Avalanche has hit Val thoren/Les menuires

Admin wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:They are really crafty these lift companys open a couple of drags so you can't claim a refund :evil:

Or maybe they're just doing their best to get people onto safe slopes as they recover from the storm?

Every lift will have to be checked for wind damage, and quite possibly have lumps of ice chiselled off them... and they'll have to survey every piste exposed to the huge wind-blown accumulations of snow from yesterday.

The bars and cafes will be doing well today but the resort staff and the pisteurs will be generally having a bad (and dangerous) day!

We choose a sport dictated by the weather and sometimes we just have to roll with it. 8)

I'm sure there is an element of truth in what the lift company is doing, but if the weather is that bad
and they are concernd about saftey close them all down but I'm guessing or just bitter and twisted
that they will keep the odd lift open.
It happened many years ago in Pas de la Casa the weather was so bad it was impossible to ski, but there was always a drag open. 8)

As far as I can see the weather here is fine today, there's only a gentle wind down in the resort and we had another 40 cm of snow last night.

Our ski lesson started at 9-15 this morning, and all the lifts were shut. Then they opened the drag lift that goes from the Chaudanne in Meribel Centre past the slalom course. And after that we queued for ages before they got Rhodos open but only up to the first stage, from which it's only a short blue run back to the resort, so we practised ski-ing backwards in a snow-plough and doing 360's and step turns etc. Then we queued for ages again for them to open Tougnette 1 which was supposed to open at 11 a.m. We gave up at 11-10, said bye to our instructor (the lesson was supposed to finish at 11-45 anyway) and went back for lunch.

I've just been to the Tourist Office and they said Tougnette 1 opened a few minutes ago (about 12-30 French time) but the other lifts are still not working.

Anyway, we had a great day yesterday - I fell over about 5 times in all that powder, including 3 times going down a black run with about 8 inches of powder on it and no-one else on the slope except a 5 year old and his dad. The Plan de L'Homme chair lift goes over it and I was really hoping my instructor wasn't on it looking at me falling over!!! He'd spent the day before teaching us to do those perfect very short bounce turns through the powder whilst facing down the slope on a red run and I had to resort to long traverses with the minimum number of scary turns to get down that black slope.

This has happened to us before. We were in Val Thorens a few years ago and they shut all the lifts because of the wind. But then it was extremely windy. At the moment it doesn't really seem that windy.

Ally

Off to Val Thorens next Saturday so lets home it all improves and everyone currently out there are ok. I was in Soldeu a few years ago when they closed the mountain for 2 days and we were insured with insure and go and they paid for out for the 2 days we couldn't ski. Cant believe a few weeks ago we were worried there was no snow!!

Wow, this weather is incredible. Apparently the worst for 100 years in Val D.

Hope everyone is out there stays safe.

But obviously have fun if you can make it up a lift.

Website is reporting 3 lifts open in whole of Espace Killy.
A few brave/mad/desperate fools walking up to ski 3 turns in Val Claret!


0601T

More snow Saturday and Sunday but Monday looks very promising.

I went out ski-ing again after my enforced early lunch, and I have to say that I think Admin was right - they were trying to protect us skiers from getting hurt.

They'd opened 4 of the low lifts in Meribel - the bottom part of Rhodos, the Plan de L'Homme, Tougnete 1, and the Roc de Fer. But they had a notice up to say that the blue Perdrix run down from the top of Tougnete 1 to Mottaret was shut because of the danger of avalanche, so there was no link open to Mottaret which meant that anyone who'd skied down from Mottaret to Meribel had to get the bus back. And they had 2 guys actually standing in the Perdrix opening as well as the tape saying the run was closed, to make sure no-one went down it. There were also lots of bangs going on where they were setting off the avalanche guns. So, as Admin said I should think everyone involved in maintaining the lifts and the pistes had a pretty tough time today.

Apparently the bus to Moutiers was running, but late because of all the snow on the road.

Anyway, I managed fine ski-ing down the blue Lievre because there were loads of moguls and masses of powder to make it quite challenging (but safe!).

Ally

abi wrote:Off to Val Thorens next Saturday so lets home it all improves and everyone currently out there are ok. I was in Soldeu a few years ago when they closed the mountain for 2 days and we were insured with insure and go and they paid for out for the 2 days we couldn't ski. Cant believe a few weeks ago we were worried there was no snow!!

Me too, where you staying Abi?

Ian Wickham wrote:

Admin wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:They are really crafty these lift companys open a couple of drags so you can't claim a refund :evil:

Or maybe they're just doing their best to get people onto safe slopes as they recover from the storm?

Every lift will have to be checked for wind damage, and quite possibly have lumps of ice chiselled off them... and they'll have to survey every piste exposed to the huge wind-blown accumulations of snow from yesterday.

The bars and cafes will be doing well today but the resort staff and the pisteurs will be generally having a bad (and dangerous) day!

We choose a sport dictated by the weather and sometimes we just have to roll with it. 8)

I'm sure there is an element of truth in what the lift company is doing, but if the weather is that bad
and they are concernd about saftey close them all down but I'm guessing or just bitter and twisted
that they will keep the odd lift open.
It happened many years ago in Pas de la Casa the weather was so bad it was impossible to ski, but there was always a drag open. 8)

For my tuppence worth, from what I gather the lift companies and resorts will keep at least one lift, drag, chair etc open in all but the most extreme and dangerous weather so as to avoid paying out any insurance claims to people whom put claims in for not being able to ski due to all the lifts being closed.....

.....as long as one form of uphill transportation is kept open this can invalidate a persons claim, and save the resort lift companies a fortune in claims payouts.

jon.