 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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@Steve Angus,  nasty place for a collision. Must be very tricky job for helicopter. Hope injuries not too serious.
Safe journey back to UK and hope the tough job you have to get done there goes OK.
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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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So not jealous of you having a season there... who am I kidding, come on 18 days until we start the drive (to be exact 434 hours and 19 minutes), but who is counting anyways.
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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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@MikeyK, a season? He lives there!
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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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@holidayloverxx, I stand corrected then... I went wrong somewhere in my life!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hi Steve
Just joining the conversation here a couple of weeks after leaving Val Claret after our New Year week there. It was a fab week, in spite of the crowds (and I found some quieter pistes/times as well). Managed my first black by mistake - saw that Santons was actually open for my first ever ski down to Val Claret, and realised after 50m or so that the black sign at the side of the piste meant it wasn't Santons. Decided that Epaule de Charvet might be worth a try (I was NOT going to dodge a fence onto a closed run and having seen your pics of the 'frowns' I was glad I didn't). Lovely ski down the main bit, then the steep moguls made me a bit nervous. I made the mistake of slowing right up at the side, and found myself too chicken to turn (it's that slow downhill that scares me; at speed I can swing the skis round the moguls fine). So an slightly undignified bit of slide backwards and forwards down the hill on the skis until I got a clear run at the turn. Meanwhile, someone else passed me fast - headfirst, followed by skis... he managed to recover, but I was quite proud to ski out under control.
Just really a post to say thankyou again for your topic. I love hearing about your family, your work, and your fabulous views of VdI and EK. In the weeks leading up to the ski break it gets me right in the mood, as well as giving huge amounts of useful information. See you next time!
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@MSG101, the “reverse traverse” is nothing to be ashamed of!
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MSG101 - thanks so much! I try my best!
IM BACK
Well folks thanks for bearing with me. I am back in Val after my week away. The resettling back into the swing of things back here has taken 24 hours or so but it comes after a tiring week back in the UK. Effectively it was day in, day out for hours and hours on end packing up my mums house and getting everything put into storage... the flat has been on the market and was going to sell at some point so going back now to get everything packed up made sense! In fact a sale had been agreed but it has now fallen through - argh! Anyway packing up on your own a huge flat (3 bedroom) and transporting it all down 2 flights of stairs (the lift is smaller than a telephone box so not much use for many things (beds, sofas, chest of drawers etc!)) has been pretty bonkers!
Anyway back now so whats happened whilst I have been away...
Firstly it was a quiet week in the resort with clear skies and generally warm temperatures.... however there was some excitement on Friday night when a coach had a collision with a car and the coach burst into flames. It would appear as if there was no injuries but the coach was a write off!!!
We did get a tiny little bit of snowfall last week too - it amounted to about 10cm and is the first snowfall since Xmas - but hey some snow is better than nothing...
There is also talk of the local lifties going on strike on the first Saturday of half term - the 15th February as part of the national protests on going about pension reforms etc - whether it comes to anything here in Val is open to debate - we shall see!
This week is scandi week with hundreds of Danes in town - they make up a large proportion of the visitors to the resort this week.
This week there is the Classical Val (Classival) music event on so lots of concerts being organised if you are in town!
So today - well it was back to reality getting the kids sorted for school and creche etc but thankfully Clare was not starting until 0930 so she was able to do the creche run which helps massively! Anyway I was taking a long term client and her husband and friend out for a ski and warm up to the off piste clinic group I am running as of tomorrow morning with them in it. Owning a place out here they have a fair few lessons each season so it is always nice to have a ski with them! So we did a warm up to the off piste course and got them into the swing of things with some drills working on versatility and balance and agility etc and some core form! However it was jolly cold up there today - this was partly and mainly due to the punchy breeze coming in from the south (although still very cold!) - the air temp was a few below zero but felt much colder than that with the breeze!
Since lunchtime I have been trying to catch up on the jobs list - many of the things are things neglected since I was away - arghh!
...and of course I got rusty today as I forgot to get a photo of the day - well back to it tomorrow I guess!
TTFN
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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 to see you back @Steve Angus, have enjoyed dipping in and out of the blog since Christmas, but since we're coming out at the weekend, I'm particularly interested in your insight now.
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@Steve Angus, Thank you for your awesome blogs, I'll be in Val d'Isere in two weeks so really keeping a close eye on these. It's also fun just to read your posts during lunch time in the office, helps the day go by.
It's so lucky no one was hurt... looks really bad!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Snow is coming!
After Olivia seemed on top of the world last night we got a rude awakening as she really was not too good again this morning.... queue frantic sorting out childcare and working out who was going to take Ben to creche etc! Anyway I took Ben to creche and got to the meet point via a quick trip to the office to swap a broken pack strap about.
So I had my full team and the one extra today and after yesterdays disappointment of snow I went back to the Bellevarde side to see what I could find.
The light was very strange with a thin but high cloud hanging over the area... it meant the light was somewhat flat for the first couple of hours but it did improve as the morning went on thankfully!
Anyway there was some 'sniffs' of half decent snow about but it was tricky finding it for the most part - some snow was pretty unskiable again! Anyway after noodling about next to the pistes in a couple of little spots we took on the familial and there was some half decent stuff higher-up - but lower down across the flats pretty awful for the most part!
I got the team to have a practice at doing an avalanche rescue and then showed them how it would get done if I were running it which was quite good for them I thought... I must say I would not want to have to be rescued by them if it were me buried as they were not too sharp!
Anyway lunch was a busy affair at the office returning packs and getting ready for the afternoon session but at least the sun was now shining and it was warmer!
So my pm slot was my first session with my Thursday pm seasonnaires and what a nice bunch they are. Coming from various tour ops and backgrounds we worked on their personal skiing generally for this the first section and got in a fair few laps of the Arcelle piste and eventually headed down the black Rhone Alps piste to finish. Ultimately (and as is common) they all had one of the basic few fundamentals that needed working on to improve their overall skiing and I think they have the tools now to make those changes - hopefully! See you next week team!
I collected Ben from creche and got home and now this evening I am tieing up a few lose ends but need an early night as am rather tired.
HOWEVER THE BIG NEWS is that it looks like it might be about to snow finally... perhaps not a lot but the dominant high pressure system and the foehn winds are coming to an end and some fronts might start sweeping in... starting with a weak one tomorrow but there could be some bigger ones next week - hmmm we shall see.
TTFN
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You know it makes sense.
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Sick child again
Well Olivia was worse again this morning so having the morning off I took her to see the docs and by the time we then went onto the pharmacy afterwards to collect the medicine etc that was much of the mourning gone. Bless her she is feeling pretty sorry for herself!
It was rather grey and getting worse up there so with high temps (like about 5c mid am in town) it was probably going to either snow or rain even up top so I was a little smug to not have to go up there this am!
The 'swap' as Clare came in at lunchtime and I headed off for my lesson worked out really well thankfully. So I headed to the meet point as I was starting the second of my seasonnaires groups this pm. One was ill and another had a birthday so was out celebrating so I only had 4 people... the format of the lesson was the same non the less as yesterday and once again it is a really nice group so we had a nice afternoon. The cloud and snow (yes it snowed a little in the end up top and even down to town briefly) came and went and so did the visibility. However there were some good changes made so well done team!
I got home and have been sorted a few things out that need doing this evening before the arrival of one of Clares friends from Geneva who is staying a couple of nights with us and seeing her parents who are out here on holiday. So better get the last things done before she arrives! Ha ha!
Talking of travels the roads this weekend look like they won't be too hectic but certainly busier than last weekend. HOWEVER there is some decent amounts of snow forecast to fall so keep and eye on the info pumped out there and have chains etc in the boot... in fact talking about snow over the whole week we could be getting a pretty decent amount of snow which will be very gratefully received as pretty much the whole of January has been dry!!! This is on the back of a good December so hopefully fortunes are changing now we move towards February - thankfully the pistes will get a much needed freshen up but more importantly the off piste will get going again - despite a rising avalanche risk initially!
Anyway tomorrow I am not teaching but might go for a ski with Olivia - lets see how she is and what the weather is doing.
TTFN
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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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A rare opportunity
With our friend arriving late last night we were glad that the kids behaved and slept in and it was not until 0720 that we all got up - result! After a leisurely start and Katie heading out to ski with her parents we looked out the window and were pleasantly surprised that the weather was quite good and getting better by the second. The plan was to take Ben for a little ski but with Olivia feeling better she did not want to miss out on the action so we all got out boots on headed over the road to the nursery slopes over the road.
Over the course of a couple of hours there was lots of sliding about, falling over, chatting with friends etc etc etc... one of Bens best friends turned up so there was two little ones having a slide about. It was a very fun couple of hours but before we knew it there were signs of hunger meltdowns starting - time to bunk out and get home quickly. I was secretly quite happy about that so I could watch the Downhill from Kitzbuhel as well as flick to see the cricket score.
So after lunch the kids both had a monster sleep which was nice and then we headed to Hibou for a family hot choc and friends joined us. Lots and lots of families activities during the day were followed by a family meal and suddenly it was kids bed time... a really nice day!
Meanwhile the cricket is going well, the ski racing was awesome to watch and more to come tomorrow with Dave Ryding back in action!
The slopes were in excellent condition again and the good news is that the chances of decent top up of snow is increasing as it really looks like the dominant high pressure system really is now giving way to a series of fronts moving in. It could provide a very nice top up this week! Fingers crossed eh!
Finally for photo of the day, thanks to Snow Trax for snapping this photo of the pisteurs practicing a static line lift evacuation on the Loyes lift this afternoon... it is good to know that they do practice these things and pretty impressive to watch how they would (if needed) evacuate a lift (chair lift in this circumstance!). However it is always worth remembering that lifts 'dont' break down to the point where you need evacuating off them.... They have failsafe back up systems and sensors etc and if all else fails and the engineers cannot get it working then there is always back up diesel engines. If all else fails (and in something like 25 Winter seasons (approximately is my estimated number of seasons teaching) I have only ever seen it happen once (or nearly happen) then being lowered by rope down is the only option.
Tomorrow I am teaching in the morning and then the afternoon I am not sure what I will be doing - we shall see... probably some down time I should think.
TTFN
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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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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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Eating pizzas in Garage and news reader Sophie Rayworth is on the next table.
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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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Hmmm that was weird!
Well Monday morning dawned and with it more sunny skies (but it would change dramatically). Olivia was being a real madam which made life a little tricky first up on a Monday am and Ben had a slight temp so we had to do some arranging for a babysitter and make the arrangements! Luckily Clare was not starting until a little later in the am and that took the pressure off.
I headed to the meeting point and was nice and early which I like.
My family of 5 (grown up kids and retired parents) turned up and there was some negotiating of goals and expectations to sort out. It became apparent that there was lots of differing needs and fitness levels etc etc. Put it this way it was going to be a miss-mash of a lesson and somewhat tricky! Anyway I headed up Solaise and started on the magic carpet... a couple of them had severely undersold themselves and a couple severly oversold themselves - "arghhhh this is going to be even trickier" I thought to myself!
Anyway the first totally bizarre thing happened.... we were coming up the magic carpet for the first time and as you might know the carpet slides you off and onto the snow at the top... there is a slight decelerating effect as you go off the carpet and onto the snow... anyway M in my group is a large lad weighing 110kgs and this was not due to height alone, shall we say! Anyway in one foul sweep he was double ejected as he was moved onto the snow, leaving both skis behind on the carpet - doh! Now this should NOT have happened. So I checked his DIN settings (bonus points for anyone that can tell me what DIN stands for and who developed the system, no using wikipedia for the answer, cheaters!) and they were only on 3.5 - I was absolutely gobsmacked. I won't mention which rental shop was involved but 3.5 is probably about half what it should be so I have no idea how it was so low... but it was. Something needed to be done... now the problem is that officially insurances are not valid on rental skis and the persons using those skis if anyone other than the rental shop adjust the skis... this left a dilemma as the skis needed to be adjusted and NOW! So I agreed to change the settings if he agreed that the insurance would not fall on me if something happened... but I used my judgement and experience and put them up a tiny bit to 5.5. That did the job. Phew. I made contact with the shop concerned later on and they agreed that they had a mistake and it should be about 5-7....
Shortly after this the second bizarre thing of the morning happened... there was an english person asking the liftie at the top of the magic carpet whether she had seen his snowboard... this liftie who is always at the top of the magic carpet and has been for years is so nice but she asked me to intervene to answer the questions of this person. It turns out this person (I'm still not sure how exactly this all pieces together) was drunk at the top of the magic carpet late last night and left the board on the snow right outside the top of the carpet (I'm guessing he is staying at the refuge and decided on a midnight drunken snowboard atop the solaise or something!) and now no longer could find it. Bizarre as I had to explain that it was probably now c/o the pisteurs in their office at the rond pont... guess so anyway. But that was another bizarre incident!
Anyway the family did OK by the end of the lesson and we were doing laps on the Madelaine by the end of the session.
I headed home for lunch and relieve Mrs Snow Trax who was looking after Ben and the poor chap was now in bed. So I got some bits done as I watched England win the cricket and the series. When Clare got home I took a trip into town to run some errands and when I got back from that Ben was STILL asleep - all in all having a monster 4.25 daytime sleep - bless him.
Olivia got home from school and we had a very pleasant evening - mainly as Ben was very quiet as he was sick... he was actually physically sick poor thing and his temp was 38.5 by the time he went to bed so really not a happy little chappy! We are now expecting a disturbed night - uhh oh!
So the weather has really closed in this evening and it is now snowing very heavily and is likely to be so for the next 2 days non stop - there could also be some wind too before getting windy tomorrow - this will make the avalanche risk huge sitting on such a rotten base..... please stay safe out there people!
TTFN
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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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| bar shaker wrote: |
| Eating pizzas in Garage and news reader Sophie Rayworth is on the next table. |
Blimey - why dont I ever get these famous people to teach - ha ha!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I don’t speak German so my spelling is probably way off the mark but DIN stands for Deutsche Institut fur Norms or some such- German Standards Institution.
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| john2 wrote: |
| I don’t speak German so my spelling is probably way off the mark but DIN stands for Deutsche Institut fur Norms or some such- German Standards Institution. |
Good work. 
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| Steve Angus wrote: |
| bar shaker wrote: |
| Eating pizzas in Garage and news reader Sophie Rayworth is on the next table. |
Blimey - why dont I ever get these famous people to teach - ha ha! |
I said to my mate’s girlfriend ‘that’s a pretty girl’. Then she told me who she is.
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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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She is hot!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Strange that she’s on holiday with Craig Revel Horwood
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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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| Steve Angus wrote: |
| john2 wrote: |
| I don’t speak German so my spelling is probably way off the mark but DIN stands for Deutsche Institut fur Norms or some such- German Standards Institution. |
Good work. |
I always find it kind of funny that we refer to ski binding settings just simply as DIN settings... It would be a bit like referring to something as BS/BSI settings (British Standards) or EN settings (European Norms). It's just the German national standards institute, they publish loads of other standards. Many of which probably involve settings of one kind or another!
I wouldn't be surprised if the ski DIN setting standard, whatever it is actually called, had been absorbed into a wider EN or ISO standard by now.
(I then checked and apparently it is ISO 9642:2014 currently for alpine bindings https://www.iso.org/standard/56106.html - looks like it's been an ISO standard since 1988. The standard is kind of shorter than I was expecting, although I don't really know why I was expecting it to be longer because all the standards I look at are in a completely different industry)
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| bar shaker wrote: |
| She is hot! |
She’s also fluent in French and German, a journalist on the world stage, mother of three children, has completed all of the major world marathons including a six day ultra in the Sahara Desert last year.
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You know it makes sense.
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| lynnecha wrote: |
| bar shaker wrote: |
| She is hot! |
She’s also fluent in French and German, a journalist on the world stage, mother of three children, has completed all of the major world marathons including a six day ultra in the Sahara Desert last year. |
Wow... amazing.
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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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Can anyone recommend some good restaurants in Val ? Local knowledge is good to have (rather than tripe advisor).
Places for lunches and dinners . On mountain or in town.
We are self catering last week March - Chalet Skadi which is opposite the Avancher Hotel and Restaurant (so planning at least one meal in there).
Have eaten on past trips in:
Hotel Auberge St Hubert (raclette - was OK)
Le Casserole (raclette and some other bits - very busy, bit rushed and honestly not so good)
La Baraque (a few very nice lunches)
La Gourmandine (again , a few nice lunches)
Peau du Vache (lovely burgers for lunch)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Pizza place next to chalet skadi is very good. Pizz n luv I think it’s called. We are there the week before you in same accom.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| endoman wrote: |
| Pizza place next to chalet skadi is very good. Pizz n luv I think it’s called. We are there the week before you in same accom. |
Yes I saw that on google maps - The kids already have Pizza night pencilled in so your comment confirms that !
May also try some Huski meals.
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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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It's been a couple of years but we been to "Restaurant le 1789" a few times in the past for steaks grilled on an open flame and never been disappointed. Very much for carnivores, bookings recommended and can get a bit smokey from the cooking, but their cote de boeuf is awesome if you like that kind of thing.
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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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shes been skiing in Val for years , about 25 years ago she and her group sat next to us in Datcha .Ive never quite got over being so close to her .
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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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1789 is excellent steaks, so is Le Lodge. Both essential to book. L’Avancher is a fave for dinner, along with Terrace d’Alsace. For special nights L’Atelier d’Edmond (2 Micheline stars) and La Mourra (Excellent sushi and gen french cuisine. Two other favourites and both a bit secret are La Vielle Maison and La Scala. French and Italian respectively.
I’m not a fan of Caserole, had some poor meals there recently.
On the mountain Cascade at Fornet is excellent but the stand out favourite is Ouilette at the bottom of Madeline lift. Eidelweis in Fornet also good for lunch but a bigger budget and need to book. Peau de Vache, the same.
For coffee and lunch in town, Gourmandie or Roxy café are my favourites.
I’ve put on weight just thinking about this lot!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| bar shaker wrote: |
1789 is excellent steaks, so is Le Lodge. Both essential to book. L’Avancher is a fave for dinner, along with Terrace d’Alsace. For special nights L’Atelier d’Edmond (2 Micheline stars) and La Mourra (Excellent sushi and gen french cuisine. Two other favourites and both a bit secret are La Vielle Maison and La Scala. French and Italian respectively.
I’m not a fan of Caserole, had some poor meals there recently.
On the mountain Cascade at Fornet is excellent but the stand out favourite is Ouilette at the bottom of Madeline lift. Eidelweis in Fornet also good for lunch but a bigger budget and need to book. Peau de Vache, the same.
For coffee and lunch in town, Gourmandie or Roxy café are my favourites.
I’ve put on weight just thinking about this lot! |
Brilliant ! I will discuss with the friends we are going with and make a plan...and get some places booked ahead of arrival .
I do remember the Peu du Vache being very hard to get into (we only booked once we arrived in resort)
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Not your usual suspect ,the tipi bar on solaise has seriously good fresh churros paired with hot chocolate cant be beaten , the hotdogs are decent as well
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Quick correction, the Italian is called la Casa Scala.
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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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Or even Casa Scara.
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| sheffskibod wrote: |
Can anyone recommend some good restaurants in Val ? Local knowledge is good to have (rather than tripe advisor).
Places for lunches and dinners . On mountain or in town.
We are self catering last week March - Chalet Skadi which is opposite the Avancher Hotel and Restaurant (so planning at least one meal in there).
Have eaten on past trips in:
Hotel Auberge St Hubert (raclette - was OK)
Le Casserole (raclette and some other bits - very busy, bit rushed and honestly not so good)
La Baraque (a few very nice lunches)
La Gourmandine (again , a few nice lunches)
Peau du Vache (lovely burgers for lunch) |
That is a very large open ended question really!
In town my fav's are:
The Lodge
1789
Taverne d'Alsace
Petit Danois (if you fancy something a little more UK pub grub like)
Barillon (La Daille)
Gourmaindine (sort of slope side really)
On the mountain:
Peau de Vache
Signal
Ouillette
Marmottes (for value)
L'Armailly (tignes les brev!)
Hope that helps.
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FAQ
