 Poster: A snowHead
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@phillip33, Ta!
The traffic lights at Aigueblanche are already in operation, when I said the queues would start early I didn’t think it would be this early. Delays into Chambery and Geneva has just fogged out - it might be a long day for some.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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next week likely to be even earlier and possibly worse if the predicted weather comes in
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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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| chocksaway wrote: |
@phillip33, Ta!
The traffic lights at Aigueblanche are already in operation, when I said the queues would start early I didn’t think it would be this early. Delays into Chambery and Geneva has just fogged out - it might be a long day for some. |
The queues on the way out also look quite long as per Google Maps: the Siaix tunnel lights create a back up all the way up to the outskirts of Bourg St Maurice!
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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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@balso, Yeah, I had a message from a mate travelling down. Tignes to Chambery took an extra 1hr and 45 mins.
A grand morning with sun shining and fresh snow, it did cloud over mid afternoon but nothing to spoil the day really. There were a few slips about, so with a bucket of caution we set off for a morning off piste. Starting at Merles we went cross country to Tichot and then down the less steep parts of the airport run. As expected the snow was not light and fluffy powder like last weekend, lower down temperature had had its effect, higher up the wind had blasted it into the slopes. That said, fresh track are fresh tracks. Had a nice chat with the Mayor of Tignes in the lift queue for Lanches. As Vanoise and the Cable Car were still being deiced we opted for Cairn and Genepy for our explorations. Following that it was Familial to Rosies for coffee. And then Col de Ves to watch the lemmings traverse in the sun under the Aiguille Noir de Pramecou to find chopped up sun affected crud. We stuck to northerly pitches - far more fun and not tracked out. Petit Chardo followed - didn't fancy the full Monty as there had been a slip in one of the Couloirs. And finally it was up to the Eye followed by a return home via the less steep of the Palafour Couloirs. A grand day out - followed by donning the Marigolds (other brands of rubber gloves are available).
The weather - I can't rule out a light dusting this evening but nothing to change the price of fish. Tomorrow will be mostly overcast with the odd glimpse of the sun perhaps. A slight increase in temperature on today will be offset by a breeze. Monday will start with sunny periods and then the cloud will thicken. Snow showers are likely towards the end of the afternoon, or maybe a bit later. From Tuesday - hang on to your hats it's going to be a wild one. Snow wind and rain maybe as high as Val village for at least 3 days. From Friday it's still unsettled but it starts to cool so those banking on only snow for the 'last mile' on Saturday may well be disappointed to find themselves donning chains not long after Bourg. This is clearly a long way off and it may change especially as the Azores High is showing signs of building over next weekend which could push the weather north.
It looks like the locals with the early start this morning spread the load across the day as the traffic jams have been small and constant up to now. For the travellers tomorrow - showery in the UK with a chance of fog at Gatwick and Stansted. Over here - pretty much like today - Grenoble OK and a chance of fog at Lyon, Geneva and Chambery - maybe the odd delay on the ground if the latter goes out in fog - but there's very few flights into there tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning I will be a dot on the horizon - full service resumes (all being well) after the school hols.
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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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@chocksaway, to mangle the old flyers' valediction, "green lights and no tailbacks" 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@moosepig, I’ve now got half a French restaurant looking at me having laughed out loud at that!
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And now for the news....... It's snowing! (quite heavily by the looks of things  )
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Hooray!! Looks like a decent dump over the next week.
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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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Avalanche Risk 4 tomorrow and forecast to be 5 on Thursday. Be careful what you wish for - unless you like skiing the village magic carpets.
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Avi 5!! Seems to be more common these days; I'd never heard of it happening until the 2018 snowmageddon (when they had to tunnel out of the Alpaka to open it up).
I suspect the real danger will be in the powder frenzy that will follow, with that weak layer still lurking.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| moosepig wrote: |
Avi 5!! Seems to be more common these days; I'd never heard of it happening until the 2018 snowmageddon (when they had to tunnel out of the Alpaka to open it up).
I suspect the real danger will be in the powder frenzy that will follow, with that weak layer still lurking. |
You must be too young to remember maybe  We had almost a whole week closed and AV5 in the winter of 98/99 and I can recall quite a few in the early 00's
I'm worried about driving my car up this weekend with summer tyres and chains.. I always have winter tyres and just couldn't make it happen this year... adventure incoming
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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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Ah, I didn't start skiing until 2003 (well into my 30s) and didn't visit the EK until '06. I'll take "young" though!
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We are driving up this weekend too. Luckily we are arriving on the Sunday, so hoping that most of the carnage will have abated.
Certainly looks very snowy on the web cams
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You know it makes sense.
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MF have issued a vigilance rouge (red warning) for the Savoie:
Avalanches
Qualification : Situation avalancheuse remarquable, et même exceptionnelle jeudi sur la Haute-Tarentaise et près du Mont-Blanc.
Observations notables : On a déjà observé ce mercredi quelques avalanches ayant atteint des fonds de vallées, vers 1400 m et 1700 m d'altitude.
Évolution prévue : Sur le massif de Haute-Tarentaise en Savoie, la situation avalancheuse s'annonce exceptionnelle ce jeudi et nécessite une vigilance accrue, plus particulièrement autour des villages de Villaroger, de Tignes et de Val d'Isère. Des avalanches pourront atteindre des routes et des infrastructures de montagne, voire des habitations, généralement au dessus de 1800 m d’altitude. Mais en raison du manteau neigeux en place particulièrement instable, certaines avalanches de grande ampleur sont à craindre et pourront descendre plus bas dans les vallées.
Avalanches
Qualification: Remarkable avalanche situation, and even exceptional Thursday on the Haute-Tarentaise and near Mont-Blanc.
Notable observations: Some avalanches have already been observed this Wednesday that have reached the bottom of valleys, around 1400 m and 1700 m altitude.
Expected evolution: On the Haute-Tarentaise massif in Savoie, the avalanche situation promises to be exceptional this Thursday and requires increased vigilance, more particularly around the villages of Villaroger, Tignes and Val d'Isère. Avalanches can reach mountain roads and infrastructure, or even houses, usually above 1800 m above sea level. But due to the particularly unstable snow cover in place, some large-scale avalanches are to be feared and may descend lower into the valleys.
Stay (very) safe folks
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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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Is the Dutch Sports ski rental shop based in Le Lac ? And when I click on "book my equipment" takes me to Skimium.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Birani, Yes - they are associated/franchised with Skimium. I used Duch Sports the last 3 years for my kids gear. No complaints.
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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 have two rooms that i no longer need at Hotel Autantic in BSM for Friday if anyone wants them or knows anyone driving down Friday and wanting to get as close as possible
booked via Booking.com so can just change names
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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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I see there are some hardy souls out there on Palafour and Tichot (both of which are flagged to shut at 11?!?). Next door seemed to have opened up a lot of terrain - which will rely on folks staying on piste - fingers crossed.
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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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Early night tonight - there is a curfew from 2300 to 0600 tomorrow.
So if you’re not in bed by 11 go home!
Suspect the Police will be closing the bars just after 10.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| mullins wrote: |
| @Birani, Yes - they are associated/franchised with Skimium. I used Duch Sports the last 3 years for my kids gear. No complaints. |
Same, we have used them for 5 years and they are great. Worth contacting them directly as they may be able to sort out a better deal than through Skimium
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| chocksaway wrote: |
Early night tonight - there is a curfew from 2300 to 0600 tomorrow.
So if you’re not in bed by 11 go home!
Suspect the Police will be closing the bars just after 10. |
I'd say if not in bed by 10 pm, go home before getting caught in the 11pm curfew. 
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Beautiful and dangerous by the looks of the webcams. Can’t believe people are skiing down Lognan after a metre of snow in 2 days delivered by a westerly and an avi risk just downgraded from 5 to 4 
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I’m only on my phone so no detailed snow forecast but after a few sunny periods on Sunday mostly snow and wind.
Tomorrow will be overcast and light snow through the daylight hours. It may stop for a bit over lunchtime. Meteo France have the rain snow line varying between 1300 and 1600m so for the travellers the last few miles may well be very slow and require special equipment. With 24k vehicles leaving the Tarentaise it will be slow on busy roads. With 35k arriving it would be slow in good weather conditions - bring a picnic.
For the fliers, no problems in the UK apart from early morning departures almost anywhere may need deicing to get rid of overnight sleet that should have stopped falling before first take offs.
I can’t foresee any props at the 4 alpine airports serving the area but it may be a bit bumpy in the afternoon.
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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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Reports from resort say the Regie des Pistes have been very busy resupplying the Gazexs with Butane and Oxygen cylinders all day. Prepare for an early morning call tomorrow!
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You know it makes sense.
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Lashing down in SF….several inches since 6pm……
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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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That's a sweet line he was riding.
If he'd moved over to the far side, he'd probably have swerved the main slide down the middle, and not got scooped up in it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Had a beer in the White Rabbit last night whilst waiting for my SOS pizza's and got chatting to a guy who was a pisteur. He said it's been an awful year and was involved in digging out the 3 bodies last week. Said the pistes were in great shape, but that off-piste this year was proving treacherous.
Been a challenging day today, but full marks for getting a decent amount of pistes open.
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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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Looks like a laundry day on the webcams.
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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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...and STGM appears to concur; everything now closed apart from the carpets and the Lavachet drag.
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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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And you have to use the bus between the villages!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| moosepig wrote: |
| Looks like a laundry day on the webcams. |
It was a great storm skiing day in Val at La Daille !! Lapping the Gondi and Funival. Such heavy snow and instant refills in the trees.. was a fun day!
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Enjoy being locked in folks. The road to the Dam is shut from 2300 to 0500 tonight.
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Fun! And pedestrian movements between the villages is banned apparently until further notice. I've not seen that before until this week.
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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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| moosepig wrote: |
| Fun! And pedestrian movements between the villages is banned apparently until further notice. I've not seen that before until this week. |
Think it was Jan 17 or 18 it last happened lost 3 days skiing but refunded by stgm
Cars well buried and people evacuated from chalets between val c and le lac in middle of night
Snow was fantastic for a few days afterwards
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From Lumiplan it would appear that the local avalanche risk has been raised to 5. The road down to the Dam, forecast to open at 0500 is closed till mid morning at least (Source: Mairie).
Patience is a virtue!
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