Incredibly good skiing all the way to Tignes & back
Some fantastic snow on great terrain this weekend
I haven’t seen a cloud in two weeks and although we could use some snow this non-stop brilliant sunshine is not too hard to take.
Holiday-makers are loving it and the piste skiing is as good as it gets on man-made snow and the pistes at altitude are brilliant with natural cold winter snow. I skied the piste down into Tignes on Sunday morning and was pleasantly surprised at how incredibly good the piste was all the way to the bottom.
The off-piste is pretty limited but I must say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this past week, skiing some fantastic snow on great terrain and with total solitude. We are all looking forward to some snow but conditions at the moment are pretty jolly good! I've managed to ski without too much 'skinning' but we'll need to start looking further afield this coming week.
The men had a World Cup Giant Slalom on Saturday and the race was won by Alexis Pinturault, a Frenchman from Courchevel, which of course sent the partisan crowd wild with flags waving and cowbells ringing. The first Canadian was Erick Read from the Banff Racing Club and Erick turns out to be the son of Ken Read, who was one of the best downhillers in the world in his day. Ken grew up in Calgary and won the downhill in Val d’Isere in 1975, and came second in 1980 and 1983. Ken was a member of the famous 'Crazy Canucks', when all four of the team members had a chance of winning. Being a Canadian from Calgary myself I followed Ken's career quite closely and like to fly my flag when I get the chance, Oh Canada! Sunday's slalom race was won by Henrick Kristoffersen from Norway and both races were well attended and a huge success as a sporting event with a massive benefit publicity-wise for Val d'Isere. I'm sure next weekend's Ladies World Cup Races will be just as successful.
If you like rocking blues Radio Val is absolutely superb in the evenings from 8:30 or so on. Seriously good blues, varied, and guaranteed to get your foot tapping and your body swaying. If you like rocking blues check it out!
Unfortunately there still is no snow in the forecast and we could be in for another couple of weeks of sunshine. It's cold enough to run the snow cannons so the pistes will be in great shape as the resort is working incredible hard to make and groom the snow.
If you're here this week have a fantastic holiday and log-on again on Friday for more news and photos.
Follow more from Wayne in his Daily Diary.
NB. The areas Wayne has been skiing in this report are off piste and not suitable to all skiers. Wayne has 35 years experience in these mountains. If you're considering going off piste you should always take a guide with you.
