 Poster: A snowHead
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| pam w wrote: |
| Did the stuff that fell in such warm conditions qualify to be called "powder"? |
Have seen some video of some very nice snow high up - probably all above 1900m or so, but yes, looked pretty powdery to me.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@pam w, nope. Not powdery in the slightest.
@thatguycalled, I suspect just too heavy for them to piste it.
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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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| andy from embsay wrote: |
| pam w wrote: |
| Did the stuff that fell in such warm conditions qualify to be called "powder"? |
Have seen some video of some very nice snow high up - probably all above 1900m or so, but yes, looked pretty powdery to me. |
Yesterday there was powder in the morning but it turned around lunchtime as the Foehn blew in. Last night it rained to 2300m and will be heavy up to 2800m.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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And now I just read on the LG website that one of the gondolas is open for mountain biking and pedestrians.
What an awful start to the season.
Not wanting to start an argument but I do wonder is it time to go high from now on.
For someone who gets 10-15 days on snow per year, you really do want to have some sort of better odds placed.
Especially with the cost in both money and time.
Fingers crossed something happens in the next week or so.
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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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@BobinCH, 2,300? makes sense from what I can see, ta.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@elefantfresh, it’s Christmas/New Year week - it’s a risk any year. As you can see from the charts posted over the last day or two PdS is often short of snow at the start of the season - but by the end it’s generally above average. So absolutely - if you’re going to ski early in the season then go high, but after the end of Jan or so your odds are probably as good anywhere.
Personally I’ll never go xmas/NY week regardless of snowfall, as it’s just so busy and we did the queueing thing when the kids were at school. However I’ll be booking my opening weekend flights as soon as they’re released for Dec 23, but won’t be terribly surprised if there’s not much snow. Must try and avoid the flippin’ ski test weekend though!
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Anyway @elefantfresh - look!
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| polo wrote: |
| Looks like LG is closed until further notice, the current warmth probably prevents them even attempting to scrape up snow onto a few pistes, with no overnight freeze until next weekend. |
Going by the opening statuses and webcams I don't think they're quite at that stage yet, though it does look pretty bad and that's at 10am when pistes always look their best. Still a few runs open.
However it's clear that many of the open pistes in Les Gets have some very dodgy looking areas and it won't take much melting for them to close too.
Morzine looks worse with essentially three runs open (Piste B, Bellemouille, Lievre). Pleney is also now cut off from the rest of the ski area with no pistes open to get out of that sector.
Three very warm days to get through and then it may be cool enough to run snow cannons more extensively overnight.
By the way - did anyone hear back about whether PdS lift passes might be refundable?
Last edited by After all it is free  on Sat 31-12-22 10:32; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Are there any resorts within driving distance from PdS that so have decent snow ?
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| gavman99 wrote: |
| Are there any resorts within driving distance from PdS that so have decent snow ? |
Depends what you mean by driving distance? Cham is about an hour - I imagine there’s bits of Grands Montets that are ok. Verbier is around 2-2.5hrs I think?
But all the normal “day trips” are suffering the same if not worse. Colder from midweek and hopefully much better conditions in 10-14 days though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@under a new name, 2400m FL as forecast 5 pages ago, and reiterated by definella later, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone as it’s been steady for about a week. Uncanny how good the models are at forecasting rain to high levels as opposed to finding low level snowlines.
Mentioned before but models are always better at default patterns, ie more accurate when weather aligns with historical norms, which means high pressure over europe and strong Atlantic westerly flow. The models always struggle much more with unusual patterns such as blocking over scandi / greenland, or deep cold anomalies.
Anyway on the same post I mentioned 8-10th as the most likely timeframe for a better pattern to emerge. This is still the case, nothing has really changed, GFS keen to bring in colder flow a little earlier than others, but looking across all the models you’d still expect a slow evolution from mild westerly flow to colder polar maritime NW flow by the 10th.
And to reiterate yesterday’s extended outlook, there is still evidence that the potential good spell would last several days out towards the 15th. Again GFS is the most progressive (deeper lows), while other models are more conservative. Too soon to say which part of the alps will benefit but northern side most likely as things stand.
About all we can be sure of is that the frustrating pattern to date of east Atlantic lows driving up warm air is coming to an end, and we will have much better odds of decent snow as soon as next weekend.
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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.
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@gavman99, Chamonix: Brevent is partially open. Flégere more so. Liaison isn't (not sure if that's due avvy risk). Le Tour is but not Vallorcine side. Grands Montets also running although not all slopes open and not Lavancher (Pendant).
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@under a new name, open is different to decent snow?…..I suppose it’s relative, one man’s decent is another man’s despair
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You know it makes sense.
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| polo wrote: |
About all we can be sure of is that the frustrating pattern to date of east Atlantic lows driving up warm air is coming to an end, and we will have much better odds of decent snow as soon as next weekend. |
That’ll do for me!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| polo wrote: |
| @under a new name, open is different to decent snow?…..I suppose it’s relative, one man’s decent is another man’s despair |
Good point - we’ve had friends using our place this week and they’ve had a great time. Some frustrating queues, but a bit of decent skiing, a brilliant lesson and they’ve been on holiday eating nice food and drinking nice wine.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@denfinella, You are right, I took one look at webcams and must have been a slow start as lifts weren’t moving……don’t think the pisteurs are bothering to repair much, too soft
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@andy from embsay, Thanks Andy - a beacon of hope, so you are!
Theres great info in this forum so a big thank you to everyone.
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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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| Quote: |
Are there any resorts within driving distance from PdS that so have decent snow ?
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Les Saisies has 23/29 lifts open. Quite a lot of pistes open, including liaison to Notre Dame de Bellecombe. But a lot of the steeper pistes closed due to "faible enneigement". This webcam is at resort level (1650). It looks dismal, really, but not as bad as some! Les Saisies generally has about the best snow around in the sub 2000m class!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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@polo, quite. We haven’t even bothered venturing out, mostly as I have had a steenking chest infection (currently on 1,000mg of amoxycillin 3x day  ), it’s been rammed, and, well, snow.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Snowmaggedon monday week on latest GFS, get your essential equipment ready, snow shovel, avi packs, snorkels and gopros.
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@polo, that would be most welcome (obvs)
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@under a new name, I should write a long list of caveats about GFS, single run…..but it’s the pattern we’ve been waiting for since last April…..just need it to hold steady for a few days and get the others to join in….even though it’s the week after next odds are sneaking above 50/50 for a proper dump
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The webcams around Morzine just now make bleaking viewing. Mud, grass and the ‘village’ centre has the bleakness of a wet October day. Their own website is showing +13c!
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| polo wrote: |
Snowmaggedon monday week on latest GFS, get your essential equipment ready, snow shovel, avi packs, snorkels and gopros.
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that looks positive. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@polo, well, it's better than a blocking high innit?
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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.
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I wonder what the record is for a resort moving from having lifts closed because too little snow, to having them closed because of too much snow?
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14c at lunchtime at Plaine Dranse, no sun!
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You know it makes sense.
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@pam w, PdS always good for providing entertainment, drama and records so fingers crossed
@under a new name, blocking highs come in many different guises....a classic high lattitude block would be near arctic, certainly greenland / scandi, which forces deep cold into mid lattitudes. With favorable pressure alignment that can lead to incredible powdery snow further south than normal. A scandi high that doesn't get far enough north will generally just bring in dry cold air from the east, so not much good to us in the barren west.
Above chart is also a blocked pattern, although low lattitude (doesn't reach greenland), as it stops the westerly atlantic enslaught of mild air and forces the jet up and over the mid atlantic ridge so it has to dive SE into alps with much colder air wrapped in from the north
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@polo, I'm thinking of the all too typical one that moves in just after new year and keeps it cold but dry until the vacances scolaires ... ok you can run the cannons but ...
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 31-12-22 14:20; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Matt1959 wrote: |
| 14c at lunchtime at Plaine Dranse, no sun! |
A record for NY Eve?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@under a new name, as yes, the euro limpit slug of doom....not necessarily cold, but dry....a block is just a large area of high pressure that keeps the weather dry, but if they set up camp north enough you get cold air advection (CAA) down the eastern flank. And if they set up to our west....boom, we're on the cold snowy side
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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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@polo, Interesting re CAA. Hmmm ...I'm sure I've seen that happen.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Son had a great morning up below Mossettes, finally deep and soft enough to build a mogul line and jump. Not sure why people are worried about Morzine, there’s slopes open for beginners and at NY it’s always better in Avoriaz anyway. Conditions in Avoriaz are still ok and you can ski down to Ardent or Prodains, the later being more fun at the moment than I can ever remember it.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Apologies for non-weather PDS question - I asked in the Trip Report section and didn’t get anything conclusive.
Decent ski service in Morzine / Montriond / Les Gets? I want somewhere that will do base and edge angles properly rather than just rattle them over a coarse stone too many times then wave an iron near them (speaking as ex-ski tech  )
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Avoriaz and Champery currently topping the Wepowder leaderboard for snow forecast over the next few days
(8cm at the top, if you're wondering...)
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@denfinella, but the neck end of a metre next week if things develop as hoped.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@andy from embsay, yes, hopefully! 
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Stop teasing me!
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