Oh yeah.
Webcam are looking good again in les gets but forecast on meteo france is for rain tonight and tomorrow .
Yep, still snowing all the way down to my house just above 800m!
[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/ruined-ski-holidays-put-smile-on-everyone-elses-faces-2014121793924 ]Binners posted this on another thread, it made me smile.[/url]
On TF1 news Evelyn said it was the mildest Winter since 88, I was laid of just before Christmas in Val that year. No snow, no skiers, no more job.
Junior went out yesterday and came home with water running out of his shoes. Rain right up to the top apparently.
Les Gets are not opening this week end.
Gutted.
How easy is it to get to higher resorts?
It's a long drive. Valoire, Val and Tignes are your best bet if you want to ski from the resort. The glacier at les Deux Alpes looks OK but lower down it's no good.
Some [url= http://viewsurf.com/univers/ski/liste ]wencams to help you choose[/url]
Les Gets are not opening this week end.
Gutted.
How easy is it to get to higher resorts?
You could be in Verbier in 2 hours.
I was there at the weekend and conditions were good.
havent got a car .
hopefully there will be shuttles to Avoriaz .
Peter File: just missed you. Was at Verbier Monday and Tuesday. It was surprisingly ok. Still rocks in places though. Was snowing in Chamonix yesterday from mid-morning. Good news but overall temps are way too high for time of year. Any fresh snow fall is thawing. Feel sorry for anyone heading over here to ski at Christmas. Where there is snow will be super busy. Here at 660m near Grenoble it is almost t shirt weather. Conditions look better in Scotland.
Well, today was more like a transition into summer than into winter.
Nearly headed into town for a wetsuit. They are talking about shutting Sestriere if the weather persists much longer.
@mugsy
I had my lunch today, outside on the apartment balcony at 2000m in a t-shirt.
Top car park at Cairngorm full today. People must be desperate.
In les gets, no snow. 1 slope open for beginners but that is it. Al least kids can have their lessons.
2 sweet powder days in the high alpine in Whistler. Makes up for the fact there's almost no snow in the village.
The woman's downhill from VdI looked as if it had been snowing
TMH just back from Savoie, Tignes and Val D have enough snow for partial opening having been cold enough to hold the snow that has fallen.
Rumours of Avoriaz not selling lift tickets to anyone who is not staying in the resort, too much pressure on limited number of open pistes. That's understandable but could get ugly.
Attention au verglas !
Soaked snow freezes to produce conditions that made ski crampons useful up a blue run. A constant helicopter shuttle service between the pistes and the local hospital.
One advantage of the mild conditions is the attire of some ladies. Mini skirt and boots. š
Filthy old bugger š
Bike Verbier and Alpine Roots have been out riding trails (Facebook and Instagram posts), it did occur to me my bike would have been useful last week, if you can't ski the upper slopes why not ride down to the valley !
I enjoyed playing on the MTB (with spikes) on closed green runs a lot more than scraping my way down the open pistes this morning. The piste bashers are doing their best but when the raw material is water ice it only take a few skiers to scrape back to ice.
Merry Christmas everyone š
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8585/15919852139_887488cef9_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8585/15919852139_887488cef9_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/qfMppi ]inukshuk[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/75523014@N08/ ]jkcarson2012[/url], on Flickr
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Seasons greeting from the trees in Norway
Not sure if this just more spin but...
@weathertoski 10:18pm - 25 Dec 14:
Still very confident we will see 30-60cm snow (locally more) across W. Alps this wknd - especially French and W. Swiss Alps.
@weathertoski 9:49am - 26 Dec 14:
Batten down the hatches - big storm to hit western Alps tonight! http://tinyurl.com/d9cz7z2 pic.twitter.com/9Tk38k9XyT
https://twitter.com/weathertoski
Days 4-6 Ischgl Weather Summary: A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Mon afternoon. Extremely cold (max -13Ā°C on Wed night, min -20Ā°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.
From snow-forecast.com
Fingers crossed but still 4 weeks to go.
Where abouts in Norway is that?
Saalbach is a very different resort today. The valley is now white. Cannon have been on for 24 hours and quite a few more runs open. Wish we weren't going home tomorrow!
piemonster - Member
Where abouts in Norway is that?
Hemsedal , 2.5 hours from Oslo. Great Place!
Avoriaz and PdS announcing that with recent and predicted snowfall they will be removing lift pass restrictions (ie resort guests only) and putting prices back up to normal. Good news.
left les Gets at 6pm last night and they were expecting a lot of snow .
and looking by the pictures this morning they were right .
despite the lack of snow it has been a great week .
kids had a perfect week to learn , high temperature and sun shining .
it was a bit boring for me to do the same slopes all week but better than nothing . and after nearly 20 years of not skiing , it all came back really quickly .
really liked Les Gets and hoping to go back in the future .
Currently dumping in Morzine, about 6-8 inches in town so far. The slope at the bottom of the Pleney, which was a green field yesterday, is now looking like it should. Should be a good day tomorrow.
Landed in snowy Munich this morning and skiing in pretty good conditions at Auffach from 1 pm.
Getting cold now and more snow on the way.
Yay!!!!
So the sister in law and family are driving out for a extended family holiday in La Plagne. Their kids first skiing holiday.
They have made it as far as Chambery after sitting in traffic for hours. Roads are now closed - no access to the mountain tonight. Cue us finding them a hotel in Grenoble.
Nightmare. Sympathies to anyone caught up in that.
@torso, yes saw that. Hard to imagine 10 days ago it was green fields and +12 on the road below La Plagne.
Anyone stuck near Grenbole welcome to come and stay with us. 6km from Grenoble aiport. About 10km from Exit 9 on the Lyon-Grenoble autoroute. DanjDOTheywood@gmailDOTcom
We had the same thing last year in Val Thorens, massive dump the day we arrived and the roads were all blocked, so transfer took ages and we finally arrived at 4am having set off at 5pm for the 2 hour drive the day before!
Great news for all you alps / Europe bound shredders!
according to the french news there are 15000 cars blocked in Savoie tonight .
what ski daysac's are recommended - looking at either an osprey Kode or a north face patrol.
I use a DaKine Heli: 11 litres as opposed to the far bigger Heli Pro, space for a hydration bladder, ski loops for carrying (and straps for boards if you're that way inclined), not to bulky so no issues leaving it on when on chairlifts
Conditions are excellent on piste. Off-piste there are lots of "requins" (things sticking out to trip you up) so be careful.
The jams are clearing and Winter tyres will get you past the Gendarmes to most resorts now - it was chains or turn around yesterday.
what ski daysac's are recommended
Another vote for Dakine. I ride with a Hell-pro II when hiking. Just big enough for day trips, possibly overkill for in bounds. Dakine make some great packs that last and aren't crazy money.
My current pack is the Black Diamond Bandit.
http://www.snowsafe.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=45&products_id=315
Good minimal size (11L) for the resort/slackcountry riding I do. I like it because the outside is pretty plain. I don't like loads of straps because they are just one more thing get caught up. Built-in Avalung is nice to have too.
Both the North Face Patrol sizes, the 24l and 35l are really great packs.
Very well thought out. One of those items you look at and keep thinking "oh, I like *that*" as you work your way around.
Definitely worth checking out. If you're looking at packs. The small one cinches down really nicely, if you're thinking it might be too big. I've ridden with pretty much just a shovel and probe in there and it just hugs your back and disappears.
Oh yes...!
Call me a killjoy but I don't like that.
I'll be a killjoy too: "I've got money than anyone else in rallycross so if I get a good start and push off anyone who tries to overtake I'll win. If I get a bad start I'll just lean on those in front rather than brake for the first corner and take 'em out that way".
If you try to mix motor vehicles, and boards or skis it's always going to be a naff vid.
While we are on Ken Block, what do you lot make of the "controversial" video of him riding pow at Baldface with his son on his shoulders:
Seems harmless enough to me (helmets, goggles, low speed, deep pow, fairly open glade) but from the Facebook comments some folk seem to think he should be prosecuted for child endangerment. š
oh that was well advertised.
finally got round to booking some trips. austria in a week, dollies 2 weeks after that. then need to sort another a few weeks after that.
Cheers for that, flashy!
Cheers, I was just wondering when that was due to start.
Anyone know when [s]Celebrity A&E[/s] The Jump starts? Ch4 website just says Early 2015.
Can anyone recommend a Hotel in Chamonix for a short stay? B&B or half board would prefer not to self cater.
Would also consider Grand Massif if you have a good recommendation.
"Cheers, I was just wondering when that was due to start.
Anyone know when Celebrity A&E The Jump starts? Ch4 website just says Early 2015."
I lad I know has been asked to coach on it this year. It's going to have snowboarding as well as skiing.
Is it time for a new opening sequence? This one must be three or four years old.
The weather has gone mild again. š
The weather has gone mild again.
Yep, was sat out in a T-shirt in Villeneuve yesterday having lunch, a far cry from -20 five days ago. It did at least re-freeze overnight, was pretty treacherous walking on verglassed pavements at 5am to get to the coach for the trip back to the airport.
It's been absolutely puking in Whistler the last couple of days and it's set to continue tonight and I think, though tomorrow. Visibility was crap today but plenty of scope for fresh lines, even later on during the day.
Two young American ski team prospects have been killed at the team Austrian training camp, together with others they had been off-piste as they returned from training on the Glacier. Sad times, be careful.
[url= http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/05/two-us-ski-team-prospects-killed-in-austrian-avalanche ]link[/url]
Visibility was crap today
You better get used to it there!! š ... Yellow lenses are a must there imo.
Grim for the up and coming members of that ski team. I just got back from a week in Paradiski... report and some pictures to follow! š
Completely clear lenses or nothing at all most of the time around the solstice. A couple of mates skied into a piste-basher cable on Saturday evening at dusk. Nothing broken but a rotor cuff tear for one. The snow is lousy off piste so most ski tourers are doing things that allow a return via the pistes which requires care when there are four machines and their cables up there.
Well I just got back from a week in Champagny. The snow was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I had an off piste guide for two separate 3 and 4 hour sessions, which was well worth it imo (I wouldn't have done any of this without a guide). There was pretty much no base, but high up on north facing slopes the conditions were pretty good. Hit a few rocks here and there but nothing too bad so no core shots, and the snow was a lot softer and deeper than I expected, considering the state of the pistes in most places.
I was given a transceiver and probe and shovel for the day for my off piste guide, I was embarrassed to say I hadn't actually used them before. I think they'll be next on my list.
On my second off piste day in the cloudy pictures, a skier my guide got chatting to at the bottom who went down a similar route to us had to pull his avalanche airbag in a slide he got caught up in. Both days were really good, I found the traverse quite sketchy at times, (got a photo of the slightly easier part).
[img] 
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Champagny Le Haut down the other side there, after going in from the mid station of Roche de Mio, Champagny.
[img] 
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Some freshies were to be found. Skiid all the way down into Champagny Le Haut on this one.
[img] 
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Into the abyss.
[img] 
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Finished up down there in the valley.
[img] 
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Now to face the depressing thought that I might not be skiing for another year š .
You better get used to it there!! ... Yellow lenses are a must there imo.
Currently my goggles have cat 2 'rose' lenses. Work well for a wide range of conditions, but fall down when it's super snowy/foggy. You can always see far enough ahead but there's no definition in the snow. Think you may be right - some cat 1 yellow lenses might be a good shout.
Oh and regarding back packs, I have an Ortovox which I really like.
I'd have skied at least another metre right of that cornice.
Michael - I'm heading to La Plagne in March. Which guide did you use, and what was the cost of you don't mind me asking?
I'd have skied at least another metre right of that cornice.
It did feel slightly sketchy but I had faith in my guide. He pointed out that we were following a group of people being led by the writer of the back country ski guide book for the Savoie region.
I was staying in Champagny and booked them through the ESF there. The two guides I had were Damien and Vincent. Vincent is also an instructor with the ESF where as Damien is a pure mountain guide only. Both were very good, and I was told there is only one guide called Damien! It was 189 euros for 4 hours and about 153 for 3 hours. Takes a while to get anywhere so they don't do any less than 3 hours.
Use your own brain Michael, your clearly have one as you saw danger where one local "expert" didn't and your own guide was happy to follow like a sheep. Guides die regularly and two local ones have "lost" clients but survived themselves.
Objectively those tracks are too close, I say that because we ski ridges like that every year and see them after the cornice has broken. Sometimes just the cornice drops off, sometimes the cornice and all the snow on that side of the ridge avalanches off.
You and your guide didn't make new tracks at a safer distance given you yourself judged the trail too close to the edge perhaps because you were too lazy and/or in too much of a hurry to make a new trail further from the cornice.
Guides in a hurry because they have another client in a few hours really irritate me, they are a real pain/danger on the mountain. We got overtaken by a guide and his client when we were moving together down the icy, rock-strewn descent from the Goƻter. The guide was fretting about missing the tramway and urging the client to go faster - on a section where there are regular injuries and deaths (a guide recently) due to falls and people knocking stones down onto others.
Seconded Edukator, you can see someone's taken a safer line further to skiiers rights.
Got to say, I agree with Edukator* there too. The tracks in that first photo look like they go surprisingly close to that cornice.
They break further back than you think and can pull snow with them:
[img] http://static.squarespace.com/static/53fbfe1ce4b04ce86372f366/t/5442d1f8e4b0ea3fd728f072/1413665274758/?format=750w [/img]
And you don't get a lot of warning when they go:
šÆ
Ā
* (Disclaimer: I am NOT experienced or knowledgeable about mountain safety - just stating my opinion)
Lucky escape for that bloke. Scary vid.
I was about to say that whoever set that line on the cornice was tired of living but you all beat me to it ! As per the picture above, they go quite a bit before the crest, i once snapped one off on Glas Maol (patrolling) and wet my pants a bit as i was quite far behind it.
@michael nice photos. @Edukator makes a fair point, on the second section of the ridge all the tracks seem quite close to the edge whereas on the first part there are two distinct lines. I've done a few traverses / ridge lines in my time where the guide has described them as no fall zones, I think I am now retired from those sort of runs.
Michael - I'm heading to La Plagne in March. Which guide did you use, and what was the cost of you don't mind me asking?
I can recommend [url= http://www.reflex-skischool.com/en/ ]Reflex[/url] in la Plagne, great bunch of local guys.
Poor Michael just wanted to show his holiday pics and is getting rinsed!
Better than buried alive though I guess
Yeah sorry Michael.
FWIW I enjoyed the pics.
A bit harsh but fair I hope. Please leave the pics up, they're good pics and an insight into what to be aware of for STWers about to head out into the hills. I showed them to Madame with no prompting before posting a comment, she immediately pointed out the cornice risk.
Second day back in work after getting back from PDS at the weekend, and it sucks. Think we got very lucky - flew out on the 27th amidst the chaos on the roads in France. Couple of hours delay but otherwise no problems, but did hear some horror stories. Hardest part of the journey was dragging the bags through the deep snow up the driveway to the house we were staying š Plenty of fresh snow around through the start of the week, but offpiste needed care and the pistes got worn quickly.
Off to Austria in a fortnight, so now watching this weekend's forthcoming dump with interest š
Oh, and interesting photos on previous page - no way you'd have got me that near that cornice, but can certainly see how the follow-the-guide thinking happens. Friend of a friend was caught in an avalanche a few years ago when with a guide. He had a bad feeling about it, but trusted the guide and dropped in. Subsequent avalanche took him over a cliff and he's paralysed from the waist down. Easy to think the guide always knows best, but those photos are a timely reminder that you always need to be aware of surroundings in the mountains and not just follow the sheep.
Just booked to go 17th January. Staying in Tignes Le Lac. Been a few times before , its just the snow ( so far ) has been patchy with only 1 storm and nothing in the immediate future.
This is why we are going for altitude and a hight resort. The freeze line climbs right up over the weekend . Really hope we get some new snow around 20th Jan to top up whats left.
Personally I wouldnt have gone and put off going for a week , but my skiing buddy has to organise cover , childcare , wife all around us going away.
No really great deals , although we paid approx half price , with a BOGOHP lift pass deal as well. Wont be doing 3 trips this year.