Pyremaniac, I've not skied the ones further up but have seen the tracks. I'm not quite sure where the entries would be ?
If you do Montgarri be sure to let me know and keep a note of the route.. ! Tim at the BB Ski school would help with Bagergue and I expect would be interested in looking at Montgarri.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The diesel froze!
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?
Did flowa and elston get some more skiing in after they were evacuated and did they get home safely? There's been a deathly silence on their wedding/honeymoon blog.
Sorry that the blogging stopped - the internet access was terrible and when we got home we have both been too busy to catch up. We are going to write a proper trip report this weekend.
When the lifts were open there was some great skiing! Skiing with weathercam and his mates was certainly a highlight.
Overall, we only managed to ski about 5 days out of 10 but the quality was amazing.
katedenhaag, can that happen? How do you prevent it? My car's often been parked in resort at -12 this season; didn't cross my mind that that might be a problem!
AndAnotherThing.. wrote:
Pyremaniac wrote:
On Friday I did another first-time route from the top of the drag lifts behind Argulls, which takes you above the Montanyó piste and out of the resort, ending up down at Peülla (unclipping to cross the road - though that wouldn't have been necessary until recently ). It used to be a controlled itinerary called Lo Boscas but it disappeared from the piste map last season. Anyhow, it turned out to be an evil traverse-fest! So although it has a proper feeling of isolation, and great snow, I'll no longer be looking at it with longing when I drive up to Bonaigua each day.
It's a shame the one you mentioned has disappeared off the piste map. I did a variation on it a couple of years ago, following the traverse around above the piste and then dropping down onto the road. The option to rejoin the piste via the steep bowl is a good one too. I think the actual itinerary looped around the back of the small peak and down to end up at the road much closer to the lift and car park.
That's right, we followed the itinerary which goes round the back, into a little bowl that I had to walk out of, and then down. Anyhow, on Wednesday the locals I mentioned laughed when I told them of my traverse-and-walk misery, and showed me the real way for snowboarders: when you reach the little gap at the small peak you mention, you climb for 10 minutes to the summit of the small peak, which turns out to be wide and flat, with great views of course; and then you simply head perpendicular towards the road - very mellow slopes - and just before the nasty drop-off you turn skier's left down a steeper, fun and wide slope to the road; there's total visibility so there's no problem orienting yourself. OK, so the quantity of walking and traversing is the same as what I originally did, but the run itself is much more rewarding!
AndAnotherThing.. wrote:
Pyremaniac, I've not skied the ones further up [the Luís Arias black run] but have seen the tracks. I'm not quite sure where the entries would be ?
Me neither - and I'm not likely to find out! I get the shakes just thinking about it!
AndAnotherThing.. wrote:
If you do Montgarri be sure to let me know and keep a note of the route.. ! Tim at the BB Ski school would help with Bagergue and I expect would be interested in looking at Montgarri.
Will do.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Pyremaniac, the way round it is to fill up with fuel up the mountain where they put additive in to prevent it happening.... Something they don't do in Barcelona!!
Freeride comp in Baqueira. Usually on the ridge above the Dera Reina lift. Some lines that usually don't look ok from the lift
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.
I hear that Baqueira will stay open at weekends after it's 'closing' on the 7th April.
What's unusual is that they are planning to open for the week 6h May which coincides with the UK bank holiday..... Could make for some lovely Spring Skiing.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
AndAnotherThing.., yup, that's right. Weekends until the end of Feb and then a full week to conclude on 5th May! Most Spanish resorts have extended the season until into April, and some are also opting for weekends until May. I guess that's the result of there being so much snow but so few sunny days to enjoy it!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
So today was the sketchiest day of skiing I've experienced. There have been several days of snowfall, and today was a sunny powder day, albeit as windy and cold as the last few days. The usual Peülla crowd at Baqueira were there from 9am onwards, but it took an hour for the lift to open due to high wind and, I think, a drawn-out decision about which runs to open. In the end - sensibly as it transpired - they closed absolutely everything except the blue run which runs across the peak to Bonaigua, and nothing except that run was pisted. Both the regional and local avalanche risk was 3, and with strong warnings about overloaded slopes due to the wind in certain orientations. It was immediately clear that there was something strange about the 80cm of powder that had accumulated on top of the hard-pack; it was a sort of candy-floss consistency. Still, that wasn't going to put anybody off...
First run down, two friends and I decided to jump the rope and do the Pala Gran black, which had a more favourable orientation and a certain amount of tree shelter. Despite us having deliberately chosen that route for safety reasons, my two friends cut right through the trees onto a slope with a different orientation. Immediate avalanche, with one guy carried for 40m under the snow, but had his upper half above it when he came to a stop; pretty much unharmed. The other was nearer the break and didn't get carried far but did get tendon damage in the arm so he's out for a week and has lost one of his skis until the thaw.
What followed was carnage. I've never seen anything like it. The local crowd, including one or two pisters and instructors (albeit nutters on their day off, continued to do run after run - and run after run avalanched. There was just no cohesion between the new snow and the hard pack. I personally saw people get avalanched on three separate occastions, and numerous people in avalanche debris looking for lost skis. Luckily the only serious injury I'm aware of is a dislocated shoulder; we waited with the guy until the piste security guys came.
My uninjured friend and I continued for the day, heading through Baqueira to Beret. There were avalanches everywhere, including a really wide one to skier's right of the Solei piste. Orientation didn't seem to make much difference, though steepness and convexities were a recurring theme. The avalanches all seemed to be pretty similar: medium size, with debris that was still soft and fluffy - which is probably why there were few injuries and no burials that I'm aware of.
Here's the one my friends triggered (the lift poles behind the tree give an idea of scale, although they're a fair bit further back):
and here's a panoramic of the Peülla mountain which I took shortly afterwards, with red marking the first avalanches of the day, which can already be seen in the photo; green marking the places where we later saw debris; and purple marking the one my friends were in:
On the whole, nobody seemed particularly perturbed by the vast number of avalanches. I wonder whether this is a Pyrenees thing; avalanche deaths are very uncommon compared to the Alps. Or whether it was just because the snow was so weird today and didn't seem particularly deadly even after a slide. But in a season of exceptional snowfall like this one, anything can happen. I saw a lot of questionable group dynamics in action today too (and was guilty of it myself if I'm being honest), again confirming that this is a hugely important factor in avalanche safety.
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.
Pyremaniac, Wow. I guess closed is closed for a reason.
I was wondering how things were after looking at the lift\run count and the web cam on the Derra Reigna lift where a sizable slab has crossed the piste.
The crown wall is visible in the center of the pic. Presumably the piste was closed as it's a regular problem on that slope.
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
1.) Tuc de la Llanca taken from 2.) top of Manaud. 3.) Escornacrabes (trans: Where Goats Fall)
Great week last week, started and finished with fresh snow with blue sky days in between. Pretty much perfect! Empty slopes, immaculately groomed (in case the king decides to drop in!) Fresh powder at beg of week, then off piste was typically Spring-like, crunchy topping some days, heavy on others. Brilliant, under-rated resort - will be back when next powder falls!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Thought I'd get the first and only April post in on this thread!
Jude1, I've been meaning to comment all month, but never quite found time. Great photos! One day I'm gonna (a) ride down the slope in the foreground of the first photo towards Manaud, which is a slope straight out of a poster or movie, and (b) ski off the backside of the ridge in the background into the Mala valley that Escorna enters, to get a nice variant of that route. Both of which still feel out of my reach but, especially after this season, suddenly don't seem the ludicrous propositions that they used to! But first, Baguerge and Montgarri... neither of which I hit this year unfortunately, mainly due to timing. So many days of bad weather or high risk, and it just didn't work out before the lifts in Beret shut for the season. Hiking up is one thing, but hiking a slope where the lifts run seems a bit masochistic!
But yes, after various seasons wondering why anyone would do such a thing, I've sort of got into the hiking thing this year. Here are some photos from a shlep up the Mala valley and up onto the altiplano of Baciver, opposite the Baqueira north face:
Escornacrabes from the other side; the couloir looks quite narrow from a distance!
The beautiful Mala valley
The face we rode down (pretty much in the centre of the photo, to the right of the vertical rocky sections)
And special thanks to those (unknown) who blazed the trail before us, all the way to the top!:
A dog in snowshoes. Can't say cooler than that.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Grandvalira closed last weekend after a season which broke so many records across the Pyrenees. Which, in the southern ranges, leaves just Baqueira and Sierra Nevada open until Sunday. Oh, and we've just had three days of snowfall in Baqueira. What a season!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Pyremaniac, Lovely. Great photo of Escornacrabes - I searched for ages to one shot from that direction. Do up up back in Beret ?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I spoke too soon! Three small Spanish resorts will also be open thanks to recent snowfalls, and in France Grand Tourmalet have announced they're opening the Pic du Midi until 12 May. An extraordinary season for snowfall it's been for the French resorts in that part of the Pyrenees. Apparently it's the first time they've ever open the Pic in May.
And what I wouldn't give to pay a visit to that legendary summit on Monday, but the Pic du Midi isn't the kind of place where you just rock up and ride down on your own. So sadly that's another one for the future.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 3-05-13 19:38; edited 1 time in total
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?
AndAnotherThing.., I'm guessing you meant "Do you end up back in Beret?". Well, that was the intention! In fact, we went from the Orri car park up the Mala valley to more or less below Escorna (which, if it had been up to me, we would have simply skied down to start , but one of the guys only has a weekday Baqueira pass and this was one of his weekend alternative trips). Then we went up to the altiplano (really, a big lake) that you can see from the top of Baqueira. From there, you can continue up to the Baciver peak, but we were already knackered what with not being used to this hiking malarkey and it being a hot sunny day and me lugging a too-heavy freeride board. So we planned to traverse towards Beret in front of the Baqueira north face, ending up at the "corner" between the Mala valley and the Beret plain, ie the diagonal line of trees going up at the left-hand side of the third photo of my earlier post. (It's the corner you pass near the start of the Vista Beret chairlift.) But there were quite a lot of flat parts and on a board it would have involved too much schlep so instead we came down into the valley ending up back at Orri.
It was disappointing not to get to the corner, because I've always had a bit of a thing about the slope that's on the other side, that comes down under the Vista Beret lift. Sat in the chair, it always looks beautiful; so near yet so out of reach. Often you see a line or two coming down and I'd alway be jealous, wondering how the folks got up there.
The top of that slope is a small flattish minor sub-peak of Baciver, called Saumet. In the third photo of my earlier post, it's on the horizon about a quarter of the way from the left; but the photo's a bit weird because it makes Saumet look almost as high as the Baciver peak that you can see in the very centre of the horizon, when in fact it's quite a bit lower. And the whole thing seems different when viewed from Orri and Beret; in the photo below, taken from somewhere around Blanhiblar, the "corner" is the diagonal line of triees in the centre-right, and the slope is the lightly tree-covered part above the Vista Beret lift poles (centre-left):
In fact, Baqueira have got approval to put a lift up there(*); it'll start from the same place as Vista Beret but then presumably go straight up the corner to the Saumet peak. It'll open up a ton of new off-piste to rival Escornacrabes, including the area that we ended up riding down into the Mala valley, as well as a number of new pistes coming down towards Beret - which is basically precisely the slope I just described. So I decided that I had to ride it in its virgin state, and hiked directly up there a couple of weeks ago, from under Vista Beret. Wonderful. Sometimes skiing just touches a nerve. (I was a bit apprehensive because I was on my own, but the slope is relatively gentle and I tried to apply all the avvy-awareness knowledge that I've been attempting to acquire. Which all added to the experience really.)
One thing the Baciver trip taught me is that a snowboard is no tool for travelling in the mountains! Next purchase: splitboard. (And in future, skis - once I've learnt! After 4 days I can now get down all the blues in Baqueira with reasonable competence I think, though I admit to sideslipping down the dog-leg where Cara Nord meets Palas de Arias. I can't figure out how to control things on narrow steep bits yet! Nor in powder... I was helpless to resist its silky artifices . How the hell do you turn in that stuff on skis?!)
(*) Good news: they're replacing the excruciating Vista Beret lift with a rapid detachable! Bad news: the old Vista Beret will be reused as the Saumet lift, which realistically is the one you're always gonna use to make the connection to Beret!
Pyremaniac, That's superb news about the new lift. I was hoping to score a few days touring in the area but it's not looking likely now. As luck would have it I have the map which should cover the area of your route and the new lift. I'll edit it down and post it here.
I know the 'corner' you mean. There is a gully line right down the middle which ends almost at the champaign bar ? I've never made it up there but I did see them running a ski touring comp over Christmas where they were hiking up the ridge that starts above the top of the Vista Beret chair to the peek you mention and they then skied down the side of the trees to exit under the chair. The finish was by the start of the lift. IT looked pretty good, but steeper for the way up towards the top.
I think it's one of the tours listed in the book that came with the map. I have the google translations if you are interested. There are about 6 or 8 tours listed. One from above Salardu sounds good.
I was chatting to Tim from the BB Ski School the other day and there is talk of them doing Aneto at some point.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The quality of the avalanche & back country information for the Val d'Aran gets better and better:
I just realized I never posted to say thanks Sorry mate! Really great links. Now I need to find similar resources for Andorra.
What a great season it was last year! I hope the Val d'Aran has been able to make a speedy recovery from the subsequent devasting floods. I expect I'll pay a visit to find out at some point this season.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sat 16-11-13 14:13; edited 1 time in total
After all it is free
After all it is free
Pyremaniac, Thanks for reminding me of those again. If only all ski area's had such a fantastic resource.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
How do you prevent it? My car's often been parked in resort at -12 this season; didn't cross my mind that that might be a problem!
). It used to be a controlled itinerary called Lo Boscas but it disappeared from the piste map last season. Anyhow, it turned out to be an evil traverse-fest! So although it has a proper feeling of isolation, and great snow, I'll no longer be looking at it with longing when I drive up to Bonaigua each day.
on their day off, continued to do run after run - and run after run avalanched. There was just no cohesion between the new snow and the hard pack. I personally saw people get avalanched on three separate occastions, and numerous people in avalanche debris looking for lost skis. Luckily the only serious injury I'm aware of is a dislocated shoulder; we waited with the guy until the piste security guys came.
Hope everyone is OK.
