For first year in 13, I haven’t been following the euro snow season, due to more pressing concerns. I’m about to land back in Berlin. Can someone update me. Maybe even a couple paragraph summary of euro season to date? Where’s doing well? Where’s having a shocker? Friends have sent me some grassy pics from Italy....
IMO big early snows up high in November/December set all the major resorts up well for the season as well as dolomites. Jan was all high pressure and no snow but pistes held up well in major resorts. It’s been shocking for low level resorts below 1500m. Been crazy rain up high even to 2500m in tignes combined with some snow events in Feb. Off piste has been ropey most of season unless you got lucky and hit some of storm cells. Generally good piste skiing across Italy, France, Swiss and Austria
Was spewin with decision to ski Le Tour initially. Crazy gondola line, chair not open, MrsBoof won’t go on pommas, so I decided to go for a skin. Ended up having a ball and getting a few fresh lines off a pomma that the crowds hadn’t got too yet. Discovered I was missing a tail clip on my skins but all good.
First Impressions 3 days into our trip staying in colfosco In the Dolomites.The terrain is so immense crowds are crazy but the lifts seem to handle the masses,the scenery is mind blowing every corner you turn you get another wow moment.Snow is hard and fast thank god for 74s under foot,and food is amazing.
Snowing in Cham. Just starting to stick. Unfortunately, we are bugging out today but have had an awesome time on our first trip to Europe.
Whoa, avalanche rescue at Verbier: https://www.tetongravity.com/story/..._id=19664&bwf_token=w6V8kt3MTAji0V6K9FdsRaELT
Anyone got good knowledge of Courcheval 1550. Staying near Grangettes Gondola and wondering what the best way to get up and out of 1550/1850 to avoid lift queues. Every major resort I go to in France its all about knowing what lifts not to use or when not to use them and then you never have many queues. I have heard 1850 can be a queue disaster zone first thing so wanted to use the collective knowledge on the forum.
Grangettes is fine, otherwise Tovets chair is faster if you've got tele bindings and hate having to take them off for a gondola. Some mornings I will do half a dozen quickies just on Tovets groomers or for fresh if it's there. Tovets Q almost always smaller/faster. From Grangettes you can access the triple gondola hub from 1850, (carrying your skis, follow the signs) - but from Tovets just exit onto the trail traversing down to Plantrey. Whilst Plantrey tends to Q up fast and big, it's a rapid 6 seater so the Q moves fast. From the top of Plantrey you can go any direction. Alternatively, from the top of Tovets, ski all the way down to Praz (1300m - can be icy if no new snow)) where Foret (fastest hooded 6 seater in Europe) will have no Q at all and take you back up to access either the Tania sector, or Dou des lanches to access either Meribel - or back to the 1850 area.
Don't stress too much about lift lines, thye're all high speed maxi seaters so the only time Qs get weird is when you encounter bad weather, accident/incident, or time-of-day issues. That said, there are a few cheeky options - the nicest being when the afternoon Q at Aguille du Fruit is too much: just continue right, down the valley along a very picturesque trail (ignoring any trail closed signs). You have to briefly take your skis off to cross the road, but then continue down the valley watching out for angry frogs out walking their dogs, turn an obvious right at a major trail intersection down to a new fixed chair (last ride, 1640?) that takes you back up to midway b/n 1550 and 1850, and from where you will easily be able to ski back to your chalet at 1550.
Yep every time I've skied up to a massive queue at a place like Courchevel or Val d'Isere it has cleared quickly unless it's an old clunker of a chair, these places can move some serious volumes of people.
And make sure you have a meal at Farcon in La Tania. Amazing value for a Michelin star degustation, truly amazing French food - they'll come and pick you up and drop you home. Or en piste for lunch.
Save around Boxing Day which was bluebird with fresh, can't recall a single Q of much more than 5 mins in 3V this year. You can get a crazy amount of skiing done.
And when I went back to CCV a couple of years ago after a 20 year gap I was gobsmacked at how quickly you could get around, it used to feel so dauntingly huge but in one day we quite easily did a lap of the main areas.
Sitting in the lounge at Helsinki airport en route to Tokyo after a month in Europe. Very nice airport with its very stylish Scandinavian design. Quite large too for a country of 5 million.
From Colfosco ... Head over the Passo Gardena, take the black run (Cir, I think). Three parts of the way down you can head off to the right and visit the Ciampac Hutte. Oddly named since the Ciampac area is over the other side, but there you go. There’s a double chair to bring you back to the main piste. Take a day to visit Santa Croce above Badia, past La Villa. Utia Punta Trieste, top of the Pralongia lift in Alta Badia. Rifugio Bamby, also Alta Badia. I’m continuously fascinated with this wind-driven skiing dude going round and round. Rifugio Ciadinat is good, middle of the Plan di Gralba. Hotel Freina in Val Gardena is a bit nice. If you drop over the back of the Plan di Gralba to the Monte Pana area you can grab a bus to spend a day in the Alpe di Siusi area (and return). Head to Seceda and do the run down to Ortisei. Black FIS WC downhill run to Santa Cristina, moving carpet to a funitel, train, gondola, two escalators, quad chair and you’re at the top. Follow everyone around to skier’s extreme right and you’re on your way. Strudel at Restaurant Val d’Anna. Few hundred metres further down you’re turning around to head back. Gondola and cable car to get back to the top. Trend skier’s left to get back to the main run home. Don’t ski past the top station of the funitel on the way back down from Seceda.
We sat under the wind vane on Monday.Yesterday did Jimmys also now we are in Coronavirus central we trialed some face masks
At Brisbane international waiting to begin the long trip to the 3 Valleys. Pretty excited given recent and expected snow there. Perfect for me maybe a bit crazy for my UK based family
We just arrived home. Haven’t skied for a fortnight in fact. Just a spectator now. Keep loading pics folks.
What a day in Courchevel today. Bluebird with around 10-15cm of fresh on top of the 60cm or so in the last few days. Absolutely awesome fresh tracks everywhere. Busy but still lots of quiet runs and powder to ski. Completely knackered now and time for a beer.
Enjoy mate. Really, seriously, get the muthatruk on it and enjoy!! Cham guide socials are killin me the last few days. Great to see. And of course.... #picsorban!!!
This is what blows my brain with the modern crew. They aren’t just skiing these things. They are fkn RAILING DOWN THEM in boot deep+ powder conditions at mach3. Its nuckin futs.
Hit Cham just at the right time. Mon and Tue was great pow doing laps of Lavancher and the occasional Herse down to the bottom via Hotel. Today was skinning laps up the top of GM. I think I like it better without the top station, when could you ever ski fresh lines all day the second day after a dump Haven’t had the camera out much cause the skiings been to good but here are a few.
It was too deep. Seriously. Phone was in my pack as I wanted it away from my beacon due to Avi 4/5. Guides spent half the day trenching the flat areas.
