VT was great this year, after two dull days four bright sunshine without much wind, who could ask for more?
I did notice that the mapping and signage has been substantially upgraded, which made me start to look at it closely. The hand-out piste map has had big two way arrows on the "link" peaks (to Meribel & Orelle) which actually helps a lot, visually. Then, you notice that the size of the map has been reduced quite substantially which, compared with the previous years, makes it a lot more cramped. The piste signposts have also had the general direction added, which is a simple but great idea. Not only do you get the piste and lift, but also resort region.
Anyhow, all those changes made me think, what changes have taken place over the years? So I dug out an old map. Now, some changes are easy - anyone else remember that turn at the top of Rosael (going over to Orelle) where you had to turn under the pylon or go over the cliff? That's now a blue path completely bypassing the old track which you can see and wonder, "did we REALLY all ski that ?" The oldest map I could find is a 89/99 one, and the differences are telling. Back then, the "high" lifts (eg Peclet) were reds at best, now they all (or, almost all) have blue paths down. Another change is that the mountain sectors have been linked better, to stop you having to go down to the resort centre. On the map front, they have added more arrows to show cartographically challenged skiers which way is down. I confess I hadn't noticed until now that, in 2011, they had renamed all the Courchevel villages away from their heights to names, eg, 1650 has become "Courchevel Moriond", but then nobody appears to be referring to them as that anyhow.
Anyone else done map comparisons? I may have a look to see what maps I have in the Paradiski area as well, which should (at least, could) span the same sort of time gap.