Well it is pissing down in Avoriaz. Snowing above 2000m.
Went out this morning and got soaked.
What day are you coming up Stoner?
Forecast is good for rest of the week and the snow should be good high up.
Bet Stoner's got a bike stashed out there too.
arrive at the flat in Montriond tomorrow pm, chris. I think we'll head up to Avoriaz for a scout around sometime on Weds or Thurs. Can you get up there on Prolays from Lindarets (and Ardent) or do we have to take the navette up from town?
Bet Stoner's got a bike stashed out there too.
I'm just trying to remember what state I left it in! I think it was all tickety-boo when I put it away after the summer. I was just planning on doing the foam rings and wipers on the forks. That can wait till next summer.
hell fire just looked at morzine webcams!! 😯
Sauze is an odd one. Did Christmas there about ten years ago. Arrived with almost no snow then on our first night there it began. Turbopuke for three days straight. Epic!
Only on this thread would "turbopuke" be a good thing
"turbopuke"
Might just be my new favourite adjective.
I leave tomorrow. I'm now wondering whether to give up the pretence of work and concentrate 100% on getting excited about the trip.
It's currently -12 and snowing.
I leave mid January
I've already given up on the concept of work
It's a noun.
As in, "Massive fat dumps of turbopuke". Or, "it was turbopuking last night. Bust out the powdaplankz braw!"
Just realised that I verbified the noun there. Sorry.
Isn't that sort of thing a ban if the mods catch you CFH?
I believe that banification is the norm. Or a powder day on blades.
I ll check what is open tomorrow, but a lot of equipment on the slopes tonight so hoping for good conditions tomorrow.
Or a powder day on blades.
That's just brought back the memory of my daft mate riding Flute bowl on Whistler after a dump on blades. Now I really, really don't care for blades, but I have to say it was one of the funniest things ever.
Two months for it to put some snow down, not looking good in Morzine for the Christmas period 🙁
Lifts opening for biking at the weekend !!!!
Fortunately, they've been working on a new reservoir and pumped supply to artificial snow network over the last year so there are skiable pistes.
http://morzinesourcemagazine.com/avoriaz-lift-piste-update/
We got a newsletter in the post about it a few months ago and it's pretty impressive.
Jesus, morzine looks very green on the Web cams. I'd be fairly disappointed if if I'd gone out 4 days ago (like my BIL!)
GFS ensemble temp/precipitation chart for Morzine @ 850hPa (around 1500m) for the next couple of weeks- temps in the middle, scale on left axis, precipitation down the bottom, scale on the right... the green one (control run) may be anomalous....
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build one for your chosen resort [url= http://www.ski-finder.co.uk/grab_gfs.php ]here[/url]
Stoner - MemberFortunately, they've been working on a new reservoir and pumped supply to artificial snow network over the last year so there are skiable pistes.
But its not cold enough, daughter has been there for a couple of months and skied one day after a fresh fall but had to skin up. Tody she was sat subathing on the balcony today when she rang.
Great day in Avoriaz today. A light bit icy in places.
Plannnig on going to hockey match tomorrow.
Chris, I picked up tickets to hockey just a little while ago, PM me for phone number and we might get a chance to catch up over a beer at the rink.
Avalanches - BBC4 Now! (Tuesday, 22nd December. 2200hrs)
Wolf creek in Colorado has had 192" of powder so far this season including 45" in the last five days. Lordy lord lord
Glad you had a good trip Solarider. Turns out that that longterm forecast wasn't too far off when it said 'some snow' was coming up 😀
Do I sense a "What outerwear for riding DH in the Alps in December" thread.
I'm not sure i can see the benefits of opening some of the lifts to bikes at this time of year, it has to be a bit of a slippy gloop fest, bikes are a fair bit more expensive to hire than skis, and i don't think you average skier is ready for just how rough a DH crash is likely to be.
If you were a really enthusiastic DH'er you'd probably be at home doing uplifts on you own bike or in Spain enjoying sunny trails
Can anyone recommend some insurance for a weeks trip for the French Alpes please? First time skiing so not sure what to look for etc.
@oliver - Verbier have been running some guided rides, looks pretty nice riding from resort down to the valley floor. The skiing there is 40% open and only the higher stuff
@bash, you can check whether you can buy insurance with the loft pass, eg carte neige. Thats very good for recovery in the event of an accident
Also worth checking with your credit card provider. If it's your first time, you're going to be on piste only, and (hopefully ) in tuition for much of it, so insurance can be a little bit easier.
Where are you going, bash?
Drone madness, has to stop IMO.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/35164700 ]Marcel Hirsch[/url]
bash - MemberCan anyone recommend some insurance for a weeks trip for the French Alpes please? First time skiing so not sure what to look for etc.
I use Protectivity, annual as it covers off piste mountain biking and climbing.
FYI Carte neige when purchased with piste pass for PdS is c. €3 a day.
Edit, this is the PdS insurance scheme
http://en.snowrisk.com
Does the Carte Neige cover you if you're on the bike? it's cracking value in that case
No, just ski pass periods
but seeing as they're opening for bikes?
@CFH going to Les Deux Alpes, I've had a fair few days tuition at ChillFactore (indoor Snowdome) so can parallel ski etc so not going to have lessons but will only be on piste.
Thanks for all of the recommendations, I'll have a look into those.
Awesome.
I still think lessons are good for a newbie, especially as it also helps you to navigate around the resort.
Another gorgeous day in Avoriaz but Snow is getting low.
Just had a small flurry overnight, so only have 2.8m on the mountain at Sunshine. It's cold here though, -12 currently and can only really get colder. Last night was -20 as I tried to stay awake until a 'normal' time for Canadia.
Sadly, I woke up at 1am local and the jet lag is real. Coffee is the order of the day now that I have my snowbaord. Tomorrow we'll be out at Lake Louise.
Photos to follow.
New snow at Loveland in Colorado. It is not fun at all. 😉
Been a great start to the season here, hopefully it continues!
Sadly, I woke up at 1am local and the jet lag is real. Coffee is the order of the day now that I have my snowbaord. Tomorrow we'll be out at Lake Louise
The hard part is finding somewehere to have breakfast before the first bus, although the day lodges at lake louise and Norquay are both good, and open before the lifts
We're out in "too low for early season" Austria at the moment. Considering we've been skiing man made snow on piste for the whole week it's been pretty impressive (especially compared to last year's disappointment in Skiwelt).
There hasn't been any natural snow of any substance for about 4 weeks and it has been too warm for the cannons to be running most of the week. It's been hovering around freezing around town most of the time - getting up to 17c at the top! Yet there aren't any mounds of sugary slush like you get in Spring. Lovely smooth flowing pistes in the morning followed by hard/scraped and very fast with very light soft stuff in between in the afternoon. For my sins I carry a Garmin and whilst we don't blast it we've managed 4 x 40+ mile days and a 39 mile day (lifts and skiing).
If there was plenty of natural white stuff between the pistes here (as they are at the moment) no on one would be moaning. I know where I'd rather be at the moment!
All this said, I much prefer being out here for this week than next when it will be quite a bit busier and more difficult to get about.
2.8 is the cumulative snowfall. The base is more like 1m or a bit more.
