J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by snowcrazy2005

Skipatrollerdave, great video thanks. Would be good to get out there someday to ride some of that powder, looks fun.

In Europe we do not have 'out or in bounds'.

Instead we have:

1) On piste, groomed runs.
2) Off piste, not groomed and unprotected areas. (Like out of bounds back country but you are allowed to ski there.)
3) Piste nature which are not groomed but avalanche protected trails or areas. (Similar to in bounds but not groomed.)
4)In some countries there are also Itinerary runs which are not groomed and sometimes avalanche protected but not always.

Now that I have whetted your appetite for what is on offer, here are a few routes.

1) Col de la Chal (Nancroix/Pont Bodin).

This is an easy off piste route from either behind the Restaurant at the top of the Transarc, or by walking up to a few metres towards the Ag Grive to take a higher line or further down towards the middle which is the safest line.

Which ever line you take, you can have a great trip down to Nancroix in fresh powder on an easy gradient to the forest and then along the forest track to the valley. Keep in the centre of the valley the whole way down to the forest track going right (easy to see) if you want to avoid any avalanche areas.

Another nice route and quite easy.

2) Grizzly le foret de Notre Dame (Nancroix)

Go to the top of the Grizzly lift, go down the black at the top then cut left into the forest. Stay on the flatter area and slowly make your way through the forest until you reach the church. From the church, down the easy open meadows to end in the village by the same bus stop as the route above. Very little if any avalanche risk on this route.

In case you like skiing with the SCGB Leaders, these routes are no longer allowed to be skied by there leaders according to their new off piste policy in my opinion as a former rep(leader). A pity as many reps (leaders) use to do them.

If anyone is ever interested in meeting up to ski any of these routes, as long as you have the kit you are always welcome to join our group.

We do things of different standards everyday so there is normally always something on one of the days to suit your level. You can either go to my facebook group page to get in touch or meet us at George's Wine Bar in Arc 1950 after skiing most days for a drink and a chat about the next day/weeks plans.

Hope to see old friends and new skiers visiting this season. All are welcome. Oh yeah, ment to say we do this for free as well, just fun to meet others during the season for a good day out.

Great news, snow falling all the way down to below Arc 1600 again and more on it's way. Enough snow to be riding in the Arc 2000 bowl, but you might drop through onto the odd rock. Snow conditions are improving all the time so fingers crossed for the 11th Dec when the lifts open.

Here is one more before bed just to keep you all thinking of the nice powder that has started to fall in the Alps this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLU3F7c_fBk

How many people recognise any of the places where this video mix of some of the off piste in Les Arcs was made. Quite hard to identify all the routes they have put into this one short vid.

I started this thread on another forum and it has proved to be quite interesting with different routes being shared so I thought I would share it here as well.

As someone wrote 'You have an "encyclopedic" knowledge of the Paradiski area'. I thought, yeah why not share with everyone some of the places I like to freeride.

First I shall look at my back garden area then move onto such places as the 'Three Valleys' and 'Espace Killy'. Places I know equally as well. Many of you who have joined our little group will recognise some of these places.

So here goes, please feel free to add comments about any of the places I mention if you have skied or boarded them yourselves or even just dream of doing so. But always remember never go off piste without the full safety kit and if you do not know the area very well, take a guide. Stay safe out there.

To kick this off a little video from youtube made by some people I know. This is one of the routes we do quite often when there is fresh snow.

And I am not in any of the videos as they all come from youtube.

First Tracks on Aiguille Rouge after fresh snow fall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csdU_sVUJMY&feature=related

It is all on either side of the piste at the top of AR, but with a number of variations. If you look carefully there are some steeper lines coming out of the cliffs from the top (part of the very old black there once) and at the bottom through the gully. All glacial areas underneath mind so great care needs to be taken. It ends up going out of sight down the Villaroger Black run.

Hi Bandit and others, pleased you found what I posted about Mondial interesting. I also think they are trying to be clearer. Not perfect but better. Regarding off piste and Heli's. You need to be sure you are covered as they almost always use one as moving someone injured in a sledge off piste any distance as I saw last season is very difficult even for the best pisteurs.

North or south facing slopes, they both have there risks. As to knowing a place well. That is a very hard one to answer. I would be interested to hear what others think of this wording. Makes for a good debate if nothing else.

As another post has been made, this time outlining what Mondial-Assistance Underwriters have to say regarding off piste Ski Insurance. With the permission of the original poster here is what was written about the policies they Underwrite in the UK. Very interesting to read and if you ski with SCGB Leaders or have there insurance, worth noting what it says here.


Mondial Assistance:

The following applies to all travel Insurance policies that Mondial underwrite in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

From an underwriting perspective we need to make a distinction between the type of off piste skiing/boarding and in our experience these fall into two main categories:

Item 1) Those who are beginners or relatively inexperienced who consider "off piste" to be simply going slightly off the groomed run either by accident or as a small part of a lesson with an instructor.

Item 2) Those who are experienced and choose to ski predominantly or deliberately off piste.

For the first category, we would need to give some leeway on our requirements due to the customers inexperience or circumstances e.g. with an instructor.

For the second category we would expect that the person is experienced enough to understand the potential dangers, general guidance and local advice/laws/regulations (for the particular area/country) for off piste skiing.

General off piste guidance (which we would expect insurance customer to observe) are as follows:

· Do not ski/board alone
· Always ski with a guide/instructor unless you are very familiar with the resort/area
· As a minimum, a shovel, probe and transceiver should be carried
· Check local weather forecasts and avalanche warnings every day
. Do not ignore any warning signs or local advice
· Do not ski if the avalanche warning is 4 or 5

Our policies contain the following additional conditions and exclusions that are relevant (please note the actual phrasing in different policies may vary)

· You should take reasonable care to protect yourself …….. against accident, injury …………
· You are not covered for claims relating to your suicide, self-injury or deliberately putting yourself at risk (unless you were trying to save another person's life)
· You are not covered if you do not follow any suggestions or recommendations of ………….. or other official authority.

Mondial are currently in the process of conducting our annual policy wording review and I will ensure that our current wording regarding off piste is updated.
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Further to this: all points under item 2 would apply if you are deliberately skiing off-piste with a Ski Club Great Britain instructor/guide (leader).

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I have not added or changed anything on this post. Read it for yourself and make your own mind up.
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Wish you could ask your questions in the Les Arcs thread, it really does save saying the same things over and over again. Nagging over!!!

Most years there is good snow, but you really have to wait and see nearer the time. The base is only just starting to form now and it will only take one warm spell for it all to go away again. Fingers crossed for cold weather to stay now.