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

A snowHead

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A snowHead

Steve thanks for the moguls lesson this morning all of us got a lot out of it and it came in quite handy for the end if the day with a good few runs having had moguls cut into them. Even managed to stay the right side up Toofy Grin

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My 'home' for the day!

spartacus74 = glad you enjoyed the lesson this morning. So yes this am I took a moguls lesson with, amongst others a fellow SH. We lapped around on the Tommeuse lift working on technique development, layer by layer adding more and more into the mix. I thought the three boys improved a lot which was great to see. And they seemed to enjoy it (confirmed by the above - so that is great).

The set up for the Ladies Downhill is almost finished so training starts tomorrow down the OK Orange into La Daille....... whilst the Face re-opened all the way to the bottom...... within 5 minutes of re-opening and with the injected snow right there and neither broken up / covered up yet, there were bodies littering the slope almost immediately...... the ice was glinting from top to bottom and side to side - not sure i'd want to ski it at the moment.

The afternoon I took the same mother and two boys as I had yesterday out.... they also wanted to do moguls - so all afternoon I was once again lapping around on the Tommeuse..... until fatigue kicked in and they asked if they could go for a carving blast for the last 30 mins or so.

Just popped to Fall Line bar to see someone I used to work with at Hemel and who now runs Plymouth Dry Ski Slope (Ski School Manager). Had a short drink with him and have just popped home to change before heading to Blue Note for our seasonnaires launch night.

So it is looking more and more like we will get a small - moderate top up of snow from Thursday am onwards until Friday and perhaps longer which will be good but I am hoping that whatever falls is enough to cover up the few small stones that are appearing on the pistes from place to place - only time will tell!

One more full days teaching tomorrow before World Cup duty beckons for me!

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Another lovely day BUT the hogs back cloud was lurking over Mt Blanc and there is certainly a change in the air.

This morning I had a lovely family and we did a little bit of everything really. Mum was a really solid skier, dad was probably the least experienced but jolly keen and the two 20 something daughters had both done seasons in the 3V...... so all in all it was a case of blacks and challenges for them. They seemed to get a lot out of the session which is always satisfying. The only annoying thing was that I wanted to finish the morning off by skiing them down Le Face but unfortunately the Marmottes lift was shut whilst the DH training took place so had to change plans.

Talking of the World Cup and celebrities etc. The usual suspects such as Lyndsey Vonn et al are in town. Chemmy was seen sliding the course today getting back in mentally to the WC circuit and she may possibly do the DH training tomorrow but don't hold your breath. Maria Reiche (can never spell it) was fastest in training today and there was no Chemmy on the list! The US Team are staying in the Blizzard hotel and Tiger Woods is in town too! My colleague Kieran is so excited as he LOVES his golf so has asked that if he comes looking for some lessons that he gets first dibs on the lessons - hmmmm we shall see K-Dog we shall see!

Whilst the WC makes everyone upbeat the locals are not happy as our local girl it was confirmed snapped her ACL (Tessa Worley) in Courcheval in the SL the other day so that is her Olympic season and hopes over!!!!!

Clare said that she saw Kirsty Alsopp from C4 in town last night too....... last Winter she was staying in the Scott Dunn Eagles Nest - not sure where she is at this year.

So as mentioned above the weather is def on the change and temps went up and are not dropping quite quickly so we are hoping for snow over the next 48 hours - we shall see. As reported elsewhere there was an avalanche in Lech in Austria yesterday on a risk '1' day that claimed the life of a UK teenager..... very sad. There is a lot of concern amongst the off piste guide and instructor community as to what will happen if and when we get a lot of snow. With the freezing level supposed to be around 2000m most of the EK should get snow over the next few days with this storm building up!!!!! Now the issue is that it has been so long since we last had snow and the temp gradient has been between extreme and reasonable which was meant that there is lots of faceted crystals.... in some places a sun crust has form but either way it is like ball bearings in many places that have not been skied too much..... much of the OP has not been skiable anyway as the number of rocks still visible has meant that it has not been possible. So basically if a large amount of snow comes then this week layer will mean that snow is like to soft slab quite easily especially if accompanied by wind. With the built up demand for off piste building as the days go by there could be people taking it too far too soon..... BE CAREFUL OVER CHRISTMAS AND TOWARDS THE NEW YEAR. I should think that if we get say 30-50cm over the next 48 hours that we could go from risk 1 - 4 virtually immediately and more than 1m of snow we could go to 5!!!

Had a couple of nice drinks last night as I supported my colleagues as we had a drinks and sign up session for our seasonnaires program that will start in the New Year last night at the Blue Note - 40 odd people signed up and I reckon we could get as many as 100 by the end which will be awesome!

So tomorrow it is my turn on the WC. Have to meet at the TOP of the Olympique for 7.15am...... if there is no fresh snow there will be lots of hanging around but if it is snowing then we shall be doing lots of scrapping of snow off the course (grr). Could be a long day especially if no DH training can happen.......... will be a long day whatever as not expected to finish until near 5pm I doubt!

Anyway folks more reports tomorrow - maybe some photos in the warm up zone or on course if I have time to get my camera out!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Steve Angus, great reading and the insightful words of warning.

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

FALSE ALARM

As I suspected (Inspector Angus speaking here of course) we all got to the bottom of the Olympique to be told there had not been weather issues overnight so we could go home again until 8.15 meet for 8.30 start. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR actually more like GRRRRRRRRR.

Anyway as you can probably guess from this posting there has been no change in the weather overnight.... in fact it has become warm again - I mean seriously warm - positive temps...... there is a breeze from the south so I suspect the Lombard wind is battling with the front coming in - should make for interesting weather developments later on and I still think we will get some snow but who knows how much!

pam w - yep you have pretty much hit the nail on the head there. It is a 3-line whip in the fact that short of buying your season pass (sometimes I wonder whether that would be an easier option if not slightly more expensive than missing work days!) you have to do 2.5 days for the mayor a season (assuming 2 of those days are on WC / EC / SCARA duty). So 90% of people do 2 days (of relative choice out of perhaps 12 days in total) on the racing and one torchlite descent. The torchlite descent are the easy 1/2 day options and there used to be 3/4 a season so you could have a 'social' evening and get a 1/2 day ticket for it but the mairie cottoned on to it so said that if you did just torchlite descents you had to do 3 days work for them...... which in effect meant working a 'pedestrian night' handing out free hot choc on the high street which is a pain in the ^&%$. So yes my two days are today and tomorrow.......... the weather aside a fairly easy hand out this year as on training days everyone is more relaxed..... less faff etc AND and it is a major AND you don't have to take down the netting as those who will be doing the final days racing (Sunday) have to do.

After all it is free

Steve Angus, interesting, thanks. Not an entirely "free" ski pass, then? Not so good about the warm wind - chamonix meteo did mention the possibility of a spell of foehn wind. Very frustrating to get up there so early and be sent home.

A LONG DAY AND ELEMENTS OF LACK OF ORGANISATION.... BUT ITS SNOWING!

So after the false start this morning we finally got going and were up the mountain for 8.30. The weather had moved in quickly and we were beginning to think that not only could the training day be cancelled totally but if not that then the start could be lowered to the Folie Douce start by the Salomon hut.

It was starting to snow a little by 9am. So first up we had to split into teams of 8-12 to do team 'lissage' - sliding the course. As lisseurs a 'death wedge' and good side slip certainly comes in handy as we move down the course moving all loose snow from the race and non race line to the sides. Getting rid of any excess snow makes it safer and more of an even playing field for all the competitors.

By the time I got back to the top I was surprised as the weather had not worsened anymore and it actually looked as if we were able to run as planned from the main start position and on time. Of course all the work that has to go into course preparation and timing is always focused on plan 'a' so to speak but there are back up options if the weather / course conditions are not good enough to race.

It was decided that they wanted us to work in pairs sliding the course (standard practice) BUT only going after every other racer has passed as they did not want the course getting too slick on a training day - tomorrow we will no doubt lissage it until we are down to solid ice. So this meant that there was going to be one hell of a wait until our turn came up.... in fact there was an hour and a half wait until I was actually able to make my second descent of the mountain today..... there was a lot of sitting and hanging around...... its just poor organisation and utilisation of people that means people are hanging around doing nothing for so long!

Waiting at the lisseur start point for my turn.... I'm about 2 from the back!

When it finally came to my turn it was great to be moving as I was FREEZING.

We move down the course stopping at designated stop points (4 in total) down the course. You wait until the next racer passes by (or further instructions) before moving down to the next stop point. You have about 30 seconds to complete each part of the slide. Lisseurs are always present on the course but you never really see them on TV as the camera (naturally) follows the racer!

Anyway I did manage to get this clip as we waited at one of the stop points as the Swiss racer Andrea Dettling shot past in bib number 31 today. Hope the link works - if it does then blink and you will miss her.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153610132505416&l=5387196581740078114
As you can see we get pretty close to the action...... and again all the coaches on coaches corner are there when the race is on but they are not normally seen on camera as they are strategically 'hidden' away.

After that it was time for lunch in the Club des Sport - the least they can do for us. But a two hour lunch break is a little OTT! Anyway during lunch there was an incident whereby one of our lisseur colleagues (an independent French instructor) had a Grand Mal and it was pretty serious as he was foaming at the mouth and all sorts..... he was taken away to the doctors by ambulance - pretty serious. Hope he is OK. So that made lunch for all the 200+ course workers and affiliates a little more exciting!

It was a bit of a farce after lunch..... we did some more team lissage but after thinking we had finished we were sent back to the top by the head pisteur and then had to wait around for nearly an hour before being told to slide one more time........ the fresh snow that had fallen and was continuing to fall was now about 5-10cm deep! The more we scrape it off this afternoon the less we will have to do tomorrow morning!

I managed to get a second clip of the team lissage as we death wedge our way down the mountain - blooming hard on the hips I can tell you!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153610130540416&l=5531578623041496770

Anyway we finally finished up and headed to the pub for a couple of drinks and I caught up with an old university friend of mine. Clare and I have just had a lovely hot takeaway chicken from the Casino and I shall be in bed soon as we have to report at 7am to the top of the hill as there will probably be a LOT of work to do tomorrow!

Weather forecast is for a tad more snow on and off over the next 24 hours and then a break in the weather for Saturday so the roads should be OK

Thats all folks.

pam reply

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Actually 3rd from the back in that second picture!

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snow reports

You only just caught the racer going past on film!!!! Good report, we will try and watch at the finish on Saturday before going home.

Steve Angus, really interesting; thanks for sharing

You know it makes sense.

Steve Angus, Loving your posts and pics, Its a massive commitment for us right now to pay for anything at all, but to be reassured our trip on the 4th is likely to be good is brilliant. If we could afford some lessons with you we would, but we probly can't. would happily buy you a pint though, even at French prices.

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

Excellent.....in future, to those who say I am slide-slipping in bad form down a piste too hard for me I can say, not at all, I am performing lissage.

A snowHead

Steve Angus, very interesting insight into the world of race preparation - thanks. snowHead

dogwatch,

A snowHead

Bright and breezy after the 7am meet turned into action at 7.30!!!!!

Early decision to cancel the training day as there was about 15-20cm of snow on the higher parts of the mountain..... so it was major hands on deck to shovel and slide like crazy!

Team sliding............ and a quick video....

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153612762270416&l=2741714381182754683

One lisseur - managed to fall and break his collar bone which put a downer on things but at least as a group we were kept warm and active today rather than standing around lots. They did not want us working any lower than about 100m lower than the Folie as the snow was too soft, the temperature too high and I think they want it to set overnight and then tomorrow morning lossage will prepare the lower parts. In all honesty there was little snow lower down anyway so there should not be too much to do!

It was quite nice as we got an am coffee break as we'll as a long lunch break and it was at the end of lunch that FIS and the CDS decided that we were not needed this afternoon so it was nice to head home early. I watched some things that I had recorded on Sky+ and then we all had a TDC Xmas drink.

The weather all day was a mixed bag between clouds, foggy at times, snow and the odd glimpse of snow! However I certainly did not need the extra layer of clothing as it was barely below zero most of the time and there was little wind!

So I am tidying up a few loose ends and then shall have a very early night. Tomorrow the weather forecast is good so I am not expecting too many problems weatherise.... in fact 9000 cars leaving the Tarentaise valley but 28000 coming up..... luckily I will be on the road before 6am so hopefully shall be back in town before mid afternoon but I expect to get some traffic!

The longer range forecast is for a little snow coming and going and then it could very well get heavy later in the week in line with the storms that will batter the UK!

Anyway must dash as lots to do before bed!

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

An early start but an early finish as the road was a lot quieter than 'advertised!'

So I was on the road by 6am and we made excellent time to Geneva - the road was clear and there was little traffic around - in fact I was a little concerned as there seemed to be quite a lot going the other way already. Anyway after a refuel and toilet stop we made it to a gloomy Geneva (slightly misty and grey) for about 9.30................. our incoming guests were already there so I spent all of 30 minutes in the airport and then back on the road again.... I was keen to get ahead of the traffic..... the 28000 cars would make for gridlock based on previous experiences.

Anyway when I got back to the N90 and towards Moutiers there was only light traffic and the traffic management traffic lights had not even been switched on....... so we made excellent time coming back. It only got better as the grey turn to blue and the sun came out!!!!

A stop of a food shop in Bourg and before I new it I was back in town and heading home for a snooze before dinner and the strictly final!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden on winning the DH today - where did that come from!!!!!!!! Nightmare for Vonn though!!!!

So back to the teaching tomorrow as Clare completes her World Cup duties.....

Not much else to report here folks!

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It was a little cloudy first thing this morning.... Clare was up and off very early for her second day of WC duty (7am).... only to come back at 7.30am as they decided that 8.30am was OK.

I went up for my morning lesson and due to a mix up the lesson never took place (long story). But I suppose it did not matter too much as I got to go and watch the ladies GS as a spectator..... and better still Clare got the job as a gate marshall so I was able to chat to her through the 4 lines of fencing to keep her company for a couple of hours..... at least it was not too cold otherwise that is a miserable job!

Clare (in yellow bib) before the race started in position as course workers do the final few touches to the course.

..... and a little footage as they came past....

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153619892405416&l=1106795111511599131

There were quite a few fallers / DNF's - especially in the first run and seeing more than one person fly past on their face was rather sobering..... but I don't think there were any serious injuries!

So I came home for lunch and to be honest have been quite lazy this afternoon - watching a little TV here and there. Watched the second run live on Eurosport and Clare was in a better position so made it on camera a few times as the racers came past!

The weather forecast for this week is unsettled and we should be getting a lot of snow on and off this week.... hooray!

As long as it gets a little colder it should mean the conditions stay good but right now it is unseasonably warm!

Lyndsey and Tiger left town this morning..... this is the only photo I have seen to say they were here together!

Thats all for today folks!

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Not very flattering of poor Lyndsey, the winter sun can be cruel

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Steve, you seem to have a lot of experience driving to Geneva and back. Can I ask for a piece of advice: would you recommend dirving all the way on autoroute thru Chambery to Albertville or turning at Annecy and following the road along the lake. I always choose later, but since this time I am coming from Zurich I will be short on time and wondering if longer in distance autoroute way will be quicker in Sat traffic?

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

Well a little surprise this morning as we woke to find that it had snowed a little overnight...... only about 2-3cm in town but I was hoping that it would be about 5cm+ up top..... My morning lesson was with a nice couple and after a few tweaks they were a lot happier about gripping on firmer snow and ice..... there was a lot of good stuff going on in their skiing so it was quite easy to tweak things.

I skied the Face with them later in the lesson and boy the injected snow is still present in abundance! There were patches of lovely piled up fresh snow (I reckon there was up to 10cm of fresh snow in some places on the mountain) amongst the areas of sheet ice and in some cases black ice!!!! Anyway the Face is still in TRICKY condition for those who are desperate to get on there - it is a challenge!

I overran my morning lesson as I had started it late as there was no sign of buses this morning and was starving when I finally stopped for lunch.

The afternoon brought a lovely lady who had skied last 25 years ago.... she had just had a session at the Machester Chill Factore but apart from that was fresh to the sport..... after a little warm up on the Village lift we were up the Solaise...... it was such a nice afternoon weather wise - there was hardly a cloud in the sky. We had a lovely time on the Lac lift and sliding around up there....... another session with her tomorrow afternoon and I should get her on the Madelaine - hopefully.... we shall see.

I know the UK is getting battered by bad weather at the moment but we are supposed to get hit hard probably on Christmas Day and at this stage it is looking like Saturday could be pretty tough weather wise...... if we get the amount of snow forecast then it could be one heck of a dump.

To answer alex_sauvage...... your guess is as good as mine really on this one I am afraid. I know that most people do the Annecy route - even the tour op coaches. The motorway will be clear pretty much all the way to Moutiers (usually). I would say that if it is a Saturday during school hols then motorway would be quicker - otherwise the lake Annecy route would be quicker! Either way the Sat traffic issues normally occur about 5-10 miles before moutiers so the route before that does not matter too much! Sorry can't be more specific but I always go the Annecy way as there are no tolls to pay!

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After all it is free

The calm before the storm!!!!

It started nicely and deteriorated as the day went on and is now snowing

I am so glad I put on the extra layer this morning....... not only did I have to wait around for 15 mins or so as (an unnamed tour op) a minibus lift never showed up but it would turn out to be rather windy 'up top'.

It was pleasant enough down in town but when my 18 year client finally arrived and we headed up the Solaise it became immediately apparent that it was windy enough for lifts like the 'up and over' to remain closed all day. Anyway given the tough snow conditions, the wind blowing, a slight (pre-existing) ankle injury on the clients behalf as well as her being a little rusty and unfit by her own omission the off piste was always going to be a challenge. We scratched around and found some intro level stuff off the sides of the Glacier Express lift and then lower down the Lievre Blanc provided some nice turns until it got too steep so we headed back to the Mattis run which was BUSY as everyone was forced down that way and thus went hand in hand with being icey! After a short stop at the Signal we did the trees etc off the Mangard piste and as I traversed low to get in there under the Grand Vallon it was unsettling to notice some soft slabs were already moving about above us....... this wind and snow could make the 'classics' very dangerous after Xmas e.g. Col Pers, Vallonet, Grand Vallon etc!!!!!!

After lunch the weather was building more and more so I have to say my lady in the afternoon did so well as the light was pretty poor and the snow driving in our faces as we looped around on the Lac lift in the afternoon.... more than one coffee stop was on the agenda!!!!!

We finally beat a retreat by about 3.30 and the snow has now started falling from the sky..... sideways up top with the 60,70, 80 +++++ mph winds that could get stronger overnight.

Anyway folks not much else to report this end...... will be teaching in the morning and then Clare and I shall be making the annual Xmas day pilgrimage up to the Blue Note for drinks and nibbles Matt and Lou lay on.... in fact Clare is making some Canapes in the kitchen now as it is sort of an unwritten rule that they provide the drinks and we all provide the food. The Blue Note is am important focal point for all the Expats out here over Xmas as we all have somewhere to go to share the big day away from friends and family and for some (generally first year seasonnaires) that can be pretty important!

Anyway folks stay safe if you are travelling and here's to Xmas 2013. Seasons greetings!

Steve Angus, Merry Christmas fella. Great posts. Wish I was there Smile

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Steve Angus, Merry Christmas! Have a lovely day with Claire and all your friends Very Happy

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XMAS DAY

I am so sorry everyone for writing this more than 24 hours late..... I can explain.

So Christmas Day is work as normal in these parts of the world and it was no exception yesterday.

Clare and I were both working in the morning..... I took a lovely little 4 year old out (he has skied with TDC a lot the last couple of years). There had been only a little fresh snow overnight so the pistes had softened up but the vis was OK. There was still a very stiff wind blowing. Anyway it was magic going out with a young little lad - he was so excited to be skiing on Xmas day and he was even testing out his new goggles which were an Xmas present. Anyway we had a fun time skiing around at the top of the Bellevarde. We had a nice hot choc break and he demolished a lot of chocolate and sweets..... near the end of the lesson he got a little tired so we met the nanny about 15 mins early.

Clare was not in the best of moods as she texted me about 8.55 to say that she had just had a message that her lesson time had changed to 9.30..... I think the client had forgotten to inform her of that in advance but had instead told the other instructor...... anyway it would mean that she would not be finishing until 12.30.....

So I shot home when I finished my session to get the oven on to cook the nibbles that she had prepared for the Blue Note Xmas drinks party - the annual social get together on the big day, by invite only. I also found a few mins to peel the spuds and carrots which got me some brownie points.

We had a lovely couple of hours drinking the free Blue Note bucks fizz and eating all manner of nibbles that everyone had brought alone...... that was a boozy lunch done!

By the time we left at 3pm there was finally a few snowflakes falling in town - yay!

So Clare and I got home..... called the families etc. Then Gav and Lou and Mea came around for a drink which was lovely - she was very sleepy thank goodness so we could all have a mince pie and drink in peace!

The smells from the kitchen grew stronger and after Gav and Lou had left we tucked into an amazing feast but the pile of washing up was equally massive! A few more drinks and yet more food and I was nodding off...... just as the films were all starting! In fact I did nod off and went 'for a lie down' about 9pm.... next thing I new it was 7am this morning!!!!

It did not matter as I had not been booked for this morning therefore was confident I would have time to do my blog, do the washing up etc.

But as it turned out things were about to change.............. more on that in a moment.

So that was my Xmas day 2013! Thanks to everyone for continuing to read this and for everyones Xmas messages - hope you had a great day too!

snow reports

So yes Boxing Day has been interesting too.....

So first thing this morning I got a call from our office to say that one of my colleagues had gone down ill - dodgy turkey or something!!! 'Could I teach this morning!!!!' - yes but I was hardly ready (the call came at 8.30) and our lessons start at 9.00!

A FRANTIC cancelling of all thoughts relating to doing the washing up etc and I was dressed and ready to go.

So THAT IS WHY I AM DOING YESTERDAYS AND TODAYS POST NOW!

I opened the door (Clare was teaching too) to find that we had about 10cm of fresh snow in town overnight but the winds and vis was pretty poor!!!!!

I dashed to the meeting point and was only 5 mins late but it did not matter as the lifts were a few mins late opening as there was lots of av control to do (you could hear a lot of bombing going on). I met the group clinic that I was taking for their third and final session and off we went..... I had to learn names, level, experience etc on the hoof. By the time we got to the top of the Olympic it was really windy and snowing very hard! I knew that these conditions would be tough for everyone and that not too much would be open anyway as the pisteurs would be doing a lot of work.

Another of my colleagues had a group of 3 teen girls that were daughters etc of some of the people in my group so as it turned out we were never far away from each other as we skied the Verte towards the Folie and downwards.

The piste had lovely pockets of 30cm deep snow in places and in others bumps were forming.

We were only on our first run and had just gotten below the Folie when I came across the teen group and it appeared as if one of them had taken a nasty tumble and needed medical attention.... of course the mother in my group was rather concerned so there was a bit of too'ing and fro'ing as I called the pisteurs, the other teens in the group with the injury came into my group whilst the mother and older sister in my group stayed with the injured girl. Anyway cutting a long story short I had a complete 'change' in composition of my group which changed further as the plan to ski lower (at my groups request) meant that it was quite bumpy and challenging ski wise on the La Daille runs (as everyone had the same idea). So when we got to the bottom of La Daille at around about 10am half of my group called it a day.... I was now down to only 3 people - half of whom should not have been in the group but my colleague had to take the mother to the medical centre and she did not know where it was so that was him out the equation for a while. Anyway my 3 remaining skiers and I headed back up the Funival and now everyone thought it was more sensible to brave the elements higher up for smoother pistes and nicer snow (wise choice I thought - but they had to make that decision for themselves through trial and error!). So I radically changed my lesson plan based on the new composition of the group and knowing that my colleague would catch me up when he dropped the mother off. We looped around on the Marmottes lift a few times and worked on some powder technique...... then I got a call (things were not going my / our way today) from my colleague - for some reason his lift pass had stopped working suddenly and he could not get up the mountain to reclaim his part of my group...... so I was stuck whilst he sorted it out - in the end it was nearly noon (the end of the lesson anyway) before he got his pass working again!

By lunchtime I was ready for a rest I can assure you!

In the afternoon the weather had improved a little.... however it was still pretty grotty. I did not think my lady that I had taught a couple of times earlier in the week would want to ski too much..... however she was really on form and I have to say she did very well indeed as by the end of the afternoon she was happily skiing the Madelaine which was no mean feat in those snow and weather conditions - BRAVO.

Anyway I made it home about 2 hours ago and the Xmas washing up (and a huge pile of rubbish - e.g. mince pie cartons and wrapping paper) were still sitting there. Clare does some private looking after of a friends apartment in town and they told her that they were coming at the weekend so she had to head up there to make the beds, turn the heating on etc...... so I still had lots of domestics to sort out..... so have literally just managed to finished most of the cleaning etc - I am ready for bed again!

The snow has finally stopped and the wind is dropping by the looks of things but things are going to be pretty dangerous out there tomorrow.... the photo above was taken by Andreas Borklund of Alpine Experience and it show just how unstable the snow is - these soft slabs are just sitting pretty right next to the pistes..... if you consider that this is on the same aspect as the north facing Grand Vallon / Col Pers ....... it is scary how set up things are..... if you have no idea where I am talking about then this is the top of the Mangard piste just below the Signal restaurant at the top of the Fornet Cable car!

FINALLY.... - it looks as if we will have a nice break in the weather tomorrow BUT that another front is moving in on Saturday....... this means that if you are coming up the hill on Saturday that the roads could be bad..... coupled with one of the busiest days on the road anyway it could be chaos!!!!!!! PLAN AHEAD!

Wow! Good job you're an adaptable chap, steve! snowHead

You know it makes sense.

Steve Angus, I'm exhausted just reading your wonderful posts. BRAVO to you and the GLW

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

Sounds like you've had a busy day Steve.

You've got to admire the curiosity of some people - the fella in that bottom shot who has his pole raised is just thinking "I wonder what happens if i poke that big lump of snow........ just once more and a bit harder this time."

A snowHead

THE CALM AFTER THE STORM!

We woke to clear skies yet chilly this morning. I would imagine that a lot of people woke to the sounds of the pisteurs blasting away. The best part of 30-50cm had fallen on the mountain so it was going to make for great conditions all round.

The problem you get after a storm like the last couple of days is that (naturally) everyone under the sun wants a piece of the action. This includes on and off piste. As I write this this evening there does not seem to have been an serious off piste accidents today thank goodness here in the EK but the dangers remain........ people tomorrow and the day after that will venture further to find freshies and in doing so could put themselves (and others) in danger!

Anyway there was a large queue that had built up at the bottom of both mountains this morning (Solaise Express and Olympique) and I waited to see which opened first before making a decision. The Solaise opened first so we headed up there. I had the same couple from earlier in the week and the plan was to work on some powder technique on the pistes and wherever there were accumulations of snow....... after a frustrating start as lifts up top were slow to open we got going. In some places there was some soft slab which made it difficult to get turns in, in others it was lovely and fluffy light. I beat most people up onto the Val glacier and for the first run we had the place to ourselves....... there was a mix between deep (almost 1m in places) accumulations and in other places hardly anything at all as the wind had gotten hold of the snow. There was some lovely turns to be had.

As expected it got busier and busier up there and by about 11am there was large queues forming for the Cascades chair........ we were thinking of heading back soon anyway so it did not matter. On the last run down the snow cannons had come on at the bottom of the Moraine run..... in fact a fair few cannons were firing first thing this morning all over the place as it was about the first time all season that we were able to make snow as it has been so warm up until now. Anyway the snow that was coming out the cannons meant that it was VERY sticky and my lady took a nasty fall so she sat one run out whilst her husband and I took one final blast around in the powder.

On the way back we 'picked' her up and skied back to the Fornet!

In the afternoon I had a nice Kiwi lady who now lives in London..... before I had even had a chance to ask her what she would like to work on I had already 'steered' her to what I really new she would need to work on....... bumps...... it was going to be VERY bumpy everywhere this afternoon. All that fresh snow would have been worked into soft moguls left, right and centre. She actually had thought that moguls would be the best bet anyway so we were both on the same wavelength.

Moguls are always going to form when you get enough people skiing on the same piste...... they are just bigger and form quicker when it is steeper (and of course if the slope is not bashed at night). One thing that people should bear in mind that if more people were balanced over the centre of their skis and 'steered' their feet rather than perpetually skidding / over rotating their feet from left to right you would not get moguls in nearly the same way! A pivot and slide is a rudimental way of skiing that works but never does much good for either the slope or other persons enjoyment of the slope afterwards!

Anyway we had a good session and sure enough there were bumps EVERYWHERE. She had not been to Tignes yet so I headed towards the Grand Motte..... its not often I can say that I have skied both Tignes and Val glaciers in the same day but today was one of those days. The view up there was stunning although there was a little high clouds already forming...... I suspect that tomorrow it will really build and we are due some more snow in the afternoon tomorrow.

I have not seen the traffic forecast for tomorrow but I am 99% sure that it will be a hideous number of cars that are forecast but unless you are arriving late the roads should not be affected by the weather..... likewise the journey down should be OK. I am really hoping that I will be ahead of the worst of it as I leaving town at 6am and should be on the way back from GVA by 10.30am - hopefully!

A snowHead

That is a superb photo Steve!

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

HoneyBunny - ta - I do my best.

YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I SAW IN THE SUPER U CAR PARK TODAY???????

So it was a very early start to get on the road before 6 this morning..... I new it would be OK getting to the airport (although it was busier than I had imagined but still perfectly OK at just over 3 hours. It was warm in town when I left but stayed clear'ish all the way to Geneva. Geneva on the other hand was bedlam.

I quite like this photo as it captures the chaos nicely - the little boy being dragged by the arm as if to say 'hell let's get out of this hell hole and to the slopes as soon as possible little Johnny!'

Anyway after less than an hour at the airport I was loading up for the return journey and I was a little behind schedule already... I had wanted to be on the road by 10.30 - 11 but it was getting on for 11.30 when we finally rolled out.

There was traffic jam getting over the boarder (lucky we take the back roads anyway) but the actual journey was not too bad - Annecy a little snarled up but all in all it was OK.

There were some new lights (well I had never seen them before) as you get into Albertville from the Annecy direction which added a few mins to the journey....... everyone in the car was hungry so we stopped at Mcdonalds which was CHAOS - drive-thru's etc - just chaos. Anyway we got out of there quickly enough as it turned out and onto the N90..... everything was crossed for good traffic. The police were doing their bit keeping everyone on the main road and stopping the back roads getting snarled up..... grrrrrrr surely they must have something better to do with their time!

Actually to be honest the traffic was very good really and we were only perhaps 20-30 mins behind schedule due to the traffic. After Moutiers things went pretty much perfectly to Bourg where we stopped for a food shop although the traffic coming the other way was really bad - nose to tail from Bourg to the Sioux tunnel - not nice at all and probably a 2 hour + jam.

I had to buy a few things in Weldom and then finally managed to get around to giving the car a nice clean - amazing what a car clean does..... rather like our new car..... still a baby with 2500 miles on the clock!

But yes I asked the question above as to what I saw in the car park at Super U just after I took this picture - but completely forgot to take a picture of it (you'll have to trust me when I tell you) - go on have a guess - you'll never guess right...............

So after getting up, doing a coupe of odd jobs in the apartment like fix a new toilet roll holder - last guests somehow managed to break it off the wall ?!?!?!?!?! it was home for a slap up meal however I cannot believe that it started (and continues) to ABSOLUTELY DUMP WITH SNOW........ already we have had about 10-15cm of snow in a little over 3 hours - could be a lot by morning!

Right I'm shattered and have a full days teaching tomorrow so I am off to bed.

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ROAD UPDATE

Looks like they have basically closed the road up unless you have chains on EVERY car and it is currently taking 2 hours plus to get up the hill from Bourg.... the road to Les Arcs is worse as several cars have smashed up right across the road blocking it. CONSIDER STAYING DOWN THE VALLEY TONIGHT AS THINGS ARE NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER TONIGHT

P.S. Remind me if I forget to tell you what I saw at Super U today when I next post!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Is it still snowing in Val now? Looks like its stopped on the webcam?

ps.. great blog wink

keep up the great work !

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I'm going to guess .. either a supercar .. or a tank?

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Lindsey Vonn snogging a Tiger Shocked

After all it is free

My sister left Val daft o clock this morning, still stuck at Chambery awaiting bus trip to Lyon or GVA due to temperature inversion/ fog, planes won't land or take off.....deep joy!

Steve Angus, nice bus! Is it 4WD.

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Steve Angus, 458 Italia owner practicing putting snow chains on?

Help!!

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

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