 Poster: A snowHead
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@DJL, @Nadenoodlee, I am well impressed with the tills at that Decathlon. Throw all your items in a bin and some RF trickery works out what it is and how much. I was due to fly out yesterday but had to delay till tomorrow but should still get two days skiing in. Looks like I didnt miss much today but my friend who flew in from CPH has been trying to find things to do. You might meet him in Decathlon 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Snowing in Les prodains right now! apparently all of avoriaz shutfrom prodains express upwards and it’s properly blowing a gale up there.
Looking forward to some nice new snow and sunshine tomorrow, fingers crossed!!
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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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@Nadenoodlee, indeed and the parking now means you don't even get wet on the way in.
Steady snow now in Chatel after a bit of thunder and strong wind. Settling on the cars and tomorrow looks very promising if it keeps getting cooler. 2C now at 1300m
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Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz closed due to high winds and thunder right now.
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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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Storm has passed and skies brightening. Morzine mostly open now but Les Gets completely closed (bar baby slope in village) and have not updated their website ‘lifts opening’ page for the last two hours. Disappointing from Les Gets.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tell me it has stopped raining!!
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The first really grim day of the season. Much of the mountain shut, high winds, and rain, which turned to sleet later at 1000m. Shall go up tomorrow and see what's what...
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On the way down to Thonon around 1300 the snow had stopped leaving a very clear snow line on the trees at around 1300m. Quite sunny in Thonon by late afternoon. A success in Decathlon - daughter got new ski pants and gloves. I got a fleece helmet liner for €2! Fewer than 5 items. Shopping for the week done in Cora.
We got back to Chatel around 18.30 and by then it was 4C. After the usual Monday night "Pot d'accuil" (free vin chaud) it was snowing very lightly.
Positive thoughts - fresh snow nicely pisted for tomorrow and I've got 2 free PDS days from my accumulated points.
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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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Yes it's been a bit grim. I didn't get my lunchtime lesson, it got rescheduled from avoriaz to morzine. I rode prodains down, got the bus round to pleney and then queued in the pouring rain for pleney lift, just got to the front and the lift closed. So didn't get to lesson and my instructor gave me a lift back to avoriaz. Still rescheduled for tomorrow, so should be able to enjoy it more in better weather.
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Well what a difference from yesterday. Nearly everything we skied today had great snow. High up a bit of fresh around the sides of the piste and everywhere had decent piste conditions. Petit Chatel-Super Chatel-Morgins (downloaded on the chair but noticed a few had skied the closed runs) then round the circuit through Champoussin and Les Crosets. Gave Avoriaz a miss and headed over Grand Conche down to Lindarets and back to Plaine Dranse for lunch. Then to Linga, new lifts via Vonnes to Super Chatel and back to where we started.
Some of the higher pistes a bit wind scoured but the firm stuff left took an edge. Only significant queues were at Chalet Neuf drags which had technical problems and the big 8 man in Les Crosets.
Hoping for more of the same tomorrow before the rain comes back on Thursday.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| DJL wrote: |
Well what a difference from yesterday. Nearly everything we skied today had great snow. High up a bit of fresh around the sides of the piste and everywhere had decent piste conditions. Petit Chatel-Super Chatel-Morgins (downloaded on the chair but noticed a few had skied the closed runs) then round the circuit through Champoussin and Les Crosets. Gave Avoriaz a miss and headed over Grand Conche down to Lindarets and back to Plaine Dranse for lunch. Then to Linga, new lifts via Vonnes to Super Chatel and back to where we started.
Some of the higher pistes a bit wind scoured but the firm stuff left took an edge. Only significant queues were at Chalet Neuf drags which had technical problems and the big 8 man in Les Crosets.
Hoping for more of the same tomorrow before the rain comes back on Thursday. |
That is really encouraging thank you! Hoping it holds out for our arrival on Sunday.
Really like Plaine Dranse btw - great mushroom pasta!
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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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That said I didn't ski yesterday, spent e day in Decathlon in Thonon.
The snow won't disappear by the weekend however hard it rains on Thursday!
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I'm reading snow Thursday, rain sat and Sunday. But it changes every day, so I'm trying not to look any more
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You know it makes sense.
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Yeah rain at weekend followed by a good few days of snow to below village level. Better than the other way round....
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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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Not too bad today on the top half of the mountain. Bottom half a bit mashed potato. Aspect makes a lot of difference.
Not sure what to do tomorrow. I really dislike skiing in the rain to the point I don't do it but....maybe a gondola first lift and stay dry until it gets to the upper half where it might be snowing. One to call in the morning.
Coffee and tarte aux myrtilles still as good as ever at the top of Braitaz and one of the best views in the PDS whilst you enjoy it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Snowing lightly in Les Gets at village level. Lots of rain earlier.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I’m arriving in Chatel to ski Fri-Sun. Is it really going to be raining? Or will it be snow higher up. It’s so grim skiing soaking wet. Makes me think it won’t be worth the ski pass and hire.
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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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Biblical rain in Morzine overnight, so heavy the noise on the roof kept waking me. If forescast is correct it may a wet weekend unfortunately
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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It was snow ( about 1" and -3c ) at 1250m, which was a surprise this AM.
Very high winds in the night and a few trees down.
Clamer now.
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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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Wind woke me in the night in Chatel but I didn't hear any rain (though there may have been some). Woke to snow, looks pretty wet and around 2 cm at 1300m in Petit Chatel. 3C on the balcony according to my weather station. Trees all white as far as I can see up and down the valley so at least down to 1100m.
Now to decide where to go. Suspect there's a fair bit of snow higher up.
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| DJL wrote: |
Wind woke me in the night in Chatel but I didn't hear any rain (though there may have been some). Woke to snow, looks pretty wet and around 2 cm at 1300m in Petit Chatel. 3C on the balcony according to my weather station. Trees all white as far as I can see up and down the valley so at least down to 1100m.
Now to decide where to go. Suspect there's a fair bit of snow higher up. |
Hope you find some! Weekend and next Tuesday looking a bit pants but rest of week looking good!
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How much snow needs to fall, for the roads back from morzine to be a pain ( in winter tyres ), just thinking of traffic planning - would be coming down the mountain Tuesday afternoon, when a fall of 7cm is predicted at resort level.
probably perfectly fine, but hey you know how we panic
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Just arrived in morzine. Was snowing in les gets on the way through. Assume its snowing on the mountain.
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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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@Paul Chittenden, Who is predicting "7cms" on Tuesday? Chamonix Meteo (reel hoomans) are only predicting out to Saturday, and then only in general, not in detail...
Anyway, 7cms probably no worries for you with your winter tyres but maybe a pain when the cars in front don't have winters and are blocking the road...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@under a new name, Chamonix is far enough away to have very different weather to PdS. Chamonix town is also lower than most PdS villages, so not all forecasts are referring to the same altitude.
You keep mentioning that these guys at Cham Meteo are real people, which is really cool  as most forecasters presuambly are robots? Is there any chance they use computer models though? In any case, they are only human, and subject to making some terrible calls, see Chamonix thread page 6, when you / they didn't see a big dump coming, prediciting only 5-10cm, when about 40cm fell and then another 1m in the days after.
The most relevant local forecasts are here on this site, as well as Chatel web, and even wepowder (as it has high enough resolution). All by real people, using computers models and local knowledge.
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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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@polo, I agree with you up to a point. However I still find the Chamonix Meteo forecasts useful for the wider Haute Savoie region because of the level of detail and the fact that it's text-based rather than pictorial / table-based. As long as you know the broader weather setup (e.g. what direction snowfall is coming from, is it a cold front, warm front or is it just instability causing showers, etc.) - which Chamonix Meteo also provides - you can apply this to the forecast and adjust it accordingly for nearby resorts.
When in that part of the Alps (admittedly only about once a year!), I usually use Chamonix Meteo, Wetterzentrale's charts (especially as they show the level of certainty between the ensembles) and Snowforecast's (for the snowfall maps, because they're easier to understand than GFS) all at the same time to build a picture of what's happening. Wepowder is useful for trip planning and powder hunting but I'm not convinced it adds anything for piste skiers that the above trio don't already provide.
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@polo, not debating the distance point (I mean, it's a reality) but Chamonix Meteo is still (as @denfinella, says), the best real live forecast for the general area.
I am not convinced it actually is much lower than "most" PdS villages?
Most online forecasts at location level (e.g. No-Forecast) are robots.
& it is well known that forecasting quantities of precipitation is hard to do.
Beyond that I don't know what your point is 
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You know it makes sense.
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My point is, it's just another resource, and I haven't seen any evidence that it's the best for the general area. The most relevant daily live / human forecast is surely Chatel web.
Cham meteo from what I recall only look out a few days....which is great for finer detail of the specific resort, but the general weather set up for 50-100km area is pretty well modelled at 0-4 days. In my view forecasting skill is more about the 4-8 day period. Some take it much further, but am talking in terms of what's useful / reliable for ski resorts and booking trips.
Cham ski area goes a lot higher obviously but here are the main resorts for comparison Avoriaz 1800m, Chatel 1201m, Les Gets 1172m, Chamonix 1008, Morzine 1000m.
A few hundred meters can be the difference in people reporting rain / snow at resort.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Thu 7-03-19 16:40; edited 2 times in total
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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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Drove up to PLJ expecting rain and high winds. Lady in the ticket office warned us that the top lifts would be closed, only roschasson open.took the plunge and bought the lift pass which turned out to be a good decision. Snowed for much of the day, lift system started to open up, the crowds stayed at home and apart from some foggy bits was a really good day. Home tomorrow.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@polo, just in my experience generally since 1988 (when it was used as the principal forecast by Morzine Tourist Office (I know that as it was what I based my morning radio forecast on)). And everyone else I know in the general area.
Cham will look out further if they they think there's any value to it and they will comment on the reliability.
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A few hundred meters can be the difference in people reporting rain / snow at resort.
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Nothing like the bleedin' obvious, eh?
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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 wrote: |
| @polo, not debating the distance point (I mean, it's a reality) but Chamonix Meteo is still (as @denfinella, says), the best real live forecast for the general area. |
Just to be clear, I didn't actually say that Chamonix Meteo is the best real live forecast for the general area. I just said that I find it useful. I don't know / haven't used any other local forecast providers, so for all I know there might be a better one. Though I do know that Chamonix Meteo seems to be highly regarded.
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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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We faffed greatly, ummed and ahhed for long enough whilst it went between snow, sleet and rain and then decided to go up. Started from Vonnes at about 11.45 where it was just on the snow/rain limit. Kept coming down most of the afternoon with the odd pause and (rare) sunny interval. Mostly snow falling in the Super Chatel/Morgins/Petit Chatel area. Plenty of wind.
As far as snow conditions go it has greatly improved. Really quite decent up at the top (say above 1600m). Can't say there was any "powder" but lots of fresh snow about and good fun off the side of the piste. Not easy to estimate depths with all the wind but at least 10cm, maybe more. No queues. Hardly any people on some of the runs (Morgins particularly).
It's now cleared up and I'm back in the apartment - blue sky and fluffy white clouds, wouldn't you know it.
On the forecast front I always look at Chamonix Météo alongside Chas's Chatelsnowreport forecast. Both produced by humans using multiple models.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@denfinella, I am not aware of any other local forecast providers... other than the Chatel one referred... it may well be better for e.g. Morzine and Les Gets. Would be interesting to compare and contrast.
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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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Great fun skiing in Avoriaz yesterday in changeable conditions - after a morning of heavy snow, the best skiing was over lunchtime when the sun broke through and we squeezed in some great runs down from Chaux Fleurie lift into the lindatets bowl. Weather soon closed in though.
Woken this morning to light fluffy snow and no wind!
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Lightly snowing in Petit Chatel and very grey skies. Off to explore shortly.
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Snow and rain pretty much held off all day. Low cloud and wind were in evidence however.
Headed over to Avoriaz via Lindarets. Blue run down from Rochassons ridge was very nice at about 11.15 (late start  ). Down through Avoriaz and skied Crot to the chair up above Coupe du Monde. CdM (now appears to be called Jean Vuarnet) was very bumpy and not easy in the cloud. Coffee stop at the little bar down the cat track. From there down to Prodains got increasingly mashed potato.
Up to the top of Arare and then down to Changabang for lunch. Snow in good nick. Changabang has been refurbished, no snowboard shop, no graffiti, more seats, same burgers.
Back over to Plaine Dranse (good snow on the rundown to Chaux Fleurie chair) then a few runs on the Chatel side finishing with some fooling around on Donkey's and down to PLJ. All good piste conditions apart from the very last bit down to the Pierre Longue chair which was soft artificial stuff.
All in all mostly in decent shape. Hope tomorrow's forecast rain doesn't spoil it. I think that's it for us this trip, I don't fancy skiing in the rain tomorrow.
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@DJL, was the CdM not always called the Juan Vuarnet? Although as he passed away not so long ago...
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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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Just looking at various forecasts there and while its going to rain to around 1800m the originally forecast torrential rain for tomorrow now seems be somewhat lighter and patchy in nature. Sunday snow level dropping as the day goes on. Next week a full return to winter with plenty of snow. if it plays out like that will have no complaints
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Great day! Popped over the Swiss side and got blessed by some sunshine. Back to Avoriaz and the clouds had set in. Bit of light snow early evening.
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