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

A snowHead

Many congratulations on your wonderful news! I'm sure the mini-Angus will be the next Lindsey Vonn or Bode Miller Very Happy

Very exciting times, and perfect timing for Clare to get most of a ski season in hahaha.

Looking forward to all the updates, hooray my favourite thread is back snowHead

A snowHead

Wow, just trying to sneak that news in and hope it wouldn't be noticed wink

. Many congratulations Laughing

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

Firstly Violette - yes it is Gerards' father who died.... have not seen Sarah or Gerard yet but it must have been a tragic news to take in. Glad you have discovered and enjoy the thread like others on here.

THANKS to everyone for their congrats / wishes etc after yesterdays news.... and for mupper for the cravings offer.... we shall see!

Anyway back to today...

AMAZE-BALLS - what a totally stunning day...... lets start with the panoramic from the top of the Grand Motte (it was very quiet up there btw!)

So after first digging the car out of the snow (during the inter-season period you can park cars etc pretty much anywhere so we park in the Cygnaski bus stop (as the bus service is obviously not running at the moment)) which took over an hour Clare and I headed over to Tignes. It was the first time that we have both been able to enjoy a social ski together pre-season without the shadow of Eurotests etc hanging over our heads.... and what a day it was.

The STGM had most things open after the storms so we were able to ski a lot of ground. The Lanches and Vanoise chairs were open and all the lifts on the glacier such as 3500 T-bar etc. The Leisse was not open and as we know from the accident earlier this year the Rosolin remains closed. Anyway with so much open, the weather clear and the public holiday and weekend behind us there were absolutely no queues (unless you queued for some of the T-bars if you were race training and needed access to your lane (which we didn't of course).

So we lapped around and got some nice photos...

We got a glimpse of the top of the new Aeroski to the top of the Toviere mountain and as shown in the artists impressions last Winter it looks as if the lift sort of goes into the mountain at the top.... this will be to minimise the effect of any wind.... can't wait to get up there in a couple of weeks time to see it in first person.

Managed to have a good play around with my new iPhone 5S too and check out the slow mo video feature etc etc etc.... anyway managed a fairly decent still of Clare in the snow at the top of Motte.

....see told you it was pretty quiet up there.

Anyway had a nice lunch at the Panoramic Restaurant........ for those that liked going there and having a massive yet cheap pick your own salad lunch they have increased the prices to silly levels.... a small salad is now €9 and a large salad is €16....... now I could only see one size of bowl which means that IMO the size and therefore the amount that you are charged is at the discretion of the till operator and I can imagine they are told to charge as much as possible - anyway NOT impressed by that changed!!!!! Had soup, shared a plate of chips with Clare (naughty but nice), roll and butter and a coke zero and it came in at €16 which is not cheap but VFM I don't think was too bad for that place..... anyway it was a nice break during our 'date-day!'

Lots more great skiing after that to burn off the calories and then the combination of altitude and not being used to skiing quite so much meant that we were quite tired and headed down..... WHAT A GREAT DAY.

If anyone (or knows anyone) would like to get out here early doors then we are offering an accommodation, transfers AND private lessons package with us either next week or the week after from only £599 per person.... PM if you want more info!

Back in Val I popped to the post office after parking the car in our parking space under the Face de Bellevarde (usually I wait until the start of the season when it has to move as there is not normally a snow 'problem' car wise until a little closer to the start of the season!). Anyway I was popping back across the snow front and past the Village lift when I noticed (had forgotten it was going to happen) that the whole of the rest of the external and internal revamp of the Grand Paradis has been (or is nearly) completed. They started this a couple of Summers back and it is looking AMAZING now...

Anyway folks am pretty shattered now so Clare and I are going to watch a French film (as part of our ongoing work on developing our French some more) and then it shall be an early night...... NOT going to be as exciting for the next few days... many jobs to be sorted.

TTFN.

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My god that looks good for this time of year. Cant wait to get out there in jan (hopefully).

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Welcome back Ben and Daisy!

So after three years of having the co-owner (Matt (and his girlfriend Emma)) of the Blue Note living next door to us the actual owners of the apartment finally moved back to Val d'Isere.... welcome home Ben and Daisy. They had done many seasons here (Ben in the work room of Snowberry and Daisy as the assistant manager at the Blue Note) but decided upon getting married a few years back to move home to Jersey..... well the calling of Val has brought them back 'home' to where their heart calls. We had a brief chat and both agreed that somewhere like Val is so special and if you have such a wonderful opportunity in life to live and work here that, despite the drawbacks of living here, it is certainly worth it. So welcome home guys!

They had a rather unfortunate journey down from Jersey.... their trusty van with all their life-long possessions in broke down (terminally) near Le Mans..... it happened on bank holiday Monday (11th). So were stranded for a day, had to hire a new van and transfer all their possessions yesterday and then today drive the last (sizeable) chunk to here.... tomorrow Ben has to drive the van back and then get a train back here..... then on top of that buy some new wheels!

The big talking point in town today was of that show on BBC3 last night. Im not going to go into the politics of it or pass much comment but all I can say is that in some ways the stereotype image of what Val d'isere is all about was re-enforced (unfortunately) by the show..... hey ho. But it was fun to see the editing.... did anyone notice that when the parents were going up to the Folie (one of many intentional errors I'm sure!!!) that they were obviously filmed inside the La Daille gondola but then the shot from the outside was of the Olympique gondola going up.... that was just one of the 'errors.' The owner of Europe Transfer was happy was his company got a few screen shots in the background a couple of times though!

The next episode next week is back in Val again by the looks of things so it will be interesting to see what happens then!

It was once again cold enough today despite it being sunny for them to get the snow cannons on on the lower slopes (this is GREAT news). They will stockpile snow as much as possible so that they can get a really good base built up I am sure...... it would certainly be great news if the lower slopes e.g. the Village could be open for the first day of the season - we shall see!

One thing is for sure this welcome early dump of snow has been a massive boost to bookings for us at www.freshchalets.co.uk. We have just taken another couple of bookings on therefore are pretty much completely booked for the whole of the season now bar a few slots here and there. We are still promoting some pre-season training if anyone out there is keen!

Not much else to report this end..... there is a fresh weather system rolling in from tomorrow evening onwards so hopefully that will bring even more fresh..... who knows!

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Steve Angus, will be keeping a eye on your pictures and reports, 58 sleeps left to go for me! snowHead

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I watched the BBC3 show, not exactly great PR for Val D but oh well. I spotted the gondola error! I was more interested in spotting the locations than watching the binge drinking.

Fantastic early season conditions, bring on the snow!

After all it is free

Steve Angus, I just got cleared to ski by my ski physio! Can't wait for 1st Dec...keep the reports coming!

Congrats on the news Steve Angus, wonder how old the little 'un is before they're on skis!! Resort looking fab, btw

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Its snowing again....

The weather was rather strange today.... started a little hazy then clouded over, then the sun arrived. I took a trip up to our car in the underground car park to do a couple of odd jobs sorting out the boot etc and then when I came back out there was thick fog everywhere - it was rather surreal! Anyway the fog hung around until sunset and then it started snowing!!!!!

The cloudy part of the day.

I took a trip across the snow front again to see exactly how much snow is lying on the ground.......... if you know Val well you will know that the tennis courts at the bottom of the Solaise Express / Bellevarde Express area have old car tyres placed on them for the Winter months. This is mainly so that the authorities know when the snow cover is getting thing at the end of the season so the asphalt does not get damaged and vice-a-versa by skis. Anyway as you can see in the picture there is not quite enough snow yet....

Anyway apart from that today I have managed to do some of the dreaded accounts for our little chalet business - still some way to go but it is a start.

Tomorrow I am heading to Albertville with my (new) colleague (although have worked along side him in resort for a long time) at TDC, Gav Paley. Gav has been running and generally working for Oxygene and their rental shop / ski school for as long as I have been in Val. He needs to buy a washing machine as his wife is 8.5 months pregnant and I need to buy a new hob as ours went on the blink yesterday. Comforama in Albertville is the perfect place to go as it is cheap and has a good selection!

Apart from that there is not too much news to report at this end.

See you tomorrow.

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Steve

Firstly, congratulations on your's and Clare's news and welcome back for the new season!

Secondly I have been to Val a couple of times but never with my wife who is disabled and a non-skier. I would love to be able to visit with her.

Do you know if there are facilities for "sit-ski" lessons in Val, and also are there accessible cafes/restaurants at the top of the main lifts?

As it was not on the agenda when I was there I really can't picture what food places you can walk to easily from the top of say L'Olympique or Solaise.

many thanks

snow reports

Tony Ellwood, There's a big restaurant at the top of the Solaise chair and gondola, and there's the Folie/Fruiterie at the top of the La Daille bubble which is accessible on foot. There's nothing at the top of the Olympic/funicular.

You know it makes sense.

Can a mod or whoever, edit this thread to bring it all back on the one page rather than having to scroll across ?

And where have my smileys gone :-0?

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

halfhand, they are right across to the right of the screen - you need to scroll to get to them till the link is shortened

A snowHead

sorry - was that my fault? Embarassed

A snowHead

Tony Ellwood .... in a bit of a rush at the moment but have a few thoughts / ideas to help you out with this one - there ARE options so fear not! But in a bit of a rush at the moment = all reply this eve.

Anyway just wanted to share with you all this picture before I hot the road to Albertville..... lets hope it keeps on doing this all season!!!!!!!

Has been snowing all night and expected to continue all day!!!!!!! Goodness knows how much is falling up top!!!!!

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

pam w, yes Laughing

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Webcams are looking .. errrr .. white today! What an amazing early start to the season!

Exciting stuff.

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ArseCaptain, I think there is BOGOFF for the opening week

After all it is free

Ok folks... firstly to reply to the queries above:

Tony Ellwood : Yes there are options for sit ski lessons in Val d'Isere. You have two main options. One it to speak with Philip Camus (think that is his surname).... anyway contact him via the ESF. I have worked with him once before and he really is a specialist with the sit ski... does a fair amount of it.... lovely guy. So they (the ESF and him) have a sit ski always available. Other option is to contact Oxygene and they have access to a sit ski set up BUT and it could be a big 'BUT' it is based on La Plagne so not sure how often / easy it is for them to get it over to Val. For all I know they may move it / have it available regularly and / or could have bought a dedicated one for Val these days..... so those are your two main options!

As far as places to meet up the mountain then fortunately Val d'Isere is well set up in that regards...... albeit battling with the elements a little rogue snow here and there that may wander onto the connection paths from top of lifts etc to the actual restaurants. So the Signal restaurant at the top of the Fornet cable car is a good option.... free bus to Le Fornet..... up the cable car (step free from when you get off the bus!!!!!!) then step free all the way to the restaurant.... only thing is I am not 100% sure if you can access toilets there step free???????? However the (nice) restaurant is upstairs and the self serve place is on the entry level you come in at. Second option is the Tete de Solaise - cable car from the village goes straight into the building (NOT step free; as far as I know there are no internal lifts inside the base building - could be a problem), from there it is all on the same level but once again toilets are downstairs!!!!! Final option - again some steps to get into the gondola, is the La Daille gondola........ at the top you are straight out on the decking of Folie Douce so can enjoy the sights and sounds there!!!!!! - self serve (pricey) or La Fruitiere restaurant are your options there! Not sure how active your wife can be or how confined to a wheel chair she may or may not be but another option could be to take the Bellevarde Express chair up from the bottom of the Face.... the Peau de Vache restaurant just off the top of that lift is excellent and nice views down into town.... pretty quiet and excellent food and company - PLUS you can easily download on the chair again into town after. In general with Val d'Isere you must remember that the free buses around town are excellent but I don't think any of them offer step free type access unfortunately SO consider going with a your operator that can drive you from / to the bottom of lifts!!!

OK back to the main again..... once again thank you to everyone who has expressed congrats to Clare and I - much appreciated.

As far as early season / discount passes etc are concerned.... then yes there are some BOGOF promotions and things.... these offers lay with the tour operators in the UK on the main part.... so have a look at UK tour ops to get some ideas and they can package it all up for you... if you are going DIY style out here then you will find if you look on the www.valdisere.com website link throughs to the price for passes AND most importantly there are ways of getting discounts early season on passes as they usually discount by a fairly small percentage off the main season rates..... I assume they will be doing so again this year - check it out!

Anyway TODAYS NEWS

Well in short I have had a fun and productive day..... it snowed VERY hard all night last night and continued all day.... only in the last hour or so has it eased up... we have had at least another 30 - 50cm in town.

So Gav and I headed (gingerly) to Albertville - the road was awful - fairly wet and sticky snow at this time of year is like UK snow - an ice rink!!!! Anyway we made it down no problems at all.... it was still snowing in Bourg:

The Mcdonalds Roundabout in Bourg.

it is unusual to say the least, to see snow in Bourg at this time of year .... in fact snow / snowing in Bourg is ALWAYS welcome for general conditions up higher but in mid - November!

We made it to Albertville and as you can imagine it was pouring with rain.... I bought the new hob and Gav bought his washing machine.... did some food shopping etc then headed back up the hill...... I took another photo on the N90 as we left Albertville and you quite clearly see where the snow / rain limit is (about Moutiers (700m give or take)):

So we made it virtually all the way back to Val............... until we got to the turn off between Val and Tignes - some idiot had stopped pretty much in the middle of the road to put snow chains on.... ok it was VERY sloppy (even in Gav's car with snow tyres on!!!) and they had gotten stuck in their van. Anyway it meant that we lost all momentum trying to come over the ridge and ground to a halt...... it was TOOOO slippy to get purchase again so a lot of pushing to get it over the ridge was required by yours truly...... with the help of a couple of other people behind us.... then we were on our way...... the purchases in the back (heavy purchases at that) were not our friends at that moment in time as it was probably their extra weight that the car was having problems with.... anyway we got there in the end. Helped Gav into his apartment with his machine through several deep snow drifts and then home.

I got home to some lovely home made banana cake (thanks Clare).... installed the new hob and am about to crack open a beer (or two) and watch Children in Need...... excited as we got a note from the postie (not sure why he did not try and knock on the door as Clare was in all day) to say there is a parcel to be collected at the post office tomorrow - it MUST be our new skis from Head...... pics to follow!

... and that was my day folks, Friday 15th November 2013.... two weeks until the lifts open!!!!

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We were up there today about 1pm and it was an interesting journey up watching all those caught out by the early early low level snow ....but good to get the first cahnce to drive in yhe snow so early....Tignes looked great so some lucky people this weekend ......

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Steve Angus,

As always - many thanks for your thoughtful advice!

Plenty of options to have a think about.

Cool

snow reports

A pleasant but quiet day...

It was a rather lazy morning on the whole, Clare and I went for a nice long walk and picked up our new skis...... I have a new shiny pair of Head iSpeeds in a 170 for this season. The box at the post office was not only pretty badly smashed around in transit but also weighed a ton walking back along the slippery pavements.... anyway it was satisfying being able to screw the bindings on whereas Clares' skis will need drilling and I am not prepared to do that!

We took a long walk around town..... we could see the staging / seating area already set up at the bottom of the Face for the Mens SL and GS in a months time...

We also walked up the main road past the Morris and saw the new buildings they are still working on on the left.... they will be lovely when they are finished (although I doubt they will be ready for this Winter!!!!).

Not much else to report at this end. It would seem though as if one of the snow clearers had a lucky escape when their vehicle tipped into the Isere just above town on the way to Laisenant yesterday afternoon in the snow storm - they probably were trying to tip their scoop of snow into the river and misjudged the bank of snow...

... although the photo from Radio Val d'Isere does not give much away!

Steve
thanks for taking the time to post the photos & comments it's just awesome to be able to see whats going on in resort. We have been to Tignes for the last 3 years & obviously we visited Val...why wouldn't you?

Seems that you & Clare have found heaven.....enjoy the season & best wishes

Michael

You know it makes sense.

Thanks Michael...

Sorry not much to report today really.... have had a relatively quiet day. However there is a general buzz of excitement around town about the approaching snow storms that are set to bring wave after wave of snow storms to this part of the world over the next week!:

It was another lovely day in town and the sun actually made it feel quite warm. It was good to be able to catch my first bit of alpine ski racing of the season from Levi in Finland today - always makes me feel like Winter really has arrived!

Anyway folks nothing else to report.

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

Tony Ellwood, it looks as though the ESF in Val D'Isere should be able to fix up for your wife to be taken in a handiski by an instructor, and you could ski along too - it would be a great way to share some time in the mountains but I guess you'd need to pick a day when it wasn't too cold. http://tinyurl.com/lvjhj9g

A snowHead

pam w, please can you fix your link, page width is mad and impossible to read!!

A snowHead

kitenski, sorry. how do I do that?

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

edit your post!! Either using the code suggested by ArseCaptain higher up this thread, or paste the link into tinyurl.com and just post the short link that gives you....

Thanks Smile

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kitenski, or

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

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

After all it is free

And

Get

kitenski, done it.

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It

On

Help!!

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

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