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

A snowHead

HI Steve
Thanks, price is not the main thing , I want some good skis maybe change during the week as I would like to buy some new ones so its a good chance to try some out.

Thanks

Neil

A snowHead

Piccadilly : Yes by the 16th these should just have opened it I would have thought. I think they will keep it shut next week and then open the weekend of the 15th / 16th.

njl1968 : No probs..... SB will let you change and swap and offer advice.

MORNING UPDATE : Temps went up overnight which is a sign of the cloud cover overhead and the increase in likelihood of snow today but as of yet nothing falling. Will keep everyone updated.

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

Steve Angus, monster storm coming in looking at the radar images - looks like it will hit you guys mid morning Skullie

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Cheers Steve.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Right that's it, after reading Steve's posts again this year, we have gone and booked for March, again! Thank's Steve you really get the juices running (can I say that lol!) Laughing

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red27.........its bang on queue....the webcam at Ste Foy shows a whiteout..........

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

If been watching the webcams here but wondering if any live stream is possible?

http://www.val.co.uk/webcam.htm

After all it is free

Yip, here in Tignes ion the last 90 mins it has gone from light snow to moderate to heavy on the chocksaway scale (roughly translates as light - can see Val Claret, moderate can see Bec Rouge heavy - can't see Bec Rouge (its about 250m))

chocksaway, Nice when its been, done its stuff and that sun comes out...........sat here in Leeds, looking out my office window fast-forwarding 2 weeks and thinking i'll be back in the Alps in no time now...........enjoy it!! Cool

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Cubanpete go to www.valdisere.com and click the webcam link that appears top centre-ish, then click the link for the "Funicular" cam. You can then click the various boxes in the view which will bring up 1 minute clips from throughout the day. That's the closest to live I can find!

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FULL UPDATE LATER ON..... BUT IT IS DUMPING REALLY HARD

Started quite mellow this am as I mentioned and has got harder and harder and windier and windier. I estimate a foot of snow has fallen here in the village since 9am..... and it is getting more intense. Much more up top if it has not been affected by the wind (which it will have). Sorry to make you all sick but skied pow mainly this am!

Taken about 10am this am.... a lot has fallen since then!

La Daille about lunchtime.

We are all keeping our ears pinned to Radio Val as we think that if it keeps up like this then they may close the road (temporarily) to Bourg and I need to get our guests out in the morning.... could be quite an interesting transfer day!

On the plus side it will mean more time being able to listen to the cricket in the car tomorrow as we thrash India!

snow reports

Wow!

Piccadilly,

Good question about the Face opening next weekend. Im desperate for that and the rest of the steeper stuff in the EK (with Silene and Sache inculded!) to be open by the 16th. Just hope they have time to bash/make the areas safe, never seen so much snowfall.... on a webcam..... Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

dorsetboy, I wouldn't worry - blast, bash, job done overnight once / if it stops snowing.

The whole area will be pristine and awaiting all us smug gits who arrive that weekend wink

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

....im sure it will all be open by the time you get here.... or 99% of it anyways!

Anyway todays update.

MORE AND MORE AND MORE.... it keeps coming

So they have just announced that the road to Fornet and up to Chatelard is closed for pedestrians and to vehicles will only be a matter of time.

ALL vehicles up and down the valley need EITHER 4X4 with snow tires OR 2 wheel drive with snow tires AND chains apparently...

They are not taking a decision on closing the road to Bourg yet a while but it is getting closer by the moment.

The racing tomorrow has been put back to a 1st run start time of 2pm and a second run start time of 5pm (I am not sure whether I would rather be on World Cup shovelling duty or driving tomorrow - hmmm the warmth of the car perhaps on balance!).

Anyway for those regular readers of this thread, you may remember when we had the really awful weather coming through town last Winter and the snow was piling up outside my front door? Well anyway this is a photo I took a couple of hours ago.... I was standing up so as you can see it really is pilling up high.... not quite as high as it got to last Winter yet but nearly there!

At least the weather has not knocked our satellite signal out so fingers crossed we can snuggle up as the weather howls outside this evening and then I can start the dig out the front door tomorrow am!

A snowHead

dorsetboy, red 27, I don't know about you two but these photos are making me STUPIDLY excited!

Steve this thread is worth waiting all year for. Amazing photos. Good luck with the transfers tomorrow!

A snowHead

Am flying in to Geneva tomorrow morning and driving up to Val Claret, Tignes, to open our apartment up for the season . . . Could be an interesting trip in a rental car! I gather the autoroutes are pretty messy as well Sad

Could be a long day!

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

Steve Angus, thanks for the update on the race times, was going to go down and watch...............

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I arrive on Sunday, hope I can get up the hill! I think all this snow is karma paying me back for the lack of it in La Tania last year wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

5/5 avalanche warning

From 1600 til 1000 the av risk is 5/5 (max) and I believe that the road to Bourg is closed temporarily (not 100% sure).... should be open after they have done clearance at first light! We shall see.

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Piccadilly,

You are right, i literally cannot wait, and these photos, combined with the webcams are certainly not helping! I'm meant to be working! Only 3 more shifts and then its 5 weeks skiing, but ohhhh i wish it was 6 starting this weekend!

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dorsetboy, 5 weeks? Wow you lucky beggar..

We simply could not have asked for better conditions to start the season. As my brother says, 8 days to piste it and blow off the cornices, then a few cms of fresh to top it up - and clear skies from the 17th onwards. Well, if my weather order is accepted snowHead

After all it is free

Fornet is cut off - totally closed to all vehicles..... so if anyone was due in and staying in Fornet from tomorrow then you may be put up in hotel for a night - who knows!

Piccadilly,

Yep, although slightly unfortunately in that its not all in the EK, its all over, and working(!) (sort of) - repping for a company that takes school kids out. Its a good life!

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looks like the storm has gone through quickly so if they can make things safe it should be an EPIC weekend...

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keep looking in for an update from Steve, but alas nothing as yet....................must be a crap journey to and from GVA today!!!!!!!!!!

snow reports

Must be! I was watching the slalom on Eurosport HD earlier, Val was looking very snowy - and very cold!

stefoy4me, Give the guy a chance. He does have to work to y'know wink

You know it makes sense.

Not too bad a day really

So the storm passed through and by about 8am it was only snowing lightly. The road to Fornet etc (as posted last night) was still closed but it did seem to open by the looks of things quite soon after 9am.

They are saying we have had 38cm in the last 24 hours and a total of 1.51m in the past 5 days.

They did manage to get the lifts etc open so it was JUST short of the black flag 5/5 in the end.

Of course I don't know too much about the skiing today as I was on the road all day.

So as we agreed with the guests last night (as didn't know how bad it would be (and after the several 5+ hour transfers each way I had last year)) I picked them and their luggage up at 8am and we headed off. Definitely 4X4 with snow tyres come in useful. It was slow going going down the hill to Bourg - took well over an hour. Half way down a car had slid off the road and was perched precariously against a tree off the side off the road and that tree itself was perched on the side of a very large drop off. Thank goodness the tree was there otherwise it would have been a different outcome rather than a sheepish looking driver waiting for the pick up truck to pull the car back onto the road!

The rest of the journey was fairly straight forward and we ended up making it to Geneva for about 12noon - so four hours was not too bad. It had snowed about 2 foot virtually all the way to Geneva and in Geneva itself there was probably about a foot of snow on the sides of the road but being this part of the world ever other vehicle was a snowplough and most people seemed to know how to handle the conditions!

There was lots of slushey puddles to negotiate on the way into the terminal but lunch (Saturday treat at Burger King - was worth the wait.... I knew the journey back could take just as long!).

Anyway I headed back and made pretty good time..... about 30 mins into the journey near Cruseilles there was a small car that had flipped totally over - it must just have happened as the passengers we still climbing out the various doors - no-one looked injured just shaken up. Makes you think that even though thousands of cars had already been along the road today it was obviously still slippey!!!!

After a quick (well it took over an hour actually but I like to think it was quick) stop in Super U to buy a lot of supplies it was time to head up the hill.... journey up much easier.

I think everyone was already in town... bar three student coaches that I overtook.

Anyway cutting a long story short I arrived in town JUST as the World Cup slalom race (they spent a fortune making sure they could run the race today) second run finished. One of the roads I needed to take to get to out underground parking under La Face was closed (so tells me the Police Municpale officer). HE tells me to go via the Rond Pont...... I do so and realise that this would be going down the one-way system!!!!!!!! Anyway I did it anyway despite dozens of cars and people coming the other way.... I got tooted a few times etc as you can imagine...... and then a gendarme came round the corner..... I jumped out the car and spoke pretty forcefully saying that I needed to get to my parking and one of his colleagues had told me to come this way.... he shrugged his shoulders and drove off (must try that sort of thing more often).

I thought it was next week that students were in town but those three student coaches (ironically the coaches were from Ireland but the students getting out of them (so they told me) were from Warwick!), and there may be other groups out, spilled into one of the main apartment blocks in town.... guess that will be a sleepless week for the other residents in there this week!

So have just really got back in and settled down, caught up with a few emails and am now enjoying a couple of beers. Clare heads off to Alpe D'Huez tomorrow for a few final days of training before the Eurotest and she is really hoping that the weather stays clear for her to get the training in.... fingers crossed!

Well done to Alexis Pinturault from the Courcheval Ski Club for winning the Slalom World Cup here in Val this evening.... IM REALLY looking forward to the GS tomorrow as I love watching GS at the best of times.

(This may sound like I am spoilsport but it was quite big of me to congratulate Alexis here as I don't normally congratulate the French at all...... WHY..... because they NEVER EVER support and clap anyone other than their own.... IN MY EXPERIENCE.... when the World Champs were here a few years ago I remember pretty much the WHOLE audience at the bottom of Le Face turning around and going home (it wasn't that cold that day) as soon as their competitor made a mistake that meant that they could not get a top 3 spot!)

FINALLY.... (sorry it has been a slightly abnormal posting this evening has it not!) I would like to share the following YouTube video with you so you can all get an idea of the work that goes on behind the scenes of a World Cup race..... my turn to be on race duty in January for the Europa Cup this year (missing out on World Cup duty this year!).

http://youtube.com/v/ZIiXsmbuY0I

..... a selection of pictures from today.

The snow clearers hard at work at 7am this morning getting those roads ready.

The pisteurs had been blasting since 6am.... and others had been working on the Face since crap of dawn getting ready for race day.

Typical view of the amount of snow that had fallen on the road to Geneva today..... this was about 20 miles out from Geneva!

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

Is this just past the roundabout to the village the cyclist came from in the shooting? Ugnle or something like that?

A snowHead

Steve Angus, they played that video on the HUGE screen at the finish line, I managed to watch the whole of the 2nd run, fascinating to watch.

A snowHead

Another great posting Steve. Your posts convinced me to add an extra week onto my 7 day trip in Jan.

Paul

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

Thank you for all the updates!

I'm heading to Tignes on the 16th also. I seriously cannot wait, and now having read this thread I'm so excited.

It seemed from looking at the Tignes website that there wasn't a vast amount of runs open at the moment? Hope everything is all sorted and opened up for our arrival on the 16th! Very Happy

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Cynic Cant quite remember exactly but somewhere around there yep!

cyberil and others...... I am starting to cost everyone a lot of money aren't I?

sicharlton .... it'll all be open VERY shortly fear not..... it is still technically 'early season'.

Anyway this morning it is sunny skies and -20 deg C in the village.... brrr!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Steve Angus, can you please have a word with the EK weather God? I'm not out for another 4 weeks and I'd be keen to see if the local Deity could arrange a nice cold spell between now and January to ensure a sensible, stable base to the snow pack. Much as having this sort of big storm early in the season is fabulous, I'd be gutted if the weather delivered lots of freeze / thaw and layers of slidable slab. Ta muchly.

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I'm heading out on the 15th for a week any snowheads fancy meeting up for a beer one evening? Or the foulie as its more central for sh's in tignes as well?

Apologies if this is the wrong forum to use, but I am sure a friendly sh will point me in the right direction if it's not Very Happy

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Well a very varied day all in all.

Clare headed off to Alpe d'Huez (after a failed training morning over in Tignes as the pisteurs 'forgot' to piste the stade there so they were unable to set gates) in preparation for her training there starting tomorrow...... at least the weather will have made the journey fairly painless!

So after a morning pottering around at home I headed up to watch the 2nd run of the Mens GS..... have posted a video of the carnival atmosphere and wonderful weather we had today here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152318570365416&set=vb.671675415&type=3

Its on my Facebook page therefore not sure if people will be able to see it or not (its not that interesting really!).

Anyway it was great seeing the racing (just love the GS) and nice to hear the commentator thank everyone that had worked so hard to get the race piste in shape. Some pretty expectant French fans hoping for another French win - think it would have been the first time since 1975 that France had a double number 1 in two consecutive races (some stat like that). However it was not to be.

Then I headed up to Fornet to catch up with the rest of the TDC gang as we were having our launch weekend. This basically means everyone gets together for a ski / chat / talk shop etc etc etc...... it is quite casual and lasts all weekend and people come and go as our commitments and time allows us. So we hit the powder in the Fornet trees for a couple of hours and it was GREAT thigh deep snow.

Guess where this is?

Lena and Kieran take a break and Lena acts as cameraman grabbing some shots of Paul making his way through the snow...

We headed back to town about 4 o'clock to talk shop and chat about some ski school logistics for the season ahead then adjourned to the bar for a quick one after that. During the meeting one of our new recruits Mike Barker gave everyone a sample of wax as he has bought the wax company DataWax this Summer and thought it would be a nice welcome present to us all - THANKS. Also at the meeting Colin was showing us the new App that TDC are going to launch all about skiing and technique etc - looks cool.... he also gave everyone a new merino base layer as the school have been sent loads as a promo which was nice!

BIG LOCAL NEWS OF THE DAY (apart from the World Cup) was that they made a little bit of a mistake opening the Fonteine Froid lift without quadruple checking that all the systems and back up systems worked. Normally lifts have a primary motor (in use 99.99% of the time) (in fact I bet virtually everyone on here has only ever experienced the main motor). If that fails they have a back up and if for some reason that doesn't work lifts have noisy diesel engines (everyone in the whole country can here when one of those kicks in). Anyway for whatever reason all did not go according to plan and 150 odd people had to be static lined down off the lift this afternoon.... you can view all about it on the Radio Val d'Isere website or here is the main photo they had from the drama:

Anyway folks - see you tomorrow

After all it is free

that looks less than fun!

Ooooops (bit more dramatic than the shambolic Marmottes opening I referred to in an earlier post).

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I bet that made a memorable day to start of the season

Help!!

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

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