Lovely in the Summer. I walked up there a few times in the winter with the dog over the years. Each time I think: "I'll bring my board next time "
Weather's a bit pants at the moment ( heavy snow, no visibility), but it's due to snow a bit more this week, so I'm thinking maybe Saturday. I don't plan going all the way up to the really steep rocky bits, but just up to where the grassy part ends, and come down the Col du Plan Champ.
Also Mrs WoC went over to Morgins today "for exercise", no border guards. Col Du Corbier and Pas de Morgins pretty well cleared of snow. The snow went down to halfway between Troistorrents and Monthey (probably 650m).
Does anyone know if the local ski clubs will be running training and allowed to use the lifts before January?
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@polo, The road closes every Autumn while they empty all the rocks from the landslide cages, and patch up bits of the road that have fallen into the ravine, so I'm not sure it's Covd related. It's still accessible via the Plateau de Gavot or the Col Du Corbier ( and the Pas de Morgins ).
@doddsie, no news from ESF, assume no, end result is I don’t have a ski pass for my ski fanatic kid, and too late for discounts
@WindOfChange, I drive that road a lot and it’s often closed in autumn as you say, but it wasn’t closed last week, probably an amusing coincidence, but I’m all for Chatel joining Switzerland, you know, give it more purpose.
(Tried to do a smiley face but rest of message gets erased)
Snow was surprisingly hard going today. 10cm of fluff on the frozen base was a lot less forgiving than soft grass underneath
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
polo wrote:
(Tried to do a smiley face but rest of message gets erased)
You have to use the Snowheads emojis! @admin doesn’t like the those iPhone imposters!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Ahhh that’s better, and it’s still dribbling snow
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.
@doddsie, apparently, kids clubs running in Chamonix, no idea if just for local school kids or not.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
under a new name wrote:
@doddsie, apparently, kids clubs running in Chamonix, no idea if just for local school kids or not.
Vallées ski clubs (clubs from towns with no lifts, which have to commute for training on Wednesday afternoons) will start the season with a disadvantage
For instance our son's club trains in Mont Chery (LG) but no news so far.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Webcam showing the Yeti in Les Gets shows some slalom poles being set up.
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.
Snowed down to below 400m at Lac Leman yesterday. Never seen so many abandoned cars on the drive up from Thonon, easily 10+ cars stranded from yesterday, including one in the middle of the road on a tight blind corner, did leave his hazard lights on at least.
Here's an idea of snow depth at village 1200m. There were 20-30 people out skiing touring on both sides of the valley, including an ESF instructor and an ESI instructor, so everyone acting like touring is allowed.
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
Just went up to Chavannes / La Croix, probably odd to keep skiing the same piste over and over, so this is the last one from here
Oh and I found this track called Sunrise on Spotify, by someone called Incredible Polo, nice ring to it
You can see a lot of the early piste security has been done, setting up crash barriers etc
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
doddsie wrote:
Does anyone know if the local ski clubs will be running training and allowed to use the lifts before January?
Spotted this message from the FFS with conditions for clubs, looks to me like valley clubs will be able to train too.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@polo, touring is allowed.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@under a new name, ok good to know, Would have saved me some time and base repairs as I was scratching around out of sight in recent weeks.
Conditions are very good here at the moment as I tried to illustrate. Amazed to see Cham didn’t get much this time, as it’s basically around the corner....looked like a very widespread snowfall coming in, and Cham meteo were suggesting 20-30cm, so it must be a pretty freakish outcome.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@polo, I don't know how freakish. I often see Morzine getting more snow than we do, but over a season obviously, CHX does better. There's a degree of confirmation bias in there of course.
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?
@under a new name, well Cham resort has almost twice the altitude, but if you compare like for like, with both villages at 1000m approx. , do you think there's much in it?
@polo, I was specifically referring to village level. I think it's my memory at work. Confirmation bias. There are definitely reasonably frequent occasions when Morzine gets more snow at 1,000m
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Chamonix averages 10-20% more snow than Morzine at resort level.
Doesn’t Morzine (or at least Avoriaz) get the most snow statistically of resorts in this area due to its positioning between the various masifs?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@BobinCH, urban myth I reckon.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Avoriaz / Chatel are often the snowiest in France by virtue of being sandwiched between moisture feeding Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. The flip side is we also get rain when temps are warmer.
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.
@under a new name, not according to the annual report by weathertoski.com (and this from a guy who seems to pick out Morzine a lot whenever rain is mentioned in the NW alps).
"With a seasonal snowfall average of nearly 8m, Avoriaz is comfortably the snowiest ski resort in France. At resort level nowhere else even comes close."
I'm not sure how that works vs Cham if Morzine often gets more snow as you say, but not overall for the season....I'm not aware of any massive dumps that only Chamonix gets......but if Whitegold says it then I believe it.
Now even if you can believe the various measurements, it's probably still misleading to consider Avoriaz the snowiest "resort"....it may well be the snowiest resort village though.
So Avoriaz is possibly snowiest place in France at 1800m......but do other resorts use the same methods to provide measurements at 1800m too?......arghhhhhh, oh look it's snowing again
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
A lot of willy waving going on. All I care about is I’ve been touring all weekend and @under a new name,
hasn’t been able to, due to lack of snow
Many of the lower pistes in the Morzine and Nyon areas have had the snow making going and are now bashed resulting in surprisingly good cover for the time of year. On the uncannoned slopes I’d estimate 40cm has fallen. The snow yesterday was pretty light so it was easy to break through to the bottom on the steeper slopes if one was being a bit heavy footed.
It’s snowing again as I type but I suspect it will be short lived.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
zzz wrote:
A lot of willy waving going on. All I care about is I’ve been touring all weekend and @under a new name,
hasn’t been able to, due to lack of snow
Harsh, but fair
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.
Yeah there’s no need to rub it in, others may get offended, so I’ll do my willy waving out on the slopes.
“GoPro stop recording”
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
Sounds a bit chilly.....
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@shep,
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Against my better instincts I went ski touring for the first time this weekend on Mt Drouzin.
Normally I snow shoe up and snowboard down, but somebody kindly lent me a spare set of kit.
The boots were 2 sizes too big, but a couple of pairs of socks sorted that.
All went swimmingly on the way up, but in the midst of all the faffing when transitioning from uphill to down hill mode, I thought I had done all the necessary steps.
Unclip, un-skin, turn heels round, tighten boots, clip front in again, lock in back binding, stomp a bit to make sure it's on.
We set off, beautiful deep snow, nice steep-ish pitch. I was trying to lift the tips a bit as the snow was deep, and woosh I got spat out the back door straight away.
Ok so I only ski 1 day a year, this are not my skis or boots (which don't fit), and I haven't skied pow for a few years (always board), but even allowing for this, it just felt bad as soon as I tried to lift the tips.
To the great credit of those who taught me to ski many years ago, who made us do drills of skiing down with our boots undone, I soon found a point of balance where I would not sink too much, but I could also turn ok, but it was way harder than I ever remember powder skiing, as I kept feeling like I would get spat out the back the whole time.
Only when I got to the bottom, and was loosening my boots off again, did I remember that there was this big-ass clip on the back of the boots that you're supposed to clip in to put the boots into ski-mode, as it provides stability and resistance on the back of the boots
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@WindOfChange, too funny. Thats a thing with rando, there's quite a lot to remember! I am only just getting into it and one morning last year I was thinking to myself, "jeepers, this is unusually hard work" when I noticed I was still fully in downhill mode ...
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@WindOfChange, So can I assume you will be on skis next time we meet?
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?
@woc, lesson learned, one plank, or two that become one, step in, slide down. I thought I was getting better at all the transition stuff until today when I managed to put the skins on facing backwards, ie no grip.
@shep, yes chilly, -9c tomorrow morning in town, but sometimes nature calls (made sure I was facing south)
Lunch time wander up to Ranfoilly today, still snowing
Wow, looks like that would have been worth the walk!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Yep but I think it’s always worth the walk. Today was different, nobody else in sight, cold and snowing lightly.
The pistes are all semi bashed, like a rough coat of cement, but covered in enough fresh snow not to rattle hard. I stuck to the softer sides and known snowy tracks.
But there’s a good reason I don’t go there often, 3 times the hike for not much more downhill than the easy blue on Chavannes.
Here’s another view from the eh viewing gallery at 1500m heading into the bowl
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I just had an email from Les Gets lift pass office saying Verbier will not be accepting PdS season pass vouchers at least until after 11/1. I wondered if it was going to go on to say they are switching off PdS passes bought on the french side until french lifts open, but they haven't yet - perhaps they legally can't?
After all it is free
After all it is free
@shep, they've turned off the reciprocal Chamonix passes as well, from what I hear it's just so busy over there, queueing out of control and C-19 rising again. Nothing to stop you going over and buying a pass however.
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.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
"
Ahhh that’s better, and it’s still dribbling snow
