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

A snowHead

Looking forward to planning our winter- has been a busy year in which we relocated home from Geneva to Manchester (we said we would stay in Switzerland for 2-3 years... turned out to be 14!). Likely to be an Easter holiday trip out to Tignes / Val, looking forward to the restart of the daily updates!

A snowHead

moosepig - sorry. Hope it was worth it though
HoneyBunny - im sorry to hear this but nevertheless hope that it will be a wonderful trip non the less. Be sure to bump into me on the slopes and hopefully Ill give you some more tips!
mountainaddict - more on this in a moment but yes its been baltic of recent - eek!
Dr John - this is great news isnt it - lets hope it lasts!

Very much a focus towards Winter now

Firstly apologies for being a little late this month - not sure where the time has gone but gone it has! It also means that this will be the last monthly update before the dailies start again in about a months time or so. So probably about 25/11 something like that ill be starting daily updates but until then you will just have to make do with this.

The last month has seen me getting more back into the normal swing of things with the kids obviously in school... I had a mini health scare a few weeks back with a small douse of gout but got some medication going on that front and altering my diet a little - hopefully that should sort it out. Its not too bad at all but a little change and it should be OK.

When the weather has been OK I have managed to get in a little outdoor fun and games like some walks and some via ferrata too. Olivia has been loving her life down in Bourg at school and making new friends and getting stuck in across the board. There are still commitments up here in Val with the Club and there has been some of that going on - now we are into school hols she is basically full time doing Club stuff until end of this week. Eeek! Ben on the other hand has been having a great time at school and going from strength to strength, in fact he was elected class representative the other week for the year which has given him a massive boost! Yay.

The weather has been up and down but one thing it really has been is much more autumnal temperature wise! In fact about a month ago it turned cold and we have been resisting putting the heating on a little longer and there has been plenty of hard frosts already! Lots of rainy days too but when the sun has come out we have tried to make the most of it and getting outside! As mentioned above it has snowed at the mountain tops a few times already so up high even on north facing slopes the snow is settling - it wont be long until we get the first snows down to town im telling!

I have been back to the UK (got back this past Wednesday) and fitted in a few jobs that needed doing at my place down in Bournmouth but the main thing was I got to play not one, not two but three rounds of golf! It was awesome. Happy days! I just wish there was a more local course to here that is open for more than 2.5 months of the year and not just over school hols - rather annoying! Anyway it was nice to see some courses that maybe one day ill join! I played some good shots and some average shots and plenty of awful shots but hey ho thats golf.

Talking of going abroad - we are off on holiday at the end of this week.... yay - didnt get anything in last year because of the house works and before that it was the major trip to New York and Florida in 2023 that we fitted in. When I mean a holiday I dont really include trips to the UK as they are not 100% relaxing as more often than not we are running around seeing friends and family left, right and centre etc. Anyway we are jetting off to Marrakech... a week in an all inclusive place just outside the city so it will mean a lot of pool time and chill out time. Of course we want to take a trip to the city whilst we are there to show the kids an alternative life etc which will be good for them and we might also possibly take a day trip into the desert too which will be great too but mainly it is a week of relaxation but mainly getting some sun and heat!

Oh the last bit of personal news was that the annual school (Olivias) cross country race was held last week (on Wednesday). Only a 2km circuit but in her year amongst the girls she came in 3rd place (it was a photo finish for 2nd place) so that was amazing! Go girl! And she hates running too! She now qualifies for the county champs in a few weeks time - blimey!

In the town council meetings over the past month or so the two big bits of news revolve around 1) the lack of final decision over the Olympics in 2030 and what / if events Val might host and also 2) separately the final plans for the rebuild of the Club des Sports / SunBar / Old Swimming pool area are coming together and it looks like they might turn the soil starting in May next year which would that that whole area might be out of action of about 2 years with the Club being relocated to portacabins across where Oxygen ski school meet.... hmmm eeek we shall see.

The annual associations of Val d'Isere sign up day was a massive success as always!

The first snowfall of the Winter down to town! Brrrr wrap up warm

The annual 'get your seasonal parking' day was a complete joke as always and spired into a week later relaunch - its a complete joke the whole process and this year seemed even worse!

A very typical autumnal day in Val.

TTFN

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

raino - wonderful - thanks so much. Ill be back soon.

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@Steve Angus, sorry I should have been clearer... my "exhaustion" related to the sheer number and variety of activities that you and the family managed to pack in to the available time, not to the length of your post snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Is the annual associations of Val d'Isere sign up, a volunteering request? Just wondering how they manage to get volunteers if it is? I vaguely remembering there was a requirement for a lift pass discount or similar incentive?

With all the events and organisations im involved with here in the UK, volunteers are always hard to come by and usually the same people that show up.

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

After all it is free

Thanks to Helen at SnowDrone for this photo today

It Starts!

And so it begins after six months away from the snow. The last two weeks has been cold and very snowy. It is time for another season of fun and games. I'm a bit out of practice, but hopefully I'll pick it up again pretty quickly (the dailies that is!). Our little family holiday to Marrakesh in October seems a distant memory, but it was lovely to get away and show the kids a different side to the world before coming back to all the snow and cold and grey and dampness. Oh and get some warmth and sun in too of course!

With the season start on the horizon, this must be right up there as one of the best I've encountered in 20 years here. It's cold and we've got about 30 to 40 centimetres on the ground but everything is gearing up for a fantastic opening weekend including the ski tests and of course not long until the World Cup ski racing comes to town. A fantastic start to the 2025-26 ski season, no doubt.

I'll be back to try and do daily updates and get back into the zone with all the news for Val d'Isere as usual but for now all you need to know is it's looking pretty snowy and wintry out there so go and get out here and make the most of it whilst it's nice and quiet.

TTFN

@Steve Angus, Do you know if Volkl will be represented at the ski test on Sunday this coming weekend as I'd like to try out a pair of Volkl Mantra M7's and Volkl Mantra 88's as both are meant to be good all mountain skis.

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@Steve Angus, Hi Steve thank you for the info. Enjoy the great start to the season (if you can see!!) Very Happy

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Looks like Volkl will be there, this is from the Val d'Isere website with the brans attending.

@MyKeg, Hi Mike thanks for this info. Have you skied on the most recent Mantra M7 or Mantra 88 yet? I understand from Ed you've purchased a pair of Mantra 88's. Currently can get Mantra M7's in 177 length with the bindings I'm looking for, for around £650 although that's a Black Friday deal which finishes on 30 November. However I'd certainly like to try both the Mantra M7's and Mantra 88's before making any decision to purchase.

You know it makes sense.

Markscotski Thanks. And thanks MyKeg for updating us all. I should have thought about that.

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

Did somebody say its looking good out there?

Im in that 'between' period when ive done as much as I can in preparation for the Winter (im CERTAINLY a lot more 'ready' than I was this time last year thats for sure!) but things havent kicked off yet. In fact it's a bit like this every year. You gear up for the season, the season then kicks off, everybody's super excited and it's go go go, and then there's this calm after the storm in the first week of December before the majority of people start coming out here. But this year it almost feels like it's happened already because the snow has come early and in abundance there is even more excitement about.

I went and did some transceiver practice this afternoon, get my skills sharper before it kicks off. There's a good chance I'll be getting off piece pretty much straight away next week when the odd lesson starts to come in. But I also then managed to get into town to go and get my lift pass recharged at the STVI office ready for the winter. It's been a while since I've been up into town, and certainly up to the Rond pond des Piste. I couldn't believe how much snow there was already on the Face. Big piles of it, man-made as well as natural. So we're definitely going to get the World Cup ski races off. And to be honest with you, sometimes at this stage of the year, you really don't know that the ski races are going to happen right the way up until the last minute or not. But I'm pretty confident this year we've got enough snow, which is great.

It's certainly got colder today and it has continued to snow less intensely than yesterday admittedly, but it's continued to snow all day and will continue all night. And I should think even down here in town we've had around about nearly a metre of snow to have fallen so far in the last two or three weeks. The avalanche risk as a result has gone up to quite high and they were even doing some avalanche blasting this morning. I suspect there'll be more of it to come but the weather forecast for tomorrow is more cloud and potentially some more snow. Other resorts are getting decent amounts of snow as well but certainly the amount of snow we're getting here means that we're going to have a lot of avalanche control work to do, certainly for opening weekend which doesn't always happen that way.

Clare has gone down to Bourg to collect Olivia and her friends from school as they have a skiing over in Tignes on the glacier tomorrow. So first full day back in the mountains, race training for her tomorrow. Meanwhile, being a Tuesday evening, Ben's got his judo class. So it's been a pretty quiet afternoon in front of the TV for me with a cup of tea in hand. To be honest with you, I'm trying to rest up as much as possible. My toe has been giving me a bit of a jip the last few weeks. I just want to get as much physical rest as I can because it's going to be a very long winter this year and it's going to be a bit of a bang to start with this year with this great snowfall. And next week for bookings is looking pretty good, so it's nice to be able to rest up and put my feet up. But I'm a little bit jealous of Olivia being able to go race training tomorrow in Tignes. Hopefully the weather doesn't kibosh that plan.

I have another avalanche talk tomorrow evening (YSE) which will be my 5th of the pre-season this year so there is no rest for the wicked.

TTFN

A snowHead

A snowHead

It works with my VPN though. Here’s the photo

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

What's happening with your toe @Steve Angus?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

rickboden - Good to know thanks

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

@Steve Angus, imgur has stopped serving the uk market sadly. This seems to work well https://imgbb.com/

After all it is free

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@Steve Angus, Ouch, and then again ouch. Toes can be really tricky. Hope you're right about ski boots.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

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@Steve Angus, I had a business colleague who used to get bad gout. When on holiday in Spain he had a flare up....and the local doctor said that the best answer was to drink lots (and lots) of water to flush it out.....Apparently it was more effective than taking meds.

Since that time, if he felt a flare up coming on, he drinks loads of water - which he says is the most effective thing he has done.

I mention it in case it would work for you.

You know it makes sense.

Does this work???? For the UK peeps. Or for the majority of readers I guess.

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

@Steve Angus,
Gout? Isn't that a rich man's condition? snowHead

A snowHead

A snowHead

Yes, that photo works fine for me!

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

Well, I'd like to subscribe to this. I like the autumn photo. I can imagine it.

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Hey Steve I feel for you. Suffering from the same thing. Had various diagnosis including bad sprain, cellulitis and gout. Was prescribed naproxen which I thought was for pain relief but apparently also treats gout. Am now taking it as prescribed and appears to be helping….

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I have had gout and can pin point it to dehydration rather than a rich diet (I don’t necessarily have a super-healthy diet but I am also notoriously bad at drinking enough water - even when I am consciously hydrating (when out cycling for example) I drink less than everyone else - but when I have had an episode it’s always when it’s been hot and I have been slow at drinking water, even by my standards). So if I feel a twinge I neck a decent amount of water and maybe pop some ibuprofen and usually good to go the next day.

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

Great photo @Steve Angus snowHead

+1 for drinking lots of water to avoid/treat gout. Horribly painful condition; I once got it in both knees as a complication of appendicitis while on holiday in Malta. That was not a fun week Skullie

After all it is free

@steve - welcome back ! Looking forward to your regular updates. That photo works well. Nice amount of snow for end Nov. Reckon the VD / Tignes link will open early ?

@Steve Angus, TDC is almost sold out for w/c 13th Dec in VdI. Will you have more slots to sell or thats it?

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ronniescot - awesome glad you like!
brovert - thats good to know there are options out there - thanks so much!
Technician - yes I think it could be something to do with that - will try hydrating some more! Appreciate.
Kenzie - never say never!
moosepig - thanks! But blimey that sounds awful on the knees - ouch!
Charlie333 - thanks - yes looking forward to it! The link opens when Val opens as Tignes already open and that is due this weekend so yes will open!
ster - Yes its looking busy - im looking at the planning myself. Mornings are all gone yes so its just a few afternoons available yes im afraid thats all. I doubt anything else will open up im afraid no. Sorry!

Help!!

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

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