J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by snowcrazy2005

I have now posted the pics up to March 15 which includes our day in the Three Valleys mainly in Val Thorens and over on the Orelle side in my Les Arcs Winter facebook page. Take a look if you like. Hope you enjoy them. :D

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.268937169849423.61571.195692797173861&type=3

Today was another powder day. Yes the powder is back and should still be good tomorrow as well. :-D

We headed up quite early despite the poor vis and went over to the Arc 1800 via some nice off piste to test out the snow. Although it was hard to see where we were going at times the snow was great so went to the 'secret forest'. :twisted:

Had it all to ourselves all morning. We just kept putting new lines down new routes in the trees until we needed a break for lunch. I did not think I would get another chance to do that this season so was very happy. :D

After lunch the sun tried a bit harder to break through so headed up the Aiguille Rouge and off piste down the glacier and then the Robert Blanc couloir. Excellent powder again well over 15cm, maybe even as much as 20cm in places. :lol:

Finally headed over to Droset and more fresh tracks top to bottom and over to the Malgovert forest. By heading through the cliffs we had another fresh tracks route and carried on down in good soft snow until we joined the Mont Blanc piste lower down and headed home. 8-)

A really fun day and more to come tomorrow! Take a look at the pics that will be posted in the March 2012 Album Two of my Les Arcs Winter facebook page when I get it started tomorrow I hope. Enjoy!! :)

http://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter

No update for Les Arcs today as we went to the Three Valleys ski area. See the report I just posted if you are interested in hearing about the current conditions.

Trip report of our visit to the Three Valleys Ski area today!!

Had an excellent day over in the Three Valley Ski area up in the Val Thorens and Orelle Valley today.

Having finally got away just after 8am we reached Val Thorens just after the lifts had opened and hit the slopes by about 9.30am. Heading straight up to the top of Cime Caron we went off the back with a blue sky and some nice spring snow down the Vallon du Lou. Well tracked but with a few places where we could still put down some fresh tracks.

Then back up to the Col du Rosael and down off piste to the bottom of the Peyron chair. Up top and down through the cliffs onto the Glacier du Bouchet in the fourth valley. Had a nice picnic then carried on down. Once more it was soft spring conditions most of the way with hard crusty crud starting to melt lower down.

Back up to the Col du Rosael and off piste down to the bottom of the Grand Fond lift on chalky snow most of the way through the cliffs. Back up and this time skiers right off piste down to the new Thorens Gondola. From the top, again skiers right down through yet more cliffs and onto the meadows before reaching the Moriane Chair.

Up the chair to the top of the Glacier du Thorens. Managed to put some more fresh tracks in the spring snow on the glacier before going all the way down to the Funitel Peclet.

Up to the top of another Glacier one last time and then off piste once more all the way back into Val Thorens taking in as many untracked areas and soft spring snow as possible on the way down. Finally reaching the car park below Val Thorens again around 5.30pm.

Quite a fun day. Covered all the high spots and low points of the Val Thorens ski area and found plenty of good spring snow, although unless you hike, it was not that easy to find untracked areas although we did manage to ski a few. The piste we crossed were all in good condition with firm hard packed snow and a few boiler plate areas in the morning. Most areas in the sun were warming up nicely and making it much easier to ski in the afternoon. The off piste was in a very similar condition and so by starting low and moving higher as the day progressed we managed to have good snow most of the day.

Anyone thinking of heading out to val Thorens is in for a good time as there is plenty of snow and although busy on piste, the off piste areas were still quite empty. We shall be back again before the end of the season.

The pics of todays trip to the Three Valleys will be in a new March 2012 Album Two on my Les Arcs Winter facebook page when I have time to post them.

http://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter

Been a very busy past few days so not much time to post stuff here. :(

The spring snow conditions have arrived off piste now and by being careful I have managed to get back out in the off piste without making my shoulder any worse and I am very happy!!!!! :D

We have played around on some of the steeper slopes in Les Arcs within the ski domain and found some good snow quite near to the pistes at times. We even made two trips down the Col de Chal in spring snow which was a good surprise! :twisted:

Despite the hard packed boiler plate conditions first thing in the morning, by using the sun to guide you it is possible to find firm chalky snow and even soft spring snow in many places. Even the soft slush in the late afternoon is quite fun where the hard crust has been melted, but not yet become heavy and you are still able to float on the surface. :-D

Check out the pics of the last few days to see that the conditions are still quite good and more snow is expected this weekend or into next week. The pics are posted in the March 2012 Album of my Les Arcs Winter page. Enjoy! :D

The conditions right now just posted on my daily update:

WHAT IT LOOK'S LIKE OUTSIDE: (From ME!)
Blue sky, a little frost on the cars and not a cloud in sight. It should be a great day as long as it does not gt to warm. Off to ski the Bellecote today!

Almost 100% of lifts are open and all pistes. Not bad for the middle of March. With this weather it is a great time to try the waterslide above Arc 1600 before heading home at the end of the day. Hope to see some of you there.

Managed to get back on my skis today. Quite fun to be out again after a week of resting. Good to get to ski with you todayallanm, .

A group of us met up for an easy ski all around Les Arcs domain, mostly on piste including from the top of the Aiguille Rouge down to Villaroger and then right across to Peisey for lunch whilst watching the GS race then by the late afternoon I did have a little play in the easy off piste, well it just had to be done. Finally finishing with a run on the bordercross 'slowly' on the way back to the Altiport for a beer (I did not do the waterslide today, could have been one risk to many) and then down to Arc 1600 the easy way and home.

The pistes all over Les Arcs were hard and firm with some very slippy patches around during the morning. We had a chance to see how you should turn on the hard snow when watching the race and found some nice soft snow on a firm base in the centre of the Arc 2000 bowl.

Overall my shoulder held up well and did not hurt any more at the end of the day than it did at the start (I did not pole plant very much with my left hand) and hopefully it will not be any worse by tomorrow morning when I plan to go up again. Pics are posted in the March 2012 Album of my Les Arcs Winter facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter

Thank's to everyone for the messages. My shoulder is slowly starting to hurt less and I will see the specialist tomorrow. Hope it will be good news and I can get back out on the snow again soon. :-D

Anyone arriving in the next few days are in for a good time if the 10 - 20 cms predicted tomorrow does arrive. Hope to be up with you on the slopes again soon. :twisted:

Taken from my morning update on Les Arcs Winter facebook page. The conditions today are still very nice:

The good weather will continue this morning. It will be a generally sunny day, even though high clouds may be present at times. In the afternoon the clouds may slowly increase locally. Maximum temperatures significantly down 12 ° at 1000 meters, 5 ° at 2000 meters -3 ° at 3000 meters. :)

However the forecast for tomorrow is another story. The winter is back. Some snow flurries. Mostly cloudy and cold with low precipitation and scattered snow showers to a level of around 700m. Between 10 and 20 cms is expected (will have to wait and see if this really happens, hope so!!)!! The wind dominates from the NORTH, moderate to strong. :D

Les Arcs Winter facebook page
and follow me on Twitter

What a day today turned out to be!! Went up late with the idea of testing some skis and then meeting up with friends for lunch and having a nice ski before heading over to the waterslide and going home. :evil: :cry:

Well, I did go up as planned and then things started to go wrong. First the Mont Blanc chair lift stopped for about 5 min (should have gone home then). Second, when I got over to the Arc 2000 area the lift queues were quite large (should have gone home then). Third, when I started to ski the harder bumps under the Varet lift my ski kept popping off (should have gone home then). Fourth, having thought the ski tech had sorted out my ski problem, I went down to the Chalet Pre St Esprit and met up with
Shimmy Alcott, good to see you all. We waited for nearly 25 min to get served in the restaurant section (waste of time), gave up and had the self service which is the same food anyway, just cheaper. Finally had some lunch after at least a 40min wait, far to busy. My advice, either picnic in high season when it is sunny or do not bother with the restaurant section at the Chalet de Pre St Esprit unless you want to wait a long time and pay more for the same food. :(

Then after lunch I found out that the Comborciere Chair was closed due to technical problems so had to go up the very slow Pre St Esprit chair (should have gone home on the bus instead with the others). Found a big queue at Bois De L'ours and Arcabulle chairs so went up the Varet with the plan of going up the Plagnettes Chair and across off piste to the waterslide. :)

DISASTER!! Never made it to the chair. Going down the RED Arandelieres piste my ski popped off again on the small bumps and I went flying!! Who says pistes are safer than off piste. Some kind French lads brought my skis back, a pisteur came to see that I was ok (how embarrassing), some other friends came to check on me, and finally I managed to limp down to Arc 1950 and the bus home. :cry: :x :oops: :skele:

I am now typing this with one hand and a very sore neck/shoulder. No pics today or for the next few days while I take a rest and see how long it will take to recover from this. The doctor at the hospital says I might need an Op! Please not again! I shall just have to wait and see. :~/

From now on I shall stick to the skis/snowboard I like and stay off piste! Oh well! Some days you are just better off staying in bed! :~/

I will continue with the morning updates on my Les Arcs Winter facebook page, but anyone else out this coming week, please post what it is like up the hill until I can get back out there!! And they say we are going to get some more snow by Monday!!!!! :evil:

Savodump: If you buy the whole la Plagne area ski pass then it does include Champagny. You can also buy a discovery pass that gives you one day over in Les Arcs. Well worth the effort of going on the Vanoise Express and a day over the other side. Hope that helps.


Today's Report:
Managed to get up the mountain early again today and headed over to the Aiguille Rouge and some nice firm chalky snow on the shady area to skiers right of the Varet Gondola to practise those steep turns in some nice short couloirs. The off piste in this area has held up well and we played around here for a while finishing with a route down the Robert Blanc Couloir off one of the side cornices. Very fun!! Well I thought so!!

After this we headed up to the Grand Col and found some more good chalky snow quite near the piste this time. Then one of the guys felt like a little jump (not so little really!) and then up to the top of the Transarc.

Finally we headed over the back of the Col du Chal and down to Nancroix, just managing to finish the trip before the snow became to soft and unstable. We passed a few avalanches, but nothing to worry about. We were quite lucky with our timing as the snow had lost it's hard crust and was soft enough to enjoy skiing without sinking to deeply. The track out was fun with the banked turns and we even managed to get seats on the bus! :-D

When we got back to Peisey we headed back over to Arc 1800 and a late lunch.Then I headed home via the waterslide of course and another dry day with some more photos of the free entertainment on offer. :twisted:

All the pistes are holding up well and if you follow the sun during the day you will find some good places to ski or snowboard. The off piste and the pistes are much the same within the resort area, but be careful heading off piste further afield. There are quite a few slides so you need to know where to go safely. If in doubt, take a guide! For anyone heading out this weekend, you should have a fun holiday with a little more snow forecast for next week. :D

Pics from today are posted in the March 2012 Album of my Les Arc Winter facebook page. Check out the action from the waterslide plus where we skied. Enjoy!

Just a little jump!