Just Back Grand Massif

If anyone is going the snow is fantastic at the moment, falling heavily as I
left yesterday afternoon.
Most of the area is open apart from a couple of the upper lifts in Flaine. I
dont know if this is avalanche danger or to keep the costs down but Tete de
Lindars and Gers were closed for the time I was there.
My first visit to the area, would recommend it to anyone, but if the weather
forecast is dodgy you may save money by missing out on the Flaine area of
the pass. A couple of days of closed links, long queues at the weekend and
poor visibility meant that we skied virtually entirely in the Massif area.

Bob

Bob C wrote:
If anyone is going the snow is fantastic at the moment, falling heavily as I
left yesterday afternoon.
Most of the area is open apart from a couple of the upper lifts in Flaine. I
dont know if this is avalanche danger or to keep the costs down but Tete de
Lindars and Gers were closed for the time I was there.
My first visit to the area, would recommend it to anyone, but if the weather
forecast is dodgy you may save money by missing out on the Flaine area of
the pass. A couple of days of closed links, long queues at the weekend and
poor visibility meant that we skied virtually entirely in the Massif area.

Bob



Thanks, I'm leaving the office shortly to go there actually :-) Looks
like it'll be a nice few days.

Ian

"Ian Spare" wrote in message
...



Thanks, I'm leaving the office shortly to go there actually :-) Looks
like it'll be a nice few days.

Ian

Hope you enjoy it, should be excellent. I know you know the area a lot
better than I do, but for what it is worth most of the wind when I was there
seemed to be from the West, so the very best snow should be on the slopes
sheltered from this wind.

Bob

Bob C wrote:
"Ian Spare" wrote in message
...
=20
Thanks, I'm leaving the office shortly to go there actually :-) Looks
like it'll be a nice few days.

Ian
=20
=20
Hope you enjoy it, should be excellent. I know you know the area a lot
better than I do, but for what it is worth most of the wind when I was =
there
seemed to be from the West, so the very best snow should be on the slop=
es
sheltered from this wind.

It looks fantastic, just arrived and loads of snow and still falling=20
heavily. Fantastic conditions, it also means that no one without winter=20
tyres and 4wd could trespass onto my property and park their !"=A3$ing=20
car. Great start to the weekend :-)

Ian

Bob C wrote:
"Ian Spare" wrote in message
...

Thanks, I'm leaving the office shortly to go there actually :-) Looks
like it'll be a nice few days.

Ian


Hope you enjoy it, should be excellent. I know you know the area a lot
better than I do, but for what it is worth most of the wind when I was there
seemed to be from the West, so the very best snow should be on the slopes
sheltered from this wind.
....and the very highest avalanche risk will be on those lee slopes
too... stay safe and it should be great though. I've just had a weekend
there and it was great on Sunday, with all the snow since then thre'll
be plenty of powder now. Very jealous, wish I was going this weekend
instead of last!

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 13:50:01 +0000 (UTC), "Bob C"
wrote:

If anyone is going the snow is fantastic at the moment, falling heavily as I
left yesterday afternoon.

Still? Quite a lot fell at the weekend when I was there, so it should
be excellent by now.

Most of the area is open apart from a couple of the upper lifts in Flaine. I
dont know if this is avalanche danger or to keep the costs down but Tete de
Lindars and Gers were closed for the time I was there.

Yes, both of those would be closed due to the avalanche risk. Gers had
a huge slide on Saturday, which might have made it safe except for the
additional snowfall that followed. Tete de Lindars didn't look like it
had been opened for at least a week or two, as you couldn't even see
where the Fred piste would be.

Both these areas tend to hold on to the snow that falls, and have a
lot of slopes in the 'danger zone' of 30-45 degrees, so they're
usually the last to be declared safe. I guess with the several
avalanche deaths that have already occurred this season they're all
being doubly careful, and quite rightly so.

My first visit to the area, would recommend it to anyone, but if the weather
forecast is dodgy you may save money by missing out on the Flaine area of
the pass. A couple of days of closed links, long queues at the weekend and
poor visibility meant that we skied virtually entirely in the Massif area.

Only any good if you're not staying in Flaine though:-) Plus of course
the very best powder skiing, when the visibility is poor, is to be
found in the Aujon area. Did that a couple of times last Saturday and
it was as good as ever :-))

--
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.

Ace wrote:

Tete de Lindars didn't look like it
had been opened for at least a week or two, as you couldn't even see
where the Fred piste would be.
According to the folks I stayed with last week this lift seems to have
been out of action for some time (all season even?). Maybe there is some
problem with the lift? I was there this time last week and there was no
reason I could see not to open it (no snow for a few days before,
avalanche risk at 2/5, no wind).

Ace wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 13:50:01 +0000 (UTC), "Bob C"
wrote:


If anyone is going the snow is fantastic at the moment, falling heavily as I
left yesterday afternoon.


Still? Quite a lot fell at the weekend when I was there, so it should
be excellent by now.

Still ? Oh yes ! It was falling heavily as I arrived and I'd guess it's
been snowing for 36 hours now. It's pretty incredible, the best skiing
I've had for some time without any doubt. Absolutely sensational :-)

Ian

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 18:14:59 +0100, Ian Spare
wrote:

Ace wrote:

Flaine snowfall

Still ? Oh yes ! It was falling heavily as I arrived and I'd guess it's
been snowing for 36 hours now. It's pretty incredible, the best skiing
I've had for some time without any doubt. Absolutely sensational :-)

Good stuff - we (Ski Club) have an 'Intro to Off-piste' holiday[1]
running there this week, so they should be having a whale of a time.

[1] Using local instructor/guide Jann Westercamp, who's great fun.

--
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.