Tignes Snow Report: 26th April 2012

With that in mind, and fantastic conditions on the hill, I got up early this morning to make the most of the snow. Luckily for me, I also got to ski with an ex British Ski Team skier again today too. Graham Bell, famous for his skiing and presenting shows including Ski Sunday, has returned to Val d’Isere for the end of the winter season. Although making the most of the non skiing side to Val d’Isere last night, he was up with a friend for just after ten, and looking forward to some of that legendary Val d’Isere champagne powder.

The snow may not have been exactly champagne powder, but we did manage to find some pretty special conditions. Always one for a challenge, our first run was from the top of the Signal pomma lift in Le Fornet, and down through the Sunny Bowl to the bottom of my all time favourite drag lift, Col (normally I will do anything to avoid this lift, it is a bit of a pain, to say the least, on a snowboard, but needs must). The snow looked like it was going to be kind of crusty, but it honestly was out of this world. It wasn’t bottomless powder, but it was smooth and there was a good six inches of fresh cover. It was also running quickly and seemed to be pretty stable at that time of the morning. The guys on skis loved it, and it was perfect for me on a board too, as I found fresh lines and there weren’t any flat sections to trip me up. Mr Bell was skiing on some very large Atomic skis which seemed to thrive in any powder snow. That said, the man is an ex racer, so he was pretty hot on the piste too, and leaving everyone else in a trail of snow dust.

We took the Col drag lift to the top, and then headed on up to the top of Le Fornet glacier. Once again I was surprised by the quality of the snow. We took the Montets T-bar drag lift right to the top and traversed out, as far as my board would go, to the skiers' left, skiing down to the bottom of the Pays Desert pomma tow. We did, however, take a slight wrong turn and encounter a small cliff band. Being on a board, it wasn’t all that much of a problem for me, you can pretty much side slip down anything on a board if you get stuck. Graham was not fazed by this either, but being the English gentleman that he is, took off his skis to help his friend who had less skiing miles under his belt. That was our only sticky moment, and the skiing under the rock face was fantastic.

Not wanting to terrify anyone further we then headed over onto the Solaise ski area. The pistes were immaculate, and so was the snow. We took the Glacier Express chair up and after watching a solo boarder riding fresh tracks after only a short hike, we thought we’d follow in his footsteps. Skiing on your own off piste is never a good idea, but the boarder we watched was fine, encountering no obstacles on his course down. With this in mind we headed up to the top of the Cugnai chair lift to embrace the short walk. To me, after some of the mountains I’ve hiked up this winter, this walk looked easy. What I didn’t think about, and I don’t think Graham did either, was that to someone who doesn’t spend that much time in the mountains, hiking up a narrow ridge can be quite scary, especially when being buffeted by strong winds. There was the odd point where you sank up to your waist as well which is always fun, but the skiing was more than worth the ten minute hike (we didn’t want to push our luck by going right to the top). The run down was effortless, big skis made short work of the snow for Mr Bell and his friend, I could have done with a longer board. All the same, I think I can safely say everyone loved it.

We headed straight back up the Cugnai chair lift and this time dropped over the back, down towards the Manchet Valley. This is a proper off piste route, so you seriously need to make sure you have all the right kit and know how to use it, because you really are off the beaten track. The run is a long one, and with conditions like today, a rather good one. We even got some fresh lines down a little couloir, which was lovely. There’s a great place to stop for a drink at the bottom of the hill, too. I don’t know the name of it, but it’s a big mountain hut, where a very friendly lady (with a gorgeous collie puppy) will serve you a selection of drinks. The terrace was perfectly situated for soaking up the sun this afternoon which was lovely after the day’s riding. After that we just had to follow the path round to the bottom of the Manchet Express chairlift which took us back into the Solaise ski area, so we could ski back into Val d’Isere. It was a pretty special day, with amazing conditions, and great company.

The skiing in Tignes was reportedly just as good today too. We have had an exceptional end to the season, with some amazing snow conditions, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Powder days at the end of April? Yes please!

On that note, I’ll be back next winter, I’m sure Graham Bell will be visiting again, and hopefully you’ll get to ski here too. Keep those fingers crossed for some more exceptional snow conditions!

Have a good summer!