 Poster: A snowHead
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| luigi wrote: |
| Mollerski wrote: |
| Plake wrote: |
| Quote: |
needless to say, avalanche risk is very high
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Don't want to be a miseryguts but with these kind of snow falls is there now a risk of serious avalanches (ie galtur/chamonix style ones threatening buildings)? I think it would be a good thing if the weather stabilised for a couple of weeks before the christmas/new year rush, or there could be big trouble in italy.... |
Not such an issue in the Val Gardena valley thanks to the topography. |
Do you mean because the villages are surrounded by woods (Selva means 'forest' in Italian), and the peaks are vertical cliffs so snow doesn't accumulate there? So Galtur-style 45 degrees open slopes from peak to village with no trees in between doesn't exist? |
Yeah, topography. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Will it ever stop snowing in the Dolomites? 
It doesn't seem so in the short term at least, snowfalls of 100cm+ recorded across the region for Wed-Fri, a bit of respite this weekend with 10cm here and there, but then it starts again tomorrow Monday 14th with 20-40cm forecast and Tuesday with 30-60cm predicted.
Avalanche danger will remain until this snow stabilises into a snowpack that will hopefully remain as a base for the rest of the season.
Thankfully due to their easterly location and relatively high altitude, Dolomite resorts tend to conserve their snow well, but I'm sure more will be needed throughout the season to keep the piste surface fresh.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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luigi,
Still a great start to the season. I always thought the Dolomites were relatively dry
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| luigi wrote: |
Thankfully due to their easterly location and relatively high altitude, Dolomite resorts tend to conserve their snow well, but I'm sure more will be needed throughout the season to keep the piste surface fresh. |
The dolomites tend to offer good piste skiing even if hardly any snow has fallen. So I'm sure they'll offer good skiing for the rest of the season even if there are no snow falls any more (which IMHO is not very likely) and even if the temperatures rise. I'm there at the end of Februay, I wish I was there now...
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johnboy, you're right, so you might have hit the jackpot ths year!
The snow depths now are considerably greater than they ever got all last season!
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bart_bdv, do you think we are likely to see a foehn episode in the Dolomites like you were describing on the 3V thread?
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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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| luigi wrote: |
| bart_bdv, do you think we are likely to see a foehn episode in the Dolomites like you were describing on the 3V thread? |
Well a föhn episode can certainly also happen in the dolomites (northföhn instead of southföhn) but it's not on the weather maps for the moment. Even if it happens the impact will probably not be as big as it was in the 3V. In general the dolomites skiing is more low lying and more sheltered with tree skiing. Some areas on the Sella Ronda (Grödner Joch, Col Rodello and Belvedere) are more vulnerable. You often see that snow off piste has been blown away there, but it doesn't seem to affect the pistes too much. Also chances are high that there will be a warmer period before, which humidifies the snow and while refreezing at night makes it a solid snow pack. The problem of the 3V today was that it has been very cold lately, which means the snows is still powdery from bottom up making it an easy prey for the wind...
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I found this recent report from the Sella Ronda with some excellent photos of the green (anti-clockwise) route with side trips up the Marmolada & Edelweiss Valley, it dates from last week before the most recent storm and is in German, but the pictures speak for themselves:
http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29190
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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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luigi, this one is simply stunning...
i really need to visit the dolomites
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Some resorts are reporting 10-30cm of snow yesterday. Weather still remains unsettled in the Dolomites with 10-15cm snow forecast today and sprinklings tomorrow. The more intense activity today seems to be confining itself to the Pre-Alps foothills and Venetian Plain to the south of the Dolomites.
I can't get any definitive figures of exactly how much has fallen since last Wed, I've lost count, but it seems to have snowed practically every day, must be around 1m across most of the region with the heaviest falls in the more southerly areas, hence the blanket level 4 avalanche risk.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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luigi, Hi and thanks for the welcome. Will certainly let everyone know how we got on.
The webcams look excellent again this morning, hard to tell if it's windy though. I see reports of very high winds in France.
Steve M
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| bart_bdv wrote: |
| luigi wrote: |
| bart_bdv, do you think we are likely to see a foehn episode in the Dolomites like you were describing on the 3V thread? |
Well a föhn episode can certainly also happen in the dolomites (northföhn instead of southföhn) but it's not on the weather maps for the moment. Even if it happens the impact will probably not be as big as it was in the 3V. In general the dolomites skiing is more low lying and more sheltered with tree skiing. Some areas on the Sella Ronda (Grödner Joch, Col Rodello and Belvedere) are more vulnerable. You often see that snow off piste has been blown away there, but it doesn't seem to affect the pistes too much. Also chances are high that there will be a warmer period before, which humidifies the snow and while refreezing at night makes it a solid snow pack. The problem of the 3V today was that it has been very cold lately, which means the snows is still powdery from bottom up making it an easy prey for the wind... |
Forecasts are mentioning a northerly flow with the F-word affecting the valleys over the next few days. Not sure whether this is just the lower valleys or the higher ones where the resorts are located. I don't suppose it's good for snow, but hopefully not disastrous. Anyone got any ideas? bart_bdv?
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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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| luigi wrote: |
| bart_bdv wrote: |
| luigi wrote: |
| bart_bdv, do you think we are likely to see a foehn episode in the Dolomites like you were describing on the 3V thread? |
Well a föhn episode can certainly also happen in the dolomites (northföhn instead of southföhn) but it's not on the weather maps for the moment. Even if it happens the impact will probably not be as big as it was in the 3V. In general the dolomites skiing is more low lying and more sheltered with tree skiing. Some areas on the Sella Ronda (Grödner Joch, Col Rodello and Belvedere) are more vulnerable. You often see that snow off piste has been blown away there, but it doesn't seem to affect the pistes too much. Also chances are high that there will be a warmer period before, which humidifies the snow and while refreezing at night makes it a solid snow pack. The problem of the 3V today was that it has been very cold lately, which means the snows is still powdery from bottom up making it an easy prey for the wind... |
Forecasts are mentioning a northerly flow with the F-word affecting the valleys over the next few days. Not sure whether this is just the lower valleys or the higher ones where the resorts are located. I don't suppose it's good for snow, but hopefully not disastrous. Anyone got any ideas? bart_bdv? |
I was a bit too fast and there is indeed nordföhn predicted now. However, for thursday winds of 30-50km/h and friday 50-80km/h at 3000m doesn't sound dramatic. Sure some snow will be blown especially at higher altitude but not like what happened this weekend in France and Switserland (record winds of 250km/h measured in switserland!). THere is so much snow now that I can't see this as a problem, temperatures will also remain reasonably low. It could increase the avalanche danger though.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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bart_bdv, thanks for the clarification.
Let's hope the discussion is theoretical and we don't see too much of these effects this winter!
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So looks like pressure increasing, clearer weather, sparse snowfall, moderate northerly airflow with some foehn effect, but max temps around freezing in resorts in the lead up to Christmas.
Time for the snowpack to stabilise and settle without losing much of that lovely piste depth!
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luigi, Arabba looks very nice on the webcam this morning. The cloud has lifted and there's lots of lovely snow, only 11 weeks and two days to go!!!!
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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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ickabodblue, 7th March for you, 7th Feb for me, 7 weeks and two days, I'm counting too!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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....and on this one you can see the World cup GS course in prep for Sundays race in the next town of la Villa...and a very bright sun (at the mo)
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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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Frosty the Snowman, I'm staying there too, looking good, so much better than I was expecting for this time of year!
Found this on Youtube, it's the run down into Pedraces that you can see in the webcam, it's a bit amateurish but gives the impression:
http://uk.youtube.com/v/V6pULbmOq-Y
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luigi, thanks for that. I know a few who will be having some fun on that run in a few weeks time.
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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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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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Even better for me - 1 week 1 day!
Arabba showing 480cms on the upper slopes - that's a high as a house!
I notice one of the passes Marmolada way is closed - I certainly hope we will be able to get over there this year.
Steve M
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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luigi. cool, I would have hoped so. New Year is a pretty big weekend for the Italian resorts especially. Let's hope they get everything opened up - no reason why not, with this much snow!
Steve m
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| smich wrote: |
luigi. cool, I would have hoped so. New Year is a pretty big weekend for the Italian resorts especially. Let's hope they get everything opened up - no reason why not, with this much snow!
Steve m |
It seems that the reason why they're a bit cautious with the Marmolada is that it has been very prone to avalanche when there's a heavy snowfall, here's a report from 2005 on an Italian ski forum, the photo shows a huge 300-400m wide early season avalanche:
http://www.skiforum.it/forum/showthread.php?t=2790
On another thread on this Italian forum, one poster wrote that the Marmolada could be problematic for a while, even all season?, because of this snow.
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Dolomites looked superb on Eurosport today. Sun out too. We have had quite enough of this snowing nonsense!
luigi, Enjoy!
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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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Chris Bish, thanks, oh yeah, I forgot it's race weekend, would have watched some, I'll have to see if there's anything on the net, I can't get Eurosport on the box.
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