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Meanwhile in California... 9 feet of snow in 3 days at Kirkwood..... 😯
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I see Burton have re-invented Step Ins! Again.
At least the binding has a highback. I remember some mates trying K2 Clickers back in the day walking round in agony as their boots were so stiff...
Lunge, many thanks particularly the comments about the helmet i don't recall anyone other than kids using them back then
Very true, the last 10 years has seen a marked change. It was very odd to see anyone with one when I started skiing, now those without are in an ever decreasing minority.
I got one when I got the fear one trip and now can't imagine skiing without one.
If you aren;t wearing a transceiver, the gate won't open to let you through
The video gave me the impression they were going through a gate, but maybe not.
Or maybe they had beacons but no probe/shovel (no packs on).
At least the binding has a highback. I remember some mates trying K2 Clickers back in the day
Back in the day I used to ride Switch Team X bindings that had a highback. They actually worked really well and they never iced up or clogged, but you needed special boots with little bars on the sides and a heel strap on the boot.
The boots were still pretty stiff though because they were the only thing for your toes to pull up on (no toe strap/cup).
Not sure if it is in-bounds or not but at 6:38 he says "Read the signs" and points out a sign saying "Avalanche Prone Area - Enter Only Through Gate".
I'm fairly certain that the transceiver 'gates' (as described by nbt) are for backcountry access [into the Garibaldi etc] rather than inbounds stuff like Spanky's which is only opened when the ski patrol have assessed it. Happy to have my ailing memory corrected though - WB has expanded/changed quite a bit in the past decade.
But yeah ... if conditions dictate, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to be wearing at least a beacon. I seem to remember an inbounds slide occurred in Whistler a few years ago in which a skier was caught. Can't seem to find any info but I think he'd ducked the ropes, so was 'poaching'.
There weren't any gates when i skiied Spankys, but that was 10 years ago. However I have seen gates inbounds at Sunshine, round the Goats eye area
Take a screen shots from lachainemeteo for say Tignes and Font Romeu then get back to us in 12 days and tell us how the forecast compares with what happened.I've changed holiday plans on the basis of the 12 day forecast and not regretted so far.
Today is Tuesday. There's no snow forecast for Gourette for a week so I'm expecting cold sunny weather (cold enough to make artificial in abundance as of Saturday and maybe a little tomorrow. The following week it will remain cold and snow a little most days with heavier falls over the weekend of 14/15 January. RDV in two weeks time for the verdict, but if I were booking a holiday I'd be confident of skiing in good conditions as of 15/1/2017.
Well the forecast was accurate and the falls over the next three days are expected to be so heavy that there will be no lack of snow. I now predict the following problems:
Getting to the resorts: airports closed, trains cancelled, roads closed due to avalanche risk
Getting up the hill: lifts closed due to high winds and heavy snow
Getting down the hill: whiteout on piste, avalanche risk off piste. A good weekend for X-C for us.
On the Helmet front, only one of juniors ESF colleagues wears a helmet, the others have distinctive caps, bobble hats, berets and even an Australian cowboy hat - junior is the one with the orange bobble hat he's "borrowed" from mother. His race coaches did their demo runs through the slalom course without a helmet. I've worn a helmet once this year, the snow was like concrete so there was a higher risk of falling than usual and the consequences more serious than usual.
When buying a helmet make sure you can hear well with it, some have ear vents you can open. If you hear scraping behind you can ski out of the way.
Have we done Tom Oye being avalanched yet and using his Black Diamond Avalanche Pack?
In la plagne now, big snowfall
Have we done Tom Oye being avalanched yet
Aye ... mentioned it earlier ^^ , but it's gone pretty viral for sure.
Sales of BD JetForce packs will probably do well in the next few weeks ...
Have we done Tom Oye being avalanched yet
He's not someone I've met, but mates of mates, but looking at that video, he's a ****ing idiot. He's done well to pull his airbag, and it's definitely helped, but he shouldn't of been playing on that slope at all. Obviously didn't dig a pit, as if he had he'd of seen the same results as a group of snowmobilers up there which said it was sketchy as ****. And even then, that's not how you do a cut. Should be a lesson of 'this guy was lucky, you might not be'.
I thought 'Spanky's' was inbound and patrolled ... but then I've not been to Whistler for over 10 years.
Yup, in-bounds and patrolled. There's areas (around Winky Pop and Surfs Up) which can be prone to slide even after patrol has been through. These areas have a warning sign, but nothing to check you have gear etc, but a helpful warning.
looking at that video, he's a * idiot
Assuming he didn't trigger it deliberately to sell the JetForce system.
Though, yeah, he'd still be a * idiot.
Yup, in-bounds and patrolled. There's areas (around Winky Pop and Surfs Up) which can be prone to slide..
So would you have worn avi gear for that run whatnobeer?
I have to say that, as a bit of an off piste noob, if I saw signs saying "Avalanche Prone Area" I'd say **** that and hit something else, especially if I had no kit with me.
So would you have worn avi gear for that run whatnobeer?
For Surfs up? Potentially. I wouldn't ride that line without some serious consideration if the risk is high. If it's open and the snow looks good and I wasn't on my own I'd probably ride it without gear, but that would be a judgement call.
Yes that Tom Oye video is interesting. not a fan of the attitude afterward, like it is funny and cool and that he is a tough guy ha avalanches LOL! etc....
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just got these back from a colleague, might refresh the skills before the weekend !
<looks out of the windows @600masl 5km from Grenoble airport>
Yep. Snows coming. Good luck to anyone travelling tomorrow.....
Finally though looks like it's starting!
Obviously didn't dig a pit, as if he had he'd of seen the same results as a group of snowmobilers up there
To give Tom the benefit of the doubt he could have dug ten pits in ten different places and they could all have told him something different, but I suspect you're right - that slab looks pretty widespread and probably easily detected underneath your board or by digging a quick pit before dropping into that slope - the slab depth looks less than a couple of shovels deep so might only take 15 mins or so - although granted I'm making assumptions as it's not easy to see much from the narrow camera view.
And even then, that's not how you do a cut.
This. absolutely! Even if he had to travel through an area that was 'suspect', shock-loading the slope with a heelside stop from a mid-point on a convex slope is to put it mildly perhaps not the best approach. (do that from a rope at the top when you are certain there is no one below).
He'd probably would have been better on his toe edge traversing this slope higher - heading for an island of safety - but then that's easy for me to say from behind the comfort of my keyboard without all of the facts available. I'm just pleased he's ok and has lived to ride another day.
just got these back from a colleague, might refresh the skills before the weekend !
If you can borrow another one I think it's very useful to practice 'multiple' searches. Alternatively many ski hills now have practice areas. What surprised me with my Ortovox3+ was the time required to 're-calibrate' when 5+ signals are detected. Whilst only seconds it seemed like ages when trying to find all of them in under 15 minutes
shock-loading the slope with a heelside stop
I'm mistaken - just watched Tom's video again and it looks like he was indeed on a toe edge
when do avi transceiver practice its amazing how much quicker two people find the transceiver than a lone person
its amazing how much quicker two people find the transceiver than a lone person
Not sure I follow Jedi, do you mean do when doing a 'coarse' search or a 'fine' search?
If it's a signal or coarse search then searchers should be spread out about 40m width search strip covering the avalanche area/last seen point/visual clue area
If it's a fine search then I think the general wisdom is that only one person should do a fine search
interesting article here about the video
http://snowboardcanada.com/yesterdays-avalanche-why-it-could-have-been-avoided/
course search. we do them in summer too by burying one and seeing how quick teams are at finding it
course search
Ahhh ... ok. I take it you meant 'pickup a signal' rather than 'find the transceiver'?
Otherwise it it sounds a bit like: @2:04mins
😆
Since I was asking about it earlier I've since found Intersport are having some pretty decent discounts until Monday
Candide Thovex effect reaches Hollywood.
Rumours of power cuts affecting French lifts.
Anyone heard anything?
Trip Report
Just back from Risoul , Southern French Alps. Went with Rocketski again as they are bargin-tastic if you are happy with basic hotels and lots of hot water, with reasonable food.
Flew into Turin with a simple 2hr + transfer, little in way of snow on the ground, and flying in looked very green. Claviere and Montgenevre then Briancon showed little to no snow no the ground but pistes all appeared OK from the bus.
Hotel approx 100m from resort center, with a choice of lifts running up from there. Room for 5, with just 2 of us in it so no problem with storage at all. No new snow for 2 weeks though, so all OP tracked and freeze / thawed.
Spent first few days hunting out potential powder spots and finding the best pistes to practise on. Alot of man made snow but well bashed in and mixed with what they had gathered from piste side.
Its been , and was, very cold so snow making possible for most nights. Cannons not on during the day though. Best snow was up high , above 2000m and dropping down to Vars there were white ribbons through green feilds.
Wed night we had approx 6cm of fresh which blew into pockets and gathered in the tracks offpiste. It was possible to look from the chair and see where the fresh snow had lain and filled in the ruts . Got first lift into on area and had 7 runs alone and made the best of it.
Weather changed Thursday , wind picked up and temps dropped. stacked Lenticular clouds over the tops and snow in the air , coupled with the 22cm forcast online we knew a front was moving in.
Started about 7pm in earnest Thurs and kept on till we gave up 1630 Fri , pretty much without a break. Very windy above 2200m ( 40 + knots , maybe 50+the gusts ) so we stayed low. No powder on exposed hardpack so we went hunting.
Got 3rd chair out of town so made alot of fresh tracks on piste, alot of pistes were 100% powder so all the newbies were struggling with wrong gear, wrong skis, wrong lenses etc.
My new shell jacket and Westbeach troos did a great job, just fingers and toes feeeling the -24'c ( with windchill ) temps . 2 base layers , pillowed fleece, snood and goggles were fine.
Spotted a pitch where all the trees had fresh powder stuck on so made our way into an area roped off alongside a drag lift.
It was virgin powder , between 30 and 40cm everywhere , enough to cover all the sharks waiting underfoot . We spend 4 hours tracking out the entire hillside , some comedy crashes , a few 'Woah, That is a crack in the powder shooting out in front of me' moments ' plus finding some very steep areas where we were looking at the tops of the trees on the slope that were about 2 turns downhill.
Bugged out of that area as it was steep and loose and found somewhere with a lower pitch.
Great resort for learners, not so good for boarders with flat run outs to lift stations. Older chairs with no covers which would have been a nice relief from the wind.Be great today / this week there.
Bus transfer home showed Serre C + MilkyWay to have had a similar amount but alot less wind so the trees were absolutlely stacked with snow.
@geoff I haven't seen any such reports on French news websites (figaro, bfmtv), will ask Mrs B to check. Expected to be very cold this week with more new snow.
There is a thread on SH about the power cuts - apparently there will be an article in tomorrow's Torygraph on it.
Missed the Lauberhorn on Ski Sunday but caught awesome mini bit on Jeremie Hietz plus my old hero Sylvie Saudain
Unbelievable steep skiing at speed - and a heartstopping fall and then descent on one ski to pick up the other.
Wow!!
Hahnekahm next week!!! (site off my scariest ever fall)
That steep stuff was STEEP! Stunning, stunning stuff. Gave me that shivery goosebump feeling just looking at it. Well worth looking for it on the iPlayer if you missed it.
Steep? It was almost vertical! 😯
Unfortunately the Lauberhorn was cancelled due to, would you believe it.......SNOW! 😐
The full Jeremie Hietz film was linked earlier in the thread I think. Ski Sunday just sliced and diced it. Still good though.
*Clenches*
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have just had an email from EDF warning of "Vague de froid, adoptons chacun les gestes économes en énergie."
I think they mean it's about to get Le Parky out there...
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-20degC coming. Brrrrrr.....
Out in -20C in Omaha last week. Felt fine until you realised your ears were burning and a bit painful.
So, did snowmageddon occur in the Alps then ?
Here's the link to that film:
[url= https://www.redbull.tv/film/AP-1PMT7S62N1W11/la-liste ]La Liste[/url]
It was -6 in Champèry yesterday. My FoL was in Méribel and reported -30 with windchill at the Sauliere summit apparently...
It is indeed going to be a cold week on the slopes.
[quote=NZCol ]So, did snowmageddon occur in the Alps then ?
the WC downhill in Wengen was cancelled as to much snow (40cm+) fell. So, yes, more or less
France (he asks optimistically) - i checked reports but seeing as once upon a time I used to do the snow report from the comfort of my morning bath i pay no credence to them !!
Here's the link to that film:
La Liste
that's my afternoon done...
going to be a bit parky in the south of England, too:
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[quote=NZCol ]France (he asks optimistically) - i checked reports but seeing as once upon a time I used to do the snow report from the comfort of my morning bath i pay no credence to them !!
singletrackmind reports ([url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-stw-ski-snowboard-thread-the-2016-2017-season/page/27#post-8217087 ]above[/url]) that plenty fell in the southern alps. Or have I misunderstood your question? apologies if so