A good week for speed freaks on piste

Friday and Saturday saw constant wind, which disrupted the top snow layer and made some of the runs a touch inconsistent. However, the gusts have abated, the piste-bashers have worked their magic and, following some serious cloud throughout Saturday, the sun has returned to make the majority of runs much more predictable.

There has been only a little recent snowfall, so the slopes are mostly hard-pack snow. This means the reds and blues everywhere are, in general, running rather quickly. When the sun is shining the snow tends to soften slightly throughout the day, increasing grip and reducing leg fatigue. There will be a few more clouds punctuating the sky and we may see some snow showers over the following week. The weather forecasts also intimate more significant snowfall may arrive around next weekend.

Arc 1600

Cachette (red) is still running nicely, being hard and fast in the upper reaches before becoming soft and playful towards the bottom. You can quite happily hit small drifts of snow to buy additional grip on the steeper sections before picking up speed as it flattens out. Belvédère is not particularly pleasant from the tops of the lifts at the moment, especially at the Arpette bar intersection. It does improve from the Arpette lift approach onwards.

Muguet (black) is now closed from atop the Clocheret lift, with Clapet (the blue run) being the best available piste from there. The Clocheret (red) run itself suffered in the wind at the start of the weekend, so the top section is very hard (but also very fast for those with sharp edges).

Arc 1800

The Vagere and Golf red runs are running very nicely at the top but get harder as they progress. The steep Vagere section approaching, and crossing, Belvédère is particularly difficult at present. Grand Melezes (blue) is one of the runs which was acting capriciously on Saturday, but seems to have calmed down since then.  La Cabanes (blue) is its usual lovely self, providing a short but interesting practice-ground for amateurs and cruisers alike.

The Grand Renard run is quick and more grippy than I would have expected considering the recent wind. From there you can easily drop onto Charmettoger and Grands Mélèzes.

Arc 1950 / 2000

The majority of pistes now open in the Arc 2000 bowl were open at the very start of the season and, as a general rule, the best on-piste snow cover is in those areas which have been skiable the longest. Arandelières is super quick and pretty consistent from the Varet lift onwards; hammer down the steep part and ride the soft bumps on the outside of the corners. The top section is very hard on the glacier making it, and the Aiguille Rouge (black) run, tougher than usual. The two pistes from the Grand Col lift are in fairly good order, with the red run of the same name being in particularly good order.

The blue runs around Arc 2000 are excellent. Edelweiss has some light patchiness towards the bottom, and Réservoir can be a bit hard on-and-off, but in the main you cannot complain.

The Comborciere lift is open, but the black run is closed, as is Malgovert (red). You can therefore only access the Arc 1600 side of the mountain via Belvédère.

Villaroger

All pistes from the Villaroger resort up to the Aiguille Rouge peak are open, except the short Solliet black run. Snow has been created to augment the lower slopes, and they are often less-affected by windy conditions, but snow coverage certainly degrades as you drop further down.

Peisey-Vallandry

The holy trinity of Bosses, Belette and Renard are riding very quickly, with Renard being the most playful. However, it is worth taking a trial run of each of them as conditions vary according to where you are on the piste. All three were late starters this year, so the snow-base is thin in very specific areas.

Ours seems to have been recently groomed, but all the pistes on this side are much better at the top than the bottom. The Combe (red) and the lower half of Écureuils (black) are still closed. However, the majority of the pistes across Peisey-Vallandry are very ride-able with good snow-depth, which reflects the almost-constant work of the snow-blowers early in the season.