Who's going skiing and where? 23-24
Discussion
oddman said:
cashmax said:
Saw no pisteurs, as you say most of the folks that skied in above us had no gear, but then it's normally pretty safe. Just goes to show I guess. The experience will be a learning one, I will take the time to properly assess stuff better from now on and perhaps an airbag might be on the cards. After years of skiing off piste, I would have zero enthusiasm for skiing on pistes, they just provide transit to the fun stuff for us.
As for our Grand Col adventure, yes you are correct about the location. We skied to the hut, decided to have a look perhaps 100m below that and realised we were f
ked. Our only option to walk out, thought we were home free after we got to the top of the first ridge, but then realised we would have to traverse across that huge bowl below transarc/arcbulle and walk out from there, all fresh tracks and hugely heavy going on freeride skis.
Edited to say that story about you friend sounds horrendous. I can understand why someone might reevaluate their position after that.
Avalanche awareness course would be a much better investment than an airbag. As for our Grand Col adventure, yes you are correct about the location. We skied to the hut, decided to have a look perhaps 100m below that and realised we were f
ked. Our only option to walk out, thought we were home free after we got to the top of the first ridge, but then realised we would have to traverse across that huge bowl below transarc/arcbulle and walk out from there, all fresh tracks and hugely heavy going on freeride skis.Edited to say that story about you friend sounds horrendous. I can understand why someone might reevaluate their position after that.
If you're doing any more than lift accessed off piste then some hybrid bindings and skins in your pack can save a lot of hassle
The main thing that came out of the courses, was that you could reduce some risk by being aware of the conditions, skiing mainly in the mornings and inspecting the areas you were choosing to ski, but the reality was that if you wanted no risk, then the only option was never to go near any mountains that had snow cover. Period.
In my incident, we identified the snow was unstable as soon as we arrived at the top, tried to escape and got caught out. In *might* have been possible to predict that slab was a risk before we skied to it, but the area had just been cleared by blasting and the slab was small, with anchors at the bottom, so it looked viable. The time was 930AM, the snow had not had any sun and we moved very carefully. It was an area that most folks venture to from the piste with no kit and little or no awareness, in short, we were unlucky.
Re the skins and hybrid bindings, agree that it might be worth a look, despite the fact that we are not ski tourers and normally only ski lift accessed stuff, because it's easy to make a mistake that requires a walk out, rather than risk skiing unknown terrain.
Hoofty said:
101 days! Forgive the probably very dumb question, but how does one manage that? (Bravo btw.)
I have to be bloody minded just to get 2 or 3 weeks, but I am probably not thinking outside the 'day job and 26 days holiday' box. Or I'm just stuck in it.
Bought a ski apartment & then retired early - It helps to have a wife who also wants to ski.I have to be bloody minded just to get 2 or 3 weeks, but I am probably not thinking outside the 'day job and 26 days holiday' box. Or I'm just stuck in it.
We've had around 20 days off, it's not like we ski every day
Hoofty said:
Thanks - makes sense. Something to look into! 
As soon as our kids left home, we downsized & bought a ski place with the change.For a few years I was commuting weekly to London & 'only' skiing weekends. Then Covid, which was fantastic. Then the prospect of back to the office & 3am starts on a Monday to get to the airport - so I strung it out as long as I could & then retired instead.
We just arrived in Les Deux Alpes last night, my god it’s warm! 20C in resort last night, 15 mins down the road it was 27C. There are women walking around in mini skirts and blokes in shorts. Doesn’t really feel like a ski resort when it’s like this.
Presume there’s some snow up high, because there’s bugger all at this level.
Presume there’s some snow up high, because there’s bugger all at this level.
ThunderSpook said:
We just arrived in Les Deux Alpes last night, my god it’s warm! 20C in resort last night, 15 mins down the road it was 27C. There are women walking around in mini skirts and blokes in shorts. Doesn’t really feel like a ski resort when it’s like this.
Presume there’s some snow up high, because there’s bugger all at this level.
You lucky thing, skiing in the morning and then picking a nice restaurant to adjourn to for the afternoon once it slushes up!Presume there’s some snow up high, because there’s bugger all at this level.
Car bon said:
Harry Flashman said:
I installed them myself - it's an easy DIY job if you have a pillar drill mount. I wouldn't do it freehand...but it is possible!
Thanks - I was wavering between a pillar mount for my regular drill or one of the aluminium blocks that they sellAmateurish said:
I'm a Portes Du Soleil regular, and buy an annual pass. Just a heads up that you can buy next year's winter season pass for €580 if you've got this year's pass. There's also a combined summer and winter pass for €800 which is excellent value.
For people without a 23/24 season pass I had an email about a "private sale" this Thursday, 9 till 6 French time where you'll be able to get a 24/25 winter season pass for €669/annual pass for €879. Just go to www.ski-morzine.comMr E said:
Top was pretty shut. I pretty much had to walk access routes because of the headwinds. We ran cretes a lot
Have you figured out if there are any nice areas of town? Seems very full of students, there were English people walking past our apartment singing loudly a few times until at least half 1 in the morning, and there was a bloke pissing against a fence when we walked back last night at about 10pm.ThunderSpook said:
Have you figured out if there are any nice areas of town? Seems very full of students, there were English people walking past our apartment singing loudly a few times until at least half 1 in the morning, and there was a bloke pissing against a fence when we walked back last night at about 10pm.
My information is ~800 Newcastle uni students arrived Saturday. Good luck!Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff