 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm getting quite worried about the weather forecast for France for the coming days! I'm off to Val D'isere at the end of March, and i'm getting worried that the snow is going to thaw! Does anyone know a long term forecast and if the weather is going to get any colder soon and if its going to snow. Please bring me good news 
Cheers, Chris
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Chris_5000, relax, this is traditional March weather and the usual March Panic. The papers this weekend will be talking about Spring coming early and advising those going out this Easter to go high. Then in April the blizzards wll return and you'll wish you had packed your thermals after all. I have been skiing Easter since 1992 and have always had a great time. Val d'Isere is practically thaw-proof until May. You'll be fine.
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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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Chris - I'm busy wondering whether the snow will last in Val until the May bank holiday.... theres plently of it now - you'll be fine!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Catriona wrote: |
| Chris - I'm busy wondering whether the snow will last in Val until the May bank holiday.... theres plently of it now - you'll be fine! |
The snow acculumation for the last couple of years in Val D'Isere for May Day hasn't been great and my guess is that it would be worse this year, ski conditions have been surprisingly good this year given there's hardly been any depth to the snow.
My guess is there'll be a few around in Val that weekend, we should set something up.
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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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Enjoy it Cathy-we had a wonderful time.
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Serre Chevalier had snow this morning-nil visibility on web cam. Try www.eurekaski.com for up to date news.
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ise, Hardly any depth to the snow? Are you kidding?
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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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obviously not, I live here. You didn't notice it was about 20' in December and all the snow melted ?
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Well I was in Tignes in the from the 7th to the 14th of December and it was pretty good then. Not a lot open below 2000m but all the Val links were open. Well over 1 metre of snow up top, with fresh on two days.
There's over 1m at village level and over 2 at the top at the moment which compares pretty favorably with recent years.
Chris is going in two and half weeks so I reckon it'll be okay.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Serre Che still snowing
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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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| markP wrote: |
Well I was in Tignes in the from the 7th to the 14th of December and it was pretty good then. Not a lot open below 2000m but all the Val links were open. Well over 1 metre of snow up top, with fresh on two days.
There's over 1m at village level and over 2 at the top at the moment which compares pretty favorably with recent years.
Chris is going in two and half weeks so I reckon it'll be okay. |
With recent years ? That's what I said wasn't it ? It's not been much good in the last few years and doesn't look much better for this year. Something over 3 or 3.5 meters was more usual a decade ago.
I know it snowed at altitude in early December, I was there, before and after so I saw all the bare hillsides a week later. There's been some excellent skiing this season, better than for some years and some great opportunities for powder skiing but since I'm expecting to be skiing into May and then maybe some touring and then on glaciers in the summer then it doesn't look too good.
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ise, the alps can vary from valley to valley. Differences between countries can be huge. This season seems to be Austria's. Next may be another part of the alps. I have had the best conditions ever in January these last 2 years (2003 and 2004). Last weekend in Courmayeur it snowed almost continuously for 56 hours. I think this season is going just fine.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| Enjoy it Cathy-we had a wonderful time. |
Thanks Helen, just counting down the days now - new cat flap bought & fitted to stop next door's cat getting in, holiday fish food bought, food for cat sitter, last-minute washing - can't wait till I pack then I know we're really going 
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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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Les Arcs conditions a bit sticky today, some Saharan sand deposited since this am. Good news is that they've lowered the snow/rain limit to 1500m/1600m for tonight/tomorrow, although we haven't seen a single flake yet.
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Poster: A snowHead
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erm... Did you say sand? 
Please say it ain't so...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My son has told us the conditions in Meribel are the best of the season - infact the tour operators are thinking about extending the season because its so good! Sometimes I really hate my kids!!! 
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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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Mark : Second time this season... last time was just before it all melted early December.... (only kidding! I hope...)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Lorraine Agass, Tour operators? Eternal optimists! Seriously though it's been fantastic up until Friday, but temperatures have shot up. Just so long as it doesn't rain it'll be ok, but it must have been a bit slushy down at Meribel village this afternoon, and temperatures are set to rise a lot over the next few days.
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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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| Jonpim wrote: |
| ise, the alps can vary from valley to valley. Differences between countries can be huge. This season seems to be Austria's. Next may be another part of the alps. I have had the best conditions ever in January these last 2 years (2003 and 2004). Last weekend in Courmayeur it snowed almost continuously for 56 hours. I think this season is going just fine. |
I live in Alpes I'm well aware of the snow conditions, I can open my window and look. In the last ten ten days I've skied at Crans Montansa, Les Mosses, Charmey, Chateau d'Oex and Flaine so it's fairly safe to assume that I'm aware that conditions change valley to valley, tommorrow, I think, will be the 40th day I've skied this season so I'm not totally naive about snow conditions.
I said the snow acculumation has been dire, it has been. I said there's been some great conditions this year so far and there has been.
As the guy above points out, depths in Val D'Isere are about the same as the last couple of years, ask yourself how that could be. Like you say there've been some great snow falls this season, compare it to last year, it hardly snowed after Xmass at all yet the depth's the same, how could that be ?
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Austria has had a very good year for snow but it's warming up now. 
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ise, I can see you live in the Alpes: you give your location as Switzerland. And I see from another posting that you are able to ski 50 or so resorts. I am so envious. Would you like to swap for a week or so? All that fresh air and exercise can't be doing you any good at all. Here you can visit 50 or so Tescos.
I don't quite agree with your last pararaph and the comparison with last year. In La Plagne last year it dumped it down at the end of January. My recollection of the 2002/3 season in France is it being very similar to this season, but everything happened a week earlier. Different places, different snow.
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ise, I assume your refering to me?
The fact of the matter is that in recent years there's been excellent skiing throughout April and until the closing of the lifts in may..
Snow depths of ten years ago are not relevent.
Chris was originaly asking wether he would be able to ski at the end of march.
The answer is emphatically yes. Regardless of maximum snow depths over the past decade or so.
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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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Let's just wait and see the results of several days of Foehn and possible rainfall at altitude today/tonight. I think what ise is getting at is that the extremes we've been seeing (rain to 3000m this January for example) are making conditions considerably more unpredictable. We had great skiing in November. Then a major thaw, constant high temperatures and some rain meant that the pistes in the Savoie were diabolical well into January, stones everywhere. No way they could get the snow cannons working regularly given the warmth. The first time I've seen so much damage to the kids' skis at that time of the season.
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| markP wrote: |
ise, I assume your refering to me?
The fact of the matter is that in recent years there's been excellent skiing throughout April and until the closing of the lifts in may..
Snow depths of ten years ago are not relevent.
Chris was originaly asking wether he would be able to ski at the end of march.
The answer is emphatically yes. Regardless of maximum snow depths over the past decade or so. |
Snow depths of previous years are the benchmark we use to see if if any given year is normal or not. I've been skiing in Val during May for more than 10 years and it's a fact that the skiing is nothing like as good as it was, the snow on the glaciers is dreadful comapred to what it was and some off piste lines are all but impossible now.
You might want to contact the Val lift company and let them they've made an mistake by moving the closing day forward a week.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ise, maybe those of us who only manage the occasional ski trip may see things differently from you.
We are so grateful to be skiing that any snow is OK. It's a long time between trips and our memory may be rather rosie-tinted.
There may also be an element of wishful thinking. I want to get my free lift pass for "zimmer skiing". That's a few years in the future. I don't want to hear the snow is deteriorating year on year.
So I will forget the heatwave coming this week, and remember the cold and snow of late January and early March. I look forward to blizzards in April.
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