Skiing/Boarding 13-14

I've only ever been boarding on 2 occasions. On both of those there was over 1m of snow on the slopes IIRC.

What will it be like with the below, have people been away with conditions similar and was it ok? A little bit worried as I go on Friday. Expecting 12cm on Thursday though..

Val D'isere current conditions :
Upper slopes: 75 cm
Lower slopes: 40 cm
 
mr tommo said:
Off to Val D'isere on friday. We are driving down with accommodation booked from Saturday. Looking forward to the outdoor heated swimming pool!!
Click to expand...

Just make sure you head to La Folly Douse one afternoon for some early Apres and then enjoy the wobbly trip back down to La Daille. :D

Also if you are still learning as such, avoid La face in the late afternoons as it is a mogul infested death trap with loads of skiers trying to get down in one piece. If you do make it there is a decent bar near the bottom, Bananas.
 
It's La Folie Douce you dousch :p - still not sure about its meaning, sweet madness, it's a very marmite place full of punters, but hey you will be a punter so enjoy it!

The conditions out there right now are below average but as you say there is a nice dusting coming in tomorrow night so that will freshen things up, enjoy what promises to be a few days of bluebird powder then do a few snow dances and see what happens :)
 
PapaLazaru said:
Just make sure you head to La Folly Douse one afternoon for some early Apres and then enjoy the wobbly trip back down to La Daille. :D

Also if you are still learning as such, avoid La face in the late afternoons as it is a mogul infested death trap with loads of skiers trying to get down in one piece. If you do make it there is a decent bar near the bottom, Bananas.
Click to expand...

We did this in Val Thorens a few times. Not keen on the £9 bottles of Corona though! Beers + Rucksack this time around! Great atmosphere though.

Still very much a beginner I'd say. My second trip this year and had a few lessons at Chillfactore along with a few 4 hour sessions there over the summer to get my technique right. I can confidently board now, just nothing fancy. At least I will be able to take in some of the scenary this time :)

Will Gill said:
It's La Folie Douce you dousch :p - still not sure about its meaning, sweet madness, it's a very marmite place full of punters, but hey you will be a punter so enjoy it!

The conditions out there right now are below average but as you say there is a nice dusting coming in tomorrow night so that will freshen things up, enjoy what promises to be a few days of bluebird powder then do a few snow dances and see what happens :)
Click to expand...

Do you go out every year will? Not really up to scratch with snow fall, will 10+cm be classed as a decent fall?
 
We're off out to Serre Chevalier in Jan but currently there just isn't any snow :( I'm hoping that the high pressure front moves away in the next week or so otherwise it might be a bit of a lame one
 
I'm driving down to the mountains first thing in the morning to sort out the apartment for a rental this weekend. Joys. 6hr round trip in the forecast snow.

Will I'm loving the look of those. Really different!

As for fractured skull, I'd go but that's me and I'd not miss skiing for most things. I went skiing 6weeks after a car crash when I wasn't supposed to weight bare on my broken ankle but bought some new tight fitting boots, painkillers and sucked it up.
 
mr tommo said:
We did this in Val Thorens a few times. Not keen on the £9 bottles of Corona though! Beers + Rucksack this time around! Great atmosphere though.

Still very much a beginner I'd say. My second trip this year and had a few lessons at Chillfactore along with a few 4 hour sessions there over the summer to get my technique right. I can confidently board now, just nothing fancy. At least I will be able to take in some of the scenary this time :)



Do you go out every year will? Not really up to scratch with snow fall, will 10+cm be classed as a decent fall?
Click to expand...

Yep, I try to do a minimum of 3 weeks to a month skiing every year :cool:

5cm+ is enough to freshen up tired snow, it will be bashed into the piste almost immediately but give some nice on-piste conditions. the problem comes when people think a nice dump of 5cm means all the off piste is full of virgin powder. What it actually means is all the rocks are now nicely hidden and ready to blow your ACL or worse....

Best dump I ever saw was 1.5m overnight, you could back flip of anything you liked, crash as hard as you like and never hurt yourself, only problem was losing skis!

:D
 
Will Gill said:
Yep, I try to do a minimum of 3 weeks to a month skiing every year :cool:

5cm+ is enough to freshen up tired snow, it will be bashed into the piste almost immediately but give some nice on-piste conditions. the problem comes when people think a nice dump of 5cm means all the off piste is full of virgin powder. What it actually means is all the rocks are now nicely hidden and ready to blow your ACL or worse....

Best dump I ever saw was 1.5m overnight, you could back flip of anything you liked, crash as hard as you like and never hurt yourself, only problem was losing skis!

:D
Click to expand...


I hate thinking you have fresh powder but it's a tiny layer on top of frozen solid lumpy snow. Hate it.

Most I had was about the same in Tahoe. 1.5m overnight and hammering through the trees was insane.
 
Will Gill said:
Yep, I try to do a minimum of 3 weeks to a month skiing every year :cool:

5cm+ is enough to freshen up tired snow, it will be bashed into the piste almost immediately but give some nice on-piste conditions. the problem comes when people think a nice dump of 5cm means all the off piste is full of virgin powder. What it actually means is all the rocks are now nicely hidden and ready to blow your ACL or worse....

Best dump I ever saw was 1.5m overnight, you could back flip of anything you liked, crash as hard as you like and never hurt yourself, only problem was losing skis!

:D
Click to expand...

Sounds awesome! :D

Am I right in thinking that's prime avalanche time too when snow has been sitting for a good 2-3 weeks in cold conditions and then you get a fresh covering? Not really been off piste before, go slightly off the piste but I'm talking proper off piste.
 
randomshenans said:
I'm driving down to the mountains first thing in the morning to sort out the apartment for a rental this weekend. Joys. 6hr round trip in the forecast snow.

Will I'm loving the look of those. Really different!

As for fractured skull, I'd go but that's me and I'd not miss skiing for most things. I went skiing 6weeks after a car crash when I wasn't supposed to weight bare on my broken ankle but bought some new tight fitting boots, painkillers and sucked it up.
Click to expand...

Hows the rental go for you? Something I've considered recently. Especially as I'd like to go 2-3 times per year and I imagine an average 4 per apartment rents our for about £500 per week?
 
mr tommo said:
Sounds awesome! :D

Am I right in thinking that's prime avalanche time too when snow has been sitting for a good 2-3 weeks in cold conditions and then you get a fresh covering? Not really been off piste before, go slightly off the piste but I'm talking proper off piste.
Click to expand...

Not always, depends on the consistency of the layers, wind direction when the snow fell etc.... But yes it's not ideal.

Avalanche training, polling and transceiver skills are vital, i did a week long course and will run a day refresher each season, we bury bleeps in the snow and practice finding them. Has and will again save lives :)
 
McBain said:
I fractured my skull last week, and have a trip planned early January ... realistically what are the chances of me being ok to do so? It will be just over 5 weeks since I would have done it ... :(
Click to expand...

Surprised your even considering going.

Likely you would be fine... BUT it's always the other people which are the problem (like when your driving)

If you were take a fall, catch an edge, be bundled over...the risk is massive. If anything also did happen and you needed a doctor, I highly doubt the insurance company would be interested in paying due to it being an existing condition.

Don't get me wrong, I have done silly things before but your playing with something pretty big here...a skull fracture is not a broken finger :)
 
Hmm it's an awful long shot but my boss has told me about the plans to expand the department, and the possibility of a position opening for me in Les Avenieres. Half an hour from the Alps. Oh. My. God. Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.
 
Just packing this years gear, I already have two quivers out in the alps and 5 pairs of skis

despite being "skint" I seem to have managed to accrue rather a large amount of clutter!

QcwhyCp.jpg

full size here if for some reason you wanted it (I'm using it for insurance purposes)
 
Its never ending. I swear the last time I went away in April I had everything I needed. Still hasn't stopped me from buying loads of kit again. Better gloves, new trousers, new jacket, new rucksack, gopro, million and one gopro mounts and accessories, new boots.
 
Hey any tips for someone looking to start snowboarding? Going to get some dry slope lessons as a present off my girlfriend for christmas.

Any kit I should bring? Already have a kayaking helmet (custom made for my huge head!) that I can use


Also was considering if I like it is there scope for snowboarding holidays in late may/early june? (and how much $?)
Prefer holidays doing activities to normal ones :p (Eg. went kayaking in french alps)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom