Day 30: Ste Foy and on to La Rosiere

A relaxed day skiing in Ste Foy, which is rather like Heavenly, in that there are a lot of runs through trees, and a big bowl higher up, though of course Ste Foy has fewer runs. I can see why Ste Foy is attractive to off-piste keenies, since there is a huge off-piste potential.

Panorama from the top of Ste Foy looking back at Val and the Grande
Motte above Tignes.

I fell on a blue run for some obscure reason, and slightly cricked my left knee, but I was able to ski OK afterwards (after a coffee and tarte tatin) in the company of the wonderful marmotte below.

Marmotte in cafe.

I packed up about 3:30 and drove over to La Rosiere (via some small roads almost through Montvalezan, rather than all the way down to Seez and back up). Collected the lift passes from the ski office and had time for a bath before the others arrived.

Now installed in Chantelauze for the week.

Random thoughts on snowboarders, Tignes now and then...

The Insanity of Snowboarders
As all skiers know, snowboarders are mad. However some aspects of their insanity are more annoying than  others. Their suicide wish, manifested by stopping in the centre of the piste, just on the blind side of a ridge, and then lying down, to guarantee that they can't be seen, and that they make a perfect target for any skier (or even other boarder) going fast is probably the worst symptom. The general idea that you lie down as soon as you stop could just be youthful laziness (they'd rather be in bed than on the piste). The baggy clothes, and trousers at half-mast may also just be properties of youth. However you'd think that even a boarder would work out that you're more likely to be hit if you try to make yourself invisible!
Oh well, they'll probably grow up and learn how to ski.

Changes in Tignes
I was last in Tignes in the mid-eighties. It is interesting to look at what has changed in nearly thirty years, and what hasn't.

Things that have changed:

• The black wall into Tignes le Lac ("Trolles") is now pisted, not giant moguls
• There are funiculars up the Grande Motte, and from La Daille up to Belvedere
• There's a fast chair lift up to Saulire (though the cable car is still there as well)
• There's a new building and bus interchange/car park in the centre of Tignes le Lac
• Many other lifts are faster/better
• They no linger advertise skiing 365 days/year, but just as "The capital of summer skiing".

Things that haven't changed:

• Piste H is still busy and icy with traffic of all levels of ability, since it's the obvious way between Tignes le Lac and Val Claret
• Tignes and Val Claret look almost the same, there seems to have been little additional development.
• The scenery and runs are still great, better than Trois Vallees in my opinion, even if 3V is bigger.
• The lift pass is still expensive (but, probably worth it for the skiing).

Day 29: All over Espace Killy

A short post today, because it was a long day, and the rugby is calling.
We went out with Ben and skied all over: La Grande Motte, la Daille, Val d'Isere,  le Fornet, so covered top, bottom and both sides of the piste map. (Unfortunately upload to Google Maps still seems to be broken, so you can't see the map, just the statistics). The first longer than 100km day (without including the Funival teleportation). Bringing the total for the week to 458km, and top speed 99km/h (at the bottom of Trolles into le Lac). It was a hot day (+1 at 3000m), and more of the same is forecast all next week.

Guess the mountain.

I am looking forward to seeing the family in La Rosiere tomorrow evening.

Day 28: Tignes, La Daille

Last night I ended up eating in La Sachette, where I had a "small" Tarte au Beaufort (which was huge), and a mousse au chocolat.

Mousse au Chocolat at La Sachette,
complete with gold leaf.

A good meal composed of a starter and desert.

Today was Ben's half day, so we skied with him until lunch. Including coming down one of the "Nature Ride" runs, Golf, which are black unpisted runs. This one brought us down onto the road between le Lac and Val Claret at a bus stop.

Tignes le Lac from "Golf" piste

After lunch I went up the Motte with Steph, as Greg is still nursing his leg. (Since the doctor said "You can't ski on that leg for at least six months" he's keen to get out skiing on the other leg. "The doctor didn't say anything about that.")

Lunch in Tignes le Lac 

It was windy at the top of the Motte, enough to persuade people they didn't want to go up there, so we got onto the first cable car, but not so bad the cable car was closed. We did top to bottom in about 9m10s, well inside the "Ben Ten", and without racing.

The market (all of it) in Les Brevieres

Panorama looking down towards Les Brevieres from near the
Aiguille Percee

Down to the market to get some Beaufort Ete for lunch on Sunday. The stall keeper explained that the cheese is really too cold to taste when you're outside, but that it is the good stuff.

Last day in Tignes tomorrow. Ben is intending to take us over to Le Fornet, above Val d'Isere up on the Col d'Iseran.

Day 27: Tignes, Val d'Isere

Ben's day off (though he was serving breakfast as a punishment for a misdemeanour earlier in the week). So, there is no ski-guiding today. Most people made a slightly later start, I decided to ski on my own, since I'll be skiing with everyone next week. So, up and down around Tignes, then up on the Grande Motte under skies with a slight high haze. Down from the top of the Motte to the Val Claret in under ten minutes. Ben timed us yesterday, he did it in 6mins and a bit, I was 10m10s, though in neither case was I racing, just coming down at a natural pace and avoiding the traffic.
Over to La Daille to look for lunch, which I didn't find there, so up the "Funival" (which is guaranteed teleportation for GPS since it runs in a tunnel) and down to Val, where I managed to find a French hotel with a "menu du jour" for 18Euro (salade verte, cabillaud with polenta and carrots, the usual desert selection from which I chose the creme caramel, and very good it was too.) After lunch up onto Solaise, and then back to Tignes. I'm not convinced by a lot of polenta for lunch, even though I left some!

90degree panorama from Toviere looking towards "that mountain" and
La Rosiere

Down to Tignes le Lac and then up and once around Aiguille Percee, where the run was very polished and developing lumps.
Back towards Les Brevieres, with a detour onto the "Silene" black run, which was horrible (narrow with big icy moguls with cliffs on the back). After getting down half of it I realised that I could traverse right and find the red run.
Finally back down to Brevieres over the ice at the bottom.

The Church in Les Brevieres

Probably out for a light dinner later with some of the others, though lunch was large!
There seems to be some current problem uploading My Tracks data to Google Maps. Maybe it's time to reboot the phone.

Looking forward to seeing the family on Sunday on La Rosiere. I hope everyone is fit, since I just ordered five lift passes.

No snow is forecast, with sun or high cloud (and high temperatures). Maybe the snow in Italy will be better.

Day 26: Tignes, Val d'Isere

Out again with Ben today under cloudless skies. Over to Val d'Isere and up to Solaise (which now has a fast chairlift as well as the slow cable-car I remember).

Panorama from top of the Daille buble (with Mont Blanc!)

Down some runs I hadn't ever reached before at the back and beyond Solaise, then back to Val, up to Bellevarde and down for lunch near the Marmottes lift.

View down Isere valley over Lac du Chevril and its dam. Les Brevieres
is below the dam.

After lunch Greg fell (despite his expensive new Surefoot boots), maybe it was the moguls he wanted to try. He was able to ski down to the top of the Daille bubble and take that down to La Daille. We went down "OK", which used to be the downhill course, and then back up and over to go up onto the Grande Motte again.

180+ degree panorama from top of Grande Motte cable-car (3456m)

The view from up here is great, including Mont Blanc, and most of La Rosiere.
Finally back home, though the run into Les Brevieres is now extremely icy. The snow elsewhere remains surprisingly good, though the forecast is resolutely set on sun.

Some idiot spoiling the view from the Grande Motte

Day 25: Tignes, Val d'Isere

Out with Ben and a group again. A nine a.m. start at the lift (250m walk in ski-boots away) is hard work.

L'Aiguille Percee (from the eponymous chair lift)

However we did stop for a coffee today at the restaurant at the top of the funicular up the Grande Motte, which gave me flashbacks, since it's identical (give or take some snowboards on the walls) to how it was in the eighties. Back then, of course, it was at the top of the bubble lift, but there's now a funicular inside the mountain, though we took a chair lift since it was sunny all day and the funicular is (apparently) slow.

After a non-stop run down from the top of the Grande Motte cable car to Val Claret (which seemed about 6km long, from My Tracks) up and down to lunch (also in Val Claret).

Queue for the Grande Motte cable-car
(built in 1975!) with Grande Motte in the background.

After lunch over to Val d'Isere, then back to Tignes Le Lac and up and down a few more runs before heading home from the Aiguille Percee down to Brevieres. The run back seemed slightly less icy at the bottom than yesterday.

A long day, 7h37 minutes, with 5h39 moving, but a good one.

~90 degree panorama looking East(?) from top of Grande Motte cable car (3505m by GPS, 3456m according to STGM)