 Poster: A snowHead
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My niece Rhiannon and family are staying in another apartment in my complex (husband keen but not v experienced snowboarder, son one week skier, mum has tried skiing several times over the years, finally began to enjoy it last year but pretty nervous).
The pistes here don't open till Saturday. They drove down today, are tired, and tomorrow looks fairly grotty. They'll probably have a potter in the snow and the lads can build a kicker and have a muck about. But Friday looks better, and they are keen to get some skiing in if possible. The Megeve website suggests that the Rochebrune sector is open this week but with zero details (i.e. no indication of which lifts and pistes are open). I have arranged a private lesson for Rhiannon on Saturday, with an instructor she has had before, and likes very much, to help her find her confidence again. I would prefer to start by skiing with her here on Saturday, after her lesson, as I know the area very well and can ensure she stays in her comfort zone. I scarcely know Megeve and am worried that I might bite off more than she can chew.
I will ring Megeve in the morning to try to find out more, but would appreciate advice.
My objective for the day would be to get Rhiannon to the end of it having enjoyed herself, and get the others home uninjured! Looking at the piste map I wonder where, in the Rochebrune sector, this might best be achieved - the piste map is not very clear. Ideally I would find a chair lift which everyone could lap at their own speed, to start with - a fairly gentle blue would be ideal, and father and son can do it faster than Rhiannon and me, if they wish.
Any suggestions (or anywhere better in the area which is open - I am not keen to drive as far as Flaine and am not keen on Flaine either, come to that).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w, Sorry don't know megeve but how about les houches? Is that much further? That's open as far as I can see from the website. It's a few years since I was there but if I remember correctly from the top of the prarion gondola there are some easy slopes and pretty sure there's a chair serving a couple of runs which you could lap. Maybe PM Annie??
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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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sarah, thanks, that might be a possibility though it's a fair bit further for us to drive - worth bearing in mind.
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pam w, it's probably not much help, but we've skied around the Grand Champs and Petit Roch chairs with a 2 year old so can vouch for their non-threatening nature. Nice wide greeny stuff, long enough to get a few turns in, good confidence builder for a nervy skier on day 1 of a season!
You can then progress to the also green "a" piste from the top of the cable car. Again, we've successfully 'toddled' this run. These are proper pistes not 'green' linking paths. There's also a blue variant "a2" which we've not been on, but I'm pretty sure it's more of the same but a bit more, er, blue.
Nice cafe at the bottom or Rochebrune too for frequent hot choccy stops. If all of the above are part of the ouverture, 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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pam w, I guess you will be on the phone to the Megeve office by now but here is the page that shows which pistes are open. Everything in the Evasion domain has a "closed" red cross next to it, except some pistes in Rochebrune that have a "closed" yellow dot next them... so who knows what that means...?
http://www.evasionmontblanc.com/ouverture.php (click "afficher les pistes")
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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miranda, thanks. Spoke to the tourist office - there are some useful lifts open, by the look of it, including Caboche and Rochebrune cabins, and a couple of small "beginnerish" chairs at the bottom, which look good. And Megeve is an easy drive from here.
What is the blue run down the Caboche lift like? Seems to be called a2.
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pam w, it's been a while since I skied in Rochebrune (due to last year's injury happening fairly early on in the season) but the blues are pretty wide and gentle there.
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miranda, thanks. Is it all better now? Skiing this season?
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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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pam w, yes - got the all clear to ski though have to start gently. My physio actually suggested I start in Les Saisies. I have discovered the "Megeve" season pass - all the Evasion except Les Contamines, Monday to Friday except Christmas and half term, for €231.... works out great for me as I'll take it fairly easy this season plus am generally very busy during holidays and weekends anyway. Will definitely make it over to Les Saisies though!
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miranda, great! Keep in touch about your plans; I'd love to show you round some nice non-knee wrenching territory. I have various visitors over the next few weeks but they are mostly gentle-territory people, including a friend whose skiing has been rendered unpleasant with boot problems. I recommended her to go to CEM and it seems she is one of those rare types for whom only personally-fitted Daleboots will do - so Colin sent her off to Abingdon to be measured. It'll cost her a lot of money, so I will be on a mission to find nice territory for her and make sure she gets the ski bug properly. That season pass sounds a terrific deal.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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hi guys just read your posts, we are coming to stay at mirada's on the 19th of january, cant wait!!! have a little question, most of our group purchased the deal they had if you book the lift pass early, we only purchased the Les Portes du Mont-Blanc pass but haven't heard anything i wandered if you could help. we had the email to say we had paid ect was in french too but didnt know if we get the pass in the post or what will happen? please if any of you guys could help this would be excellent
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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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pam w, would be great to meet up. How long are you over for this season?
hammy1846at4, just sent you an email 
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pam w, I'd ski A2 yourself if I was you before taking your niece. .My memory of a2 ( assumin i am remembering the right place) is that it is fine at the top then narrows in the trees with one actually quite steep prone to iciness pitch. I know I spent some time talking our fairly nervous but not ridiculously so3 rd weeker teenage companion down it and said teenager found the reds under the caboche considerably easier. The greens round there are lovely though
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, there's a green route down from the top of the Caboche. You get on your way by turning left out of the bubble, a tight left turn under a bit of a lip, followed by a sweeping right and through a gap in the trees. I'd say it's fairly challenging for a green. Partly because it's really pretty long and partly because there's a short steep section near the end with a tight right hand turn at the bottom. Novices tend to stop and assess the situation there for a while! The trouble is, it needs to be done at some speed to avoid a stretch of poleing on the way back to the base of the lift.
Grand Champs would be the place to start I think. It's wide open, you can see the objective and it's quite short. It's a pretty good place for anyone to limber up first thing. The only issue is that the chair is quite slow.
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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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laundryman, Annie, thanks very much. I'll be wary of a2. Grand Champs sounds very good. We're not planning to be more than a few hours, then a supermarket shop on the way home. I am hoping to get 6 people plus gear in my Multipla, as I have snow tyres and their Audi doesn't - they were in chains all the way up from Notre Dame on arrival on Wednesday. I might go and suss out laundryman's green. If all the beginners/nervousoldies could get up the Caboche and down, they'd probably feel very pleased but I'm so wary of getting it wrong.....
miranda, I'm in the Alps till the Birthday Bash, so sometime over the next few weeks we should manage it! Will be back after the French school hols, till around the end of the season; we have a big family get together at Easter - we are renting all 6 apartments in a block at the bottom of our chairlift. You are presumably pretty busy over Christmas and New Year?
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, very, very busy over the next couple of weeks, but have just made a note of your dates and hopefully we can meet in January. It may be that a SH - who so enjoyed your local expertise before - might want to head over your way for a day second half of March too so, if the dates work out, I'll see if I can find time to tag along then as well! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Another alternative is go up from Combloux on the Jaillet side of Megeve. There are several wide blue runs back down and it is all served by chairs. It tends to be quieter than the main Megeve sector too.
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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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Whitters, good point, if Combloux is open. It's the lowest point of the whole Megève area.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Whitters, no, that sector isn't open yet - very little is, which is why we headed to Megeve today, where part of the Rochebrune sector was open. We had a good day. All except my niece did the nice green down the Caboche several times, after some laps of the Grands Champs and she persisted with her practice on that run, which was ideal. The snow was actually far nicer up the mountain - it was very hard and scratchy in the shade on that run - I'm not used to skiing down at that altitude and it has been quite mild.
It was very snowy up here this morning, at least another 20 cms, rather less down in Megeve, but conditions for opening day tomorrow should be terrific - it was all looking great in the sun today.
So everyone tried various bits of new equipment - and an ESF instructor complimented me on my new skis. I'd have been more pleased if he'd complimented my skiing but as I was standing holding the skis at the time, that wasn't likely!
We passed a lot of struggling vehicles on the way back up here - including one in snowsocks which seemed to be shredding and several putting on chains at inopportune spots. There was very little snow on the road, but it was slippery - my snow tyres did fine, but I guess that hard surface is very hard on snowsocks.
From tomorrow onward we can ski a stone's throw from the apartment - I wouldn't have bothered to trek down to Megeve today, but obviously people just here for a short while want to get all the skiing they can get. I am lazy!
Thanks for all the help.
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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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pam w,
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an ESF instructor complimented me on my new skis
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 Are you pleased with them?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Whitters, not a bad suggestion as Combloux opened on the 8th of December, but weekends only; doesn't matter how much snow is around - it's too quiet to justify midweek opening pre-season.
We had a big group of guests skiing Rochebrune today and they had a great time - it's quite strange having secondhand reports.... can't wait to get my skis on (though no doubt will feel a bit weird at first!)
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| Quote: |
Are you pleased with them?
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Today wasn't really a good test, as it was all on piste and I was really trying to look out for the others and fish the 9 year old out of the off-piste bits he kept "accidentally" ending up in. But yes, so far so good. They're quite heavy to carry, but I don't do much of that. I don't like the graphics. But now a random ESF instructor has told me, unbidden, that they are great skis, how can I possibly complain. A bad workman, and all that.....
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So finally got out on a pair of skis and got to try the new beginner area in the La Giettaz sector of the Megeve ski domain and thought it was worth mentioning on this thread.
Magic carpet and baby green with button at the bottom are free and unlimited and then for €6 a day you also got unlimited access to a nice blue that winds through the trees (no steep bits or flat poling but not particularly wide as blues go). It also gives you access to about 250m vertical of the bottom of a "red" and a "black" - wide and short so in effect just "steeper than blue" sections proving a good taster for finding your ski legs for €6.
€15 a day gets you unlimted access to the snowpark and a couple of reds and a black (not hugely steep but narrow and left unpisted when possible) and then two full descents of the mountain, so you can come down for lunch and go back up again... good cheap option for parents wanting to have a quick blast but stay in very close proximity whilst the kids are in ski school or for people on arrival/departure day. Quite pleased to see those options introduced as the new lift has caused a hike in the full day pass price for the 100km Portes du Mont Blanc side to €27, which is still good value but is a €3 jump as opposed to the €1 we would normally expect!
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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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miranda, have they fixed that chairlift yet? I heard that Giettaz was late opening this year because renovations on the chairlift were late. (?)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mr Piehole, it has opened, according to a FB link
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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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marmotte16, yes, it was you I was referring to! Had a fab lesson with Sandrine yesterday. Was feeling really nervous (though I didn't say anything, I was even a bit scared of getting on the magic carpet to get to the green button lift  ) but within minutes she had my confidence restored and knew exactly what exercises to do to get me used to various movements that might feel a bit weird after knee ligament injury - definitely recommended!
Mr Piehole, yes, thankfully it is open!
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miranda, excellent, she is a gem I'm hoping C will have a lesson with her in March.
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You know it makes sense.
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miranda, that sounds good - very glad it went well. You were so wise to start with a lesson. I have friends/visitors sometimes who really should take a lesson but they are so resistant - I suspect they feel instructors will take them to gnarly places to hard stuff, and it's hard to convince them otherwise.
The conditions here at the moment are just fantastically wonderful. Pistes in great shape, nobody around, not a trace of a lift queue, sunny but not too hot. Had the happy experience this morning of going to one of the restaurants on the slopes to be greeted like an old friend by the proprietor. I'm skiing round very gently with a nervous brother in law, much enjoying the scenery and ambiance.
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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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miranda, sounds great! Very excited about my trip in Feb. Any word on Sandrine's availability then?
Mr Piehole, have you posted in the past on getting your 2 year old started on skis? And would you easily be able to point me in the direction of the thread if so? We are hoping to get away for a few days with our toddler in March and plan to use the creche for him for some of the time, but if you had any words of wisdom for a very gentle start I'd be very interested to read them. He will be nearly 3 by then. Sorry about the thread hijack, pam w - I should probably start a new thread actually...
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Poster: A snowHead
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| NatalieG wrote: |
| Mr Piehole, have you posted in the past on getting your 2 year old started on skis? And would you easily be able to point me in the direction of the thread if so? We are hoping to get away for a few days with our toddler in March and plan to use the creche for him for some of the time, but if you had any words of wisdom for a very gentle start I'd be very interested to read them. He will be nearly 3 by then. Sorry about the thread hijack, pam w - I should probably start a new thread actually... |
I posted this about our first 'ski school' experience.
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=81850#2023306
Les Marmottons in Tignes Le Lac. Minimum age 30 months. Absolutely incredible.
Not any use if that's not where you're going though... (where are you going?)
Pre ski-school we started when he was 2 by just walking him up very short gentle slopes (1 degree kind of thing) and letting him straightline down again into some welcoming parental arms. Interspersed with sledging and just general snow lobbing tomfoolery. Later by doing the back-breaking 'holding them between your legs and snowploughing' thing.
Marmottons ski school helped him a lot, and we spent a lot more tedious back-breaking days with him, and now he can snowplough turn and follow us down blue runs (and a red once) - and even some (incredibly gentle) off-piste. He kept laughing and laughing that his feet and skis were disappearing under the snow.
Oh, and now he also snowboards sometimes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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NatalieG, where are you thinking of going? Having the right kind of little ski slope is vital. Mr Piehole has mentioned a good one (he will probably be a long soon to tell you) and my grand-daughter, not yet 3, had a great start at Christmas, on a tiny little slope with a free rope tow. She did brilliantly but other kids in the family, at the same age, would not have done - kids vary enormously.
Tobogganing is a great way of finding out their aptitude, I reckon. Ella adored toboganning - but her older cousin hated it, and was also slow to take to skiing - 3 private lessons at the age of 6, and she was just about getting going.
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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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NatalieG, you also have a PM
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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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Thanks very much Mr Piehole, and also for the PM. And pam w.
We are thinking of going back to La Giettaz. There is a creche at the bottom of the ski area where we plan to put both children (the little one will be nearly one) for at least some time each day, and we are only going for 5 nights so if the creche doesn't work out it won't be the end of the world. Also, I will have been there a month before so I won't be quite so grumpy if I can't ski much. We didn't really have the intention of getting the toddler skiing this time around but if he could have a bit of fun on skis, that would be brilliant. Thanks for the tip in the PM about avoiding the little plastic skis, Mr Piehole, that was my next question.
We will have to get the kids kitted out for playing in the snow anyway and Miranda tells me that there is a tiny slope in the garden of the creche. Looks like we might be investing in some second hand toddler skis - or working out if we can hire some.
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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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NatalieG, the magic carpet at Le Plan in Giettaz is perfect. Really gentle. We got ours on the drag lift aged a bit under 2.5 (on his own, with me running alongside like a total jeb-end). I have video of this It's a good little area.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hey look, we brought the thread back on topic again! Almost!
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