 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm sure this is of little interest but to change the mood a recap of my season; 2019/2020 was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the autumn of hope, it was the spring of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.
The season started, or the summer ended with a 1km vertical rollerski race up the Semnoz from Annecy
le Semnoz, made in la Yaute
down in the valley it was still warm and sunny but at 2000 meters there was a chill in the air
and the Grand Casse had a first dusting of snow as I rode over the new Col de la Loze between Meribel and Courchevel in October
Col de la Loze
winter still hadn't really arrived at the end of October, the high alpine cols were still open for cycling
Col du Mont Ceniso
but that all changed on the 8th November when a stormed dumped enough snow for ski touring
and the season was underway for both Alpine
Les 7 Laux, November 2019
ski touring and Cross country
Chamrousse, November 2019
Vallon de Venetier
It was a winter of making first tracks, more times than I'd imagined
of epic night descents
New Year's eve in the Chartreuse
of early starts
Avalanche control, les 7 laux
of beautiful sunsets
Charmant Som, Chartreuse
of contrasts
le Collet d'Allevard, Pre rond
of new challenges
Chamonix
of discovering new slopes where we had already skied 1000 times before
les 7 laux
of learning to love the gnarr
Les 7 Laux, la Jasse
of revisiting old haunts
Comma Couloir, Chartreuse
but finally coming to a premature end in mid March 2020
Crust skiing, la Chartreuse
Worst of times because although we skied continuously from mid November snow was really lacking below 1500 meters and many of the small ski areas we know and love failed to open this winter.
Around 70 days skiing in total... we'll see if the confinement is lifted before the snow finally melts on 2020.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 28-03-20 19:03; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Excellent post. Well done sir.
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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, fascinating post and stunning pics 
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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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davidof, Great post, love 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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Very good post @davidof, fabulous record.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Excellent. Thanks.
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Super post, I've hiked up Charmant Som (Grand Som too). I suspect if we were still open it would be pretty poor now, no snow really for 3 weeks and warm temperatures too. Snow actually pretty good here while we were open, I managed 53 far more relaxed days.
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Excellent.
That's better than most people see in a lifetime
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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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Great stuff! How old’s junior?
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70 ski days! Is your work hiring...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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| Claude B wrote: |
| Super post, I've hiked up Charmant Som (Grand Som too). I suspect if we were still open it would be pretty poor now, no snow really for 3 weeks and warm temperatures too. Snow actually pretty good here while we were open, I managed 53 far more relaxed days. |
Yes snow is getting a bit thin now around here, it was never great in terms of depth this winter (much better in the Savoie further north). However there is incoming tomorrow, who can resist? We'll see if the gendarmerie is out in force. The problem we had with lack of snow this winter is apart from the ski resorts most roads top out at 1200 meters max, so there was a 300 vertical meter gap to reach skiable snow most of the season and no base when the snow was lower, so ski touring had to take a back seat as I don't have the inclination to travel much.
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Good post.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Great stuff! How old’s junior? |
he's 15 now. He's not really into off piste.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Meltus wrote: |
| 70 ski days! Is your work hiring... |
they are but to be honest it can be calm or busy, this winter it has been fairly calm work wise. I suspect with the corona virus we'll be lucky to have jobs at all next winter.
Anyway Macron wants us to work a 60 hour week to "relaunch the economy". The recent emergency legislation effectively scrapped the 35 hour week for an indefinite period.
@weathercam I'll have a look at that Strava view if I can access it. I rarely do a full day's sking and some days are just an 1h or 1h30 on snow.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@davidof, that's all I do when skiing piste, that's just a calendar view of a months activity, does not detail daily time unless you click on the activity, just a quick diary reference.
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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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In BC the story's a bit different. From my data, February was truly epic, and there were overall more fresh-tracks powder days in the truncated season than in the previous season. 2019/20 was actually a marginal improvement. The day count was down from the season before that, mind.
I'd not be making any voluntary bets on next season at this point. Probably there will be lots of powder... getting to it may be a bit of a challenge.
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FAQ
Getting on a plane with potentially virus carriers in the early days of the outbreak when very little is known about the virus (only “known” thing about it is it kills hundred in a single day 
) was emotionally draining. 
