We got up early and were in the car and on the way by just after 5:30. Apart from rain, the journey to Folkestone was uneventful. Traffic was light and we drove into the Channel Tunnel terminal at about 7:05.
We were booked on a train at 8:21, checked in for one at 7:51 and drove straight on to a train that left at 7:16. [When we boarded the train, Australia were 300-5; by the time we got to France, thanks to a Darren Gough hat-trick, they were all out!].
We were on the A26 leaving Calais by 9:00 am, more than an hour ahead of plan. The weather for the first hour or so was foul, with heavy rain and strong cross winds. We stopped briefly at St. Quentin for petrol (otherwise we would have stopped shortly afterwards anyway!).
Cathy took over for about an hour and a half and we stopped for lunch North of Dijon. The rain was on and off all the way down until we got past Lyons. Happily in our directions the traffic was flowing freely and we made good time. Northbound traffic wasn't quite so lucky with several accidents and long tailbacks.
We cleared Lyons at just after 4pm and after a brief coffee stop we set out on the last leg of the trip. We just about saw snow covered mountains as dusk fell and by the time we reached Albertville it was completely dark. After Albertville the road got narrower and after Bourg St. Maurice it started to climb quite steeply. Just before seven o'clock we came to Tignes Barrage (a dam) and turned right up towards Tignes.
Val Claret is the highest part of Tignes and by the time we got there 15 minutes later the road was snow-packed and it was just starting to snow. Finding the apartment wasn't too difficult and unloading the car was pretty convenient. The apartment, although basic was designed for up to 8 people so we had plenty of room.
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| Cathy and John at dinner | Chris taking a photograph of the others at dinner |
Car parking was less convenient. I had to return to the bottom of Val Claret to an open car park and walk back up to the apartment. Dinner was pizza after which we found out where we had to go to get lift passes and skis, planned the following morning and retired to bed.
We were all up bright and early on Sunday morning. It was snowing heavily but from the amount on the ground it had not been swowing all night. Cathy went out for fresh bread at 7 o'clock.
We were at the central sales office to get our passes as it opened just after 8 and at Intersport for ski rentals at 8:30. The ski rentals were pretty quick and we were ready more or less as soon as the lifts opened.
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| Getting ready to go .. John adjusting his boots | John adjusting his boots |
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| Chris almost ready to go | Cathy almost ready to go |
Our first two runs were the closest that Val Claret gets to easy runs, straightforward blue runs from the lower section of the Bollin lift. With heavy snow falling, there were no groomed runs at all. Bollin had close on six inches of fresh powder on a firm (icy base).
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| Cathy on Carline 'A' | John on Carline 'A' |
The Funiculaire was late opening because of high winds at elevation, so we poled the 100m or so to the Tichot triple chair. Because of the wind and the driving snow the 9 minutes on the lift seemed much longer, but the run down was worth it. There was still a great deal of almost untracked powder at the top. About half way down we cut across to the Stade de Slalom run under and between the chair and drag lifts. This was powder heaven .. about 12 inches of fresh powder and no tracks.
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| Chris waiting for everyone else to catch up at the bottom of Grandes Balmes | John looking as if he has been in closer contact with the snow than he intended |
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We tried the parallel drag lift Grandes Balmes with the hope of more shelter. It was just as cold, but only took 5 minutes. This run was almost as good as the previous one, but we stayed on Carline A all the way to the bottom, where it was seriously cut up and visibility was dreadful. |
| Cathy at the top of Grandes Balmes |
After a short stop for a mid morning drink, we took the Funiculaire up to the Grand Motte. This was really unpleasant with a typical French scrum to get on and too many people to be pleasant.
| At the top, the wind was blowing 60km per hour and all the lifts were closed. The only options were the runs down to Val Claret and Val d'Isere. We really felt the effects of the altitude and Chris, in particlar had a stuffed up nose and found it difficuly to breath. The run down Genepy took a long time. We had to have frequent rest breaks, visibility at the top was almost nil and so falls were common, and the soft powder made the run very slow and meant a lot of polling in the middle section. |
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John, Chris and Cathy in the white out on the Grande Mottee glacier |
By the time we got to bottom, we were ready for a break, so we cut across to Claret run and the nearest access to our apartment and returned to the apartment for luch.
After lunch we used the Claret poma to nove across the hill to Fresse. The blue run down from the Col de Presse was skied out and pretty unpleasant so for the final runs of the day we cut cross to the slower triple chair Tufs (just behind our apartment).
Piste H, nominally a blue run was actually much more difficult than its rating would suggest. With blowing snow, flat lighting and frozen goggles. we were virtually skiing blind and having to take all the terrain through our knees. Nevethess we got to bottom reasonably comfortably.
Chris' legs were done so he and Cathy called it a day. John and I took one more run down Piste H before following them back to the apartment.
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| Claret lift from our apartment window | The Intersport Rental shop |
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| Claret lift from our apartment window | Small dog polluting the fresh snow |
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| Small trees in the plaza below the apartment | |
Dinner was cheese fondue and we were all ready for bed pretty early.
| Lift | Vertical | Intermediate Runs | Top Intermediate Runs |
| Bollin | 361 | Bollin | |
| Bollin | 361 | Bollin | |
| Tichot | 1194 | Carline A | Stade de Slalom |
| Grandes Balmes | 1132 | Carline A | |
| Coffee break | |||
| Funiculaire Grand Motte | 3057 | Claret, Genepy | |
| Lunch break | |||
| Claret | 230 | Bollin | |
| Fresse | 1574 | Genepy, Claret | |
| Tufs | 1837 | Piste H, Claret | |
| Tufs | 1837 | Claret, Piste H | |
| Total vertical | 11583 |
Last updated: 03/02/99
