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

A snowHead

Steve posted the video link below the pic
https://www.facebook.com/pisteurval/videos/374766883308930/

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VolklAttivaS5 - im not exactly sure what you mean. Either way the restaurants etc on the mountain do pay a percentage of their takings to the resort yes.

Kenzie - year-round and seasonnaires - a few percent overall is year round and similar numbers seasonnaires I should think... however remember that lots of people technically live here year round but actually leave for periods of the year AND also lots of people that work in town live down the mountain in Bourg etc! Vast majority of people are of course holiday-makers!

munich_irish - yea you are more or less spot on there... there are other names for them though people use, glide cracks, whale mouths, brown frows, creepers etc etc... certainly SOMETIMES there are a sign of stability and not instability!

Some nice stuff

I slept pretty well but woke (annoyingly early). The wind was still raging (clocking 103km/h at one point) and there had been about 20cm of snow so it was going to be an interesting day!

Clare was off in the morning so took the kids to the school bus / creche and I headed to our office to get the kit bags ready for my off piste day with a team of 6 (4 boarders and 2 skiers).

After getting everyone set up we were off and luckily the pisteurs had cleared things pretty quickly AND for some reason the queues were pretty much non existent! I think the weather put people off!

Anyway we had an amazing day... Couloir no.5, bus stop, variations on the Fornet trees, Poubelle couloir amongst other things - a nice lunch at the Crozet... I knackered them out. But we found some lovely snow where it wasnt affected by the wind (which was a lot of places it has to be said).

What amazed me most over the course of the day was that we came across MORE THAN ONE GROUP (a family group in one case) of kids way off piste on a pretty high avalanche risk day... without any kit whatsoever.... how some people are so negligent I do not understand! It makes my blood boil. JUST BECAUSE NOTHING HAPPENS DOES NOT VINDICATE THE DECISION TO HEAD OFF PISTE WITHOUT THE NECESSARY!

We finished a little early as they were tired and I headed home. I got about 20 mins of calm before the kids got in. I somehow managed to place the footstool on clares toe whilst I was sitting on it earlier and so I have been in the dog house this evening - her toe has ballooned up and is very sore but nothing can be broken as it was right on the end I caught it - arghhhh! Meanwhile Ben has a slight temperature and Olivia seemed unbelievably tired and therefore grouchy this evening - arghh it never rains and all that!

Back on the game tomorrow so better get some sleep!

TTFN

Nice snow in the trees

Looking down the Poubelle Couloir

OK here we go

Tight

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Where is Couloir Poubelle Steve (or anyone else)? It looks like Le Fornet direction from the pic but my trusty FatMaps doesn't list it. Does it have another name as well?

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

nemesys it is indeed up the Fornet end of town... real name is Couloir Gertofer and goes into the Charbonnel bowl to be precise! You can see it from the road if that helps... to the right (as you look) of where the avalanche barriers are.

Wow that was maximum turns wasnt it!

The day started as normal with a 'party' in our flat well before it should have - arghhh kids dont you just love em!

My day had a very interesting start to it (actually after Clare took Ben to creche I had about 15 mins at home all by myself and just a cuppa tea to finish - it was peaceful!). Anyway I was waiting nice and early for the La Daille gondola to open - I got there about 0850 and waited and waited as the Folie staff as usual loaded the lift with crate after crate after crate of food and alcohol and many other supplies including about 30 wheelie bins... When I first arrived there was about 5 people waiting but as time marched on more people were of course turning up. However 0900 came and went and still the lift was not able to open yet.... grrr. I was annoyed, a premium resort cannot sort out organise the loading of its lift in time to then allow the public up... I dont think it is good enough to be honest. Ultimately they were nearly 16 minutes late opening - of course the STVI lifties offered no apologies! Grrr! So my planned meeting time and place of 0915 bottom of the Tommeuse lapsed! Ultimately we did meet up for the lesson at 0930 in the end!

So my new team for the day worked on lots of technique on red and black runs including a trip down the Trolles and also the Face... there was some nice snow about but more importantly some good changes made. I also made a run down the Arcelle which was a mistake as they had NOT pisted it overnight so it was tricky to say the least. Anyway you live and learn sometimes!

It was a good morning and I think plenty of things to work on for the team!

I had a very quick lunch at the office before heading out with my off piste team (same ones I had the other afternoon). Amongst other things the Banane, Danaides, Cugnai and Tete Arollay were all on the menu and we had a wonderful 'max turns' style afternoon. It was good!

I got home and quite literally took the kids off Clare as she had to go and do her community service torchlite descent ... so it has been a crazy evening getting the kids their dinner and into beds myself... so pretty tired now to be honest!

Anyway more sun (it will be sunny for the next week!) forecast tomorrow.

Right off to bed and hopefully by tomorrow I really will have lost all this cold I have bunging me up at the moment - arghh!

TTFN

Looking nice down Cugnai this afternoon

Pisteurs set off a large slide down and under the Cugnai lift with the PIDA this morning.

After all it is free

Awesome details. Thx for the write ups. Am out next week so the preview is v.helpful.

Is it bed time yet

AndrewBailey - great no problems!

It is going to have to be a very quick one tonight... to say that it was a bad night last night would be an understatement! Ben screaming half the night then Olivia being woken so early that she was up from 5am... means there was next to no sleep this end last night and even less for Clare. In a way it was good as Clare was not supposed to be working today and with no school all it meant was that Ben did not need to go to creche! However I was on the mountain all day and that has taken the last little bit of energy out of me.... SO it will be a short one tonight!

Firstly a video of the blasting of Cugnai that I posted the photo of yesterday... watch it go and how quickly too!

https://www.facebook.com/pisteurval/videos/285746872122308/

Secondly a video a colleague got of the SAMU heli rescue yesterday am on the Banane (I skied pretty much this line in the afternoon actually)... it turns out it was a 36 year old snowboarder who had an impact with some cliffs down there (of some sorts!)

https://video-cdt1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t42.9040-2/52624685_242356759983538_3965885720664473600_n.mp4?_nc_cat=108&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InN2ZV9zZCJ9&_nc_ht=video-cdt1-1.xx&oh=796de12006eb3475566a2df7d6f537fd&oe=5C64B7B5

So this morning I had an old client I haven't skied with for a few years now back with a couple of friends and it was a case of reminding them of what we worked on last time. We had a really nice ski around the Solaise and then the fornet areas and worked our way up to the Moraine red up the Val glacier! A nice morning - more of the same tomorrow.

I took lunch in the sun at the bottom of the Olympic (it was warm as it has been recently and will continue to be) and then it was back out for my final session with my seasonnaires group for this year.

We went for a long tour and it was the first time any of them had been over to Brevieries and we had a lovely afternoon - plenty of miles under our skis and we did quite a lot of work on carving too! They particularly loved trick of the day of twirly birds!

So I got home and have done my bit getting the kids bathed and into bed and Clare has already been asleep for a couple of hours so I am ready for more of the same! Fingers crossed it is a good night tonight!

P.S. For those who know the Solaise gondola you will know that cabins 89, 90 and 91 are 'special' cabins... well turns out that cabin 51 on the new La Daille gondola is 'special' VIP cabin too with bucket seats etc... check it out next time you are on the lift!

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Helivac out of Manchet Valley (back of Grande Pré), yesterday. Multiple trauma - ouch!

https://www.facebook.com/785411398200042/posts/2407179952689837/

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bar shaker - the video I posted above yesterday was the video a colleague took of the same evac - but this is an alternative view - I have some pics I found too which I might (remember) post today too! Anyway it wasnt where you mentioned but on the lower part of the Banane so JUST above the Clochetons (as was) restaurant as you come out the end of the Santons run!

snow reports

@bar shaker, massive respect for the pisteurs Toofy Grin

I am sure we are all in awe of them for looking after the mountains, thanks guys + gals Laughing

Back on track

It was a much better nights sleep and the morning got off to the normal start!

Yay...

Anyway I had arranged to meet my team a little later on this occasion partly since I had booked the afternoon off to get things done and also by starting a little later I could have found time to find cover for the kids if Ben had been ill.... it wasnt needed in the end!

So we headed straight up the Fornet glacier and made the most of the excellent snow up there before the crowds arrived. The snow was very good and we got some good technique developed and also worked on some tactics too! Good work team! The main event of the session was a trip down the Arcelle and the conditions down there were some of the best I have had all season! It was a push for one of the team but she rose to the challenge - well done!

I headed home at lunchtime and tried to get things done but also not as much as I wanted to - doh!

I had to pop to our rental place as there was a problem with the lock on the ski locker which was an added extra for the day... then there was the arrival of Clares mum to stay with us for the week and help with the kids etc - cool... oh and I also caught up on some of the World Ski Championships etc!

However now we have had dinner I am shattered and certainly ready for sleep. I have blocked tomorrow off as I need a rest before the start of the half term!

In local news:

1) the trial of the moving of the Gare Routiere (main bus stop on the high street) bus stop down towards the 'Garage' happened today. They are looking at moving the stop down a little bit permanently as the main bus station gets SO busy with long distance buses these days - lets see how the trial works out!

2) being a large Scandi week there are thousands of young scandis in town this week and there is lots of partying that goes with it.... drinking related injuries apparently are off the scale with that lot - hmmm not surprised they have been quite load!

3) After the issues I was reporting last week about the Couloir to Nowhere and people heading down there not knowing where it goes AND then others following blindly - well guess what the pisteurs were once again yesterday having to get out the ropes etc to rescue a seasonnnaire from in there.... FFS!!!!

The 'heatwave' is continuing by the way and we are set for another week of heat and sunshine - however it is not quite Spring yet thankfully! This will be good news for the half term crowd madness. Being Brit and local school holidays next it is gonna be busy AND the roads this weekend - well get ready for some queues folks!

TTFN

You know it makes sense.

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

Ah still video watching problems then bar shaker - well its a good thing you posted what you did and yes it is the same rescue!

A lazy day

It was another good nights sleep all round in the house and we awoke with 3 pairs of hands to focus on the kids and getting them ready for school / creche which was easy! In fact I did not need to leave the house all day day and had a really relaxing day! I really needed a full down day as Im still not feeling 100% and obviously the half term madness starts tomorrow - eeeek! With Clares mum here the two of them were out for much of the day - lunch together and then some shopping and then drinks before they collected the kids from school. So I had the house to myself! In fact looking back on it it REALLY was a unique duvet day and I loved every second of it! I caught up on tv programs, did some emailing and all sorts as well as worked hard to get my new iPhone set up. Cool day!

So my report today is lacking first hand account of what was happening on the mountain (not much apart from sun and more sun!) and also lacking in photos. But basically it was much the same up the mountain as it has been the past week or so in terms of conditions (and will be the next week - albeit more people arriving next week!).

There is also very little 'local' news apart from the warning about how busy the roads are going to be tomorrow.

So I think this is the worlds shortest update this evening!

Going to get another early night and then hopefully I will be 100% back on top tomorrow ready for the start of half term as I have the first of 7 full days in a row (I think it is anyway!).

TTFN

The new layout for long distance buses at the bus station and a reminder that the local buses are now stopping on the 'uphill' direction outside the Garage.

A snowHead

Just booked Tignes for 26th April (Gulp)

Are the free ski buses running then?

We are staying at Les Boisses and rather tackle the afternoon slush thought it would be better to get the bus back from Val Claret?

A snowHead

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

up4it - what Kenzie says!!!!

Glorious start to the school hols

Well the sun was shining and after getting the kids set up this morning Clare was out the door and off for the first of her week of bookings. However we were thrown a curve ball as we got a phone call from one of Olivias friends mums to ask whether she would like to go for a ski with her little one... so action stations getting Olivia dressed for skiing too!

Anyway I headed to meet my normal (and after 13 years of teaching them possibly the last time as the oldest is now 18 and about to head off to University!) half term clients at their hotel and the three of them and me had a warm up blast around the resort type of day! Lots of mileage with some technical input and we of course had to take in a run on the new La Daille gondola for good measure! We also made it over to Tignes and up the Motte (my first trip up the new cable car over there - smart!) as well as trip 'around the world' on the Tignes side too.... capping off a good day was lunch at the Panoramic which has certainly upped its game in recent years and the self service area does really wonderful food... not that cheap but darn good fresh food!

The only downer on the day was that I was taken out (only the second time properly in some 22 seasons of teaching) totally at the bottom of the runs into La Daille - right next to the La Daille gondola actually... minding my own thing turning left and right as you do at slowish speed when suddenly this youngish (reckon early 20's) girl took me out... I went flying... worst thing about it was that I landed on my right thigh and thats where I keep my wallet therefore I had a dead leg pretty much all the rest of the day.... NOT IMPRESSED... I think she was on her own but I dont know whether she was French or English as I gave her a mouth full, collected myself together then skied off... blooming idiots. However bearing in mind I spend 100+ days a year on the mountain and 6/7 hours a day x 22 seasons on the slopes twice in that time is not bad... last time was about 8 years ago on the Double M piste in Tignes!

Anyway even though it is half term there was and will be all of the next 3 weeks some idiots around and plenty of people flexing their ego's and pretending to be good skiers and boarders by letting their kit take them for a ride down the slope - aka they think they are in control at the peak of their abilities but in reality they are acting like out of control battering rams but they will be totally obvious to that sentiment unfortunately!

I got back home and between Clare and I we relieved Clares mum from baby sitting duties - amazing thanks Serena, and it was the normal bath and bed time etc.

The only bit of local news apart from the aforementioned chaos in terms of numbers of cars coming up the hill today and the start of school hols - arghh is that the resort is officially saying (this surprised me) that it is at 77% capacity which is much lower than I thought they would say... and even more surprising is they are saying that this week will be as busy as Christmas week - now Christmas week is NOT a mega busy week in my eyes.... HOWEVER the demand on lessons this week is off the scale so I am not sure how that all works itself out!

Anyway off to bed now... TTFN

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Fastpaws - thanks so much! Brilliant. Glad you had a good lesson and a good week!

Well that wasnt so bad was it

Bearing in mind that it was the first full day of the school hols it really wasnt too busy out there. Well it was but not MAD MAD MAD!

I met at the hotel and the plan has been hatched for the rest of the week so today I was out with young Sam (who has only been skiing for about 3 weeks but already she is kicking butt). I was to have all day with her to get her zipping along! With that amount of time we were able to really drill down to the nitty gritty of the sport... building our way up through 3 / 4 elements of her skiing over the course of the morning that needed attention. We started on greens then onto blue runs before taking a trip down the Arcelle and then over towards the Val glacier... a quick stop at the Datcha for a break en-route but a very successful morning. It was a late lunch at the Cascade restaurant (where I bumped into a old colleague from Hemel Snow Centre days - hey Doug long time no see!) and I had dish of the day there which was Fillet Mignon with lovely mushrooms sauce and some cheesy crozets on the side - seriously yummy!

The temperature was once again very unseasonably warm - Spring like. However the snow held up really really well up the Val glacier and we lapped around and around it was so good! We had a really successful day!

After meeting up with the others at lunchtime and them going for a ski for an hour before re-meeting up with us they were adamant that skiing back to Val would be the best thing to do... I did suggest that the snow and queues etc would not make it the best decision of our lives and perhaps skiing to the bus stop in Fornet might be a better decision but skiing back to town won the majority vote..... well the queues for the Datcha (didnt help that Piste L was closed) and the ski down left much to be desired but anyway we got there!

So after leaving my gear at the hotel I had to pop via our little place to pick up all the laundry and then you guessed it right it was the usual family business of bath and bed time for the kids before I am here typing this now!

Tomorrow I might be a little late posting as we (Clare and I) are out to their hotel with them for a meal (over the last 13 years or so they have become such good friends).

Anyway tomorrow will be ground hog day once again in terms of the weather and it is still supposed to be like that for another week or so - hmmm off piste options for those who want real snow off piste as opposed to just the experience of it are becoming thinner on the ground day by day!

TTFN

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Gone mobile

I’m sitting here on Tuesday morning typing this up on my mobile. Yesterday was hectic, really hectic. It was gone 1730 before I even got Olivia from her ski lesson and since we were due out for dinner at my clients hotel (very nice treat thank you!) for 1930 it was frantic getting home and turned around and kids settled and back to hotel. By time we got back from dinner it was 2300 and the babysitter (Clares mum) was asleep so couldn’t post last night. So sorry!

Anyway it was certainly busier being a Monday with all the ski school lessons starting out. Anyway I was boarding with Alfie and he made great progress and by the end of the day was virtually linking turns on the magic carpet... bravo.

The sun was intense though and I went down another layer.

I am not sure how to select a photo doing this on my mobile so I’ll not post a pick today. Have plenty of video etc footage on Instagram et all so please remember to follow me on @SteveAngusSnow

Anyway could be a quick and late posting tonight as said clients are coming to ours apres for a cuppa and a slice.

Bear with me folks it’s the crazy half term period!

TTFN

PS Olivia did real well in her lesson... bravo.

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

Ps 8 people had to be rescued by Heli from the gorge du malpasset yesterday.... how many signs have to be put up, how many warnings have to be issued. THE GORGE IS NOT PASSABLE. The rescue included a father and son at dusk - bravo the brave pilot and Pisteurs!

Pps the Av risk is now down to 1>2 in the pms but that didn’t stop a slide (planned) down across the road out of Tignes in the afternoon sun yesterday. Stay safe.

After all it is free

@Steve Angus, OMG not another Gorge rescue!
Bet the rescue team are getting cheesed off with all these wallies!

Mind you, the other day I was skiing with a guide and a man stopped us and said to the guide (who was wearing an ABS) ‘excuse me, is your backpack heavy?’ To which he said ‘no not really why do you ask?’ The man then said ‘well we want to go off the piste and don’t want to wear a rucksack or a backpack, do we really need one?’

So the knowledge out there can be really quite minimal, this guy obviously had no idea about transceivers, why you carry a rucksack and what’s in it (let alone an ABS).
You get people with no rucksacks on (so assume no transceiver either) and a low level of skiing following you, or trying to, when you’re with a guide too. It’s scary.

@Steve Angus, as we were coming out of Vallenet yesterday morning we saw two people stuck in the gorge. We told the lefties in Fornet. Not sure if they were counted in the 8 reported.

Not sure how effective a sign saying "the gorge is not passable" is. My theory is anyone who knows about the gorge also knows it isn't passable right now, so randoms who are following tracks wouldn't have any idea what that meant. I think it would be best to have a sign saying "don't go down here if you don't know how to get out".

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

VolklAttivaS5 - yes about being cheesed off for sure! AND FUNNY YOU SAY ABOUT BEING FOLLOWED ETC - took a trip down the tour du charvet today with my teen team... just before the steep section a couple (there were not many people skiing it to be fair) skied up to us and asked me whether the descent was hard - well 'it depends what you consider hard' was my response..... why have you gone down there with no idea how hard it was going to be! Anyway I let them go first and sure as hell the girlfriend (of course neither had packs etc) could barely stand up let alone ski!!!! AND then when we got to the bottom of the steep section (we were putting skins on) a french group asked us where they needed to go next... my response was (and the reason why is that if they had taken instructions from me as to where to go under French law I would be taking responsibility for them - yes sounds strange but if they skied off and over a cliff or whatever then I could have been held liable for giving them dubious instructions!) "if you followed me down here then you need to know where to go next I cannot advise". Hmmmmmm idiot season is here again!

Anyway folks back to today

A nice intro to touring

I met my guys this am at the hotel and we made our way as quickly as possible up to the top of the Grand Pre where we did a familiarisation with the safety gear and then headed down the tour du charvet - it was more a case of a refresher really on the kit but anyway! So we headed down the tour (including the 2 incidents above!) and then put our skins on - the first time the guys had skinned. It was only a 45 min skin up towards Mont Roup but the guys loved the tranquility of being out there. A Mars and a bottle of water and the skins back in the pack and we were off again!.. some OK snow in places to be had!

Anyway we finished the tour and headed to the Datcha for a late lunch and then finally headed back down into town...

I collected a very tired Olivia from her ski lesson / day at the Village des Enfants and then it was off home. We had the teens from today and the parents down for a cuppa and we had a really nice hour - it did go slightly off plan at the end when Ben caught his finger in a door - whoops!

Anyway all is quiet on the western front now!

Im shattered and we are doing a Bonneval descent tomorrow!

Must get some rest.

TTFN

Loved this pic of all the kids gear lined up in the Village this morning ready for play time!!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

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I wonder what would happen if people were just left to their own devices and not rescued if it’s known that they’ve ignored signs etc? Of course that would never happen but just imagine for a second if life was like that!

You probably wouldn’t get many people doing it as most people don’t like to get cold and hungry as a rule.

I just can't believe the idiocy of people, I'd never just go wandering off piste with no kit, no idea where I was going and no idea about the terrain or where it ends up. Madness.

You know it makes sense.

We were sat on Tommeuses a few weeks ago and could see a chap standing over to the right, just before the first ridge as we climbed up, with what looked like a ski in his hand. As the lift went up, we could hear him shouting to someone in French. As it went up further, we saw his mate in the bottom of a 'bomb hole' approx 30-40ft deep. He was in waste deep snow and was looking for his other ski. The lip of the bomb hole was seriously corniced and had it followed him in when he had run out of skill, I would have expected his life to depend only on the time it took the piste rescue to dig him out. I have no idea how he would have got out of the hole, without being rescued.

Neither had backpacks, so we presume no transponders either. Whilst I realise Famille is not really avi territory, the terrain can still catch you out if you don't know where you are going. Utter madness.

Great photos @Steve Angus!

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OMG I'm shattered

bar shaker - pretty typical story there. VolklAttivaS5 - interesting thought. Lets not try that!!! Ha ha... but on second thoughts. HoneyBunny - but you have a brain!

Well folks I took a trip down to Bonneval today and it was GLORIOUS - simply glorious... OK the skin in was horrendous and the worst I have seen it and then some of the snow was horrendous - other bits OK but only just OK but as usual the descent down there is an 'experience' more than anything! You always get lots of strange looks by the walkers when you appear on the path between town and Ecot down there....

Anyway as the initial skin took a lot longer than planned and some of the snow was educational we took way longer than planned to get down and only just made lunch before it shut shop at 1430 and then joined the half term queues on the worlds oldest lift system to get to the heli pick up point - arghhhh it worked but only just!

Anyway we were safely back in town at 1700.

Lovely day out and wonderful views and as usual the heli flight back was awesome.

Talking heli... last night the heli was needed to knock some BIG ice falls that were 'growing' above the road out of Val - so the heli using a swinging concrete block below it knocked the SH*T out of the ice falls and then the road clearers cleared up the mess that was caused - that will make it safe for motorists now! Phew. Cool flying though.

https://www.facebook.com/corentindufrenecoco/videos/381964632622338/

Val tourism are reporting that the number of skier days so far this season has finally hit a wall and we are now behind last season... whether it will stay that way who knows as it is just behind!

Now normally I only report on Val and Tignes stuff as you know but I feel I really must report on what happened in Crans Montana.... in particular the really sad story that came out today.... that a pisteur over there was attending to an injury when the main slide came hurtling down and buried him as well as the person he was working on... the injured person got out alive BUT the pisteur lost his life!!! SO SO sad when it was something that happened in the line of duty and he leaves a wife and 2 small young kids... that really hit home to me! A video has surfaced of the moment the slide came down... shocking to be greeted with that! RIP to that pisteur - we salute all that you do and as regular readers will know I have a real soft spot for the work the pisteurs the world over do to keep us safe! https://www.facebook.com/corentindufrenecoco/videos/381964632622338/

A few photos of the day.... TTFN as I'm shattered!

First thing this morning on the Val glacier about to set off

Cheese selfie!

What a view - bearing in mind when you come back from Bonneval the chopper has to clear the Col by 1000m which mean you are at nearly 4500m above sea level!

A snowHead

Looks fabulous. Makes the ‘less fabulous ‘ days all worthwhile.

A snowHead

Fatigue

Well after a SHATTERING day yesterday it got worse... I went to bed about 1030 and then about 1230 (I do sleep like a log) I got a dig in the ribs as Ben had been awake and unsettled for the past hour and half and Clare was at her wits end - she was more tired than I was! So I was dispatched to settle him without the whole house been woken so I did what I have done before and took Ben into the lounge and basically got into the sofa bed... well he sort of settled but didnt - I thought about 0130 he really was nearly asleep (lots of back rubbing etc to get to this point) but it didnt work... he still would not sleep and now with him basically refusing to sleep he now thought it was playtime... it took a further 90 mins before he finally knackered himself out and I got a couple of hours sleep.... so today I have felt like a zombie. TONIGHT had better be better! EEEEK

So anyway I did the Ben drop off then had to take the off piste packs from yesterday back to the office before finally meeting the team who were rather tired from yesterday - little did they know - ha ha!

Anyway it was the last day of the family holiday for my team so the plan (which is now an annual tradition) was to do a trip to Brev for a L'Armailly lunch. So we went a funky route to get there with some side trips as well as a hot choc break mid morning... lunch was the usual high standard down there - I had an amazing Calzone and then it was time to get back to the Val side and finish yet another year - 13 years now I have been teaching members of that family!

I collected Ben and now getting the evening chores done before hitting the sack. So apologies for another not very invigorating update but I can barely keep my eyes open so do need to sleep!

TTFN

Looks like one of the holiday promos at the moment is this French coffee company handing out free coffee on the snowfront!

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

Better

It was certainly a much better nights sleep but I need another early night as I am still not feeling 100% that is for sure and I have a throbbing throat this evening.

Anyway it was certainly better sleeps last night thankfully.

So I headed up to drop Ben at creche this morning and then went into town to collect my new skis (well replacement ones on Warranty from Head)... then collected a sandwich from the Sun Bar (I love the chicken baguettes from in there).

My am lesson was a couple of kids from London.... they had thought that they had lessons booked for half term months and months ago only to arrive in resort at the start of the week to find out that in fact they hadnt - whoops! Anyway it was a fun few hours and mixing up some fun technical 'games' with mileage they had a really fun time. They especially loved their trip through crocodile alley!

After eating my sandwich in the sun I geared up for the pm session. This time it was someone who had done a reasonable amount of skiing before but had lost his bottle! So we had a fun afternoon developing our skiing and technique and understanding up the Solaise side - it was a good session for him and he has plenty of homework to take away with him!

Both Clare and I were there to collect Olivia from the end of her week of ski school lessons and we were proud parents as she collected her 1 star badge from the ESF - so onto 2 star now... ha ha go girl!

With the kids in bed I am typing this up then hitting the sack as I really do need another early one. Tomorrow Clare is teaching in the am and I will be on daddy day care and then in the afternoon I think we are going to do something all together as a family - we shall see! Then back to teaching all day Sunday by the looks of things.

The traffic forecast for tomorrow is 35000 cars again so there will be delays on the road. Talking about cars, last weekend between Friday - Sunday inclusive the whole of the Tarantaise Valley experienced 78000 vehicles coming into it - now that is not only a lot of cars but also up on the same period last year!

The official opening of the new improved TK 3000 drag lift happened today.... I really must get up there - have not been up there since 2011 when it was last open! Anyway I was reading the stats on the new lift and due to the technicalities of having such a steep (60%) drag lift it has to go slow (even though it is a modern lift) and can only accommodate 260 people per hour... it will be great for accessing some decent off piste when it snows that is for sure (and going through the tunnel at the top too of course!).

Anyway must go get some shut eye.... TTFN

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A welcome day off

Today was all about rest and chilling out... watching some ski racing on tv, having a lazy breakfast, playing with the kids etc. Clare was out teaching in the morning and I was not ashamed to say that I was still in my PJ's until nearly 11am... yay! Its not often during the season that you get a real down day but boy I needed it even though I slept well.... this coming week will be another busy one work wise too!

Anyway at lunchtime Clare was back and the kids were having a sleep so Clare and I actually got a couple of hours to ourself and then when the kids woke up we decided to take them into town for a treat in the sun - partly to say thanks to Olivia for being a good girl over half term and also for passing her latest ESF level! Anyway we went to Billabong Cafe and had some milkshakes, pancakes and lots of sweet treats.

Finally this evening I have been up to our rental apartment to meet and greet the new guests and now I am watching some rubbish on tv before hitting the sack.

What a game of rugby or two earlier eh! Oh and pity to see (I went to bed when they were well ahead) England lost the match in Barbados against the WI - threw it away boys didn't you!

The weather forecast for the next week is for sun, sun and more sun and the temps going up and up! So I would expect a few patches to start appearing not only off piste but also on the pistes soon... hmmm my all day off piste tomorrow could be a case of simply looking for chalk channels off piste!

TTFN

P.S. It is another bust week in resort this coming week as although the Brits have gone home the Parisians are now on holiday so it will be French galore all over the mountain!

The hordes coming and going at the Gare Routiere - oh and along with 800 swedish students in town too!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

P.S. This pic that has been doing the rounds on social media pretty much sums up half term madness for me (well in some ways anyway) ha ha!

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@Steve Angus, Very Happy

that picture was doing the rounds as a postcard way back in the 80s. Old media meets new media.

Hope Paris week is OK and at least you’ll be able to see crowds from a distance in sunny weather.
snowHead

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

It seems it's even older: Samivel, Les Chenilles Processionnelles, 1970, aquarelle. Copyright: Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève.
I do hope you won't be seeing anything like this on the slopes, but if you do, a pic please!

After all it is free

@motyl,

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@geoffers, a fabulous read - thanks!

Help!!

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

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