Having an utterly brilliant time her in the Zillertal with some mates. Slopes are pretty quiet, good cold temps, snow is > a week old but it’s holding up well. It’s lush.
After a week of gorgeous sun, cold and hard packed pistes, it’s finally snowing (was raining in resort yesterday) in Flaine.
they’ve been blasting since 5am.
It’s looking good for anyone coming out this weekend.
Snowing in Tignes too after a melty day in the village yesterday. Waiting for slightly better visibility before heading out today. Window looks out to Johan Clarey and I can currently see it, couldn't 5 minutes ago though!
Legs are so tired too, we've been from side to side of the map here already this week, so mopping up missed runs and having some fun later today and tomorrow before the carnage that is Geneva on a Saturday in January.
If you guys like pizza, check out Chez Lili - pizzas are enormous. We're back out in March
Thanks Sprootlet, we tried to go 2 days ago after your recommendation (this was lunch time) but closed. Friends tried to go last night, but it was fully booked.
yesterday’s conditions were interesting. Everything from powder, porridge, proper ice to hard pack. Flat light and whiteout in some areas. This made for many empty pistes though 🙂
We might see you in March.
Hotdog Hans is back...
First day in the Chamonix valley yesterday. Think there was a reasonable amount of snow overnight the night before but it got very heavy through the day as it was very warm for a January day (was +9 in town yesterday afternoon).
Heading up to Le Tour today for a change of scenery and there’s more forecast for tonight and thankfully cooling temperatures.
No matter what the conditions though, there’s nowhere quite like Chamonix for the views, at least not where I’ve been personally.
Oh and the new skis (Elan Ripstick 96’s) are superb.
Let Tour was lovely. Relatively quiet and the new lift out the base has eliminated the massive queues that I remember of old. The sun was out most of the day and most lifts had a couple of minutes wait at most. It’s unseasonably warm still though, sat on the balcony now in short and a T-shirt drinking a beer. More like an April day.
I do like Cham. Just the whole vibe there. People off in all directions doing all sort of crazy stuff. Base, wing suit, mountaineering of any flavour, skiing, touring, crazy skimo racing, running, biking. Just adds to the whole setting really.
Just back from an awesome week “adventure snowboarding” with my friend James (Stentiford snowboarding) in Grimentz, Switzerland. Awesome lift accessed pow day on Thursday but we actually had fresh snow turns everyday via split boards / boot packing and James detailed local knowledge.
sadly my snowboards are currently still in Geneva! Another easy jet “win”
Roughly 20cm of fresh snow on Saturday night here in flaine meant VERY busy conditions yesterday. It got even busier after lunch when high winds shut the Aup de Veran and concentrated all the weekend crowds onto the one side, at which point Mrs NBT and i had an early finish
It's rained all night but the forecast is that it will turn to snow and keep snowing until late tomorrow, during such time the freezing level will drop. It's still windy today though
It's the week of the English Schoolgirls racing in Flaine - we avoid this week like the plague, it brings out socialistic tendencies I didn't know I had!
Left Chamonix in the pouring rain this afternoon. Should be snow up top but a bit depressing in January.
It rained quite a lot in flaine yesterday, with occasional dry spells, but as night fell so did the freezing level and it's snowed all night. Based on looking out of the windows, we've had about 25cm down here and it's still falling
Friday last week got back to Tignes Le Lavachet, the temp on the Sherpa sign was 11 degrees at 4 in the afternoon, that's at 2100m ish. So odd, on Thursday it had snowed, but warm sticky snow that was unskiable for me at least.
January is less reliable than it should be.
Hope the clouds clear on you get a powder day to play in @nbt - Crystal in fresh snow sounds tempting!
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:
