just back from Val d'Isere

Got back from Val d'Isere yesterday.

We went by train so caught the Eurostar to Paris and had a rather
frantic trip on the RER to Gare du Lyon to catch the TGV to BSM with
luggage and 14 month old baby. Many thanks to those who advised on this
trip - I'd not like to have to do that again, 45 minutes between trains
is too little for comfort and we only just made it.

Anyway, what a week in Val - it snowed from 3 pm the day we arrived and
into the night. We then had 6 glorious days of sunshine which (for me
anyway) is a first. Very cold ( -15) the first couple of days but
warming as the week went on to spring-like skiing at the end of the
week with temperatures up to 8 degrees at resort level which was great
for us but not the snow!

It snowed again briefly mid week but had we been staying another week
I'd have been doing the snow dance as Tignes especially was becoming
very bare with some runs more brown than white!

Despite a generally very good piste state there were quite a few rocky
patches lightly covered (again especially in Tignes) so quite a lot of
crunching of the skis which made me glad I hired them.

Despite it being a school holiday week it was exceptionally quiet with
no queues at all - but I stand by my post of a few months ago about the
lifts in Tignes being dreadfully slow. While some have been upgraded,
for those who disagreed with me about slow lifts the Palafuur chair out
of Tignes is a joke as is the Tichot out of Val Claret. Aiguille Rouge
is very slow and this year we carefully avoided the long and
appallingly slow Marais chair which moves slower than the local
glaciers.

All in all a fantastic week with weather you'd never expect in Jan and
what with the lack of queues probably the most skiing I've ever done in
a week.

In message .com,
writes
All in all a fantastic week with weather you'd never expect in Jan and
what with the lack of queues probably the most skiing I've ever done in
a week.

How could y7ou have possibly managed it with all those slow chairs?
Didn't you realise that there are alternatives to all of them too? I
really don't know what you expect from a resort, please give an example
of an area with a better lift system.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

pete devlin wrote:

In message .com,
writes

All in all a fantastic week with weather you'd never expect in Jan and
what with the lack of queues probably the most skiing I've ever done
in a week.


How could y7ou have possibly managed it with all those slow chairs?
Didn't you realise that there are alternatives to all of them too? I
really don't know what you expect from a resort, please give an example
of an area with a better lift system.

Although I agree that the lift system in Tignes is Ok as they go, there
are some that are better. Flaine has a lot of fast, high capacity chairs
(although you can still find a couple of slow ones) for a start. To
really see a good lift system you need to cross the pond - the uplift of
Whistler/Blackcomb is just fantastic. I don't know about the stats, and
it wouldn't compete with the Espace Killy for pure numbers, but for
speed of getting to any part of the network it is unbeatable and IMHO a
far better network than anyting in Europe.

In message , Steve Haigh
writes
Although I agree that the lift system in Tignes is Ok as they go, there
are some that are better. Flaine has a lot of fast, high capacity
chairs (although you can still find a couple of slow ones) for a start.
To really see a good lift system you need to cross the pond - the
uplift of Whistler/Blackcomb is just fantastic. I don't know about the
stats, and it wouldn't compete with the Espace Killy for pure numbers,
but for speed of getting to any part of the network it is unbeatable
and IMHO a far better network than anyting in Europe.

I haven't been to Flaine since 95 or so but the biggest bug bear of mine
at that time was the return from Les carroz side. There was a double
poma that was the only way back and a bad bottle neck. And the Gers area
seemed to be closed a lot :O( Apart from that it was fine, nay top
notch. Will have to go back soon.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

An area with a better lift system than Tignes - er, Val d'Isere.

I think the skiing is better in Tignes, but not the lifts. And yes
there are alternatives - but only if you want to go to another part of
the mountain.

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:20:48 +0000, pete devlin
wrote:


I haven't been to Flaine since 95 or so but the biggest bug bear of mine
at that time was the return from Les carroz side. There was a double
poma that was the only way back and a bad bottle neck.

That was replaced around 1997, I think, with a four-man chair taking
you from the "Green Piste" (aka Vernant) where there's now a big car
park, and dropping you next to the lake, from where there's a six-man
chair to the top of the Grand Vans and the four-man Corbalanche chair
back over towards Samoens.

And the Gers area seemed to be closed a lot :O(

Sadly, that's still the case. It needs quite a lot of snow, and is
then _very_ prone to avalanches, so even when it is opened, it's often
not until late morning by the time thay're happy that it's been made
safe. Always worth asking the pisteurs whether it's likely to happen,
so you can be there as soon as it's open.

Apart from that it was fine, nay top notch. Will have to go back soon.

I'll be there at Easter, running a Ski Club weekend holiday, as
mentioned last week. Prolly I'll go a few days in advance too, just to
get the most out of it, like, as it is indeed one of the all-round
best ski areas in the world.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

In message . com,
writes
An area with a better lift system than Tignes - er, Val d'Isere.

I think the skiing is better in Tignes, but not the lifts. And yes
there are alternatives - but only if you want to go to another part of
the mountain.

Here's a challenge for you then. Fornet to La Daille v Gde motte to
Breviere. No busses allowed. Time how long you spend on/queuing for
lifts in each. My moneys on the Val trip taking longer. The older chairs
that you so hate in Tignes can be mainly by bypassed by skiing down to
the newer one in Lavachet. I've never had to queue on the Aguille Percee
side of Tignes either.
You _do_ realise that Tommuesses, Borsat etc. belong to Tignes and not
Val as well don't you?
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

pete devlin wrote:
In message . com,
writes
An area with a better lift system than Tignes - er, Val d'Isere.

I think the skiing is better in Tignes, but not the lifts. And yes
there are alternatives - but only if you want to go to another part
of
the mountain.

Here's a challenge for you then. Fornet to La Daille v Gde motte to
Breviere. No busses allowed. Time how long you spend on/queuing for
lifts in each. My moneys on the Val trip taking longer.

Not for me! You might be surprised at how long it took me to get down
the moguls on the bottom bit of Sache last time I tried it.

The older chairs
that you so hate in Tignes can be mainly by bypassed by skiing down
to
the newer one in Lavachet. I've never had to queue on the Aguille
Percee
side of Tignes either.
You _do_ realise that Tommuesses, Borsat etc. belong to Tignes and
not
Val as well don't you?
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"