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Plenty of fresh snow - opening was delayed hand an hour while they cleared everything - but no visibility, and hugely crowded as everyone was shepherded into the same few pistes. Hopefully better tomorrow
Did see one poor girl in tears as her skis had been stolen from outside Bistro F while she had lunch ?
PSA to anyone heading to the Tarantaise in the next few weeks..
The N90 towards Moutiers from Chambery direction is partly blocked by a rockfall.
No alternative route and a single lane each way in the tunnel that normally serves the outbound traffic.
It was challenging at the weekend as people were stuck for many hours and queuing back to Chambery. Many stayed overnight in sports halls!
It is likely going to be chaos this weekend and probably for a while to come while they clear the road of an estimated 135t of rock and make the mountainside above safe.
More on this on Showheads if you are interested.
Just back from a surprisingly awesome week of skiing based in Lauterbrunnen. Not the most convenient area from a lift point of view but stunning scenery, abundant wildlife to add to the skiing and 50cm of snowfall combined with quiet slopes made for a brilliant holiday. 2 full days in the middle of almost 100% untracked snow being the highlight.
Found a great off piste area alongside some woods, next minute stumbled onto a recently dead Chamois and then 5 minutes later watched a Bearded Vulture land on it - not what you normally expect in a days skiing!
Quick poll....
Would you recommend Flaine as an off piste destination?
I shouldn’t look at this thread, it makes me sad. Many of the STW members provided helpful advice for me last year, when I was heading off on my first ever ski trip, and, for me, it turned out a disaster. I’d like to blame the weather, and very much the instructor, for spoiling what I had hoped would be a wonderful experience.
I’d love to go again and have the time I was hoping for but I now think skiing and I will never be bedfellows.
Plenty of clips on social media at this time of the year just rubbing salt into the wounds.
Would you recommend Flaine as an off piste destination?
I've never been. But I've heard that Flaine has a lot of fissures in the ground caused by dissolved limestone. When covered in snow bridges they are not visible and are a serious risk to off piste skiers.
@Thegeneralist, No. Lots of scrubby trees, not nice big ones with glades, as above some challenging and dangerous rock formations on the Flaine side. There are better places, like Serre Che For instance.
(Did seasons in both so a fair comparison)
There are always better and worse places for off piste, and knowing the area well makes a huge difference. Tignes Val D’Isere for me has some amazing off piste. But the biggest factor more than the area is the whether there is fresh snow. Without that, most of the off piste is manky.
I had to email Mayrhofen’s tourist office today about next year’s season dates (it looks very much like the hotels in the Zillertal shut the week many UK schools break up for Easter, which is an arse). I got a reply pretty much straight away, complete with this ominous Royston Vasey-esque email signature image:
Would you recommend Flaine as an off piste destination?
Yes, WITH A GUIDE.
I did a week off piste course there with UCPA (very good prices including full board, lift pass, guiding and kit, so check it out -us uk bookin agent "action outdoors" for the easiest experience as they by default include the "arrive on saturday" option) and we didn't do the same thing twice all week, BUT - It's a limestime plateau and there are cliffs and bloody great holes. If you don't know where you are going you could get yourself in pretty serious bother.
We were there last week just as a metre of snow fell. Risk 4 flashing all over the place, and tracks everywhere, so the locals know what they're doing (one would hope) but if you take a wrong turn, it might be your last
Ok, so Oslo Winterpark then? Anyone been? Is it just a few short runs and only suitable for a day? is it really cool?
Basically we've got a lot going on at the moment are not going to get a normal ski holiday this year, we've changed plans a few times and were pretty set on going some where in April but only really have dates between 5th & 10th, due to daughters school hols and my terminally ill sisters birthday, which she may not actually be here for but it'll either be her last or my mum will need my other sister and I around for suppoprt. Not sure how that sounds but I'm trying not to go too deep so I don't start crying...
I need to get away somewhere and thought Oslo could be a really nice trip, maybe have a couple of days at winterpark and a couple of days wandering around taking in the sights. staying in Oslo centre and get the train or taxi up to the slopes. It only looks small and my wife is worried we'd be bored after a day there. I reckon it's what you make it and it, I don;t actually mind running up and down the same couple of slopes if the terrain is decent, also has night skiing for a bit of a change.
Any advice welcome, cheers?
Sorry about your sis. Sounds like a great idea despite what the skiing is like. Oslo is quite appealing and I'm sure there will be loads to do other than Oslo itself and skiing.
I’ve heard that Flaine has a lot of fissures in the ground caused by dissolved limestone. When covered in snow bridges they are not visible and are a serious risk to off piste skiers.
as above some challenging and dangerous rock formations on the Flaine side
Mm yes. That was pretty much my view. I recall walking around and my mind being utterly blown at the ubiquitous and huge holes.
I was just chatting with some bloke at the airport on Sunday who was just back from there and tried to maintain it was excellent for off piste.
But the biggest factor more than the area is the whether there is fresh snow. Without that, most of the off piste is manky.
Hmmm. In general I'd agree with you, but not in the case of Flaine. Regardless of how much snow falls there I'd still not class it as an off piste paradise .
Yes, WITH A GUIDE
So no basically. Any standard resort that you need a guide for off piste would automatically fail the " good" measure IMHO.
Thanks for the confirmation all.
It's gone a bit quiet on here. I'm guessing that most of us are not out on the slopes atm, avoiding the half term period.
We're out again in a few weeks. Might be getting some 'new to me' second hand skis. The old ones are fine for the intermediate type of skier that I am, but some slightly wider ones may give me a bit more confidence on the tiny bits of off piste I occasionally attempt.
double post
Just did half term in Les Gets (still have one at school). Fun but a bit warm.
53 and still learning how to make a board open and close a carve. But at least I can carve past the snow snakes now.
I reckon by the time I’m 70 I’ll have got this.
Austria next.
Half term in Finland, snow was good but was busy compared to when we went last time.
Spent the week learning which was fun, plenty of stuff to work on indoors then go play more next year (no more trips this year sadly)
Very much resenting only having a limited holiday and funds at the moment, one week in Tignes in Jan was great, although the cold that followed was horrible. Would dearly love to be off for a late season week in March, but not going to happen this year, maybe next.
From last year, and on the subject of Flaine, there was a route off the right of the bowl that a local was on about being a good unpisted run down to another village that you then needed a bus back from, he didn't mention needing to know about any big holes in the ground at the time though o_O!
Off to Italy on Saturday. Back to Passo Tonale as it's beginner friendly for the missus.
Im supposed to have an easter trip but my useless mates are in complete disagreement over timings and destinations. I may end up on a solo week somewhere random
@BoardinBob what is passo tonale like?
looking at crystal ski site it's quite cheap and has direct flights from glasgow at a sensible time of the day
Went for the first time last year and I really liked it. I've got 30+ years of boarding under my belt so it was very much for the Mrs. For beginners it's fantastic. Good lifts, wide open easy runs. It's a compact resort but loads of riding. Huge glacier that gives a 12km run from top to bottom.Very snow surely, cheap as chips for food and drink. I'm very much looking forward to going back
Would agree with BoardinBob - my first trip was to Passo Tonale, and we went back for a trip when Mrs NBT was returning from injury. Would recommend
There's been a cold snap over the last few days. Probably my last skiing of the season. A slightly better season than last year but the trend of shorter seasons with only a few days of good snow conditions continues.
I've booked a solo week in Les Menuires.
It's like herding cats trying to organise my mates. Utterly useless so just going myself!
We're heading out in the motorhome a week today. Not sure where yet.....looks like some decent snowfall across many French resorts this week. Italy is a bit far unfortunately as we're doing a shorter trip this year.
I bought some unmounted and unused Volkl Kendo 92s from the 2020/21 model year. These will join my Mantra M5s, but as a wee experiment, the Kendos are 170cm vs the Mantras at 177cm. Slightly lighter, slightly shorter, slightly narrower. Mounted with Rottefella Freeride NTN bindings. How will my legs fare?
Oh dear, postimage doesn't work anymore. How do (Free) Members post photos these days?
We're off next week for 12 days in the camper.
First 5 days or so will be based in La Tania as our friends, who usually also take their van, have an apartment. Then we'll see where the snow looks best, more than likely head up to Les Menuires.
I haven't been keeping an eye on things as much as usual but this season hasn't looked great so far has it?
ImgBB still seems to work...
Thanks, Phil. All the other images are still there, just the latest one has gone blue. Maybe I've gone over the mb limit. Try again with a few other pics erased:
Tell me which resort to go to tomorrow.
Will be driving up the Autoroute de soleil from dahn saaf for only three days skiing. Quite fancy tignes cos everything really, but it's the longest drive.
Other option was la plagne as the boy ain't been there for 15 years and it's better on skis than boarding.
Deux Alpes - never been in winter. Was thinking if venosc, but it looks like it's actually cheaper on top of the hill.
Alpe d Huez - never been.
Obviously there's TroisV, Serre Che, and loads of other places, but can't really think of a reason to put them above the others. Apart from Courchevel I guess, I still need to make up for the fact my son's been down the Grand Couloir and I haven't..... Wimmin eh, can't ski with them.... or at least I couldn't back then. I'm a bit better now 🥵
Ideally we were looking for off piste, but that looks to shit so we'll take whatever exploring we can find.
Bergfex is forecasting much stronger winds at 2Alpes and Alp d' Huez on Sunday and Monday, so perhaps not.
Deux Alpes is fantastic. The town itself is probably my favourite Alps town. Brilliant atmosphere. The mountain is great. New cable car will whisk you from town right up to the glacier.
Deux Alpes is a really nice ski area, but not attractive in terms of the town. But everything it with pretty easy reach of a lift and the new 3S lift does indeed make getting up high really easy. They’ve started charging for car parking though in the whole town which was always an attraction to me as couple just roll up in your hire car and find a spot on street.
What about St Foy?
Off to La Plagne in a week myself though, third trip of the year and sad to see the season coming to a close but looking forward to soft groomers and beers on the terrace in a t-shirt.
I went to PT on my very first ever ski trip last Easter. It was a bad experience, terrible weather and an awful learning experience. It was probably a year ago today I was there, and apart from the first day blue skies, it was white outs everyday.
We stayed at the Grand Paradiso, but having no benchmark to compare it to, thought it was ok. Handy for the slopes. Went half board and the food was ok, a bit of a cattle market dining experience.
What about St Foy?
Ah, the old STW off-piste favourite. Some of it requires a short hike and the best skins but there's a reason the name crops up here.Junior has been sending me vids of the clients he's been guiding round the off-piste over the last week, including the European boss of the world's best known brand. France's most English village outside the Dordogne.
There again there's no X-C so I've never skied there, what would I know. 🙂
Bergfex is forecasting much stronger winds at 2Alpes and Alp d' Huez on Sunday and Monday, so perhaps not.
Tignes it is 😉
Absolutely minging at La Plagne today. Bleurgh.
Still had fun, but **** me it wouldn't kill them to put up a few piste maps and signposts would it...
There’s been a massive dump in the French Alps. A friend is out in Les Arcs and his photos show about 30-40cm.
There's more snow low down than there has been all year here this morning. All the local resorts are shut though. There's lots more snow forecast for the Alps over the next week or two. Think I'll go and put the car on charge.
It looks to be over a metre in some places. Lifts are closed with avalanche warnings.
If You’re out there atm have fun.
Junior reports all the resorts are shut and the roads closed today. He sent a pic of his abode with chest-deep snow.