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Hot in Avoriaz today. Sweating just sitting there hot.
Soft by 0930.
Absolutely roasting in Val Thoren today I'm amazed there is any snow left but a combination of well groomed slopes and low skier numbers meant the slopes were fairing better than I expected. High up still good coverage.
We hit the slopes before the lifts opened and skied until 2pm when the going was just too heavy to be fun. Coming back down you ski ribbon of snow through dry mountains.
Picture of the lowest ski-able run - I would not be sure this will be open tomorrow, though I can hear the piste bashers out moving snow around now.
Just back from Tignes. A mate came over from 3v his view was that it was better conditions in Tignes than in 3v. I thought conditions were great but I have often skied at Easter and quite like spring conditions! Top of Grand Motte was perfect conditions.
Worked well staying an extra day driving Sunday, traffic free. Only problem was getting fuel on the M4! That was a bit tense for a while.
Thinking of next year now!
Hi all, question for the avalanche ponderers of the group.
We are splitboarding in Norway. Having an amazing time.
Anyhow the avalanche warning is currently 3+ out of five , significant. This is due to warm weather and likelihood of wet slab avalanches especially over 30 degrees. There was heavy snowfall a week ago . We have seen avalanche activity but on steeper slopes well away from where we are.
Anyhow, today's tour. We started our ascent and after around 200m we saw that an avalanche had occurred in 'lavingata' , I think a translation is like a avalanche outlet zone. Avalanches in the area end up coming down there due to the terrain, like a funnel. It was significant. We turned around as :
A) it was hard to see how to cross it.
B) the way round it would take us into steeper terrain than we were comfortable with due to avalanche forecasts.
What I want to know is how to judge the risk of another one occurring. Is it suddenly low risk there because we have seen one has happened? Is it higher risk because one has gone and it could happen again? We figured that because we didnt know how old the avalanche was, we couldn't know if it was likely to happen again. Is there a way to tell when it occured?
Local knowledge is key, are you with a guide?
Not sure I fully understand, but, crossing where all or most, the unstable snow has slid off should be okay. (If you can hold an edge on it!) Crossing similar terrain or features (aspect, terain, snow layers etc,etc…) will be risky.
Large natural avalanche activity is a very big red flag though, be careful.
BTW I am not an expert, others here are more experienced than I am.
1st picture is the slide, 2nd is a nice day yesterday.
We would have been crossing the area where the avalanche had occurred. Yes we were careful, we went home 😄
In the absence of next year's thread, I'll just mention that I have purchased next Easter's skipasses at 60% discount for Val Cenis. Gotta get in quick to get the discount...
Wow, 60% off is tempting, it's fairly cheap anyway. Having said that, there's no sign of a 60% discount today and I can;t even see the link to the season pass (if we're doing 2 weeks then last year a season pass was cheaper than a 2 week pass)
howsyourdad1 -
If a slope has already slid, then it can't slide again until "reloaded" by new snow fall. However, this asssumes that the whole slope has gone. Is there another section still hanging? Maybe on slightly less steep ground or on a slightly different aspect that won't go until it gets a bit warmer? Is there another avalanche path running into the same exit that hasn't slid yet? You won't know unless you can see what you're getting yourself into or you have good local knowledge.
When climbing up, you are very vulnerable. Aim to avoid climbing on or below steep slopes. Avoid avalanche paths and runouts. Look to climb up the gentlest terrain, sticking to ridgelines and high ground as much as possible. Climb on aspects which are least affected by current avalanche conditions.
In the conditions you describe, if there was heavy snow a week ago, followed by warm weather, significant avalanche activity and repeated daily spring freeze/thaw cycles, I'd probably consider it reasonable to travel in that area, again taking the precautions above. However, it's impossible to say without being there and eyeballing it, feeling the snow conditions and reading the local forecast. If the heavy snow was more recent, or there hadn't been a good series of overnight freezes / daytime thaws, I'd avoid.
(I'm a snowboard instructor & splitboard guide).
cheers @stevomcd your response was the one i was waiting for! i'll read and process and report back!
If you don't know an area use a mapping app that overlays 30/38/45 degree slopes and regard anything coloured with snow on it as having the potential to go. I use Windy Maps but instructor junior uses paid for apps that are more accurate. Then you have so many factors that a week long course gets you started. And even then you can guess wrong. The "safety expert" from a local club was killed by an avalanche in Norway a few weeks back. 🙁
Yep, the map steepness overlays are pretty helpful, especially when route-planning. Once on the hill, I tend to rely on eye-balling stuff. I have an internal inclinometer which categorises slopes into 3 classes - "meh", "hmmm" and "£%?§!".
In France I use the iPhiGéNie app, which gives you a whole load of overlay options (steepness, satellite photos, etc) and also covers a few other countries (Switzerland, Spain and, as I've just discovered, Norway....).
Hi yes we were using all manner of apps with gradient overlays and so on. The issue was that we couldn't tell how long ago the avalanche had happened and if there was any 'left' to fall. We think we would have been ok, but it wasnt worth it without knowing when the latest avalanche occured
@nbt valcenis.ski , then pick your date. ^ day pass for 9 April 2023 is currently showing 57% discount. The discount decreases as the passes sell.
Ahhh, ok i see. Cheers