The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

Hurtle - haha indeed! pam w - yes he gave it his all! Bless indeed!

Dr John - yes it has been an interesting day. Very much Winter conditions out there... both quantity / quality of snow and also the temps - pretty cold for late March out there really. Tomorrow is another day for pow and lots of it thats for sure!

moosepig - you most certainly can usually navigate there by sound can't you. I quite often whilst up in the Col Pers / Grand Vallon sorts of areas can hear the Folie music - it moves directly up the valley its quite (badly) amazing really!

Its very much still Winter!

It was tough getting up this morning with the clock change really kicking in but the kids did not notice... they had to be woken up at 0700. Anyway getting them sorted was easy enough.

However had two issues needing to sort this morning - firstly the leak (apparently from upstairs!) in our flat we rent out in town still being problematic. The leak seems to have gotten worse overnight so I have tried to make contact with the managing company - still trying to get something sorted on that from this afternoon. The second issue was a new one... it revolved around the father of the person I was supposed to be teaching this afternoon... a real medical emergency meant they had been admitted at short notice to hospital last night... so I felt compassion to find a solution to try and mean they could still have their lesson. So I worked something out this morning so they would not lose out on their lesson whilst they drive down the valley to be beside said fathers bedside.... im pleased to say this afternoon it does sound more promising for them but phew a bit of a manic start to the day!

On top of that I needed to get my boarding as well as my ski stuff to the meet area via Snowberry this morning to be in position for the boarding lessons Ive got this week. By time I got to meet point I was already knackered - haha!

The weather meanwhile had deposited another 40cm or snow (about 25cm on average) on top of the 40cm we had the previous day. So there is a lot out there. The av risk was 4 this morning but I think as it has continued to snow all day and might snow more tonight that it could get to a high 4 by tomorrow. There will have to be a lot of blasting going on tomorrow thats for sure. The sun is forecast to come out tomorrow and then later in the week yet more snow might fall! Blimey its still Winter really isnt it!

So my am lesson was with the older brother of a nice chap I have taught in the past. The husband of the lady had not managed to get on the holiday at the last minute which meant she was here on her own and therefore if I went off with the elder son she would be skiing by herself therefore with the teen sons blessing she came with us.

It was 50:50 really where we went but at least by going Bellevarde side we had the option of skiing down low to La Daille and into the trees so thats what we did. To be honest the wind up the top was not as bad as I thought it was going to be but the vis certainly was. The snow lovely and quite light and deep and not wind affected! However as always when the wind comes from the north / west sort of direction it is always a head on battle down from the top. With the Fontaine Froide being de-neiged and the pisteurs not securing the area yet the only real option was Marmottes (back up into the head wind - no thanks) or Mont Blanc - better or down to La Daille with the masses. So we opted for my preferred option of lapping Mont Blanc a couple of times and it was quite pleasant actually but as the vis got worse we decided skiing to La Daille would be an even better option! Despite it being very busy we did a couple of laps on the La Daille gondola before a magic window in the weather appeared with blue skies and vis suddenly... we made the most of it but it was short lived as by the time we got to the top of the funi it had closed back in. doh! So a couple of laps in the (now) open Fontaine Froide in lovely knee deep pow was in order. Yes the wind was quite strong but it was filling in nicely on that side - jolly good all round really!

After running an errand in town I have been at home this afternoon and watching the crazy weather continue outside.

There is going to be a lot of snow out there by the morning - the pisteurs are going to be very busy tomorrow thats for sure!

Clare has been finishing off the last of a multi day booking with her American family and the kids will be at swimming / gym club later on before I head to collect them.

TTFN

P.S. For those thinking of coming out here for a last blast soon - do it... whats (hopefully) better is after this week and next I still have a few slots of lessons / guiding etc both on and off piste available before late April when I (finally) hang up my ski boots!

Those icicles elsewhere on our balcony are about 1m long!!!!!

It doesnt look too snowy out there but really it is!

A snowHead

My wife has just been sent a video of a HUGE avalanche in Tignes, with huge dust-cloud engulfing skiers on piste.
Luckily it seems nobody hurt.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@rungsp, was last week, coming of Grand Balme on then P's side. Very lucky.

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Spectacular power day, that's all to be said really.

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Twice in 17 years!

The sun was shining and there was a lot of expectation in the air out there after a few stormy days. The pisteurs PIDA work surprisingly didnt seem to return too much this morning from what I could see from the balcony this morning as the CATEX and GASEX's were going off.

Anyway the kids off to school I headed to the meet point and there was a lot of people excited based on the number of people queuing for the Olympic etc at first doors. Haha

I was quite surprised how quickly things got going and open (on time virtually) actually but I was mindful there was going to be a good chance that Solaise side might have a slower opening in terms of options so we decided to queue for the Bellevarde side - I had a plan in mind! Most people when they get up Bellevarde head down towards the Borsat / Marmottes area first thing so working towards Grand Pre immediately was the best option.... WHY?..... well because my teen charge I wanted to get into the pow for the first time. He is a young racer from an indoor ski race club in the UK so using his edges and creating big angles etc is all very well but the blend of skills needs to really change on powder... so anyway we got 3 laps right next to the slopes on the perfect pitch for him next to the Grand Pre. It was magic.

One thing I noticed was that they had heli blasted the little bowl on the lookers left about 3/4 way up Grand Pre... that in itself is quite unique actually but what was more interesting was that NOT where the bomb was dropped but actually further along had slid - a sign of general instability out there.

Anyway after some work on the pow we changed tac (no gear meant we couldnt do anything other than what we had) so instead I headed towards a few laps on Borsat and then it happened.....

For only the 2nd (proper time) in 17 years here I was basically (on the verge / soft) assaulted on the slopes... yes sounds dramatic but it was quite....

....so having done a drill on the Verte with 'T' we're making our way pretty slowly down the piste... came over the first drop away (not the bigger one before getting to the Marmottes resto) and noticed what looked like an independent French instructor with his group (very) slowly snaking their way across the piste. Having done this job for many years I could tell instantly that they probably were out of their comfort zone and you could sense that this guy looked stressed with a group of about 10 adults a mile off.... uh oh he's probably cursing himself! Anyway he has about 20m gap behind him to his first (shakey looking) student and circa 10m before he gets to the edge of the piste and has to turn etc.... so in the space of a half second I had 3 choices.... (bearing in mind we were going at slow and respectful pace ANYWAY for the slope) - go behind him, in front or stop etc... all of which we would be able to do. In a circumstance such as this you consider your choices but this guy almost seemed to intentionally close off my angles and speed up to try and make it harder for me to take the best choice and that would be ski down the outside between him and the side of the piste.... 'ok' I thought its almost as if he is trying to make a confrontation.... so a split second later (and again remember I am going very slowly and dare I say as an instructor indicating all the body language that I am totally in control etc which of course I was and able to stop on a dime!) he RACES his ski pole as if to have a swipe at me and starts shouting! I put the brakes on to basically stay out his path (I was circa 4/5m away at this point).... and come to a stop... so he takes it upon himself to square up to me and get all aggressive and in my face etc. I think he was probably cursing himself for taking his group down there. As I say I dont think I have seen him before either! Anyway I swear that if I was not sturdy (physically and technically) on my feet he would have tried to floor me. As it was he got all pushy and shovey with me... he was obviously looking for a fight and I calmly tried to inform him basically along the lines of - whats the issue - nothing happened until you tried to make it happen by trying to come into my path but luckily I saw it coming 'mate'. Anyway all his group and my teen are now standing looking at this guy ranting and raving and he obviously was not happy that I was not rising to the equation... in fact I thought at one point he was gonna try and take a ski off and tackle me or something but didnt. As I say I think he realised that since I was about 1/2 a metre uphill from him I had the high ground advantage and id back myself to win if he took me on. He reverted to petty put me downs (in French TDC is a bit like shortening in English the phrase F Off from the full version in that TDC is shorthand for trou du com (up the b u m!).... so basically he was saying I was from the 'up the b u m ski school'.... as if I cared or anything else for that matter). He then went on to say (in French) that he would track me / us down. Ultimately I just left this nutter and carried on skiing and hailed my student down after me. What a COMPLETE idiot. He was out for a fight and not having a good day I dont think! Doh!

So that was an interesting part of the day.

We did some more carving work back on the piste for an hour before skiing the Face (it was in excellent condition) and then fitting in a Rooney to finish.

Its VERY important to note that this is the official Val weather station where most of the stats you read about on snow depths etc are taken from. Note that its at the BOTTOM of the mountain. Its also no coincidence that often (especially North American) in certain resorts around the world they put the weather station at the TOP of the mountain thereby squewing the stats to make it look like the conditions are way better than they really are.

I had a scramble at lunchtime to change from ski to snowboard and then took lunch under the Sun Bar after the swap at Snowberry!

The afternoon was with a couple of brothers (10 and 13) who ski with TDC regularly and are very sporty indeed... they wanted to give boarding a go. So we headed up Solaise and utilised a pretty quiet big carpet up there. One thing I did note was some crazy parents letting their little kids scream down at high speed down the carpet - highly dangerous to both them and anyone they might crash into. Anyway being very sporty the boys did VERY well indeed and we got way further than would be expected for a first lesson. This was also allowing time for a drinks break in the middle of the session too for 10 mins! We got all the way to garlands on the heel edge so well done lads! Ultimately however when I am doing a lesson like this there is a LOT of walking up and down the slopes and today was no different - in fact I have done a good 20000 steps today - shattered!

Having collected my ski stuff ready for tomorrow I headed home and had about an hour before needing to head back into town to get the kids from Judo / homework club.

So im ready for bed now.

Tomorrow weather wise should be similar to today before a chance of another big storm coming in later in the week and over the weekend! Eeek!

TTFN

Pow right there next to the perfect 'groomer'

Oh yes, yes please Grand Pre and the untouched slopes and pow all around you!

After all it is free

Wow, what an utter bell end.
He must have been having a real bad day. Well handled Sir

@Steve Angus, you've literally made me drool with those pics! I wonder if I can convince me wife to cancel our week inTenerife 22nd April Shocked

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Well done@Steve Angus, for keeping your composure. Idiots will be idiots.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Frosty the Snowman / mooney058 - indeed!
dunc999 - sorry!

ah yes wintery again!

It was back to the usual morning snuggles with Ben but he only got about 2 minutes before the alarm went off. When I looked out the window I was surprised to see that we had had another 5cm or so of snow - wow! However the temps were somewhat higher than they were yesterday thats for sure!

Anyway being Wednesday I was on to get the kids to kids club and I was rather lucky as just caught the Train Rouge and then having dropped the kids just caught the train jaune the rest of the way. It meant I was at the meeting point 30 mins early. Anyway not to worry!

The weather was looking 'mixed' I think is the best word to describe it but apparently there were some quite heavy winds up there - not that it looked like it down low! Given that info I thought heading Solaise side would be the better option - and anyway we had not been that way yet this week.

So we headed up and it was apparent the 5cm of snow up there was very VERY heavy and sticky snow. However in general the vis was ok and so was the wind so we benefitted from some runs all around the top of Solaise but taking a trip down Arcelle was not much fun... the snow was OK but it was rather choppy thats for sure! With a few thick clouds and mini blizzards rolling in from time to time you had to be on your toes thats for sure. By the end of the morning we decided that downloading was probably a better option - even though he was more than capable of skiing down I said it would not be a nice experience!

I took lunch at the usual spot and then this afternoon I had a couple of other teenagers - fiends of friends of friends type thing. With the temps warmer and with the weather generally OK I decided that going even higher would be better so we headed Bellevarde way.... well it had its moments as a good call but generally it was pretty wild up there... there was a period when we could not see a thing which was not ideal given the level they were at. Oh well. We even tried a lap to La Daille to be able to see something but it was sticky concrete down low... so we didnt try that again!

Yesterday people were saying that it might have been the best day of the season.... well today many will have been saying it could have been the worse day!

Anyway I was a little soggy and exfoliated facially by the end of the day (what a weird day it was!) so quite glad to be heading home for some warmth and dry! Haha!

I did need to go collect the kids from kids club as Clare was having an after work drink with a friend so it did somewhat mean it was a long evening thats for sure! Having just done kids dinner etc and gotten them into bed I am absolutely whacked this evening!

The weather tomorrow is going to be similar to today but perhaps worse - not ideal! Similar Friday perhaps and then all hell breaks loose once again over the weekend - what a strange month it has been it really is!

Some good news though today... we got confirmation through that Ben has been accepted into Club des Sports for next year. Yay!

Oh and one other thing from today.... I was standing and giving feedback on the side of the piste to my teen this morning when I noticed a certain 'idiot' from yesterday skiing down the slope (with another group by the look of things!). He didnt notice me, but I noticed him... so managed to snap a photo (see below). So my message if you see this idiot (or worse still you have any lessons with him) is tell him to do one - haha!

TTFN

This idiot!

You know there has been a decent amount of snow when they are clearing the snow off the roof of lifts!

snow reports

@Steve Angus, crikey, buy that stroppy ‘instructor’ a pint when you next see him. See below. Looking to scapegoat someone to deflect attention from his bad decisions?

Had a couple of amazing days down the road from you in Espace Paris Vallees. The temperature climbed today and I’m thinking of heading up to Tignes tomorrow. My option used in previous years, rent a car from Europcar on the main road in Bourg St M, seems to have disappeared.

Quick research needed. Looking ahead, Saturday is forecast for a big dump which should set you up well for Easter!

Wow! I could get a whole studio, with kitchenette, toilet and shower, on the edge of Tignes, for about €145 a night the rest of this week.

It’s 12 sq m overall size. What does the occupant do? Sleep vertically, strapped to a wall? Puzzled

You know it makes sense.

PeakyB - yes I know re the pint - haha! Love that pic.... and with a saving on your accommodation you can afford a couple of those!!!!!!! But yes I think the conditions are looking awesome now right through April!

Well better than expected

I was apprehensive when I opened the curtains this morning... I was expecting a massive deluge of rain and a monsoon out there... especially given the temps were positive all night long and virtually to the top of the mountain. Anyway I looked pretty OK actually. Yes grey and a bit damp but nothing too bad!

So with the kids on the bus I headed into town.... now given the fact my am clients this week have been having some issues with their HIP Hideouts transfer from Fornet to town in the mornings - they were supposed to have one at 0840 and another at 0850 in order to get to the slopes on time but the first keeps arriving late.... they changed to just asking for 2 at 0840 but today both cars ended up being early and they ended up being at the rond pont just as my bus got in... so by 0835 I was chatting away with them all and waiting for the other instructors on the booking to arrive!

Anyway all good we were off in good time and headed up Solaise with the aim of heading all the way over to Fornet... I knew the snow would be sticky and not great lower down and with the grey clouds sort of chasing us from the north side we were well ahead of any crowds and got up to the glacier in good time. There was a nice cushion of soft snow up there and it was quite dry. With no one about we could lap the chair and work on some drills etc for moguls. Some really good changes were made but it got busier up there thats for sure. I watched a few guided groups head out into the Pays Desert and caught up with a guide friend later on and he said it was decent out there thats for sure!

Anyway we finished with a descent down the Foret run which was a little sticky moguls wise (as that was the theme of the day) but it was nice to see some good changes.

After finishing back in town I headed to Snowberry to change into my boarding gear.... there is a fair amount of chopping and changing from skis to board and vice-a-versa at the moment... but of a pain sometimes but its nice on the other hand to have a change of scenery!

When I came out of Snowberry the heavens had opened and it was POURING with rain - uh oh not good! So I finally got my luck break at the usual spot and preyed that at the top of the mountain it would be snow falling and not rain. So I met my team that I had had yesterday but then for skiing but today for boarding and we set of. They had done a few boarding lessons at an indoor facility in the UK but this was to be their first time in the mountains doing it.

We swiftly went up Solaise to get some altitude and as we went up there was a massive clap of thunder - nooooooooooo not a good sign.... but just the one clap thankfully. Luckily by the time we got off the Solaise gondola it was snowing quite hard. So after a few laps in lovely soft supporting snow on the carpet brushing up and refreshing on what they have learnt before we were ready to head up Madeleine. The issue with going up there was there was an annoying bank of cloud drifting through much of the afternoon.... made vis a bit tougher thats for sure. Also the moisture content of the snow (not that it was wet per se but not dry snow) meant the snow texture was quite slick making a beginner turning much more tricky.

Anyway a few laps they did were good ones but fatigue did set in so we made sure we finished with some feel good laps on the magic carpet instead - yay!

After changing out of my gear I headed home to make sure I was there when the kids got off the school bus.

Tomorrow Clare has her last day off the season basically whilst I have some teens in the am and then taking a group of seasonnaires off piste in the afternoon. Im just hoping the weather allows the pm particularly to be OK... it'll be tough but ill see what I can do! Them im working all over the weekend before a full run of all day bookings next week.

We are rounding the last corner of the race track and the home straight is in sight... won't be too long now before we can cross the finish line in about 4 weeks time.... and then of course we have 'French tax return season' and then suddenly it'll be May and time to put the boots away for another few months before starting it all again in November - haha!

TTFN

Chasing the gap in the weather up towards Fornet this am.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

....oh one other thing... had spent the day dreaming of steak and chips for dinner.... and then when it came to kids dinner time... Clare did Ham, Egg and Chips for the kids tea.... so you know how I used the frying pan and left over chips for dont you..... PERFECT end to the day!

A snowHead

Weird brown snow which thankfully should cover up today with all the snow that’s coming. Dirty snow falling or pollution?

A snowHead

@lower, Sand from the Sahara - driven up by the Scirocco wind in the middle of the week.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I remember it well from last year - spectacular orange skies

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^^^ in some ways though the yellow tinge though really helps with definition in flat light. Imagine if it was really brown the sand etc - might be less savoury on the eyes or 'dehydrated' yellow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First for everything

I got my morning cuddles with Ben this morning and with Clare having (a well timed given the conditions I must say) day off there was no mega rush to get up and sorted! It was rather calm getting ready for work whilst Clare took care of the kids.

As soon as I was ready and with the kids on the bus I was off myself into town into the doom. It was not mega wet (as I thought it might have been) or windy (certainly down here in town) so I was pleasantly surprised! Anyway I made sure I put on my trench jacket as knew it might not stay that way for long and I was due to be in it all day long so wanted to at least stay dry for as long as I could!

At the meet point I managed to record my weekly TDC snow report - only 3 takes this week! I also did a live broadcast on Instagram too.... all go!

So standing at the meeting point it really could have felt a lot worse in the village but the peaks looked somewhat interesting. Given the freezing level as it was I decided that heading up Bellevarde to get the better quality snow would be best and IF the wind was horrendous there would always be the option of skiing to La Daille and lapping the lower part via the La Daille gondola! Hmmm wasnt to quite work that way. Firstly there was more snow but mainly a LOT OF wind atop the Bellevarde. Now this quite often happens and I know that very often by the time you drop down towards the plateau area about Marmottes restaurant altitude it often calms down whilst retaining the good snow quality and today was no different. It was at this moment when a huge flash seemed to happen all around followed a few seconds later by a boom.... yes I just experienced thunder and lightning atop the Bellevarde in March.... eeeeek. Didnt think any more of it and there was no follow up as far as I know. However the first whiff of a problem I got was noticing that the Mont Blanc chair was not running (given the lack of wind lower down this was a real surprise!) and then lower down still the La Daille gondola was not running - how very strange indeed!

Anyway it was only when we arrived at the bottom of the funi that I heard that the lightning strike had forced everything to close as it had had some sort of an impact on the power to the mountain and further still there was danger to life with that hanging over our heads.... the weather meanwhile was awful and it was now raining (snow at altitude) very hard lower down. Already at 0930 we were all soaked so it was time to jump on the bus and change sectors as the Solaise side of things was all open (well nearly all open). So it was better to head that way. This enforced break in the middle of the lesson was novel thats for sure!

Anyway we got up the Solaise (much of the Bellevarde was to open later on thankfully as the thunder and lightning worry faded as the morning went on) and it was jolly good up there. The snow was light, the winds not too bad so we milked it for all it was worth for a good hour. The queues were pretty minimal too as lots of people were obviously too put off to bother heading up but it was worth it - promise! Anyway we did our best for a few laps but as the winds picked up / weather moved in / snow got deeper but also the temps dropped (massively) it was time to head back down which coincided nicely with the end of the lesson anyway! It was noticeable how different things were in snow quality but also with weather when you got lower down.

I dropped my am team (a new team today and tomorrow) at L'Etincelle where they were having their lunch and realised just how soaking wet I really was.

It was also at this moment that I thought I had better message my pm lesson which was a group of seasonnaires wanting to ski powder. I wanted to check how many packs I needed to collect from the office. Now I know seasonnaires are a little flakey but the reply was basically that being fair weather skiers they did not want to come out today.... urghhh OK. So they basically paid for the afternoons lesson but never used it - their loss I guess!

However I was quite happy to come home and dry out.

So what have I dont this afternoon - well mainly stayed dry and warm and caught up on a few things although I did get a phone call from Henry from HAT to say he had a flat battery. His van is parked opposite ours in Le Cret parking and he also knows I have a jump start kit. So anyway a good hour or so of the afternoon has been spent with Henry trying to get his van on the go again and by hook or by crook we got him sorted. Phew he could now go and collect his ill daughter from school.

So the weather outside since lunchtime has gotten worse and worse.... there have been the odd glimpses of breaks and then just as you think it will clear up and all come to nothing it turns into a mega blizzard again! The authorities have already said that tomorrow will be difficult on the road and chains will be necessary for all vehicles from 0700 when they activate the chainage area at Raye which is about 1/2 up the mountain. There is a good chance that it will snow all the way to Brev tomorrow and possibly as low as Bourg!

The plan for tomorrow is basically Olivia doing Club / Ben going to kids club and im supposed to be working in the am whilst Clare working all day... but who knows how that will pan out! What is certain is that there will be a very delayed opening in the morning and if the winds stay up they might just say it has to be lower slopes only!

So of course for those on the roads tomorrow then it will be difficult although there is not expected to be too much traffic in terms of numbers thankfully. And next week is going to be flat out work wise.... two more very busy weeks before it starts to calm down.

As im NOT going to Val Thorens for the End of Season this year ill be teaching here right up to the 20th or so before embarking on birthday party and tax return season - can't believe that is only 3 weeks away.

TTFN

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Well that was rather special

It was all go this morning as Clare was working first doors, Ben had to get to kids club (for the morning) and Olivia to club and me to the meet point. Anyway it got there and all worked on time.

The weather looking out the window was slightly better than anticipated but there seemed to be a lot of fresh snow out there but the freezing level was also lower. It looked and felt like mid Winter once again!

I took Olivia to club and on a day like today I guess a lot of people based on their experiences yesterday in terms of the weather probably thought it could have been a write off day. So it proved when the messages came through basically asking whether it was going to be possible to ski today etc / should we cancel the lesson etc. However a little bit of local knowledge as I knew things were looking good up there, opening would be slightly but only very slightly delayed opening but crucially this lovely new snow just needed to be skied! Haha awesome!

Anyway my team were only 15 mins late in the end and we headed up Solaise and with only the red back down to the bottom available we warmed up (well we were spoilt really) with a lap back down to the bottom. Even though a decent number of people had already done a lap we found cold and light pow to make some fresh turns in and where it wasnt fresh turns it was nice chop to ski... what was even better was that Olivia and her group ripped down and past us which was cool to see and then there was a mini break in the clouds so we could see quite well! Anyway that 'warm up' took some beating!

By the time we got back up there the Madeline and other options up high were open... so we skied a few variations including off Madeleine and the snow was very deep but vis was mixed. For a first foray in that sort of snow they did well. There was also next to no wind too which made it even better!

We benefitted from glimpses of blue skies a couple of time and even the sun but generally it was pretty cloudy and snowy still... but given the quality of the the snow it didnt matter too much!

After the end of the lesson I rushed to get Ben from kids club whilst Olivia made her own way home. I had about 90 mins to sort them out, feed them (I was popular as I made toasted sandwiches for lunch!) and get them back out the door as they were both going to a birthday party at the high wires adventure aquabranche in the forest above the Savonnettes slope. Getting them up the hill from the UCPA side was tricky but they ended up having a great time.

I left them there for a couple hours whilst I got some things done at home before then heading back into town to collect em again! By the end of the day the sun was coming out (it has since moved in again though). Phew what a fun time they seem to have had! I think too much sugar was consumed though as by the time I got them home they were not really in the mood for dinner!

However they are now happily in bed snoring away.

Two things I saw today that have stuck with me... the first is this awesome April fools video that Geneva Airport have put together... unfortunately its a Facebook link but can't find the vid elsewhere... pretty cool and clever though - how much effort will this have taken to put together I wonder!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02ivoEyGbtXZjW8wUMZv1noLH4HzysrQwCibfRE4KjuUf7jhN3thYDwY5bdqBAPosJl&id=108733015815409

The other thing was a vid I was sent by Olivias coach of her 'opening' the pow turns in the stade this morning - she skied it so well - thats my girl! Unfortunately you might have to have a look on my insta feed @SteveAngusSnow to see it.

TTFN

Despite a few peoples attempts at totally stuffing the roads up I dont think they actually turned out too bad today - could be wrong but dont think they were actually that bad in the end!

Quite a lot of digging out to be done then!

What an amazing cake for Bens best friends party!

Just in the trees above the Savonette - its open all year round for fun and games for people of all ages!

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http://youtube.com/v/VvPNPdP80eM

After all it is free

Interesting - we were in GVA a week last Monday, when they were filming the bit by the travelator - just assumed it was some general promotional thing. A number of the crew were Brits.

It just shows you that the Swiss do have a sense of humour! snowHead

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All you can eat noodles

When we (as instructors and guides - and certainly within TDC) head off piste with clients and places close to the piste as opposed to recognised descents e.g. Tour du Charvet etc, we call it noodling. Now we usually 'noodle' if either there is plentiful and easily accessible / safe etc nice snow very close to the pistes after a dump (like today!!!!!) or when you have someone new to it (off piste) and you dont / can't stray far from the slopes - for various reasons.

Today was a noodling day and maximum turns at that close to the pistes / lifts etc utilising every single stash I could think of up Solaise side.... we didnt need / want to go trecking far from the slopes.

However the day had started with Ben coming in FAR FAR too early - I pretended being asleep the first time I heard a whisper in my ear of 'daddy' and then he left (not sure I got back to sleep or not) before coming back a while later... this time I let him in bed. He had been having good cuddles for about 20 mins when Clare obviously woke up from his restless moving about... I was quite OK with it actually. As soon as she woke up she told him to do one... poor boy was rather upset and sadly trudged back to his bedroom. Of course I was now fully wake myself so decided to go and comfort him... I found him sitting on the floor on his room with the light on looking sad.... so I got in his bed and we had snuggles before the alarm went off.

I have now managed to dig out an electronic little digital clock from somewhere and the plan this evening will be to teach him that when the little number gets to 6 he is allowed to come in.... hmmm lets see how that works eh!

Anyway we had time for eggs / Nutella on toast treats for the kids breakfast before Clare took the kids to kids club and I headed to the meet point.

The weather was not perfect but initially quite chilly (nicely preserving the snow quality actually!) and with a fairly thick cloud bank hanging around but crucially not raining or snowing or windy.... game on time!

The lesson this morning was the mother of a couple of kids that ski with with a colleague of mine quite a lot and with her husband not able to join her on their family holiday until middle of this week and with the snow as it is she was keen for some company to go ski some powder. Would be rude not to eh!

So yes every single pitch I could think of was in order all over the Solaise on lifts that were open (there are a few they are still digging out after the storms of the last week) as well as some of my bonus ones like the bus stop etc. We dashed around like mad men (and women) barely stopping to breathe / chat etc. We did cross over to the fornet side and on the way over I noticed that there was a definite freezing level crust issue about the tree line.... not to self for future! It was much of the same up Fornet area but just a couple less lift options up there to chose from. I must say I REALLY love it in this job and pride myself on the fact that if you know where and how to find nice snow it is really very very easy... you just got to know where to head. We hardly did ANY walking at all... couple VERY short poles and side stepped once but generally it was just powder turn after powder turn. Places that are easy BUT obvious to get to, get tracked out so very quickly and there is always a case of if you can see it then its tracked before you can blink at it!

So I was rather pleased with myself and the lady was too.... boy she was super fit as she had previously gotten a rowing Blue from Oxford so was fit and strong thats for sure. Good on her.

What an amazing morning.

I came home for lunch and have been doing some jobs at home this afternoon. Clare is picking the kids up later and then she also has her second job to do tonight. Some people might know that Clare is also a qualified massage therapist too. Anyway she got a call from a friend she sometimes does some work for... there is obviously somebody in town prepared to spend a FORTUNE on massages as Clare is one of two people working on someone (just a single person!) tonight for 3 hours... the bill for the massage alone will literally run into the thousands for that one massage - crazy! Anyway they're so keen so Clare has agreed to do this 3 hours tonight for a very handsome payment. Thankfully she is not going out until much later on so yours truly will be in charge of sorting the kids out for bed.

The weather the next few days should be much calmer thankfully, but boy are conditions just absolutely perfect.

Talking about that... for those who are trying to get out here for one last trip this year and would like some guiding / lessons etc then PLEASE get in touch as soon as possible as I have literally a couple of slots left this season.... HOWEVER and perhaps more importantly we need to start casting our minds forward to next season already. PLEASE, PLEASE get in touch now if you are thinking of coming next season and want some guiding / lessons etc and want to secure your preferred time slots / days etc. School holidays already are almost booked up for the large part for 2024 season so thats imperative now.... whereas outside school hols are a little less crazy but non the less prime time slots are busy! Please drop me a bell asap and tell your friends and family etc!

Thanks everyone.

TTFN

Is that blue sky I can see up there?

This literally needed no walking to get into and out of from the pistes!

Hey Steve. Hope you are well. I am thinking about doing a last minute trip next week to Val Disere or Tignes, depending on the weather. At the moment the weather forecast from j2ski.com looks like it is going to get a bit warmer but nice sunny weather. From your experience which weather website do you think is the most accurate? I want to make sure the condition will be great if we do decide to go, need to confirm in the next two days.

Thanks!

You know it makes sense.

The last push

Clare got back very late but I slept through her return so ended up having a nice sleep. Even better was that the kids slept like logs too and we actually had to wake them this morning - doh!

Anyway they happily went to school and I was not starting until 0930 so a very calm start to the day.

With the sun shining it was a good start to the school hols (not local kids) for those who have arrived but it was pretty crazy Monday morning busy with all the groups getting going and sorting themselves out all over the place - arghhh one of those mornings.

My team was (mainly as the mum (recently back from injury so skied very tentatively on the nursery slopes and some of the nicer slopes up Solaise today) and Dad might float in and out of the lessons from time to time) a couple of 12 year old twin boys ive taught a few times before at this time of the year. They always go to Val Cenis for Feb HT and then here at Easter and they are mainly chasing the award scheme through the ESF levels so there will be an element of race training with them this week.

Anyway we warmed up this morning and did some blasting about the place up Solaise. The snow was in wonderful conditions - pistes just perfect. The sun was softening things up nicely actually without being 'hot'. To that end it didnt really get slushy at all today and that was helped by a big bank of cloud that drifted through and blocked much of the sun from mid afternoon onwards. However I have it on good authority from colleagues that much of the wintery pow has now gone unless you head true north and stay high.... actually watched a group get VERY high on a long traverse this afternoon into the upper part of the tete du arrollay - being a long time since ive seen that!

A drinks break at L'ouillette late morning and then a late lunch at Datcha was the order of the day. Damn the burger at Datcha was good - recommended.

After lunch the parents peeled off and I took the boys for a blast around the Cugnai as well as taking in the up and over and doing some carving all the way up to the top of the glacier although it was chilly up top with a breeze - the snow was very very good.

So Clare is working again on this massage again this evening so I got home and she was having a power nap so it has been a whirlwind of an evening - turning around getting the kids from gym whilst a friend gets Ben back from swimming and then fed and into bed. Phew tiring!

Meanwhile the photos of the day paint a picture....

There was some avalanche dog training today coupled up with some more of the locals 'junior pisteurs program'. In this photo Fab the pisteur does his thing with a Recco and illustrating how a buried person is found under a slide.

They finally managed to get the up and over chair dug out today. Normally when there is a reasonable amount of snow the pisteurs / lifties simply winch themselves down from the chair whilst it pauses over the 'drop' at the top. After they have done the clearance they then ski down... its NORMALLY those tracks (as opposed to jumping off at the top which is the main folklore tale!) you can see from the top coming down. However today there was so much snow up there they were worried they could not even get the chair turning so they had to heli drop people in to clear the way!

Quite a lot of snow to shift eh!

I snapped this photo on the way up the Cascades lift looking back.... but what does this tell you about instabilities out there?

Also (haven't given it away above but what is so special about this picture? Ill try and comment tomorrow what was so special about it IF no-one gets it which I am sure someone will!

The usual avalanche debris under the Cugnai chair. I reckon some of those blocks alone weigh about 30-40kg each... so you can get an appreciation of how much energy and force is involved in an avalanche that might look quite benign!

Thought this was rather funny. Haha

TTFN

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

'what is so special about this picture?'

The Signal drag is running, but the piste that it serves has not been pisted.
Must have been great in the Grand Vallon.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I had the same the thought as john2, but then the signal is straight and this one has a definite kink in it so with the help of Bing maps to confirm my thinking, I’m going for 3000. I’ve not seen it running before (in all my visits which I can probably count on one hand Toofy Grin

!)

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Bloody hell it's the 3000. I think I can be excused for forgetting that one!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@alvinsu, To add a bit of colour to Steve's list, which is very similar to mine, as the basis of those apps covers the main forecasting models, I would say that even the forecast for this Saturday has a confidence level of 2 out of 5 on Meteo France or low on Meteo Blue (swiss) so actually saying what the weather is going to be next week is only a little more scientifically correct than astrology! Thats the reason I only give my view on the forecasts for 4 days in the Tignes thread. It is very easy to get taken in by the "digital certainty" of one App when the chaos behind the app (aka the Earth's atmosphere) is far from digital. I do have an analogy for it but it no longer meets the PC World in which we live in wink

.

For what its worth, there is going to be more than enough snow across the entirety of the EK so book your holiday and enjoy what it brings, be that powder on high, spring snow from 11am on sunny slopes, hard piste cruising or an afternoon slush fest - there's plenty of terraces serving beer!

You'll need to Register first of course.

Thanks Steve and chocksaway! I might just wait another two days before deciding.. a bad experience of skiing in the rain in Val Thoren several years ago is still a fresh memory that I am trying to avoid repeating Smile

. The current weather forecast looks like it is more likely to be a week of sunny days. Hopefully there will still be plenty of accommodation options.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@motyl,

Yes the 3000 is rarely open. With the new snow it's probably a nice run but following the line of the lift there is an awful camber falling away to the left.

Last time I saw it running just before the Covid shutdown my ski group decided to ski it, I refused to go up there because I could see the very large icy moguls on it. It took them ages to get down what is a short run, they weren't smiling when they eventually got to the bottom of the run. I knew I had made the correct choice.

After all it is free

@welshflyer, Toofy Grin

yes, I'm very firmly in the camp of skiing for enjoyment!

@Steve Angus, we witnessed that cugnai avi from the datcha chair, around 11.15 Sunday. The debris cloud went above the cables, was pretty spectacular.

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