Val Thorens with Snowheads, April 14th to 19th 2024.

S

Sbooker

Well-known member
So I moved to Val Thorens with the Snowheads people.
Sunday and yesterday were incredibly warm. Monday I had a guiding/instruction session with a local pro. He took us on some just ok north facing high areas. To show us contrast between just ok and incredibly bad he took us on a run down the south facing off piste area from the top of VT to the Orelle valley. There were 5 of us in the group. Two were good skiers. The other three of us are average. Even the instructor had real difficulty making turns in the terrible snow. I didn’t fall but came close a few times when my skis were just sinking into the nothing snow.

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Note the brown Saharan snow. They must not have got the storms we got in Tignes/Val last week.
We traversed over a big glide track. The guide was not concerned as the snow was “stabilising due to the decreasing temps”. I don’t know why he took us on that expedition. It proved nothing really.

Last night it froze hard and the forecast is for winter temps the next few days. There is no way there will be any chance of off piste (I’m booked for two guiding sessions) in the next few days. It’s bullet proof. So today I went for a tour to Courchevel in poor visibility.

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The best of the weather below.

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A big cold spell arrived. Came with more snow than forecast.
I’m no great skier but poor visibility brings out all the faults in my ‘technique’.
A good day anyway. I had a guided session this afternoon. No much to see in the photos.🙂
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There was about 8 inches on the groomers this morning.

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Dave the guide doing his best to navigate a group of intermediate skiers in poor visibility.
 
Sbooker said:
I don’t know why he took us on that expedition. It proved nothing really.
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Always fascinating to see how people react to a fruitless expedition led by a guide being paid $400 for a half day. Did you say anything to him? Chalk it up to "sometimes you get the bear/sometimes the bear gets you?" or "nothing ventured, nothing gained?"
:eusa-think:
 
The Snoworks course was a bargain. 5 x 3 and a half hour mornings (plus a ‘bonus’ 3 and a half hour afternoon session) for 475GBP. I’ll do it again next year and take Kylie. She can do their ‘all terrain’ course which is a mix of piste and easy off piste.

The Snowheads 3 hour sessions were 55 Euro each and the full day 110 Euro. They obviously get a great deal for being regular customers. I didn’t think it was anywhere near as good as the Snoworks course though.

Edit. Being with the same extremely knowledgable and skilled guide and instructor for 5 consecutive days with Snoworks obviously lent itself to better progression as far as skills go.
 
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jamesdeluxe said:
Always fascinating to see how people react to a fruitless expedition led by a guide being paid $400 for a half day. Did you say anything to him? Chalk it up to "sometimes you get the bear/sometimes the bear gets you?" or "nothing ventured, nothing gained?"
:eusa-think:
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I didn’t pay much for it. (See above). And he told us from the outset that he was going to show us contrasting snow types. To be clear it was part tuition part guiding. The next day with him was better as we had a solid base and a good amount of snow to go with it. Vis was severely lacking however.
 
Oh and a novelty question as far as my ski area count goes. Is Trois Vallees counted as 3 areas being VT, Méribel and Courchevel?
 
Tony Crocker said:
Interesting comment by James in view of our experience Jan. 28. :smileyvault-stirthepot:
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I note your “rutted and frozen” comment. Regardless of how much time I spend on snow I doubt I’ll ever be able to ski that kind of service even remotely nicely. I’m like a baby elephant on skates on that stuff.

Edit. Surface not service. Flipping auto correct.
 
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Sbooker said:
Can one purchase a Les Menuires pass only? I would have thought that a condition?
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I don't recall that condition. Everyone makes up their own rules, depending on how much they want to max out their ski-areas-visited lists. :smileyvault-stirthepot:

For example, I suppose that one could transform Les Portes du Soleil into seven or eight different ski areas if you slice and dice enough.
 
Sbooker said:
Oh and a novelty question as far as my ski area count goes. Is Trois Vallees counted as 3 areas being VT, Méribel and Courchevel?
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I think a four-area count is fair. Les Menuires is definitely different from Val Thorens. You can buy a pass for Les Menuries only—even just 37 Euros on Saturdays. Pointe de la Masse is not part of Val Thorens.

Les Menuires St Martin - Homepage

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www.skipass-lesmenuires.com www.skipass-lesmenuires.com

jamesdeluxe said:
I don't recall that condition. Everyone makes up their own rules, depending on how much they want to max out their ski-areas-visited lists. :smileyvault-stirthepot:
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James seems to think Solitude and Brighton are 2 different areas when they have been connected for 30 years (since 1994) and sell a joint ticket. They should be called SolBright. Same as Alta and Snowbird. It's one area, common passes, and has been connected since 2001. They should be called AltaBird. So much ski area maximization :)

I think Portes du Soleil deserves a few areas. Many of them publish their own trail map and sell their own lift ticket.
 
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Sbooker said:
A big cold spell arrived. Came with more snow than forecast.
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This storm caused a lot of snow in the North and Northwest Alps. It was weird weather—two massive April warm-ups. And at least two or three dumps.

Val Thorens looks like it might have almost received a meter over the last couple of days.

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ChrisC said:
I think a four-area count is fair. Les Menuires is definitely different from Val Thorens. You can buy a pass for Les Menuires only—even just 37 Euros on Saturdays. Pointe de la Masse is not part of Val Thorens.
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Hard to argue with that logic. I resisted it because the geographic separation of Orelle looks more clear cut, and since no one seems to separate Orelle, why should Les Menuires be separate? But if a cheaper lift ticket for only Les Menuires is available, that's the same as AltaBird and Brighton/Solitude and the 4 (I believe) sectors of Portes du Soleil. Cheaper separate lift ticket is one of the criteria for considering an area as separate, and by definition it applies to specific lifts and usually terrain.

Another point is that when we arrived in Val Thorens end of March 2022 after 3 weeks of warm and dry, Les Menuires was threadbare. With normal winter coverage it's a big place even by Euro standards, even though in the conditions we had I probably skied only 2 runs there. Garry Klassen had powder when he was at Val Thorens and raved about how great Pointe de la Masse was.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
Another point is that when we arrived in Val Thorens end of March 2022 after 3 weeks of warm and dry, Les Menuires was threadbare. With normal winter coverage it's a big place even by Euro standards, even though in the conditions we had I probably skied only 2 runs there.
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After skiing Grands Montets (1 day) and Zermatt (3 days) in mid/late April 2018, I was able to extend my trip and added Les Arcs/La Plagne (1 day) and Val Thorens (3 days). The 3 Vallees closed for the season during my stay (Meribel and Courchevel), but Les Menuires remained opened. It barely had any snow except at the summit of La Masse and La Chambre while Val Thorens was still winter with deep bases.

I did not know what type of ski pass I purchased, and assumed Val Thorens only. I did not know Les Menuires tries to extend its season to match Val Thorens. I skied a couple of runs in the Les Menuires piste network but retreated to Val Thorens lifts. Did not want the hassle of upgrading my pass for an area that was past its prime.

And I do not think "La Vallee des Belleville" is a resort anyone would recognize.


La Vallée des Belleville
The Belleville Valley ski area is open from November 25, 2023 to may 5, 2024. The Belleville Valley from Saint Martin de Belleville to the Val Thorens – Orelle summit.

Discover our beautiful Belleville Valley, passing through the authentic village of Saint Martin, the resort of Les Menuires and its legendary La Masse summit (2,804 metres) all the way to the Cime de Caron, the highest point in the Valley at an altitude of 3,200 metres.

The Vallée des Belleville skipass is only available for 1-day or season passes. Season pass holders can buy a 1-day Les 3 Vallées extension exclusively at sales points (except for season 3/7 passes).

Vallée des Belleville trail map

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