Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 20-10-16 12:18; edited 1 time in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Thinking of doing a late February / early March 2017 trip to St Anton... The long range forecasts suggest that westerly winds and a dominant westerly storm track will once again dominate this coming winter. With a predominantly westerly influence and warmer air being pulled in from the Atlantic, how will the snowfall be influenced? Also as I understand St Anton is often influenced by prolonged periods of Foehn winds, which warm up the area significantly. Is this something to be worried about or can St Anton (the Arlberg area in general) handle this sort of weather pattern due to its altitude and unique location in the Alps?
I have done 3 ski trips to the eastern Alps (Ski-Welt / Ellmau) and on two previous occasions the snow cover was limited due to weak snow falls and prolonged warm periods. This year we had +17 in the valley in Ellmau during the last week of January.
I skied ST Anton mid January 2015 and it was brilliant, but then again the dominant storm track was from the North-West.
Any advice / re-assurance would be great.
Thanks.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Don87,
You are definitely overanalyzing this.
Long range forecasts: there is no such thing
West-circulation: good for Arlberg, lots of snow
Temperatures: nobody knows. But Austrian Alps are cooler than French Alps, and Arlberg has a microclimate that is even slightly cooler
Föhn: Arlberg not extra influenced (Föhn = Southern winds coming over the Alps. All of the Northern Alps are influenced, with indeed some spots more than others (but not Arlberg). And with Föhn Arlberg (1300 m-2650 m) definitely is a better place than low Ellmau (800-1800 m.)e.g.)
End feb/early March: best time for snow/sun/good temperatures. If snow is poor end februari around Arlberg, we need to seriously start worry about wintersports in The Alps in general
I have done 3 ski trips to the eastern Alps (Ski-Welt / Ellmau) and on two previous occasions the snow cover was limited due to weak snow falls and prolonged warm periods.
Never skied Ski-Welt itself, but I have skied Kitzbuehel, Fieberbrunn and the Zillertal. I'd say the Arlberg gets more snow and retains more snow than these areas.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Langerzug, Hahaha, thanks for the info. When your currency is R16 to the Euro and you only get to ski 1 week a year, you need to over analyze
@sah, I have also done Kitzbuhel, but only for the day though. The skiing was good but found it to be a tad crowded towards the end of the day, but that's pretty normal I guess. Apart from the snow reliability on occasion I can definitely recommend Ellmau, and hotel Hochfilzer specifically. It is a fantastic area with a lot of variety. I absolutely love the place. But like I mentioned, with an exchange rate of 16:1 and only 1 week a year available, I need to be sure about the resort I pick.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Don87,
For absolutely the best snow conditions in Austria end february/early March, without Föhn, probably Obergurgl is your best option
(But I'm heading for Arlberg first week March, as usual )
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Don87, The Arlberg is on a special weather Axis.
The biggest dumps come from systems from the West dumping mostly on the western flank (Stuben,Sonnenkopf, Lech, Zurs,Warth). St Anton gets the fallout from this. The frequent North Easterly cold fronts keeps the snowpak solid for months. Then of course the altitude of the Arlberg is a lot higher than the Kitzbuhel,Ziller etc.
and sometime mega storms like Hurricane Andrea in January 2012
always worth reposting this one ...novel use of Apache Helicopter to blow the now of the trees to stop them falling down. It was a changeover day & took 3 days for folks to get out of town ....haha
I'm not sure the boot pack is worth it, after all the "hype" of Valluga I didn't think it was anywhere near the best the region has to offer in terms of off-piste skiing. Good job he had someone with him in case of getting into difficulty!!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@kitenski, Its a tourist route.
The bootpack is to avoid the guide fees.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Good job he had someone with him in case of getting into difficulty!!
That "someone" would not have been very helpfull when a 700 meter avalanche would occur. (like last season, killing 2)
"it's just a tourist route"........ ("I'm too sexy for this route, too sexy for this route.....")
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Langerzug, You got to Earn your Turns ! No lifts.. Hike/Skin & Turns
@Langerzug, that was sarcasm as he was clearly skiing alone!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@kitenski,
Thought you were referring to the cameraman
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Langerzug, yeh I was but jokingly that the cameraman was useless as you well state if there had been an incident!
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@kitenski, It was already well skied out, compact base, late in the season . nothing fresh in there. As I said Tourist Route
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@stanton, Might be, but on the other hand the accident that happened (with the aforementioned 700 m avalanche), and another major one with casualties in Lech, both last year, were both with professional, very experienced guides.....
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
stanton wrote:
@kitenski, It was already well skied out, compact base, late in the season . nothing fresh in there. As I said Tourist Route
none of which would matter if he had an equipment failure, caught an edge and slid into a rock and hurt himself badly etc etc
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Lets not get into an argument about skiing solo. I think we are all aware it carries more inherent risk, but that it can be done safely and enjoyably if you have the skills. As @Langerzug points out guides are by no means infallible, and in the case of a 700m avalanche there (unlikely as it seems in the conditions!) you'd be dead with or without rescue anyway.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@clarky999,
One of St Antons most famous guides was swept away in the Maroi a few seasons back; there been others too..
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
This quote may well be lost on some younger readers......
Well, do you want to have the full argument, or were you thinking of taking a course?
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
stanton wrote:
@kitenski, Its a tourist route.
The bootpack is to avoid the guide fees.
Wouldn't it be more of a local's route? I mean, if you are a local, why would you need a guide? Or do the locals just mosey on up to the lift, and hop on the Valuga, probably because they are already know the guides/lift operators?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
stanton wrote:
@clarky999,
One of St Antons most famous guides was swept away in the Maroi a few seasons back; there been others too..
I was in Lech when that went down. There were some surprisingly risky, or ignorant skiing going on that week. Hard to say when you see who's going off-piste w/o any avy gear thinking everything is going to be just fine.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@kitenski,
"Look I've told you once..."
"No you haven't!"
"yes i have!"
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
So when's the snow due, its very mild at the moment?
I saw something on a Powder alert from a US FB site (Morris I think it was) the other day that Arlberg will be enjoying 45-50cm of fresh by end of first week in November, there's apparently big dumps due in eastern Alps in next week or 2, any truth in that?
@Markymark29, yes, Morris is getting very excited about a possible Nordstau: http://wepowder.com/
I'm not so sure it would be a good thing, big early season dumps mean a large(ish) snow pack on warm ground... If we then get cold nights there's a big temp gradient and so lot of transformation at the ground level which leaves a layer of depth hoar until March... Much better would be to get the cooling first, then some snow. Obviously you'll never get away from temp gradients in the early season, the ground is always warmer than the air in the coldest part of the season, and the snow pack is not deep enough, but anecdotally the snow pack always seems to me to be more stable when fresh snow falls on frozen ground.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
wepowder is Dutch isn't it not US? but yes @sah, didn't we get those horrible "back to bare ground" slides in March/April a few years back after early snow? Even the north faces in Stuben had gone when we arrived for Easter that year.
wepowder is Dutch isn't it not US? but yes @sah, didn't we get those horrible "back to bare ground" slides in March/April a few years back after early snow? Even the north faces in Stuben had gone when we arrived for Easter that year.
Morris is Dutch, but I think Salomon have an app that uses his feed???
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
WeatherOnline is also showing a pretty good amount of snow for early November.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@sah, @kitenski, Agreed super cold nights then gradual build up is best, hence my question I'm hoping it'll cool down significantly before they see big dumps.
@kitenski,
Quote:
Even the north faces in Stuben had gone when we arrived for Easter that year.
When was that then? Its been snowy every late season I've been there, north facing Stuben holds the snow as well as anywhere in Arlberg ime, when was Easter that year June?
I agree south facing grassy slopes like Maienplatt, Schindlerhanger and Kapall are risky late season and when there's early deep dumps particularly so but never seen Stuben North Face as a problem late season.
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@stanton, I see your photos above regards the Warth reservoir for the snowmaking water storage, OK its not pretty right now but I'm sure they'll landscape it properly as they reinstate the ground after lining it. So, assuming it'll be complete for the upcoming season will Warth have snow cannons from coming 16/17 season or the one after? Whilst Warth natural snow is awesome, some of the Lech facing southern slopes around the Auenfeldjet can get slushy later in the season.
I'll have to curtail my off-piste activities around there, could get a nasty shock landing in the new reservoir! Great skiing in Warth, love the place.
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@Markymark29, I'm guessing at 2014, I didn't go off piste at all that week. When I say "gone" I mean they had all avalanched down to bare ground Even the well skied areas directly above Stuben
Found old pics here showing how poor the snow was that year (but still had a great week piste skiing)
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
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Even the well skied areas directly above Stuben
