Many years ago this was an unpisted Itineraire piste. Basically avalanche checked but no ski patrol and only marked with the odd post here and there. It used to go directly down off the top of the chair from Val Thorens (the current red route?). It also used to follow the stream on the right of the combe, you used to ski on a bumpy embankment about two metres high and three wide to the left of the stream. It then went through a very narrow ravine in the hill, whereas today the route goes way to the left to the Vallons lift. From the ravine it was a rocky, bumpy trail about three to five metres wide, with the stream an unprotected drop of five metres or more on the right before it hit the current flat run out. A lot of concentration was required on this bit as the contours and rocks threw you all over the place if not careful. Sadly one person skied over the edge and died falling into the stream. We used to try and time it to be the last ten on the lift and then it was a magically quiet ski in a beautiful valley at the the end of the day. Once we started off, rounded the first major bend to be greeted with a whiteout of a mist rising up the valley. You could only see perhaps two metres if you were lucky. We knew the trail would take us to the embankment run by the stream as it funnelled one in, no piste markers then. However in those days there was a steep cliff half way down which either you navigated by finding the steep gulley on the left or you traversed across the cliff to a less steep part. (Skiers had cut several traverses across the steep slope making it not easy to find a decent route out of these). I recall we reached the embankment and kept to the left not wanting to ski into the stream. At one point I skied off the embankment by accident, dropped vertically 2m and just skied back on all in zero visibility. Fun if slightly scary times.
Wow, thanks for the history! Now that sounds like a much more interesting challenge back then, and somewhat scary, especially during poor visibility. I got caught in a complete whiteout once, lost with practically no visibility. I just froze, not knowing where to go but fortunately I was overtaken by another skier and just stayed close and followed. Those are the days our memories are burnt in, never to be forgotten. Thanks for sharing...
Thanks for that. The channel is picking up now so getting more subscribers. As I skied most of the season, I have lots of footage so if I didn't post it now I realised I probably wouldn't fit it all in. Saving the good ones for busier times and also fine tuning the format. Think it's there now, what do you think of the videos and thumbnails?
@@ChasingSnow The video format is polished and very professional looking. The high speed lifts and motion through the lift lines are fun, and the trail map is a nice touch. I am there for the skiing, so I don't pay much attention to the shorts. The one addition I would love to see would be a few tutorials on how you ski. You ski direct, fast, and relaxed. I would love to know how you do that. You also seem to have a never ending supply of stamina. So a training/exercise tutorial would be useful, as well. And if all you do is what you have been doing, I will keep watching. Can't wait for next season's opener.
@@barrylongyear1933 Thanks for the feedback, think I'll stay with this format for the coming season. Not really sure how I ski, I just do it, I've never had a lesson. I will need to find someone to film me so I can analyse myself. I tend to ski on very long skis 183-189cm in length while I'm about 177cm. This gives me great stability but also more difficult to quickly manoeuvre, which is probably why I stuggle on the large and steep moguls. Just like everyone else, I'm still learning. :-)
I film at 60fps but the telemetry overlay software only exports 4k at 30fps... Once there is something better I'll be posting at 60fps, hopefully 8K soon...
Given the amount of moguls there was on that run, the ski traffic it has must be quite substantial, not to mention the length of the que at the chair lift to the left at the end of it. 😲 Hope the resort staff groom that run that is reachable.
It was one of those days where fresh snow fell overnight after everything was groomed so the snow was chopped up fairly early and by the end of the day we had all those moguls. Morning was perfect with fresh powder, end of day was like this...
@@ChasingSnow I see, it's a case of the early bird skier gets the best conditioned run then. Once I'm able to get along with just a day or so 1 to 1 lesson to get my ski legs back, afterwards I'll make it a point to be among the first up the hill.
Due to the layout of the pistes, it is by far the quickest way to get from Val Thorens into Meribel using nothing more difficult than a blue (I think it may even be the outright quickest way). Lac de la Chambre obviously therefore gets cut to bits by mid morning as virtually everyone going to Meribel or Courchevel uses it. The only other ways (avoiding reds) all require first skiing down to Les Menuires, which takes significantly longer.
Lots of aspects: bumpy, very often icy, difficult reds and blues down, all time ive been in the 3 valleys. I prefaire orelles, menuires, courchevel. But no nof these can reach the tignes slopes.
![[4K] Skiing Val Thorens from Orelle Last Day of 2023 Ski Season, Les3Vallées France, GoPro HERO11](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/crwKgd6bje8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[4K] Skiing Val Thorens from Orelle Last Day of 2023 Ski Season, Les3Vallées France, GoPro HERO11](/img/tr.png)
![[4K] Skiing Courchevel to Méribel via Niverolle and Aigle (Reds), Les3Vallées France, GoPro HERO11](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/l9wLPBGM4wI/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video doing thos run tomorrow .loved the gradiet detail on the map , on a snowboard so thst really helps .
Cheers! I'm glad you made some good use of the video...
Very good skiing
Cheers!
Many years ago this was an unpisted Itineraire piste. Basically avalanche checked but no ski patrol and only marked with the odd post here and there. It used to go directly down off the top of the chair from Val Thorens (the current red route?). It also used to follow the stream on the right of the combe, you used to ski on a bumpy embankment about two metres high and three wide to the left of the stream. It then went through a very narrow ravine in the hill, whereas today the route goes way to the left to the Vallons lift. From the ravine it was a rocky, bumpy trail about three to five metres wide, with the stream an unprotected drop of five metres or more on the right before it hit the current flat run out. A lot of concentration was required on this bit as the contours and rocks threw you all over the place if not careful. Sadly one person skied over the edge and died falling into the stream. We used to try and time it to be the last ten on the lift and then it was a magically quiet ski in a beautiful valley at the the end of the day. Once we started off, rounded the first major bend to be greeted with a whiteout of a mist rising up the valley. You could only see perhaps two metres if you were lucky. We knew the trail would take us to the embankment run by the stream as it funnelled one in, no piste markers then. However in those days there was a steep cliff half way down which either you navigated by finding the steep gulley on the left or you traversed across the cliff to a less steep part. (Skiers had cut several traverses across the steep slope making it not easy to find a decent route out of these). I recall we reached the embankment and kept to the left not wanting to ski into the stream. At one point I skied off the embankment by accident, dropped vertically 2m and just skied back on all in zero visibility. Fun if slightly scary times.
Wow, thanks for the history! Now that sounds like a much more interesting challenge back then, and somewhat scary, especially during poor visibility. I got caught in a complete whiteout once, lost with practically no visibility. I just froze, not knowing where to go but fortunately I was overtaken by another skier and just stayed close and followed. Those are the days our memories are burnt in, never to be forgotten. Thanks for sharing...
Congratulations on the 3k subscribers. I'm really glad you decided to keep posting videos in the off season and keep the channel alive.
Thanks for that. The channel is picking up now so getting more subscribers. As I skied most of the season, I have lots of footage so if I didn't post it now I realised I probably wouldn't fit it all in. Saving the good ones for busier times and also fine tuning the format. Think it's there now, what do you think of the videos and thumbnails?
@@ChasingSnow The video format is polished and very professional looking. The high speed lifts and motion through the lift lines are fun, and the trail map is a nice touch. I am there for the skiing, so I don't pay much attention to the shorts. The one addition I would love to see would be a few tutorials on how you ski. You ski direct, fast, and relaxed. I would love to know how you do that. You also seem to have a never ending supply of stamina. So a training/exercise tutorial would be useful, as well. And if all you do is what you have been doing, I will keep watching. Can't wait for next season's opener.
@@barrylongyear1933 Thanks for the feedback, think I'll stay with this format for the coming season. Not really sure how I ski, I just do it, I've never had a lesson. I will need to find someone to film me so I can analyse myself. I tend to ski on very long skis 183-189cm in length while I'm about 177cm. This gives me great stability but also more difficult to quickly manoeuvre, which is probably why I stuggle on the large and steep moguls. Just like everyone else, I'm still learning. :-)
@@ChasingSnow yes! we sooo wanna see u ski !! :D
I'll try this season, need to find someone who can film and keep up :-)
lovely stuff! -
not complaining or anything but it would be nice if you uploaded in 50 or 60fps :)
I film at 60fps but the telemetry overlay software only exports 4k at 30fps... Once there is something better I'll be posting at 60fps, hopefully 8K soon...
@@ChasingSnow alright :)
Given the amount of moguls there was on that run, the ski traffic it has must be quite substantial, not to mention the length of the que at the chair lift to the left at the end of it. 😲 Hope the resort staff groom that run that is reachable.
It was one of those days where fresh snow fell overnight after everything was groomed so the snow was chopped up fairly early and by the end of the day we had all those moguls. Morning was perfect with fresh powder, end of day was like this...
@@ChasingSnow I see, it's a case of the early bird skier gets the best conditioned run then. Once I'm able to get along with just a day or so 1 to 1 lesson to get my ski legs back, afterwards I'll make it a point to be among the first up the hill.
Most get up first on such days to ski the powder
@@ChasingSnow Damn. 😟
Due to the layout of the pistes, it is by far the quickest way to get from Val Thorens into Meribel using nothing more difficult than a blue (I think it may even be the outright quickest way). Lac de la Chambre obviously therefore gets cut to bits by mid morning as virtually everyone going to Meribel or Courchevel uses it. The only other ways (avoiding reds) all require first skiing down to Les Menuires, which takes significantly longer.
Why this blue slope looked so awuful? Does the entire slope look like it's never been groomed? Is it always like this?
It was the end of the day with soft snow, so it could end up that way...
Faut dire que rester sur la piste avec toute cette bonne peuf à côté, c’est bizarre !
when did you ski here?
15th March 2023
oh i went skiing in in valthorens and meribel in early april@@ChasingSnow
Nice, was the snow still good...
oh yeah the snow was great on the valthorens side but down in meribel it was very slushy@@ChasingSnow
Good to know...
the worst blue slope in the world
Why don't you like it?
Lots of aspects: bumpy, very often icy, difficult reds and blues down, all time ive been in the 3 valleys. I prefaire orelles, menuires, courchevel. But no nof these can reach the tignes slopes.
@gerardolivier5250 thanks for your feedback... I did this route only a couple of times recently, red and blue...