 Poster: A snowHead
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My bad, I meant to say that I won't be able to obviously cover the entire Espace Killy, but I will have a pass for the whole area so I'd like to get the best runs from Tignes, Val D'Isere etc.
Great question about what makes a good run for me, only been skiing a few years so have never gone off piste and won't be going this time either - apart from that I love variety, never done many steeps but not afraid of them! Just want to explore as much of the area that I can
Thanks for the replies
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is that the one above La Daille that is a carpet-based pun? Carpet diem or something like that?
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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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well I know which lift it is, but I never knew what it was called until I looked it up!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Steve Angus, in answer to your question..yes, no, yes,no...can’t decide. We need to make our minds up soon as we need to book a ferry back to the UK if we are going to set off at the weekend. Yes, no, yes, no.....
Is it Pim Pam?
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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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Isn't it Pim Pam or something daft??
@BRi87, another run in Tignes not to miss is Grattalu, one of my faves in the EK. It's a lovely blue, and it has that perfect pitch on it with slight undulations where you can absolutely zoom down it doing your best carving and feel like you're a good skier.
Also, the black called Descent off the top off the Grand Motte is sublime. It's much less used than the adjacent red, and is therefore generally in much better condition (they are both about the same in steepness, but Descent has a steeper first pitch, which seems to put people off). It's long, absolutely vast in width and has stunningly spectacular views. Worth the considerable time to get up there. Leisse off to the side is a nice little black too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@lynnecha, oh I replied to Steve's photo on the previous page without seeing the other replies!
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I don't think it's Pim Pam.
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Maybe it’s the other one, called Poum or something.
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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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Not Pim Pam as that is a double one... doesn't look like Poum location as that is on a very gentle nursery slope next to Solaise and someone in that photo is schussing! Looks too steep.
No idea !
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pim pam poum
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@mrkn, no, pim pam has 2 tracks not a single track
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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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The one opposite Pim Pam which goes from near the Refuge restaurant to the Solaise gondola top station - Poum
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OR it could be the one next the Val snow park, Carpe Diem??
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You know it makes sense.
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Grand motte cable car out of action currently . Has been el kaput for ages , can’t see them bothering to repair for what is left of the season . ☹️ I arrive on 21st
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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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@Steve Angus, do you know that dates for the World Cup Slalom weekend, December 2019?
Am assuming the season will open 30th Nov.
Getting ready to book flights.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The carpet is definitely Carpe Diem. You can see the Borsat lift through the right hand side.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've found an old piste map where it had a different name...
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The name I found from years ago was Bozetto. Full of park rats of course.
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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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@BRi87,
Ski everything that is open. Start low & work your way higher, as the sun at this time of year affects the snow.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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They could learn a thing or two about lift queue management from across the pond. I was at Sunshine (Canada) at the weekend. The TeePee Town lift was stopped for 10min and a bit of a crowd build up at the bottom. The liftie went up and down the queue sorting people out into fours, calling through singles and so on, so every chair was filled. The queue was gone on just a few minutes and normal service resumed.
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| steve angus wrote: |
| I really do think that modern big lifts like this actually don't shift people much quicker most of the time than smaller lifts.. |
The French could learn from the Austrians. The 'single skier' queue makes a huge difference; I really can't imagine why every lift does not have one.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| steve angus wrote: |
| I really do think that modern big lifts like this actually don't shift people much quicker most of the time than smaller lifts.. |
The French could learn from the Austrians. The 'single skier' queue makes a huge difference; I really can't imagine why every lift does not have one. |
Normally at this time of year, it makes no difference, but I would like to see this on some of the busier lifts (Marmottes, Tomeusses, etc) when queues develop. They have a singles queue for for Solaise, so why not for the big 6 and 8 man chairs.
I have to say that the biggest culprits for insisting they sit together are English families. I have told many people to "go, go go" only for them to insist they are waiting for Rory or Arabella to impossibly work their way through the solid queue of skiers behind them.
I then normally embarrass them onto the lift by pointing out all of the people they are holding up.
The only thing the French could learn from US lift companies is how to add 50% to the price of a lift pass 
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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 have to disagree with your first and last comments bar shaker - yes US lift pass prices are nuts but the management of lifts/empty seats and queues is on a different level. You very rarely have empty seats when busy, there is no "sharpest elbows wins" and queuing is generally a relatively pleasant experience.
I agree with Steve about the lift/empty seat situation - it is just crazy and frustrating. "Singles" lines can make a huge difference with little overhead and make the biggest difference when it is busy.
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I liked what they used to do with the Solaise chair where they had two lines, and if there weren't four people waiting at the front of a line they'd take from the other line until there was.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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In my experience, North American lift lines are largely self-organised. Skiers talk to each other and actively seek another group that will fill the chair. Where lines merge, anyone who fails to alternate will receive a swift rebuke from the crowd.
Given that most skiers on the Espace Lilly are British, it's hard to blame this on the French. It seems to me that the real culprits are most likely to be Brits.
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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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What impressed me most about the queue at Sunshine was how proactive the liftie was about sorting things out and ensuring every chair was filled. There was the usual singles line that was being filtered in whenever there was a group of two or three and people were being arranged into fours before the front of the queue.
Of course being Canada everyone was very polite about it all! And sharing a chairlift with a stranger is an opportunity for chat!
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@TommyJ, I hate chatting with strnagers on the chairlift. In fact the best thing is an empty lift queue and going up on my own
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You know it makes sense.
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@nemesys, What didn't you like about my first comment?
@mnb20, They still have a singles queue for the Solaise gondolas. It works the same and is very useful. You can normally get two people in. It's the left hand lane to board the bubbles.
@holidayloverxx, LOL 
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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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@bar shaker, I thought you were saying that at this time of year singles queues make no difference? Maybe I misunderstood? Ah - I think I see re-reading it. You are maybe saying it isn't that busy so make little difference? In which case I agree that when it isn't busy then it won't make a lot of difference. It seemed pretty busy from Steve's photo though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've found that American resorts tend to be busier relative to lift capacity than French resorts, possibly because weekend and holiday visitors make up a higher proportion of their customers (if they had weekend visitor numbers all week then they would be able to invest in more lift capacity). I figure this means Americans are more used to queuing, so the resorts are well practised at best using their lift capacity and skiers are used to doing their best to fill the chairs. In France skiers can become used to quiet lifts, so many are in the habit of not caring if they let a chair or two go empty while their friend sorts themselves out. The example that annoys me most is when half a group skis right up to the gates at a quiet lift then turns round and waits for their friends to arrive. If you want to share a chair then how hard is it to wait out of the way until your whole group is there.
I think Val d'Isere could do a much better job with the Olympique at peak times. The design of the loading area is such that the gondola is already turning towards the exit when people start to load, so by the time the gondola is half full the next one is already near the loading area. On the similar lift in Val Thorens the gondola stays in the station for a while after most people have loaded. That means as you arrive into the loading area you normally have an obvious choice between a big queue for an empty gondola or grabbing one of the last seats in the gondola that's about to leave. Therefore the gondolas leave fuller.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would have to agree that if you don’t like talking to people of chairs then perhaps Canada isn’t the place for you! Although most times in the week you could easily have a chair to yourself. I half jokingly suspect that lift prices are so high because with so few skiers mid week they’d go bust if any cheaper!
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I think that's somewhere in the green triangle. Bottom of Mont Blanc?
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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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Near the top of Borsat? Just after the left turn when you come down from the top of the lift?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Steve Angus,
True, but I thought a reasonable general suggestion for someone new to EK at this time of year - for the compass orientation of the slopes you need a bit more local knowledge, or a local to show you around.
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Diebold.
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also be going for Diebold, just as it gets steeper above the Folie??
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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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| Quote: |
| thelem - not a bad guess (BTW I dont think the green triangle doesn't go down as far as Mont Blanc IMO) |
I should clarify I meant the Mont Blanc piste rather than the lift. Unusual to have a piste and a lift so close share the same name but not run parallel.
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FAQ
