 Poster: A snowHead
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| jebroni3_16 wrote: |
| wam15 wrote: |
| Thanks all will add them to the list. Staying in champolouc but have 1 non skier so will come back to meet for lunch somewhere on some days! |
How did your non-skier friend get on in Champoluc?
Got friend heading there for half-term and was thinking of joining them with my non-skiing partner, but I fear her options seem very limited.
In hindsight, she should have come to Interlaken with me because the Jungfrau area is very foot-friendly. |
Good, had some nice walks along the river. The spa received rave reviews as well. We were only there for a long weekend though and think options for a week would be very limited. On the way out going home I did notice an ice go kart track which could be fun!
Will say if you want to meet for lunch does reduce your skiing options quite a lot.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for reply, @wam15. Sounds like it probably would be suitable if we went to Turin Sun to Sat, with a day or two there at each end, and only 3 days in Champoluc in the middle, with me boarding for at least one of them. But still probably not ideal.
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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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Just Back from Champoluc. Had very Cold week with their bonus of a top of snow early last week. Theres lots of rocks showing off piste, the piste skiing was excellent. However the -18 we experienced beginning of the week turned to 2degrees by Sunday and the snow was starting to turn a bit. Lovely place to Ski
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@marksovereign,
Thanks for the update. Sounds good. Counting the days till 5th March now!
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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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@johnboy, it’s been warmer than usual this week, but lots of great pistes conditions to be found anyway. We have managed the sun through the day, sunny slopes morning and ones that get the sun later for the afternoon. Also see my thread for eating, toilet and slope advice. I will put a full trip report up when I am back this weekend. Writing this with a lovely glass of wine in Gressoney sector right now. Looking at literally empty slopes. And it’s half term week!
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@zikomo,
Cheers for the update, just had a look at the webcams and as you say pistes look ok, but in general could do with a top up?
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@johnboy, A top up would be welcome for sure, but the whole area is open and there are good piste conditions to be found. There were some death cookies around on some runs first thing in the morning. And scraped to hardback patches in some places. Only came across real ice in a couple for spots. It really helps to make sure your edges are kept sharp, given it is mostly older artificial snow we found edges needed doing every 2 days at most. But it is all good we had an absolute ball.
Definitely ski over to Alagna (if it is warm don't go any lower than Pianalunga). The "black" on that side is great. Gressoney was completely deserted and has some of the best restaurants. We got fed but with the walk between the end of piste and the lifts at Stafal and took to downloading on the gondola - follow signs to Alagna when returning from Gressoney this way, which will take you via a path to the gondola station.
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| Quote: |
It really helps to make sure your edges are kept sharp
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@zikomo, we ended up acquiring FIS SL skis just for Monterosa weekends 
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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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@under a new name, Mrs Z has fancy Elan skis, marked "left" and "right". So essentially always using only one edge of each ski. Complaints started on day two. Had to sharpen them every night after that! My daughter fared best as always - on FIS SL skis so great minds think alike. Added benefit is she would never let anyone else, let alone me, service her gear so one less task.
Thanks again for all your recommendations. My youngest (12) particularly grateful to be taken to Le Sapin where he raved about the lamb. As promised the steaks were also excellent and the bill very reasonable. We also enjoyed Lo Bistrot but not a cheap night out! Didn't manage L'Essential so something to look forward to next time.
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Cams only showing a slight new dusting today. Any peeps on the ground?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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15-20 cms above 2000 mtrs unfortunately that was on warm mud so that has conciliated to about 5cms, although it is well sub zero with a constant dusting for most of the day and still falling
Lots of people rushing around on fat skis with great purpose ..I can only assume they didn’t see conditions before the weekend or have no regard for their bodies. The only place I was monitoring seriously last week was Olen under the face which had compacted coverage but today was super subscribed and so shaved bald.
Heard top of Balma was doable but unpleasant, no Indren lift so quite a yomp for not a great return.
Skiers right on bettaforca looked like it has potential but not really after closer inspection.
Didn’t drop into champers.
I did enjoy edge of piste powder this morning and will continue to regard this last event as first dump of the season.
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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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@Super Steezy,
Cheers, take it piste conditions are ok now?
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| Super Steezy wrote: |
I did enjoy edge of piste powder this morning and will continue to regard this last event as first dump of the season. |
Well, if the snow we had Jan 15–17 doesn't count as a dump then I'm definitely going back (perhaps a bit later in the season) in a future year!
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You know it makes sense.
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| jmr59 wrote: |
| Super Steezy wrote: |
I did enjoy edge of piste powder this morning and will continue to regard this last event as first dump of the season. |
Well, if the snow we had Jan 15–17 doesn't count as a dump then I'm definitely going back (perhaps a bit later in the season) in a future year! |
I did hear it was good but it has been hot hot hot (not even freezing at night for a few nights last week)so since then most of it has gone. It has now got good and cold and the forecast seems to point to cold with only very slight wind (recently wind tends to make the temps swing).
The 15-25 cms that did fall over the weekend has covered a lot of rock and there is only patchy base at higher elevations so yes you are right I am being ungenerous in my assessment.
I am very happy to say that when I returned at the end of the day my boots were not covered in cow sh17 and p155 also happy to say today I did get the goodies although my skis are spending the night at the doctors.
Olen was actually very good and I did get tempted by Giaccetti when peeking up it as it looked like it had good coverage however by the time i boot packed it up to Zuba (not viable at the moment IMO on skins) there were three or four sets of tracks leading into the top of it which defiantly would made it more jump turny over rock than I like so I went back around Zuba as the viz had got much better and down the valley (never remember its name) under Civera to the Lago Gabiet It was definitely very boney but a few good turns made it in balance a good day.
The pistes have recovered form the Italian holidays as well as the heat of last week and are skiing very nicely having had 3 or 4 after bashing with the snow making piles adding a certain frisson in the fog.
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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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4/5 solid, options are open !
Way more lower
Beta says 20 on Weissmatten
In van for a poke after rage off the cols
March goodies a go go
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Super Steezy,
Happy days
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Is it feasible to hit all 3 valleys in a single day? Say starting at Frachey, working over to Pianalunga and back? And is there a preferred starting point? (Staffel maybe?)
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| Satchboogie wrote: |
| Is it feasible to hit all 3 valleys in a single day? Say starting at Frachey, working over to Pianalunga and back? And is there a preferred starting point? (Staffel maybe?) |
If you're moderately happy skiing top-to-bottom it's feasible to hit all 3 valleys in a couple of hours: it's really not a long way.
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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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| Satchboogie wrote: |
| Is it feasible to hit all 3 valleys in a single day? Say starting at Frachey, working over to Pianalunga and back? And is there a preferred starting point? (Staffel maybe?) |
Hard to answer this without knowing how you ski. Possible to ski from Champoluc to Alagna and back to Greasoney in time for morning coffee. Also true that lots of people see it as a big day out. What’s your level and how many times do you stop on a 800m vertical piste? Those are probably the determining factors. Most reasonable intermediates seem to take a day to do it but can do it all the same.
It actually is a long way in terms of distance travelled, which is cool. But not a long way in terms of miles skied as pretty direct.
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I like big/long days. I've comfortably done 40+ miles and 36.5k+ vert each of the last 3 days in Cervinia/Zermatt. I don't much care for stopping, either during a run or during the day, I eat/drink on the lifts.  That said, I did make a few coffee/beer breaks in Furi, but it's not my usual. I'm not sure how it would compare to say Cervinia - Matterhorn Glacial Paradise - Gornergrat - Rothhorn - Hohtalli - Valtournenche in a day?
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To get from Frachey to Alagna only involves something like 2,700m of vertical descent: just getting from one end to the other is really not a lot of skiing.
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@Satchboogie, in that case, like for us, it will be an easy morning jaunt!
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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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I'm glad I decided to head there this morning. I picked Stafal to park (beautiful drive up there!), in hindsight I should have parked at Frachey. The day started great, some clouds with a little blue sky here and there. Maybe 10cm? of fresh snow on the trail, conditions were perfect early. I headed first towards Frachey, going down C14/C15, making my way over to Crest and doing C5 and then C6 black (my favorite of the day), then making my way back to Stafal and up to Salati pass. I was really looking forward to V3... but the clouds were think above Gabiet. I started the run anyways and quickly ended up in whiteout. I couldn't even see the next piste marker pole. Ended up quite a slow run and not really fun without being able to see anything at all.
After that I did a few runs down G7/8, G6, and G5. By that point (12ish), the trails below Gabiet were all kinda wet slush. I headed back to the otherside. The western side of Bettaforca was also now near whiteout, but the East side was in the clear. I repeated the run down C14/C15, but this time c15 was a slow wet mess. I decided to not risk trying to get back over to C6 and instead just did a few laps down c14 before going back through the whiteout down to Stafal.
Overall I enjoyed the morning runs far more than anything in Cervinia (besides run 7 from Plateau Rosa). Monterosa just feels bigger, more dramatic, and of course steeper. Aside from parts of G6, I didn't get many flat or uphill sections like the many annoying ones on Cervinia 
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Really glad you enjoyed it, @Satchboogie: it’s a lovely place to ski! Now, did you also stop for a nice lunch?!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| jmr59 wrote: |
| Really glad you enjoyed it, @Satchboogie: it’s a lovely place to ski! Now, did you also stop for a nice lunch?! |
I didn't. I've been just doing dinner, otherwise 'lunch' is a snacking on meat/cheese/snacks I bring along. With a few exceptions maybe, the food at the slope-side chalet's didn't look amazing (Cervinia/Valtornenche). Not that anything looked bad, just not worth getting over the awesome meet/cheese I already had.
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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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@Satchboogie, I don't know Cervinia at all really, but you can certainly eat very well at lunchtime around Monterosa
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@Satchboogie, lunch at Foyer des Guides No 1 piste into Valtournenche. Plenty of lunch stops in Monterosa.
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You know it makes sense.
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Strange post. Some amazing places to eat on Cervinia. And good options in Monterosa. Weird to think that the meat/cheese in your pocket is so superior that none of those establishments could compete. Each to their own and maybe it’s a budget thing.
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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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| zikomo wrote: |
| Strange post. Some amazing places to eat on Cervinia. And good options in Monterosa. Weird to think that the meat/cheese in your pocket is so superior that none of those establishments could compete. Each to their own and maybe it’s a budget thing. |
I didn't mean to say there weren't good places, I just meant I already had great cheese and meat that I picked up from a local cheese shop, so I didn't want to stop and cut into my ski time unless it was a sandwich that looked spectacular. Plus I was eating well in the evenings in Valtournenche (I wanted to check out a few great looking places in Cervinia center but they were fully booked the entire week), so I didn't want to get full on a sandwich/pasta/pizza/etc unless it looked out of this world.
And in Monterosa, I only had one day so I was first focused on getting in as much skiing as possible, but then with the bad weather, decided to head back a little early and just wanted to get back to Valtournenche rather than hang around Monterosa and get back late.
That said, I did stop at the bar/restaurant across from Aosta-Pila (top of the gondola) and had a nice crespelle alla valdostana. I ended the ski day early to head into Aosta and check out the sites before leaving but ended up outside at the bar for a while just gazing at the views of the Grand Combin since it was really nice out.
I will definitely be back and maybe spend a bit of time checking out the slope-side bars/restaurants... but probably won't want to stop cause that's just me
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Poster: A snowHead
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I don't think many of us can cope with big meals lunchtime and in the evening. And lots of people with only a week to ski want to spend as much of it as possible out on the slopes. I don't find that "strange" at all.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Linking Zermatt/Cervinia with Monte Rosa might be moving slowly but it is moving. Be exciting if this ever happens.
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