 Poster: A snowHead
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Just hypothetically musing as I’m a permanently a glass half empty pessimistic who’s convinced that a freak tropical rain storm will wash away all the snow in the next week before I go.
If it was a week till your ski trip which would provided the best ski conditions (assuming conditions pretty good at the moment)? A 25cm dump of snow today then no snow till I go or a 2cm light fall each day till I go?
As a poste skier who occasionally ventures onto the easier I groomed stiff which scenario would be best?
And when people say book last minute depending on snow at what point in advance can you (reasonably) safely say that conditions are ok and it’s fine to book?
As I say all hypothetical as my trip in 7 days was booked several months ago and we’re going even if there’s only one narrow strip of man made snow left to ski on!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2cm each day
At least the groomers will have something fresh to groom each evening.
And snow 7 days in a row means cold temperatures, which will preserve the existing snow.
Where you headed?
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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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yup
2cm a day.
25cm dump will just get hard packed otherwise.
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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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@TommyJ, you must not judge alpine snow fall on the experience of what you see in the UK.
"when people say book last minute depending on snow at what point in advance can you (reasonably) safely say that conditions are ok and it’s fine to book?"
I can only speak for my local area but on NY's eve I was chatting about the snowfall at that point with one of the senior pisteurs/snow patrol for Argentiere and his firm opinion was that there was enough snow to last till the end of the season, no matter what happened. So this year, you could happily have booked on Dec 31 for Easter, with complete confidence.
This is not entirely normal!
2cms a day is probably not even enough to wet the groomers tracks. But @Mike Pow is as you would expect entirely correct in that you would at least have cold ambients.
Where are you going that you are so worried? Most of my local chums (I live in the big city) are now complaining about what a long hard winter's it's been and some sunshine would be nice.
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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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@TommyJ, I'm not the only one then 
For last week I have been checking webcams everyday and have never seen as much snow the week before I go - with more forecast. Should the freak heatwave arrive I'll take shorts and go walking
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Like I say it’s all hypothetical and a bit lighthearted. I’m off to Banff in a week and conditions look great. Mind you we went 2yrs ago when it was rather warm and locals were complaining how poor it was. To us it was fine!
I was wondering after a forecast website said something like 40cm in next 7 days and I was wondered if that would be best falling as one big dump or lots of light snowfall.
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No need to worry. Canadian rockies have had a fantastic season so theres plenty of snow. No danger of pistes getting "washed away". Not sure what forecast you saw but local forecasts are suggesting around a cm per day so wouldn't expect 40cm!
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| locals were complaining how poor it was. To us it was fine! |
Pretty normal. Locals get spoilt with the best conditions, so anything below that is considered not so good.
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2cm a day - but that's not really enough to get excited about anyway. Just enough to stop groomers deteriorating too much. This time of year it's all about the sun effects between snowfalls and overnight/daytime temps more than snowfall per se.
The question would be better would you rather have a guaranteed 1m pow day or 7 days of 15cm each - then you get into a real dilemma, 15cm isn't enough to make any day epic but you blow your load in one day in the former case (let's assume for the purposes of this that no incremental avy hazard is associated with the 1m)
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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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Well here in Ski Amade the forcast this week has been for a small snowfall each day this week - and today we were skiing in over a foot of fresh powder in the off-piste! Don't know where you are going, but here in Austria conditions at present are absolutely perfect, and the snow is deep enough to ensure good conditions until the end of the season, regardless of what happens now.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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With fat skis these days you may as well be on groomers anyway so 5-10cms overnight with blue skys and cold all day is perfect.
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
| With fat skis these days you may as well be on groomers anyway so 5-10cms overnight with blue skys and cold all day is perfect. |
Wahey
Froback Friday!
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You know it makes sense.
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2cm isn't great, but you're answering in context of the OP, which is quite specific. One meter a day isn't great either, because you're probably not riding anything steep that day, and anything mellow you can't penetrate.
It depends what you want. If you're a piste person then I suppose you want good snow cover. That's a seasonal thing and most places have good cover most of the time. Just don't go somewhere they're having a bad season (eg Utah now) in a bad season. If you do it'll probably be ok, but it's just riskier to do that.
If you're looking for off piste then you probably want it without tracks, or without too many. In that case you are way more picky of your snow, and you'll understand why the locals at a resort will call it "brutal" whilst the tourists are excited because there are no bare patches. The locals don't bother riding old garbage off piste... and if that's your thing then you don't want to go there at that time, or if you do then you have to settle for on piste instead.
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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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I’m off to Avoriaz in a weeks time and haven’t had any worries about the snowbase since about Jan (it’s been a crazy season).
The only thing concerning me is around receiving a different kind of wrong snowfall i.e rain!! Temps seem to be rising into next week.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm not sure about this ambient point.
This time of year, the key think is that you get a refreeze over night. Some of the most disappointing conditions in the spring are when it stays mild and overcast so what was slush in the afternoon is still slush in the morning - everything just gets wetter and wetter. Even if night time temperatures arent low, if you have clear skies the snow radiates and refreezes and then you get the positive transform cycles that make spring conditions what they should be.
Personally I'd prefer mainly clear nights with the occasional dump to continual cloudy conditions in late March.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@jedster, tthat makes sense.
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FAQ
Now in Amsterdam to pick up our flight to Calgary tomorrow morning 
he he he 
