J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by snowcrazy2005

The Spring conditions have really taken hold today.

We managed to get one last trip down the Bellecote Canadian couloir today by the easy entrance, but needed to be off the route by lunch time as the snow was becoming very soft and unstable. We had to cross a number of new avalanches today on the way out along the river bed track. Although there were some ski tracks from the last few days in the couloir it was still a good ski in challenging conditions.

After a drink at the bottom we headed back to Les Arcs and a nice lunch at the Vache restaurant in Peisey. Then a fast (slushy) ski back to the waterslide at the Altiport and home.

I think today may well be my last big off piste route for a few days until the snow becomes more stable and the colder spell forecast for the coming weekend arrives. The off piste conditions right now mean that you need to complete any routes very early to be sure to stay safe. What a change from the powder we skied yesterday.

However in the mornings you can still find firm snow which is great for carving on the pistes. By mid day the lower slopes are very sticky and even higher up the snow is quite soft on the pistes. If a piste is closed, take notice. With the high avalanche risk in the afternoons (level 4) it is not a good idea to go on closed runs.

Despite the spring conditions, for this time of the season, the snow depth is still excellent and you should be able to ski until the 27 April without any problem to all the stations that remain open. So far I have not seen any brown patches on open pistes.

This really has been a great season. Stay safe out there!

'217.26 km / h on a mountain bike' today on the snow.

Eric Barone made his final attempt today and managed to better his last years time. Great result. He hopes to be back again next year for another attempt. More details can be found at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter/posts/443022669113152?comment_id=2927095&offset=0&total_comments=1#!/EricBarone.VTT?group_id=0

BRITISH ALPINE SKI RACING (BARSC) is coming to Les Arcs at the start of next winter for a race week.

For all those interested in Alpine Ski racing. It has been announced that the British Alpine Ski Racing Championship Festival of British Children's ski racing will be held in Les Arcs next winter from the 28th December 2013 to 2nd January 2014.

For further information use this link.

http://www.barsc.net/_pdfs/BARSC%20Championships%20release%20March%202013.pdf

For all those families that normally come to Les Arcs at this time of year for Christmas/New Year and are interested in allowing there children/teenagers to take part. It is very simple to enter these races as a 'one off' opportunity without joining in all the expensive other races around Europe. For details of how to enter the races you can take a look at the BARSC web page or the Britski web page. Links below.

http://www.barsc.net/index.html or http://britski.org/

If you have any questions that are not answered on the web pages above or need help you are welcome to PM me and I will try to point you in the right direction. I also know a few people that may have places to rent during that period.

Hope this helps with your planning for next winter.

Hi Tillylilly. Yes you can keep your skis at the rental shop at the bottom of the funi so you do not need to carry them home each day You can also arrange for your boots as well.

If you need somewhere to stay in Bourg either google Bourg and you will find many liks or send me a PM with your email address plus details of your budget/dates and I can see what might be available amongst my friends. Hope that helps.

Two days on the Bellecote and powder again today (Sunday). We had to get over to the Bellecote as quickly as possible this morning to get the best snow, but it was worth the effort.

After leaving Les Arcs we headed straight to the Bellecote bowl via Roche de Mio face which still had some soft snow in one of the more sheltered gullies.

Then a quick lap of the bowl on another untracked face with some good powder. Well worth the extra work to get into the face.

Finally over the back of the North Face down to the Cheval restaurant for a nice refreshing drink. The snow from the top of the ridge into the couloir was powder and in many places on the route we took, still untracked. A bit of a challenge today as we had quite a steep line into the face and needed to take care not to cause any slides. Going down through the cliffs was fun and the snow stayed good all the way down to the meadows below.

Then the hard work really started with soft, slushy and heavy snow mixed in with crud and 'death cookies' from the avalanches above all the way to the bottom of the river exit. You can still easily reach the bus stop without needing to walk which was great, but the snow lower down is very wet right now.

Despite the heavy conditions at the bottom, the snow higher up made it a great day out in the warm sun. We may just go back again tomorrow to make another route.

The pistes around Les Arcs and La Plagne that we skied today were holding up well in the warm temperatures and in the morning firm and great for carving. In the afternoon they were very soft, slushy and sticky in places, but you can still get everywhere without any problems. There is still loads of snow around and all stations are open although they have now closed a few lifts permanently and some pistes are also closed due to soft snow in the afternoons and the risk of avalanches onto those pistes.

If you plan to go off piste, take care and best to go in the morning when you will find typical spring conditions.

I am still very behind on all the photos, but will try to catch them up shortly.

https://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter/photos_albums

No update from me for Les Arcs today. A group of us went to the Three Valleys for the day. I have posted the report of the day in a new thread if you are interested and will add photos later. Enjoy!

Powder again. What a day!! Today (Friday), we went to the Three Valleys and ended up spending the day in the Courchevel and Meribel valleys.

The snow was in good condition everywhere. Typical spring snow lower down and powder on the higher slopes. I was amazed at how untracked everywhere off piste was.

We managed 9 different routes during the day in mostly untracked soft snow, plus a fast ski down to the bottom of Courchevel 1650 using the lower pistes.

Here are the routes we took today in order for those interested in following our journey. We started skiing at just after 9.30am and finished around 5.15pm with just a short break for lunch. A hard, fast, but fun day in the fresh snow. The sun even came out at times to help us enjoy the different lines we tried!

Here is our journey:

1) After parking in Mottaret we headed up to the top of Saulire and then directly off piste to the bottom of the Creux Noirs chair. Untracked spring snow the whole way down quite early in the day. Very nice.

2) From the top of the Creux Noirs chair, after a little hike to skiers right we went back down into the bowl from the right hand ridge to the Chanrossa chair. More untracked spring snow with nice powder higher up and a bit of crud lower down near the finish as we came back onto the piste.

3) Skiers right at the top of the Chanrossa chair and back down to the bottom of the same chair after a high traverse under the Roc Merlet. Yet another untracked face from top to bottom on fresh snow higher up and good spring snow down towards the lift.

4) Back up the Chanrossa chair and then round the bowl across to the ridge into the Vallee des Avals. After making fresh tracks to the ridge we decided not to go down to the bottom of the valley and traversed back to the left and off piste into the bowl to skiers right of the Pyramide piste and finally arriving at the Indiens piste and all the way down into Courchevel 1650 using the main pistes . Again fresh tracks, nobody had been down this way either until we reached the gully below the Combe tow (this tow was closed today). The snow higher up was very nice, soft on top with a firm base, but lower down it slowly became very soft and slushy as we neared Courchevel 1650. Not really a surprise.

5) From Courchevel 1650 we headed back up to the top of the Roc Merlet chair then skiers left off piste down to the Marmottes chair. Although more tracked than earlier routes. We still managed to find some good untracked snow higher up and lower down were pleased to have a few tracks to help as the light began to become flat.

6) At the top of the Marmottes chair we went to the far left side of the Grande Rosiere piste and then off piste the whole way down to Mottaret only rejoining the piste near the stade. The snow was good almost the whole way down, only becoming cruddy as we neared the piste. Yet again there was plenty of room to make our own fresh tracks.

No time for lunch yet!! With the weather starting to change we quickly took the new Plattieres gondola.

7) From the top of the new gondola we headed off piste down to the Mont Vallon gondola. The snow was typical spring snow the whole way down, soft and slushy, but not to hard to ski if you had 'fat skis'.

8) At the top of the Mont Vallon gondola we went to skiers left through the gap in the cliffs and down the off piste valley to where the Campagnol and Lac de la chambre pistes meet. This turned out to be the best snow of the day. Light untracked powder up top and easy to ski soft snow the rest of the way down with few tracks. The ones there were helped avoid the holes as the light became flat again.

Time for a quick lunch at the bottom then back up to the top of Mont Vallon again.

9) With the light coming and going we headed down under the Mont Vallon gondola and slowly over to skiers right all the way to the corner of the Combe de Vallon piste just before the Mures Rouges chair. The snow at the top was very mixed, some wind blown, but also pockets of powder. Then as I went into the more sheltered area the snow became softer everywhere and was quite nice to ski with few tracks.

10) By the time we reached the top of the Mures Rouges chair the weather had closed in and started to snow again. Rather than making our final decent from the top of the Plattieres 3 Gondola off piste back down towards Mottaret as we had planned, it was time to head for home. After a fast ski down the pistes we arrived back at our car.

A really fun day with loads of fresh tracks on great snow most of the time. Much better than we had expected when driving up in the morning. If anyone else has the time, my advice, 'Get Out Here' and enjoy the new snow while it lasts.

I will be posting the photos of todays journey in the Three Valleys 2013 Album of my Les Arcs Winter facebook page later. Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter/photos_albums

Good report Tony, great to read on a wet damp April morning after having a powder day ourselves yesterday. thanks for sharing.

Hi PaulMcd, If you like doing a lot of distance then yes, getting the Paradiski pass is worth it as even with the rain today, there is loads of snow right down to the lower stations so it should be ok till the end of the season. I do not think you will need chains for the main roads, but you can never be sure, not even in April.

YESTERDAY I did not ski in LES ARCS as we went to Tignes and skied in the Espace Killy area. I will post the details of our day out later. I did hear last night that Les Arcs was great yesterday with plenty of untracked powder about and blue skies. I hope the rain today does not spoil the snow to much.