It 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 winter of despair.
And so it was in the year of our lord, 2020, winter came early to the alps, too early? On the 26th of September a storm blew through bringing skiable snow above 1800 meters in the Belledonne mountains. A ray of hope for the season to come?
A little ski tour was in order to the Croix de Chamrousse
It had been a few years since I skied snow this early in the year and I always feel such events are a bad omen for the season to come.
The autumn was warm and pleasant, ideal cycling weather with just a bit of high altitude snow. I decided to realize a long term project, cycle the unpaved cormet d'Areche col in the Beaufortain
I was actually worried about finding snow on the climb, there was a bit in the shade and looking over to la Plagne a thin cover from around 2300 meters. With the cold, clear autumn nights already a worrying sign that a dangerous layer of hoar would be forming at altitude. Beware the early snow !
What a beautiful climb though, a reminder of times gone past and it should really be included in the Tour de France sometime. The Jumbo Visma team used it as a training climb a couple of months before I rode it.
November we were back in Lockdown, 1km/1hour from home, which didn't leave a lot of scope for sport. There was snow down to 1600 meters in mid November and it was skiable above 2000 meters. Reports in the second half of November were of worrying unstable conditions in the Galibier sector and Tarentaise with what looked like would be a persistent weak layer in the snowpack.
The 1km rule did let me do a little Covid Compliant rollerski tour around the town
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@davidof, I guess this is a personal blog, but while autumn was generally warm, I managed a few slides
Sep 26th of course as above, then October 27th the 20cm at 1600m in the NW was lovely, and then Nov 20th only 6-7cm fresh at 1600m...but soft grass underneath made it rideable
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Tue 15-06-21 10:25; edited 1 time in total
After all it is free
After all it is free
polo wrote:
@davidof, I guess this is a personal blog,
.
No, not really.
I just thought it would be nice to get away from arguing about stuff we can't do much about. I was planning on going more into planning and safety though which I've touched on already.
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.
Nice! Is it really over yet though? The Chamonixards seem to have only just got started!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
So December rolled in, given the doubts about the snowpack I wasn't about to go heading into the high mountains but on the 4th December we got snow down to valley level. We went from autumn mountain biking to winter overnight. Even better than high mountains, a classic ski tour from the front door around the perimeter of the secret military base
The visibility in the mountains was zero so it was a cunning plan.
The nights are long, or rather the days are short in early December so even with the flexibility of working from home getting out in the afternoon before it gets dark was tricky. So it was a case of taking a nice powerful headlamp for the second ski tour of the season. Despite the recent snow the base wasn't really there so it was a bit lumpy skiing
the environmentalists are against the activity too as it disturbs wildlife at night
but it is fairly marginal.
There are other factors though. It is not for the accident prone. If you have an accident it is harder for the rescue services to help you, the risk of hypothermia is increased, hazards are less easy to spot. If you have an avalanche your companion(s) have to try and organize a rescue in the dark. Meteo France hadn't yet started publishing avalanche bulletins but in general first snow on bare ground is pretty safe to ski so I wasn't too worried about the avalanche risk. We always climb Pravouta mountain via a relatively protected route on the edge of the forest. There have been incidents, 3 deaths even (guys with airbags swept down into the trees and crushed) and someone triggered an avalanche on the face we skied but that would be later in the season.
Nice thread, can't wait for the retro bit i.e. 80's flourescent one piece fartbags and headbands, wolly jumpers, rear entry boots and tight ski pants (females only please) .
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.
December
So all looked good for a great period of Christmas skiing. We were still in semi confinement. 3 hours max out of the house. Coming down from les 7 Laux on the 6th there was a police roadblock and they were checking everyone's papers carefully.
We were kind of hoping ski lifts would open, maybe in early January but I impressed upon Junior that they may not open all season and the only skiing he might get was by walking up with his skis. Or rather he would walk up and I would carry his skis. So we returned to Pravouta for what was possibly the photo opportunity of the season with a spectacular sunset
The skiing was less good than the other day, the road had been "pisted" by the passage of sledges and skiers but on the hill it was soggy snow, you had to search for skiable sections. There had been a thaw and this was going to be typical of the winter with see-saw temperature swings.
The end of the confinement in mid December brought a slew of avalanche incidents as people ventured further afield and began to discover the weak layer we'd been talking about since mid November.
an episode of wind scoured the snowpack leaving frozen old tracks exposed by the 19th December
challenging conditions. It is not all thigh deep powder. The kind of day to be on piste in resort... if the lifts had opened.
The 22nd saw the first avalanche fatality. A guided group triggered an avalanche near the Galibier which buried and killed someone following in their tracks as well as injuring one of the group. The conditions in the sector had been delicate since the start of the season and the route choice was, in my opinion, interesting. If I'd wanted to ski the NE couloir of the Challiol I would probably have stuck to the milder "normal" climb route. The slab, which the group remote triggered, formed in the funnel at the top of the couloir so maybe the whole ridgeline was dangerous given the known weak layer and persistent S/W winds over the previous week.
As we entered the Christmas week there was snow down to low altitudes but not in great quantity below 2200/2500 meters.
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