Piste Bashing

Have recently returned from a week in Morzine (report to follow when I get time) and the one thing that struck me about the skiing was that none of the black runs were pisted at all in the time we were there. Is this normal for French resorts? Wherever I've skied previously (all over the Dolomites, Sauze and Mayrhofen) all marked runs have been pisted pretty much daily and those that aren't were marked accordingly.

I appreciate that conditions will change throughout the day and moguls from lunchtime are to be expected but I was surprised at the condition of many runs in a morning. Also, one of the reds we tackled in the Avoriaz area was a mogul field at 10 am having not been pisted overnight and another heading towards Les Gets had large ruts and gouges which could cause a nasty accident if hit at speed. :(

I'd be curious to hear other people's thoughts on run grooming in different resorts as this is something that could rule out destinations for me in the future. Although I can get down mogulled runs in one piece (just about) I don't particularly have the inclination to. :evil: Instead I'm looking for groomed reds and blacks with maybe some powder to play in at the sides if I'm feeling adventurous. :D

Mostly it depends on the weather. After fresh snow, it takes a few groomings to firm up the runs enough to prevent push piles forming.

A tactic I use to find good carving runs is to go as far into the resort as possible, as early as possible. Then as the mogul making hordes infest the higher runs, move back to the lower slopes they have leapfrogged. Often there is a moderately hard run back to the base that the worst of the mogul makers avoid, and this is often in good shape for the afternoon.

Sound advice that I usually follow and usually works. I expect moguls (or the makings of) when there is fresh snow or slush or hordes of people. However in this instance that was not the case, the runs just hadn't been touched by a piste basher, at all, for several days.

It may be normal for black runs in France (or at least the PDS area) to be deliberately kept in this condition to make them more of a challenge, having never skied there before just wondered??

Lynn_D wrote:Is this normal for French resorts?

Increasingly common I think... actually, I'm struggling to remember when I last saw a Black that was regularly bashed. Most decent Blacks will be of a sufficient steepness (at least in places) to prevent the safe use of a piste-basher without a winch and tether of some kind.

There are various reasons; not least being that the majority of skiers want it to be like that! Some resorts even reference the energy-saving / green aspect of "pistes nature". :roll:

I tend to steer my ageing (no sniggering at the back) knees away from icy mogul fields nowadays, but there's nothing worse than getting up the mountain on a powder day to find everything's been bashed flat. Thankfully, enlightened resorts will now leave Blacks, quite a few Reds and even the occasional Blue un-pisted on powder days.

Lynn_D wrote:some powder to play in at the sides

But now the powder will be on the piste... so you can ski it in safety, knowing that (as a marked run) it will have been made safe and is protected from avalanche?

I think there is a trend away from "over grooming" runs, at least in France, with a resulting return to more natural, more varied and much more interesting pistes. Variety and a little challenge is what improves us as skiers.

Just MHO, but I think that's a good thing. 8)

At the end of the day though, Black Runs are supposed to be the hardest runs on the mountain - and if you choose to do them then you should expect to be faced with just about any kind of "skiable" slope.

Agreed, definitely a French thing.
I've skied blacks in Austria and the vast majority have been steep fast pistes.
Like any slope, they can mogul up after fresh snow.
But France does appear to grade something a black if it has moguls on which may explain this.
I do not think it uncommon to find a black in France with no bashing, whereas if I skied a black in Austria, I'd expect it to have been groomed generally.

Question I have had for a while then, what are the factors that determine a black - as I am guessing teh runs stay pretty much the same every season

- steepness (If that is a word), wont change
- Width, may change depending on where the poles are put?
- pisted or not, may change day by day

Is this why sometimes i go on a black and think, "I have skied reds harder than this" and vice versa?

Iceman wrote:Question I have had for a while then, what are the factors that determine a black - as I am guessing teh runs stay pretty much the same every season

- steepness (If that is a word), wont change
- Width, may change depending on where the poles are put?
- pisted or not, may change day by day

Is this why sometimes i go on a black and think, "I have skied reds harder than this" and vice versa?

\

In a word, difficulty. That might be a combination of factors and be be different on any given day.

I guess it is predominantly the first 2 points then?

I thought piste bashers could go anywhere on piste. Learn something new everyday. Do they ever actually tether them?