Any J2ski-ers in Val d'Isere from week commencing the 21st who might fancy a bit of skiing with the missus and me (intermediates who know the area reasonably well but happy to see any hidden gems!) or maybe an apres pint then please PM me!
Cheers
Andy
VDI w/c 21st January 2012
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This is the red down to Le Laisinant - Germain Mattis. Pretty tricky to be honest, very bumpy and narrow in places. Nice one to get our ski legs in on the 1st day!
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Started by Andyoneil in France 05-Jan-2012 - 8 Replies
Andyoneil posted Jan-2012
Bedrock barney
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
2 weeks too late for us (otherwise I'd have graciously let you buy me a pint!).
slippy slidey snow......me likey!
Andyoneil
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
hope you're having a great time out there Barney - webcams look great today?
Have a virtual pint on me - I'm sure you'll reciprocate in 2 weeks!
Have a virtual pint on me - I'm sure you'll reciprocate in 2 weeks!
Bedrock barney
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
Hi Andy. I'm reporting in!! :D
Had a fantastic week. Blue skies every day other than the 1st when clouds came in after lunch. Between about minus 12 and 0, other than last day which was pretty chilly. Ski conditions extremely good. Hardly any icy patches, plenty of moguls/lumpy stuff at end of each day but easy enough to push though (although my other half would disagree!). Max 5 minute wait for lifts - much much better than Les Arcs last March. Presume Jan is low season?
Hugely impressed with VDI and also Tignes. VDI town is great. Really compact with plenty of bars/restaurants. We had a couple of tasty meals in Bar Jacques and visited the Blue Note Bar for a couple of apres beers each day (+ free nibbles). I managed to blank out the prices for food and drink - we went through our 250 euros in record time!
Found the skiing very challenging (piste classifications a bit of a joke although better in Tignes). However it's definitely moved my skiing on (now have 4 weeks under my belt). My wife found it difficult but carried on plugging away and again I'm sure her skiing has improved a lot. Really enjoyed the week and we'll be back in VDI before too long. A few photos below.
Have a good 'un next week - wish I was joining you.
Had a fantastic week. Blue skies every day other than the 1st when clouds came in after lunch. Between about minus 12 and 0, other than last day which was pretty chilly. Ski conditions extremely good. Hardly any icy patches, plenty of moguls/lumpy stuff at end of each day but easy enough to push though (although my other half would disagree!). Max 5 minute wait for lifts - much much better than Les Arcs last March. Presume Jan is low season?
Hugely impressed with VDI and also Tignes. VDI town is great. Really compact with plenty of bars/restaurants. We had a couple of tasty meals in Bar Jacques and visited the Blue Note Bar for a couple of apres beers each day (+ free nibbles). I managed to blank out the prices for food and drink - we went through our 250 euros in record time!
Found the skiing very challenging (piste classifications a bit of a joke although better in Tignes). However it's definitely moved my skiing on (now have 4 weeks under my belt). My wife found it difficult but carried on plugging away and again I'm sure her skiing has improved a lot. Really enjoyed the week and we'll be back in VDI before too long. A few photos below.
Have a good 'un next week - wish I was joining you.
slippy slidey snow......me likey!
Tspill
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
Which piste is te first pic of?
Bedrock barney
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
tspill wrote:Which piste is te first pic of?
This is the red down to Le Laisinant - Germain Mattis. Pretty tricky to be honest, very bumpy and narrow in places. Nice one to get our ski legs in on the 1st day!
slippy slidey snow......me likey!
Bedrock barney
reply to 'VDI w/c 21st January 2012' posted Jan-2012
Some piste feedback:-
Arcelle (red - VDI) - nice run down into a valley with circa 700m vertical drop. I tackled this a couple of times late on (around 4pm) when it was pretty lumpy but still enjoyable. Later in the week i did a run before lunch and the piste was much cleaner.
Santons (blue! - VDI) - had heard that this was a tricky blue late in the day. I think we tackled it around noon. Didn't seem too bad although there were quite a few people going very slowly. Kind of a half pipe set up. Didn't like the flat section taking us back to the lifts though. Most of the boarders ended up walking this section. Wanted to go back down Santons at the end of thr day to see how it had changed but other half had the casting vote.
Verte (green - VDI) - this is the long green down to La Daille. We'd heard that it was a fairly notorious end of day run and were not disappointed. We finished off in La Daille a couple of times and got the bus back into the main village. Very very lumpy and a neat little narrow section lower down which certainly seemed to be testing beginners. We saw quite a few fallers on this piste. I'm glad it was not my 1st week on skis.....I think my confidence would have been ebbing away..
The Face (black - VDI) - this is the 1992 winter olympic run. I stupidly tackled this on my penultimate day at 4.30pm with tired legs, the sun going down and bloody great big moguls and icy patches. Without doubt the sweatiest moment of the week. Had a fall at the top but counted to 10 and mentally repeated the mantra of 'apply your technique' which got me down slowly but safely. Should have tried it the next morning on groomed slopes - will do next time
Germain Mattis (red - VDI) - a nice run down to La Laisinant through the trees (1st of the photos above). Did this on our 1st day late morning when it was already carving up. Probably very tricky at the end of the day. A few narrow sections to test your technique. Nice to have some trees whizzing by.
Wish I'd done the Sache black run over in Tignes but it would have been on my own and it didn't seem fair to let my wife work her way down the mountain on her own via a blue run she hadn't faced before. Definitely on my list for next time.
Arcelle (red - VDI) - nice run down into a valley with circa 700m vertical drop. I tackled this a couple of times late on (around 4pm) when it was pretty lumpy but still enjoyable. Later in the week i did a run before lunch and the piste was much cleaner.
Santons (blue! - VDI) - had heard that this was a tricky blue late in the day. I think we tackled it around noon. Didn't seem too bad although there were quite a few people going very slowly. Kind of a half pipe set up. Didn't like the flat section taking us back to the lifts though. Most of the boarders ended up walking this section. Wanted to go back down Santons at the end of thr day to see how it had changed but other half had the casting vote.
Verte (green - VDI) - this is the long green down to La Daille. We'd heard that it was a fairly notorious end of day run and were not disappointed. We finished off in La Daille a couple of times and got the bus back into the main village. Very very lumpy and a neat little narrow section lower down which certainly seemed to be testing beginners. We saw quite a few fallers on this piste. I'm glad it was not my 1st week on skis.....I think my confidence would have been ebbing away..
The Face (black - VDI) - this is the 1992 winter olympic run. I stupidly tackled this on my penultimate day at 4.30pm with tired legs, the sun going down and bloody great big moguls and icy patches. Without doubt the sweatiest moment of the week. Had a fall at the top but counted to 10 and mentally repeated the mantra of 'apply your technique' which got me down slowly but safely. Should have tried it the next morning on groomed slopes - will do next time
Germain Mattis (red - VDI) - a nice run down to La Laisinant through the trees (1st of the photos above). Did this on our 1st day late morning when it was already carving up. Probably very tricky at the end of the day. A few narrow sections to test your technique. Nice to have some trees whizzing by.
Wish I'd done the Sache black run over in Tignes but it would have been on my own and it didn't seem fair to let my wife work her way down the mountain on her own via a blue run she hadn't faced before. Definitely on my list for next time.
slippy slidey snow......me likey!
Topic last updated on 30-January-2012 at 18:12