 Poster: A snowHead
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| Astontech wrote: |
| Looks like a lot of cloud around next week which I haven’t really experienced whilst skiing before. Any tips to make the most of those conditions? |
If possible, tree-lined runs to help with slope definition, better still if you get fresh snow and are proficient to ski in the trees like below.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Weathercam wrote: |
| Astontech wrote: |
| Looks like a lot of cloud around next week which I haven’t really experienced whilst skiing before. Any tips to make the most of those conditions? |
If possible, tree-lined runs to help with slope definition, better still if you get fresh snow and are proficient to ski in the trees like below.
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I will be in a resort that doesn’t have much below 2000m unfortunately so tree skiing maybe a little tricky
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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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Low light lenses on you goggles, use the poles on side of pistes to get your bearings. Trees are the best. Otherwise just trust your skis and glide on. May not be as cloudy as you think and some cloud is fine provided there is still definition on the piste.
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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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@polo, cheers for this.
Driving down as far as Beaune on Friday, then up to Ste Foy for Saturday.
Looks like at least a light dusting to freshen things up.
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Interesting stand off now, most models, I’d say at least 4 including ECM, AI, continue to slide east and bring colder air (sub 0) to N and W alps from 13-16th. But GFS and UKMO are holding the trough further SW, keeping alps at +4c on average. Should get resolved tomorrow
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Decent goggles
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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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it was raining heavily as we flew out of Lyon last night.....dont know if that drifted towards the alps
themikeski - we were in ste foy for the weekend.....pistes in great shape although certain spots could do with a top up....it was very warm, so heavy on the runs back to station
resort was very quiet, absolute zero lift queues.
PS - not sure if you ve been SF before but a restaurant now back on form in SF is la bergerie.......hadnt used for last 5 years or so, due to bad service, bad food etc.......but yesterday great lunch menu and reasonably priced plus decent portions. apologies for off topic
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Best fresh snow in many weeks at Bonneval-Sur-Arc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@stefoy4me, Thanks for the 'live' update, appreciated. 1st visit, so lots to discover!
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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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UKMO slides east in line with the others, GFS getting there too, reluctantly folding each hand. So looking better now for the north and west, to join the south with fresh snow 12-13th and into the weekend. The northern arm of the jet getting better positioned to bring sub zero temps to parts and a certain level of disruption generally....it looks showery and scattered NW with a variable snowline, more than you'd usually get with standard NW/N flow....this is weak NE flow meeting strong SW flow somewhere over France.
l'd expect widespread snow to reasonable levels, given the time of year. Hoping for 10-20cm to 1500m in the NW, although some of it could be soggy, the temps should stay low until sunday, so as long as we finish with cold snow it could be good when the sun comes back.
ICON has been steady the last few days, so here's it's view on fresh snow to Sat morning
And with more influence from the north, GEM shows how cold it could get by sunday....just one model, but not out of the question
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| polo wrote: |
UKMO slides east in line with the others, GFS getting there too, reluctantly folding each hand. So looking better now for the north and west, to join the south with fresh snow 12-13th and into the weekend. The northern arm of the jet getting better positioned to bring sub zero temps to parts and a certain level of disruption generally....it looks showery and scattered NW with a variable snowline, more than you'd usually get with standard NW/N flow....this is weak NE flow meeting strong SW flow somewhere over France.
l'd expect widespread snow to reasonable levels, given the time of year. Hoping for 10-20cm to 1500m in the NW, although some of it could be soggy, the temps should stay low until sunday, so as long as we finish with cold snow it could be good when the sun comes back.
ICON has been steady the last few days, so here's it's view on fresh snow to Sat morning
And with more influence from the north, GEM shows how cold it could get by sunday....just one model, but not out of the question
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Thanks for the overview. Looks like repeated fronts largely from the SW. much optimism for sun by EOD Monday in France?
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You know it makes sense.
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For sure, the sun always comes out. It’s getting rid of it that’s harder. Obviously a week away but pattern is roughly light dry easterly, so should be fine
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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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What is the forecast for the Tignes or Les Arcs area for the weekend and Monday 17th?
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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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@polo, a nice predicted recovery for the end of the week , much better than some models had predicted. Enjoy your weekend
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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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Chamonix meteo are calling for 10-20cm mid week and then a snow line down to 1100m by the weekend. Looks consistent with most of the forecasts I check and they’re usually pretty accurate. Probably not quite the same forecast for Avoriaz where I’m heading on Friday but won’t be too far off.
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@Le Grand Renard, cheers, it’s funny looking back at the first charts I put up that piqued my interest GFS was actually the most accurate (for wed 12th), in terms of northerly influence / isobars / pressure. But it quickly went way off course, showing the lows over Spain and mild +4 to +8 dry outlook for N and W alps.
Never bet against ECM/AIFS though, along with ICON and GEM, these models stayed on the right track, so it was an interesting stand off for such a short lead time. Also noteworthy was only one of the 30 GFS ensembles showed this outcome over several days of runs….so the whole suite was wrong footed at just t+96. Rumours that they may have suffered from budget cuts….less data…but probably idle speculation.
Anyway here in the NW nearly all of the mild +4c air has been scrubbed, snow to 1500m tomorrow, 1100m thurs, probably dry Friday, then heavier potentially again on Saturday down to below 1000m…..place will be transformed
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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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@polo, thanks for insights. What of the big SSW and vortex collapse? Did I sleep through it? Being tempted by cheap flights 8th April to PDS. Think Avoriaz/Chatel still to be open. All best.
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@MajorMarmaduke, good question, the effects will likely be felt for at least a month. Initially it’s arguable whether this weeks change was due to the strat, some experts say no, but to me it looked like AO and NAO dropped as soon as the strat wind reversal locked in, and we saw the big shift west in high pressure…..northern blocking. You can also see -ve wind anomalies at both the top and bottom layers this week, before recovering again, so at a minimum we saw sudden and correlated changes in both strat and trop.
But the real fireworks have not started….you’d expect a week or two until downwelling really disrupts surface conditions. Some signs popping up from 20th on, but no consensus yet. And of course even if we do see arctic lows reaching mid latitudes soon, the alps could well be on the wrong side of any jet wobbles. So all I can say is potential is higher than usual for a big event.
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We’re off to avoriaz on the 29th so I am remaining hopeful! So long as there’s enough snow for the kids to learn it will be fine.
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Been watching with interest, thinking of another last minute trip somewhere but can't go until 22nd at the earliest
Last edited by After all it is free  on Tue 11-03-25 17:21; edited 1 time in total
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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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| polo wrote: |
@Le Grand Renard, cheers, it’s funny looking back at the first charts I put up that piqued my interest GFS was actually the most accurate (for wed 12th), in terms of northerly influence / isobars / pressure. But it quickly went way off course, showing the lows over Spain and mild +4 to +8 dry outlook for N and W alps.
Never bet against ECM/AIFS though, along with ICON and GEM, these models stayed on the right track, so it was an interesting stand off for such a short lead time. Also noteworthy was only one of the 30 GFS ensembles showed this outcome over several days of runs….so the whole suite was wrong footed at just t+96. Rumours that they may have suffered from budget cuts….less data…but probably idle speculation.
Anyway here in the NW nearly all of the mild +4c air has been scrubbed, snow to 1500m tomorrow, 1100m thurs, probably dry Friday, then heavier potentially again on Saturday down to below 1000m…..place will be transformed |
What totals are you expecting in the NW from now until the weekend? And what days look snowiest?
Seems Wed into Thurs could be snowy.
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@Astontech, I'd only be repeating what's out there on the web....finger in the air stuff, look at Cham Met, Wepowder, Meteociel, YR etc...You can get surprising amounts of steady snow with this relatively slack air and deep enough low pressure (ie the sub 540 dam from tomorrow evening on).....but at the same time, it's not like a massive organised front coming in from the NW where you know it's gonna hammer down for 12-24hrs.
Apart from my hopecast of 10-20cm at 1500m, thurs-sat looks the peak, though each run and model chopping around as they aren't great at that micro detail
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| polo wrote: |
@Astontech, I'd only be repeating what's out there on the web....finger in the air stuff, look at Cham Met, Wepowder, Meteociel, YR etc...You can get surprising amounts of steady snow with this relatively slack air and deep enough low pressure (ie the sub 540 dam from tomorrow evening on).....but at the same time, it's not like a massive organised front coming in from the NW where you know it's gonna hammer down for 12-24hrs.
Apart from my hopecast of 10-20cm at 1500m, thurs-sat looks the peak, though each run and model chopping around as they aren't great at that micro detail |
ARPGE favouring possibly clear conditions on Thursday after a snowy Tues eve through Wednesday, would make for fantastic skiing.
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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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@Astontech, you might be right, quite a few 12z reducing the fri-sat numbers, maybe thurs will be best. All relative of course, much deeper in Italy, but fresh tracks and grippy pistes will do nicely
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| polo wrote: |
| @Astontech, you might be right, quite a few 12z reducing the fri-sat numbers, maybe thurs will be best. All relative of course, much deeper in Italy, but fresh tracks and grippy pistes will do nicely |
What does your Italy comment refer to? Wednesdays snow or just in general?
I can concur Italy snow is much better. I am staying in La Ros which has been ok the last 2 days but worlds apart from La Thuile. Hoping to get over there for the full day Thursday.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Astontech, hmmmm, I have free passes for there (PdS extras), don't tempt me.....yeah south side still in in line to get much more than north this week, probably best further east though
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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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How's the Valais looking ? In particular 4 valleys.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| polo wrote: |
| @Astontech, hmmmm, I have free passes for there (PdS extras), don't tempt me.....yeah south side still in in line to get much more than north this week, probably best further east though |
Definitely worth the drive, at 2200m this morning it was excellent. It’s about 45m from Les Eucherts over to the top of La Thuile. Looks to fair well over the next week too. I’ll be heading there Thursday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Heading to obertauern next week starting Monday- seems like the forecasts are dropping for the total snow count but temperatures should be low and provide for great skiing?
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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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@Tubby1147, done that last year in exactly the same week.
All pistes and restaurants will be open and fully working.
If you are proficient with slush, we drove to Flachau for a day
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Not a particularly great set of overnight runs for the NW. still the opportunity for a few cm today/overnight but totals over the 5 days are certainly down. Not much sun either.
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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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We had Flachau in mind as we are staying in Altenmarkt! Perhaps if the weather stays cold we will try it out
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@Astontech, not worried....GFS etc often struggles with short term snowfall, even the short range models like Arome, WRF, Arpege.
Tomorrow and Sat were always likely to be the best days for snow....so let's see how it pans out tonight when the pressure drops further. Should be snow to villages.
Out to sunday
GFS, WRF 10-15cm, Arpege 20cm, while Arome has 10cm just tonight
And flicking thru the 13 mid range models here for Haute Savoie out to Sunday lunch, I count 9 yellows (30+cm) and 4 greens (15-20cm). Higher numbers further south around Annecy. These are total ppn, so should be all snow above 1700-1800m, and a bit less at 1200m obvs. Charts auto update every few hours, so colour / totals will change.
These models nearly always over do it, so am sticking with 10-20cm.
https://meteologix.com/fr/model-charts/deu-hd/haute-savoie/accumulated-precipitation/20250316-1200z.html
Could be some sunny spells tomorrow / friday inbetween showers.....and Monday looking more variable now but ECM says sunny.
And looking at the latest day 10 Ops from 6 different models.....firming up potential on switch to W-NW flow weekend 22-23
     
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What great information! Thank you so much!
For weekend skiing with the best possible visibility and well-groomed slopes (not too much new snow), which area near Grenoble do you recommend? Tignes, Megeve, Les Arcs, 3 Valleys, Alpe d'Huez?
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| Ichure wrote: |
| not too much new snow |
You're blocked 
I don't know any more than what the web is showing....so take your pick.....of the 3 of those that I've been to, I'd go Les Arcs, but am sure they will all be good.
Cham Meteo latest bulletin is "20-30cm to 1500m" by tomorrow, they are not expecting much after that, usual uncertainty, but also mentions a sunny monday
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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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Snow for a few days and sun from Monday would be perfect - Ste Foy on Saturday for a week!
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Does this weather suggest we should take the snow chains with us, or do we think the socks will suffice with this amount of snow? We'e at Arc 2000 from Saturday.
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FAQ
