Piemonster that's good to hear about the snow. Was it sunny most of the week? Any pictures ?
It's been raining solidly here in Fernie B.C. for the past two days - freezing level is about 1600m -> 1900m which is above most of the ridable terrain. The resort didn't even bother opening up any of the lifts on the 'new' side yesterday.
In more postive news I've managed to catch up with my reading and watching box sets. 🙂
A question for French residents...perhaps Edukator can advise?
Snow chains...as I understand from reading, we [i]have[/i] to have them in the Alps. We're renting a car in Lyon on 7th March and driving to Reberty in the Trois Vallees...rental company want €50ish for snow chains...they wouldn't cost much less to buy here but I'm not keen on having to carry a set with me. 😐
Any suggestions or experience?
(and yes, I can put snow chains on wheels)
So after a bit of soul searching following comments last week, I happened to be in Kendal yesterday and now have a set of Fritschi Vipec Mark 2 mounted on my Waybacks instead of the Scouts which were originally destined for mounting.
Anybody want to buy a brand new, unused, boxed set of Fritschi Scout touring bindings...?
@howsyourdad
Would have preferred the snow to have arrived on Wednesday, but hey ho. I'm transferring today, but will get a couple of photos posted later.
First 4 days where cold enough, -6 to -12, plenty of sun especially Wednesday. Warmed up for Friday then colder yesterday when the snow arrived along with some wind which closed the upper mountain. Which was fine as we saw it coming a few days out do booked a xc ski two hour taster session. Although it would have been cheaper to just head out onto a trail and just face plant the snow, seeing as that's mainly what happened. -6 and clear sunny skies this morning on the fresh snow. I'm feeling a little aggrieved. 🙂
@deadly, you don't have to have chains. If the roads are clear, you will be fine. If it's snowing, you won't.
Your shout. Is 50€ much in the grand scheme of things?
Nasty avalanche in La Plagne.
Forecast risk was 3/5. Instructor with ten years experience in the area, properly equipped, skiing with two others. Deployed his airbag and was found relatively quickly but died later. 🙁
http://tarentaisesourcemagazine.com/la-plagne-instructor-dies-avalanche/
Be careful out there folks.
Your shout. Is 50€ much in the grand scheme of things?
He splurged all his cash on designer luggage and heated wing mirrors. Barely scraping by now.
😀 DaKine is now "designer"?
Clearly, someone is feeling bad about his chirpy chirpy cheap cheaps. Look, just go out and buy one, you'll feel better about the whole thing next year. 😛
Too busy eating apple crumble, watching Top Gear and checking out the webcams at Bridger (it's empty!)
😉
Nice inversion today in Les2Alpes:
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Lovely day, though slightly marred when I snapped my toe strap at the top of a black run that they had explicitly warned us about at the welcome meeting.
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Made it down but with bit less finesse than I would have liked! 😀
Now on some crappy Burton Freestyle bindings from the hire shop that I'm already cursing.
Get up early. Get up high. Enjoy!
Love that, Graham!
*Edit - Oooh, binding fail! *
What binding? K2 Cinch Graham?
Trousers look nice.
A busy Norwegian piste
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Some funky atmospheric conditions in the Portes du Soleil yesterday...
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{quote]Yup, Magic Chair, so the bottom of Blackcomb, so it's not a totally fair representation
Sadly it may be perfectly fair.. this is the Glacier express @1500m
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On the flip side, the riding in Squamish is superb right now!
I nearly posted that too, but didn't want to crush Grahams spirits 😛
I've been at work all day today but apparently the alpine riding was sweet today. 3 days or so of untouched powder....
Off topic BearBack but is there an easy way to get myself and my bike down to Squamish? I want to ride but I don't have a car (or anyone to ride with 🙁 )
There's a pretty steady flow of riders heading down from whistler. Ski/bike shops would be a good start to hitch a ride down and back.
Failing that, check out epic rides, they offer a scheduled service through the winter for Vancouver skiier shuttles and run a summer 'Huck wagon' so would likely be open and sympathetic to a bike shuttle drop in Squamish. We try to ride on a Sunday afternoon if you find yourself down here for a pedal.
Cracking pictures everyone. Except Whistler 🙁
What binding? K2 Cinch Graham?
K2 Autos. Different design from the Cinch, "normal" bindings but the toe strap is connected by an internal cable to the heel strap so that it tightens automatically as you ratchet down the heel. Great for inflexible fat blokes 🙂 Works very well - unless the cable snaps.
I've had them since 2007ish though so they've done good service.
@piemonster. Great photos many thanks for posting those. I want to be in those trees right now. Two weeks today and i'll be there. Glad you had a good time!
[url=http:// http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=eiHeIplgxo0 ]http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=eiHeIplgxo0[/url]
Morzine last week. No patience for editing!
Pistes 7, 82, and 84 are all tremendous fun.
7 is a natural gully/half pipe affair, 82 and 84 are tree runs but wide if you want them to be.
84 is a great option for nervous types to get an introduction to bumpy ground.
And piste 75, fall at the top and you wont stop until you find the tree line. I saw that more than once(err... twice).
Where abouts are you staying?
And whilst I was there at least, the Skistar forecast was more accurate that that of snowforecast. The mild temps they are now seeing are related to a storm that blew in from offshore. So hopefully normal (-6 to -12) temps should return soo enough.
Whistler looks poor! Given that I'm going to be skiing on the West of the USA soon.....eek!
Whilst Im thinking about it.
I'm giving serious thought about heading out somewhere to start learning xc skiing (I'm a fellrunner so it's a natural progression, albeit not gnarr).
Norway is the obvious option for me, Aberdeen has direct flights to Oslo as does Edinburgh. Sweden can be done with an extra stop.
Any reason to head elsewhere, other than it costs £10 for an Irish coffee?
@piemonster we are staying in Hytteområden, when you look at the pistemap , on the left hand side at the bottom of runs 3 and 4. I work for a Danish company in Sweden, who own a ski chalet in Norway ( a big Scandinavian love-in) so it is my job's place. I went there for a day trip a while ago but thanks for the tips as I don't really know my way around so well. I'm taking the bus up so planning on bringing as much food and booze as possible for obvious reasons
With regards to XC skiing Norway is the home of it of course. If it was me I'd give somewhere like Hemsedal a try for a long weekend. they have great snowboarding and sking and loads of XC tracks so you could mix the two. they have taster courses and lessons. if not Sweden has some wonderful places just over the border. Bruksvallarna has of 300km of prepared tracks for example
@piemonster - drop me an email if you're still interested in those bindings, email's in profile...
Spotted today in Les Deux Alpes, someone testing the latest innovation in ultra lightweight body armour:
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Heading up to Glencoe for a day later in the week. Anyone been up over the weekend and share first hand how the conditions are at the moment? Cheers
Wolf spotted in Italian ski resort 😯
[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11400089/Wolf-at-the-door-for-Italian-skiers.html ]link[/url]
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6 days until Tignes for me.....and I've come down with a lovely dose of manflu 🙁
Thanks BearBack. I might drop you an email in the next few weeks if I can sort out a lift/end up hitching .
Graham don't worry too much, yeah its slushy down but if you get high enough...
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deadlydarcy - there's no legal requirement to carry chains in France. Only if there is snow on the road and the "chaines obligatoires" or "equipements speciaux obligatoires" signs are out, in which case you won't get up the hill without them anyway.
I'm pleased to report that a Defender with snow tyres is considered "equipement special"... 
Cheers stevo. I think what I'll do is wait until we get there, check with resort and see if we need them. Can always pick up a set in Lyon in an emergency.
Remember that it could be completely clear when you drive up, then snow all week and you can't get down...
That thought had crossed my mind, yes. I figure it might be a bridge crossed when it's in the way. 🙂
Thanks whatnobeer - that's much more like it!
Another scorchio day in Les 2 Alpes today:
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Wolf spotted in Italian ski resort
Interesting, here is what i'm certain is a wolf checking out my friends on the Col du Petit St Bernard en route to Italy https://www.flickr.com/photos/68440820@N05/7890171722/in/set-72157631311392954
still kicking myself for not getting better photos.
6 days until Tignes for me.....and I've come down with a lovely dose of manflu
Yeah, I'm off to Andorra on Thursday and my Achilles has flared up!! Ice packs and ibuprofen a go go at the moment for me. Should be reet once it's cranked up nice and tight in my boots......
