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

A snowHead

Slides on every aspect across the whole of Val & Tignes. 4 risk for 3rd day in a row after new snow (very rare). Base nowhere near stabilising. Only safe off-piste is meadow noodling which I'm not really interested in. Reports of 5 caught in St Foy today and still searching for 1. Remember we tend to only hear about the deaths and near misses. You can survive a slide but come out of it severely beaten up, traumatised and with lost equipment. Risk/reward doesn't stack up for me right now.

However the pistes are in brilliant condition and it's bluebird sky, relatively warm weather, and quiet. So that's what me and my little crew are doing and loving it.

A snowHead

@Dr John, Exactly:

https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2026/01/13/une-personne-trainee-sur-plusieurs-metres-par-une-avalanche-a-val-d-isere

Somewhere off the Toviere Ridge towards Borsat, I believe. Mr Angus has a photo - I saw it at La Croiss at lunchtime.

The Ste Foy incident is across a piste, or rather across the same piste twice.

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

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Any news on Marmottes lift

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

scottyski - thanks so much! Enjoy your holiday - exciting!
Dr John - Yes its rare for (now 5) days in a row! You're right about all the near misses etc out there for sure! The St Foy thing (photos below) was a close call thats for sure! The pistes are stonking they really are!
chocksaway - not sure why it made the papers as it turned out to be a non - event in the end! Ill talk about the slide in a moment but how did you know I had photos of it? And where is La Croiss?
orange - yes or purging and / or very warm temps for a few days and freeze at night might just do it!
kb36 - no but ill ask my mate who works for the STVI but I dont think its ' good news' yet!

Blimey

So a few things to report this evening. Luckily I slept well last night so raring to go this morning and with the sun shining it was game on.

I met my team in the same way as before and we did some nice warm up turns in the Familial before heading on the Fresse ridge towards Borsat... now this is where it got interesting.

We came around the ridge quite low down on the flatter area and I got my group to stop in a safe spot. I noticed someone much much higher up the ridge on the top about to drop in. There was a drone flying around waiting to film as someone with a long lense below us waiting to film. Anyway the person came down dropping cliffs and all sorts on the way. They excited the slope and then we skied it in the meadows at the bottom. Perfect. I even snapped a photo of the second load of lines we put in slightly further on down. Anyway we then joined the queue for Borsat which was about 10 mins long by now and by the time we were on the lift I could see the whole lot had slipped BIG TIME. The person was half way down at the side of the slide having pulled their airbag and the tracks we had left had been buried! The safe spot we had waited on was still 'safe' but it was a biggie. No way would have skied it with anyone above me on it thats for sure! Anyway its always worth remembering whats above you in these situations!

So after that we did some variations of Jardins Borsat and finally under pisteurs before calling it a morning!

For the afternoon I had my other 'regular' off pister of this week and we started off with one of my mellow favourite routes from the top of Glacier chair, before we then headed for the main event the Col Madeleine (from top of Cugnai). It really is lovely out there and one of my favourites and there was not only lovely snow but loads of space for more out there - might head back there tomorrow morning and then again tomorrow afternoon maybe! Anyway we finished with Danaides into the L which was also amazing!

What a day!

Meanwhile yes in St Foy - photos below - there was a big skier (I think) triggered slide from above down across the piste... a LOT of static line probing then followed and my understanding is the 5 people buried all got out OK thankfully - blimey!

In local news the clear weather will continue for a few more days yet until Friday when it should change because it looks like a retour d'est is brewing from the Italian side bringing lots of localised snow at the Fornet etc We shall see.

Also with all the avalanche activity of recent around there has been renewed chat about where potential liability lies! It might surprise people to learn that you DONT need to be a professional on the mountain to be considered responsible in case of something bad happening. In fact under French law the person DEEMED to be the most experienced can be held liable. What this means is if you as a 'holiday maker regular' (lets call it that) have some friends and no money etc swaps hands but something happens (whether avalanche or not) then you can be charged with offences such as manslaughter etc - scary stuff! Text from a quote by a senior French prosecutor!

Oh and finally it was 14 years ago that I got engaged by the looks of my 'memories' on Facebook! Blimey!

TTFN

You can vaguely see our lines coming in pretty low down on the right in this picture

From a different angle

Our tracks below after we had skied the line... if you look carefully in the top right you will see the said bowl BEFORE it slid - some 15 mins later!

Entering the Col Madeleine from Cugnai

Some great tracks laid down in there!

The text talked about above!

Remember it well!

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Marmottes update

My STVI friend says the following:

"it’s bad news but it should be ready in the next few weeks. New gearbox is arriving around the 20th… Hopefully won’t take more than a few days to install it and make sure everything’s ready once it’s arrived. But just to clarify the 20/01 is the estimated date of delivery, not the ouverture "

So end of the month hopefully! (Reading between his lines to me!)

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

Happy engagement anniversary Steve and Clare. Great photo!

Thoroughly enjoying your off-piste stories over on IG this week. Way beyond my current capabilities, but magical to watch. Do you enjoy trying to lay neat lines next to each other?

After all it is free

@Steve Angus, The cafe next to the ESF office in the bowels of the Palafour. Floss.
As to making the papers - avalanches are clearly on the agenda of politicians etc in the local area so there is a bit of a 'pile on'. Luckily the ABS saved the skier but there are a couple of big lessons to be seen from the videos that are doing the rounds - one don't jump into an avalanche prone slope on a lee side of a hill on a risk 4 day, ride gently. Secondly, how pernicious propagation can be - the way the multiple slides triggered is illuminating.

Repeat

I was first up this morning but partly as I woke early. It seemed like groundhog day weather wise out there. It was to be a little warmer than it had been so hopefully the temps will drop again soon!

Anyway I had to get to work and for once (in a while) I was meeting at the meet point. Clare was off and having a mini ski with Ben and his friend but also to take them to the flèche race over the road!

So my am session was a couple of guys who wanted to get away from the 'side piste' to find some more exciting off piste! So we headed up Solaise and I did my noodles off Glacier which was lovely as usual. And then it was time for another trip into the Col Madeleine which is still excellent. I could tell they were quite tired after that so we missed a Danaides into the L and instead replaced it with a funky route from Glacier chair into the Tete Arrollay! and bus stop. Bus Stop was the only real disappointment weirdly!

It was a good morning!

At lunchtime I managed to fit in my weekly recording for my snow report (it take a while you know to set up and record it!).

This afternoon I had the third day with the intro off pist'ers and I decided to basically repeat what we had done in the morning. So apart from fitting in the Tete Arollay option we had a lovely afternoon and smiles all round. When you are out in the Col Madeleine you cant see a lift or piste which is exactly what they were looking for this week! Bravo!

This afternoon Clare was down the mountain picking a food shop up and taking Ben to the speech and language! So when Clare was back there was a large shop to put away. Finally the kids are in bed and I can turn my mind to the todo list! Phew

This morning Olivia did the flèche as I say and had a reasonable run - Vermeil but unfortunately only 28 points today! Ben meanwhile got Bronze once again! The next big ski thing on the horizon is Olivia's race in La Rosiere this Saturday - im going so looking forward so look forward to a day off - well in ski boots non the less!

Owlette - thanks so much for watching! Lines next to each other - do I enjoy - no not specifically but im happy to do it sometimes!
chocksaway - ah ha thanks! Yes it was an interesting watch! I REALLY really hope we dont have yet more meddling to so called 'regulate' things. I have always and will always suggest eduction is the way forward not regulation as with an open envionrment sport you are dealing with nature and if you try to regulate the benefit it lost as it is not easy or sensible to regulate. But thats my personal opinion!

Talking of the slide yesterday; PLEASE PLEASE log onto my instagram IG @SteveAngusSnow and watch the two videos I posted... one is taken from the bottom of the slide filming the guy who released the slide. The other video is a bit of an analysis of it with a drone flyover of it! Bonkers!

Oh and ive got some pics from St Foy slide yesterday too.

TTFN

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I’m not a big instagram user,
Can anyone tell me how to find those videos? I can see Steve’s page but rhe latest video I can watch says posted 8 mins ago and is about turn shape off piste??

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@kitenski, if you're in Steve's insta page, just click his photo roundel (top left). That has his most recent 'stories' that disappear after 24 hours Eh oh!

snow reports

Steve and Claire arena great follow.

@mistral, thank you

You know it makes sense.

kitenski - hope you found and thanks for watching
mistral - thanks for helping there. Hope you enjoy watching it
Frosty the Snowman - thanks - glad we are good to follow!

Actually on the piste

Ben had a bad nightmare early on last night so came in whilst I was still watching TV which meant he ended up in my bed and I was in his..... that coupled with it being a Thursday morning and we were all up way too early - mainly as Olivia needed to get the school bus at 0700.

So with the kids finally off to school I was able to get an extra cuppa in this morning and since I was meeting at the top of the Toviere one more time it meant I only needed to head over the road to get on the lift. The weather was sunny once more and I decided to go down a layer which was a good idea if it had not been for a brisk breeze out there.... but luckily not quite enough to have an impact on my warmth overall.

My usual team of 2 turned into a team of 1 as the girl had sore legs. It meant we could push it a bit more being just the guy! I had to very quickly reconsider what I was going to do since my lesson plan and route in my mind changed instantly. So I ended up doing something I rarely do and that was the long traverse off the Borsat straight out towards the Tour du Charvet - I had forgotten how far that push out is! Anyway when we got over the ridge we were rewarded with some lovely mellow turns and nice powder. There was lots of people going for a tour out that way too. Anyway he thoroughly enjoyed the route all the way back down the Charvet valley to the Manchet chair.

It was then decision time for him as to what to do next and after discussion of the options we decided to do a Danaides followed by a L'Avanacher couloir - my first trip down there this season and it was probably in the best condition I can remember for quite a while! Anyway it capped a really lovely morning and a decent week.

I took lunch at the usual place under Sun Bar before getting ready for the pm session. It was my first (and only) ON piste session of the week... and my first with my second seasonnaires group. There group was supposed to be 4 YSE staff and 2 Le Ski staff but unfortunately one of the YSE lot has broken their collar bone (yesterday) therefore he wont be joining in.

So we decided to work on some carving before then working on short turns and there will be lots more on that... but the group want to head off piste for about 3 sessions out of their 5 so I need to make sure they are ready for that before we go!

After dropping some kit at the office (Snowberry Streetside) I headed home and have tried to take it easy as im shattered to be honest. Nearly got what I need to do but aim to be in bed early (hopefully).

What I have been meaning to say for a while now and finally have remembered this evening! I find it quite amusing in this industry how slow people walk sometimes in ski boots, also hogging the whole pavement as they walk.... I generally walk at full speed in ski boots and often am able to carry all my gear in one arm allowing the other arm to be used for sending a text or whatever! The pavement hoggers are usually the same people who fly around the mountain out of control. The irony that actually IF you can ski slow but walk fast in reflection to walk slow and 'ski' fast and the fact it really makes me giggle. I usually note that instructors can often walk fast but ski nice and slowly in control! Ah some of the things you notice as an instructor would make your eyes boggle folks!

Right tomorrow I have a full one off piste so must dash as I need some sleep. Saturday im off early to watch Olivia in her first race of the season over in La Rosiere!

TTFN

There was some lovely snow out in the Charvet!

Despite appearances he skied L'Avancher really well.

Quite interesting comparing total number of ski lifts per country!

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

Very new here but very much enjoying your posts - thank you for putting in the time and thought, sharing photos and local news, etc. It's an incredibly useful resource for those doing trip planning and also interesting in itself as a chronicle of daily life out there.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Retour incoming

The alarm went off far too early this morning. Doh!

So I headed to the meet point and met my guy for the day. The weather was always going to an interesting one... this is because we essentially have the buffer between the 'old' prevailing weather coming in from the west and dieing off with a building retour - so not classic conditions - a stalling set of systems competing against each other.

Anyway I decided to head in the direction of somewhere I have been aiming to take him for several days now and that was fornet direction. It was a bit of a gamble as the vis could go horribly wrong and the snow up high could be badly affected by the recent wind. So after a piste warm up (boy Piste L was in awesome condition first thing) we jumped into a Tete Arrollay. I was really surprised that even at the top altitude it was not that great - well thats a lie it was OK but nowhere near as good as id hoped for.

Looking upwards the weather was OK so we decided to try out Grand Vallon but once again it was not that great.... the light was a little flat. Arghhh! There was a few strips in there but I was worried this was going to turn into a stinker of a day! So we took coffee (with the cloud cover and strengthening breeze from the east) as it was chilly up there before I made the decision to go even higher which was a big risk!

The amount of snow that has been moved around up there is quite incredible so getting out into the Pays Desert required some boot packing and side stepping but actually when we got out there there was about 10cm of nice frisset snow. The light was not too bad actually and the light was coming and going with the competing cloud cover and not! All the way down to the drag there was decent snow.... not the powder of early in the week but decent!

So we decided to loop around again it was that good.

We took lunch at the Cascades and we met up with his wife and we decided to have a ski around all together on piste in the afternoon. With nobody around we looped on the Cascades chair - I know the weather was not that good but really where was everybody?

So this evening we have enjoyed a family meal and the plan was to get ready for tomorrow as Olivia had her first proper race of the season BUT unfortunately in La Rosiere they are worried about really strong winds tomorrow so the race has been postponed for a week - doh. It will mean ill pop over the road to watch Bens timings session and (now) Olivias too!

Right off to bed.

TTFN

They have installed a transceiver checker digital board at the top of Grand Pre - use it well folks before dropping off the back

It started sunny...

... but got pretty flat for most of the day

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

P.S. It started snowing up at fornet this afternoon and is now snowing lightly in town now too - a retour is well and truly underway!

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Down day

I slept well last night and woke to see that it had snowed lightly and steadily all night even here in town. In fact the Italian weather services are showing how along the border there is plenty of snow due! (see below). Anyway the weather was a lot better than it was forecast and did get better... there was the stiff wind from the east but (as far as my sources showed) it was fully open up the fornet way where there will have been some lovely snow today. The clouds and sun were trying, like yesterday to out-do each other.

So anyway Clare was teaching and I was at a lose end since I should have been on my way to La Rosiere to watch the race. The kids needed to be gotten out the door at a decent time to be up at club for 0900 so with that done the house was nice and quiet - yay!

I spent virtually all morning over the road watching the internal Val Club des Sports U12 and U10 classification racing. The other age groups had other stuff on.

Ben (bless him) does not have the fight of Olivia but enjoyed his sliding about with his mates and doing his best... he was about mid way though his peers age group... so that means most of the boys beat him but hey ho he was happy and it was just nice to see him having fun! Olivia on the other hand had an average (by her standards first run) and ended up coming in 7th place and first girl. But it would get better (Ben was pretty consistent in his races) for her and by the third and final run she ended up coming 2nd overall so not only first girl but beating all but one boy. Well done Olivia!

So next Saturday when the race is re-arranged I am working but Clare will be able to go but on the Sunday Ben has his first race and I will be going along to that to support him.

At lunchtime we had a full house with both the kids having a friend over so it was quite chaotic.

This afternoon Olivia had general sport fitness session with Club and meanwhile Ben was out training with his group so once again it has been quiet in the house with just Clare and I home alone!

On the mountain it was lovely and quiet out there I believe and since we had the big dump of snow last week the news is that it should get a bit busier this week compared to last!

The roads have on the whole been OK out there today.

Tomorrow I am working in the afternoon only and the weather should continue similar to today for a while longer yet. By the time we get to the end of this retour cycle in a couple of days time there will hopefully have been a decent amount of snow top up especially in Fornet as it looks like it has continued to snow up that way.

Not much else to report today.

TTFN

Looking good!

For all their boasting of 'size' US resorts when you look at slopes length are not actually that big! Areas like Val and Tignes have MANY more hundreds of KM's on their lift passes. I guess the way you 'measure' resorts is open to interpretation but pure piste length is one thing!!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi Steve. Love the thread. Not your back yard, bit What's Bonneville looking like with the extended retour? That's usually a great weather pattern for the top of the Maurienne

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Retour carries on

The day started relatively relaxed with eggs and nutella of choice Sunday special breakie. The weather was - well the same as it has been the last few days... windier than it looked, colder than it looked and snowier than it looked. It snowed more at Fornet once again overnight such is the joy of the retour.

Olivia was SL training so was out the door nice and early (Ben was skiing this afternoon).

Then there was a massive multitude of ski races going on - the 2 x World Cup ski races on TV but I was also following 3 races online... the Haute Tarantaise U14 Boys and also girls races here in Val (why well some of the girls Olivia is close to in terms of results over the last couple of years so its good to see where she may be at). I was also following the race over in Meribel where some of her direct competitors were racing... these girls she might well be up against in the 'county' champs and national champs later in the season so some 'big' names from Courcheval and Meribel were in that race.

Ben meanwhile played some games and Clare chilled. All to soon it was lunchtime and Olivia was back from skiing - she was not feeling 100% so ended up having a chilled afternoon too.

I meanwhile was out teaching and had a client I have skied with before but because the son had booked the lessons this time I did not know until they turned up that it would be them! So along with a couple of family members it was nice to see them and off we set for some higher performance skiing this afternoon. We headed up Bellevarde and it was pretty chilly up there - not because of the air temp but because of the breeze and clouds. However we had a good ski and some good changes non the less.

In local news they are still hoping to get Marmottes open in about two weeks time - watch this space.

Otherwise not much else to report tonight.

TTFN

After all it is free

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Sadly another skier has been killed this afternoon by an avalanche in L'Avancher couloir. Unfortunately, he became detached from his air bag:
https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-divers-justice/2026/01/19/un-skieur-d-une-trentaine-d-annees-meurt-enseveli-sous-une-avalanche

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chocksaway - yes ive heard about this. Im really confused about it to be honest as the main couloir route is SOOOOOOOOOO often skied and there was not really any change in temps with only minimal fresh snow overnight that I cant work out how this could have happened. I suspect the slide was off the main route and quite possibly in the trees either side or on the rarely skied slopes above that could have taken the snow down into the couloir rather than the couloir itself sliding. Either way another sad one as you say!

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Chilly again

I really should have learnt from being a bit chilly yesterday what with the wind and cloud cover but I didnt as I was chilly this morning - less so this afternoon as I was moving more and the sun was trying to make an appearance but still I think tomorrow I will wrap up better! Generally im well known for putting on a lot of layers and hoods etc - today I was on 8 layers in total which over the season is about average for me - I can go up to 13 occasionally and even in late Spring 4 is about my absolute minimum!

So the alarm went off all too soon and unfortunately Olivia was saying she not feeling 100%. Anyway she is a good trooper and after some medicine was excited to go to school to see her friends etc! Meanwhile Ben was ready for school in good time so with those 2 gone we had loads of time before needing to head to town and the meet point.

I met up with my am booking and it was an old client I teach on a regular basis each year! More of a confidence building thing more than anything! So we headed up Olympic as the weather looked much better that way than the other and set off for a lap around the green triangle. We mainly worked on tactics and psychology as opposed to anything else and in fact sometimes avoiding technical teaching is the way forward as it was today! Apart from a punchy wind at altitude it was OK out there. We had an enjoyable morning and it was good to have her back with a smile on her face and especially as she had new skis it was a good session.

Lunch was at the 'under Sunbar spot' and then my pm session was with the same family as I had yesterday afternoon and we further developed their short turns on red runs and in particular it was lateral as well as rotational separation. Some decent changes were made - awesome.

After skiing I had a few drinks with a old friend in town on holiday at the Blue Note. It was nice having apres for once - not often have apres these days! Anyway Blue Note is under new ownership these days - essentially its the same in terms of nibbles etc and drinks selection but the main difference is that they are offering hot food at lunchtime in conjunction with G's Spot asian food AND they are also open for coffee and croissants from 0800 - mainly to cater for the ESF crowd who might come in before work! It was nice having a drink and catch up.

I got back and I have been chasing my tail catching up.

Tomorrow the weather should be better but it looks by the end of the week it could be turning to snow again!

Same time two different directions - you can tell its a retour happening at the Fornet!

Its 0940 and where is everyone - never seen the Verte so quiet at this time of the day!

TTFN

P.S. As well as the slide in the L'Avancher couloir today there was a slide in the Lavachet trees near Tignes Le Lac the other day - an ESF guide was hospitalised from it apparently! Speculation is that it is being kept out of the press for fear of bad PR for the reds - thats a rumour ive heard! The guide was in a bad way but is much improved I now believe.

You know it makes sense.

@Steve Angus, I did wonder - I did note there was a lot of wind transport up in Pissailas, the best snow was on east/north east pitches. I had considered Col Pers but then thought better of it. L’Avancher would be a similar orientation. Alternatively he could have had a massive tumble and set off the deep weak layer??

I know of one part buried that was in Bois de La Laye a few days ago. Don’t know if it was a man in red, it did make one report somewhere, but then was lost in the reporting of deaths.

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

Just booking some restaurants for end of January.

La Peau de Vache - As they want a CC I'm just checking if

a) competent red skiers can ski the upper part of the Face? I've seen some suggestions online that it is ok before the restaurant.
b) if Loyes is shut that Bellevard is downloadable?

What's another must visit that isn't the Folie?

A snowHead

Oh. Now I see that there is actually a red down from it as well. Never mind about the downloadable part.

A snowHead

@afterski, The first three quarters of the Face run from the top of Belvarde is quite nice, and easilly do-able for a red run skier. However, once you're on it you're booked and bound. Then you get to a right turn, and a narrow path/track traversing back across the face of the mountain for perhaps 200m. It's not that steep, but if it's busy it might bother a weaker skiier. That leads you to a ledge - we call it lemmings leap because there is usually a row of people stopped and looking over the edge. Basically from there it's a steep but very wide run that is (IMV) dark red/light black. The snow is usually Ok on this, and it's not used for racing so there won't be any water injected ice on it. It can however get quite moguled. The Peau is at the bottom of this steep bit.

The run from the Peau down to Val is proper black in my book. If anyone didn't like the run to the Peau then they certainly won't like it from the Peau down. You can either go up Loyes to the top, or down Belvarde Express. Both chairs take pedestrians.

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

@Judwin, Do you mean that red down to the village as shown on the piste map is actually a black? Or you mean the bottom section of the Face?

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@afterski, The top half of Face is (relatively) easier than the bottom half, but you still have to negotiate the steep pitch just before the Peau known locally as Lemmings Leap. Chicken run might be open, might not. Joseray is marked as red, but it's a Val d'Isere red not a 3V red, especially after a good lunch.

I agree with wot @balso said about the prices. Consider L'empreinte Avaline (Grand Pre) and Maison Louly (Bellevarde) as alternatives. Both great (Maison Louly terrace has the best views for lunch in the Alps, imho) and only mildly eye-watering prices as opposed to full on second mortgage.

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I actually hadn't looked at the prices on the menu until you mentioned it. That is an impressively expensive burger!

Snails and a beer it is then. Will look at the other recommendations.

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After all it is free

afterski - as others have said.... my take on it. The bit above the Peau is just as bad if not worse than parts of the lower bit IMO. Also the red down from the Peau - well its a Val red as others have said - dont take it too lightly. You can go up and down on the Bellevarde chair if needs be unless there is wind and they will stop pedestrians on it! After a beer and end of the day the lower part to the bottom whichever way you go is not easy! Yes look around for decent eating options that wont break the bank!

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Borrowed from Waynes blog.... yea looks like coming in from the cliffs and steep terrain skiers left as you descend the couloir to me. So it started somewhere top right as you look rather than down the couloir itself!

Help!!

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

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