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

A snowHead

Tuesday … warmer

Knew it would be hotter the minute I looked out. Blue skies. We all went out wearing one layer less. I reached the top of Bellevarde at 1030 (same time as yesterday) and the display indicated 2.6 degrees C (vs 2.3 yesterday). I swear it was warmer than that!

Took the view that now had to be the time to do the Face and did so. Goodish snow on a v firm base down to half way (where it now becomes Stade). Thereafter pretty soft and heavy snow. For the rest of this week, with weather set fair, skiing down will have to be an early morning thing.

Thereafter - over to Tignes to catch the kids as it got steadily warmer. 9 degrees on Tichot and 14-15 on Grattalu.

Lunch in La Savouna on the way down to Le Lac. Brilliant friendly staff and a great seat outside. The saucisses, though tasty, were the colour of Donald Trump - rather off putting.

Skied on till about 3.30. The snow above Tignes (on the Aiguille side) was always soft whereas the snow in the bowl behind Bellevarde was still good later in the day.

A good day with a good rest of week to come, I hope.

A snowHead

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

Wednesday … plus ça change …

Morning walk in the sun, went up late. 5 degrees C at Bellevarde at 1230. Collet was in good condition. Epaule (diverted to Santons) and Santons (lower part) less so. Very slushy low down with many worn patches. Santons, which is so narrow low down, should perhaps carry a warning. Several v unhappy skiers (‘Jamais une rousse’ I heard). I believe (from the app) it was closed not long after. Looking back from Arcelle/ Manchet later, you can see a lot of wear on those low slopes.

Went over to Solaise, and snow in the bowl there is still really good. There is a free water fountain in the gondola top station - life saver. Cloud came over around 2 pm and the light became increasingly flat. Happy to go down early-ish, because I was flagging a bit, but there is still lots of good snow and lots of good piste skiing. I gather a weekend topup is expected which will be timely.

Great frites and coffee in the Dacha food complex in the middle of Solaise.

Planning an early start …

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@L8, Santons used to be a blue run snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

And it shuts every afternoon at this time of year because of the increased avalanche risk. It will reopen tomorrow.

You'll need to Register first of course.

L8 - yea exactly what I was about to say until moosepig and chocksaway beat me to it

Satisying

Im going to make it really quick tonight and thanks for the good lucks above.

So Olivia got off OK to Alpe d'huez and is settling in nicely to what sounds like a very nice appartment for them all, but they have to be up at 0545 tomorrow as the course inspection starts at 0700 with the first run at 0800 - ouch! (I remember those days though) .

She is bib number 66 which is OK tomorrow. It is a HUGE HUGE event with 1500 U12 and U14 boys and girls going over the few days so a lot of racing to be done and number whittled down. Anyway im leaving at 0330 tomorrow so can be there in plenty of time for being at foot of course at 0800 when the first run starts... I just hope I dont have to drive home tomorrow night otherwise will be a VERY long day... at least if that doesnt happen I can treat myself to a nice meal out instead! haha. Time will tell.

Anyway back to today....

I was the only person needing to be up and out so it was pretty leisurely! We were watching the unfolding pre-qualifiers and Olivias colleagues at the day 1 of the racing on the timings screen and apart from one of her friends they have all made it through to tomorrow. Sadly one of the U14 Val boys missed out by 0.05 sadly though!

So Ben went straight to a flèche race on the Raye this morning with his friend and he did really well getting Argent for the first time so very chuffed mum and dad there.

My morning lesson was with the wife of the guy I had yesterday am and we had a really productive morning up on Solaise and it was nice making a few small changes to her skiing and seeing to much change... we worked the slopes and timings well I thought to make sure we got the best snow all round! We did finish by coming down Solaise and I wanted to show her the Rhone Alpes option which she had never done before - it was fine on the lower section but surprisingly they had not pisted the middle section as it comes away from the Plan M and down to the top of the stade so was horrendous refrozen bumps which was not much fun but hey ho.

I was home for lunch and we all had an hour at home chilling and it was not long before Ben and Clare headed off to Bourg for a food shop, the speech and language therapist but also a McDonald's treat for Ben doing so well in his skiing. Meanwhile I stayed at home and packed up ready for tomorrow.

So im off in a few hours so off to bed now.

TTFN

P.S. If I dont post tomorrow night it is good news re Olivias race.

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

Chapeau to Ben and bonne chance to Olivia.

After all it is free

A lot of racers here in Val Claret, bit of a bun fight getting on Tichot first thing with their race skis and rucksacks the size of a garden shed

Langer1 yea it can be. Doh! They need lots of kit.

Made it....

In more than one sense of the word. 0300 start but was at base of course by 0745 and race started at 0800. Knackered now so having a sleep soon having just this pm after the race been up to ski the infamous Alpe d'Huez Tunnel run as well as Sarenne 13km so called black run. Bucket list items ticked off.

Anyway Olivia's racing she was going the fastest I've ever seen her go but she fell in first run with a promising bib number. Many tears etc but with a mountain to climb with softening conditions and ruts and rubbish bib no for run 2 she produced the finest run she could ever have done and was one of fastest so she has qualified (qualifications is best of 2 in effect) for tomorrow's finals. Nerves cant take it anymore! Eeek.

Right off for a beer and a VERY large steak dinner now.

More tomorrow I hope.

TTFN

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Go Olivia. snowHead

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Result here.

snow reports

Wow, well done Olivia!!

You know it makes sense.

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

I was following live today's run 1. Olivia was certainly doing well, she must be devastated but she will overperform at run 2. In any case, this is a very tough sport and she have to be proud of was she did all over this season !

I am following run 2 now, so goooooooooo Olivia

A snowHead

A snowHead

Thanks everyone for tagging along.

Slept OK in car but knackered this evening. Haha.

Anyway today's racing saw drama and now scandal. So firstly in the 1st run this am she made a school boy error lack of concertation and went wrong side of a gate so that was that leg written off (not before one of the competitors was airlifted off the course after a bad crash).

Anyway second course she nailed it and yes was 9th fastest of the second run. Incredible run again. So it should have meant she was now through to the next stage of the comp a parallel slalom top 32 ski off. However the ESF seem to have changed the goals and took more than they advertised from the overall standings so she is now into the B final final sprint GS tomorrow instead. Everyone including her coach have put a complaint in to suggest moving goals is not a good idea. Grrr

Right I'll watch race here tomorrow then head back home for a decent night sleep.

TTFN

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

How's the piste holding up?

What's the expert view on how things will be skiing through next week?

snowHead

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How's the piste holding up?

What's the expert view on how things will be skiing through next week?

snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Saturday morning and it’s snowing in the village!

Finishing off my notes: Thurs and Fri were a continuation of Wed - bluebird days, temps slightly higher each day, and it’s all about being in the right place at the right time i.e. to catch the balance between early ice/ crud and later soft stuff.

Places where we got it right:
- green triangle pretty much all day, at least until about 2.30
- glacier descent from about 11
- behind the Aiguille, surprisingly good blue runs all the way down (almost) to Le Lac at about 2 to 2.45
- Johan Clarey after lunch
- blues off Toviere towards Val, all day
- Solaise bowl for most of the day

Where we didn’t have it quite so good:
- Pissaillas glacier early. Signal at 10.30 am is not a good idea
- descent from Solaise (Plan/ RA/ CM) had gone to mush by 1 pm
- slopes above Le Lac (Grattalu/ Grand Huit area) from late morning

That’s me signing out. We’ve had a fabulous week and done loads of skiing. There is still tons of snow, and all areas ought to be open for a long time, but there are some patches appearing; I’d suggest the quality of the rest of the season is in the hands of the change in the weather event which is currently under way.

Thanks to everyone for their info on this thread, and the Tignes thread, which made the planning of my trip such fun, and for the responses to my comments. I hope I’ve added a few useful pointers.

Sad final point: when we were returning our skis last evening, the chap in front of us was reporting his skis stolen, which seemed to cost him about €350. The shop manager said that theft had been endemic this year, especially from that bar at the foot of Double M (Coco something?).

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sean1967 - they'll be fine. Firm in the mornings and about right from mid mornings and soft at lower altitudes and south / west / east facing from mid afternoon but plenty of fun to be had out there.

L8 - great reading - thanks for your reports.

Not the best

I did not sleep as well last night as it was a lot colder but anyway got the day going and at first light it was snowing very lightly and there was quite a lot of thickish cloud moving through in waves.... for a while I thought we would not get any racing.

Anyway I got to the start area and saw Olivia briefly and then it was time to start watching the racing. So for some unknown reason to anyone it was a one run race today which is bizarre anyway and therefore anyone with a lower bib number was always going to have a massive advantage! I must say whilst the concept of the Coq d'Or competition is a good one some of the ways in which it is executed is weird in the same way some of the qualification criteria is somewhat odd.

Anyway Olivia with bib 101 (random draw) was on the back foot to start. So it would prove as I think with all that has gone on and the fatigue of the last few days ran out of steam. The weather was cold but the thick clouds that occasionally passed over the top of the course would typically prove to happen when she was about to race meaning seeing where she was going was a lot tougher! So all in all it was not a good day for her and she was still really annoyed by the farce last night with the persons going straight to the parallel finals etc!

Alas not her best run at all but she came in overall 36th in the race and 12th 2014 girl. So one of those days! So at worst I suppose she can say she was ranked 12th in the country at U11 level if you wanted to call it that - so not too bad but she was nowhere near her best today!

To be honest I was quite happy not to have to wait around for the price giving as I was freezing cold!

Meanwhile the parallel GS was going on - quite cool as it was broadcast live on the app and on the big screen at the event which was pretty cool to see. Some cool racing to see but a shame it could not have included Olivia!

One of the Val boys in the U14 category came 2nd overall in the competition over both days so he got prizes galore and all the Val kids stopped around to watch him on the podium again - meant Olivia and the gang did not leave Alpe d'huez until 1500 - blimey!

Meanwhile I got out there about 1000 and the road back was pretty good and of course lunch en route was pleasant.

When I got back at about 1500 Ben was out skiing with club as he was doing all day and Clare was working so I had the place to myself. I managed to unpack and have the worlds longest jacuzzi bath you can imagine - bliss!

This evening we have a very tired household and ill be off to bed shortly thats for sure. Tomorrow only Clare is leaving the house (teaching) - the rest of us are having a very lazy one before school / school holidays work starts on the Monday - eek!

So ill get back into normal life tomorrow slowly but for now a proper bed beckons - bliss!

TTFN

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

Well needed rest day

With the clocks changing I was pleasantly surprised when it said 0830 on my watch when I woke up.... what a great mega sleep that was. Bliss - I needed it.

Anyway Clare was the only person out the front door so I organised a leisurely breakfast and the kids chilled. In fact the whole morning was chilled actually whilst the weather outside was cloudy and mixed. I did a few jobs like some much needed laundry and the like but generally did not do a lot.

Clare was home at lunchtime and the afternoon followed much the same lines as the morning with a film thrown in and some bits but generally the 4 of us really needed some down time today / this afternoon as there is several busy weeks coming up before the season ends in a month or so. Bens teacher is off school for an operation and they cant apparently get a replacement this week so in the mornings the kids will be accommodated into other classes but in the afternoons they are going to get some extra ski sessions in as their coach is going to organise more sessions - so Ben is happy about that.

Meanwhile Olivia is back to school tomorrow and then this time next weekend she will have her final 'local' race of the season and that will be followed by the Savoie finals which is head to parallel super slalom apparently. For some reason that is apparently a week on Tuesday which seems a strange time to be doing it! Hey ho.

This evening it has been a family meal and the kids have had a bath and washed hair etc before getting an early night.

So the English schools holidays have started today so it will be a busy week for lessons (well it is) even though the resort is not going to be mega busy. Weather wise it will be a little up and down all week but mainly OK thankfully.

I didnt snap the following photo today but as Clare testified to if you went high enough out there today you broke through the clouds and this photo by someone called Chris Howe I thought was rather cool - snapped from the Val d'Isere - Ski Club of Great Britain Facebook group page - awesome photo thank you Chris.

Not much else to report from today. Back to normality tomorrow (hopefully).

TTFN

After all it is free

What an amazing picture. Thats quite rare to see

Back to the day job

With Bens teacher being in hospital for an operation this week and with no cover teacher being found Ben headed off to school in his ski gear (with shoes) as they are being covered in other classes in the morning and then in the afternoons he is skiing with all his class mates and his Club group - lucky boy! Meanwhile Olivia has a busy week of school work and being school holidays Clare and I start on lots of bookings for the next couple of weeks - eek!

The weather out there was cloudy but nothing too bad. It was more the fact that it was only just light getting out of bed reminds you the clocks have changed this weekend.

So off I went to town and met up with my am booking which is a couple and the focus is on her mainly. She is the sister of the mother of a kid I normally teach at this time of the year so keeping the booking in the family so to speak. Anyway having verbally assessed her we decided to play is safe and headed up Solaise. With the band of clouds it kept options open in case the vis up Bellevarde was awful AND the fact that I thought the terrain would be better up Solaise.

So we did some laps on the magic carpet building that confidence up and then spent the majority of the time on Madelaine and luckily the clouds were parting so we were able to have a really good ski working on the confidence and mainly letting the skis slide in the fall line! All in all a really good session.

I took lunch back in my favourite place under the Sun Bar and then it was time for I and R the Indian teen boys ive been teaching for years. They are now 15 but ive been teaching them for about 10 years now on and off. The spec from Dad was to 'tire them out' so we headed up Bellevarde mainly as they had been up Solaise this morning and ultimately headed all the way over to and up the Motte. Up there there was a punchy cold breeze blowing and the snow was decent but a little scrapped off in places due to the wind but overall a really good ski top to bottom. I blasted the boys around a lot and we had fun although having wireless speakers into their ears did not help as they were listening to music most of the time.

After skiing I got them back towards their chalet and then headed home myself. The kids had a great day and Ben had enjoyed his skiing but it was homework time and then sorting them out for dinner and bed etc - ah the joys! haha! I also had to have a quick work call too.

So thats Monday over with - the weather tomorrow could be a little more spicy but we are only at the start of the busy 2 weeks of school holidays eek!

TTFN

That cloud layer soon burnt off.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

It bothers me that people ski with music in their ears. It must reduce awareness. I remember once hearing someone above me shout "avalanche".

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

As a long time lurker / reader of your updates it was a bit surreal to look around at the top of a run last Wednesday to see you instructing a few meters away wink

many thanks for the updates, always great to read (especially in a year when we're visiting Val or Tignes).

snow reports

Jehu - yea I agree. However apart from saying something if they are used to it and do it normally then not a lot I can do!
Bradlex - haha. I get that sometimes when im atop a lift and someone says hi etc. Sometimes im there and someone I can see is looking at me in a certain way... haha. Should have said hi - sometimes I can say hi back other times im mid flow when it happens!
franga - yea there are a lot of distractions happening on the slopes all over the place.... self sticks are another.

Coming in

This was a photo (as I forgot once again to snap one today) taken of the official opening of the new Vallon gondola yesterday - all VIP affair (no didnt get an invite - haha!).

So I didnt seem to get much sleep last night for some reason - went to bed too late and woke up early for some reason - so hopefully I will sleep well tonight instead! Looking out the window this morning it was wall to wall blue sky so game on. Ben had the same thing with class splitting in the morning and then skiing in the afternoon and meanwhile Olivia was at school all day and Clare and I working all day.

I headed to the meet point and my team were nicely on time. I decided that heading up Bellevarde would be a better choice today BUT I also knew that with a nervous client I needed to judge the aspect carefully and that would not be easy first thing. You have to know that Collet even being a blue run is going to be a better option than doing Verte as that is west facing and most definately would not have softened up very early doors. We decided to do the steps down and that is a good option many a time as the first bit from the top of Olympic which I call Piccadilly Circus is never very nice and even then had not softened up enough! It would have been a perfect plan but the bit immediately above the Maison Louly restaurant had NOT been pisted meaning it was a refrozen disaster zone - grrr FFS!

Anyway we got there and Collet was fine after that and we made it to Grand Pre nice and early to do plenty of laps building the confidence up even more. Todays lessons was all about her trying to feel the skis slide around the end of the turn aka feeling the skis come parallel. We made decent progress and she even had a smile on her face by the end of the session. Bravo!

Coming back via Fontaine Froide and downloading finished the morning up - perfect.

Lunch was under the Sun Bar and I tuned in to see the results of the first day of Scara qualifications and Val has one boy and one girl by the looks of things through to the next round when it becomes international at the end of the week. Bravo!

This afternoon I had the same boys and as soon as we had met at the meet point I noticed the cloud was sweeping in from the south and there was a very punchy southerly wind coming in. I needed to put an extra layer on as it was brrrrrrr chilly out there.

With the vis generally failing and some snow flakes falling from the sky I decided heading to Brev would be a good choice so off we went. One of the aims for the boys was to 'tire them out' so we headed to do the Sache. Initially I was surprised it was open from the top and then open from the mid way down but to be honest the narrow part has really lost all its snow now and I as there is no real anchor points on that section to piste the slope I suspect they will have to close the Sache in the next few days if not tomorrow. Anyway we got to the bottom and made our way back up into the hurricane winds and flat light and slowly got back towards Val. Blimey I was glad I had an extra layer with me thats for sure.

Of course with many people being under-layered and the light being what it was AND the snow too the mountain was totally deserted this afternoon and taking the boys down the Face at the end of the day the bumps had become refrozen so it was about as tough as you could imagine the Face this afternoon. The boys did really well and I think I succeeded in tiring them out successfully.

So Ben is doing after school club of Judo and Olivia is doing her homework. Tomorrow Olivia is doing some skiing but nothing too serious planned and meanwhile Clare and I are working of course.

We could have a moderate amount of snow by tomorrow morning but we shall see - one thing is for sure it certainly does NOT feel like Spring out there today.

TTFN

You know it makes sense.

All about the attitude

I did sleep better last night and upon opening the curtains I was happy to see we had about 5cm of fresh snow and it was certainly cold still. It looked much more wintery than it could have for this time of the year. NEVER think the ski season finishes in March or before Easter as the industry constantly tries to make people believe for some strange reason.... in fact it starts in early December and as long as you keep an open mind as to what terrain might be open / what the weather may be like you'll have a good time.

Anyway Ben was heading to kids club so it was a pretty leisurely start to the day for him. Meanwhile Olivia was booked in to do a flèche race and Clare was working in the am and me all day.

So I headed to the meet point with an extra layer on and I was so happy my clients came with a really positive attitude to the weather! We decided to head up the Olympic and just see what the weather was like up there and if it was no good to come back down!

I did feel sorry for the U14 French kids who were in the qualifications today for the International phase of the Scara racing (that starts tomorrow). Anyway the strongish winds and snow would not have made it easy for them!

So anyway we headed up the Olympic and whilst the snow quality looked amazing and felt decent I was worried (and so were the clients) that the vis would make it just too tricky so we turned around and headed back down and decided to lap the Village instead. Such good attitudes as we were able to work on the Village and increase confidence and technique - bravo!

So they had their son doing the flèche race as well so I was able to show them the live timing on the phone and I of course had one eye on Olivias run too. Not a bad run at all although she hooked a gate with her arm and lost a pole so probably lost a quarter of a second on that... anyway she scored 22 points and hit the gold time but she is really aiming for sub 20's now.... ah well next time! Meanwhile the son of the clients did really well and got the Vermeil time.

So the morning was a real success with the clients and I took lunch in the normal place sheltering away from the wind and snow as it was really coming down all day long really.

This afternoon the boys were late arriving for their session mainly as they had skied so long and hard all morning in the nice snow that they had to have their arms twisted to even stop for lunch. So when they arrived we decided that having a mini break mid way through the session this afternoon would be a good idea. Off we went and the plan was for plenty of tree skiing as well as the Vallee Perdu with them. The first decent was a really nice one down through the La Daille trees where the snow was awesome and there was a good 10cm of fresh snow that had fallen during the day!

All the way down to the funi it was great snow on a firm base but very enjoyable! So we headed back up and did plenty more laps in lovely snow before taking a break and then to finish we did the Vallee Perdu which was in excellent condition although the boys really wanted to do the lower VP which was as usual horrendous but it was fun non the less.

Clare meanwhile was down in Bourg at the speech and language with Ben, Olivia had a chilled afternoon and I have just been putting the food shop away as the kids have been sorted for bed.

The snow is slowing down this evening and tomorrow we should have wonderful conditions up there and the sunshine is due to return!

TTFN

Nice powder ready to rip up down in La Daille this afternoon

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

Good to see some fresh snow yesterday, looking forward to coming out on 13th for a week!

A snowHead

dunc999 - you'll have a great week. Coverage should be perfect still everywhere.

A return to that Winter snow feeling

Its not often you get a day like today.... what felt like a return to Winter this morning with about 10cm of fresh snow about on Winter groomed slopes and without the effect of the sun yesterday it really could have been February half term or early March! Perfect. It was cool but not cold. Ideal! Understandably lots of people were out and keen to make the most of things so lots of excited faces to start the day off.

It had been a pretty relaxed start to the day in general getting the kids up and onto the school bus before heading into town myself. Clare was back on her normal booking for the week and me too.

Meanwhile the Scara race competition moved onto the international leg of things and there were some good performances by both Brits as well some of the local Val kids. Bravo.

Anyway I headed up the Olympic and was really hoping for perfect groomed conditions and indeed it was. We took the steps just to be sure but the snow was ace. What was also nice for this time of the year was that the Verte was NOT firm corduroy ice! Bonus! So anyway we mainly lapped the Grand Pre as well as the Borsat and it was a really successful session. Her parallel turns are coming slowly but surely they really are which is a far cry from the bracing death plows NOT in the fall line we started with!

Whilst riding the lifts you could tell the snow off piste was wintery pow as the lines were proper S pow turns being left. A note on that as there was a lot of powder frenzies out there by people who are obviously not used to dealing with off piste safety.... there was several persons getting scares out there today!

Anyway as the temps rose and the sun worked its way the snow did soften up but overall it was an immense morning.

I filmed my weekly snow report at the top of the Bellevarde before heading back to the bottom for my lunch in the usual spot before meeting (they were about 10 mins late as one of the boys had picked the wrong poles up when leaving the lunch restaurant (whoops!)) my pm team. The boys were saying that they were starting to get the end of the week fatigue kicking in but none the less it was game on. Once again the boys had spent their morning at the Solaise so it was very much Bellevarde and Tignes direction once again for the afternoon so off we went.

I hatched a plan to do some pistes and go places I had not done for a while and ultimately we did 'Round the World' backward with a trip down Johan Clarey. etc.

However we did the piste (without referring to the piste map I cant remember) that comes from the Eye of the Needle in Tignes down towards Le Lac on 'sunny' side.... have not done that for a very long time. Bit of rock dodge scramble at the top but it was fun. The boys loved it.

We slowly headed back to Val but they had tired legs so I persuaded them that finishing off on the Face probably was not the best idea so we downloaded instead!

At home it has been a pretty quiet evening as Ben was playing outside with his friend, Olivia was at gymnastics and we have just gotten the kids into bed - lots of tired hearts, minds and bodies, especially as Bens extra week of skiing continues in the afternoons this week - lucky lad!

Tomorrow the sunny and warm conditions will continue! Cant believe that that will be the end of the first week of Easter hols done. Blimey time flies!

Early doors this morning and course inspection for the U16 Scara was in full flow - this was at about 0815.

Looking nice out there this morning wasnt it!

A bit of haze this afternoon but stunning views!

A snowHead

And repeat

Well once again it was a scorching hot day. It was also the same in terms of getting the kids sorted and out the door and then heading to the meet point. The only real difference was that we had had a real heavy freeze overnight therefore I decided that going towards the green triangle up Bellevarde and dealing with the first pitch (even with the steps down) would not be a good idea and also the same for the Verte which would be a total write off until early afternoon probably! So it was Solaise as the only option.

Off we went as everyone was on time and buzzing for a last good day. I knew I had made the right call as the magic carpet was as firm as first thing but suggested to them that Madeleine facing more north would not be firm like the carpet run.... and indeed I was right.

We then spent a few hours working up the confidence and developing the technique some more and I think by the time we finished for the week that we would all accept that lots of progress had been made - good work all around.

I treated myself to lunch out today and decided to try out G Spot in snow square! So G is a Thai lady (certainly Asian - sorry not 100% sure but pretty sure its Thailand) who set up a 'hole in the wall' take away style place in Tignes Le Lac serving lots of yummy Asian food. She had a pop up kitchen this Summer just gone too at Hibou as well! Anyway with the demise of Tartine (a shame in itself) in Snow Square she took over the territory over the Summer.

Anyway whilst its great food (more on that in a minute) its not exactly the easiest sort of food to eat and also lots of people would not chose something like as if you are going to go to a 'hole in the wall' for lunch then a sandwich and a can is the sort of thing you are likely to be after is it not?

So anyway I took a yummy BBQ pork and rice number and it was delicious. Luckily their one and only table and chairs was available in the sun so I enjoyed something different for lunch! Whilst not cheap (what is in Val d?) at €18 it was delicious and filling although im not sure sitting there eating food like that for much of the Winter would be practical!

Ill pop the menu up below.

For the afternoon I had the boys again and we decided on a change of scenery and went up Solaise and did Marmottens which was VERY sticky. We also did all the options over towards the Pissaillas glacier and had a great afternoon in the sun! We were thirsty so had a drink at Cascades before skiing via the Foret black (which was in good nick all things considered) to the bottom and busing in back to town.

This evening it has been very relaxed. Olivia has training tomorrow morning, Ben Club and Clare skiing in the morning. Im going to be on kids duty tomorrow but otherwise will be resting as have a very full week coming up and then we really do embark on the home straight of the season from end of next week onwards. Phew!

TTFN

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

Coming out on 21st April staying in La Daille, 4 snowboarders , any advice on plan on what a good day might be with the likely conditions of the slopes. I guess the green triangle first up or solaise or head over to Tignes? Any advice as normally ski at NY so I know its going to be a lot different!

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Lazy

I needed to be up early / on time this morning as Clare was on a chalet meet and I needed to get Ben to Club and dig out his ski gear from Club when we got there too.

I could probably have spent another couple of hours in bed but that will have to wait until the season is over - haha!

So Olivia was on a 0930 start so she made her own way, Clare headed to her meet point and I sorted Ben out. All very relaxing really in the sunshine.

I decided that with not a lot else to do that I would do a big batch cook up of things so I popped to the shop to pick up a couple of things we didn't have and then spent some time cooking whilst of course the cricket was on in the background!

Since Clare has a friend from the UK out this week and was at a lose end at lunchtime she met up with them and also Olivia and Ben joined her and they all took at picnic lunch at the Lounge in the sunshine which was nice for them / her. It was not until the mid afternoon they all came back. Ben was at club though for the afternoon so I picked him up, whilst Olivia went to a birthday party and we had SnowTrax around for cuppa with MRS ST. All very pleasant and it was lovely having the afternoon sun stream in through the window which is always nice at this time of the year!

So after collecting Ben and getting dinner sorted we then needed to get Olivia into bed as she is up really early for the final Bronze regional race of the season in Peisey Vallandry... its fancy dress though for some reason! Anyway Ben is at kids club and Clare and I are working all day - last very full up week of the season coming up - eeek!

However for the most part today has been really very relaxing indeed which is nice at this time of the year as any rest you can get is welcome!

TTFN

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Glorious

Olivia was up and out the door early this morning so we were all up as a result. She made her own way to club. As I say it was a fancy dress day with a fun race but mainly a chance for the end of season awards for the Haute Savoie. The 'race' comprised of one run including part GS, part SL, a jump, a limbo to ski under as well as a part where they had to lie down and shot a laser run... if they missed a target they had to run around (on skis) the number of targets the they missed, a coned off area. It was a lot of fun and being in fancy dress (she went as a cheerleader) it was nice to chill with other girls from the area - many of these girls she will be at Ski Etude with next year and the plenty of them are already there in the year above!

So she was off early - it was quite fun watching her from afar at the bus stop with her friend Roscoe who also lives in this building dressed up as the pink panther! What the early morning bus driver at 0700 must have thought! Haha!

Ben of course was up early and we were all done and dusted getting ready way too early. Oh well.

Clare took Ben to kids club and I headed up to meet my regulars for this week from the last couple of years. Actually the same family as Feb HT and New Year week actually! Anyway it was lovely seeing the kids and we set off as soon as we could via the double chairs up Bellevarde. There had been a really hard freeze overnight so we needed to work the aspects carefully. One of the kids was not really firing on all cylinders (think they are a little tired to be honest as they have already been here a week) but we took it easy and headed over to Tignes and I thought we would go somewhere different - Palet area in Tignes to ski the boarder cross up there. It was a lot of fun actually. Of course the hot choc break at Palet was welcome and we sheltered from the sun. I must say when you are working on all day bookings at this time of the year it is SO nice to get shelter when you can.

One of the kids really was not feeling great so we took it really easy on the way back and as a result got to Equinox for lunch a little late. Oh well.

So we hung out for lunch in the sunshine and it was glorious! I took the dish of the day which was a really nice cajun style pulled pork burger - was lovely!

For the afternoon the kids wanted to ski with their cousins so I took one of the other mums and the teenage daughter out for a technique brush up and we again headed to Tignes mainly as they had never been over that way in their couple of holidays they have had here. Excellent.

The snow was of course really chopped up in the afternoon so we needed to measure our energy levels carefully and all too quickly they were getting tired so we headed home. The timing was perfect as I was able to be down there when Olivia got back from Peisey whilst Clare collected Ben from kids club!

So she came home with a massive trophy for winning the most number of 'points' over the course of the whole season in the Haute Tarantaise. Go my girl! She will now move onto the last race of the season which is the finals for the Savoie Argent champs on Tuesday somewhere in the Maurienne Valley. She needs to get through the pre qualifying first in the morning before the last 32 girls under 12 in total battle it out for the parallel final title in the afternoon. Go girl. It will be a real early start as she is being collected at 0600 on Tuesday am to get there - eek!

Tomorrow work and weather wise will be the same as today (like it will be most of this week) eek.

TTFN

Have always looked at that couloir and imagined what it would be like hiking it and skiing it (maybe im a little old now to be able to do that - haha!)

Meant to say all over the mountain today there were loads of skidoo tracks from leisure users - like these tracks. Bizarre as never really seem them before! We dont really get ski-doo'ers in this part of the world!

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

Great achievement Olivia.

After all it is free

Jehu - thank you.

Tomorrow she has the last race of the season and another big one - the final of the county champs (Carre Neige Coupe Argent Savoie). After the GS round earlier this season when she fell in the first run but came back and was 2nd 2014 girl in the second run and then in the SL round she was 3rd girl 2014 overall in Savoie this is the final one. Anyway I need to be up at 0500 to drive her to the rendezvous point in Bourg in order to get over to Toussieres in the Maurienne valley for the race. Eeek!

vegas007 - thanks for quoting me but not sure if there was a comment that was supposed to be attached or not!

Not quite as hot

It was game on once again this morning with the sun shining but of course Monday morning meant getting the kids to the school bus. With that done and dusted it was time to layer up and head out. Clare back on the same booking and I was too!

I arrived and everyone was dead keen to get going apart from one of the team who was having a day off as was feeling ill. So it was just me and G and off we went and because we had been Tignes way yesterday today we went Solaise direction. We worked the aspects as normal and it was obvious there had been a really heavy freeze overnight and because the temps were a couple of degrees colder it would take longer to soften up. We had an amazing top to bottom in one go down Madeleine which was in TOP condition and then G wanted to do the skier cross so we did that.

We did a variety of runs and I intentionally wanted to challenge him so we did the Cugnai run which had not been pisted and of course was quite firm so firmer bumps was the order which was so good for him. Lots of good drills were also done before we met up with the others for a hot choc break at Datcha - darn the hot chocs are good there.

After that we did some more laps and drills but he did not want to ski down Plan M to down so we downloaded and then we did a couple of Combe Martins so he ticked off his first blacks - awesome!

Lunch was taken at the Blizzard and luckily we sat inside as it is always nice to get shelter from the Sun at any time of the year in this job but especially in the Spring. I understand why holiday makers always want to sit in the sun when on a holiday at this time of the year but goodness me its important to take shelter as much as you can.

I had a wonderful beef ribs with amazing salad and potatoes - can highly recommend.

So for the afternoon it was just the lady from yesterday afternoon from the group 1-2-1 with me and I decided not to push (in terms of energy) as much as I had done yesterday but still we managed to find some time to develop some skills and we found a lap of the Orange as well as the Stade just perfect conditions for her. Excellent.

So after all that skiing and client contact time I was glad to head home and have some quiet time but mainly get the kids sorted quite early as they both needed a really early night and since Olivia is up really early to get to this race and im up even earlier (0500) then ill be off to bed early tonight!

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Sorry Steve, meant to reply with

“Thanks Steve, intermediates with one beginner.
great advice and have never done Arcelle. Presume Henri to VC will be hard first thing too!”

Help!!

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

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