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

A snowHead

@joshyp, friend out last week says snow great. Can’t see any new snow or cooler conditions in the forecast for next week at the moment…

A snowHead

Looks warm all week, hopefully it doesn’t melt

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

@joshyp, pistes will be fine, cosmetic coatings on trees will undoubtedly melt.

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It’s been absolutely hoofing down all day, but v wet and heavy.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

not so bad, will probably be ok at altitude. Also val d'isere is iconic in the fact that the main two lifts from the base just take you to different domains. Will still be able to ski La Face on Monday/Tuesday next week after the world cup though

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joshyp - yes lets not talk about the cricket! As far as the snow etc here is like - well it snowed today... certainly was nice from mid mountain up but a bit wet below the Folie but all in all decent and some nice off piste to be had and the pistes are in great condition too!

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A decent first day

It was an early start to get ready and over to Tignes for day 1 with the Ski Club of GB. Luckily I slept pretty well but my mind had me awake quite early. However on the flip side I had packed my bags etc nicely in advance. Whilst I was eating breakfast etc I watched the first session of the test match and I was getting excited that England were starting to play properly! It wasnt to last of course!

So I lugged all my gear up to the car and headed to Tignes. I left early in case there were any issues finding a parking slot but it all worked out OK. The meeting at the Maison du Tignes was rather hectic with about 15 groups to sort out but it was nice catching up with instructors and guides I know and for the most part had not seen since last Winter.

Anyway I got my group which was a nice group of pretty decent experiences and abilities off piste and off we headed. The weather at the start of the morning was OK but would soon crap out on us. We did a mix of piste skiing but general off piste accessed from the lifts with a shortish traverse. The visibility was pretty shocking and we had to feel our way down most things and when you are at the front leading it can be quite disconcerting. Later in the morning off the Grand Pre I managed to do a double ejection into some snow... I was going quite slowly and I dont know what I landed on but the top of my right rib cage is sore this evening! Dont think I landed on my pole handle or anything but its sore!

We took coffee at the Empreiente and then lunch (a bit later) at the Marmottes (good croque and salad I had!).

By the time we came out after lunch the wind was starting to howl too which made things even more challenging. I decided to take a trip down to La Daille in the trees and it was good but MUCH wetter down there - even the snow was sticky and heavier but just about OK to ski it off piste thankfully.

Anyway id say for day 1 it was pretty good. With the sun forecast to shine for the rest of the week at least we will be able to see where we are going but I will need to plan carefully for off piste routes with only limited amounts of lifts open and some key lifts not open yet like the Manchet Express!

I headed home on the road and boy it was rather slippy as the rain / snow was making it treacherous out there - a few cars had slipped and smashed against banks of snow on the way down! Anyway when I got home I had quite a lot of drying of clothes to be done!

Ive watched the ski racing from the US and Canada this evening and generally replied to lots of messages it seems this evening!

Meanwhile at home today Clare has been shuttling the kids around to and from ski club and the kids well mainly skiing but also Olivia had a play date home work date with a friend.

Im pretty shattered so off to bed shortly.

TTFN

P.S. For those who follow me on Instagram etc @SteveAngusSnow then I used my new little handheld vid camera today and used CapCut AutoEdit to produce a pretty decent first days video which you can see on my story on there - quite like it!

Quite bright in Tignes first thing but it didnt last!

The new menu at the Kaijo which is on the Rue de la Poste in Le Lac - a good and good value lunch place in Tignes to add to the list

After all it is free

OK that was nice!

It was a busy Monday morning and early start at that getting the kids out the door but the good news was that it was sunny and not too cold out there (although it needs to get a little colder again thats for sure!). I went to meet the team at the bottom of the Tommeuse and off we went. There was a lot of expectation in the air generally for a top day and lots of people chomping at the bit for a powder frenzy.

Bearing in mind there is about 30 groups out there between the SCGB and Snowheads and other SnowWorks groups etc and plenty of those are looking to get off piste it was a bit of a frenzy for that pow first up! I do like teaching early and late in the season as you so often see instructors and guides that you dont generally see in the bulk of the season as they come to Val and Tignes for the early and late season work. It turned into quite a sociable day in the end.

Anyway as they say there is no friends on a powder day and its always quite stressful trying to compete for the lines you want to put in. I generally dont mind when its other guides and instructors and their groups etc - thats one thing but when you have unmanaged groups all over the place with bad spacing and all the rest of it and bad etiquette its a nightmare! There was plenty of that going on today!

So we started with a classic Familial which was deeper than expected then a traverse over and into the stade which again like yesterday was excellent. The north side of Jardins Borsat was very good and so too the south facing sides. It was time for a coffee before we did the glades under pisteurs which again was good. There was the odd rock about still though! The highlight of the morning (not the traverse in which is still a nightmare this early in the season) was a spatule which was excellent! We stopped for lunch at Equinox in La Daille and that was wonderful. We sat inside and it was nice to rest for an hour.... the food and beers (for those who had one) went down very well - yum.

We finished off with a quick 'off the verte' and then headed back to Tignes. Interestingly the effect of the wind and then the days heat / sun (which was quite strong) did some damage but pure north and slightly steeper today had some amazing pockets of snow e.g. the guts of the spatule were about 25-30cm deep - amazing!

I got home and did a few bits but we had a friend around for a cuppa before starting the evenings jobs!

Im pretty knackered this evening and tomorrow after skiing is going to be hectic as I need to head to Bourg asap for a 1715 appointment - a scan on my ankle just to look for a stress fracture in the toe. Oh and need to collect a large click and collect food shop and also I think I am on duty to collect Ben from his after school club of judo - eeeek all go.

TTFN

Apparently this is somewhere in the states - bonkers!

Even more bonkers is the price they are paying to stand in that queue!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I've seen a picture just like that before attributed to Vail. Insane!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Anybody out in Espace Killy got a read on conditions? Arriving this weekend and hoping they hold!

Certainly looks amazing from the webcams

snow reports

@CuriousPanda, the pistes are in the best condition at this time of year that I can remember in 10 years, and look set to be for the next week at least. Off-piste can be charitably described as sketchy, possibility of chalky next couple of days. Get your carving skis on and have a ball. I certainly am.

NoMapNoCompass - indeed. Owlette - yea it happens in a fair few places. Sadly.
CuriousPanda - yes I live here. Its very good early season conditions. Check out my instagram @SteveAngusSnow and you'll see videos and pics taken each day or read here for the same. Have a great trip.

Another great day

For some reason I woke early this morning so im shattered this evening after another great day on the slopes.

Anyway it was a lovely sunny day and fairly warm once again. I met my team at the usual place and we did a variation through the (not yet built or touched snow wise therefore a powder field still) snowpack and there was great snow in there. After yesterday's experience in the Spatule I decided that a go at the Super Spatule was in order and boy was it good. There was amazing Winter knee deep light pow up there.... it only got bad much much lower down with the rain crust of a few days ago and even then it was still skiable as it was very fragile. Anyway we battered our way down to the piste and got there by hook or by crook! Haha.

We changed sector and headed towards the Solaise where we found some wonderful options in the meadows around Datcha and Glacier. There was lots of great options to be skied! We had a good morning. Lunch was taken at Datcha where the portion sizes are still massive... boy im still full!

The afternoon was short with just a quick foray into the Super S area after as I needed to be back early so I could get to Bourg for my hospital appointment. So by 1530 I was out of ski boots and getting ready to drive to Bourg. Anyway all the logistics went to plan and I got there in good time.

The actual appointment of an X ray and a ultrasound basically confirmed that my toe is showing the tell tale signs of arthritis in the form of gout in it.... I should get more info via email tomorrow but basically there does not seem to be any stress fracture in there.... ill just have to make diet adjustments etc more long term.

So after all that I collected a food shop and headed back up the hill collecting Ben from judo and have been getting that all put away.

Phew what a day.

The lovely sunny weather will continue tomorrow - will have to think where to go tomorrow.

TTFN

Well there was 7 of us who had come down there.

You know it makes sense.

Need a good sleep

Im going to have to be quick tonight - im totally shattered, didnt sleep too well last night and have a wooly throat!

So first up got through my report from the hospital through this morning. Basically it is gout related and it says "metatarsophalangeal joint of the second toe, hypoechoic synovial thickening with slight effusion and mild hyperemia." So back to the doc to see what can be done if anything! Its not too bad but dont want to flaring up at a bad moment in the season ever!

The weather once again today was stunning and I met my team at the usual time and place! Clare was having a ski with Ben and Olivia was at school.

Anyway I considered taking my team down the cairn but im unsure how the pisteurs might react when we get out towards the side of the Face piste what with the set up for the World Cup - so decided to give that option a miss. Instead we bussed it from La Daille and we started with Danaides into the L. The L I should add is a LONG way from opening with a stream still running down the middle of it! Anyway the wall itself was decent but when we got to the 'turn left, right or straight on option it was awful from then on in. Anyway we got down in one piece! The traverse over and into the lower part of Tete Arollay produced some wonderful snow and coming down that side into the L was awesome! Best snow of the day.

After lunch at Crosset which was lovely as usual we did a funky thing had not done for a while and that was a high traverse from the top of Vallon gondola after a boot pack up in order to get across to do the more northerly facing sections of sunny bowl.... and again that was OK. It was enough for me to circle around and try the meadows on the other side of the Fornet 'valley'.

After work it was quiet at home as Clare as by now down in Bourg taking Ben to the speech and language and Olivia was at her friends house in town having come back up from school at lunchtime. So I did what I needed to and then headed out to deliver my final seasonnaires avalanche talk of the year to Tour Ops (My Vie Val d'is talks start next next week instead). So it was Bramble Ski up at Legettaz. So have spent the evening talking to them before coming home to tie the day up!

So ill sign off there as tomorrow is another very hectic day and ill post some of todays photos instead.

TTFN

Try and spot our tracks under the Vallon gondola

Finished (nearly) top Vallon gondola lift station

Piste L not really looking like a piste yet!

Danaides wall was good

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

Great photos and reports I've just managed to book a weekend before Christmas so will be out in Tignes 19th-22nd with my youngest son and persuaded another dad and his son to make the trip as well!

Just couldn't wait until Easter when we're in the 3V.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Colouirs and powder day

The weather was certainly ground hog day thats for sure but that did not deter us. However it was an early start being a Thursday to get Olivia on the school bus down to Bourg! The alarm clock going off was not welcome at all as once again I did not sleep too well and with my heavy cold I have (im popping paracemol and other stuff to try and shift it) been snoring a lot! It means Clare gave me a nudge to the ribs far too many times! All disturbs the nights sleep!

So once Olivia and then Ben were off on the school bus I got onto the balcony and recorded the weekly snow report and (exclusive news here) I am trialling doing a weekly snow video report exclusively now for PlanetSki.eu as well - so keep an eye open for that too please.

With that done I headed off to meet the team and we had one person taking a day off and another joining instead! So off we went and warmed up in the meadows above the Borsat lift before doing the boot pack and into the North face of the Borsat. I took them as far around the corner as I could and we skied the first couloir of the day which was lovely chalky and good fun. It was great! The lower part was not as good but it was OK!

A quick trip through Campanules had some decent snow in it too. This was followed by my first trip of the season to the Corner for a well deserved cuppa! Awesome.

Then the main event of the day - into Chardonnet bowl and another couloir up there. It was good although as soon as you stray onto anything south facing its sun baked quite badly! We decided to head to Aspen for lunch which was the usual quick service and decent food so that was nice. I had a great omelette but for some reason it was served on bread! Weird but it was tasty!

When we were in there at the end a whole bunch of young race kids came in ranging in age from about 7 to 11 or so. Their coaches ordered cheeseburgers to go around x40 or whatever it was. Anyway I had a quick chat to the coaches (I was impressed as their was 1 little girl who was crying her eyes out for some reason!) to find out who they were and where they were from... it turns out they are from Madrid - going to Andorra at this time of the year would be a non starter! Incredible commitment to come all this way with young kids!

Oh and I meant to say when we went up Tichot and Gratalu to access Chardonnet they have totally changed the top area of the Tichot (in advance of the new gondola going in next year) lift so now there is a huge magic carpet and beginners area put in up there. So it will mean when you get off the chair in the future (gondola?!) you turn left immediately down a piste to grattalu BUT if you carry on a short distance you will come to the other side of this carpet to a new beginner slope that finishes (with a new bank and fence) just next to the restaurant - blimey! That will suit Club Med nicely thank you very much!

After lunch we just had enough time (and energy) to get over to Val and attempt to get a Cairn in. I new the snow would be good at the top but lower down would be tricky and most importantly we would need to consider getting out of there what with the World Cup stuff set up! Anyway only 3 people came with me and the rest headed home but the bowl was very nice indeed. Getting through the cliff band with the snow cover and sun damage was tricky and then by the time we got to the Peau du Vache restaurant level the snow was so crusty it was not possible to turn in it - doh! Anyway luckily there was a gap to cross the piste over to the red piste down to the bottom - phew!

So with that the day was over!

I need another early night tonight and I have a fair few things to get done so

TTFN

The Cairn has plenty of space in it and the snow is lovely up high

Chalet girls entrance to Chardonnet bowl

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

Quick report. In general pistes still primo 9-11, then gradually either firm up, or chopped, or both. Many blood waggons in action this afternoon. Multiple pistes shut for infantry/Apex/Clubs creating punch points really do not help. The balance is way out of whack, paying punters suffering for the benefit of a privileged few. I am far from the only one with this view.

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Not sure where @Dr John, was skiing, but i found Tignes to be really quiet today… no queues at Borsat or Marmottes…

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Dr John - yes its annoying but be under no illusions that they (the racers) pay a LOT of money for pistes being closed for that privilege and that helps subsidise things in other ways! Right at the moment some pistes are being used for the World Cup racers too for which the town council coffers do get a fare whack of money for hosting!
hamilton - those two lifts are in Val not Tignes fyi

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Skin time

I slept quite well last night but I am still struggling to shrug the cold off.

Once again the sun was shining but its still nippy first thing in the am.

I met my team (only 5 today) and we headed off with an extra piece of kit in the bag - that of skins. Not that we were planning a LONG skin but just to be able to access a few more things is always nice! First up we skinned for the top of the Glacier Express up towards the top of Cugnai. And then making our way more or less the whole way off piste back to the Glacier chair we found a whole mix of snow but it was pleasant non the less. We wall thought it was a pleasant outing! Finding the best snow is becoming harder and harder and less and less predictable.... it now seems 'mid mountain' and flatter on anything from E threw to W is the best!

Anyway after that we headed over to the Fornet for lunch at Cascades and then we decided on a foray into the Pays Desert. With the T bar not working we had to do a combination of pushing, side stepping and poling to get up and high enough and far enough out to access the bowls out there. Anyway we got there. We were rewarded with some amazing snow and loads of space out there. Even all the way back to the (non running) drag was excellent snow. Even better its only a 10 minute skin back to the bottom of Cema from there.

So with that we headed back towards Tignes and called it not only a day but the end of the week.... a nice week at that!

Back at home it was a very fast shower and change and wait for the kids to get back from school and no sooner was that done but I was heading into town with Ben (Olivia came as well but she could have gone by herself) to the bib draw for the World Cup. Its Mens GS tomorrow. Anyway after a lot of faffing about (as there always is) it started. There was speeches and loads of bits and bobs including a Rossignal clothing fashion show! Anyway one by one the racers were called forward to find out which bib they would be wearing tomorrow. The younger kids like Ben lined the route when the names were called and gave the racers high 5's and meanwhile the older ones like Olivia got to hand them their actual bibs and pose for photos with it on stage!

All went well but it took ages and I got very cold! Doh!

When it was over Ben and I grabbed a crepe and a hot dog from the 'hole in the wall' place next to Artic Cafe and the bussed it home. Meanwhile Olivia had dinner with her friends in Billabong and then they were in charge of selling raffle tickets at the major / massive Club des Sports dinner thing which raises money for the club! Clare is going as a guest (shes there right now so no idea what time she will be back!).

One interesting thing that did happen as we made our way to town for the bib draw was that when we got to the main bus station a gendarme got on with a sniffer dog. All the doors of the bus remained closed and the dog made its way around sniffing us all. Someone near us gave the dog a reaction so he had to get off to be patted down - I guess looking for drugs. After all that the doors opened for passengers to get in / out as normal. But blimey thats some intervention!

Right I need to get to bed as it will be an early start tomorrow - Olivia needs to be up at Club at 0820 as they will be doing a descent of nations flags before the race starts and ive got a few things I need to do before going to bed and to be honest it has been a really tiring week - full on for the first full week! eeek.

TTFN

Olivia with the glasses gives Timon Hagen his bib

Me and my team this week!

After all it is free

@hamilton, I mentioned nothing about lift lines. Regular skiers are funnelled down narrow pistes an it’s dangerous.
I appreciate the racer pay to play, but none of that is reflected in the punters weekly pass as well put by @ster.
I suppose it’s a reflection of what a great place the EK is to ski and stay.

@Dr John, at least the conditions are good for you if the pix above and those from today’s GS are anything to go by.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@ster, indeed. Apart from my 1st world problem moaning, conditions are superb (on piste at least)

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Dr John,

snow reports

Race day

Clare got back very late last night (think I said yesterday that she went to the Club des Sports fundraiser 'ball'). I didnt hear her come in or anything!

Anyway the alarm was an unwelcome sound this morning and Clare was tricky to get out of bed but Olivia needed to be off into town for 0830 as the kids were starting the day doing a 'descent of flags' aka every nation competing in the World Cup had a flag and each kid skied the face carrying it down... Olivia got the Union Jack!

Meanwhile I was going to take Ben to watch the first run. So it was all systems go. Clare tells us she was feeling 'ok' thankfully.

So with Olivia out the door and Ben and I shortly behind we ventured into town. The place was heaving as we timed it just as millions of cars etc were driving in for the days racing. There was a car jam all the way back to the tunnels which ive never seen before.

Anyway we got there and set up, Ben played with his friends whilst trying to see the racing and I just watched (getting very cold feet). Those boys are pretty amazing to throw themselves down am icy face at those speeds with those angles - awesome!

After the first run we popped home and watched the ladies DH from St Moritz - pity Lyndsey Vonn could not make it an historic double! Whilst we were doing that we got the Xmas stuff out and the kids set about decorating it (Olivia was back by now!).

After lunch Olivia was back into town as they needed to set up the podium and act as a background for some of the official photos at the end. Clare having had a lazy morning popped for a walk and ended up being ages as bumped into a handful of people. However the timing was good as a friend came for cuppa out of the blue so we had a lovely chat for about an hour.

Perfect timing!

After that and with Clare back I made my escape as I needed to finally move a friend into their appartment. Its a long story but our van has been packed full of all his stuff for about 2 weeks now due to a miscommunication between him, the person he is renting his appartment off, the person who was storing his stuff in town over the Summer etc. All a mess! So anyway a couple of hours of moving and unpacking later and all done.

I was pretty whacked when I got back to the house and im still trying to get over my heavy cold etc! I felt a little achey so took a very long hot shower. It was just as well as I need all my strength as somehow (not through planning - again a long story) but we have ended up having a friend over to stay the night for BOTH Olivia and Ben - omg give me strength!

So I think finally they are just about quiet but a good Xmas movie and curry set them up nicely!

Tomorrow Olivia is off early again with her ski friend and I am only planning on going up to see maybe the second run of the SL so will NOT need to be up early! Phew! Im back to work again on Monday so one more day off tomorrow.

TTFN

Val in 1951 apparently!

I still think it stinks that people arrive from the airport or whatever and then have to wait in the bus station for the 'final mile'

It got a lot busier in front of me when the actual racing started!

@Steve Angus, We also had to hold for the sniffer dogs to check out the bus yesterday before we boarded (with one guy being escorted off the bus by the police) It does seem to be a common thing now at the new Gare Routiere.

The traffic this morning was being held at the bus station while the police checked where each vehicle was going, at breakfast time only 9 parking spaces were available across all the car parks in town which usually only really happens Christmas/New Year.

You know it makes sense.

muppet - you see I love your 'spy' position from where you are being able to see all these things - thanks for updating me / us!.

What a sleep

I went to bed really early (for me) last night - about 2300 and I believe the hour before midnight counts as double sleep! Normally between 0000 and 0030 is my typical bed time! Anyway apart from waking up for the loo in the early hours I rolled over and with my headphones still playing 'lapping waves' sound I slept until nearly 0800. Awesome.

It was action stations with the boys being full of energy and Olivia and her friend disappearing out for another day doing stuff for the World Cup.

We all took it quite easy and I watched the first run of the SL (WOW 3 brits in the top 15 after the 1st run) and then the ladies Super G from St Moritz. The fact that Shiffrin started a Super G (her first in two years on the World Cup tour) means there's a decent chance she will race here in Val next week - Olivia is VERY excited! She is hoping she might even meet here hero! I got a message from a friend of a friend during the race saying that Britains 4th WC Sl racer Luca Carrick Smith and his set up / team might need a lift due to a broken down van to their next race venue (Valloire) for the European Cup race but its now 2200 and I have not heard anymore despite saying what I could help with!

So we took an early lunch and Clare was off to teach this afternoon and I took the boys into town to watch the second run of the SL. Well it was interesting and some fireworks from McGraph throwing his toys out the pram when he skied out to the Norwegians dominating in the end and of course Frances disappointment which of course matched Team GB's. Oh well. I must say I gave Dave R an extra big clap even though he skied out for what he has given to UK ski racing. Bravo Rocket!

After all that and upon returning home the kids (Olivia was by now home too) got some homework done and then before long Clare was home. We finalised getting the Xmas deco up including the tree bits and I think finally we are nearly ready for Xmas. I do know I am a LOT more ready for it this Winter than last thats for sure!

I headed into town for a start of season TDC meeting this evening at Snowberry which lasted a couple of hours and then rushed home to help with kids bed time etc.

Anyway the weekend off work comes to a halt tomorrow as a new week of bookings starts. The weather should remain as it is for another day or so but we have a week front passing through which could bring some snow etc early in the week - we shall see.

Also I read a fascinating article about the ineffectiveness of helmets in terms of not being fit for purpose today... effectively the speeds virtually everyone goes at means that they wont do much. Anyway interesting reading. https://snowbrains.com/swiss-study-finds-not-a-single-commercial-helmet-protects-at-real-world-speedsi/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAOrlutleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeqZ_uBdKhH0swrnjxeRu-DBY4Ankf2F8sraBoE34NTrnePcNouZ6sCH9cB0Q_aem_lB6O1bnPNxPk9LHdE6n-FA

I didnt manage to snap any photos today so will use Radio Val's.

TTFN

For the prize ceremony every night of the WC races they get the eagles to fly down from a window of an apartment overlooking the prize-giving area with the medals in their talons - quite cool really!

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

Back to the usual

Well it was a slight change in the weather today... not really a change for the worse just a few clouds interspersed with sunshine but on one hand worse in that it was warmer than it has been (if that is even possible at the moment!).

Being a Monday morning it should have been a really early start to get Olivia on the school bus for 0700 but she is on liberation this week so ski training Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so she there was only really Ben to get out the door for 0800. I still woke early for some reason though.

Anyway after doing the neccessary I headed into town and the first proper am meeting point meet of the season. Ive been doing SCGB with Tignes / Tommeuse all last week all dayers and before that of course the first week of the season just an off pm meet up! So it was interesting seeing how busy it now was down there and of course plenty of private schools have broken up now for the holidays. It was fairly busy actually and so was the bus up there!

Olivia came up with me and insisted we try her standing on the tails of my skis to 'ski' down the slope - luckily didn't make a tit of myself! haha

So I met my guy (someone who had been recommended to me by someone else (always nice) and we headed up the Olympic whilst his wife would follow a while later. After a warm up run we moved onto technique development and in particular within the realm of carving. When his wife arrived we adjusted drills somewhat so they were each working on their own thing - all good!

With the 3J and the whole of OK Orange shut for race training it was a little busier in pinch points but when everyone spreads out it wasnt too bad!

One thing we did do was utilise down the side of the Bonnvie Stade - there was a handful of Mountain Masters kids using a single lane but otherwise the 300m wide piste was empty.... perfect... until Mr Grump Gerrad Bonnivie came out to tell me to get lost as it was private..... well that has never been an issue before - especially when the whole slope is wide open! Remind me to never to bother in there again!

Anyway we finished the lesson off well and he has some homework to do before tomorrows lesson. I went down to town to have lunch in my 'favourite' spot under the Sun Bar and this year im trying a few new things for lunch - so it was a thermos of veg soup for me today!.

This afternoon I spent the first half of it up Bellevarde doing some filming for social media stuff - im trying out my drone I got earlier in the Summer doing some filming - I wont say what im filming as its an ongoing project and top secret for now but give it a while (could be a long time I dont know) and ill be able to share with you. haha! Anyway it was quite fun using the drone.

The rest of the afternoon was back home and sorting some bits out like the washing and other bits. Meanwhile Olivia had off snow fitness training this afternoon and Ben was of course at school.

This evening we have enjoyed a family meal and now the kids are in bed. Im working all day tomorrow and the sun should be back out again and then of course the next Ashes Test starts tomorrow night AND there is a Womens SL on TV from Courcheval.

Talking of ski racing the Mens WC race set up on the Face is almost all down but I think they will keep the Face closed for race training for a day or more longer but the Womens DH set up is progressing apace down here to La Daille ready for day 1 training day on Wednesday I think it is!

Oh and today was supposed to be the day we hear if Val are getting which Olympics events or not... but not heard anything so not sure where we are at. Watch this space! haha

TTFN

A snowHead

Brilliant updates as always - just out of interest what are the snow conditions like in resort? Ideally in Le Lac please? Just wondering what footwear to bring for the weekend!

A snowHead

@eps, icy pavement in le lac

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

FIFY

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What's it like at the bottom of La Daille where the womens downhill finishes? Are waterproof boots needed?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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In general the conditions are great but roads and pavements etc icy yes - about what we would expect for this time of the year

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

Thanks Steve, army boots then rather than patent shoes!

After all it is free

I've got to say though, those photos look amazing for mid december.

@gixxerniknik, The black ice on the pavements is treacherous in places, unfortunately I have the bruises to prove it despite wearing my hiking shoes.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Have been using SIDAS shoe spikes for getting around since two of our party had a nasty falls late last week. Fit over any shoes or boots and considering the cost of a ski holiday 15euros well spent.

Help!!

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

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