La Rosière avalanche

To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio) ...
avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...

Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down to
the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed all
day.

Pete

"PG" wrote in message
...
To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio) ...
avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...

Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down to
the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed all
day.

Pete

Hi Pete,

I left Tignes (2100m) this morning in heavy snow with rain at Les Brevieres
(1650m). Warm, moist air from Algeria the culprit, desert sand being
entrained in the low pressure system and "brown snow" being reported in the
Itlalian Dolomites. A fantastic week on Espace Killy, my second in two years
now.

Joe

"Joe Hunt" wrote in message
...
|
| "PG" wrote in message
| ...
| To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio)
....
| avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...
|
| Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down
to
| the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed
all
| day.

| I left Tignes (2100m) this morning in heavy snow with rain at Les
Brevieres
| (1650m). Warm, moist air from Algeria the culprit, desert sand being
| entrained in the low pressure system and "brown snow" being reported
in the
| Itlalian Dolomites. A fantastic week on Espace Killy, my second in two
years
| now.

The winds started on Thursday - I was up at Val Claret then. Early on I
took the Grattalu chair up to the start of the super G at the stade de
Lognan - I can't remember ever being so cold. 150 racers had to hang
around in bitter conditions, completely exposed - not much snow, but it
was freezing. I gave up and headed straight back down to the Auberge for
an Irish Coffee. 7 euros 20 - ouch. Clear weather from just after lunch,
but still cold.

An aside - it was a race for 11 to 13 year olds, followed by a GS late
morning. When I was up the top for the Super G not one was complaining -
and some had to wait their turn for more than 90 minutes depending on
the draw. Apart from the Tignards themselves most had to be up not long
after 6 (mid-holiday) to get to Tignes for 8. Second such race in the
two week break, and other than race days all trained hard every morning
or afternoon throughout. It's a sport that needs commitment, and teaches
real self-discipline. Seeing the majority of kids today lounging around,
taking everything for granted, easy come easy go, quick to complain,
pretty lazy on the whole, it's a shame more effort isn't put into
subsidising sport in the UK (not even close to the support it gets in
France). I do sometimes wonder what the legacy will be..

Pete
www.skiclublesarcs.com

"PG" wrote in message
...

The winds started on Thursday - I was up at Val Claret then. Early on I
took the Grattalu chair up to the start of the super G at the stade de
Lognan - I can't remember ever being so cold. 150 racers had to hang
around in bitter conditions, completely exposed - not much snow, but it
was freezing. I gave up and headed straight back down to the Auberge for
an Irish Coffee. 7 euros 20 - ouch. Clear weather from just after lunch,
but still cold.

We made the error of going up on to the Glacier de Mont de Lans at Les Deux
Alpes on Friday morning - as it turned out just before the funicular was
closed!!

The wind was incredible, making it really hard to stand. Temperature was
shown as -18C inside the funicular station so who knows what the added wind
chill was. We beat a very hasty retreat down to Chalet Le Fee for a hot
chocolate and rum - 4 euros 50 IIRC

I have been very very cold skiing in New England in January - Friday beat
that experience by a long chalk.

We left Les Deux Alpes yesterday morning and there had been considerable
overnight snow - 6" at resort level I would say. It was still snowing down
below Mont de Lans at 1300 meters.

Clive

"PG" wrote in message
...

"Joe Hunt" wrote in message
...
|
| "PG" wrote in message
| ...
| To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio)
...
| avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...
|
| Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down
to
| the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed
all
| day.

| I left Tignes (2100m) this morning in heavy snow with rain at Les
Brevieres
| (1650m). Warm, moist air from Algeria the culprit, desert sand being
| entrained in the low pressure system and "brown snow" being reported
in the
| Itlalian Dolomites. A fantastic week on Espace Killy, my second in two
years
| now.

The winds started on Thursday - I was up at Val Claret then. Early on I
took the Grattalu chair up to the start of the super G at the stade de
Lognan - I can't remember ever being so cold. 150 racers had to hang
around in bitter conditions, completely exposed - not much snow, but it
was freezing. I gave up and headed straight back down to the Auberge for
an Irish Coffee. 7 euros 20 - ouch. Clear weather from just after lunch,
but still cold.

An aside - it was a race for 11 to 13 year olds, followed by a GS late
morning. When I was up the top for the Super G not one was complaining -
and some had to wait their turn for more than 90 minutes depending on
the draw. Apart from the Tignards themselves most had to be up not long
after 6 (mid-holiday) to get to Tignes for 8. Second such race in the
two week break, and other than race days all trained hard every morning
or afternoon throughout. It's a sport that needs commitment, and teaches
real self-discipline. Seeing the majority of kids today lounging around,
taking everything for granted, easy come easy go, quick to complain,
pretty lazy on the whole, it's a shame more effort isn't put into
subsidising sport in the UK (not even close to the support it gets in
France). I do sometimes wonder what the legacy will be..

Pete
www.skiclublesarcs.com

Hi Pete,

We didn't venture onto that side of the mountain from Wednesday onwards,
mainly due to it being exposed to the S wind and most runs being exposed to
hard pack and ice. For the first time we headed up to the glaicer on Val
d'Isere side, will try to avoid Leissieres Express next time ! An absolutely
stunning day of easy skiing down ****aillas and Pont Abatte. Talking of
prices, we stopped for drinks at this restaurant at the end of Santons in Le
Chatelard, three cokes, a coffee and vin chaud was 24 euros. Lovely place
mind !

Joe

"Joe Hunt" wrote in message
...
|
| "PG" wrote in message
| ...
|
| We didn't venture onto that side of the mountain from Wednesday
onwards,
| mainly due to it being exposed to the S wind and most runs being
exposed to
| hard pack and ice. For the first time we headed up to the glaicer on
Val
| d'Isere side, will try to avoid Leissieres Express next time ! An
absolutely
| stunning day of easy skiing down ****aillas and Pont Abatte. Talking
of
| prices, we stopped for drinks at this restaurant at the end of Santons
in Le
| Chatelard, three cokes, a coffee and vin chaud was 24 euros. Lovely
place
| mind !

Talking of ****aillas, when they were debating what to call the new Les
Arcs/La Plagne domain, the first choice was Alpisima until someone
pointed out that the Brits would have taken the proverbial...

Pete

You're lucky you got away ok. Some friends got stranded in Val Thorens and
had a desperate time trying to arrange travel back to the UK after they
couldn't get out of the resort and missed their flight. They eventually had
to get trains all the way home.

"Joe Hunt" wrote in message
...

"PG" wrote in message
...
To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio) ...
avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...

Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down to
the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed all
day.

Pete

Hi Pete,

I left Tignes (2100m) this morning in heavy snow with rain at Les
Brevieres
(1650m). Warm, moist air from Algeria the culprit, desert sand being
entrained in the low pressure system and "brown snow" being reported in
the
Itlalian Dolomites. A fantastic week on Espace Killy, my second in two
years
now.

Joe

You're lucky you got away ok. Some friends got stranded in Val Thorens and
had a desperate time trying to arrange travel back to the UK after they
couldn't get out of the resort and missed their flight. They eventually had
to get trains all the way home.

"Joe Hunt" wrote in message
...

"PG" wrote in message
...
To be confirmed (caught the end of a news bulletin on local radio) ...
avalanche in La Rosière today, one death, one survivor dug out...

Grim weather all day in the Tarentaise, very high winds right down to
the valley floor, rising temperatures. Most lifts in Les Arcs closed all
day.

Pete

Hi Pete,

I left Tignes (2100m) this morning in heavy snow with rain at Les
Brevieres
(1650m). Warm, moist air from Algeria the culprit, desert sand being
entrained in the low pressure system and "brown snow" being reported in
the
Itlalian Dolomites. A fantastic week on Espace Killy, my second in two
years
now.

Joe

sand mixed in with snow at Les Deux Alpes on Saturday morning...looked
really weird
"Clive Perry" wrote in message
...

"PG" wrote in message
...

The winds started on Thursday - I was up at Val Claret then. Early on I
took the Grattalu chair up to the start of the super G at the stade de
Lognan - I can't remember ever being so cold. 150 racers had to hang
around in bitter conditions, completely exposed - not much snow, but it
was freezing. I gave up and headed straight back down to the Auberge for
an Irish Coffee. 7 euros 20 - ouch. Clear weather from just after lunch,
but still cold.

We made the error of going up on to the Glacier de Mont de Lans at Les
Deux
Alpes on Friday morning - as it turned out just before the funicular was
closed!!

The wind was incredible, making it really hard to stand. Temperature was
shown as -18C inside the funicular station so who knows what the added
wind
chill was. We beat a very hasty retreat down to Chalet Le Fee for a hot
chocolate and rum - 4 euros 50 IIRC

I have been very very cold skiing in New England in January - Friday beat
that experience by a long chalk.

We left Les Deux Alpes yesterday morning and there had been considerable
overnight snow - 6" at resort level I would say. It was still snowing down
below Mont de Lans at 1300 meters.

Clive