 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking to book for week of 4th April. Still going to be good out there? Thinking VT....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| t40ora wrote: |
| Looking to book for week of 4th April. Still going to be good out there? Thinking VT.... |
I sincerely hope (and expect) so...
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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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Chalet prices seem to be holding in VT, dropping in Meribel.
I guess that is indicative of the weather expectations!
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That's actually useful info when it comes to deciding whether to get the VT pass or the 3V one.
This will be my first trip to the 3V so I'd like to see more of it than just VT. However, I will have kids in tow - they ski pretty well but there's always a degree of 'faff' with them that slows us down. So, if the rest of the skiing's not going to be up to much, maybe it's best to just stay in VT?
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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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Surely the place you stay is only where you have to start and end the day. If you want to see all points of the 3V better to be in the middle surely. Especially if you have kids who may not want to be full on all day which arguably would be required to get from Val T all the way over to above 1650 and back.
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| Layne wrote: |
| Surely the place you stay is only where you have to start and end the day. If you want to see all points of the 3V better to be in the middle surely. Especially if you have kids who may not want to be full on all day which arguably would be required to get from Val T all the way over to above 1650 and back. |
Well, we're staying in VT because the people we're going with are staying in VT (and we're already booked) so that variable is fixed. I could only get an instructor for the kids on the Sunday morning so for the rest of the week we'll have all day. It's really just a question of conditions and whether we'll be seeing Meribel and Courchevel at their best. It will still work out cheaper to get a VT pass and upgrade to 3V for one day. And to get upgrades on 2 days would only be a bit more expensive.
To a degree I'm doing my thinking out loud here but.... If it is likely that (late season) the best of the skiing will be in VT, I wonder if it's worth the extra for a 3V pass on the assumption that we'd be leaving the valley 3 days out of 5. And prices dropping in Meribel but not in VT is an indicator that the skiing in Meribel may be dropping off by then...
(Obviously I've been going to the Alps long enough to know that forecasts, particularly over any length of time, are not very helpful)
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I can't offer much, but the same week for the last two (or three) years we've found the best conditions in VT and the 4th Valley. We stayed in Meribel last year, and I think we only too the cabin up to 1850 to start the day twice.
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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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| Higs wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
| Surely the place you stay is only where you have to start and end the day. If you want to see all points of the 3V better to be in the middle surely. Especially if you have kids who may not want to be full on all day which arguably would be required to get from Val T all the way over to above 1650 and back. |
Well, we're staying in VT because the people we're going with are staying in VT (and we're already booked) so that variable is fixed. I could only get an instructor for the kids on the Sunday morning so for the rest of the week we'll have all day. It's really just a question of conditions and whether we'll be seeing Meribel and Courchevel at their best. It will still work out cheaper to get a VT pass and upgrade to 3V for one day. And to get upgrades on 2 days would only be a bit more expensive.
To a degree I'm doing my thinking out loud here but.... If it is likely that (late season) the best of the skiing will be in VT, I wonder if it's worth the extra for a 3V pass on the assumption that we'd be leaving the valley 3 days out of 5. And prices dropping in Meribel but not in VT is an indicator that the skiing in Meribel may be dropping off by then...
(Obviously I've been going to the Alps long enough to know that forecasts, particularly over any length of time, are not very helpful) |
Doh, I thought you were thinking about where to stay.. I should have paid more attention 
Bit tricky, I love Mont Vallon. And the skiing in the Courcheval valley is some of the best in the area.
How old are the kids? Do they ski full days?
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The kids are 11 and have been skiing for 9 weeks previously. They passed the ESF Etoile Bronze at half term and will ski all day. They do faff a bit but I've known adults who are worse!
It's too early to make firm plans but I think we may aim to spend one day in Meribel and, on another day, pass through Meribel as quickly as poss and ski the day in Courchevel. It seems a shame to go the 3V and not ski all 3Vs. Any tips in itinerary for those two days gratefully received.
And if we're going to do 2 days outside VT it makes sense to go for the full pass, for the cash saving but also to avoid having to queue to upgrade.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Also going to the 3V on the 5th April, staying in Meribel as got a good price on a catered chalet. Intend to take lifts into VT and top of Courcheval for the skiing. I'm hoping the pistes back into Meribel will be just about passable at the end of the day....if not, which lifts can you download back down into Meribel?
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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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The Pas du Lac and Saulire express will get you from the top of Courchevel 1850 back to Meribel. The pistes back to Meribel were horrible last week. We made the mistake twice of skiing over from Courchevel. The pistes high up in Courchevel 1850 and 1650 were in good shape and a joy to be on. Lower down things got very soft as the day went on but we could still comfortably ski to 1550 each day where we were staying.
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Best value bite is the bubble bar in 1650 . 5 euros for a panini and small coke ( 6.50 with a beer ).
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You know it makes sense.
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Heading down tomorrow. Wondered what conditions are like in 3Vs
Cheers
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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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It's been rainy at resort level in 1850 here today so not great ... did mean some fresh stuff high up though visibility pretty bad. Even mid level was sleety stuff.
The forecast is for it to turn to snow later before unfortunately becoming rain up to around 2100m tomorrow :/ I will go high though a bit fearful for my son's enthusiasm for his lessons which will be low as he's only second week relative begginer still ... will have to ensure he has lots of chocolatey snacks to keep morale up! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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deep fresh snow alert (not powder) in VT.... the roof which was bare yesterday (in resort)has 10 inches of snow on it. Still snowing .. lots more up top .. wont be open early !!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 30-03-15 13:41; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've just seen a few social media updates from Val Thorens, and apparently they had about 30cm last night. I was in VT all last week, and the snow is in great condition for the time of year anyway. So with the top ups they've seen yesterday and today, the snow should be sorted for Easter skiers over the next fortnight (and beyond!).
Last week was fantastic in VT - the forecasts before going weren't looking the best (lots of whiteouts and no sun!), however in the end we got a couple of days of gorgeous sun and even when it was a whiteout in resort, you could go high and ski in beautiful sunshine above the clouds. My favourite set of runs in Orelle were on good form as always.
We didn't make it to the Folie Douce this year as we'd heard that they didn't have any guest DJ's or pedestrian bubbles (we had a learner with us) due to a serious of drunken incidents in Feb! However the Apres in town more than made up for it!
Can't believe it's 11 months till my next skiing trip 
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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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Heavy as a really heavy thing today (any S.Y.L fans out there?). Up to 40cm new snow on the pistes up higher, but all but the top 100m vert or so off the Saulire very very heavy. Mucho dampness in the air and wet snow slides falling off pretty much any aspect of steeper slopes...
Much slushiness lower down (eg back into 1650).
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Yep, there was lots of lovely fresh snow today at 1850 and well over boot high further up. Nice snow all the way down to 1550 mid morning but by lunchtime getting a bit sleety back at 1850, we went down for lunch at 1550 (nice creperie down just by the bottom of th gondola - would recommend!) ny which time it was heavy rain.
Great days skiing al round despite some rather dodgy visibility at points. Low cloud and a bit rainy now. Looks like it may be alll night, easing up tomorrow hopefully with a few brighter spells. Forecast colder mid week on, hoping for some blue sky days to appreciate the views!
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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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3v links closed today, and we could not even get over to Les Menuires from St Martin. However, managed a few laps of Pramint, and around to the bottom of Les Granges chairlift (which was shut) and back to the St M 2 lift. Snow lovely up top, though the fresh snow was heavy. Managed to ski off the side over a small drop and into about 3ft of snow. Hoping to take my sister and her family further afield tomorrow .
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@Handy Turnip, that might explain why when I went through VT last weekend the lift was all ch and no ondola
Might also be a result of the death at the La Daille Folie Douce in Janaury that happened when I was in VDi. Lad went up on the gondola in a t-shirt, tried to walk down after he'd missed the last lift.
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Always a fan of Swiss. Not today. More than 30cm in places. Heavy as a heavy thing.
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Skiplan reports 50cm at 2900m but nothing at 1850 level (in Les Mis)
Ray Lambert on his blog reports "dangerously heavy snow at 2000m" and avi level of 4
Good luck tomorrow for those out there - could be brighter, still windy, and off piste a no-no
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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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| stevew wrote: |
Might also be a result of the death at the La Daille Folie Douce in Janaury that happened when I was in VDi. Lad went up on the gondola in a t-shirt, tried to walk down after he'd missed the last lift. |
I was struggling to work out why they'd stop the pedestrian bubbles but that would explain it. They're actually very good at the VT folie douce for making sure everyone gets back down the mountain - I remember being in the last group of stragglers skiing back down being closely followed by a group of security on ski's and skidoo's sweeping up behind to make sure we didn't fall in a hole or something.
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Pedestrian access limited to lunch time eating only - VT Folie Douce Statement after drunken fight:
"Dear Folie Douce Friends,
Until further notice, we are obliged to cancel all events implying guest DJs at our venue. Coming up to Folie Douce on the lifts without skis has also been forbidden by the SETAM until March.
Last week's party had a sad turn out, too many people got too drunk, it was plain ugly: this is not what Folie Douce is about. We do our best to offer you the highest quality music, we work hard to keep the venue beautiful with respect to the nature that surrounds us, our staff and security strive to keep you safe and satisfied, that is what we are about, this is Folie Douce. Good music, beauty and great vibes. We want that every person leaves with the sensation that they had the best time of their lives, not the nightmare of leaving in an ambulance.
So out of respect to our staff, our artists and most of all yourselves, we expect YOU to come to our venue with the same attitude"
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Andy4467, sad to say but it doesn't surprise me that VT FD is the one to get the idiots. FD brand has been distilled down from a fun party for all comers a few years ago, to Gap Yah 20something only idiocy that it is today. Too loud, one type of music, same daft chanting on the mic, all attracts too many fancy dress and tops-off tw@ts (a speciality of VT despite the attempt to go more up-market), no-one else wants to go so there's variety of customer. I shudder to think what the alpe-d-huez version is like.
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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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@Dr John, Ironically the Alpe d'Huez FD is the only one I have actually visited and I was reasonably surprised, I've bypassed the Val Thorens, Meribel and the Val d'Isere FD's for the very reasons you describe...
Skiing (for me) is too valuable a hobby to ruin with the consequences of skiing home after a skin full.... 
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@Andy4467, +1
Warm today so pretty slushy, some nice clearer spells this morning but rapidly changing from cloud to clear and visa versa. Pretty cloudy up top in the afternoon so visibility dodgy. Got miserable late afternoon from the middle down - had to retire for coffee and nutella waffles!
Wet sleery stuff now, due to cool down soon so hopefully will turn to some sniw. So tomorrow likely to be either some nice fresh just pisted stuff or icy boiler plate ... we'll see!
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You know it makes sense.
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@Rowlski, keep up the condition reports - very much appreciated from here.
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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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| Quote: |
Freezing level @2000m tomoz
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 Meteo France has the 0 iso at 1100m in the afternoon.
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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, Skiplan and Meteo France seem to have a difference of opinion...
The link I posted is very specific to Les Mis and the one I use when in resort
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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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well, let's hope that Meteo France, who forecast "quelque flocons" down to 800m are correct.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fantastic conditions today, far more snow fell last night than had been forecast down to quite low levels (definitely as far as 1550). Seemed to be around 10cm or so in resort and way more higher up, again over boot high and lovely fluffy powdery stuff, no wet claggy stuff.
Quite a few pistes were completely unpisted higher up, probably less than 50%. Where not too deep it was lovely but numpty piste only skiers like myself found it a bit hard going where deep, especially once it had been churned up a bit.
Where the new snow had been pisted it was simply glorious, some of the best skiing I've experienced especially as it remains pretty quiet. Visibility much better too, bit in and out this morning but pretty sunny in the afternoon.
Looks like staying pretty cold tomorrow, no more snow forecast, so looking forward to it. Nursing my knee and popping ibuprofen now after twisting it a bit with some over enthusiastic sledging this evening with the kids after the pistes closed, doh!
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Ibuprofen and wine 
With temps looking to stay pretty cold anyone out next week should be in for a spring skiing treat, especially if the sun stays out a bit.
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@Rowlski, hope your knee allows you to enjoy the conditions.
36hrs until we drive down and your report on current conditions has fixed a smile firmly on my face
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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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Thanks @Roger C, I suspect you and @larkim will have a blast.
I think the wine is doing the trick on the knee, will definitely be giving it a go dosed up on more pills tomorrow 
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