 Poster: A snowHead
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erm lovely snow but challenging visibilty - a good day to head home early and lie on the sofa scoffing chocolate 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A lot of new snow, and still snowing now. Snowline at about 1200m, but snow falling feels wet, even at 2300m. Conditions on piste range from chopped powder, to velvety, to slush. Nobody on the slopes. Visibility very poor. Skiing best lower down, between trees. Weather forecast to brighter a little tomorrow. British Champs continuing in Méribel, with Scottish Children's Champs starting in Courchevel tomorrow
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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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Snow line seems a little higher this afternoon, maybe 1600?
As patch says vis is poor and although you can't see it there seems to be great snow cover everywhere!
We've had to stop for a coffee after 2 hrs as legs are shot! I recommend the cafe au lait in Bubble bar C1650
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Snowing this morn (Easter Sunday) in Mottaret
Viz poor but sun predicted to break through après midi
Snow slightly slushy on lower slopes but nice higher up c:2000m
Amazing conditions for April
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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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Looks like the snow level was at around 1100m in courchevel this morning. Looking up from bozel where we had sleet and it was +1c you can see fresh snow on the trees around the st Bon. Sounds like its clearing this afternoon and we might have a couple of clear days to enjoy the snow without a whiteout!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Bellisimo Today
Sun broke through after lunch
Snow is perfect up high
Back out now up to Plattiers
Aurevoir
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Those who are driving a Toyota Prius are having a huge effect - February conditions complete with fresh powder. Thank you.
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Lovely afternoon skiing in Courchevel Moriond - the snow is perfect.
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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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What a shame they don't extend the lift opening times this time of year
It's still light out at 7:15pm and this year the snow is abundant
Cest le vi
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Beautiful sunny day. Was fortunate enough to start skiing at 6.45am today. Pistes are in fantastic condition, wonderful grippy snow, off-piste varied, some chalky, some heavy on sunier slopes. Did not queue at all (apart from the Stade lift at Courchevel during the races). The Scottish Childrens races finished today in Courchevel, as did the British Juniors/Senios in Méribel. Tomorrow they swap, so Children's Super-G training on the Roc de Fer piste at Méribel tomorrow morning
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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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Courchevel piste very early this morning, as Patch said a beautiful day.
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Another early morning ski, this time in Méribel. Choucas, half an hour before (official) lift opening, was in the best condition of the season IMO. Beautiful sunny spring day, with silky snow on piste. British Children's Super G training was completed by about 11 am on the Roc de Fer course. The remodelled "A-Nets" section caused some spectacular tumbles, but no major injuries AFAIK
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You know it makes sense.
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Coming out on Sunday to Courchevel. Looking forward to these lovely conditions. What are the forecasts for next week?
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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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Another fabulous day of spring skiing in the 3Vs today. Lovely grippy snow up top, playful slush low down. Still no stones, grass or mud coming through. Quite possibly the best April conditions I've ever seen here.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Patch and Steph - there must be a story behind your early morning outings - care to give more details?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We're heading over to VT tomorrow from Serre Che going up from Orelle to cruise some pistes with some friends, blew the guide out for tomorrow as snow is too heavy off piste to do anything interesting and not much spring snow about that would warrant shelling out for a guide.
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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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kieranm, There is, but nothing too gnarly. The Scottish and British Championships have been on in Courchevel and Méribel over the last week. Early starts are required, course inspection starts at around 7am. Our youngest is racing, so we go up for a few runs as the sun comes up, two hours before the lifts open. It's starting to get light at around 6.45, and its a beautiful time of the day to ski
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Well the skiing was what it was today (typical spring but still more akin to early March than April) but Courchevel altiport was doing its best Heathrow impression. I saw 3 take-offs and a landing during one ski lift. Never seen so much activity there. Is there a crisis in Russia I don't know about?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Overcast and flat light today so went for a bit of a tour around. Came to the conclusion that the best snow is in Courchevel 1850 - Saulire still good at 5pm. The high places were good as you'd expect - La Masse very nice (with a queue!), rest of Les Menuires awful - frozen slush rubble that couldn't soften due to no sun, hence the queue for La Masse.
VT very quiet and a bit windblown but good up high - I skied the full length of Col de l'Audzin off the Cime Caron without seeing another skier. The Black, Cristeaux, had been pisted (a rare occasion) and was lovely. Top of the Funitel Peclet quite nice (loving the new cabins; comfortable seating for 15!). Mont Vallon in Mottaret good snow on the top half, bit rough on the bottom half. The home run (Sitelle) is the best I've ever seen it for spring though.
Hardly any Brits about; don't feel so bad about no-one taking me up on my offer of free ski hosting now. Seems to be mostly Scandis and the French here at the moment. It's pretty quiet in general though, lots of people went home on Tuesday after the long weekend.
Black clouds over Courchevel at the moment and snow's forecast so it's all good...
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Bluebird day! Fat rockers dug out of retirement (back of the car). See you!
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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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Gorgeous chalky boot top and knee deep in some gullies on vallon, felt like jan snow but with good weather...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yesterday... gloop, wallpaper paste everywhere
Today... fresh powder ... what a difference a day makes
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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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Hammering down with snow in VT over last few hours. Never known the snow level so high out here. Resort should be fully open well into May. Shame I'm off home in morning.
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Powder again. What a day!! Today (Friday), we went to the Three Valleys and ended up spending the day in the Courchevel and Meribel valleys.
The snow was in good condition everywhere. Typical spring snow lower down and powder on the higher slopes. I was amazed at how untracked everywhere off piste was.
We managed 9 different routes during the day in mostly untracked soft snow, plus a fast ski down to the bottom of Courchevel 1650 using the lower pistes.
Here are the routes we took today in order for those interested in following our journey. We started skiing at just after 9.30am and finished around 5.15pm with just a short break for lunch. A hard, fast, but fun day in the fresh snow. The sun even came out at times to help us enjoy the different lines we tried!
Here is our journey:
1) After parking in Mottaret we headed up to the top of Saulire and then directly off piste to the bottom of the Creux Noirs chair. Untracked spring snow the whole way down quite early in the day. Very nice.
2) From the top of the Creux Noirs chair, after a little hike to skiers right we went back down into the bowl from the right hand ridge to the Chanrossa chair. More untracked spring snow with nice powder higher up and a bit of crud lower down near the finish as we came back onto the piste.
3) Skiers right at the top of the Chanrossa chair and back down to the bottom of the same chair after a high traverse under the Roc Merlet. Yet another untracked face from top to bottom on fresh snow higher up and good spring snow down towards the lift.
4) Back up the Chanrossa chair and then round the bowl across to the ridge into the Vallee des Avals. After making fresh tracks to the ridge we decided not to go down to the bottom of the valley and traversed back to the left and off piste into the bowl to skiers right of the Pyramide piste and finally arriving at the Indiens piste and all the way down into Courchevel 1650 using the main pistes . Again fresh tracks, nobody had been down this way either until we reached the gully below the Combe tow (this tow was closed today). The snow higher up was very nice, soft on top with a firm base, but lower down it slowly became very soft and slushy as we neared Courchevel 1650. Not really a surprise.
5) From Courchevel 1650 we headed back up to the top of the Roc Merlet chair then skiers left off piste down to the Marmottes chair. Although more tracked than earlier routes. We still managed to find some good untracked snow higher up and lower down were pleased to have a few tracks to help as the light began to become flat.
6) At the top of the Marmottes chair we went to the far left side of the Grande Rosiere piste and then off piste the whole way down to Mottaret only rejoining the piste near the stade. The snow was good almost the whole way down, only becoming cruddy as we neared the piste. Yet again there was plenty of room to make our own fresh tracks.
No time for lunch yet!! With the weather starting to change we quickly took the new Plattieres gondola.
7) From the top of the new gondola we headed off piste down to the Mont Vallon gondola. The snow was typical spring snow the whole way down, soft and slushy, but not to hard to ski if you had 'fat skis'.
 At the top of the Mont Vallon gondola we went to skiers left through the gap in the cliffs and down the off piste valley to where the Campagnol and Lac de la chambre pistes meet. This turned out to be the best snow of the day. Light untracked powder up top and easy to ski soft snow the rest of the way down with few tracks. The ones there were helped avoid the holes as the light became flat again.
Time for a quick lunch at the bottom then back up to the top of Mont Vallon again.
9) With the light coming and going we headed down under the Mont Vallon gondola and slowly over to skiers right all the way to the corner of the Combe de Vallon piste just before the Mures Rouges chair. The snow at the top was very mixed, some wind blown, but also pockets of powder. Then as I went into the more sheltered area the snow became softer everywhere and was quite nice to ski with few tracks.
10) By the time we reached the top of the Mures Rouges chair the weather had closed in and started to snow again. Rather than making our final decent from the top of the Plattieres 3 Gondola off piste back down towards Mottaret as we had planned, it was time to head for home. After a fast ski down the pistes we arrived back at our car.
A really fun day with loads of fresh tracks on great snow most of the time. Much better than we had expected when driving up in the morning. If anyone else has the time, my advice, 'Get Out Here' and enjoy the new snow while it lasts.
I will be posting the photos of todays journey in the Three Valleys 2013 Album of my Les Arcs Winter facebook page later. Enjoy!
https://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter/photos_albums
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You know it makes sense.
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snowcrazy, sounds like a great day
More snow last night... snowline around 1200m. Sushine this morning
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Today very warm, beautiful sunshine, but snow heavy, even at 3000m if in the sun. Val T very busy, Méribel valley much quieter
A lot of slides today, Avy risk 4, releases all over the place
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimottaret, it did look nice up higher from the piste below, but we just ran out of time. Still it was an excellent day and one I hope to repeat again soon before all the lifts start closing.
Patch, it was similar over in Les Arcs and La Plagne today, but if you went out early it was still possible to find some great snow higher up. Planning on doing the same again tomorrow as there are still a few of us around until the end of the season.
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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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The thermometer on my deck (in direct sunshine) hit 39 C (101 F) yesterday afternoon !
Today is a beautiful day too, but no skiing for me...
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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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Beautiful spring day, but slides everywhere ... looks like the whole mountain is sliding. The avy risk is "only" 4 - I'm surprised it's not 5. Virtually every (off-piste) slope we have been riding all season is covered in debris. No-one is skiing off the trails. Many boulevards are closed due to avy too. Not as bad in Val T as it is in Méribel at the moment, but Snowheads arriving at the weekend should take extra care if considering offpiste
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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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Snowing heavily in Les Menuires. Fairly wet at resort level but not bad further up. Couple of inches so far on a slushy base. Fun on a board. Pretty much the only people out this afternoon were ski school kids.
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20 cm fresh today, no people, no visibilty, bit windy. snowing again now
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| Patch wrote: |
| 20 cm fresh today, no people, no visibilty, bit windy. snowing again now |
You must have been unlucky, we had mostly good vis all afternoon. Some great snow in places.
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How low can you ski in Courchevel at the moment? la Tania at 1400 is closed? I'm just trying to get a feel of how much is open. I don't want to ski into anywhere chavvie like Mottaret-Meribel. Just stick to the Courchevel runs.
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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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| davidof wrote: |
| How low can you ski in Courchevel at the moment? la Tania at 1400 is closed? I'm just trying to get a feel of how much is open. I don't want to ski into anywhere chavvie like Mottaret-Meribel or mix with the great unwashed in VT Just stick to the Courchevel runs. |
FIFY
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| fatbob wrote: |
| davidof wrote: |
| How low can you ski in Courchevel at the moment? la Tania at 1400 is closed? I'm just trying to get a feel of how much is open. I don't want to ski into anywhere chavvie like Mottaret-Meribel or mix with the great unwashed in VT Just stick to the Courchevel runs. |
FIFY |
Very good. No seriously VT stays open to the 12th so bags of time yet and it is a long long way up a long long valley. Meribel is maybe the nearest but they have, ahem, aggressive lift pass pricing.
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FAQ
