Top ski Val - News of the winter

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Winter 2008-2009

10-May-2009 - News n° 23 (10/05/09)

Hi every body,

What a fantastic end of the season we had !

Everything just came to perfection for the last skiing days of the season, we had wonderfull blue sky and a good frost overnight which assured super snow conditions until 2pm, there was still some excellent powder in the north faces above 3000m bellow this altitude the snow was soft and in perfect spring snow conditions in almost all the exposures.

Very good fun and exalarating skiing to reach for everyone out on the mountain from either the top of the lifts, with a little ski touring or heliskiing.
Pure bliss !!

Every body from the Top Ski team joins me to thank you for coming and charing the pleasure of the « glide » with us this winter and also thank you very much to show us your confident and friendship.

We hope you will have a great and pleasant summer and are expecting you back on skis with us as soon as the beginning of november to enjoy the first fresh snow of the winter !

See you soon, best wishes.

Pat Zimmer

SUMMER WITH TOP SKI
As you know in the summer the Top Ski Mountain Guides are based in different strategic aeras in the Alps and they propose you to join them for some mountain activities or simply to have a drink and talk about next season projects. Don’t hesitate to give them a call.

- ALPINISM
- CLIMBING
- VIA FERRATA
- CANOYONING
- MOUNTAIN WALKS

* HAUTE TARENTAISE
Jean Marc Kaufmann : +33 0 6 21 35 61 74
Laurent Taillebois : +33 0 685 39 54 85
Fabrice Villaret : +33 0 613 83 39 70

* HAUTE SAVOIE and the ANNECY AERA
Christian Appertet : +33 0 6 70 77 04 60

* SOUTH ALPS
Pierrot Favre : +33 0 6 70 72 30 67

* HAUTE MAURIENNE
Fred Buttard : +33 0 6 75 08 88 97

26-Apr-2009 - News n° 22 (26/04/09)

Hi every body !
For the last week of the French Easter holidays we again had winter and spring conditions. At the beginning of the week we had quite important snow falls at the border between Italy and the the Maurienne. at the Caro hut they measured 185cm of fresh snow on Tuesday morning. We had very pleasant and sunny days from Wednesday to Saturday, to day we are again under the influence of a mediterranen low.

ON PISTE
On our altitude sectors Pissaillas and Grande Motte the quality of snow on piste is like in winter excellent packed powder under 2800m the snow is harder but very pleasant to ski if you follow the defrost evolution on the slopes.
In the afternoon unless you are a “slush” addict we advise you to take the lifts at the mid stations to return to the valley.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pissaillas” in winter conditions after the snow fall.
“Manchet” “Orange” after 12pm for superb spring on piste spring snow.
Sector Tignes :
“Glacier” in winter conditions after the snow fall.
“Corniche-Silène” after 12pm for superb spring on piste spring snow.

OFF PISTE
We have been surprised by the amount of snow which fell at the beginning of last week in the Fornet sector 80cm and unless a minimum of gradient it was impossible to turn.
A lot less snow did fall in the other sectors, which allowed a rapid transformation of the fresh snow into a marvellous spring snow carpet. The refrost overnight was not always good above 2400m but everything over that altitude was in excellent quality and we just had to follow the sun to find ourselves just at the right time in the good line ! The best lines were between Solaise and Bellevarde.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Top of Banane” “Top of Bec d’Aigle” “ Top of Spatule – Combe du Cheval” “Marmottes” in spring snow.
Sector Tignes :
“CIHM” “Tourne Est” in spring snow.
“Grande and Petite Face Nord de Grande Motte” in powder. (see photo of the week)

SKI TOURING
it was quite difficult to go ski touring at first because of the important snowfalls of the beginning of the week over 100cm at top of Grand Vallon. But after wednesday we could do some very good one’s.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Grand Cocor” and “Gros Caval”
Very good 2 days trip for Christian’s group, descents were in powder.
“Pointe Nord des Lorès”
Sector Tignes :
“ Col de Prémou”
“ Terre Rouge”
Both in good spring snow.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
For end of April, the snow depth is exceptional in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
90cm at 1800m, 250cm/300cm above 2500m.
The skiable limit is between 1400m/1500m in the north faces and 1500m/1900m in the south faces.
Up to 2900m the snow has been under the influence of the defrost/refrost phenomena, above in absolutely north facing sectors there was still some powder to be found but the transition between powder and crust was quite sudden !

SNOW STABILITY
The important snow falls on the border between Italy and The Maurienne 90cm/185cm did not had time to stabilize and accumulation and wind slabs were formed because of the south east wind.
Under 2400m the cohesion between the layers is very feeble due to a lack of frost. In altitude the north faces can be dangerous due to the recent snow falls.
The recent snow falls has created accumulations and snow slabs in the north faces, therefore the change of gradient and entrance of couloirs can be dangerous because of the lack of cohesion between the layers avalanche can be triggered by just the weight of a skier, in the other faces the heating of the snow during the day can start natural ground wet snow avalanche from late morning and in the afternoon. It is springtime but remain careful!

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Hte Tarentaise and the Hte Maurienne
Risk 2 Moderate - in the morning after in good night of frost.
Risk 3 Considerable, old wind slabs in north faces and wet snow avalanches

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 27th,Tuesday 28th Wednesday 29th overcast with snow falls which can be quite important sometimes the temperatures are dropping. From Thursday 30th and for the week end it should be sunny with “fab” skiing in that case it will be a super “closing” week end !

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides invite you to come and share this last week of the season with them especially as it is going to be sunny with great snow conditions !
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

19-Apr-2009 - News n° 21 (19/04/90)

Hi every body !

Again a superb week which started with real ideal spring conditions with a good frost and also the second part of the week with the return of the winter above 2400m with nice snow falls and clearings. Saturday and Sunday it was a little colder and the limit rain/snow went down to 1600m.

ON PISTE
In all the sectors the on piste skiing is still excellent under 2400m it is spring like and above particularly at the Pissaillais and the Grande Motte it is like in winter.
A piece of advise from us, ski the slope according to the sun and temperature rise start with the East faces then South and finish with the west facing one’s and if you are not a “slush” addict take the lifts in the afternoon at the mid stations to return to the valley.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pissaillais” in winter conditions after the snow fall.
“Manchet” after 12pm for superb spring on piste spring snow.
Sector Tignes :
“Glacier” in winter conditions after the snow fall.
“H” and “Combe Folle” after 12pm for superb spring on piste spring snow.

OFF PISTE
Excellent off piste this week as long as one keep very reactive to the change of weather, temperatures and clearings. Above we had real winter conditions with sometime strong snow falls with little visibility and winds 30/*40cm of fresh powder in places but also sunny periods with a good frost which unable us to ski incredible good quality of spring snow.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Plateau de Bellevarde” “Face Est du Charvet” “Marmottes” in spring snow.
“Grand Vallon to the Signal” “Pays Désert” “ Col Pers” (see picture of the week) in powder.
Sector Tignes :
“Borsat Nord” “Chardonnet” in powder.

SKI TOURING
Very often the Off Piste was so good just from the lifts that we did not need to go ski touring but when we went it was to find fantastic quality of snow !!
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pointe Nord des Lorès”
We skied down directly at the top in the south face all the way down in such incredible spring conditions that our clients rated each turn 19.99/20 !!! it is rare as there are 1000m vertical of it !!!!
“Mean martin”
Descent of the north face Saturday morning for Laurent’s group who came from the refuge de la Femma in the the Hte Maurienne, same rating but in powder !!
“Pointe Nord de la Met”
Descent of the north face Saturday morning for Christian’s group, same quality of powder.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
After the important latest snow falls the snow depth is above average for end of April in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
70cm at 1800m, 80cm/140cm at 2000m, 250cm/300cm above 2500m.
The skiable limit is between 1400m/1500m in the north faces and 1500m/1900m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
It snows almost every second day in altitude where you can find powder snow and winter conditions in the north faces above 2700m, yesterday and today it is colder and the limit rain – snow is down to 1600m according to the quantity of snow it takes very little time may a daty to transform into spring snow.
Under 2400m the cohesion between the layers is very feeble due to a lack of frost. In altitude the north faces can be dangerous due to the recent snow falls.
The recent snow falls has created accumulations and snow slabs in the north faces, therefore the change of gradient and entrance of couloirs can be dangerous because of the lack of cohesion between the layers avalanche can be triggered by just the weight of a skier, in the other faces the heating of the snow during the day can start natural ground wet snow avalanche from late morning and in the afternoon. It is springtime but remain careful!

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Hte Tarentaise and the Hte Maurienne
Risk 2 Moderate - in the morning after in good night of frost.
Risk 3 Considerable, old wind slabs in north faces and wet snow avalanches

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 20th covered with frequent snow falls, Tuesday 21st clearings in the afternoon, Wednesday 22cd to friday 24th nice sunny days, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th possibility of showers.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the excellent snow conditions of this end of April. There is still powder ! and the spring snow is going to be amazing !

All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

12-Apr-2009 - News n° 20 (12/04/09)

Hi every body !
HAPPY EASTER !
Despite the very pessimistic weather forecast the first days of last week were really good with sun shine and excellent skiing. The end of the week was not as good as we had a serious south east low pressure with little frost under 2400m and high winds and snow falls in altitude.

ON PISTE
As last week we still had winter conditions on our high altitude pistes, particularly on Sunday when we had good powder but poor visibility on the Pissaillais sector.
Underneath 2400m it is spring like and with the feeble frost one has to ski these pistes early in the morning because they turn into slush very quickly.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
For their winter conditions.
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pissaillais Sunday morning with excellent packed powder.
Sector Tignes :
“Glacier” “Double M”

OFF PISTE
Despite the feeble frost level in the beginning of the week we have done excellent spring snow skiing directly from the top of the lifts.
From Thursday we had a very active south east low pressure which brought us some fresh snow above 2400m and had some good powder runs especially in the Fornet area.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Face Sod due charvet” “Cabane des Gardes” in spring snow, “Grand Vallon” “Pays Désert” in powder.
Sector Tignes :
“Sachette” “Cocaïne Est” in perfect spring snow.

SKI TOURING
At the beginning of the week we benefit from one good night frost to do a very good tour to the “Lores” which were in perfect spring snow conditions.
After that the weather and the freezing level limited our tours to the “Mont Roup” where we had to ski the north face.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Mont Roup” for the powder conditions.
“Lorès” for the spring snow.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
Despite the very warm episode of south east the snow depth is still very good for mid April in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
20cm/100cm at 2000m, 250cm above 2500m.
The skiable limit is between 1200m/1500m in the north faces and 1500m/1900m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
After the warm episode the transformation of the snow is effective in most of the exposure above 2700m, there is still a little bit of powder to be found in the north faces above this altitude.
The snow layers are fragile under 2400m because of feeble frost and in the north/ north west faces there are some recent very fragile wind slabs.
The recent snow fall from the end of last week has created accumulations and snow slabs in the north faces, therefore the change of gradient and entrance of couloirs can be dangerous because of the lack of cohesion between the layers avalanche can be triggered by just the weight of a skier, in the other faces the heating of the snow during the day can start natural ground wet snow avalanche from late morning and in the afternoon. It is springtime but remain careful!

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk 2 Moderate in the morning after in good night of frost.
Risk 3 Considerable, old wind slabs in north faces and wet snow avalanches

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 13th good dry weather, Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15th should be nice sunny mornings from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th instable weather with possible snow falls.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the excellent snow conditions of April with you.

All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

05-Apr-2009 - News n° 19 (05/04/09)

Hi every body !
In French we have say which I can’t translate but is something like “ don’t take a layer of before April” that was a pretty good advice this week as at the beginning of the week winter was back with a judge east front with lost of snow and high winds and from Thursday afternoon it was back to lovely spring
weather !

ON PISTE
On our altitude pistes the conditions were like in winter packed soft powder lovely feeling and the lower parts it was spring snow on perfectly prepared pistes, the only thing is that you have to watch the sun and ski the pistes when they are a little soft but not too late as they turn into slush late afternoon.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
For their winter conditions.
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Combe du Géant” “ Cugnaï”
Sector Tignes :
“Glacier” “Double M”

OFF PISTE
At the beginning of the week the east front brought us a lot of fresh snow between 80/100cm particularly on the Pissaillais sector and the top of the boarder line with the Hte Maurienne. The powder was good to ski down to 2500m underneath it was heavy and quite wet. We had a lot of powder runs in altitude. Thursday was certainly the best day because it was colder and we had good visibility. Friday morning we could still find powder in the north faces above 2500m the other exposure were already in a transformation phase. Saturday morning we had perfect spring conditions under 2500m and could ski all the Val d’Isère special spring snow runs.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Combed du Signal” “Grand Vallon” “ Pays Désert” in powder on Thursday
“Super Santons- Bottom part of Face du Charvet” in perfect spring snow Saturday.
Sector Tignes :
“CIHM” “Petite Aiguille” in perfect spring snow.

SKI TOURING
We had to wait for the end of the week to go ski touring, in altitude we found powder above 2500m and to day magnificent spring snow in the south faces.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Glacier Pers ” “ Gros Caval” for the powder conditions.
“Col de la Galise” to day for the spring snow.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
In the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne the snow depth is above average for April.
0cm/150cm at 1500m, 0cm/180cm at 1800m, 290cm above 2500m.
The skiable limit is between 1000m in the north faces and 1800m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
One can still find powder above 2700m in perfectly north facing slopes, between 2700m and 2500m all the exposures are in a transformation phase, bellow the East to West faces are in perfect spring snow.
The important snow fall from the beginning of the week has created accumulations and snow slabs in the north faces, therefore the change of gradient and entrance of couloirs can be dangerous because of the lack of cohesion between the layers avalanche can be triggered by just the weight of a skier, in the other faces the heating of the snow during the day can start natural ground wet snow avalanche from late morning and in the afternoon. It is springtime but remain careful!

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk 3 Considerable, old wind slabs in north faces and wet snow avalanches
Risk 2 Moderate in the morning after in good night of frost.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 6th good dry weather, Tuesday 7th clouds in the afternoon with south – west winds possibility of snow fall during the night and Wednesday 8th in the morning, Thursday 9th and Friday 10th sunny days and good conditions, Saturday11th clouds cover and possible snow showers.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the excellent snow conditions of this early April with you.

All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

29-Mar-2009 - News n° 18 (29/03/09)

Hi every body !
This was a classical march week with a lot of changeable weather, wind, snow falls, clearings and sunny spells. Thursday was probably the best day with lot’s of sun and excellent powder.

ON PISTE
The snow conditions on piste are still excellent and most of the pistes were open during the week except some in altitude and Tuesday and Saturday morning due to high winds.
The grooming by the pisteurs is perfect and we had winter conditions packed nice powder to ski on above 2100m bellow the snow was a bit harder.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Joseray” on the face de Bellevarde and “Orange” on la Daille
Sector Tignes :
“Combe Folle” and “Mélèzes” .

OFF PISTE
The weather conditions this week were very changeable but at least we had some good fresh snow above 2200m Thursday was the best day because we had great powder runs and good visibility. This morning was very good skiing at the Pissaillais were we enjoyed 20/30cm of light powder between the clearings. In the middle of the week because of excellent snow stability we also had great couloirs skiing.

Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Combed du Signal” “Grand Vallon” “ Pays Désert”
Sector Tignes :
Couloirs “P7” in petite Balme and “Summit couloir” of Balme nord.

SKI TOURING
Weather conditions did not allow us to a lot of ski touring this week but we had interesting tours in the Beaufortain, the Valais in Switzerland and in the south Alps.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Beaufortain / Granier :
“La Roche à Thomas ” Vincent skied the north facing couloir towards le Verraret in excellent powder
Sector Valais - Switzerland :
“La Pigne d’Arolla 3790m” The group of Christian did the traverse from the Cabane des Dix via the summit and down towards cabane Vignettes and Arolla in high altitude snow conditions on the top and good powder from 2700m down to Arolla.
Sector South Alps / Massif des Écrins :
From Monetiers les Bains the group of Pierrot climbed 800m to access the magnificent couloir du Riou which is south facing of a average of 35° for 1500m vertical down towards the village of Pelvoux snow conditions were perfect spring snow- see photo of the week.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow depth is still excellent and superior for end of March in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
60cm/150cm at 1800m in places 170/190cm and generally over 220cm above. The skiable limit is between 1000m in the north faces and 1700m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
Bellow 200m very little fresh snow but good conditions above fresh powder which is still light I the north faces 15/30cm.
The recent snow falls came with high north to north west winds and this created news wind slabs and one must be careful at the entrance of couloirs and change of gradient in the south to south east faces.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk 3 Considerable in high altitude.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 30th and Tuesday 31 the conditions will improve slowly with nice sunny spells, Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 conditions should not be so good but from Friday the high pressure should come back and bring us sunny days.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the pleasure of March skiing together
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

22-Mar-2009 - News n° 17 (22/03/09)

Hi every body !
We just had a superb spring week, only blue sky and excellent spring snow with still a little of powder in the north faces. The temperatures were high for the season until Thursday night and colder Friday to Sunday with some clouds coming from the Hte Maurienne.

ON PISTE
Excellent spring snow conditions on the pistes of the whole Espace Killy always kept to perfection by the service des pistes. As last week in order to have the best on piste skiing one had to watch the sun and the change of temperature and wait for the right time to ski the runs. Too early is too hard too late is slushy and heavy ! keep your eyes open and your senses working !
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
Bottom of the “Face de Bellevarde” and in the afternoon “Rhône Alpes”
Sector Tignes :
“Stade de Lognan” and “H” in the afternoon.

OFF PISTE
No fresh snow falls this week the conditions stayed very similar to what we had the week before, in the north faces the snow stayed cold and pisted and in the south east faces they transformed into spring snow. The best skiing was without a doubt with the skins.

Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Spatule” “Lorenzo”
Sector Tignes :
“Balme Nord””Sachette”

SKI TOURING
Certainly the week during which we did the most ski touring of the season. The spring slopes were untracked and they were in perfect conditions great fun and super soft feelings. With a little bit of “sniffing” one could do something of which every off piste skier is dreaming of – perfect powder and perfect spring snow in the same run ! yes we did it !
The runs were all good to very good and it is difficult to make a selection but here it is.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Barmes de l’Ours”
Sector Tignes :
“Col de Premou”
Sector Villaret du Nial :
“Plan du Cheval” the perfect one if you see what I mean …
Sector Ste Foy
“Fogliettaz Sud / “baby you can drive my car”
Sector Beaufortain / Montgirod :
“Quermoz”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
Despite new snow falls the snow depth is still excellent and superior for mid March in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
60cm/150cm at 1800m in places 170/190cm and generally over 220cm above. The skiable limit is between 800m in the north faces and 1600m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
In high altitude the surface of the snow is still very irregular and cold in the north facing slopes lower the south faces are in spring snow conditions up to 2700m.
The avalanche risk is evident in all the faces exposed to the sun with the rise of temperatures during the day and there are still some risks in the North faces in altitude due to feeble cohesion between the layers.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 going towards Risk 3 Considerable according to heating process.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
The high pressure should stay with us until Tuesday , then the winds should turn north west and bring us some snow falls down to 1200m. The rest of the week it should stay changeable.
A good week for those you would like to do more powder or just have the taste of it this season.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the pleasure of March skiing together
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

15-Mar-2009 - News n° 16 (15/03/09)

Hi every body !
From the storm to the spring time this could be the resume of our week , at the start of it and until Wednesday evening the weather conditions were difficult to very difficult with heavy snow falls between Monday night and Tuesday and also with extremely high North wind in altitude gusts up to 118km at the top of Solaise and 123km at the top of Bellevarde Tuesday morning, from Wednesday afternoon it calmed down and spring arrived on Thursday with excellent snow conditions and sun bathing on the terraces in the afternoon.

ON PISTE
At the beginning of the week because of high North winds the top of the lifts could not open but as soon as Wednesday all the lifts were again open and the piste were in super conditions. Still nice packed powder in altitude and in the north facing one’s and already in spring conditions for the lower parts and the south facing slopes. In order to take advantage of the excellent preparation of the pistes you had to ski them at the right moment of the day and switch into a spring time mood - wait for the sun to warm up the surface of the snow and don’t ski it too late.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“ Pissailais” for the packed powder and “M” in the afternoon.
Sector Tignes :
“Silène” for the packed powder and “Gratalu - Carline”

OFF PISTE
Despite the snow fall between 30/40cm it was quite a difficult week for the Off Piste as the snow fall came with extremely high north winds which really damage the surface of the snow in most places. But , But has you know there is always a little hidden combe some where which is waiting for you with light powder but I must admit they were difficult to find. The spring skiing did not really start yet unless you ski in the south facing slopes under 2400m. If the high pressure stays we should have excellent spring conditions next week
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Middle section of Vallonet” “ Forest of White Rabit”
Sector Tignes :
“Chardonnet”

SKI TOURING
Due to bad weather conditions and difficult conditions we did not do a lot of ski touring. We still managed to find good powder in the north east facing which were not too steep and protected in the other sectors the snow as “changeable”
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pointe de la Sana” “Col des Montets”
Sector Ste Foy
“Col d’Argentière”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow depth is still excellent and superior for mid March in the Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
100cm/180cm at 1800m and generally over 220cm above. The skiable limit is between 800m in the north faces and 1500m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
In high altitude the surface of the snow is very irregular due to the high wind and lower it is “cooking” slowly into spring conditions. Bellow 2400m the spring conditions are super in the south facing slopes.
The avalanche risk is evident with the rise of temperatures during the day and there are still some risks in the North faces in altitude due to feeble cohesion between the layers.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 3 CONSIDERABLE going towards Risk 4 HIGH according to heating process.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
The high pressure should stay with us for the whole week which is great news as it will insure super conditions for the ski touring and the heliskiing.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the pleasure of March skiing together
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

08-Mar-2009 - News n° 15 (08/03/09)

Hi every body !
The weather forecast of last week was not wrong as last Monday and Tuesday we had a little bit of sun shine but the rest of the week was often overcast and we had a serious snow fall 30/40cm of fresh powder snow between Thursday and Friday. To day is the best day of the week with gorgeous sun shine and fantastic snow.

ON PISTE
All week the piste of the Espace Killy were open, at the beginning of the week they were quite hard but in very good conditions.
The best conditions will be for this morning after the recent snow falls as the pisteur’s ratrac will have turned them into perfect corduroy.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“ L” “Mattis”
Sector Tignes :
“Double M” “Combe Folle”

OFF PISTE
The off piste skiing at the beginning of the week was not brilliant because most of it was winds swapped and the visibility was not good “white light” lukely from Wednesday until Saturday it snowed with quite a lot of it Thursday to Friday 30/40cm of fresh snow which gave the mountain it’s winter aspect and the skiers a big smile as they had great powder runs. The best day was today with fantastic sunshine and great powder!
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Cugnaï” “Léchoir”
Sector Tignes :
“Chardonnet”

SKI TOURING
Unlike last week we couldn’t do a lot of ski touring because poor visibility and snowfalls , the only day we could do some was to day Sunday and it was great powder lines.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Gros Caval” “Pointe Pers”
Sector Ste Foy
“Couloir Doudou”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
With the latest snow falls the snow cover improved and is as before excellent or more for the season in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
110cm/160cm at 1800m and over 220cm above. The skiable limit is between 600m in the north faces and 900m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The snow is cold and powdery in the north faces and is in a transformation phase in the steep south faces due to a important rise of temperature.
The snow layers are quite solid in general in the north faces in altitude there is still a risk of avalanche due to feeble cohesion between the layers.
The important rise of temperature of to day should favour spring snow type avalanches.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 3 CONSIDERABLE going towards Risk 4 HIGH according to heating process.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
After today’s splendid conditions the weather should change again with clouds and feeble snow falls from Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th the sun should come back between Thursday 12th and Friday 13th, the end of the week Saturday 14 and Sunday 15th will be again with west to north-west winds and snow falls with a limit rain-snow at 1500m.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the pleasure of March skiing together
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

01-Mar-2009 - News n° 14 (01/03/09)

Hi every body !
Here is March already with the spring knocking at the door of the winter !
We had another wonderful week of sunshine, fantastic visibility for the great pleasure of the February holiday makers who came to ski with Top Ski, with friends or their family.
But no fresh snow…

ON PISTE
All the piste of the Espace Killy were open and with the high pressure and no fresh snow they obviously became harder but still were enjoyable to ski providing a excellent grip.
To take maximum advantage of the good quality of the pistes one had to click in to a spring time mood and observe carefully the influence of the sun on the surface of the snow in order to get to the right piste in the right time.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
In the morning “ Face de Bellevarde” in the afternoon “Manchet”
Sector Tignes :
In the morning “Cyclamen – Saxi Frage” in the afternoon “Trolles”

OFF PISTE
For the off piste skiing it one had also to be in the spring time mood in order not to do the wrong “run” when it is either to early or to late.
As we did not have new fresh snow most of the classic off piste runs were pisted with cold nice snow in the north faces and were already in spring snow in the south faces.
The good stability of the snow allowed us to ski some of the best couloirs of the Espace Killy.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
North facing “Spatule” “Couloir des Pisteurs” West facing “S’ ” “ Couloir Central des Marmottes”
Sector Tignes :
North facing Pramecou-Passage à Prince”
Sector Les Arcs :
“Grand Col”

SKI TOURING
What a great week for ski touring ! for both introduction to ski touring and more extreme ski touring we had such good runs that it is difficult to give you our favourites, great powder in the north faces and already good spring snow in the steep south facing slopes.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Gros Caval” “Col des Montets” “Pointe de la Sana”
Sector Tignes :
“Couloir du 3500m”
Sector Ste Foy :
“Les Opportunistes” in the north face of Fogliettaz, “Couloir Doudou” “Mont Cetti North”

HELISKIING
Two very good days of heliskiing this week from the Petit St Bernard with excellent powder snow especially in the Glacier du Grand towards the hamlet of La Masure.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
Despite the lack of fresh snow the cover is still excellent in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
80cm/150cm at 1800m and over 200cm above. In the Beaufortain 60/100cm at 1600m. The skiable limit is between 900m in the north faces and 1300m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The snow stays cold and powdery in the north faces and is in a transformation phase or already transformed in spring snow in the steep south faces up to 2200m-2500m.
The snow layers are quite solid in general but with the intensive action of the sun in the great south quarter we have observed some “ avalanche de fond” spring snow type avalanche which take the whole layers down to the ground in high altitude there is still a possibility to find old wind slabs in the north facing.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED going towards 3 CONSIDERABLE according to heating process or new snow falls.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Change of weather from today and a coming week with a succession of low pressure.
Monday 2 bad weather with feeble snow falls, Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 more or less the same, Aggravation during the night between Wednesday and Thursday 5 with possible more active snow falls with a limit rain-snow between 1200m/700m. Friday 6 and Saturday 7 more snow falls expected.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share the pleasure of March skiing together
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

22-Feb-2009 - News n° 13 (22/02/09)

Hi every body !

A week with almost not a cloud in the sky and not significant snow fall either. It was a fantastic week for all the people who were on their half term holiday.
Ideal visibility and snow conditions for most of the week except today Sunday with a little snow fall and north wind.

ON PISTE
All the piste of the Espace Killy were open and in excellent conditions. Some of the bottom sector were a little harder but the grip stayed very good especially due to the superb work of the snow machines.
The best piste of the week were of course those which were used during the Ski Championships in Val.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“ Face de Bellevarde” “Rhône Alpes”
Sector Tignes :
”Sache” “ Mélèzes”

OFF PISTE
The best off piste last week in the high altitude sectors in the north , east and south west faces.
We still had 10 to 15cm of fresh powder in places.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Col Pers” “Léchoir”
Sector Tignes :
“ Combed du Genepy” “ Haut de Grde Motte - Roselin”
Sector La plagne :
“ Cul du Nant”

SKI TOURING
Excellent week for the ski touring as systematically we had a great time and found fresh tracks to so sometimes up to 20cm.
Our best ski touring of the week :

Sector Val d’Isère :
“Col de la Sana” “Lorès” “Col des Montets
Sector Tignes :
“Terre Rouge”
Sector Ste Foy”

OFF PISTE GROUP – BASED IN SEEZ
Excellent week for Laurent’s group who enjoyed very good off piste runs in a different resort every day in the Hte Tarentaise and the Italian side of La Thuile.
Sector La Rosière :
“Les Zitieux” from the summit of Roche Noire 2400m all the way down to Seez 900m first tracks in powder.

HELICOPTER TAXI – BONNEVAL
On Thursday we had a very nice classic run down to Bonneval by the passage des Montets.

HELISKIING
Very nice day on Saturday for Fabrice’s group who did a run on the Glacier des Evettes followed by a run down to France to the Hamlet of La Masure via the Glacier du Grand.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow cover is still excellent in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
80cm/150cm at 1800m and over 200cm above. The skiable limit is between 800m in the north faces and 1200m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The snow stays cold and powdery in the north faces and due to higher temperatures and sunny days in the afternoon is in a transformation phase in the south faces.
The base is quite solid but there are still a few instable wind slabs in the north-east and north-west faces which could rupture easily.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED underneath 2200m

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday overcast with some snow falls, Tuesday and Wednesday nice and sunny , Thursday the winds turn north west with some clouds and Friday to Saturday sunny

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

15-Feb-2009 - News n° 12 (15/02/09)

Hi every body !
It’s under a bright sunshine and 40.000 spectators that Val d’ Isère has closed the World Ski Championchips
Every body was expecting Jean Baptiste Grange to win the slalom today especially as he did the second best time of the first runs just in front of his team mate Julien Lizeroux. But Julien had the stronger nerves and despite a hudge error in the second run he succeed to get the silver medal just behind the superb Austrian skier Manfred Pranger. Jean Batiste made and mistake and didn’t finish the course another French men Steve Missilier finished at the 6th place.

ON PISTE
Last week we had a few days with very strong north wind with snow falls. Because of the wind the piste became harder but stayed u-in excellent conditions.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Arcelle” “Glacier”
Sector Tignes :
”Descente” “ Double M”

OFF PISTE
During last week we had a lot of strong north wind with a few snowfalls, the worth day was Tuesday when quite a lot of lifts stayed closed.
The north wind has blown out the west and north faces bur the east and south east faces stayed in good conditions with powder snow.
Some of the couloirs were inn good conditions.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Arcelle” “ Glacier”
Sector Tignes :
“ Chardonnet” “ Grapillon des Merles”

SKI TOURING
At the end of the week we did some ski touring just to find the powder in the east and south- east slopes.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Mont Roup”

VAL DE BAGNES – VERBIER – SWITZERLAND
An extraordinary week for the Top Ski group under the expert guiding of Didier Taramarcaz a native mountain guide, friend of Top Ski. Two sunny days, one at the beginning and one at the very end allowed us to see the stunning summits and the beautiful “Mayens” which are little chalets in the Swiss mountain pasture.
During the week despite a very difficult weather conditions, high winds, snow fall, snow cover between 2000m – 2100m it was a fantastic powder week 30 – 40cm – first tracks – in incredible descents up to 1700m vertical droop between 2500m and 800m.
We will be back for sure !

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow cover are always very good in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
80cm/170cm at 1800m and over 200cm above. The skiable limit is between 700m and 900m in the north faces and 1200m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The intense cold of the last days contributes to a general better snow stability.
The high north wind increased the transportation of snow and contribute to the formation of wind slabs in different faces particularly above 2000m in the west and south east faces.
We recommend to be prudent in the change of gradients, steep slopes and some narrow couloirs.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED underneath 2200m

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 16th always good weather but les cold, Tuesday 17th a few clouds in the valleys but nice in altitude from Wednesday 18th to Saturday 21st cold and sunny.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

08-Feb-2009 - News n° 11 (08/02/09)

Hi every body !

The first week of the World Championships just finished and what I will keep in memory is the magnificent smiles of two champions, a young French girl and a veteran Swiss.
Marie Marchand – Arvier, 24 year old member of the French ski team with a large smile and her silver medal in the super g and Didier Cuche 34 years old member of the Swiss team with both the same smile ! What I really liked about these two champions is that there first reaction after the runs was to say how much they enjoyed and how much pleasure they had coming down these two extremely technical runs and that it was almost better than the medals.
The passion of doing it and the pleasure they had is something we have in common and share with you when you ski with Top Ski !

ON PISTE
No serious snow fall this week there for the piste became a little harder but still offered a good grip and for the carvers the feeling of the edges bit in the snow was there ! no ice ! not like on the racing runs.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Germain Mattis” “Diebold””
Sector Tignes :
”H” “ Gratalu”

OFF PISTE
Same thing off piste a lot of strong south / south-west winds with a few snow shower does not help the surface of the snow which in most of the exposure was seriously wind blown; Thank’s to our every morning meeting and the knowledge of the terrain we still found some hidden powder in the gullies and protected areas. Rare thing you have to ‘” enjoy” The stability of the snow allowed us to do some really steep terrain skiing in Tignes reserved for experts only…
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pays Désert” “ Pluviomètre”
Sector Tignes :
Trilogy of steep slopes
“ Face Nord Grande Motte” “ Petit Couloir Face Nord Pramecou” “Couloir Face Nord Grande Balme”

SKI TOURING
One of the only protected faces was the little Glacier Pers underneath the passage à Bozon where we find good powder for the pleasure of our clients and our’s of course.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Glacier Pers- sous Passage à Bozon”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow cover are still very good in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
55cm/120cm at 1000m, 70cm/180cm at 1800m and over 200cm above. The skiable limit is at 800m in the north faces and 1300m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The very strong winds carried the snow away and started to build up quite hard wind slabs. Above 2200m there still is a a little instability between the layers in the north and north-west faces, they could go on a avalanche if overweight.
The meteo station tells us that they observed a quite important avalanche in a west face on Wednesday in the Vanoise.
Underneath 2200m the snow layers are more compact and stable and the south faces are turning into spring snow.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 3 IMPORTANT above 2200m
Risk : 2 LIMITED underneath 2200m

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
From Monday 9 to Wednesday 11th we should have a succession of active low pressures from West and North west with snow falls, limit snow – rain at 1200m. From Thursday it should slowly get better… let’s hope for the championships !

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

01-Feb-2009 - News n° 10 (01/02/09)

Hi every body !
The great World Championship fortnight starts to day ! Every thing is ready to welcome the Champions who are going to race on the very technical runs of Rhône Alpes and the Face de Bellevarde.

ON PISTE
This was a week with very little fresh snow falls , the pistes became a little more compact but stayed extremely pleasant to ski and offered a very good grip.
The “ Rhône Alpes” on Solaise the “Face” on Bellevarde and “OK” on la Daille are now closed to the public for the duration of the championships.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“L” “Combe du Géant”
Sector Tignes :
”Combe Folle” “ Double M”

OFF PISTE
At the begining of the week we benefit from the snow falls of last week and had great lines of powder from the middle of the week the “big north” faces stayed cold and powdery, the south faces started to transformed in crust.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Banane” “Arcelle” “ Léchoir”
Sector Tinges :
“Couloir à Pat” “Grande Balme” “Chardonnet”

SKI TOURING
From Wednesday we had to go and find the powder in the “big north” exposures and had great success with very good first tracks lines in powder.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Col des Fours” “ Gros Caval” “ Pointe Pers”
Sector Ste Foy :
“ Col d’Argentière”
Sector Les Arcs :
“ Grand Col”

HAUTE MAURIENNE – OFF PISTE & SKI TOURING
Fred Buttard continues to very steadily put his tracks in the Hte Maurienne where the conditions remain excellent in most of the cacique lines.

BULGARIA
The group of Jean marc Kaufmann just had a superb week in Bansko particularly from Tuesday where they had dense snow falls for a couple of days and had “canadian” skiing in the beautiful trees of the Todorka forest. The end of the week was magic with lots of light powder and sunshine.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow cover remains excellent every where and is still above average in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
60cm/150cm at 1000m, 80cm/180cm at 1800mand over 200cm above. The skiable limit is at 600m in the north faces and 1000m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
Since Thursday the stability between the layers has improved and is now much better.
There are still some wind slabs in the steep North-West and North-East faces;
We had a few humid avalanches in the south faces.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 2nd, instable low pressure with south-west winds with snow falls down to 500m Tuesday 3rd.
Wednesday should be the best day of the week as the low pressure starts again from Thursday to Saturday with frequent snow falls.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

25-Jan-2009 - News n° 9 (25/01/09)

Hi every body!
This is what we can call a typical January week with lots of snow at the beginning and at the end and a really superb period of sun shine and great powder snow in the middle.

ON PISTE
The two snowfalls really improved the on piste skiing, the pure velvet is back on all the surface of the piste and the feeling of softness is great under one skis !
At one week from the beginning of the World Championship there is a lot of work do be done for the pesters to prepare the “ Rhône Alpes” on Solaise, “Face” on Bellevarde and “OK” on la Daille which are now closed to the public and will remain close until the end of the championships the 15th of February.
Our preferred pistes of the week:
Sector Val d’Isère:
“Solaise - M” “Arcelle”
Sector Tignes ”Stade Lognan” “ Silène”

OFF PISTE
During the good weather period from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon the Off Piste skiing has been magic lots of light powder and we have done some dream runs in almost all the sectors of the mountain. From Friday morning to Saturday night we had a huge snow fall with high winds and had to hide in the trees of Mattis and Fornet. Today was again a gorgeous day with 30cm to 40cm of powder in perfect sunshine!
Our best off piste runs of the week:
Sector Val d’Isère:
“Banana” “Kern” “ Forest Mattes et Forget”
Sector Tignes:
“Logan”

SKI TOURING
Last week we did two fantastic ski touring day with in both case first tracks in incredible light powder!
Our best ski touring of the week:
Sector Val d’Isère:
“Col des Motets” “ Col de la Goalies”
Sector Ste Foy:
“ Foliates Nerd” “Foliates Marquise”

HELISKI
There was no need to use a helicopter to find the untracked powder runs last week.

HAUTE MAURIENNE – OFF PISTE & SKI TOURING
Fred Buttard and his group keeps on skiing powder in the Hte Maurienne where he seems to be the only one skiing it! Actually I told you last week it is the spot to be if you want to ski it without rush he did some incredible runs in powder and certainly will remember the first tracks he and his group did in the “Col des Hauts” 1700m vertical meters of untracked powder !! Difficult to beat ! Plus “The Combed de la Feta” “Le Col du Lou” “Le Pas de la Caille” and the “Grand Signal”
He can’t wait to take you to these places and secret spots, contact us for more info and see some of the pics of the week.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow cover is excellent everywhere and is still above average in Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
30cm/40cm at 1000m, 80cm/180cm at 1800m and over 200cm above. The skiable limit is at 600m in the north faces and 800m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
At 1800m we had 15cm to 60cm of fresh snow in the last 45h the snow which fell was a little humid to a short but intensive rain period, above 2500m we had more than 80cm of cold fresh snow but we had some high winds in the same time which created important wind slabs in places.
We observed many natural avalanches and the road between Val and Tignes and Bourg St Maurice has been shut a few times. The accidental risk remains high because instable layers and the action of the sun in the south faces.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk: 4 HIGH above 1700m
Risk: 3 IMPORTANT underneath 1700m

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday 26th cloudy with little snow falls from the Italian boarder. From Tuesday 27th the North-East winds will be less strong and the temperatures should drop.
Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th will be the nicest day of the week with cold temperature and sunshine.
Friday 29th and Saturday 31st we are expecting bad weather with snow falls.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

18-Jan-2009 - News n° 8 (18/01/09)

Hi every body !

A week without a new snow fall ! The weather forecast for next week says that the doors of the atlantique should open again and we should have a succession of low pressures with some snow above 1300m.
Despite the lack of fresh snow we had a excellent ski off piste due to very stable conditions and on piste the conditions were also very good.

ON PISTE
Without any new snow fall during the week the pistes obviously became a little harder but remain superb to ski especially after the very efficient grooming of the ratracs ! The preparation of the racing pistes for the world championships competition is very actively going on and within the next few days “ Rhône Alpes” on Solaise, “Face” on Bellevarde and “OK” on la Daille should close to the public.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Glacier- L” “ Santons”
Sector Tignes :
“Mélèzes”

OFF PISTE
Despite the lack of fresh snow during the week we had a super ski in different conditions, at the beginning of the week we still could find untracked powder slopes and from the middle of week due to very stable conditions we skied most of the steep couloirs of the “Espace Killy” which required experienced skiers as the surface of the snow was packed.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pays Désert” “ Léchoir” “ Danaïde – couloirs due Lava Chet”
Sector Tinges :
“Couloirs Lorenzo” “Couloirs n°3” “Telegrapher” “Couloirs a Pat”

SKI TOURING
It was obvious from the middle of week onwards that if one was looking for good powder snow there was no other alternative than to put the skins on and those who did were largely rewarded as in places there was up to 40cm of light powder.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Col des Motets” “ Col de la Goalies”
Sector Tinges :
“ Col due Milieu” “ Col de la Sana” “ Barmes de l’Ours”

HELISKI TAXI BONNEVAL
At the beginning of the week it was the spot to be, one of our groups had a fantastic day, the descent to Bonneval and the skiing in Bonneval were just superb. Light Powder and lot’s of it.
Itineraries:
“Classique” through the “Passage des Montets” “ Face Nord sous l’Albaron” in Bonneval.

HELISKI FROM THE COL DU PETIT ST BERNARD
Huge day of heliskiing last Monday for Laurent Taillebois and his group. First tracks down “Cascades” 20cm of light powder on top of a regular base and same conditions in the descent of “le Grand” all the way down to la Masure more than 2000m of vertical drop ! It still there for those who want it !

HAUTE MAURIENNE – OFF PISTE & SKI TOURING
Please don’t tell any body, it is a paradise !
Fred Buttard a Top Ski mountain guide native from the Hte Maurienne and his group did two amazing days between Val Cenis and Aussois.
From the “Col de la Comba” in Val Cenis they did a few fantastic descent towards the lake of Val Cenis and then after a short climb with skins skied the “ Couloir des Fontanettes” bellow the glacier of “ l’Arcelle Neuve” Great powder and north face atmosphere guarantied ! From Aussois, after a pleasant one hour climb with skins they reached the “Col des Hauts” where on the other side a exceptional descent of 1700m in powder was waiting for them all the way down to the hamlet of l’Adroit. It’s a must you have to go, contact us for more infos. See pics of the week.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
Still excellent in both Hte Tarentaise and Hte Maurienne.
65/130cm at 1800m and 180cm at 2700m.The skiable limit is at 800m in the north faces and 1800m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
The surface of the snow is changeable but remains cold and light in all the north sectors in the other it got a little humid and there is a thin crust layer too be found underneath 2000m in the sunny faces.The snow layers are quite stable except in the completely north faces where the cohesion between the layers remains fragile.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
A oceanique low pressure should touch the Alps during the week.
Monday 19th, cloudy limit snow – rain 1600m, 5cm to 20cm of fresh snow.
Tuesday 20th, bad weather with only a few clearings.
From Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th still some snow falls with a good clearing on Thursday, followed by a west to north west low pressure and more snow.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

11-Jan-2009 - News n° 7 (11/01/09)

Hi every body !
The south east wind has been blowing very strongly from Monday to Wednesday and seriously affected the surface of the snow but during the night from Wednesday to Thursday it snowed a little in Val 10cm unfortunately not as much as in Marseille where they had 30cm on the “Vieux Port” Any way it was still excellent for us as in the sector of Fornet Pisaillas we had up to 50cm of very light fresh powder from friday to Sunday.

ON PISTE
The wind of the beginning of the week made the piste a little harder but from Thursday the conditions are still superb especially in the north facing one’s.
The pisteurs are still providing a excellent work with their grooming machines and the best is to enjoy the piste early morning.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“OK/Orange”
Sector Tignes :
“Combe Folle”

OFF PISTE
The beginning of the week has been difficult with the strong south east winds affected the surface and blew off the powder but there was still good itineraries to ski on packed cold snow. Thursday it was still blowing but with snow this time and it changed our skiing quality from poor to excellent especially in the west facing in the Fornet where we could find up to 50cm of light fresh powder.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Grand Vallon” “ Vallonnet”
Sector Tignes :
“Face Ouest Borsat”

SKI TOURING
It is only towards the end of the week that we put the skins back on to go and find the nice slopes in the Pisaillas and the Source de l’Isère had a great week ski touring looking for the powder snow in the east faces.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Face ouest pisaillas” “Pluviomètre” “Col des montets” “Passage à Bozon”

HELISKI TAXI BONNEVAL
Two Top ski groups skied down to bonneval today and had magnificent light powder all the way down and also in the north faces in Bonneval.
Itineraries:
“Classique” through the “Passage des Montets”

HELISKI FROM THE COL DU PETIT ST BERNARD
Saturday jean marc did the opening of the helikiing season in Italy he found good conditions in the glacier du Grand and said that the glacier are in conditions with very little crevasees and the base is excellent.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
In the Hte Tarentaise and in Val d’Isère and Tignes the snow cover are very good and above average for the season.
80/150cm at 1800m above we have over 200cm.The skiable limit is at 900m in the north faces and 1400m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
Generally the snow cover is stable even if there are still a few unstable layers in the north faces in altitude, they can be dangerous as they are difficult to see.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
The weather should be excellent with lot’s of sun during all next week !

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

04-Jan-2009 - News n° 6 (04/01/09)

Happy New Year body !
At the beginning of the week we had a little low pressure which brought us between 5cm and 25cm on the East and north-East exposures. From Wednesday the sun and cold temperatures came back and stayed with us until the end of the week.

ON PISTE
The sun and the cold temperatures made the pistes a lot harder then what they were the previous week and in places they are some icy pitches so we strongly advise you to have good edges and ski the black runs first thing in the morning just after they have been prepared by the piste machine.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pisaillas” “ Cugnaï nord” “ L”
Sector Tignes :
“Gratalu””Marais”

OFF PISTE
The small low pressure from the beginning of the week brought us between 5cm and 25cm of fresh snow but the was very strong west winds in the same time therefore the east slopes had most of the snow, in places we had up to 30cm to 40cm of light powder in these faces. We also could ski the couloirs as the stability was good.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Face du Charvet” “ Couloir de l’Ouillette”
Sector Tignes :
“Tourne Est”

SKI TOURING
We had a great week ski touring looking for the powder snow in the east faces. Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
In the Genepy range “Col du Mileu” ligne Play Station.
Sector Tignes :
“Terre Rouge”

HELISKI BONNEVAL
Friday three Top Ski groups did the opening of the descent to Bonneval from the “Col de l’Ouille Noire” using two different itineraries in fantastic powder snow 30cm from top to bottom.
Itinerarries:
“Longue Pareis” “Classique” through the “Passage des Montets”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
In the Hte Tarentaise and in Val d’Isère and Tignes the snow cover is still above average for the season.
80/150cm at 1800m. The skiable limit is at 900m in the north faces and 1400m in the south faces.
Most of the off piste runs close to the lifts are now tracked and there is not a lot of powder left to ski but a lot of the off piste runs are pisted and excellent to ski, but there is a risk of fall with no possibility to stop be careful.

SNOW STABILITY
Generally the snow cover is stable even if there are still a few little wind slabs in altitude.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Savoie and The Haute Savoie
Risk : 2 LIMITED

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Monday the weather should be good but Tuesday and Wednesday we are expecting some fresh snow which is very good news ! Thursday the high pressure should be back and last until the end of the week.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

CONDOLENCES
With much sadness we have learned of the deaths of ERIC LAZARD Mountain Guide from the Haute Maurienne and his friend LUC AVOGADRO also a mountain Guide. They were ice climbing in the “Fer à Cheval aera” in Sixt in Haute Savoie where they had a tragic fall. ERIC has worked several times with us and we always enjoyed his kindness and professionalism. We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

28-Dec-2008 - News n° 5 (28/12/08)

Hi every body !

We almost had string conditions at the beginning of the week with temperature above 0° at 2000m from Thursday and Friday we had a low pressure from the south with extremely high south easy winds with little snow falls which made the skiing a little bit more difficult. But Saturday the sunshine was back for the pleasure all our clients who arrived.

ON PISTE
The snow became a little more compact but the conditions on piste are still excellent every where, no ice , no stones perfect for maximum enjoyment !
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Mattis” “ Manchet”
Sector Tignes :
“Piste noir du Vallon de la Sache””

OFF PISTE
The spring time episode of the beginning of the week transformed the south faces into spring snow in places but did crust the surface of the snow in others so we had to find the snow in the more north exposures where we still find some good powder lines. Unfortunately the very high south east winds up to 100km at 2500m turned the surface of the snow in windblown patches which are still good to ski if you have the know how ! and the good guide to find them !
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“CUgnaï Nord”
Sector Tignes :
“Borsat Nord”

SKI TOURING
Due to the conditions we had to put the skins on again to find the north faces with the powder.
Our best runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Col des Fours” “Mont Roup”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
In the Hte Tarentaise and the Hte Maurienne the snow cover is still above average for the season.
105/150cm at 1800m. The skiable limit is at 800m in the north faces and 1400m in the south faces.

SNOW STABILITY
Generally the snow cover is stable even if there are still a few layers which are not completely solid and some places in the north exposures where you could start some surface wind slabs.
ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the The Tarentaise
Risk : 3 HIGH
to
Risk : 2 FAIBLE

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
The beginning of the week will be very sunny but cold -7° at 1000m, from Tuesday the temperatures should rise a little and the weather should stay sunny.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

21-Dec-2008 - News n° 4 (21/12/08)

Merry Christmas to every body !

During the last Sunday night and last Monday we had a record snow fall in Val d’Isère 140cm and Bonneval our neighbour in the the Maurienne had 22over 200m. Both ski resorts where cut from the world for most of the night and until Monday mid day. From Tuesday the weather started to change and it become very nice towards the end of the week with two splendid days Saturday and Sunday.

ON PISTE
Quality and Quantity ! All the pistes were open and the snow was just perfect every where packed soft powder extremely good to ski. With this conditions it is really difficult to give you our selection of the pistes we preferred !
But we here they are :
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Rhône Alpes” “Pissaillas”
Sector Tignes :
“Glacier” “ Double M”

OFF PISTE
Same thing that for the piste skiing, lot’s of super powder in almost all the sectors. After the important snow fall of the beginning of the week we had to remain prudent for the first days but with the cold the snow started to stabilise and towards the end of the week we could enjoy some of the great Off Piste runs of the Espace Killy.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Banane” “Face du Charvet” “ Grand Vallon”
Sector Tignes :
“Campanule” “Chardonnet”

SKI TOURING
Because of mix conditions we did not do any ski touring this week.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow coverage is excellent for mid December and above average in the Hte Tarentaise and the Hte Maurienne where we have a record snow conditions since 1981.
0/30cm at 1000m, 30//90cm at 1500m, 105/165cm at 1800m. The skiable limit is between 900m and 1500m.

SNOW STABILITY
With the high pressure we also have a raise of temperature during the day and always cold nights which is excellent as it is improving the snow stability.
In the middle of day due to the temperature there is a possibility of humid surface slides and the existing ruptures could come down as a ground avalanches in the south east and south west faces underneath 2500m.
Between 2700m and 3000m we had strong north winds blowing for the last days and it affected the surface of the snow which turned into crust or hard wind packed in the north – east faces.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Tarentaise
Risk : 3 HIGH
Risk : 2 FAIBLE underneath 2550m in the afternoon if the temperature raises.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
We are expecting a excellent week skiing with a high pressure over our mountains which is going to provide wonderful sun shine for the Christmas week.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

14-Dec-2008 - News n° 3 (14/12/08)

Hi, every body !
Last week we had the Critérium de la Première neige races, ! In fact we had the real première neige and quite a lot of it since end of November.
Between Monday 8th and Thursday 11th we had mix conditions with a succession of little snow falls 10/15cm and sunny spells.. Friday for the super combined, one run of super G and one run of slalom we had great conditions sun shine and good snow, Saturday morning the conditions were still good for the giant slalom but in the afternoon the foehn started and on Sunday we had to cancel the slalom because it was very stormy with winds up to 130km.
We are expecting a lot of snow during the night between Sunday and Monday.

ON PISTE
Most of the pastes were in very good conditions and well prepared by the pesters.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Diebold” “Tommeuse” “ Fontaine Froide”
Sector Tignes :
“Les trolles” “ Combe Folle”

OFF PISTE
At the beginning of the week the bad visibility did not allow us to do the big Val d’Isère off piste runs but we had very good and safe skiing in most of the sectors due to the 10/15cm of fresh snow.
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Cugnaï” “Col Pers”
Sector Tignes :
“Chardonnet” “Lognan”

SKI TOURING
Because of mix conditions we did not do any ski touring this week.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
The snow coverage is excellent for mid December and above average, we have snow al the way down to Albertville.
40/80cm at 1200m, 70/130cm at 1800m.
We are expecting a lot of snow for the beginning of next week.

SNOW STABILITY
We have fresh snow at all altitude.
Underneath 1500/1800m the fresh snow lays on top of the recent snow layers which are not yet stable. The north and south wind created new wind slabs.
Above 1800m the humidification of the snow is less important and the stability between the layers is feeble, plus the recent high south and north-east winds created many wind slabs in different exposures.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In all the mountain range.
Risk : 3 HIGH
Evolution for the start of the week.
Risk : 4 VERY HIGH to 5 : CONSIDERABLE

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
We are expecting very big snow falls 120/160cm of fresh snow above 1800m and a very high risk of avalanche between Sunday and Tuesday, the weather should start to get a little better on Wednesday and for the end of the week we will have beautiful sunny weather.

Wednesday cloudy with light snow fall down to 500/800m, Thursday same type of weather, Friday and Saturday no more snow and cold wintery temperatures in the mountains.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

07-Dec-2008 - News n° 2 (07/12/08)

Hi, every body !
It is the best start of the season since 1996, it’s white every where, there is lot’s of it, it is light and icing on top of the cake this morning we had blue sky and -12° is there anything more that a powder skier could expect ?
In this difficult economic climat at least this is a good news for all of us who love the mountains and adore to ski. We enjoy excellent conditions since mid November and have now a super good base for the winter.
If you have the opportunity to come before Xmass do not hesitate one second I promise you won’t forget it !

ON PISTE
There is plenty of snow all the way down to the village, all the piste will be open and perfectly groomed.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“OK” “Orange”
Sector Tignes :
“H”

OFF PISTE
We could not have dreamt for a better week than this one, untracked powder until the middle of the week and then two days of snow fall 60/80cm of light powder and this morning blue sky to finish the week ! This was really a champagne morning like you will remember at least until the next one !
All week long the comments of the skiers in my group at the bottom of the runs were always
“ c’est géant” “j’y crois pas” “it’s incredible” “waw can’t believe it” “devine” “herlich”

Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Tour du Charvet” “Manchet” “ Vallonet” “ Woods from Mattis and Fornet”
Sector Tignes :
“Combe des Lanches” “Telegraph”

SKI TOURING
We did not have to put the skins on to find the snow it was always available and easy to get to.

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
As I told you above the snow coverage the best we have seen since 1996 every thing is white down to 600/700m.40/80cm at 1200m, 70/120cm at 1800m.

SNOW STABILITY
Above 1500/1600m the thick recent snow fall lies on top of unstable layers with out cohesion, but with the cold nights it starts to stabilise and the cohesion between the layers will improve with the temperature variations, rise of temperature during the day and very cold at night.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In all the mountain range.
Risk : 3 HIGH in the south faces due to temperatures rise.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
No snow falls for the next 36h.
Wednesday cloudy with light snow fall down to 500/800m, Thursday same type of weather, Friday and Saturday no more snow and cold wintery temperatures in the mountains.

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are impatient to see you and share this fantastic start of the season with you.
All the best and see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

07-Nov-2008 - News N° 1 (07/11/08)

We hope you have had a good summer and that your thoughts are now on the coming ski season. Our first "newsletter" is arriving at the same time as the first snow here in the mountains. Over the last few days, Val d’Isère has put on its white coat and it is beginning to feel like winter here.

The Espace Killy is due to open on November 29th, but the Grande Motte ski area is already open and thanks to some significant snowfalls last week, the conditions are excellent.

Keep a regular eye on the changing snow conditions with our webcam.

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TOP SKI BROCHURE

Feel free to look at and download our 2008/2009 brochure from our website – www.topskival.com
Alternatively, we can send you a copy in the post - just send your address to: info@topskival.com

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SKIING IN NOVEMBER
from November 1st to 30th 2008

The snow has arrived and we have already enjoyed some great skiing. Whatever your level, come and enjoy it with us. This is the ideal time to get your ski legs back and polish your technique.
A few days in the mountains will give you a real burst of oxygen from which you will benefit all season.
Throughout the month of November, take advantage of our special "autumn rates" – www.topskival.com and if you would like an all-inclusive package, contact our partner "Le Ski" directly: deborah@leski.com
The Grande Motte ski area offers a variety of pistes for all levels and more vertical (1500m) than most other resorts offer in the middle of winter.
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2008/2009 SEASON

The snow cover above 2000m is already superb and we are waiting impatiently for another winter of excellent conditions and wonderful powder skiing.
Each week of the season, you can follow how the weather and snow conditions are changing and read about the best descents we've done on the "info neige" section on www.topskival.com

From November 1st 2008 to May 15th 2009 we are open every day to help and advise you.

Given the international financial situation, you will be pleased to hear that our private lesson rates have barely risen and that our group ski session rates still offer far and above the best value for money in Val d’Isère.
Think about booking your sessions now via email: info@topskival.com

Val d’Isère is hosting the World Ski Championships from February 2nd to 14th 2009.
Only a few pistes will be reserved for competitors, "La Face" and the "OK" on Bellevarde and the "Rhône-Alpe" (ex. piste "M") piste on Solaise. The majority of visitors will come to watch the races, therefore there will be very few people on the pistes and skiing off-piste. This is why we are encouraging people to come during this time to take advantage of the skiing with one of us, watching the competitions and experiencing the unique World Championship atmosphere.
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EVASION PROGRAMME

This season the Top Ski high mountain guides are once again offering a rich and varied selection of trips. In addition to the old favourites, you will find some exciting new trips that you cannot afford to miss.
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ACCOMMODATION IN VAL

LUXURIOUS CHALET ACCOMMODATION
If you would like to stay in a luxury chalet in Val d'Isère with 5-star service and an incredible view of the mountains, then let yourself be charmed by our n°1 partner's selection of chalets in Val d’Isère.
www.lechardonvaldisere.com
info@lechardonvaldisere.com

COMFORTABLE AND ATMOSPHERIC CHALET ACCOMMODATION
If you would like to holiday in a comfortable chalet with a great atmosphere then contact our November ski course partner:
www.leski.com
info@leski.com

HOTELS IN VAL
We have special links with a selection of 2** to 4**** hotels that we can recommend – info@topskival.com

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EQUIPMENT & CLOTHING

FAVRE SPORT in the centre of town is our n°1 partner in Val d’Isère.
Stéphane Pottier and his team of true professionals have an extensive choice of modern technical equipment - skis, bindings, safety equipment, Millet clothing and accessories, new alpine and touring skis to rent and a free minibus service - all at extremely competitive prices when you present your Top Ski members card.
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NEWSLETTER

If you have friends who love skiing and would be interested in receiving our newsletter, send us an e-mail: info@topskival.com - with their contact details and we will send them a copy.

If you no longer wish to receive information from Top Ski, please send an e-mail to: info@topskival.com with "newsletter cancellation" as the e-mail subject.

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