The La Tania Ski Blog
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Jason and Jordan complete the Escapade on Snowboards
The Escapade in a Day continues with a father and son team on snowboards.
After a few failed attempts over the last few seasons with larger groups, my son and I decided to see if we could do it with just the 2 of us, on snowboards.( everyone on skis telling us it would take to long having to strap in after every run !)
We have always tried this from La Tania but this trip we were staying in Val Thorens so started out there.
Our first lift was Pioneers at 9am and we got back round to finish at Funitel Peclet at 3:35. We then did a few more runs and lifts to get back to the hotel, get our stuff and get back to Geneva for 7pm for our flight home !
We followed the 2020 route and lifts but added in the new Pointe de Le Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas. Mount Vallon was shut for technical reasons when we got there so we went up Plan Des Mains to make up for it.
We had a good day of quiet lifts and runs, conditions where good for it apart from Chasse down to Plan de l’eu which was rocks and dirt for most of it !
Be great if you could put us into the hall of fame, we don’t see too many boarders on there!
What’s this all about?
The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…
It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we feature them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame
This is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys but we’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it – send a Ski Tracks or similar trace in plus a pic of your group.
What started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion became a challenge the following week – the history and our original route are here
Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 saw the use of the Roc de Tougne fast new chair instead of the drag plus we lost the Montaulever drag altogether. In 2019 we gained the new faster Legends chair out of Méribel and then an improvement in speed on the Mont Vallon lift too.
It’s certainly getting easier with the improvement in lift infrastructure and we should make it harder for 2023 – there’s now the new Pointe de La Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas too! However, it’s still a big, big day out with every run top to bottom and all the planning, chatting, moaning (and lunch) kept for the time on the lifts…
The 2020 PDF route with the 19 “Escapade Lifts” in bold
REMEMBER: You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (and you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes horribly wrong…..