 Poster: A snowHead
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@trainee snowboard jedi,  no offence taken. When do you head home?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| PaulC1984 wrote: |
| @stevew, PS where abouts are you staying? |
I stopping with a mate at one of the Ski Beat chalets at La Dallie, arriving on the 3rd for a week. Really getting psyched up now 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Cool. we are in Val C at the same time! leaving LGW with sleezy jet at 6:15am! Have fun 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We arrive Sunday for week ... Always do this second week in January ... No issues with queues unlike NY week ... Forecast looks ok from what I can see - albeit maybe a little on the chilly side !!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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cold i can deal with, queues and morons i can not
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Hope you both get well soon! Just love your posts and so happy the new season has started! You should release a book after every season
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@Steve Angus, good to hear you're almost fitting fit again and also good to see you and Henry on the pistes yesterday, he's certainly better on planks than I am on a board!
We stayed to the side of Grand Pre yesterday, trying to do some offpiste with mixed results. Again it was dead after 3pm and we did last lift up Grand Pre at 4:13pm to the shouts of 'hurry up' from the lifties, we were then 'escorted' down by 2 patrol staff. Amazing to have the mountain to yourself on such a busy week.
@PaulC1984, we're here until the 10th then that's us then until Feb half term. They are still predicting some snow for Sat and Sun, so if that arrives, you will have great conditions and dead slopes. Pre kids, we always came the first 2 weeks in Jan for these reasons, post kids we have schools etc to worry about so have to put up with crowds.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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And a happy new year to you and your family.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Happy new year steve
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Happy New Year to you and the family Steve.
Is the lift in your middle picture the Lac chair en route back to Piste S,Piste M and Rhone Alpes into town?
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Happy New Year to one and all !!!!
@Trainee snowboard Jedi - four kids here ... We take them out of school for the 2nd week of January - we are convinced a week out of school is no problem for the sake of a family ski holiday !!
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for the updates Steve. Hope you and the family have a great new year.
look forward to seeing you in a few days for hopefully some off piste sessions! Please start looking for the best bits and keep people off them for us
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Happy New Year to you and the family Steve.
Looks like the Lac chair with the top of the Solaise Express in the background?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Happy New Year Steve, glad you're feeling better!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Steve Angus, Happy New Year to you and all the family!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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To all out there, what is Tuff chair and piste Henri like at the moment, especially first think in the morning? Tuffs is right outside our apartment, so taking the lazy option want to head up there, down henri and ski to the GM Furn in the morning rather than walk the 500m
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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A downer on it...
Well the day started quietly around town and there was no-one around at all. Clare and I were still up early as it is business as usual today and I had to get Olivia to the other end of town with her high chair and various stuff that babies need for 8.30..... and of course I was not going to try and battle to get all that onto the train rouge so it was the old fashioned way... walking. So it was a long (and hot) walk uphill to get there. Anyway that was all sorted and next stop was Snowberry to drop my ski boots off (for my lunchtime change) and then finally to the car to get my board before being at the meeting point for 9.30 to meet Imi for her boarding lesson (last one of the week). The plan had been that I would do the morning.... start lunch with her whist I change into my ski gear and then a colleague from another snowboarding school (Pro Snowboarding) would then 'finish' her lunch supervision off and take her for her afternoon riding.... anyway that was the plan!
Imi was tired after being up late last night but a quick coke stop up the mountain and that kicked her teenage bones into life! Unfortunately it was only a short while later that we were coming down the Madelaine and she caught and edge and went over and immediately I knew something was wrong as she was holding her wrist.... oh no it looked like a typical snowboarding wrist injury!
Anyway cutting the next two hours down into a sentence: pisteurs, downloaded, doctors, parents recalled from their day off to Breviaries, upset Imi, clean break to lower arm (non-writing arm) bone, buggered 'hangover' plans, dampener on last lesson to say the least, mega quick change into ski gear and back to meet afternoon ski lesson and stuffed lunch of a sandwich down me on the Solaise Express! ..... and that was my morning done.
Once every so often you get an injury in a lesson and it puts a real downer on things (especially when it is a minor like this one) but accidents happen, but there you go!
Anyway my afternoon lesson with Henry was pretty chilled and he nailed a couple of new moves and was pretty chuffed with himself when I dropped him back at 5pm
The day never seemed to end as next up was to go up the Olympic to do the torchlit descent which was a real nice affair tonight. OK Le Face was icy as *&^* but it was a good social up there tonight catching up with people. I (pre-planned) met Henry and his family at the bottom to give him the remnants of my dieing flare which he thought was the best thing since sliced butter..... it was then home, dinner and now this before bed!
In other news.... the Val mayor, Marc Bauer, has confirmed plans by the STVI to spend 54 million euros over the next 10 years in the resort - mainly on lifts but also some on snow-making. The centre-piece, and surely it must happen very soon, is for a new 10 seater gondola to go in replacing both the Solaise Express and the Solaise Cable Car.
... and yes I knew SH's would get it pretty much straight away.... that is the Lac chair lift that links back from the bottom of the Madelaine over the ridge towards the runs down the Solaise mountain into town!
Talking of Le Lac chairlift.... as often happens at this time of the year when it is busy people chose to walk back up the ridge from the bottom of Madelaine towards the Solaise lifts rather than queue for 10 mins for the chair lift - you can see lots of walkers up the hill in this picture.
That is the MOON you can see.... before we set off for the torchlit down Le Face
Wonderful sunset in the mountains looking towards the Grand Motte and Grand Casse.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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p.s thanks for all the New Year wishes and those that I shall be seeing soon.... or sometime this season.... or just generally coming to town.... bring it on!
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@Steve Angus, Shame they can't make the Solaise Xpress into an 8-pack chair - that would be a lot less ag than a new bubble.
They have their reasons, sans doute
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I can see why people walk, the Lac chair is soooooooo slow! Hopefully that'll be replaced too (probably not as it's so short).
I wonder what other new lifts they're planning.
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Seeing as so many 'heads are in town next week, think we need to organise a micro-bash?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Richard_Sideways, Im game!! where/when, im staying in Val Claret
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Richard_Sideways, me too! 
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I am sorry to say that after sking all across from solaise then across to olympic and then right across and down into le lac the Pistes are in a far worse state than last friday
last week cannons were run as much as they could. piste condition was good before the snow.
i have never seen so many warning banners saying stones and so many brown pistes
you desperately need snow
the tyres on the val nursery now showing again so it shows what the snow level has dropped down at village level
i wont gloat at the fact baring this weeks queues we have had a stunning blue skyed 2 weeks
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You know it makes sense.
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@harvsurrey, Nothing like a happy post to brighten the day up. Thats why we book a place with a glacier and also glad there will be 50% less people there next week than you have had to cope with!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Richard_Sideways, moi aussi.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Richard_Sideways, we're interested depending on what time / the plan etc. We have a few other things planned next week but will try to work around those. Please keep us posted on your plans.
ETA, irrespective of the SH meet plans, if you and you and the Mrs fancy meeting for a 'cheeky beer' pre picking kids up, then let us know. There's a cool new outdoor (with heaters) après bar between called Cocorico near Olympic and Solaise that has happy hour (2 for 1 beers) until 4pm, so always good to get there just before!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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trainee snowboard jedi: Im not sure what the red statue at the top of the Olympic is all about - think it could be something to do with Russian New Year but I could be wrong - pass. Glad you liked the torchlit descent and the freestyle display is good too isn't it. Yea around about 200 of us did it - I was in the middle somewhere.
HoneyBunny: So I think the plan will be for a two stage gondola to go in.... first stop the tete du Solaise restaurant.... second stop bottom of the Madeleine area.... leave in the Terrace poma, Lac Chair as well as rope from top Solaise over towards the Lac Chair that is there at the moment. However those three lifts allow access to and from the restaurant but also allow beginners using the area up there to lap around - it would become a great (and quiet) learner area. At the moment that whole area gets invaded / used as a place that you have to pass through to get up / down the Solaise mountain - meaning it is busy for learners when they need a quiet area up there really. The new lift would allow people to pass through efficiently and also keep the restaurant happy.
harvsurrey: Yep the resort is battered after the hoards of people this week.... there are plenty of thin spots and black and yellow poles and we have been lucky with what they have kept open.... I still think we are about 80% open. We do need a fresh dump to get things back on track but we need a LOT of snow to get us to where we should be at this time of the season. It has been warmer the last few days so they have not been able to make snow but perhaps we will be getting some snow tomorrow!
TODAY - a tale of two very different halves in more than one way
This morning in terms of the weather it was sunny and pretty warm whereas this afternoon it was cloudy, some wind and looking threatening.
Likewise on the skiing front a tale of two halves.
Clare and I were up early as Olivia had a scream in the middle of the night (we think due to a nightmare) and then at 5am all hell broke loose as her cough / runny nose / flemmy (sp?) throat all became too much for her and she was awake with a vengeance and we had to comfort her and calm her rather a lot and she finally went back to sleep for an hour but Clare and I didn't!
I headed to the office to pick up a few sets of off piste gear and then I met my morning clients.... a young couple, he had skied with TDC a lot and had even done a gap year program down in Coronet Peak, New Zealand (the same place that I worked for 4 seasons a few 'Summers' back) with TDC's Colin Tanner. Anyway they were both solid skiers and were not expecting too much on the snow conditions front BUT they were both very happy by the end and pleasantly surprised with not only how many fresh turns we had but also the variety of places we went to get them!
Off the side of the Madelaine, my 'secret' pockets lookers right from the Datcha lift, the Glacier 'bowl', 'inbounds' Cugnai, Lievre Blanc (top), Aiglon 'bowl' and parts of Super L - some darn great turns in there. I even caught myself by surprise as I did not think we would find so much good stuff. Interestingly exiting Piste L (that does not exist at the moment) is more like rock hoping and trying to avoid ending up in the stream that can still be seen flowing (in parts) down there!
In those two pictures I only got a chance to whip the camera out as Fiona had fallen.... and that was only twice all morning - apart from that it was go, go, go.
The snow off piste was actually very good although heavy in places BUT it is getting rotten more and more and there were signs of movement and I heard a few 'planned' whoomps - I think there could be some serious movement naturally and human triggered if we are not careful and fresh snow could lead to a lot more movement out there! A few plagues pulled out in some very unlikely places I saw.
I made a bee-line for the Fruitiere for lunch where I had been invited by my clients this week for lunch - how nice and a very special treat! I have been teaching Henry and his family as I mentioned before for so very long that I consider them a part of the family. We had a very long and drawn out lunch for a hour and a half and it was nice socialising.... the food was yummy too and everyone was raving about the beef stew with polenta. It started to really cloud over and get rather chilly by the time we left.
My afternoon with Henry was an interesting one. He wasn't really himself and after a lot of 'digging' I finally found out that he was sad (he even started crying lightly) as he wasn't due to get a 'level' badge from me at the end of the week. OF COURSE..... as a ski school we don't really teach that many kids and therefore traditional we don't give out badges as the cost of having a huge stock of them would be prohibitive but on this occasion he knew his school friends would come home from their hols with badges from their group lessons. Anyway I then promised (never promise a 6 year old anything!) him that I would get him a badge one way or another. To entertain his imagination I then came up with a story that I would text the 'badge man'.... I was texting a couple of colleagues both within and outside of the ski school.
At the end of the day I finished my lesson and managed to acquire a badge by hook and by crook and his little face lit up when I returned to his hotel to give it to him. All worth it!
So I have been planning my day tomorrow this evening as I have another couple for a complete days off piste adventure tomorrow.
Olivia was not in the creche this afternoon as Clare got a call (and a couple of lessons therefore had to be re-arranged) and had to pick her up as the staff thought she was ill. Clare had to take Olivia to the doctor who said that she did not have a temperature or anything problematic as such but prescribed her anti-biotics. By the time I got home this evening Olivia was right back on form - bravo!
With our ski school secretary back in the UK for a week or so due to personal reasons we are having to pull together as individual coaches / instructors and this weekend Clare has agreed to have the TDC phone to take calls and sort bookings etc out - thanks Clare!
So tomorrow as previously mentioned we may get some snow but I think the day will mainly revolve around cloud and flat light - so it could be a long day off piste guiding!
Sleep well folks!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Steve Angus, @trainee snowboard jedi, thanks for all the reports, will be in resort tomorrow afternoon to see what it's really like and how much snow we get tomorrow night
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@PaulC1984, we have been here for over 2 weeks so have seen it quieter too , you are correct and as Steve has said this week the piestes have taken a battering on top of that its warm so no snowmaking on very low snow depths
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@harvsurrey, thanks for trashing all the pistes for us poor lowly fellow Surrey-ites who can't afford a 2 week blast over Christmas and New Year and are relegated to the cheap weeks Wondering if rain in the 'burbs = snow up mountains several hundred miles away?!
@stevew, safe trip today!
@PaulC1984, @Rishie, will leave organisation to my t'other half, @Richard_Sideways, as after operation packing and getting 7 of us (us, kids and known to be ditzy mates, I should never have organised the group trip years back, I am now default organiser!) to the airport checked in on correct flight with hangovers etc I'll be done in
@trainee snowboard jedi, sounds a lot like a plan
@Steve Angus, looking forward to my lesson on Tuesday!
This time tomorrow I hope we shall have landed in Chambery
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Concur with always29 regarding snow conditions !! We also land in Chambery tomorrow ... whoo hoo !! - looking forward to lessons with Gavin @ TDC
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Glad I wasn't up there....
Well apparently there was really strong winds, pretty poor vis for much of the day and the fresh snow did not materialise (well not in any great quantities anyway). So I was glad I was not up the hill today.
Instead I had a gentle family day.... well it started with a bang as Olivia was up earlier than normal but apart from that the morning was lovely and relaxed.
We headed out for family lunch at Rise - yummy soup and pannine and then cake before calling my parents for a good Skype session. Olivia was now on form in her Jumper bouncing around. After that an old friend from YEARS back who is out here on holiday popped around for a cup of tea and a catch up.... Olivia was now off form again but it was lovely non-the-less.
After bath time Clare and I have enjoyed a nice evening and the wine is going down nicely once again! Anyway that was my day - a very chilled day - which is not a common occurrence during the season so I cant complain at all!
Tomorrow I am back on my snowboard which will be fun. I really must remember to get a photo tomorrow as well as never got a chance today to take a photo of interest!
TTFN
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@Steve Angus, it was a pretty special day. by special i mean very flat light, inability to see any bump or changes in slope condition etc. Still we had a great day sticking to the lower slopes. sone slopes have 6inches of fresh snow where sheltered from the wind that made for pretty tough skiing once it got choppy - the flat light and poor vis didnt help. Piste henri had better vis but was wind blown and VERY windy- i was being blown to a stand still lol. Still looking on the bright side, what better way to get practice in extremely changable conditions. Bright couple of days now due followed by a huge dump on friday by the looks of it! circe 40cm predicted in one day -we shall see!
Thank god today i had my full face helmet - there were rather a few frozen noses out there and a lot of people being taken off the mountain with injuries.
blasting loads from early morning up until lunch time so the snow must have fallen somewhere. .
my weapon of choice today was this years head titan and boy did they work well! the changing slope conditions from ice to choppy to windswept to deep was a challenge and the titans did it all both carving and short turns
Had a great day none the less and its much quieter in resort tonight after the crazy parties last night!
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