 Poster: A snowHead
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@pam w, Ive started using eurotunnel over the ferry because it is now very easy to manage and change your bookings on line. PandO require a flexi ticket to do this but with eurotunnel you just pay any differences in price. Usually out of peak periods this is nothing
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@BergenBergen, oh thanks, that's good to know. That was exactly the point I made. In the situation, a cursory admin fee would be appropriate but, as it was clearly a mistake and the train was so empty, the surcharge was excessive.
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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?
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| davidof wrote: |
Maybe not 4C but it may have more effect on Morzine than Praz sur Arly. I was just looking for reasons why there may not be snow at 1000m at Morzine and snow at 1000m at Praz a bit further south. A degree would make a difference. |
I think there are lots of possible reasons. This year the Praz area seems to have got higher snowfalls than the PdS, maybe due to the timing of precipitation arriving coinciding with temp changes. It might also be due to there being more SW facing slopes in Morzine (I don't know Praz at all) or it could be different foehn effects from wind. It's certainly been windy this year and the 1000m mark has been critical as a snow/rain limit so far, so small variations clearly have a huge effect.
The PdS usually gets a lot of precipitation whether as rain or snow, due it being on the leading edge of the Alpine region for incoming systems from the NW. People describe this as the "Lake Geneva Micro-climate", though in my view it has little to do with the lake, more they call it that because Lake Geneva serves as a landmark. The "NW Prealps Microclimate" has less of a ring to it and few have heard of the Prealps. Also there's definitely a "Lake Geneva Micro-climate" in force at Montreux, as described.
It's a big lake and deep too, but it's a puddle compared to an ocean. 30km proximity to the Atlantic and there'd definitely be an effect, but can't see it being even a degree for such a small body of water with mountains between the two.
All this said, I'm guessing. I think it's an interesting discussion over a beer until a proper meteorologist turns up and proves us both wrong. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| ski3 wrote: |
| You need traction/grip whatever you've got especially to get down. |
probably (definitely) the most sensible reply I have ever seen on the subject. I have winter tyres with spikes on a 2wd car and when there is fresh snow I always fit chains too, apart from the fact I need to get to work on time why would I risk damaging my car, myself or anyone else for the sake of €30 euro chains.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
It might also be due to there being more SW facing slopes in Morzine (I don't know Praz at all)
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The ski slopes in Praz sur Arly are on the "shady" side of the valley. You can drive down the Arly Valley with all the slopes (on your right if you're going down towards Megeve and Sallanches) nicely covered in snow and the slopes on your left nicely covered in grass with no snow in sight.
Because of the big temperature inversion, at Christmas the nursery slopes and "front de neige" area in Praz sur Arly had plenty of (artificial) snow on, whereas further up it had been too warm to blow cannons much at all. So they had a decent base down there, for when the proper snow started after new year.
As is often the case, aspect is critical. At Christmas and New Year the south facing slope on which my apartmet sits was (except for the cannoned run) completely grass, to 2000m. Over the other side, it was all covered in snow (though very thin off the pistes, it was actually white all over).
We are on the edge of the Beaufortain, too - the massif which has had, as davidof has posted in the weather thread, more snow than anywhere else in France. Snow depth at 1650 in Les Saisies village is 1.69m - deeper than average, I think.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Chris_n, that's my (some would say misspent youth) enjoyable time generally tearing around in stuff and driving anything I could get hold of and includes riding motorcycles in the snow which is a really knife edge way to get to work.
Also competing in rally cars along with a somewhat geeky fascination with transmissions and tyres generally.
Stayed with some friends one new year in Ilkley Yorkshire and drove an original audio quattro through snow up onto the moor to get some photos of the sunrise, these had diff locks on both centre and rear differentials and it went up without any problems but soon found out it was a nightmare to get down again. No it didn't have anything in the way of winter tyres, at that time those sort things seemed to be for racing drivers and continental sort of chaps.
I think that most people generally think that getting stuck or not being able to pull away are the reasons you need to prepare but although inconvenient to yourself and others it really becomes insignificant compared to when you can't stop going down.
We have friends who run a chalet in Samoens and they've sometimes had to chain their minibus to the back of clients cars (reverse of towing really) to get them down their steep road onto more firm tarmac by effectively providing the braking.
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