Read this post with some interest as we're heading to Le Plagne on Saturday and our group is a very mixed bag in terms of experience, with a complete beginner right up to a Ski pro. Think whilst the others are picking up their hire gear me and my mate will head out to scout things out to give people an easier introduction while they get their confidence back.
Piste Grading Inconsistency.
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Started by Snapzzz in Ski Chatter 16-Jan-2011 - 31 Replies
Grizwald
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
EmmaEvs
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
Grizwald wrote:Read this post with some interest as we're heading to Le Plagne on Saturday and our group is a very mixed bag in terms of experience, with a complete beginner right up to a Ski pro. Think whilst the others are picking up their hire gear me and my mate will head out to scout things out to give people an easier introduction while they get their confidence back.
Good idea. I get MrEvs to do this for me :thumbup:
I wish I could meet the person who first decided to strap 2 planks to their feet and throw themselves down a mountain
Andyoneil
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
Dont have my copy to hand but the description of VDI in Where to Ski and Snowboard says something like "the piste grading is too inconsistent" and that one local instructor informed them that "we have to have greens and blues marked to attract all sorts but we dont necessarily actually have any on the mountain"
Apologies if I've misquoted but you get the drift
From personal experience I remember the first time I went to VDI with the wife and she was an absolute beginner so I went off to scope out runs we could do together when she was out of ski school - found some stuff that I thought fine of the top of the Bellevarde but she found the drop from the lift station to the start of the runs very daunting - its not really piste but is relatively steep and very busy of course.
Took two more beginners to the 3 Valleys a few years ago and constructed a circuit from VT, thru Les Men, St Martin, Meribel, Courchevel and back again only on blues and encountered a blue that was most definitely red - luckily they were "in the zone" and found it challenging but not impossible - yet if I'd looked it over in advance I'd probably have had them ride the lift down over that run.
What I'm trying to say is that scoping for yourself is the only way to really judge these things but even then there will be exceptions.
Apologies if I've misquoted but you get the drift
From personal experience I remember the first time I went to VDI with the wife and she was an absolute beginner so I went off to scope out runs we could do together when she was out of ski school - found some stuff that I thought fine of the top of the Bellevarde but she found the drop from the lift station to the start of the runs very daunting - its not really piste but is relatively steep and very busy of course.
Took two more beginners to the 3 Valleys a few years ago and constructed a circuit from VT, thru Les Men, St Martin, Meribel, Courchevel and back again only on blues and encountered a blue that was most definitely red - luckily they were "in the zone" and found it challenging but not impossible - yet if I'd looked it over in advance I'd probably have had them ride the lift down over that run.
What I'm trying to say is that scoping for yourself is the only way to really judge these things but even then there will be exceptions.
SwingBeep
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
AllyG, yes those are the "bum sliding sections". It would appear that they can be of indeterminate length and steepness. I posted the text in its entirety, the whole document is only 29 pages long.
Andyhull
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
andyoneil wrote:Dont have my copy to hand but the description of VDI in Where to Ski and Snowboard says something like "the piste grading is too inconsistent" and that one local instructor informed them that "we have to have greens and blues marked to attract all sorts but we dont necessarily actually have any on the mountain"
Santons always gets an interesting response from beginners. Quite a 'character building' blue that.
I find people get far too hung up on colour grading, rather than skiing to the conditions. But getting someone down a blue that's freaked them out challenges your coaching skills.
Jenniewren80
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
Snapzzz wrote:I strongly suspect that to the more experienced and seasoned skier this subject has been done to death previously but i thought i would just have my say.
Having just returned from La Plagne i am still a little shocked by the gradient of some of their blue runs.
My daughter (10) can handle what i would consider to be a blue but nothing more as she still hangs on to the snowplough. So most days we set out armed with our piste maps and toured the resort via the blue trials which was great until faced with sudden steep slopes. Of course once committed to a piste there is not much chance of walking back up or even getting a chair down.
For example we can take the Mira piste from the Grand Rochette. It is a blue on the map but i don't believe it should be. My poor little girl had to kick her skis off and slide on her bum to get down. But it is only the first bit that is so steep.
So heres the questions:
1. should runs be graded according to their most difficult part?
2. do resorts deliberately 'mis label' runs to make them appear to cater for all?
3. Can you really trust the grading system?
4. Are issues such as this common place across many resorts.
By the end of the week i generally didn't worry too much about the colours on the map, I went and took a look and made my own mind up but as i said previously....its a bugger to get stuck halfway because you trusted what the resort tell you about a pistes difficulty level.
I had experience last week with this same run completely freaked me out, thankfully i chose to go to the right and took the other way round. Never went up there again all week.
Snapzzz
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
Jenniewren80 wrote:
I had experience last week with this same run completely freaked me out, thankfully i chose to go to the right and took the other way round. Never went up there again all week.
I wish i had done that, at the time i thought that run on round the back only went to Champagny.
Grizwald, go get your friends eased into it i would take them up the Arpette chair out of Belcotte, all the blues back into Belle plagne are prob the easiest in the area.
Skied: Arinsal, La Plagne, Alpe D'huez, Flaine, Les Arcs, Morzine, Les Gets, Avoriaz, Sauze, Courchevel, Val Thorens
Dixie dean
reply to 'Piste Grading Inconsistency.' posted Jan-2011
I would second that, and add that there are 2 runs side by side from Arpette that go down towards Les Coches for about a km to Carroley (both nice wide motorway pistes, both of which are very gentle (one has a 50 metre very short drop at the end) from where you can take a lift back up to Arpette again. These are both great for beginners - you could even take them slightly off piste between the two as they are only 5o metres apart and are only slighty off pist if you know what I mean. (Check your pass covers this area first) You could also continue down Pierres Blanches) (White stones) to the bottom of the Pierres Blanches lift and come up again on the chair lift to Carroley if your pass allows, but DO NOT go down Mont Blanc as although it is a blue, some short sections are very steep, narrow and icy and get very busy.
Check out my video of L'Arpette to Belle Plagne http://www.youtube.com/user/fdflsdjfh8308hfosa#p/u/2/85orRGY3TCg
Dixie
Check out my video of L'Arpette to Belle Plagne http://www.youtube.com/user/fdflsdjfh8308hfosa#p/u/2/85orRGY3TCg
Dixie
Topic last updated on 19-January-2011 at 20:03