Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Swiss Wall - Moguls

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Browsing SHs and came across mention of the Swiss Wall in Avoriaz. Heard of it mentioned before, especially in regard to hardness, so decided to google it - found some info and a few vids on youtube. Apart from some of the vids not giving a real idea about gradient, the moguls look massive. Anyway, it got me thinking - moguls are created by side-to-side skiing, right? So are runs like the Swiss Wall ever mogul-free? I take it piste bashers can't get up the slope (read it's 50-55 degrees) so the only way moguls will ever 'flatten' out would be through build up of snow and the wind scouring the piste back to flat - does this happen?

Just a thought in my head today as I twiddled my thumbs at work Smile
latest report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
it will have no moguls soon after a fresh snowfall and maybe if the wind moves snow around to flatten moguls out
it is not in a million years 50-55 degrees
snow conditions
 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?
Everyone knows that Moguls are shaped by the piste bashers every night - doh !
ski holidays
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Ive never skied down it although ive taken the lift up it countless times, just never plucked the courage although i would ski it next time i go back there. It isn't 50-55 degrees, maybe 30/40 maximum. The thing that makes it hard is the first 10 metres or so. Then the bumps get smaller. If you want to do it, when you approach itkeep skiing left where it isnt any where near as steep or mogulled.
latest report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

I take it piste bashers can't get up the slope

I think piste bashers can get up just about anything, can't they? They use a treuil if it's very steep, and anchor each other.
snow conditions
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
the first 50 meters or so may be 50deg, but it then levels out considerably.

piste bashers can get up anything bar an overhang! doubt they would go up the wall tho, the moguls are part of what makes it fun

very rarely is it mogul free, apart from after a fresh dump early in the season as Arno rightly said
latest report
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Easiest entry is in down one of the couloirs to skiers right of the up and over.
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I don't think even the top bit is 50 degrees - that's seriously steep. There is a psychological issue at the top as it is so accessible from the lifts but seriously convex and you can't see the slope at all until you get right to the edge. The entry moguls are also always the biggest ones because everyone sideslips a couple making them bigger and then traverses the next couple (usually to the skiers right).

Once you have made four or five turns it is fine. Skiers right on the way down has a fairly significant cliff that it would not be good to go over.

As it is the run with the biggest reputation in the PDS (though I'm not convinced it's the hardest) it also collects a good crowd of skiers who are not really there to enjoy it but want it on their tick list. They have a 'mare so that also builds up the psychological aspect for others at the top when they see people crashing and sliding 50m on their back.

Once you are 30% down it eases off a bit and the bottom part is blue/red run angle.

If you ski it and keep moving it's a quicker way down thatn the chair.
snow conditions
 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.
It might be 50% Happy
snow conditions
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
DJL, Just out of interest, where would you say the hardest run is???
ski holidays
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
davidof wrote:
It might be 50% Happy


Laughing
ski holidays
 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.
Actually I'm going to Morzine in March for a week with family, first time skiing in France. Can anyone recommend some good offpiste areas? Looking at the piste map there seems to be plenty of potential...
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Ricklovesthepowder, The steepest piste is probably the black on the east face of Mont Chery. Or possibly the magnificent newish black in Torgon.

The hardest pitch to ski well and properly, I reckon (I am talking piste here) is the lowest section of the Renard below the path which is just the totally wrong gradient and skew to develop nice bumps. I think I have seen it skied well maybe 3 times in 25 years.

The Machon bowl is always good for a laugh as well. Way tougher that the Wall.

And just thinking, the no longer marked any more I don't think upper section of "Crot" in crappy conditions, is vile, but utterly sublime in the right conditions.
snow conditions
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
davidof, i reckoned 25 degrees typically with top section maybe at 30 degress by the old ski pole estimation. Flattening out from half way down.

Re the cliffs, a certain chalet company's guides (or at least one of them) used to arrive at the mid week picnic via a huck off them. (conditions permitting...)

The problem with the Wall is that it's ally quite long and unrelenting. If you are neither skillful nor fit enough you'll at best have a miserable time. I have seen blood.
ski holidays
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
sev112 wrote:
Everyone knows that Moguls are shaped by the piste bashers every night - doh !

It's actually the alpine cows hibernating over the winter.

In "old french" they were called "mooguls", but that has been bastardised to "moguls" by the American influence.
latest report
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
under a new name wrote:
davidof, i reckoned 25 degrees typically with top section maybe at 30 degress by the old ski pole estimation. Flattening out from half way down.

Re the cliffs, a certain chalet company's guides (or at least one of them) used to arrive at the mid week picnic via a huck off them. (conditions permitting...)

The problem with the Wall is that it's ally quite long and unrelenting. If you are neither skillful nor fit enough you'll at best have a miserable time. I have seen blood.


I've never skied it but it your estimate sounds about right for a black piste. The Face de Bellevarde is 25 degrees but seen face on looks daunting. The exit of the Tunnel at ADH is 35 degrees (or it was before they terraformed it) but only over a few meters.

A 25 degree icy mogul field is pretty scary.
latest report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
clarky999 wrote:
davidof wrote:
It might be 50% Happy


Laughing


+1 Laughing
snow conditions
 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?
under a new name, I'd go late 30s for the first 20m; 35 for the next 100 and then 30.

I was saw someone do the first 300m of that that bottom Renard section in on more than 4 turns. They didn't even pause at the lip - jumped over and GS turned the bumps. Probably the most impressive piece of skiing I've ever seen.

My vote for the hardest to ski goes to Bouquetin on Mont Chery (mentioned above) and the Torgon Wall.

Fans of steep, but pisted will find much fun on Rhododendrons (on the ridge between Linderats and Plaine Dranse on the Plaine Dranse side), which is marked as red only because they piste it and the black under the top of the Grand Conche chair in Les Crozets.
snow conditions
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Been down it on a board. Do.Not.Do.It.

Wait til the promised fresh snowfall!
snow report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Well I wouldn't do it.

I've been down Harakiri in Mayrhofen which is 38 degrees.

I'm scared of steeps and shouldn't have attempted it, so needless to say I fell - and it wasn't even mogulled.
latest report
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
^^^ but did you get one of the uber-cool "i did the harikiri" tee's allways being sold in town, shame they havn't got an "I did it switch" tee!
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
What's the gradient of the black that runs down the side of the Flying kilometre in Les Arcs? Maybe it's not quite so steep as the wall, but if you lose it there you slide much further.
snow conditions
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Nadenoodlee, Yeah, well I've been down it on a monoboard, partially as a test of whether spray on waterproofing worked on jeans. Well, hey, we'd been drinking...
ski holidays
 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.
under a new name wrote:
Ricklovesthepowder, The steepest piste is probably the black on the east face of Mont Chery.


That is steep. I've gone over the lip of 72% blacks in LaThuile without think twice but I traversed out of that one this new year. The blacks on the back were fun though, particularly the one to the right which runs at a very odd angle across the slope.
latest report
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
under a new name wrote:
Nadenoodlee, Yeah, well I've been down it on a monoboard, partially as a test of whether spray on waterproofing worked on jeans. Well, hey, we'd been drinking...

under a new name, you are waaaaaay more stupid than I ever imagined. Congratulations as... wink
latest report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
adithorp, Pussy. But yes, the skiers right has an interesting slant to it.

FlyingStantoni, You are just jealous you weren't there, nor wearing waterproof jeans, ...and (I can't believe I'm admitting this ...) flou yellow gaiters... Yay fluo!!
snow report
 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.
All I can say is that Mrs under a new name is a very lucky woman wink

You must teach me to mono ski one day wink
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
How does the swiss wall compare to, say, Le Tunnel in ADH? Bricked myself when I first stepped out of the tunnel onto that (tiny) ledge. Moguls all over the shops but it was late in the day and it was just boarders who were egging each other on and clapping as everyone got to the bottom. I managed a bit of a dash between moguls on my board but came a cropper many times. Proper rag doll jobbie. Still, got a clap and everyone cheered as we headed to the next lift. Good times Smile
ski holidays
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
FlyingStantoni wrote:
My vote for the hardest to ski goes to Bouquetin on Mont Chery (mentioned above) and the Torgon Wall.

How do you think Bouquetin compares with the top of the field between Yeti and Myrtilles (next to the Grains d' Or lift) on Rosta?
latest report
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Goddam double post...


Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Fri 13-01-12 23:57; edited 1 time in total
latest report
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Never did the tunnel on a board, but have to say i thought it was quite easy on a pair of skis.
snow report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
andyph, much, much harder. That bit of off-piste is steep, but is nice and wide.
snow report
 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?
rogg, I've never skied The Tunnel, but IMV how a run skis is as much a factor of the conditions, how I'm skiing and who else is on it as of its "grading".

There are blues that give me the willies if they are icy and crowded.

Give me a really steep, empty run with a ton of chopped up snow and I'm happy as Larry.

I've skied The Wall and hated it and skied it and hated it.
latest report
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
FlyingStantoni wrote:
under a new name wrote:
Nadenoodlee, Yeah, well I've been down it on a monoboard, partially as a test of whether spray on waterproofing worked on jeans. Well, hey, we'd been drinking...

under a new name, you are waaaaaay more stupid than I ever imagined. Congratulations as... wink


UANN is now pretty much officially the coolest guy on SH!
snow conditions
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
clarky999, Why thank you very much.
latest report
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
under a new name wrote:
adithorp, Pussy. But yes, the skiers right has an interesting slant to it.



Probably, but I wasn't up to skiing it. I could have "got down it" like all the other bodies I saw on it, but I wouldn't call it skiing; Now if it had been boiler plate icy it'd have been a different matter.
snow conditions
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
FlyingStantoni, Laughing Laughing Laughing
and it's their horns you catch your ski's on just before the tumbling bit eh ??
snow report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I personally think the Combe du Machon in Avoriaz is a tougher run than the wall!
snow report
 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.
Roy Hockley, I've sworn down that too. Invest in a good bra for that one ladies
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Same here. I reckon Combe du Machon is tougher than Arete des Intrets and both are tougher than the Wall.

Never skied Bouquetin but It's on my list for March!
snow report



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy