The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

Any news on the poor chap that had a heart attack outside la cascade today, didn’t look good for him. Was worked on for a good while then airlifted out. Was a Brit.

A snowHead

drewclarke - sorry not heard anything about it. To be honest you'd be surprised how often things happen that are not directly related to skiing such as this. At the end of the day 40,000 people (or whatever it is) mostly skiing and partaking in physical activity (and many of them arent used to that much exercise. Add in altitude and doing it for several hours at a time potentially with rest time on lifts admittedly and you are quite likely to have general emergencies. Saying all that hope the guy is OK!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Short day but the best snow

I thought the conditions on piste today overall were the best of the season. That little bit of fresh (another couple of cm's) with good light made it amazing!

Anyway I was up early as had a sore stomach but nothing a nice hot cuppa could not sort out! Anyway given I was up so early and even taking the time to empty the dishwasher, fold all the clothes, eat my breakfast I was still ready really early. Clare was not starting until 1000 so took care of the kids and I was out the door super early. It was nice as I caught up with my client really early.

F is a very long standing client who has skied with me and most of us at TDC over the years. She has a place here and is a real perfectionist! Loves taking lessons to get better thats for sure! I do enjoy teaching her. Her daughter is a L4 instructor but over in Switzerland.

Anyway we had a great chat and catch up before heading to Bellevarde. It was interesting as there was low lying blanket cloud in the valley and I reckoned everyone (given the weather of recent) had looked out the window this morning at the 'bad' weather and rolled over in bed as it was deserted for a Friday out there. Anyway as soon as we got 3/4 way up the Olympic we burst through the clouds into glorious sunshine interspersed with some other clouds but certainly lovely conditions!

We warmed up and I pulled some really tricky drills out the bag and we worked on short turns all morning.... it did get a bit busier but boy it was nice up there. There was a breeze about and some clouds from time to time and it deteriorated once again over the morning. Anyway I also took her down the Johann Clarey black run and she was about the best skier I have ever taken down there as she was able to control her speed and line better than 99% of the people blasting down there thinking they were all flashy and 'good' at skiing.... always funny to see those that thing they can ski skid and slide around - doh!

So anyway it was a great morning and we were even able to spot the U16 local boys and girls training Super G on the Orange which was awesome to see.

So with the lesson done I recorded the weekly snow report and then headed home for lunch and a chilled afternoon. I probably should have slept but I had some important emails to send and phone calls to make... so maybe Ill just have an early night instead!

So tomorrow Olivia is chilling in the morning, servicing her skis in the afternoon before heading to Aillons-Margériaz 1400 for the Coupe Argent (County U12 ski champs). This starts on Sunday but she will be going for the night. Ben on the other hand is with Club all day and im teaching in the morning and Clare all day!

The weather continues to be a bit of guesswork bouncing from snowy, to sunshine, to cloudy, to cold to warm.... bit of everything.

Anyway sorry not the most inspiring update ever.

TTFN

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We’ve had a cracking week, not had this much luck with the weather since 2017. A very enjoyable week.

Hardly ventured into Tignes.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Disappointment

I woke early once again but was able to enjoy my first cuppa in peace before the kids were up. In fact it was a pretty chilled morning really as Clare was once again on a 1000 start, Olivia having the morning chilled before heading to her race and only me needing to get going for 0900. The weather looked pretty decent out there but once again there was a threat (you could tell out the window) for the clouds to build (it would prove that way as is snowing out there once again this evening).

So anyway I had the same set up as yesterday morning but we decided to work on carving and being a Saturday with a few more cm's of fresh today was even better than yesterday up there. It was truly perfect conditions. We profited from the conditions working laps on the Borsat green which is just perfect for drills and development. We mainly worked on both the inside ski action but also on patience finding the edge at the start of the turn. After several laps I decided that we needed to head elsewhere; the lift was chilly as there was a strong breeze coming from the south (and it was getting cloudier so the sun could not work its magic!) and the lift is quite long. So we did a couple of laps on the Orange using my favourite route down it avoiding anyone that dare get in the way. We finished with the Face and I was REALLY surprised that the snow had turned quite a lot when we did it which was surprising given the fact the sun was not really on it! Weird! Anyway it was a nice way to finish the morning off.

I collected Ben at 1200 from club and headed home and it was a bonkers 2 hours getting lunch into the kids, changing, getting the washing up done and getting ready to get Olivia and all her bags back up to club for her to service her skis and then depart for the race. Also I had the World Cup ski racing GS on the TV which we enjoyed watching over lunch. I was super proud to see a boy I taught during Covid (in the classroom I hasten to add) at Apex in Tignes come 13th in the race; Flavio Vitale. I taught him iGCSE PE and there was something different about him - he was so focused and driven in the classroom and a jolly nice boy at that. So proud to see him fulfil his dreams and make the World Cup and get his first WC points today. Onwards and upwards.

So by 1345 we were back out the door and headed to club and we dropped Ben off for his afternoon session. Olivia and I had 30 mins or so to kill before she was due to do her ski servicing and then head off so we grabbed a drink at Sun Bar. We had just sat down when a message came through to say the race tomorrow was postponed - WHAT A DISSAPOINTMENT after all the build up. There we were with all her bags ready to roll. Apparently it had been snowing quite hard all day and night in the resort we were headed to and would continue on and off for another 24 hours so the decision was made to postpone to Wednesday. Unfortunately on Wednesday I dont think either Clare or I can go to watch which is so sad but we are going to see if we can do some lesson moving around - we shall see.

So Olivia still serviced her skis whilst I headed home with all her gear again!

Olivia was understandably not too happy! Bummer.

So before long she came home and then Clare finished work shortly after that whilst I went and collected Ben after his days skiing.

This evening I have enjoyed a nice long hot bath and the kids and Clare have watched a couple of movies including Cool Runnings which they loved.

So change of plans im now available for lessons tomorrow although its 11th hour to pick up some but we shall see, Olivia is doing training in the morning, Clare was never working anyway and Ben is going to club. We shall see what tomorrow brings as it might just turn into a lazy day!

Outside the snow has been falling steady and it remains cold so excellent conditions once again!

TTFN

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drewclarke - sorry forgot to reply. So glad you had such a great week. Come back soon.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Thanks Steve, removing Covid this is our seventh consecutive year in Val, we love it. It’s the complete resort for us. After the last few years of icy runs last week was redemption week.

The vegan options are getting more easy to find as well.

We have started using Nicolas taxis too and they’ve been fabulous.

I’ll be rebooking in July when next years apartments are made available.

After all it is free

drewclarke - well that sounds like a very successful trip all around - excellent. See you next time. haha

11th hour

Im not really sure what happened but I could not get to sleep last night at all even though I was knackered! I was hoping to be able to sleep in this morning to make up for it and I did an OK job of that until the phone rang at 0804. It was the office and there had been some sort of a booking error on our system and I should have been showing as booked this morning but wasnt and could I get up and get to work asap!

So anyway that was a rather abrupt start to the day wasnt it.

Looking out the window it was very snowy and stormy looking out there... oh dear not what I wanted getting out my cosy bed and rushing around getting sorted! So I was able to make it to meet the clients about 0915 and we set off up the Bellevarde to ski the green triangle! It was a retired lady and her grown up son and we were aiming to improve her confidence and abilities so she could cover more ground. Her grown up son was really there for the company.

The snow was absolutely amazing and it was light dry powder and about 15cm of it that had fallen off piste. Already by about 0930 it was starting to get rather lumpy and bumpy on the pistes! Anyway we mainly lapped around on Borsat and the Grand Pre for a couple of hours and the slopes were generally pretty quiet. It was a really successful session and we are skiing again together on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile Olivia was training with club and it sounds as if they watched some of the first run of the mens slalom before GS training themselves. Ben was off and had a lie in before Ben and Clare had a chilled morning together!

I got home at lunchtime and we were able to watch the second run of the Mens SL on TV and what a good one it was. Clare decided that we were going to have the main meal of the day at lunch so we enjoyed a nice family lunch together.

This afternoon I took Ben swimming where he spent most of the time with a friend of his he met up with but I was able to get some peace as he had some fun. Olivia was out with a friend and Clare had some down time of her own at home.

Meanwhile the weather did what it has been doing of recent - mixing snow, sun, cold and wind all day although I think finally the sun will come out tomorrow.

Back to work tomorrow.

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Lovely to finally meet and ski with you Steve. Thank you so much for a brilliant afternoon. I never thoughtt I'd get to ski Col Pers but it was amazing fun. Incredible conditions too.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Tiring day

I was up early again today as suddenly remembered when I went to bed last night and was lying there that I had not sent a couple of emails that were urgent so set the alarm a little earlier.

So with the sun coming up I was once again able to enjoy a nice extra cuppa in peace. Clare was not working so when the kids were up it was very sedate start to the day. The kids were off and I headed to the meeting point. With several days of beautiful sunshine coming up I made sure to go down a layer as knew would overheat otherwise!

My am session was with a mother and daughter (grown up) from Australia (we dont usually get that many Aussies here at this time of the year so that was a change) and we aimed to improve confidence amongst other things. So it was a morning on greens and the usuals up Bellevarde. I must say I was slightly worried that there would have been a heavy freeze on the west and south facing slopes but it wasnt to be and the snow was perfect. We enjoyed a variety of slopes and some good breakthroughs were made.... the main thing was turn shape for them both and allowing the ski to run a little more in the fall line as well as not trying to change direction etc based on what you think is happening behind you which is tricky for some people.

Anyway it was a nice session. We passed the Empreinte Avaline near they end and to my surprise they decided to call it a day there and then. So I did something I have not done for LONG (years) time and that was to ski down Santons. It was in surprisingly crap condition to be honest but I was able to get down to the Sun Bar quickly where I had lunch in the shade.

So this afternoon as above it was a fellow SH and his mate and we were in for a treat with the lovely snow we have had recently! So powder hunting with some tips thrown in was the go'er and given the heat it was a pretty simple spec to get the goods, higher and as north facing as possible. We headed up Solaise and tested the snow and ability in one of my favourite stomping grounds of the bus stop and boy it was game on - lovely light powder and shaded from the sun. Boot deep powder of the top quality! Next we headed to the Grand Vallon (left side) and had incredible snow in there again.... it really was great! However we left the best to last and hit up the Col Pers although getting over there from the chair was tricky with the snow farming that has been going on. The boot pack up was hot and sticky work but we got there in the end. The entrance was not too hard but then the snow in the first main bowl was absolutely incredible. Getting on for knee deep in some places.

We excited via Grand Torsai and managed to stay high enough that there was minimal walking involved. The ski down was pretty chopper powder but still excellent all in. We finally made it back to the Fornet hot and sweaty but lots of smiles all around. A good adventurous and powder filled afternoon.

This evening Olivia has been at a school event (she goes off on her trip to the SL race tomorrow evening!) so it has been pretty quiet at home. With a family meal and the kids in bed ive just had a ski school meeting online.

Tomorrow will be mainly piste cruising I think.

TTFN

Lots of slides starting to pop out as the temps climb now.... runs will be closed for a reason especially in the afternoons - take care!

Chilly

Well it was a day of two halves it certainly was. It started in the normal way but I made it to the meeting point in good time and I met up with a lady I haven't skied with for a few years and it was nice to catch up and hear all her news. She has the desire to one day be able to ski the Face but for now it is more blues and perhaps reds she is working on. To be honest you dont always get the chance to work with someone who has the +ve mental attitude having learnt as an adult to target something like the Face as normally when you teach someone who started as an adult they have a lot more fear than those who learnt as a kid.

So anyway after weighing up the options we decided to head up Solaise and the terrain up there would be better for her. However when we got up Solaise it turned out there was a punchy and chilly breeze and also a threat of clouds spilling over from the south / Italian / east side! Especially when the odd cloud blocked the sun momentarily it was FREEZING. I have not been that cold for weeks.

Anyway the session was really good and when I suggested we tackle Plan M down at the session end I was a little apprehensive but she did incredibly well whilst the piste was in tricky condition. I was quite glad we got to the bottom in one piece.

I was happy to get under the Sun Bar for lunch but I soon realised that I needed to keep my jacket on as it was still super cold... luckily the sun was winning / the clouds were disappearing and it is always warmer in the pms.

So this afternoon it was a slight change of plan as the lady and grown up son I was supposed to be taking had to swap things up due to some important family business the mum needed to take care off which meant the family trip 'around the world' turning into just me taking the grown up son and ill take her out on Thursday afternoon.

So off we went and had a really great trip over to Tignes and we even had time to head up the Motte and right to the top.... he was amazed by the ski down to Val Claret too. A really good ski.

I did notice though that my piste teaching ski binding is starting to work lose though so will need to not ski on those until they are fixed - doh.

So this evening it has been rather hectic as Clare was down the valley taking Ben to the speech and language. I had to get Olivias kit bag to school so when the kids came out of school they could jump straight on the minibus and off they went. It all took a little longer than planned but we got there in the end. So she is off and its race day tomorrow. Pity I am working and so is Clare but thats the way it goes!

At home Clare came back with a food shop, so I was unloading that whilst Clare dropped Ben at Judo club. We had a short while until I headed back to collect him and then this evening it has felt weird just having Ben to put to bed.

Olivia made it to Aillons Margeriaz 1400 which is near Chambery for the race and she is a mix of nervousness and excitement which is to be expected!

So tomorrow I will have one eye on the race results coming through but mainly on the days booking I am on. It sounds, from my colleague who has been with them the last few days, that they would like a days sort of guiding around the resort coupled with some technical development as I see fit. Anyway we shall see.

Anyway finally I saw this photo on a Facebook group today... not in Val and not someone I know but it is true. The idea of 'well meaning friends and family' is a dangerous thing. Also there's a reason why the process to get an instructors qualification is pretty thorough and just being a 'advanced (or so called) skier'.

If nothing else remember have a go heros bombing around the pistes you could change someones life forever or stop someone like me making a living for my family!

TTFN

You know it makes sense.

Agree totally about the gross irresponsibility of people who don't think they need to be taught. There are so many of them unfortunately.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

jehu - yup.

....also (and ive said this before) just because someone has skied / boarded 'a lot' does not make them in anyway decent. In fact often as people they believe they are getting 'better' actually are getting worse as they perceive things like speed / colour of run etc as reflections of ability rather than what everyone is taught all the time and that is turn shape on colour of run i.e. a flowing, rounded and 'finished' turn where the speed in and out of the turn is controlled with zero / no skidding - that is a reflection of ability not the former. I often hear people say things like 'ive done 20 weeks' skiing so must be excellent... well sometimes someone who has done 2 weeks skiing is 'better' than that person as they are in the phase of their learning where they are doing those rounded turns on say a blue run and NOT using confidence to mask their lack of abilities and blast down a red run or black.

Anyway I digress.

A snowHead

Savoie Slalom 3rd place

It was a very relaxed start to the day with Ben only needing to be gotten to kids club and since Clare was heading that way anyway it was pretty simple and chilled. Meanwhile I needed to head to the meet point to meet my lady for the day. Well it was supposed to be the husband and wife but unfortunately he was ill so it just her.

After assessing what she wanted to work on which was more technical development in her short piste turns mixed with exploring the area she didnt know we headed off towards Tignes. One of the ultimate aims for the day was to head up the Motte (blimey twice in two days!). Off we went and worked on a variety of skills and drills and had a great session. The weather was amazing and not as cold as yesterday. Perfect!

The ski down the Double M was as usual amazing so we headed back up on the funi which again was pretty busy as it was the first time but we decided to take on the Genepy down the 2nd time and as usual it was very special!

After one more lap we took lunch at the self service at Panoramic and I forget how good the self service is in there... I really do rate it there. A pretty simple set of stations for pizza, burgers and pasta etc but nice non the less!

After lunch we worked on moguls and I was planning on heading to Tommeuse but when we headed out of Tignes we found that unfortunately Tuffs was down so we had to go Bollin Fresse way which meant in reality a change of location for moguls and for the first time in a long time I was teaching moguls under Marmottes lift on the side of the Orange!

So we finished at 1600 and I went into town to collect Ben from kids club whilst Clare was heading to collect Olivia as she was on her way back from her race.

So finally on the race side of things.... Olivia had an OK first run (by her standards!) over in Aillons Maregeilleuz 1400 after going last night for the night. She was in 6th place for 2014 girls after run 1 which was not up to her usual standards but on the second run she nailed it and came 2nd for 2014. This meant she was overall 3rd girl for 2014. So for a day which was nearly (but not quite) as good as she could possibly have done (her words not mine) I think 3rd in the whole Savoie in Slalom for 2014 girls is an amazing achievement. If she had linked 2 perfect runs together then it could have been 2nd or even 1st but blimey im a proud dad this evening!

However its back to school tomorrow and then she has another race this weekend before the big one which is the national Coq d'Or championships next week in Alpe d'huez.

TTFN

I found this photo online. Any idea where it is and why it I have posted it here?

A snowHead

Well done Olivia!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Well done Olivia and good luck for the national final.

Was the dry slope the first place you skied?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Steve Angus, Congrats proud dad. On wards and upwards (well down you know what I mean) to Olivia. Best of luck in the finals

Sorry dry slope image too small to identify anything from it.

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Jehu - thanks
moosepig - thank you. It certainly is the dry slope at Torquay!
PeakyB - thank you.
Cymro66 - thank you.

Yes (PeakyB was right) it is Torquay dry ski slope and the first place I ever skied.... back in the late 80's I went there with my school before my first school ski trip (to Saalbach Hinterglemm). From recollection a horrible rope tow down the side and holding on for dear life to the top. Probably horrendous out of control death wedger skiing!

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Nice

It was another sunny day out there but the kids were tricky getting out the door this morning - especially Olivia who was obviously knackered still from yesterday! In fact if she has another race this weekend (we think) and then the Nationals next week she will be so tired and thats even before race training starts for the two weeks of the Easter holidays - yikes!

Anyway what motivated them was that it was 'dress up day' at school. So Ben went as a fireman and Olivia went in her PJ's - quite literally with a dressing gown on. It must have been quite a sight at the bus stop this morning if you were driving past seeing the kids dressed as firemen, in their PJ's as well as roman emperors, a cowboy, ghost and a whole host of other disguises. haha.

So with that sorted I headed off to the meeting point and I met my first lesson which was a dad and his 20 year old daughter for a technique freshen up. It was slightly strange lesson as he was a little unfit but technically not as confident as her but she had not had a lesson for yonks whereas he had. So two lessons in one to an extent! So they requested we skied around Solaise side as they were having lunch that way today.

We did a variety of blues and reds around the top working on posture, balancing on the outside ski amongst other things. There were certainly some improvements made that was for sure so it was a +ve outcomes id say.

For lunch I headed for a change into the Sun Bar and I do like to shelter from the sun when I can so it was lovely and quiet inside. Decent Croque Monsieur served in there. Definately time to reapply the sun cream and head back out.

This afternoon it was back with the same lady I had had earlier in the week who had lost some of her confidence in the weather on Sunday afternoon. I could tell she was really nervous as to what was upcoming as her confidence was really knocked the other day. I could tell the emotions were welling up.

So it made sense to revisit the scene of the crime and off we went up Olympic. A slow and steady start and slowly it came back to her. She did grow more and more in confidence and it all came flooding back. Sometimes in lessons you dont really need to teach technical and this was an example of that.... get the confidence back due to the solid technique and the enjoyment comes back! Happy days. By the end of the session I thought it best to really ramp it up to prove to herself just how much she can do it and we skied Verte all the way to the Folie and she handled it really well. Bravo. There were lots of smiles and even tears of joy by the end so I would call that a successful session.

It was a quick turnaround before an old couple of clients popped around for a catch up and cuppa and in one of their cases I had not seen him for quite a few years but the other it is an annual meet up! So that was a lovely couple of hours before we had to sort the kids out into bed!

Tonight I am getting myself ready as (weather permitting) we are doing a Bonneval heli tomorrow. There are 3 groups going down and I am leading for the 3 groups as have done the route before and no-one else has. So with 15 of us in total will be an interesting day and if the chopper cant fly - well we will just have a days ski tour instead.

TTFN

After all it is free

Travelling out for a week in Val tomorrow and I’m so looking forward to it. I visited EK about eight times between 1993 and 1999 and if you’d told me, when leaving the last time, that it would be 25 years before I returned I would not have believed it … but it’s true.

I can see some new lift infrastructure, and some removals (Leisse - tragedy, that was a favourite run) but what has really jumped out is a number of runs which were red but are now black. Signal, Cretes, Combe Folle to name three. Does anyone know if this is reflective of work on the ground, or just a policy (marketing?) decision?

@steveangus you give great reports on the conditions but I will chip in as well, very much from a restaurants and on piste perspective!

@L8, Welcome back! There are only a few chairlifts left that will have, err, your bum print on them! I’ll let Steve answer the Val regradings but Combe Folle was regraded as plenty of folk thought it was red to the bottom and then came face to face with the infamous Johann Clarey, formerly Trolles. Many of us are mourning the loss of Leisse but the glacier retreat and the machinations of the National Park sealed its fate.

Be prepared for a bit of a shock on prices, this week Val was declared the most expensive ski resort to buy property, leaving Courchevel in its wake, the price of everything else reflects that. It’s not much better in Tignes.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@L8, look forward to reading all about it! We are out on 13th April for a week, so hoping the cold and snow keeps it's end up for a bit longer yet!!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I’m heading to Tignes on Sunday, staying at Mark Warner chalet hotel, I assume RDC will be at the welcome evening again?

snow reports

L8 - bet you cant wait to come back! Its changed somewhat since you were last here I should think! The colour of run change is mainly down to marketing yes! Sure please chip in - more the merrier!
chocksaway - yes for me Combe Folle does go to the start of Johann Clarey indeed.
dunc999 - it'll be just fine!

Abort

So I was up nice and early as my mind was whizzing around thinking about the day to come. Looking out the window it looked pretty OK to be honest so lots of positive vibes.

The kids were good at getting ready and Clare sorted them out as needed to be on the case nice and early.

So I headed up to Fornet to be in position nice and early as the seasonnaires would be arriving. Whilst I waited for them all to arrive and my colleagues I got the message through from the SAF chopper company to say that they thought that the wind and weather would not be OK this afternoon to get the chopper flying to get us back from Bonneval. So as everyone arrived (3 groups of 4 and then us 3 guides) I had to break the bad news that we were not going to Bonneval. Everyone was disappointed as im sure you can appreciate but it is what it is!

So anyway we headed up anyway and the plan was to head to Glacier Pers which we did. The traverse over from the top of the T bar was rather bumpy over the snow farmed mounds and then the traverse in to the boot pact up to Col Pers was super super firm and icy. Anyway when at the top the drop in was pretty simple and we made our way around the corner nicely.

The actual skin was pretty simple and there was absolutely nobody around at all and we got a decent way up the Glacier Pers valley in pretty good time considering it was the first time many of the team had skinned! Bravo!

After a break we started decending down towards the Praririond refuge and the snow was a little stiff and wind affected but not too bad. The main thing though (apart from the punchy wind) was that the light was still very good thankfully which made it a lot easier! As we dropped down lower the snow got better and better thankfully.

We did not want to drop all the way down to the refuge as we needed to make sure we got back up and over the Grand Torsai as our escape route. The Gorge Malpasset is still not passable I dont think which is annoying. Anyway we left ourselves with a further couple hundred vertical to get back up which was not too bad and we ticked that off pretty quickly. All in all we were at the top of the Grand Torsai at a decent time of about 1400. So the ski back to Fornet took about 30 mins and with the weather slowly moving in we decided to call it a day.

We all headed to Crozet for a beer and a good laugh... well one guy had misread my joining instructions and had headed to the normal meeting point so he arrived late so he was buying the first round. It was a nice hour with the guys in there before I (ohhh the social person I was today) headed to Blue Note to have a beer with a friend who was over from the USA on holiday so that was a nice hour in there too.

I popped to the shops to collect something for Clare on the way home and got back to see the kids into bed, have dinner and have now collapsed and will be in bed soon as I am really tired this evening. I can hear the wind out there and with some luck the weather will be OK tomorrow and even more luck will see us have some fresh snowfall but not sure about that.

I am teaching in the morning and Olivia is skiing. Clare is working all day. Meanwhile Ben is skiing all day and having lunch with Club too. In the afternoon I will probably chill as I have another pretty busy week coming up.... but the second half of the week I am heading with Olivia to Alpe d'huez as it is the Coq d'Or which is basically the French national champs (GS races).

TTFN

Quite nice up there this morning

Bonne chance Olivia! snowHead

You know it makes sense.

moosepig - thanks.

Shattered

I certainly have been feeling it today after the exertions of yesterday not only touring so much but also carrying a lot of kit that you need for the days heli-skiing even if it did not happen in the end.

So getting going this morning was sluggish shall we say!

The weather out there was looking a lot better than I was expecting - OK the wind was still a little strong but it was sunny. Clare was on another all dayer, Olivia was training and Ben had a full day with Club including lunch with his crew in Tignes! I was the only person working today as everyone else was on a team ski in La Rosiere. Anyway I got to the meeting point nice and early and it was deserted up there - very eery!

My guy had has a lesson with a colleague yesterday and thus it was my job to develop him some more. As an ex high level tennis player (he said he never went pro but nearly) he was a dream to teach... so easy to instruct. He was also quite technical so needed to be shaped as to what he was thinking about and working on without giving him too many things to think about! Anyway we spent time on greens, the stade as well as some red runs. Jolly successful morning all in all. Looking at the video of him skiing at the start of yesterdays session with my colleague versus the position he was in at the end of todays session was pretty bonkers! Great to see.

So I left him at the top of Olympic to meet up with his friends and I had to be quick to get to La Daille and get Olivia and I lunch sorted. We had a special lunch (one of her favourites) and she was turning around to get into town as she wanted to have a swim with one of her friends.... and I was in a rush too as I was heading over to Tignes to watch Ben take part in a fun ski race after the team lunch they had!

So off I headed at 1400 to Tignes and by now the weather was breaking and as the afternoon went on the light got progressively worse! It even started snowing lightly by the end of the day too!

So it was Val and Tignes having a fun ski 'race' without any timings up on the Palafour stade. I watched the kids having fun which is the main thing and giving it there best and snapped some photos but I was also popular as I had chopped a whole salami up which was swiftly devoured in about 5 seconds flat! Haha!

Anyway it was fun and it was extra special skiing home with Ben afterwards!

This evening we have had a family meal, watched a little TV and both kids have been in bed early - well Olivia is up really early tomorrow to get to St Foy for this race of hers and Clare also has her uncle visiting for a days skiing as he has a holiday home in Annecy so is popping up to see us. Ben will ski with them and im only working in the afternoon so I am going (unless I get a last minute booking) to have a morning off before teaching in the afternoon.

The weather could bring us some more snow tonight but it remains quite warm out there.

Right off to bed - so tired!

TTFN

Rather gloomy this afternoon...

...after a generally sunny start to the day.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Sunday, the view from the piste …

We had some light snow overnight, a dusting. Despite a cold start (icy walk to Spar) by the time we were going up at 11am (well, we did have to shop, do ski hire, etc) it was 8 degrees C. Bluebird day but the pistes atop Solaise were cutting up a bit.

I did a top to bottom at 1 pm and went from hard boiler-plate on Plan to something more ideal, though cruddy, at mid height, and then pretty soft at the bottom by 1.25.

Went back up and over to the glacier in the afternoon. Weather closed in a bit after 2.30.

There is tons and tons of snow but, as we know for Spring skiing, it is all about being in the right place at the right time.

Good coffee at the top of Madeleine but an ‘interesting’ hot diot at the Fornet mid station. Couldn’t Recommend A Purchase.

The app is being a bit reticent on the forecast for tomorrow…

A snowHead

Fantastic lesson with Steve today, thank you so much! All of the tips will really help, and aside from my wobble on Raye I think it’s really boosted my confidence. I will definitely remember ‘soft legs’, the pole plant advice and the LOTJ (if you know, you know).

Maybe if I practice on some steeper pitches this week I might revisit La Face, we will see.

The conditions up high today were fantastic, and even this afternoon it wasn’t too slushy - but I was very tired after three hours of drills haha - my fault!!

Thank you again Steve, would recommend to anyone. By the way I saw your mate on the bus back, the one who was skiing with the lifty above the Folie and did that huge jump. Lovely fella!

Re: post above, my ski group was in the Cascades restaurant when that big fight kicked off, they said it got a bit tasty and some big French blokes eventually separated them rolling eyes

Apparently someone got knocked into and fists began to fly.

A snowHead

Sorry everyone really under the weather tonight so will try and do a double post tomorrow. Been feeling iffy since 0300. Gave my kids a scare as passed out in the loo this evening. So drugged up on sofa thanks to nurse Clare!

Ps Olivia had her best result ever. In there with the older girls on the podium and scored her lowest points score ever (235).

More info tomorrow but need to rest.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I hope you recover quickly. Well done again Olivia.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Take it easy Steve.
Chapeau Olivia.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hope you feel better soon Steve. And thanks once again, we had the best afternoon with you. Now suffering from post ski-blues...only 10 months to go!

You'll need to Register first of course.

L8 - thanks for the alternative view from the slopes - im enjoying the updates!
HoneyBunny - LOTJ (The Law of the Jaw). Yes perfect. Got get em.... you can do it! Blimey first ive heard of the Cascades fight - well I never in Val d!
Jehu / PeakyB / gixxerniknik - thanks. Yes only 10 months to go gixxerniknik - it will come around before you know it!

Resting up

Ill do a double posting for yesterday and today.

So I woke up middle of the night last night feeling weird... stomach cramp and could not get back to sleep. Luckily I could have the most chilled morning ever as Clare headed out to drop Olivia off in town for the short trip down to St Foy for the race. Meanwhile when she got back her uncles (two of them and one of the wives) turned up. They are staying at their holiday home in Annecy and were basically coming up for the day to see us... mainly ski with Clare and Ben (in this case as Olivia was away racing).

So after a coffee and showing them around our new house they all headed out for a ski day and lunch all together so I chilled all morning.

For the afternoon I took HoneyBunny out and basically it was one of the sessions where it was polishing up strong technique to make the confidence come with it. We lapped around all sorts up Bellevarde and finished by skiing to La Daille which was a tiring test at the end of the session as the snow was quite chopped up and soft. Anyway a good session.

I got in an watched some TV for a short while but quickly started to feel really bad and headed to have a lie down. I knew I must be under the weather as I was not hungry to eat. Anyway I took a bath and went back to bed. I was just about ready to go to bed for real and popped to the loo (had a dressing gown and puffa on as was cold) and passed out in the bathroom... Clare heard the thud. Luckily I did not do myself any damage but I remember vaguely her shouting at me through the door to unlock it which I managed to do and then I was being given some ice cubes to suck, getting into the W position etc and slowly started to become coherent (I did notice my speech was slurred!). Anyway it was the kids who were the most upset seeing me like that!

Anyway it made sense from a safely point of view to sleep on the sofa so the kids made it up for me and I basically went to sleep after some paracetamol on the sofa. I slept well until the early hours, then woke up as the stomach pains were back as they had been non stop for 24 hours or so.... taking another paracetamol I thought the pain would go away but it would not so I didnt really get any sleep from 0300 until 0600 or so.

This morning I did feel a little better, or well enough to help get the kids ready for school and out the door. That was quickly followed by Clare heading to work so I headed back to bed and have basically spent the morning dozing and finally got up for real about an hour ago and have managed to eat a decent lunch.

Meanwhile all my lessons today I have had to postpone and move around. Sorry peeps!

Hopefully another few hours of chilling and a really good nights sleep and ill be fighting fit again tomorrow - we shall see. Certainly at the moment feel better. Weirdly I have not really felt anything other than a pain in the stomach which finally seems to be going thank god and didnt feel sick at all at any time... just weak and tired! Weird.

So the kids are back at school today BUT yesterday Olivia was down in St Foy at another (the last before the finals) Bronze cup (Upper Taranataise) GS race. So as usual was 2 x 2 runs courses.... She was absolutely on fire.... coming 2nd overall in run 1/2 before finally coming in third place overall (1st in her year) for the first course. Things carried on well as she ended up in 4th place overall for runs 3/4 and again 1st in her year. It meant that she not only got her lowest ever FFS points score of 235 but also her ESF palamaires dropped into the low 20's as well AND she also won 2 more trophies! It could not have gone much better. It means she heads to the national finals this week in Alpe d'huez (first race on Thursday ill be there for which is a qualification (hopefully) for the final on Friday!) ranked no1 in the Upper Tarantaise district for her age but also top few in the whole Savoie... so that will give her the confidence boost she needs for this Coq d'Or. Bravo. She celebrated as usual with a Jami delivery last night (she does like her burgers in celebration!).

For the rest of today I will continue with my feet up and chilling and hopefully I will be fighting fit tomorrow.

The weather out there again today continues this blend of sun, cloud and snowfall and it just really cant make its mind up this past week what it wants to do.

In local news the pisteurs have been training for avalanche rescues so ill finish with some photos of that today to give you the idea.

TTFN

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Monday …

Colder start. Cloud cover. Up to Bellevarde at 10.30. 2 degrees C at the top. Murky enough for me to miss the turn to where the kids were (in the green triangle) …. After having to work hard in the murk on 3j, I ended up going up Tommeuses and that was a happy accident as we ended up doing multiple descents to Le Lac on far more enjoyable snow than yesterday, and in better light. It was interesting to see the lifty on Tommeuses turning away skiers with Val passes. Toviere belongs to Tignes!

Ashamed to say my kids even smoke me on the blacks now. Crocus (new to me) is a really enjoyable run. The bottom of JC into Le Lac is pretty boiler-plate.

Shout out for the self at the top of Toviere which delivered great croque, saucisses frites and tartiflette when we got there for lunch. It’s a bit hidden … if coming off the Toviere gondola head right of the sign which says Gaufres, Desserts.

Then an afternoon Henri to VC and back up to the green triangle in more intense snow. There will be some useful fresh around the top of Grand Pre tomorrow. Those are delightful cruising greens. A Fontaine Froide in very good nick and then round to the La Daille gondola. Why do people hang at the Folie Doice in the cold, snow etc (Rhetorical, I realise).

Nice to see the admins have left the mini Swiss Wall (notionally green) off the top of the Borsat lift. That was always a LOL moment back in the day. Isn’t it a bit user-unfriendly, though?

A good day from what seemed to be an unpromising start. How often does that happen!

After all it is free

Off to Tignes on the 4th for the 1st time in 17 (!) years, loving the updates in this thread Eh oh!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

L8 - yes the Tommeuses lift that leads to the Toviere peak that also has a lift from Le Lac arriving in the same place called Toviere, it has always been a Tignes lift. Mainly linked to the pisteurs having the domain down to it from the peak to 'control'. The reason why the 'wall' top of Borsat is a green is because they need to have a green coming from the top of that lift and the work around path cannot always be open in case of avalanche risk above. If they changed it to a blue it would mean advising from the bottom that the terrain is for intermediates only and from a marketing point of view this would not be good for the resort. Bearing in mind colouring of runs the world over is NOTHING other than marketing. Even a 'flat' resort needs black runs otherwise decision makers where the family ski holiday (for eg) will go to will never go there as everyone bases their abilities (wrongly) on the colour of runs they ski on. Either way that run is not very nice no you are right!
BornAgainSkier - great - you'll have a great time.
akirk - yes it unfortunately does not get any easier as you get older but its all the more reason for getting the technique correct when you are younger. The number of times I have older clients who can 'no longer do it' and its usually because they never learnt properly in the first place! Anyway yes certainly the Saturdays are lovely and quiet arent they but to be honest this week is not that busy it really isnt. It will be a different story next week.

Back at it

I had a MONSTER sleep last night - normally I have about 6 hours a night but I slept non stop from before 2100 last night until after 0600 so felt sooooo much better this morning - phew!

Kids were off to school and I had to get snowboarding stuff to Snowberry as I had a lunchtime kit change! Clare meanwhile was on the same booking again. So after doing the drop off I arrived at the meet point and the weather was glorious. It was also really nice that my clients from yesterday were so accommodating and we had been able to rearrange the session to today.

Anyway off we went and it was 'my old mate 'A'' who is lovely old retiree guy who is such a soft soul. I love teaching him as he is such a fun guy and I love trying to help him get better! Anyway we had a nice session working on confidence mainly and tweaking his technique. Sometimes it doesnt take too much to make a big difference.

At lunch time it was a dash to Snowberry to get into my boarding gear from ski gear, eat my lunch and then head back to the meeting point. I do love the variety in the this job and its nice teaching boarding too but its a bit of a pain changing.

Anyway this afternoon I had a nice young girl in her early 20's who had done a couple of hours boarding at a snow dome and her friend had taught her yesterday for an hour but basically she was a beginner! So we headed up Solaise to the magic carpet and by the end she was just about getting the hang of linked turns but already some bad habits had been inground from the 'mate' yesterday so had to unlearn some things.

I headed home after work and Clare was out with some friends for a drink so it was just me and Olivia for a while... Ben was at judo after school and has now headed out for a sleepover at his best friends! Meanwhile Olivia has had an early night as she will be leaving tomorrow for her trip to Alpe d'huez.

Tomorrow the weather will once again be nice and all way to the weekend actually! Im the only one working tomorrow and then ill be packing for my trip early doors Thursday. Ill post tomorrow night but not sure ill be posting Thursday night - not sure.... as everyone knows it is exceptionally rare I dont post especially in the season but needs must!

TTFN

Sorry forgot to snap a photo today so have had to use Radio Val's instead!

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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