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

A snowHead

@compostcorner,

A snowHead

They're all grim if it's icy Toofy Grin

The lower part of Sache can be tricky. The bit of Trolles where it funnels into a track just below Combe Folle is often a nightmare at the end of the day, being narrow and mogulled up and full of bodies as it's a resort run. Descente, Rhone-Alpes/Combe Martin are pretty tame. Leisse is often unpisted. The Epaule du Charvet has one steep section that is usually mogulled. I don't remember much about Pramecou, it's been a while. Face/Stade is long and steep but very wide and has bail-out options half way down.

But as PeakyB says, conditions are everything, and there are too many variables to make a definitive order of difficulty.

Hope that helps snowHead

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I agree with Leisse, Decente, Rhone-Alps, Combe Martin and Trolles generally being less challenging than most EK blacks.
Epaule de Charvet I find OK, especially enjoy the steeper, adversely cambered lower section....but get annoyed on the mogully narrower bit approaching it. All better than Santons red below.
Sache OK in decent conditions but have been on with massive moguls and found that a long slog.

Face de B is a classic. Bit of everything. Often do 3 laps if conditions good. Steep bottom section scary if icy. PB of 4m 20s from top to base of Olympique gondola. Graham Bell just short of 3mins, filming for his youtube video. Top downhillers now just under 2m, but they cheat by jumping bits I side-slip down Toofy Grin

Question - what happened to Silene, above Brevieres side of Tignes? No more? Ceased to be?

Where's Golf and Piste S? I've forgotten!

Another question - what's Foret now? Hardest black I can recall doing in EK. Moguls, steep, then trees, then rocks that creep closer together as you pass through, then a boulder chasing you before finally having to dodge Dr Who's Weeping Angels.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Golf is in Tignes - known as the Bus Stop run as there's no lift at the bottom. Apparently super steep in parts but generally good snow as people are put off by the lack of a lift.

Piste S cuts off from Plan M off the side of Solaise, and goes down into the Manchet Valley - it's a narrow, very steep and relentless bump run.

I might try to do a new black this year, maybe Pramecou.

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swiftoid - not sure - didnt make it over there in the end today - more on that in a moment
Jehu and runkmc - aha that has been flagged up to me by a colleague - they are actually (from what I can tell) the same animal its just that one is bigger and has a bigger horns (the male) - thats the bouquetain and the ibex is generally the female and smaller - but essentially the same animal!
snow_mac - glad you had a good trip - keep tuning in!
moosepig - interesting routing there... that would be doable... but ill explain the route we attempted today in a moment... but yes wind was a major factor today yes!
Kenzie - yes being able to pick your day is vital that is for sure - NOT something we had an option with today unfortunately!

I think the 'challenge' should really include ALL black runs as they are marked yes.

compostcorner - personally id say typically and again 'typically' is open to interpretation and personal preference... but within Val id say most people find the S, Epaule and Marmottons the hardest and at the other end the Rhone Alpes, Combe Martin and La Face the easiest of the black options... dont shoot me anyone thats what people tell me they find the harder / easier options
PeakyB - its lovely being out there isnt it! Yes the runs REALLY vary between conditions and times of the day etc... sometimes for example the Face is easier at certain times of the day / season than something like the top part of the Borsat green run in Val! Golf is down to between Le Lac and Val Claret and the S is the corner being cut off coming down the red on Solaise. Yea Foret is not pisted and tricky! Not quite into the Manchet Valley (the S piste) HoneyBunny

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

@Steve Angus, ahh I know where it comes down, it just doesn't end quite where I thought it did. Shows I've never done it!! So if I can ski Epaule in decent conditions, would I be OK on Pramecou? (Obviously don't want to put you on the spot, all the caveats apply).

After all it is free

Scuppered by the wind / visibility and not quite enough stamina young C.P.!

So folks I think you will be able to tell that todays challenge did not work out.

As the first day of the school holidays the weather halted a lot of peoples plans... including ours. The mountains were not quite as busy as I would have expected on a Monday but still busy non the less! There was about 15cm of snow or so in town and in places (as we were to found out) much more on the mountain! The clouds were rolling in and out (mostly rolling in although there were gaps of sun here and there occasionally) but the wind was pretty bitter... it was actually strong at altitude and it kept a fair few lifts closed!

Anyway I met Charlie very early at the hotel (fitting in my periscope first up):

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1PlJQXWAMrnGE

... and we were off.... I noted the crazy numbers of people (mainly kids) meeting for their lessons - for example here the meeting point for Ev 2...

So the routing we ended up doing - I won't bore you with the Tignes side of things as I decided to NOT go that way... it was partly a combination of fatigue from C's end, poor visibility / fresh snow making the unpisted runs somewhat tricky and the wind.... as was mentioned above the ideal time to do the challenge is mid January, sunny skies and no wind on a Saturday with fresh legs when it hasn't snowed for a few days!

Anyway back to the routing we did:

1) bus to fornet
2) fornet cable car up
3) FORET black run down
4) bus to Laisenant
5) Laisenant Express up
6) Ski to Datcha lift and up
7) MARMATTONS black run down
8 ) Manchet Expres back up
9) Ski to magic carpet (Pic / Pam) and up
10) Rhone Alpes into Combe Martin down
11) Bellevarde Express then Loses Express up (C didnt want to bother taking skis off for the Olympique option up!)
12) Ski down to the EPAULE DU CHARVET black run
13) Olympique up for the second attempt up the mountain
14) FACE black run down
15) TC10 Solaise gondola up
16) S black run down

- OFFICIALLY according to the piste map that is all of Val's black runs done... but we circled around and up the Olympique again to get down to the Raye into La Daille which is black by signage on the slopes but not on the piste map!!!

Anyway a weird routing perhaps when talking about the Bellevarde / Solaise area but it was partly due to the queues / weather and where the best light looked like it was.

So as well as a couple of breaks to rest his tired legs it was fun day... I am 100% sure that the whole circuit would be possible with the correct conditions... next year we will do the Tignes circuit and then possible the year after that the whole EK circuit!!! We shall see!

Weather coming and going

Lovely view appearing of Val from the Epaule du Charvet

First tracks down the Foret run first thing - powdery moguls!!

Right I think that is all for now...

TTFN

Who nicked Silene?

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Don't tell anybody, but my favourite parts of the EK are the Col de Ves runs and Golf. There won't be many people risking the very slow lift up the Col de Ves; I sense it's black as much to discourage too much traffic (on account of the slow lift and the rather narrow piste) as because it's very difficult.

Golf is never used by anybody on account of the bus-back-home issue. Wonderful. I recall it being an absolute pig underfoot last time but that was more than made up for by the absence of anybody else.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I'd have said Paquerettes would be up there (often the conditions aren't great as well) but I see it is marked as a Black itinerary on the map now.

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Well I can't say I'll miss Silene, if it's gone. I expect loads of people will still go down it anyway.

Hi all

I'm hoping to pick the brains of a few of you who know Val d'Isere best, if you'd be kind enough to help.

We are 5 adults driving to Val in a few weeks' time for 6 days' self-catered skiing.

Regrettably, the company we booked with told me today that there had been an error and our property was not available. To their credit they have offered alternative accommodation but the single Val alternative does not fit our needs.

I have desperately been searching for alternatives but was wondering if anyone could recommend any companies that offer self-catered accommodation in/around Val centre who do not show on the usual sites?

Time is at a premium for me and I would appreciate any suggestions that you might have!

Many thanks

Shaky

You know it makes sense.

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

Try Alex at the Danival.
She rents out apartments on a weekly basis.
Great location and comfortable 2 bedrooms.
Will sleep 6 but you will have 4 in the large main bedroom.

ledanival@gmail.com

you can mention my name as I live there as well..

Cheers

Mike

A snowHead

Hi shaky, have you tried Val D’Isere Agence? We rent our apartment out through them and they have the largest number of rentals available in town. Ours only sleeps 4 so no good for you but I’m sure they’d have something

A snowHead

James the Last - yea love it up on the Col des Ves - however when I'm teaching I hardly EVER get up there at all - people dont feel the benefit and its a long way to go in the first instance anyway!
HoneyBunny - yea lots of people heading down that way today!
shaky / timlongs / Cromptonmj - yes to both those options but you can also drop us www.freshchalets.co.uk a bell as we have some availability in our little place until the end of the season.

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

Cold.... actually make that baltic

The thermometer was showing nearly -19 in town at breakfast time this morning meaning it was about -22 up top... luckily with no wind and the sun shining for the most part it was OK as long as you stayed in the sun!

It was FANTASTIC to be able to catch some live ski racing on tv - the problem with the Olympics not only being at SUCH a busy time of the year but also on such an unfavourable time zone - is that I barely get to see any of the action... mainly just watching it on catch up. Anyway watching the slalom leg live this morning of the Mens Combined was awesome and fantastic for Victor Muffat-Jeandet, the local Club des Sports boy, to get a bronze medal... after Henri Oreiller, Christine and Marielle Goitschel, Jean Claude Killy and Mathieu Bozzetto he is the next local hero to get an Olympic medal!

So with the wind in the sail for the resort it was off up to the hotel to meet the team. Today both Clare and I were back on the booking together and the plan was for a family ski all the way to the L'Armailly for lunch in Tignes les Brevieries! So off we went. The queues were always going to be bigger today as the sun was shining never the less using the Bellevarde and Loyes Express we made good time. The snow squeaky and fresh and there was a few more cm's overnight - it was a true bluebird day!

So apart from a hot choc stop en route we had a really nice ski all the way to Brev for lunch.... a lovely trip and the pistes allbeit busy were for the most part in good condition! We pottered our way back to Val and made it back late afternoon... On our return to Val Clare headed back to relieve her mum the baby sitter for the day again (and it was her birthday today!!!) and I went for a beer with the adults and some of their friends (many I have taught over the years) at Cocorico's - it was rather packed in there but fun. It was nice catching up with some old clients I've not seen (in some cases) for several years!!!

A fun end to a fun day!

I did however forget to do my periscope today (sorry folks) but it was probably for the best as I really dont think the battery would have lasted more than a couple of minutes at best in that cold!

Some more details have come out about the new La Daille gondola and apparently the capacity of the new lift will mean it can carry 2800 people p/h as opposed to the current 700 odd so that will make a huge difference!!!! yay!

TTFN

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We have a new webcam... at the top of Borsat.

If you've never been to Val, this is what you can expect. Stunning!

https://www.valdisere.com/en/webcam/borsat-2/

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

The track in the distance traversing away from the lift. I've often seen people heading off down here, is it an alternative way into the Tour du Charvet ?

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

After all it is free

shaky,

Try :-

http://www.simplyvaldisere.com/

I hope you find something.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@shaky,
As mentioned Val Agence have a big range also Mountain Rooms, Chalet Time, Cimalpes or try Kim at Simply Val d’isere.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@endoman, I think that leads onto the Borsat Face which is quite steep but usually holds nice snow for quite a while after a dump. It runs down towards Tignes and the genepy blue run. I've only been with a guide as I think it's avalanche prone under certain conditions. The Tour de Charvet is across the valley towards the Val side.

snow reports

Single Room available in Val D'Isere - March 4-11. 350 EUR for the 7 nights. BARGAIN. I had this reserved but I now cannot go due to injury. Its right in the centre of Val D'Isere town - prime location. Its a small single self contained apartment with ensuite shower and toilet. Suits a single person, non smoker who will use it for sleeping, and do their partying elswhere! Let me know if interested to take over my booking, and I'll put you in touch with the person renting it for the week. Cheers

bar shaker / HoneyBunny - good spot
flaming - the north face of the borsat - you can get some good snow in there but it is often rather blown away at the top
endoman - it is one of the ways in to the TDC (no similarities intended honestly) yes... but also as Rareperk says there are other routes you can take... leads to the Sana / Mont Roup touring routes but you can also come back over the top of the ridge and down into Tignes as well!
Kenzie - yes its still there - saw it yesterday when over that way and Golf is so quiet it is worth a go!
welshflyer / muppet - yea good options!

You know it makes sense.

Chilly and cold again but snow is on the horizon again

It wasnt a great nights sleep this end with the kids but hey thats the way it goes sometimes.

I met A at the hotel once again and we planned to do a Val 4 corners challenge before all rendezvousing with the parents and other siblings at the Tuffs restaurant for lunch!

Anyway I remembered my periscope today - yay!

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1OyJANmwXOMxb

...and then it was off.

First up we took the bus to the Fornet and worked our way up to the glacier... boy it was chilly up there - lovely and still with a hint of clouds around but only a hint in the valley (later in the day a thin veil worked its way over the resort).... if it had been windy up there then it would have been mighty cold that is for sure!

Anyway by getting up there that was the first 'corner' completed...

Little by little we worked our way around the resort and then finally by lunchtime we completed the challenge and we arrived in La Daille - well done A.

Tuffs was a great place for lunch although the service was a little slow and I thought it was a little overpriced for what it was but non the less a nice place to eat....

In the afternoon we had a swap around and I took C and S and it was S's first trip down La Face. We got it done quite early when the legs were still fresh and she did very well indeed. The Face was not in the best condition as ever and was a little bumpy and scrapped but she kicked butt - nice work!

After skiing we had the whole family around ours for a cuppa.

The new local hero - Victor Muffat Jeandet - showing off his bronze medal he won in Korea!

Think that is all for today - sorry feeling rather exhausted this evening so will sign off for now!

TTFN

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

Where WAS EVERYONE in that snow

Ok so it was not the most appealing day ever and the weather was somewhat 'damp' but the snow was really nice at altitude - and if you were happy on easy gradient the snow was worth staying up for.

So it was a slightly later meet at the hotel this morning which was just as well. There was about 10cm of snow in town at breakfast time and the clouds were thick and with little wind it was going to be an interesting ski day. I just could not believe how many people were instantly turned off as soon as they opened the curtains but it was quiet that is for sure. For the first hour it was not dead up there but certainly quieter than it has been by a long way! So I was with C and we had planned to do some off piste adventuring but not with the weather and conditions as they are. So at altitude there was a little wind but it really was not cold up there.

We ended up finding some AMAZING snow just on and next to the Genepi and Grand Pre pistes... we kept on looping around and around and no one was there... It was fab - although it was tricky seeing anything but thanks goodness the snow was consistent and smooth and by sticking on or just next to the piste there was no danger of 'snakes' catching you out!

Lunch was a lovely family meet up with the others at the Fruitiere (as you can imagine in the conditions it was not too busy!). We skied a little more after lunch but it was getting rather wet out there so I was glad to get back into the warmth and dry off this evening. I reckon about 30cm of snow had fallen at altitude by the end of the day.

This evening the snow has stopped although some more is forecast tomorrow and into Saturday and they are doing avalanche control work from 7am tomorrow! It will continue warm and damp tomorrow which is painful to teach in but we shall see.

Apart from popping into our little place to sort out a problem with the internet it has been a relaxing evening at home!

There will be more fun and games at the Olympics tomorrow but at least we got some alpine action in today and congrats to Aksel and and Michaela.

I did do my periscope this evening but for some reason the link did not show up on my Twitter feed therefore I dont have anything to actually paste in here - sorry!

A heads up that the traffic forecast for this weekend is very similar to last weekend so lots coming up on Saturday especially but less so on Sunday. Going down the hill will be bad on Saturday and especially so if the snow comes in again! LEAVE early or very late if you have the option! Good luck!

TTFN

A snowHead

Better weather but still not out of the woods yet

This mix of nothingness weatherise continues... the visibility was better than yesterday, the temperatures just as warm as yesterday but without any real fresh (although it did snow for a couple of hours this morning) snow.

So it was on to a new booking today and with Clares mum leaving it was all change today! As I haven't been to the meeting point for a few days it was nice catching up with people there and seeing the chaos! I met the two kids I was teaching and we set off up the Solaise for a good slide about. My colleague was teaching the mother so we aimed to work in the same area. A few laps on a busy Madelaine followed... I was intrigued at one point watching an instructor in another ski school - naming no names, frantically walking half way back up the piste in search of a missing student - he thought the kid had gone down the Arcelle rather than follow him down the Madelaine - he was right but thankfully a member of the public had rescued said child and walked the kid back up and helped him down (a long way) to where the group were and said instructor didnt need to continue his frantic walk back up!

Anyway a hot choc break followed before a few more runs. Some nice skills kids - more of the same tomorrow!

I treated myself to lunch at the Sun Bar which was not busy and then headed up the Olympique for my afternoon lesson with a good little 9 year old ripper.... he wanted everything from jumps to tricky runs so we packed in plenty over the course of the afternoon. The only thing we couldnt do was a trip into the park - the top section was closed and the numbers of people trying to hit the lower jumps was not worth the queue.

So it was a fun afternoon.

After skiing I did my periscope and then we had a ski school drink in the Fall Line bar - nice to let our hair down.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1nAJERPyLDnxL

The roads tomorrow are going to be busy - another 30,000 up and down day so queues are to be expected! Meanwhile the weather is supposed to pretty snowy again tomorrow and not the best but by Sunday the sun makes a return!

Exciting times at the Olympics wasnt it - medals are starting to come in for Team GB and others are in the running too - lets hope it materialises overnight!

TTFN

A snowHead

its interesting to read that you still think you need a top up of snow to freshen things up, with over 200cms snow on the lower slopes i would of thought there was more than enough snow for on piste skiing, i guess thats the difference between a professional and a holiday skier, for my one week a year all i need is snow, i"m not good enough to know the difference between sticky snow and corn snow, i just need it to be slidey enough to point my skis downhill and go, all i need with my snow is a bit of sunshine and i"m good to go for a perfect weeks skiing.

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

Trying to work out the drag lift. Is it Col with up and over in the background. Can't work out the angles!

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Col is a double drag and the angles are wrong... I'm tempted to guess Combe Folle? The second photo looks like Toviere. Good game wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@moosepig, Toviere bubble with Tommeuses on the left.

@compostcorner, I'd imagine that 200cm is now well compacted down and very hard, so whilst it's a great base to last the rest of the season, a foot or so of fresh fluffy stuff on the top will be a lot nicer to ski on.

You'll need to Register first of course.

yep I've got the second picture, also thought Col was a double. Must be Combe Folle with Toviere in the background?

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

compostcorner - yea I understand where you're coming from.... as HoneyBunny mentions the 'base' is different to the snow 'quality' - a big base of snow will last a long time. However over time snow that falls is a) compacted by piste bashers / skiers / boarders etc b) scraped to the side / off the mountain and c) transforms from snow flakes that have a lot of 'air' in them to ultimately compacted snow (ice in the long run - technically its NOT ice anyway but firn but that a technicality). So essentially during a ski day and despite the work of the piste bashers to 'freshen' up the snow and fluff it up into the ridges etc that snow soon gets scrapped off and over time turns what everyone calls 'icey'... a top up of snow adds a cushion that will take a few days / weeks to get broken down to that stage... so freshening things up is good!

endoman / moosepig / HoneyBunny - yea its the Combe Folie drag - looking backwards in the Tignes direction and the Tommeuse / Toviere lifts can be seen. Both photos were taken on the drag looking backwards / sideways !

After all it is free

So the lift we can see in the distance in the 1st photo must be Palafour. I thought something looked unusual about that view wink

Another 'grey day'

In much the same way January was snow, snow, snow and more snow - oh and plenty of wind to throw in for good measure - the last 10 days or so of February has been 'bit of this, bit of that' and nothing in-between.

Another flat light day with clouds hanging around... occasionally the sun trying to poke its way through but above all else damp and wet (very) snow fall.

So I was on the same booking as yesterday morning and today we had a fun ski about adding in some technique but as it was the last day of the kids holidays I thought id make it quite light-hearted - they were pretty shattered anyway after their week so we had a a fun ski about...

I decided to take lunch at Gourmandine and then I headed to meet my afternoon lesson... a recently retired lady that had some issues that meant her muscle mass was somewhat less than it should have been... she had skied once before 30 years previously but apart from that decided to give it another go as a beginner once again!

Anyway we headed over to the Savonnettes area and for a couple of hours made some progress although there was LOTS of stopping to catch her breath etc! Well done but I think she realised that physically it was not for her!

I had to rush home and ended up forgetting to do my periscope today... Olivia was getting severe cabin fever and driving Clare up the wall at home so I acted as peace maker for a few hours and finally all is calm once again!

So today was another crazy day on the road and I love this photo from Radio Val of people waiting at the bus station for their transfer this morning - pretty much sums up a crazy transfer day at the end of Feb half term!!!

Oh and well done Team GB out in Korea - medal rush! More tonight I hope with James Woods.

TTFN

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

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