Wayne's Daily Diary

10 March 2010

Not nearly so nasty!

The wind wasn’t nearly so nasty this morning and with only -4C compared to yesterday’s -11C in front of the Tourist Office at 8AM, we almost felt warm! Just when it looked as if we’d have another flat-light day the ‘light bulb’ appeared and we were thankful for pretty good visibility during most of the morning. Chris, Thomas and I started on the Face du Charvet for the ambience and the hope of some soft snow on the lee-side and the top section was pretty good, but I must admit the bottom sucked! From there Chris and I skied a really good Borsat from the middle entrance while Thomas skied the Kern before joining us in Tignes. I followed Chris’s route in the Col du Palet as he ‘sniffed’ out the only good route to be found. Well done JC! From there Chris skied the big face of the Balme while my team skied the Hourglass Couloir before skiing a funky route in the Familial to finish. Thomas ended up in the Palet and Balme as well and we all had another good morning in difficult conditions. Andreas cancelled his morning due to sore feet and went straight to Jean Sports to get his boots sorted. Hopefully he’ll be feeling more comfortable tomorrow after Jean has had a go at relieving the pressure points. Thomas’ girlfriend Muriel has missed the last two-weeks because of a bad case of frost-bite on her feet and we hope she’s feeling better soon. I skied with Millie and Katie until around 4:45 as the pistes were fantastic and relatively empty, so we took advantage of a lovely (comparatively) afternoon. We received only a dusting of snow last night but it did help and another couple of centimetres fell during the day today, but no snow is forecast for the night ahead. Stay tuned!

9 March 2010

A testing but satisfying morning!

Fortunately the sun was shining again this morning, but Radio Val announced -11C at 8AM with gusting southerly winds of up to 80kph, and as you can imagine it was bloody cold! The reasonable thing to do was to stay low and as sheltered as possible so Thomas and I skied the Borsat then headed towards the Sachette via the bus. We were protected most of the time (especially in the bus) but the wind had managed to damage a few slopes. Still, we had some good powder up top before needing some supporting soufflé, then we had another lovely powder shot before a little ten-minute ‘skin’ accessed another nice slope. We realised how windy it really was on the way back to Les Tufs when it blew in our face all the way home. Chris ‘skinned’ to Mont Roup with Tejina but I haven’t had a report while Andreas’ plans altered after the Tommeuses Chairlift broke down. I’m not too sure what he skied although the last I heard he was heading towards the Sachette with his team of Vikings. Joy and Al are back, along with Clive, Jonathan S, Alex S, Catherine, Emmett , Fiona and Ian, and Ian N. (Sorry if I missed someone) It clouded over by around 1:30PM and as I write at 2 o’clock it looks as if it might start to snow soon. Fingers crossed although only a few centimetres are forecast.

PS Jean Ribart is back after his injury and so are his photos on the links page. Log-on and have a look.

8 March 2010

Toughest conditions of the season but no 'stinker'!

We had a stunning day with no wind, clear blue skies and sunshine that had some warmth in it, and with the weather we’ve endured over the past few days it was very much appreciated. After spending several days in a row in Tignes, Thomas, Chris, Andreas and I decided on heading up to the Fornet for a change of scenery and the hope that there would be some soft snow in the gullies. At the top of the Laisinant Express the landscape looked lunar and we gave the Pyramides and Signal a miss and took the bubbles directly to the Pissaillas hoping for better conditions. Upstairs it looked slightly better but we knew then we wouldn’t be skiing powder snow for the first-time all season. We traversed out into the Pays Desert and the snow was much better than it looked as we skied strips of soufflé doux, which were quite pleasant. From there we went over the Col Pers and again skied nice strips of supporting snow and I skied my funky exit run above the gorge for ambience. Andreas and I then skied similar snow in the Vallonnet to finish. Chris ’skinned’ up to the Pointe Pers for the first time this season, and as you know the Pointe Pers is always atmospheric. Although we didn’t ski powder this morning, I enjoyed it and thought it was a pretty good ski with interesting slopes, great ambience and no people to speak of. Jean R will be back in action tomorrow as will Joy and Al, who haven’t skied for three seasons. Hopefully we’ll get another day of sunshine as no snow is forecast overnight.

PS Don’t worry, the only reason that we didn’t ski some form of powder is that we changed sectors because I’m a optimistic git and we needed a change of pace. We’ll be back to softer snow tomorrow.

7 March 2010

It was bitter by the end of the morning!

It was another windy day that was bloody cold by the end of the morning! The wind was coming from the Fornet plus it was murky up that way so Thomas, Chris, Andreas and I all headed towards Tignes. After the Borsat I decided to migrate towards the sun and bussed around to the Palafour. From there my team skied an excellent Cocaine Nord, followed by a lovely Sachette. Chris and Thomas also passed through the Sachette and we spent most of the morning in the sun and somewhat protected from the wind. Andreas skied the Balme and Mickey’s Ears before swinging back to ski the Cocaine Nord. The end of the morning turned very cold as it was into the wind all the way back to La Daille and the Aeroski was closed making our journey even longer. Although it was another good morning everyone was pleased about arriving at Les Tufs at the end of the morning. After warming up I spent an hour this afternoon with Millie and Katie at the climbing wall, which was a relief as I thought I might be in for a swim, which after the morning wasn’t appealing in the least. The wind is forecast to die down overnight with some sunshine tomorrow morning. That would be nice!

6 March 2010

Overcast and cold, but another good ski!

At 6:30AM this morning it looked as if we were in for a beautiful sunny day but by ‘show-time’ the sky had become overcast. Still, we had enough visibility for a cracking good morning even with -15C in town a 8AM. Henry skied with Jonathan and Neil who took the overnight train, skied all day, watched the Fulham match at the Pacific, then taxied down to Bourg for the train home. Wow, fabulous effort boys! Andreas also has a cast of characters including Jerry, Jeremy and Ginger (Ginger‘s a bloke) and they skied the Borsat, Chardonnet, Sache and Cocaine Sud. Well done boys! My team skied the Altiport/Lavachet, Sachette and then the Familial while Chris was on-piste with Tejina and Claire. I skied this afternoon with the girls and tonight we had a great evening at the Perdrix for their friend Anna’s 5th birthday. They had a wonderful time, which help make up for the Hammer’s poor performance against Bolton. Hopefully it won’t cost Zola his job! Not sure about the weather tomorrow so we’ll wait and deal with whatever comes our way. A demain!

5 March 2010

Winter returned with cold temperatures and chilling wind!

The forecasted clear blue skies didn’t arrive first thing this morning and we started off in atmospheric clouds but banking on the visibility improving as the morning went on. Chris, TJ and I headed towards the Motte via the Borsat and had a good ski into Tignes. TJ then went up the cable-car to the top while Chris and I had a good run on the Leisse shoulder before we all passed our various ways through the Cairn. TJ and Chris then bussed around to ski an fantastic Sachette while I decided to stay put and skied a lovely Col du Palet, followed by the big slopes on the Balme before finishing with a Familial. Meanwhile Andreas’ team including a couple of interesting Norwegian characters, braved the elements and ‘skinned’ up to the Col des Fours for an excellent ski. Skoal! It was the coldest morning we’ve had for awhile and a few people had a touch of frostbite just when it was starting to feel as if spring was just around the corner. Happy Birthday to Vicky, who skied with TJ this week and me this afternoon. Speaking of TJ, he’s busy making the rounds saying goodbye as he’s off tomorrow morning. TJ’s had a great time and has skied really well, and we all look forward to his return sometime next winter. He promises to get organised early and let me know his dates. Also au revoir until next February to Tony who’s had a great two-weeks. Hopefully we’ll get some decent visibility tomorrow morning before it clouds over again, but as least it shouldn’t be quite so cold. Come on you Hammers!

4 March 2010

A good day at the Fornet after yesterday's wind!

We all headed up to the Fornet for a change of scenery, the better light, and towards yesterday’s storm hoping for a few extra centimetres of fresh snow. I started off in the Combe du Signal, which was pretty good before traversing over to the shoulder where we had some supporting soufflé doux followed by some softer snow to leave tracks in. From there we had an excellent run in 10cm’s from towards the top of the Pays Desert into the Combe du 3300. We then went over the Col with TJ’s team for a wind-compressed Col Pers then my team finished off with the Grand Vallon, which was better than expected with some nice strips of soft snow and some good ‘skiers’ snow. We skied a shoulder above the Cabin, which was about two-metres wide, and Moira showed her strength and technique with some lovely short-turns that were very impressive to watch. Bravo Moira! Andreas’ team skied the Col Pers, Vallonnet, and Grand Vallon and we haven’t seen much of Thomas as he’s been on a private all-week. Chris returns tonight and is working again tomorrow morning as TJ will be finishing his 4-week stay. We did have the best of the visibility this morning and it started to snow lightly this afternoon and hopefully it will continue before the forecasted sunshine and blue skies hopefully arrive for the morning. Fingers crossed!

3 March 2010

Still another potential 'stinker' avoided!

It was overcast, windy, and fairly uninspiring, but we avoided the potential ‘stinker’ with a pretty good morning. Andreas and I opened up with the Borsat, which wasn’t as soft as yesterday but still supported and was a decent ski. From there we bussed around to the Palafour where we met TJ, and we all headed to the Sachette for some very satisfying snow that had been protected from the wind. I then ‘skinned’ for ten-minutes to get another pitch of lovely snow and it was Martin N’s first time with ‘skins’. He’s been a pleasure to have along this week and I’ve also had Graeme, his brother Andy and Andy’s wife Moira, who is a bit good really. I asked Andy if she raced as a kid and he just replied, “British Team”. We finished with the Familial and pushed out against the wind blowing down from the Fornet, which hopefully means a little more snow in that sector for tomorrow. Chris and Suzanne return Thursday night while TJ is preparing for his departure on Saturday. It’s been great having him around again and we’ll miss him when he’s gone. Jean R will also be back in a few days and hopefully he’ll be strong and confident enough to start off-piste again soon. The wind is forecast to die down by tomorrow and we may receive a few more flakes in the meantime, but overcast skies are also expected. Stay tuned! (I’m off to the pool with the girls now)

PS Thank-you for all the e-mails about Canada’s fine performance in the Olympics. Katie thinks it’s rather funny when I sing Oh Canada with outstetched arms and watery eyes. Bless Her!

2 March 2010

A few centimetres of fresh snow makes the difference!

About five centimetres of fresh snow lay on the terrace this morning and immediately I felt we were in for a good morning. The new cushion would make a huge difference as many slopes had a firm-ish base underneath that would support nicely with the fresh snow on top. It was snowing lightly as we set off but it was forecast to start to clear up by mid-morning so although the visibility was decent we were hoping for better light by the time we arrived in the Sache. TJ, Andreas and I all warmed-up off the Verte before skiing a pretty good Borsat. TJ then went upstairs towards the Motte and had some great skiing around the Cairn while Andreas and I had a surprisingly good ski in the Chardonnet. There was an unexpected 20 to 25cm’s of good powder and we profited with an excellent descent. Just as we arrived at the Col to enter the Sache it started to clear and after the first slope, which was good but a little tricky, the sun broke through giving us blue skies for the rest of the morning. After the top pitch the snow improved drastically and we had brilliant snow all the way to the bottom. TJ’s team skied the Sachette before he and I finished with a lovely Familial. Andreas had two Vikings with him and they climbed up to ski the Familial via Mickey’s Ears. Meanwhile, Henry skied up at the Fornet and I’m sure he had a great morning as well. We had a beautiful sunny afternoon but the forecast is for cloudy skies tomorrow morning with a few centimetres of snow in the afternoon.

Correction on yesterday’s report- Yesterday’s accident in the Gorges de Malpasset turned out to be a father with three sons. It was one of the sons, a 43-year-old, who fell over a cliff from the summer path and was killed by the fall.

1 March 2010

The Gorges de Malpasset claims another life!

After two consecutive days of 4/5 avalanche risk and strong winds and very warm temperatures the risk was dropped to 3/5 this morning, which I found surprising. Anyway, after the wind and the heat the snow on most slopes was very compressed, but the best of it was very creamy and lovely to ski. We all headed towards the Fornet, mostly for safety reasons, and we ended up with some excellent skiing amongst surprisingly few people. TJ, Andreas and I all warmed-up off the Laisinant en-route the Combe du Signal followed by the Pays Desert before skiing the best of the morning in the Col Pers. Around noon someone set off a plaque in the Combe du Signal and I feel for whoever it was as it was pretty bad luck as compared to being in a silly place. I then returned to Bellevarde to have a look at the rest of the mountain and I must say we made the most of it this morning as the rest of the resort seemed to have less soft snow than the Fornet. (I finished off the Verte followed by a good Familial.) It was Millie and Katie’s first day back to school and Niki and Gill enjoyed a great morning skiing with TJ. Thanks Niki for taking such good care of the girls this past week and they’ll really miss you! It looks as if we’ll get some sunshine in the morning, which would help enormously as being able to ‘read’ the snow will be important tomorrow and over the next few days if it doesn’t snow.

Tragic news- The Gorges de Malpasset claimed its second victim of the season today as a German was killed late this afternoon. A father, brother and two sons were trying to pass through the gorge after being warned against it, and they eventually needed to climb up to the summer path to avoid the rushing water. The father then slipped and fell back down over a cliff to his death. I’m not sure if he was killed by the impact or whether he fell into the water. About six-weeks ago a Frenchman was swept into the water by a small sluff and drowned. (I’ve reported the story as I’ve heard it but it should be fairly accurate.)