J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Far Queue

Admin wrote:

Far Queue wrote:Here is a pic I took of La Face a few years ago

:shock:

In half a dozen visits over the years I've never seen it looking even close to "fresh groomed" like that! Must be an absolute blast in that condition.

:lol: :D I just give them a weeks notice before going out, and I have never seen it any different.

Seriously, about an hour after I took that pic, Bode Miller was screaming his way down it. The last two times I have been to Val, have coincided with world cup visits.

It's a lot steeper than it looks.

This is probably the worse bit, the stuff above is narrower, but cuts round a path, and I don't recall it being an issue.

If in doubt, wait at the bottom till someone falls over, then watch how far it takes them to stop :twisted:

:lol:

They always look easy from the bottom. Here is a pic I took of La Face a few years ago, click on the pic for the full size image. I am just surprised that you cannot see all the brown streaks the skiers were leaving behind :twisted:

As bandit says, it is a slope everyone wants to do, so it gets busy, shiny and harder as the day progresses. Just forget about it's reputation and concentrate on your technique. Do the bottom section (from the top of the Bellvarde Express lift, the one going up on the left of the picture) in one go, and as long as you get your rythem going on some nice turns, it will finish before you realise. Weight forward and trust your skis.

Hi Freshfreshpowder, my experience of this is when a friend decided to buy at the show, but it was over 10 years ago. Frankly, knowing what I do now, I think he got very lucky. The stand he purchased from (which was from a major snow sport chain in the UK) was incredibly busy, and the people selling, were doing just that. There was almost no "fitting" going on at all.

This may have changed in recent years, but personally, I would be looking to get any new boots I was after fitted in a far more relaxed atmosphere, where the fitter can give me undivided attention rather than dealing with numerous customers at the same time.

bandit wrote:

Ski all the way from the Aguille Percee (sp) down to Les Brevieres. Have long lunch, ski back 8)

:shock: :( What, all the way back uphill? :wink: :twisted:

LOL, sorry could not resist. Tspill, there are many, many decent runs to be found in the area, and a lot of "which ones to do" will be affected by the conditions at the time.

Personally, I think part of the fun of visiting a new resort is to explore it and find the runs you personally enjoy and want to do again. I assume you will be getting the Espace Killy lift pass, which means you can head on over to Val D'Isere and then up to the Solaise area and beyond. There really is vast amounts of skiing, and you could keep yourself busy on different runs pretty much all week.

I would go further than Bandit says, and suggest that you start by going up the Aeroski from La Lac and ski down into Val Claret, then get the funnicular and cable car up to La Grande Motte. Ski all the way back down and through Val Claret, and get up the Tichot lift, be warned, you need to try and carry some speed through the bottom of the run into Val Claret if it is possible (subject to foot traffic) as it is a flat run off to Tichot which may involve you walking 100m (not too bad really). Once up Tichot, drop down and get up Grattalu, then head on round to the Aiguille Percee and off down to Les Brevieres via Les Boisses if feeling cautious, or down La Sache (black run) if the conditions are good and you feel up to it.. That makes for a nice circuit and gives you a good view of L'Aiguille Percee from many different angles. Here is a picture, if you wish to see what it looks like http://www.naturalarches.org/gallery-France-FR035.htm

I will say that there used to be an excellent restaurant under the bar area at the foot of the run into La Daille. You need to come down and cross the bridge, then go UNDER where everyone else will be gathered. Lovely little place, but it can be erratic on when it decides to open. Also, I like the restaurants at the side of the nursery slopes in Val, but these can be a little on the expensive side. Perhaps worth a visit as a treat one day.

It now looks like I will be going with my brother on the Thursday.

NellyPS wrote:Take the train, that way you can take what you can carry AND make sure no-one throws your new skis around the run way.

Better still, drive. Then you can take more than you can carry, plus you get to travel totally at your own pace and route :)

Hi Tspill, I have not stayed there either (the apartments), but judging from the location I found on some maps, you should be able to have your skis on within a minute of leaving the door, and you should be able to ski back very close to the apartments.

They look like they are placed just above the Palafour lifts but I cannot remember if you can cut across from the combe piste to where you would want to finish, however you should be able to ski back down to them from the top of the Chaudannes lift.

It's been a few years, but I like Tignes as a resort. Plenty of variety on stuff to do, and the buses were free, so no excuses for not trying out all the bars in the three separate parts of Tignes :)