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Val d'Isere Snow Report: 7th December 2012

Waiting...waiting..waiting - and ATTACK!

featured in Snow report Author Justine Mulliez, Val d'Isere Reporter Updated

Tuesday morning felt like that dream we’ve all had as kids growing up...... It's Christmas day and we are about to rip open every single present we have ever wanted in the history of wanting anything. Our minds are awake before our bodies, tense with anticipation. It's that level of stoke that is unreal and rarely actually occurs but on Tuesday it is exactly what we woke up to here in Val d'Isere. Up to a solid 85 centimeters of the good white stuff in resort felt like a dream, especially since we all knew what that meant for the conditions up top. The snow just wouldn’t stop coming down and we couldn’t wait any longer!

And yet, we had to. Just like the build up to Christmas as a kid.....While it was most definitely my anticipation for an epic day of snowboarding that got me running out of bed, it was most likely the chorus of avalanche bombs going off that actually woke me up. Nothing says you’re having a good snow week better than a series of thundering bursts echoing throughout the valley. This much snow meant a level 4 avalanche rating and for the sake of everyone, we were better off making sure we had clearance before hitting the pow.

So, we patiently waited for the pisteurs to finish their rounds and what I mean by 'patiently' was refreshing the Espace Killy snow conditions and lift-opening webpages so often that I could even list the lifts in the order they appear on the site. I was obsessively looking out of my studio window in La Daille, thankful of my strategic placement with a view on nearly all lifts out of town, trying to analyze what would open first. I wasn’t alone. Texts were flying in from everywhere with people looking up wind patterns and speed, others talking to their friends in the STVI trying to get the inside scoop, and the real fighters waiting at the bottom of the Funival for a taste of first tracks. For peace-loving people, we were operating with impressive military efficiency!

At 12:30 I finally got the text I had been waiting for all morning: “bottom of Solaise lift, its running: attackkkkkk!” (yes, there really were that many ks). I was off. Having been changed and ready to go since 07:45, I ran out the door, board in hand. After completely eating it on the ice in the parking lot, leaving my bruised ego behind, I caught the bus with other like-minded snow obsessed individuals. As we passed the Funival, my thoughts went out to the 20 people skinning their way up… Apparently they had been at it for a half hour and were only at the third snowmaking machine. Clearly, they hadn’t gotten the info.

My sympathy quickly gave way to excitement as I realized the importance of what I had seen: people in waist deep snow. Waist deep! Instinctively, my American“oh my god” came out. Running out of the bus, I met up with my friends who already had their first run in. Indescribable, they claimed. The most snow they'd ever seen this early in the season, they screamed. People are freaking out, they laughed. And they were right.

Now, I’ve had the great pleasure of a lot of powder days throughout my life - especially during my season in Val d’Isère last year - and maybe it's because that was the earliest powder day I’ve had, but it was absolutely unbelievable. Unbelievable, exhausting, wet, awesome, euphoric. We all relished in the camaraderie of stoke that we all shared; people were giving random other people high fives, tips on where to go and not go, and props on each other’s style. It only took 4 runs down Le Plan with a couple detours in and out of trees and a couple more cliffs to jump from to make our week. Although visibility was tricky at times because of the wind and cloud cover, we were floating everywhere. Falls happened only in slow motion and with the depth of snow, so did our ability to get back up! Our faces hurt from smiling, laughing, and hollering so much. Our legs were complete jelly to the point of buckling when heading back to our apartments. My plan to spend the season in l’Espace Killy may be absolute best decision I could have made. If today was an example of what the season has in store for us, I’m completely fine with that. And the master of the understatement.....

Stats

Snow Report
  • Alt. Resort: 1850m

  • Alt. Summit: 3456m

  • Alt. High Temp.: 1850m