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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davidof, nice video!
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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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Hoppo, off topic, sorry, but thanks for your tips for Val Thorens, they were spot on and we found some great snow and runs.
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davidof, Great video, lovely to see the mountains.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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davidof - excellent as always.
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Col du Tepey some film from yesterday to give you an idea of the backcountry conditions. Location- South Savoie, north and east facing slopes between 1200-2750meters.
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Great film davidof, really good to watch.
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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, Any ideas on the possible avalanche risk levels ie has the snow got a dodgy bonding surface at the moment
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi Frosty,
I don't think there is too much to be alarmed about. South facing slopes are pretty stable but there are some small slabs on shaded slopes which are not bonding to the old hard snow. We dislodged a couple of small slabs at the weekend, nothing scary but add 30cm of fresh snow over the week and some wind ... but you are really looking at problems above 2200-2400m on north sector slopes if we get the promised 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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it's looking wonderfully miserable here!
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You know it makes sense.
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It is snowing at 1200m in the Val d'Arly too.
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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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Snowing here too, though it doesn't look too convincing; cloud cover not very thick at the moment. But the grass is looking a bit whiter...
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Poster: A snowHead
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Looking good for the chaos that is half term.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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marc gledhill wrote: |
Looking good for the chaos that is half term. |
Even more so for the chaos involved in getting to the mountains for half-term; looks like plenty of snow likely to arrive Friday through Sunday.
Now would be a good time to find some snow chains if you're driving out this 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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more convincing now, settling quickly on the road, considerably snowier than forecast, and earlier. Don't just get out the chains, practice putting them on.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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According to netweather some resorts in France gonna have snow on and off for two weeks. Obviously it cant tell how much yet exactly but sure anyone skiing in Feb Half term weeks will have decent conditions.
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hee heeeeeeeeee
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admin, i take it from the glee that you're off somewhere in France soon ...... pray tell ....
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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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Avalanche Warning - Monday 12th February 2007
The weather system over the course of Monday dumped 20 to 40cm of fresh snow at 2000m, 40 to 60cm at 2500m but with accumulations of snow due to the wind from the west. There have been three separate falls of snow since last Wednesday bringing 60 to 90cm of fresh to the Bauges and Beaufortain and 50cm elsewhere.
There are fresh slabs, particularly above 2000m on north sector slopes. These slabs resemble fresh powder and are very difficult to detect visually. A single skier or snowboarder could start a sizeable avalanche which could be sizeable on an open slope. Lower down take care on close to summits, convex slopes especially north-east to east slope aspects.
The sun will return in the Savoie and Haute-Savoie during the course of Tuesday. The off-piste will look particularly inviting but the risk are very high at the moment even on quite low slope angles. If you know anyone in resort send them this message.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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davidof, ..bump?
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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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Rain to 1900-2200m today with some very heavy powder snow. We are expecting another 20cm overnight in the northern Alps then Thursday / Friday promise wonderful sunny weather with the zero iso to 2000-2500m tomorrow, 3100m on Friday so we could be looking at spring snow conditions on southern faces. Here are a few bits of video I snatched this morning.
Grand Rocher
We managed to break a large chunk of corniche away but it didn't take much of the 35-40degree slope with it. However that was at 1900m. Higher up, say above 2200-2400 there are weak layers of unconsolidated snow on shaded slopes which now have new slabs in place. There are also some sliding surfaces due to the graupel (balls) that fell on Tuesday and older ice crusts from earlier in the winter. These now have slabs in place on various aspects all of which are quite delicate. The warm temperatures tomorrow will also cause some surface slides on sunny slopes.
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Today we toured one of the back bowls of the 7 Laux ski resort. Very very warm on the south facing slopes we were on, we were expecting rain early on but this cleared out much sooner than expected. This is a frequent "feature" of Meteo France forecasts, even the 12 hour bulletin, while getting the overall weather right is often out by 4 hours either way.
Zero isotherm is predicted to be at 3100m so we will probably avoid south facing slopes while they either consolidate, or purge.
Cime de la Jasse - video
There was 5cm of new snow at 1600m, around 20cm above 1800m. Lots of snow being moved around by strong winds from the north... hmmm that probably means no powder on north sector slopes.
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You know it makes sense.
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We were out today over at St Columban, part of the Sybelles ski area. The original plan had been to do a north facing valley on the Belledonne side, but when we got on the scene we could see that two of the routes that were interesting had been avalanched and the third, while probably quite safe, was very windblown. We saw some skiers coming down later and it looked tricky.
So good news, south/east facing slopes seem pretty stable and there are spring snow conditions. We also found some powder on a north facing valley but it is starting to get a bit cohesive. Rocks are still not far from the surface below 2000m. It was also unskiable mush by 2pm today below this altitude due to the zero iso being around 3200m.
Col de la Lavoire - google video
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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davidof,
Many thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nice stats.
According to my rough calculations:
* The average risk rating was set at Level 3 when an offpiste accident took place;
* 67% of offpiste accidents occurred on slopes with an Easterly aspect;
* 60% of offpiste accidents occurred on slopes with a Northerly aspect;
* The average offpiste accident took place at 2400m / 7900 ft.
* 87% of offpiste accidents took place in the afternoon.
One might conclude that skiing after midday on high Northeastern slopes following a fresh snowfall is a relatively risky activity.
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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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Whitegold wrote: |
Nice stats.
According to my rough calculations:
* The average risk rating was set at Level 3 when an offpiste accident took place;
* 67% of offpiste accidents occurred on slopes with an Easterly aspect;
* 60% of offpiste accidents occurred on slopes with a Northerly aspect;
* The average offpiste accident took place at 2400m / 7900 ft.
* 87% of offpiste accidents took place in the afternoon.
One might conclude that skiing after midday on high Northeastern slopes following a fresh snowfall is a relatively risky activity. |
Without reading too much into the stats (and I'm sorry they are a little incomplete) the afternoon figure is interesting. Is the snowpack that much more unstable or are there other factors? Some experts, includng Henry Schniewind and guides I have spoken to say that they don't think snowpack stability is the issue but that skiers start pushing things beyond the limits later in the day. I can put forward two reasons.
1. skiing powder all morning has numbed them to the risks other slopes may pose - the so called "powder rush"
2. after fresh snowfall the relatively safe slopes get skied out early and people start pushing things too far
there are possibly more people skiing in the afternoon as well. Certainly in ski touring the there is a trend to much more winter touring and some groups going out much later in the day.
Just some thoughts.
Another interesting point. If you look back over the last 5 years the majority of French fatalities occur at risk levels 3 and 4 whereas in Switzerland the figure is 2 and 3. I have quite a bit of background information to this and it is principally down to a difference in how the French and Swiss interpret the 5 level scale. This means that skiers used to France bulletins may take more risks if they go to Switzerland. It also means the avalanche risk reduction methods (principally Munters) developed for Switzerland will be more concervative when applied to France.
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Interesting.
Maybe the reasons for more afternoon mishaps (assuming the stats hold true) are one, most or all of the above.
Hubris, complacency, tiredness, riskier slopes and higher traffic all seem logical causes.
Perhaps higher afternoon temps, the sun, any rain and meltwater all play a role, too?
Perhaps the lifts on high Northerly faces are later to open than lower Southerly ones after a heavy snowfall.
All speculation on my part, of course.
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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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After a dull but dry weekend Tuesday was a glorius and sunny day, ideal spring skiing conditions. We headed to a summit I've never tackled before, les Illettes in the Belledonne massif.
les Illettes - google video
The rest of the week looks like being a mixed bag of weather but there doesn't seem to be any serious snow on the horizon at the moment. The snowline is around 1200-1300m on north sector slopes with levels well below normal.
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easiski wrote: |
The person in the white headband can ski a bit eh? |
That's Guy dressed as a khamikhazi pilot. To be fair he had the best snow. I should have included the bit at the end where I'm following him and ski into a tree ! oooops!
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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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hopefully it is snowing to around 1400m (the weather forecast said 1500) but it is a bit colder.
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