Introduction


The My Tracks data (when I managed to turn GPS on on the phone!) can be found here.
Pictures here are licensed under a Creative Commons non-commercial attribution license.

Sunday 31 January 2016

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Catching up!

Friday


La Piste Perdu
Friday started off looking very flat, so we went down La Piste Perdue,

I had no time to take pictures of the points where you have to take your skis off and drop down under rocks!
As you can see, the sun began to come out, so we went down Le Spatule again, before heading back to Tignes.

La Grande Motte and Val Claret

Since I'd worked out the GoPro I went over to Val, and GoPro-ed the descent of La Face and then both directions on the up-and-over. All of those need an editor, so I won't post them here.

Saturday

It turned out colder, though still relatively sunny. I did a number of runs and then ran down Le Golf back to the chalet to pick up another layer! Back up to Val Claret and a very good Tarte au Beaufort (with leeks). Up on the slug

and then the cable-car (after a wind-delay) to the top of La Grande Motte.

Down, around, and back to town to return my skis. Then back to the chalet for a shower, tea and cake, and a "Putting on chains" lesson from Paul before driving down to La Rosière, where Jo was already installed. The snow arrived an hour or so later, and Maurice (fresh from the US via LHR and GVA a few hours after that!)

Sunday

It was snowing. Unfortunately they'd shut Fontaine Froide, so Maurice and I went over to Eucherts, had coffee in Le Plan du Repos and did Marmottes to the bottom, where the light was better, but the snow heavy. Back for lunch in the Relais, where Jo was attacked by Alison's marmot!

Thursday 28 January 2016

Thursday in Tignes

Paul and Lorraine's day off, so no hot breakfast today (and an excuse to lie in, since the Snoworks course was in the afternoon again). But I was still on a lift by 9:30 (which, in English time, is before I'd be in the office!)

Having failed to GoPro La Face de Bellevarde yesterday (I ended up with a large number of timelapse stills) I was going to do it today, but forgot to pack the harness. Maybe tomorrow.

No pictures of Mont Blanc today (sorry, Roger), but here's la Grande Motte.



Apparently the snow down the back above Le Fornet was horrible this morning, so we did fairly similar things to yesterday (a run down from Solaise to le Laisenant, and then down to Le Fornet).

Emma is confidently predicting snow for tonight. We'll see...

This evening, I visited La Palette du Boulele, which was wonderful (and full of people speaking French. I didn't hear an English conversation), then visited the excellent "A la Crêperie Bretonne". Which did everything it said on the can. Galette au sarrazin oeuf fromage, val de Rance cidre, crêpe au crème de marrons. Parfait! I also discovered (from the place mat) that "le Roi Artur" was "un chasseur de sangliers". Something I had somehow previously missed,which puts him straight into Asterix. Maybe there was a place at the round table for Obélix?

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Wednesday in Tignes

Another day with beautiful weather (though Méteo France are forecasting snow for next week in La Rosiére at the moment). The morning I was out a little later (first lift at 9:30 instead of 9:15) since the Snoworks course was staring in Val at 1:15, rather than Tignes at 9:15.

I skied on my own, mostly randomly following lifts, which tool me up to top of the Charvet.
View into the Charvet
A good session of hors-piste this afternoon with Emma and the others. We made a descent of Le Grand Vallon, before taking the bus from Le Fornet back to Val, and then up and over 

Le Grand Vallon (looking up)


Le Grand Vallon (looking down)












Google thinks that one of those should be in black and white, like this!
Tomorrow somewhere else up above Val...

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Tuesday

A successful day, the Skiworks course in the morning, with Emma Carrick-Anderson explaining to me all the things that I know are wrong with my off-piste skiing! (I'm not low enough, I'm tryng to ski parallel...). She did say I had improved by the end, though!

Rob and I skied down to Les Brevieres for lunch (a very good Tarte au Beaufort et sa salade verte).

No photos from this morning; we were too busy skiing.
So here are a couple from this afternoon.

Mont Blanc from Toviere

La Grande Motte

The course starts in Val d'Isere tomorrow, I expect we'll be over to le Fornet.

Stats

Ski distance: 40.9 km (+lifts 27.2km)
Vertical descent: 7397m
Max Speed: 72.1 km/h

Monday 25 January 2016

TIgnes

I met the Snoworks folks and have been allocated to Emma Carrick-Anderson's off-piste group, but, due to my own stupidity (reserving a lift pass starting on 1 February, which took a while, and a call to someone in the data-centre to fix!), I ended up skiing with another chap who had also messed u his lift pass in the morning, and then skiing with Ewan's "All Terrain" course in the afternoon.

Rob and I went up la Grande Motte


Here's (a slightly weird) Google panorama from the cable car station at the top of the Grande Motte.



And, to prove I really was there...



And, for anyone who is interested. SkiTracks reckons
Max Speed: 70.4 km/h
Ski Distance: 35.2 km (+24.4 km on lifts)
Descent: 6474m
Max Altitude: 3505m (though that's a GPS height, which is ~50m above the French Datum)

I'm looking forward to the Snoworks off-piste tomorrow (now that I have a working lift-pass!)

Sunday 24 January 2016

Les Arcs

A mixed drive down

  • 30 minute delay on Eurotunnel 
  • Missing the exit to Magnant (and so not getting to Le Val Moret)
  • Unpleasant rain down through France on Friday
But
  • A decent hotel in Chaumont (where I saw the Tour d'Arse)
  • Some wonderful views of wind-turbines standing above fog, and chateaux d'eau also above fog.
  • The excellent, view of snowy Alps at Chambery
After arriving in Bourg about 4:30 on Saturday, I stayed at the Hostellerie, the dining room is as great as ever, and the "chariot de fromages" should be in some "liste de la Patrimone de la France".

The view from my room looked like this, this morning.


Here's the funicular arriving in Bourg 

 

And here are some views from the Aiguille Rouge.


And, for those who will be with us in La Rosiere next week, here's a view over to la Rosiere.

And, since you enjoy coffee pictures, and French humour

Enough for today... (though I did do a single run with 1800m of descent!)