 Poster: A snowHead
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@Blakegreid, sorry you didn't get the VB descent of your dreams but sounds as if it was still a good adventure! You'll have to come back and do it again to see the views im full...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@fixx, yikes!! We got to the GMs carpark and noticed that the bubble wasn't working, so that was that.
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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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@Blakegreid, sounds like real Weston Super.
You didn’t miss much earlier as a day or two before it was virtually unskiable wind crust.
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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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On a more general note, three of my chums went for a gentle tour around Champex and found the best fresh snow of the season.
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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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@Blakegreid, sorry about your VB experience although it is indeed a capricious day out - the last time I did it in April 2 years ago with my family, we'd been promised "best ever" conditions by a friend so booked a guide. However had a wait a day or 2 and in the intervening couple of days it had warmed up to well above freezing (even up at the top) so it had thawed/frozen a couple of times and the whole thing was sheet ice first thing. My 14yo daughter's crampon came off on the arete (not really a big deal but having been told "if you don't wear crampons, you die!", much panic and tears ensued..) then when we got to the end it was solid km scramble to the gondola over very rough and rocky moraine (it'd been a fairly poor year for snow generally) and to cap it all, the lift was closed due to wind. No Heli for us though, it was skis on the packs and a climb up to the Hotel! Certainly character building - although the guide should've known it was going to be dreadful and shouldn't have taken us tbh and from his surly manner and refusal to stop for photos, he didn't want to be up there any more than we did but the money was more important. Lesson learned.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Beautiful day in Chamonix. British didn’t see fit to load our ski luggage so no slopes today but the rest of the week looks promising. Sunny today!
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Conditions on the main VB route on Saturday were fantastic, only non ideal bit was the giant icy bumps at the very bottom of the Salle a Manger.
Sunday on the Argentiere glacier had a fair bit of new snow, if varied (some powder some sastrugi some ice). The traverse to exit the glacier feels a little more exposed than last year though!
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Great day at the Grands Montets today. A big depth of snow and pretty much ski anywhere, just like the old days. Not busy at all. Sunny and no wind. The snow was excellent in the Pendant bowl and skiers right of the Herse. Making good progress with the new 3S lift. The two new pylons are in. The new Gondola up to Lognan was being tested today.
40cms of snow forecast right down into town on Wednesday night and Thursday. Will probably head to St Gervais or Les Houches. Train excellent as always.
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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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Started sunny today at La Tour. The wind picked up and they closed the chairlifts and even some of the Pomas although it wasn’t actually that windy. The Gondola closed at 3pm.
Currently heavy rain turning by to snow at 1000m. 17cm forecast in Chamonix and 30-40cms at 2000m by Friday.
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probs 15cms on my garden table so far - snowing gently - limited and delayed opening, as expected
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@under a new name, over a foot in my garden in Les Chosalets and I keep losing sight of my white German shepherd
Having been laid up for days with suspected COVID I had scheduled tomorrow (Friday) as go go go day. I am having more than a touch of FOMO as I sit here typing.
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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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@HammondR, tomorrow looks to be good, sunshine and none of Bochard, Herse, Index or Cornu opened today ...
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Fantastic day in Les Houches today. Pretty much everything open and running. 20cms of new snow and some really nice skiing in the slightly heavy but cold new snow. Very cold tonight and more snow falling today and a bit overnight so the snow should dry out and be even better tomorrow. Top to bottom skiing at Les Houches. Lovely to get the train back this evening to Cham.
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You know it makes sense.
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@under a new name, after a call from a chum at midday the FOMO went into overdrive and Le Tour beckoned
Absolute cold fresh snow with face shots and the whole nine yards. I am always reluctant to use the “p” word as it is completely overused. However, from the top of the Grands Montets area tomorrow there will be real honest to goodness powder. Unless the wind decides otherwise….
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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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Flocons gently wafting down in my garden in Les Chosalets
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Poster: A snowHead
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It was fantastic last week and since then I think they have had another metre of snow. Should be perfect by now 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skiers right (off piste) from top of Herse has been delicious the last couple of days ... (it has a nickname but I've forgotten it)
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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 Italian Bowl I think. Seems to hold cold snow for ages.
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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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@8611, I think you're right. That was sort of on the tip of my tongue but I wasn't sure.
It doesn't get a huge amount of sun. I reckon it's my favourite. Not usually too busy either.
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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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Its a superb area, where I more or less fell in love with off piste. Even when tracked out the snow still seems to stay soft. Not sure there's anywhere side piste in Argentiere that isn't busy though!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I never know where to post information about other places I have recently visited so, as I live in Les Chosalets in the season, I am posting here.
Yesterday we visited the Grand St Bernard area. Went up the Dents du Grand Lé via the Combe de Drone. We put in a very agreeable track (for anyone tempted to have a go)
We crossed the Col and descended the lovely North East face into the Combe des Planards. Fresh cold untracked snow the whole way down and. An absolute delight
From departing the well beaten track up towards the flesh pots of Mont Telliers, and all the way down the Combe des Planards, we didn't see another soul.
Not exactly "side piste" but not too busy.
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@under a new name, funny that.
I always find the Italian Bowl composed almost entirety of rocks which find my skis at will.
Maybe I should try skiing around them.
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@HammondR, hah hah - yes, I can quite see that!! Cover pretty good at the moment. So it's "Italian" bowl then, is it? Every day a ..., etc.
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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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Thinking of getting a Spring trip in, only weekend I can do is 17th April
There’s a reasonable deal for Chamonix, with the recent late snow fall, do people think it’s feasible, or probably too late in the season?
Anyone with any experience mid April previous years?
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@Jung, there will be limited opening then and it largely depends on what you want to do
There is very good snow cover so volume will not be a problem
Le Tour, Les Houches and Flégère close the week before.
Part of Brevent will remain open. All very gentle.
The Grands Montets is open until the 3rd May. Whether the full area is accessible depends on how long the Retour Pendant lift continues to run.
This maintains access to the rest of the area from the bottom of the Lavancher bowl (look at a piste map)
If you ski off piste (or better still tour a bit) there should be plenty to do for a weekend. You just won't be cruising miles of different pistes
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Jung, wot @HammondR, typed.
TBH, if you're a reasonable skier, I don't think there's much better than lapping the Italian (Indian?) bowl bumps off Herse. And it is in great shape.
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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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Yes, we used to go out for the last weekend in May and there was always plenty to ski. However the Grands Montets cable car was still running in those days.
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Grands Montets time of the season now for many as it isn’t quite so austere. We went over the Rachasses in search of something half decent to ski in this hot weather
My companion is the big fan of the Grand Mur so we went to try that. Best snow I have been on for a few days and well worthwhile.
If you have touring equipment it is definitely worth it. Should remain good for a day or two and we will have a short day involving one crossing of the Col tomorrow. If you pass the slowest man on the hill going upwards tomorrow at about 11:30, say hello. It will be me
The track up is really good
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You know it makes sense.
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Not as good today. Track up still the same but the ski down not as rewarding. Just shows that you can’t trust some random bloke off the internet
It will be a relief if we receive a little top up of fresh snow early 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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| HammondR wrote: |
@Jung, there will be limited opening then and it largely depends on what you want to do
There is very good snow cover so volume will not be a problem
Le Tour, Les Houches and Flégère close the week before.
Part of Brevent will remain open. All very gentle.
The Grands Montets is open until the 3rd May. Whether the full area is accessible depends on how long the Retour Pendant lift continues to run.
This maintains access to the rest of the area from the bottom of the Lavancher bowl (look at a piste map)
If you ski off piste (or better still tour a bit) there should be plenty to do for a weekend. You just won't be cruising miles of different pistes |
This is really good intel thanks, helped shape the decision a bit.
Looked at the map for Brevent and Grand Montets, looks okay though expectedly small.
Is there enough to keep us entertained for 2.5 days or will we get bored by second day? We're competent boarders, but would stay on piste.
Also how are the conditions there currently, do you think without another dump it could end up being a fruitless trip? Or still be okay next weekend as the base is pretty deep.
We're looking at around £470 pp for the long weekend, so fairly cheap but also weighing up if it is worth it, if it could be a gamble.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Jung, you're going to be lapping a fairly small number of pistes many times, only you can really say whether you will be bored by the second day though
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Jung, the piste map looks small because there's not many runs - the runs that exist are generally quite long, so there's 2-3x as much piste skiing as you might think, but its still not a lot of runs. The vast majority of skiing on the GM is off piste.
If you're staying on piste you will find it a bit limiting by day 2. There's a vast amount of variety of safe, accessible off piste, but knowing what's safe and accessible isn't necessarily obvious without either a local or a guide/instructor.
One option would be to get a private instructor for the second morning (c. E200-250) to improve your boarding and show you some routes you could safely do on your own. e.g. from the top of the Tabe chair there's at least 20 materially different routes back to the bottom, only 3 of which are pistes, and some of which are no harder than the piste. Some are very much harder than the piste, and some contain cliffs. I could spend a day on that chair not skiing the same line twice, whereas on piste you might get bored within an hour.
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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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| Jung wrote: |
Thinking of getting a Spring trip in, only weekend I can do is 17th April
There’s a reasonable deal for Chamonix, with the recent late snow fall, do people think it’s feasible, or probably too late in the season?
Anyone with any experience mid April previous years? |
Fresh snow Mon/Tues and cooler temps next week. Verbier will still be fully open that weekend with closing party on Sunday. Probably more expensive but much more extensive skiing
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@Jung, I’d echo both @snowdave, and @BobinCH. I’d also add that without material change, I’d go to Verbier.
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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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@Jung, in your shoes I would go somewhere else.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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And just a slightly more up to date snow opinion, while it was all lovely the week before this, it got hot so the GM pistes are bullet proof until probs 13h00~14h00 but lower down, e.g. Pierre à Ric is slushy from pretty early on. The off piste off Bochard or Herse looked pretty vile on Tuesday.
But, precip forecast Sunday night thru Tuesday AM so that could change things.
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Anyone has been last weekend? Looking forward to closing the lift-assisted season in a fortnight (and hopefully not walking too much down Pierre a Ric...)
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@patrick!, Unfortunately Pierre a Ric is due to close imminently. According to Chamoniarde it was due to close today, with heavy machinery setting about clearing the snow so that construction vehicles can trundle up and down. However the people skiing down it today had not received the memo.
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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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Is the construction work going to interfere with the usual end-of-season party on GM? Can't make it this year, but have already got it in the diary for next year!
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@snowdave, don’t expect so
It just means that the only authorised way down will be via the Plan Joran gondola.
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FAQ
