 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mont Vallon straight down to the Rastro for thursday night apres...
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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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Mont Vallon is a must, and loads of great off-piste if you want to push yourself.
Why not meet up with the ski club rep and see where they go.
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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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Lunch at Bel Air restaurant (Courchevel 1650) - the best mountain restaurant in the 3 Vallees...and not ridiculously expensive; and in St Martin de Belleville - most peaceful spot
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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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If you are planning to head over to the Courchevel valley, I've compiled a list of must-do runs:
Courchevel runs
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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tomski01, Have a great time in Mottaret. I wrote this while I was there the week before last. Some of it has already been posted, so apologies if it seems familiar.
If you are staying at the top of Mottaret, a good intro is to set off up Table Verte, the nearest lift. This gets you on to a track called Martre which cuts south across the side of the valley and takes you up towards Mont Vallon. Apart from the first bit which has some declivity, and the last part which shoots you down with some suddenness to the Mures Rouges lift there is little to report of this run which is graded blue but does little to deserve it. It’s really only a connecting track between Mottaret and the head of the valley. There are a lot of blues in this are that are no more than links between runs (roads, I think they are called in real life!) and we got into the habit of schussing most of them.
Then it gets serious: pop up Mures Rouge, turn left, and you are on the bubble that takes you up Mont Vallon. You can see what is coming as you go up the bubble and also some seriously impressive off-piste mogully stuff. Not for the likes of us! There is a choice of routes at the top left or right. If you go right you are on the Combes de Vallon run. As a first run of the holiday it’s a bit of challenge, but boy, what a run! It is wonderful. Not busy at all and with enough challenge for us intermediate plateau dwellers. The left hand route is down Campagnol which starts off as a fairly horrid road which was pretty crowded and unpleasant. I was particularly unimpressed by someone who had been off-piste landing back in the road and coming to bits in front of me like a aeroplane in a computer game. The run eventually turns into the expected wide-open spaces.
Another fine red in this area is accessed up all three stages of the Plattieres lift from where you can look down into Val Thorens. This valley seems to be moulded in marshmallow. The run in question is called Mouflon, which I can only describe as Whoohoo! At least that was the noise we were making. Sunlit and in perfect snow we swooshed down it with sensations of extreme kinaesthetic pleasure. It starts like a wide angled billiard table covered with snow and you can joyously sweep from side to side of an empty piste. Bliss.
If you go the other way out of Mottaret (up the Pas du Lac bubble) you come to the top of Saulire. Ski to the left, negotiate the narrow bit, and you can go down the Combe, but it looks a little fierce early in the week, so we decided to take Marmottes instead. When we did finally take on the Combe Saulire run I thought it was quite exciting in places, especially as the wind was scouring a lot of powder off the surface and leaving ice. However, Marmottes: furry little things. A run named after them must be pretty accommodating, we thought. Well we were wrong. Oh, it’s a fine run, but it starts off steep and carries on just the same for ever and ever. It must be well over two km and might even be three. At the bottom you can go up Chanrossa and then down Roc Merlet and you come out at the top of a blue. Well there’s only one thing to do with blues here it seems and that is head down and schuss! This was an absolute screamer of a roller-coaster. And we bombed along going ever increasingly up and down till we eventually hit what looked like the side of a house. It felt as if we were going vertically upwards and we were totally unsure of how many Gs and whether they would be positive or negative would ensue. I expected to fly, but didn’t. I expected to hit a parked snowboarder just over the rim, but didn’t. My wife put in a couple of turns on the way up. It was certainly a talking point when we got to the bar just by the bottom of the Signal lift.
The small drag up Combs would be considered a worthwhile investment as it gets you to a red. This is the very pleasant tree-lined gully (Combe de Roc Mugnier) which takes you down to Prameruel where there are so many options. We took Aigle de Fruit as it seemed the longest. It was poor visibility the day we were there and, to be honest, it was quite scary in the mist seeing razor-sharp arêtes and rocks drift past as we approached the summit. What was this? As it happened it was Park City which was really quite harmless and took us down to a familiar place above the Altiport.
The easiest way back from Courcheval 1850 is via The Boulevard de la Loze which is well-named and a bit too narrow and crowded for our now customary blue tactics, but it is obviously a convenient link.
When you get back to the top of Saulire you can go down Marcassin, which I must say is one of the nicest last-ski-downs I have ever done. The top bit is theoretically red and below the mid-station it turns to the blue Aigle, but we couldn’t see much difference. On our last day the top of Saulire was wind-scoured and inhospitable and we decided to come down the black run Sanglier. Now black is not our usual style but perhaps because of the wind it was easy as it really isn’t that steep and didn’t seem very black at all.
Another way back from this area involves going down into Meribel which, even in February, was not so good as it was badly crocodile-infested and the snow was like ice-cream. The lower you get the more and more crowded it becomes with tiny tots falling flat on their faces.
We also explored the possibilities of the Laches run and it proved to be quite decent as a none-too-demanding red. Carrying on down to La Tania for lunch proved to be the run of the day. It is called Folyeres and reminded me of our beginner days in Bulgaria as it was nicely inclined and tree-lined. Don’t be put off by the 1350 aspect of La Tania as the run down is well cannoned and faces north.
Talking of lunch, it is well known that Courcheval 1850 isn’t the cheapest place on the planet but we did have a very good experience at a lovely little cabin place called Bergeries which was not fazed by our request for a table for 5 despite the fact that the place was heaving and the savants had all booked. After a brief wait we were accommodated downstairs and served royally by attentive and friendly staff. I think we were probably very lucky. The famous Courcheval 1850 €8 beer was in evidence, but they did have a €2000 bottle of wine on the menu! We dined on traditional Spag Bol (€13 not bad considering).
The other way you can go from Mottaret is towards Val Thorens and the Belleville valley. Up Plattieres again, plunge down Allouette and pick up the Cote Brune lift which takes you up to Mont de la Chambre. The run we wanted to take down to Val T was Pluviometre which did not fit the “just schuss” pattern at all and proved to be a swooshy swoopy delight. It takes you right down into the centre of Val T where you have to negotiate a couple of road crossings and a plunge through crowds of tots to get to the Funitel de Peclet. Now we didn’t actually know what a funitel was and soon came to the conclusion it was something like a shopping centre. For a moment we thought we were back at Merry Hill, but this spasm of horror soon passed off with a couple of slugs of brandy from the hipflasks once we got inside the rather luxurious cabins.
At the top we were looking for Christine and soon found her and what a nice run she is too. She took us all the way to the Moraine lift from which we admired the moraines and the Col lift from which we admired the glaciers. At the top we found the most delightful little cabin. Outside stood a cheery man with a gas barbeque who was producing magnificent rolls stuffed with thick slices of bacon and a massive sausage. Brilliant value at €8 and 3132m. Views to the south of untouched snow on jagged mountains. The glacier looks grey and menacing.
We also headed down to the beautiful city of Les Menuires for a coffee. It was odd to see so much neo-Stalinist architecture so far from its natural home. The place was also like an ant heap and covered with learners. What a contrast with Courcheval 1850! We speculated briefly on what kind of investment or improvement could be carried out there and concluded the best investment would probably be in dynamite.
It’s a good idea to go across to the other side of the valley and look at the runs below Point de la Masse. You need to find your way to the lifts over the bridge and often this side is comparatively deserted. There is a lovely restaurant at the top of Point de la Masse (The Panorama) and this gave us a substantial and good value lunch. (Steak Hache or omelette and chips €8.80, about the same for a massive spag bol). Recommended!
Fred Covili seems to be the name of the red run down and it’s a classic. Wide and well-covered, it takes you, via a wide and scenic gully, all the way down to the valley floor where you pick up the Doron lift to get back
Mottaret is a brilliant place to ski. Enjoy!
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Work your way over to 1650 and do the "leftmost" run on the piste map. Chapelets....................just lovely
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Frosty the Snowman, ssshhh! Don't tell everyone!!!
Chris - great summary!
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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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I would emphasise Chris' comments about getting over to La Masse side of Les Menuires. Best to ski through Les M blind-folded becasue it is outstandingly ugly but the Masse is arguably the best skiing in the 3Vs. Also get over into the Orelle valley on the other side of Val T. The skiing there is great and most people never bother so the runs last longer and there are rarely any queues. Enjoy
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Ski over to Courchevel 1850, then ski down Jockeys to Le Praz (if you're up for a not too hard black run). This is a wonderful peaceful run through the trees and is great in bad visibility when there a white-outs higher up. A definate must do. There's a nice eating place down in Praz too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Agree with Chris that the two Mont Vallon runs are great. My favourite red in Meribel is the Combe de Vallon. Start of the Campagnol run is scary with a nasty drop to the side.
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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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Thanks for the feed-back on my, obviously personal, report. I'll be back at 3V next February and will make use of your added recommendations.
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FAQ
