 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sweetman by name - sweet lady by looks. 
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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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Would agree condition satisfactory but not that fantastic as claimed. May be I went at the wrong time of the year. The webcams did show much snow until one week before I went to Austria but it has stopped since.
Peak time Feb/Mar Chamonix and Tarentaise still had problem spots.
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Pierre-Yves Deleze from the Verbier tourist office is quoted in the article: "We still have great snow and it seems a shame that we will be closing soon even though we still have such great conditions".
It does seem a shame. I remember skiing in deep snow on the last day at Siviez some years ago, and having to put chains on to drive down from Nendaz the next day in a blizzard.
I have read (can't find reference just now) that the standard ski season has failed to follow recent weather changes. The traditional ski season is December to March, but the snow season is January to April.
Maybe time for a rethink.
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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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Does anyone else reckon that Fiona's been using fake tan to get rid of goggle marks?
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Saikee...i think it needs to be taken into account how much worry there was about global warming etc, everyone predicted it was going to be one of the worst seasons ever, and a sign of things to come for the future.
So, it has arguably been pretty good all round when you think about it from that point of view...certainly seems to have been better than the last couple of seasons anyway! (4 metre snow pack in Austria, that surely cant be too bad for April?!)
Just wish the Scotland could share in the luck, but things dont look good for the future there....fingers crossed for a big turnaround in climate change for next year!
Jonpim, i agree on the changing snow timings, tho ski resorts will always want to get punters in over xmas! Why do ski resorts always close at the same time, can they not build in some flexibility...surely there will still be plenty of people willing to work and holidaymakers willing to travel?
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I don't know about fake tan but she's certainly been using somethin judging by this quote:
"I can testify that it has been one of the best season's I can recall. "
Funny, most other people have labelled the season 'mediocre' or 'average', maybe she's not talking about the skiing but about the chalet boyz?
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| tomski01 wrote: |
| Why do ski resorts always close at the same time, can they not build in some flexibility...surely there will still be plenty of people willing to work and holidaymakers willing to travel? |
In France most of the season workers who run lifts, work in hotels etc go to the coast to work in late April, early May. Ski resorts are not really profitable after the big February school holidays.
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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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davidof, maybe it depends where and when you went. I was rained on a the top of Avoriaz in early January, but come the end of that month I was skiing right down to Aime from La Plagne in glorious powder. Friends have just texted that Villars is "Deep and Crisp and Even". Despite Avoriaz, I do think this season has been one of the better ones.
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I think that the impressions of this season are skewed by the massive dumps in January when everyone got so excited. But as with any season, individual experiences depend on how lucky you were with timing.
I got the impression that, in France anyway, the massive January snowfalls gave some great powder days but also meant that the off-piste was tantalisingly out of bounds due to avalanche risk. Then there was a hot dry period that, after a couple of weeks of heaven, caused the pistes to get rock hard and the off-piste to be hideously choppy. Then it was a bit hit and miss after that.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I went for a week in Jan, and last week of March. Both weeks it snowed all week. Maybe I was just lucky/unlucky but my impression of the season was lots of (at times too much) snow.
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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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Jonpim, were you there second week in January? We were in Flaine that week and I haven;t been so wet on skis since rainy dry slope lessons in Halifax while I was at university!
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Well, as i say, its all relative to climate change, id take the conditiond they had this year over the ones they were expecting!
Unfortunately those heady days of the pre 1990's are long gone, damn them fossil fuels!
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You know it makes sense.
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| Jonpim wrote: |
| davidof, maybe it depends where and when you went. |
Yes there have been some great days, and really great weeks but overall I don't think the snow has been that good in France, certainly not below 2000 m in the Saovie and Haute Savoie and not at altitude on the glaciers. Maybe Austria and Switzerland faired much better?
David
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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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| tomski01 wrote: |
| Saikee...i think it needs to be taken into account how much worry there was about global warming etc, everyone predicted it was going to be one of the worst seasons ever |
Funny, all the predictions I saw said it was going to be a great season. This was based on the fact that the winter of 1976 was massive after the long heatwave.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've no real complaints when I skiied: 3rd week in Jan had masses of snow, 3rd week in Feb had masses of snow, and 4th week in March had dodgy snow and warm temperatures, maybe coz it's spring, doh.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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xyzpaul, if it was Spring in March, what season are we in now ? 
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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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Maybe I was just lucky but I git FANTASTIC conditions in the 3V this year. Last week of Feb - two good snow falls and 4 days of clear skies and -15 degrees C. We had those rare conditions when the powder is so light it gets caught in thermals and rises into the air like glitter. The avalanche risk was moderate (3) but I'm afraid that didn't stop us from doing a little hiking for turns.
Friends were there in late Jan and reported loads of snow.
Are people being a bit picky here?
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| jedster wrote: |
The avalanche risk was moderate (3) but I'm afraid that didn't stop us from doing a little hiking for turns.
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3 = considerable.
| jedster wrote: |
| Are people being a bit picky here? |
I was just giving my opinion on the season overall.
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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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It's easy to forget the conditions early on. December and early Jan were terrible after the hike in temperatures. At one point in January it rained up to 3000m in the Savoie. Perhaps conditions are less predictable these days - you can have a really decent dump over a few days of arctic weather and suddenly high temperatures and a strong south-easterly take over and you can almost watch the snow disappear. Not something you'd expect in January.
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Just back from Zermatt. It was getting pretty icy by tues - and then when we got up on Wed morning there had been a massive dump - best snow we have seen for years....... what a fab end to our hol. Anyone who arrived Thus/Fri for Easter was in for a real treat
And when we travelled back through France on Thurs (Jura) there were just miles upon miles of snow.... Pretty good end to the season I'd say!
Spent the whole morning plotting next year xx
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My son has been skiing the 3 valleys all season and the problem (judging from the calls home) has not been lack of snow but the warm temperatures which have meant that it has been like porridge in the afternoon for some weeks now.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| PG wrote: |
| It's easy to forget the conditions early on. December and early Jan were terrible after the hike in temperatures. |
Pete, you are off message - the word on the streets fozzie is it was a bumper season:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,6903,1189464,00.html
and you'd better book your Christmas break now or there will be nothing left!
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davidof, when will people learn that the low of averages is always in operation? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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From a press release issued today by the Swiss Ski Resorts Association "The ski resorts say the season was good but not exceptional... with a very poor January, fortunately visitor numbers picked up in February". Alain Cuche of the Chasseral ski resort in the Swiss Jura said it was "ok but nothing more".
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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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Here in Isere (Les Deux Alpes particularly), it's been very cold for most of the winter. Lots of wind but pretty good snow. It's the first time I can remember that the Combe de Thuit (a run going down a valley to about 1700m) was skiable at Christmas and is still good. By the way it's still snowing and was -13 on the glacier this morning!
It all depends on which way the wind blows.
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| easiski wrote: |
| Here in Isere (Les Deux Alpes particularly), it's been very cold for most of the winter. Lots of wind but pretty good snow. It's the first time I can remember that the Combe de Thuit (a run going down a valley to about 1700m) was skiable at Christmas and is still good. |
whereas if you look at the Meteo France monitoring station near les Deux Alpes situated at 2950 meters you get another picture:
http://www.meteo.fr/temps/france/nivose/pics/ECRIN.gif
Showing some extremely warm periods in December, January and March and a general see-sawing of the weather. Meteo France has said that "l'enneigement est souvent inférieur aux moyennes, notamment sur Grandes Rousses et Oisans" all winter. (Below average snow cover).
If you take Christmas as a snapshot - you could ski down to Grenoble on Christmas day, but a couple of days before there was hardly any snow below 2000 meters and certainly no base.
I'm not saying we havn't had some great days skiing but looking at slopes below 2000 meters the season doesn't warrant all the hyperbole being heaped upon it by the press.
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