Poster: A snowHead
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A proposal to link the Andorran skiing of Pas de la Casa with the French resort of Porte Puymorens has been announced. This would produce 250km of runs, serviced by 90 lifts, making it the 20th largest ski area in the world.
The scheme is being given the name 'Portes des Neiges'. This website has the details.
Any commments?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This is interesting.Was in Soldeu a few weeks ago;talking to one of the local ski instructors.I was bemoaning the fact that some "rubbish" Andorra(I thought it was fantastic )He said to me,"We(Andoran's)know what we have got,we just haven't got round to telling everybody?".He hinted that something was going to be happening,is this it??He actually showed me a map with,he said,some unbelievable skiing areas.Currently not very accessable(snow cat or heli!!)I got the distinct impression that there was a lot to come for the future??Should the overpriced? and overrated French resorts take notice??
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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David Goldsmith wrote: |
Any commments? |
Yes, the guy who did the website should learn to write English and to spell French names correctly.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Currently Porte Puymorens is part of the French "Neige Catalanes" quasi-ski area (not really linked up, but one pass covers nine very close resorts). I wonder if they'll try to link them all in a larger Catalan ski area? Porte Puymorens is on the border, but larger resorts like Font Romeu and les Angles are not far away. Then the Med is only 40 minutes from Font Romeu if you want a sand'n'slide holiday. Could be interesting.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It'll be interesting to see how many of these new linking plans win permission, and what quality of environmental assessment takes place. There certainly seem to be plenty of 'consultants' trying to persuade resorts to knit together. Surprise, surprise! If new terrain is to be opened, it must be done with the strictest environmental safeguards - skiing can't simply exploit the mountains at liberty. The magic must be protected.
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I can't agree more. They could run into problems too, as the Swiss have discovered that some of their foundations are now less stable in summer when the permafrost softens - the rock fall at the Matterhorn was merely a spectacular indocator.
Don't something like 2/3rds of Swiss lift companies make a loss? They have been advised to merge for a few years now to cope with that. Whether that means physical link-ups or merely at the management/buying etc. level.
I notice in that BBC report it says the ski region Val D'Aosta and Piedmont have been linked. This is a bit misleading as, though I don't know which resort has been linked, the Aosta valley is really a load of disparate resorts who share a lift pass (they may all be owned by the same company), and few if any are inter-linked (I've not skied them all). So saying the two regions are linked slightly over-eggs the possibilities.
I did wonder about having a holiday with a day in each resort (Courmayeur, La Thuile, Pila, Cervinia, and two others as yet undecided), once. I suppose with a car and a base in Aosta this is practicable, but I'd like to stay in each resort and move between them. Anyway, that's straying off the point.
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Well, if you go to ski to Champoluc (Valle d'Ayas, Valle D'Aosta), it is theoretically possible to reach Alagna Valsesia (Piedmont) skis on feet, through Gressoney.
This is only a possibility, but I've heard unconfirmed rumors that next year it will be a certitude.
The three valleys (resorts) , Champoluc, Gressoney and Alagna are part of the same "system" the MonterosaSki (and it should also be the same owner, the main drag to the link here being bureaucracy, two provinces, two regions, three different municipalities...a mayhem)
Last edited by After all it is free on Tue 2-03-04 14:35; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Could be worse, I was told that the Val D'Aosta wanted to be part of France in 1945
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 2-03-04 14:56; edited 1 time in total
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When I was in Courmayeur this year, it was also suggested that there were plans to link this to La Thuile and of course that links into La Rosiere etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ah, maybe that's why the STVI (Société Téléphérique de Val d'Isère) has bought up the La Rosière lift company and is investing big time....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Interesting. I wonder how they'd plan to do it? I hope it wouldn't encroach on the Val Veny (any more than the Zerotta area already has done). From memory I don't think it would, but I'll have to find a map of the area.
Did they mention any details?
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skanky Probably the French were thinking about annexing it, you know, the winner takes it all. As it is, they "just" took Mentone and the strip of land which borders now with Piedmont...
Moreover the whole of Savoia was once, if not Italian (Italy did not exist as a country then) part of the Piedmont Kingdom , the Italian once oyal family's family name is, you guess, Savoia. "Italy" (truly Piedmont, then) traded it with Venice and its region during the "indipendedce wars" in the second half of 1800.
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You know it makes sense.
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No, it was voluntary. The Italians and Americans "bribed" it to stay Italian by giving them cheap petrol, chocolate and other things. There was a bit political row a few years back when the agreement was coming to a close. Because my sister never used all her ration of cheap petrol vouchers, my Dad always used to fill up there using some of her surplus before he drove back.
The history of that area around the Savoie time has confused me - mainly because I've snippets here and there in different places and times and haven't got much of an overview. I understood that the Savoie region was once autonomous (basically, one of the many family owned states - the proper term escapes me - that later became the European countries). I thought it included part of France, Italy and Switzerland (inc. Geneva).
I always assumed that this explained the prevalence of raclette, fondue, grolla, genepy, eau de vie, etc. in these three countries around that part of the world (the rest of Switzerland adopted raclette and fondue as national dishes later).
I'm probably wrong though and wouldn't mind reading about it, if anyone knows of any good books or other sources on the region, please feel free to recommend them (probably not on this thread though ).
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Well, yes, I'm Italian, so I must say that the French wanted to annex it. My nationalism demands it
Ah, yes, the famous "free" petrol. Well, Valle d'aosta is an "autonomous"region of Italy (the others being Alto Adige, Sicily amd Sardinia, and maybe another one which I don't remember)
Same thing happened to Alto Adige, a former Austrian Empire region (annexed to Italy in 1919) and I think the "political row " was for that region.
To be an Autonomous regin in italy means: most of the money received from taxes stay in the region plus some more money sent from Rome (guess from whom it is taken, from the non autonomous regions, like mine )
But I digres, apologies to David. skanky, if you like we can take this in another thread or offline
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Poster: A snowHead
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Please don't. I know absolutely nothing about this and find it fascinating. As PG says elsewhere, you need to know a bit about another country's history and customs to understand and respect it.
Skiers are not one-dimensional.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We're now at the limit of my knowledge - though I know that the locals all used to speak Italian as second or third language years ago. If you're happy to explain more for me, I'm happy to take it in. I could interrogate my brother-in-law about it sometime (he's a Courmayeurian), but it would need my sister to translate.
Incidentally until just now, for some reason I'd had no idea how close Val d'Isere, BSM, etc. were to La Thuile, Courmayeur. I should have done, but it hadn't clicked. It would be interesting if they linked that lot up.
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