Font Romeu, where we went out of desperation due to the general lack of snow. (Font Romeu has the largest number of snow cannons per metre of piste in Europe, or some such silly statistic!). One of several small-to-medium size resorts in the French eastern Pyrenees, it's not particularly high and has more of a hill terrain than a mountain terrain. I wasn't expecting much, and indeed I almost didn't take my board at all, having decided that I'd teach myself to ski instead. As it turned out, the on-piste conditions were very good (60cm) although there was barely a flake of snow away from the pistes. Just as the resort is famous for, it was full sunshine both days. I spent the mornings on skis and the afternoons on the board.
Like most of these small French resorts, it's excellent for beginners with lots of varied, lengthy, and usually wide, green runs, some of which actually had a reasonable slope so that not only did my skiing progress quickly but there was also fun to be had on those runs on the board as well, doing tricks and jumps. On the other hand, there are also some challenging and interesting reds and blacks which made for some somewhat faster-paced action in the afternoons.
Most interestingly of all, and entirely unexpected, the resort has an excellent advanced-level snowpark!
I'd certainly go again when the conditions aren't too good in the region. I'd love to think that the summer weather we're having at the moment might be on its way out soon, but it's currently looking like it'll stretch all through next week. It's going to be more like the end of the month before the next big snowfall; those snow cannons are going to remain busy I guess...
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Having decided to do a cheap half-term with the wife and kids for their first ski trip I picked Alp 2500 (Masella/La Molina) because of the green and blue slopes and the fact that the combined area has plenty of mileage for me and one or two tricky runs in and off piste. I also like to go off the beaten track at times. But...........it's wall to wall sunshine and the snow canons are working overtime. Snow is forecast towards the end of the week for a few days with temperatures dropping. I live in hope that with over a month to go we'll be okay but only a third of the slopes seem to be open at present. As ever with skiing, one thing you can't guarantee is the white stuff but the Eastern Pyrenees has less than anywhere currently! 
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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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Back from a week in Arinsal, most runs open there, some slushy in afternoon. Pal in not bad nick. Arcalis good, but very firm snow
Best at Arcalis
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michaelhall58, plenty of time to go yet before your holiday! The seasonal weather looks to be returning at the end of the month, and for the week coming the temperatures are dropping right back down again, with freezing levels at 600m on some days next week. Fear not!
You've made a good choice of resort. Note that the off-piste is all at La Molina though; Masella is all about the pretty tree-lined runs.
kendub, glad you had a good time, despite the heatwave! Nice to hear that Vallnord has managed to stay usable.
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Anyone know where to point me for accurate forecasts? I'm hitting Pal in Vallnord next week, and really hoping for some heavy snow between now and then!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| ReflexReact wrote: |
| Anyone know where to point me for accurate forecasts? I'm hitting Pal in Vallnord next week, and really hoping for some heavy snow between now and then! |
Looking at the Pyrenees in general we are going to have cold weather and clear skies for at least the next 7 days. Locals are talking of snow at the end of the month with the change of the moon (as they always do) but nothing on the near horizon unfortunately.
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Thats a shame! Oh well, so long as the snow cannons work...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ski Guide, how was 2006/07 over on your side? It was pretty atrocious on the Spanish side!
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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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Pyremaniac, ha ha, that was the season we spent in Baqueira. Golf in February  Reading between the lines they were pretty close to closing the resort at one point. It didn't help when the tunnel collapsed.
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| Pyremaniac wrote: |
| Ski Guide, how was 2006/07 over on your side? It was pretty atrocious on the Spanish side! |
The question made me check our guests photo albums for that period, and certainly in January it was a bit thin but no where as near as bad as this year. February and March were fantastic with lots of big powder days. In 06/07 we didn't have the big early snow like this year, and certainly not the high late Dec/early Jan temperatures that we have had.
Still we didn't get the rain that hit the Alps thank god. No sheet ice here, the piste is running well, though the sides on the lower slopes are bare.
The positive for us is that we have Superbagneres, Peyragudes and Baqueira to play on, so one way in another we can be guaranteed some good skiing. Lets hope the new moon brings favourable weather 
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You know it makes sense.
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Snowing on the Baqueira web cams this morning.
Pyremaniac, out of interest where are you based ? I keep toying with looking for a place in the area but have always favored the French side.
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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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Vallnord webcams are showing lots of snow too! Come on baby, let it snow let it snow let it snow! I fly out on Sunday to Pal - so the more the better imo!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Looking at the Pyrenees in general we are going to have cold weather and clear skies for at least the next 7 days. Locals are talking of snow at the end of the month with the change of the moon (as they always do) but nothing on the near horizon unfortunately.
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I am off to Les Angles on the 9th Feb & keeping fingers crossed for your moon forecasts. This is a bit new for me, any ideas what the moon cycle does to affect this?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just to let you all know its dumping down the white stuff here in pas de la casa!
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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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| grimmy wrote: |
| Just to let you all know its dumping down the white stuff here in pas de la casa! |
Great news. Hopefully it won't stop 'till we get there...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Ski Guide wrote: |
| In 06/07 we didn't have the big early snow like this year, and certainly not the high late Dec/early Jan temperatures that we have had. |
vs.
| david@mediacopy wrote: |
| Pyremaniac, ha ha, that was the season we spent in Baqueira. Golf in February Reading between the lines they were pretty close to closing the resort at one point. It didn't help when the tunnel collapsed. |
Ah, great days... Christmas day on the balcony in shorts, T-shirt and full sunshine, and Reyes spent at Portaventura in 20°C and the whole theme park to ourselves
Seems like the French side got the best of the snow action that year!
(What's that about the tunnel? :-O)
| Ski Guide wrote: |
| February and March were fantastic with lots of big powder days. |
I had only just moved to Barcelona at that point, and hadn't yet nurtured my full-blown snow obsession . I wasn't checking weather forecasts at all, let alone on an hourly basis, so I might well have missed the good days later in the season, having been put off by an underwhelming couple of days in January. (That changed distinctly in 2008/09 )
| david@mediacopy wrote: |
| I keep toying with looking for a place in the area but have always favored the French side. |
Hmm, not sure I can offer much advice there, but many well-off Spaniards have a second home in Cerdanya. To be honest, given that you're a Baqueira fan, I can think of worse places than the Val d'Aran, though I imagine it's pretty pricey up there! The Pont de Suert or Sort valleys would also be great option. City-wise, I guess Lleida is the obvious choice.
| grimmy wrote: |
| Just to let you all know its dumping down the white stuff here in pas de la casa! |
What? [panics as world crumbles around him] None of my forecasts show even a flake for today; what's going on? :-O Ahhh, you're talking cannons, right?
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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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| Quote: |
| (What's that about the tunnel? :-O) |
They were in the process of finishing the new tunnel and part of the old fell in. It was part of the entrance IIRC. Given the number of clients from Barca and Madrid it was bad news for Baqueira.
I do fancy the lower part of the Val d'aran, say Bossost but it's still a bit pricey for me.
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Not talking Cannons matey it was hacking it down all day yesterday, its a beautiful bluebird day today with some lush powder going on. Shame its my last day
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Glad to see winter is back, as for forecasts the only one that has got it right this year so far is the window!
Last edited by After all it is free  on Sun 23-01-11 19:55; edited 1 time in total
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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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Please be snowy Thurs/Fri and sunny Sat/Sun! I've organized my first big-group trip for people at work and the weather stress is killing me . Until a few days ago it was looking like we'd be mountain biking instead, and then there was the horror that the first decent snowfall for 5 weeks would fall right through the weekend, which the first-timers wouldn't enjoy much. Now it's looking like we might hit the jackpot...
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