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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
1) Does anyone remember having to ski over a road surface on the way to Val Thorens ? The piste seemed to run out and you could see a strip of lightly snow covered asphalt that must have been a road before you descended into Val Thorens itself ? Am I imagining this ? 2) I think this was around 83/84. What I remember as a route where you took the furthest lift in the Meribel valley on the LHS of the valley as you looked up. You topped a ridge. On the other side of the ridge, which must have been the Courcheval watershed, you descended into a sort of bowl but you needed to descend around to your right. The moguls here always looked like they had been dug by a backhoe, late season, and were taller than you were. You skied through tunnels. Lower down you hit a piste/itinerary. You seemed to ski down a valley, not narrow, as I remember it, and on the LHS. At one point you skied down a rise in the ground and there was a rock bluff to your left. If you poled up the rise to the rock bluff, there was jump down into soft snow. This is what I am trying to find. Where was this. I remember looking for this about fifteen years later, thinking it would be easy to find. But on the route I described, there was a narrow icey track, I think bordered by a river. Not the broader valley I remember. Is it possible that this was the same place, except under 2m of snow ? At that point, I gave up, thinking I must have got it all wrong. Where was this ? Where is it ? Does any one know how to contact Denis Summerbell if he is still around ? If this place is lost in the mists of 3V history, he would be the man who knew. |
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
Michael Chare mUNDERSCOREnews@chareDOTorgDOTuk wrote:
On 21/02/2014 21:23, wrote: Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees 1) Does anyone remember having to ski over a road surface on the way to Val Thorens ? The piste seemed to run out and you could see a strip of lightly snow covered asphalt that must have been a road before you descended into Val Thorens itself ? Am I imagining this ? Getting to Val Thorens from where? From what I remember you had to go all the way to the had of the Meribel Valley, then over. "Cote Brun" rings a bell. Just before you get into Val Thorens, you crossed a road. You could tell the people on hire skis. From Meribel I recall going to ValThorens via Les Menuires. From Les Menuires you took the 'egg' left to the top and then walked a little way until you could ski down to Val Thorens. The last part of the piste (that I probably used in the 70s) has always been covered with snow when I have been there, but it is shown as a road on google maps. To get back you took the two chair lifts up from Val Thorens and then skied off piste back to Meribel Mottaret past Mont Vallon. |
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
Michael Chare mUNDERSCOREnews@charedotorgdotuk wrote:
: The last part of the piste (that I probably used in the 70s) has always : been covered with snow when I have been there, but it is shown as a road : on google maps. I think the piste down to Val Thorens turns into a bridge over the road. In fact I am sure of that! I do not recall it ever being the road itself. : To get back you took the two chair lifts up from Val Thorens and then : skied off piste back to Meribel Mottaret past Mont Vallon. That'a all pistes! You ski down to "Plan des Mains" which is where the Mont Vallon lift is. Then you either take the chairlift of the same name up to gain a bit of height to come down to Mottaret on blue runs OR keep going past the Mont Vallon lift to also get to Mottaret - but via a (flat in places) green run. |
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
On 24/02/2014 10:33, Brian Mc wrote:
Michael Chare mUNDERSCOREnews@charedotorgdotuk wrote: : The last part of the piste (that I probably used in the 70s) has always : been covered with snow when I have been there, but it is shown as a road : on google maps. I think the piste down to Val Thorens turns into a bridge over the road. In fact I am sure of that! I do not recall it ever being the road itself. : To get back you took the two chair lifts up from Val Thorens and then : skied off piste back to Meribel Mottaret past Mont Vallon. That'a all pistes! Today that is certainly the case. It was not like that in the mid 70s when I went to Courcheval 1650. -- Michael Chare |
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
If I could find my original piste map (I have never thrown away a piste map) this would help. I have had a look at a current piste map and compared it to the journey I remember. Nothing looks right. For instance, if you go to head of the Meribel Valley, then that could not be the start of the journey because the highest lift would have been Saulire, which is the big bowl where you ski back down to Courcheval. Not that. OK if it is still the Courcheval valley I remember then it could be the valley which descends below the Chanrossa lift. But I am sure that the Chanrossa lift was not built then and when you descend that valley the profile is wrong. It just feels wrong. The other possibility would be that I was returning from Val Thorens via what looks like Cote Brun, down what looks like blue piste 'Bouvreuil' and blue piste 'Ours'. But I am sure that this is the icey track alongside the river which I discounted as being the place. GoogleEarth does not have any winter footage, which wouldhave been helpful. I have usually being going other places when in the 3V (like working my way through Dennis Summerbell's 3V guide) but next time I will make a serious effort to find this place again. Thinking about it yet again, the only place it could be, by elimination, is the Meribel valley, returning to Mottaret from Val Thorens via Cote Brun. This must mean that either It was a heavy snowfall year in the year I remember skiing it, and the snow obscured what is the present terrain or they have done a lot of work with the bulldozer. |
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
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Historic questions on the 3V Les Trois Vallees
Michael Chare mUNDERSCOREnews@chareDOTorgDOTuk wrote:
On 26/02/2014 19:58, wrote: [...] The Cote Brune lift is not on my '91 ski map. It shows 'Retour Val-Thorens' as a broken dashed red line. I do recall a nasty fall! These days since the building of the Cote Brune lift there is a lovely piste. Now we are getting somewhere. It sounds like the route was Cote Brune but back then it was off piste. That mogul bowl will have gone but what should be there is that jump because it was over a large rise in the ground to the right. You had to detour the main route and pole over to it, then jump off. My next recon mission may find it. Thanks |
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