 Poster: A snowHead
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Judging by our guests feedback, and what we've skied on...
If you
- are a beginner to aspiring-advanced 1-2 week skier
- ski mostly or entirely on piste
I reckon the season (so far) has been pretty good really.
- pistes in generally great shape with immaculate grooming (if perhaps a little firm, requiring decent edge tune)
- few of those pesky mogul things
- lots of lovely sunshine
Discuss.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Southern French Alps have had an average'ish season.
Northern French Alps have had a below-average season.
With every passing season, it is becoming clearer that annual snowfall in the European Alps is generally shrinking. Good snow is getting rarer.
Northeast Asia, Eurasia and Western North America are where you need to go now for the best and most snow in the top half of the planet.
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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, you are confusing weather for climate.
And missing the point of my post.
And, and, clearly didn't ski in the Haute Savoie 2 seasons ago.
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under a new name, I think the lower resorts, which target mainly beginners, learned their lesson from two years ago and made sure they could provide some skiing even if it wasn't very extensive.
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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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rjs, oh absolutely, for sure they have.
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All of the owners and operators I've spoken to in France have said that despite everything they've had a good season.
It certainly appears as though the pisteurs have learnt some good snow management skill since the last poor season (2006/07?)
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Whitegold,
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Southern French Alps have had an average'ish season.
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T depends what you mean with southern alpes? Alpe Maritime had the best season for many year, with alot of snow, and their is coming more this week, but for the rest of french alpes, its had been no good at all, but for the normal skiing tourist that come to the alpes one week per year, he/she had probably a nice week with a big sun, but for us that spend more time in the alpes, or even live here, it has been a bad season in Northern French Alps, Alpe Maritime and Pyrenees  Northern French Alps, Massif Central 
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Whitegold, I think you are in detention, not to mention 100 lines - I must pay attention 
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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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You can only really comment on your experiences. Difficult for someone who spends a couple of weeks a year to assess the season.
My two weeks were 10th December in Tignes and 5th March in Serre Chevalier. For someone who is mainly skiing on piste and dabling in a bit of off piste I had one cracking powder day in December. The only problem with pistes that week were on low north facing slopes where it had rained and the sun hadn't been able to soften them up resulting in icy pistes. The week in March pistes were in good condition considering the holiday crowds. There was unfortunately no fresh snow that week.
Therefore I haven't had a bad couple of weeks in the season. I didn't encounter slush, rain and could easily avoid icy pistes so I have no major qualms. A couple more powder days would have been welcomed, but we can't have it all!
I get the impression there have been much better and much worse seasons from the reports I have been reading.
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We met some friends last week from home in Serre Chevalier. They declared it to be their best ski holiday ever. They are retired and only learnt to ski 5 years ago. Tales of poor snow almost made them go to Tenerife. I've certainly enjoyed this season, and have even managed far more off-piste than I've ever done when I did Vallons de la Meije in January.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
You can only really comment on your experiences. Difficult for someone who spends a couple of weeks a year to assess the season.
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Absolutely right. We had two friends staying with us this last week. they had wall to wall sunshine. One was a total beginner, having private lessons - the snow wasn't terrific, but she knew no different and for her, the sunshine and pleasant conditions were a revelation and she loved it. Her partner has skied 3 or 4 times, not for 6 years, and was able to ski some red runs for the first time, also adored the sunshine and fabulous visibility, and had us to pick and choose the runs for him.
Frankly, the snow conditions last week were pretty poor - but both those people went home having had a fantastic week. If they'd have been here in one of our massive March snowfalls a few years ago they'd probably have struggled, with heavy snow, not all runs pisted, on going poor visibility, and no sitting in deckchairs with a cold beer. Or if they'd gone somewhere on holiday independently, without local guidance, hand-picked private instructor, etc etc. they'd probably not have had such a good holiday. Equally, we enjoyed good company, we did more skiing because of acting as guides than if we'd been idly not bothering because of the relatively poor conditions.
Ski holidays aren't just about snow conditions.
But it still was a pretty poor season for snow around here, no doubt about that. The worst we've had in the 9 seasons, so far, and unless there is a major and unforeseen change in the weather the last four weeks of the season are going to be exceptionally poor.
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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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I've skied every other weekend in the PDS, with side trips to Flaine, Megeve, most of Chamonix and Tignes.
It's been uninspiring, but far from a catastrophe. Except the off-piste. With the sole exception of the two trips to the Grands Montets.
But I've not had a horrendous day skiing because of the weather or conditions. (Well, actually, last Saturday in the PDS would have counted, but, fortunately, I was ill.)
And I've had some great days. Some exceptional days. Probably my best day was skiing the stade at La Tour all day three weeks ago.
To be honest, it's not the weather or conditions that have got me down this season.
It's the other people. God, there are some inconsiderate ladies' front bottoms out there.
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| Quote: |
To be honest, it's not the weather or conditions that have got me down this season.
It's the other people. God, there are some inconsiderate ladies' front bottoms out there.
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maybe it's your age, FlyingStantoni - we are getting old and crotchety. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Without snow making it would have been the worst season I've ever seen.
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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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The season isn't over yet, I still have another two weeks booked 
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Poster: A snowHead
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The season isn't over yet,
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10 points for this coments
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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under a new name, which ski area are you talking about?
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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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zzz, hmmm, maybe. 1989-90 was bad but not quite as bad.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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[quote="pam w"]
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| also adored the sunshine and fabulous visibility |
^^^ Skiing in the sunshine more important to most peoples enjoyment of a ski holiday than buckets of snow
It's clearly been a bad year for snow - Retour Pendant never opened  Bruson already closed, crevasses open on AdM etc etc but there's still been lots of fun to be had skiing in the sunshine.
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
With every passing season, it is becoming clearer that annual snowfall in the European Alps is generally shrinking. Good snow is getting rarer.
Northeast Asia, Eurasia and Western North America are where you need to go now for the best and most snow in the top half of the planet. |
This is utter bollox. This season has been poor but the last 2 seasons have been fantastic round here.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| under a new name wrote: |
Whitegold, you are confusing weather for climate.
And missing the point of my post.
And, and, clearly didn't ski in the Haute Savoie 2 seasons ago.
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No confusion, son.
Alpine snowfall has been trending down about 5% less every decade since the 1970s. This season fits that longer-term pattern.
Some of the French Alps have just had their worst season for snowfall since the 1970s.
Without manmade snow and better trail-management, many resorts would have been screwed.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Whitegold wrote: |
With every passing season, it is becoming clearer that annual snowfall in the European Alps is generally shrinking. Good snow is getting rarer.
Northeast Asia, Eurasia and Western North America are where you need to go now for the best and most snow in the top half of the planet. |
This is utter bollox. This season has been poor but the last 2 seasons have been fantastic round here. |
See above.
It is bang-on.
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Usually in the north french alps and I've never seen it at this little snow, but will have a go at most things and only ever lost a couple of days about five years ago when sitting out rain in Chamonix with all the lifts closed, bit more drinking dodged a few big egos and then found a stash of powder in les-houche and had a couple of monster days and a eating hut in the woods with rabbit stew Mmmmmmm Yum, finished up barking at french dogs then sleep.
Normally have a good holiday what ever I do, go with an open attitude, get on with it and find something interesting be it summer or winter and get naff-all skiing in london so anything is welcome really.
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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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I've skied twice in France so far and once in Austria with another trip to LDA coming up.
Tignes in October was actually very good. We arrived just as there was a big dump down to about 1500m and the snow on the glacier was very good for the 3 days I was there. Back at Tignes again in December and it was OK for early season. St Anton at half term hadn't had any snow for 3 weeks and not much since Christmas. Although it snowed about 3 days during the week the conditions were only OK again, helped by decent bashing, etc. LDA in 2 weeks is looking poor down low, easiski thinks that the nursery slopes above the village are more or less shot and I think there has only been one home run open for some time. It will be good above about 2500m (still over 1000m) but I'm not expecting too much.
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We did Tignes in December, Courchevel in January, and I've just done ADH last week.
I have to say that all this doom-mongering and "there's no snow, what will we do, won't someone think of the children" stuff cuts no ice with me - all three trips have been brilliant, snow conditions as good as could ever be expected, the last ice I can remember was one day in Courchevel after a really warm day and cold night, and even that was perfectly ok.
We are thinking about the EoSB, not sure about the snow situation, but at the moment we're taking a view that even if it is a bit of work to get a good bit of skiing in, we've had a great season already anyhow.
I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about. This is not a bad season, unless you did all your skiing between the third week of January and end of Feb. Which is basically a month - sure it is peak season, but a month of slightly tough conditions out of a season lasting 4 months seems reasonable to me. It is an alpine sport that isn't guaranteed. Any ski trip outside of the Hemel slope is a gamble.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Monium wrote: |
| This is not a bad season, unless you did all your skiing between the third week of January and end of Feb. Which is basically a month |
I skied Paradiski w/c 29th Jan and Meribel & 3v w/c 26th Feb - both of those trips were great. Good Skiing, nice sunshine, good company, nice food and the odd beer...
Trific..
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
See above.
It is bang-on. |
Once, just once, care to quote your source?
So 09/10 season was 5% down was it?
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| zzz wrote: |
| Without snow making it would have been the worst season I've ever seen. |
Surely the last time MrsFS did a season was even worse?
BASS had to evacuate to Avoriaz. Morzine closed.We skied 8 straight days in the rain in January.
Surely? (MrsFs should be paid to stay away. For the good of everyone?)
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You know it makes sense.
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I'm sure it would've been pretty miserable when it was raining but luckily I missed the rain each time and even in low resorts like Les Houches and Les Coches it was skiable all the way down this month. So not that bad really for piste skiing probably thanks to immaculate grooming and snow making as stated before.
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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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Down here in the southern French Alps we've had noticeably less snowfall than usual (based on the 8 seasons I've been here) but the skiing has been good. I can think of seasons when there's been a lot more snowfall but the skiing hasn't been as good e.g one year the runs at the top of one of the mountains here barely opened due to high winds scouring practically all the snow away.
I don't think the snow cannons here have been used since late-January but the slopes have stayed in good condition until the last couple of weeks when the lowest 100m/200m of vertical have been pretty rubbish but I don't do a lot of skiing down there anyway.
If it hadn't been for the 3 days of rain before Christmas which took away about a quarter of the 1m 25cm that had accumulated then hardly anyone would have commented on the lack of snowfall in January.
For most skiers, me included, a bit (a lot?) of powder is a bonus but we're not much good at skiing in it and wouldn't spend a lot of time off-piste. As long as the pistes have got a covering of snow then things are fine. I've enjoyed this season more than most as it's let me do a lot more near-piste skiing as the solid stuff and moguls suit me but I'm useless in deep snow.
Until the last couple of weeks there haven't been any of the icy patches, mud, grass, shrubs sticking through the snow that I read about in reports from other resorts back in January.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
| zzz wrote: |
| Without snow making it would have been the worst season I've ever seen. |
Surely the last time MrsFS did a season was even worse?
BASS had to evacuate to Avoriaz. Morzine closed.We skied 8 straight days in the rain in January.
Surely? (MrsFs should be paid to stay away. For the good of everyone?) |
I agree, she should be.
The difference is, it did eventually snow in 2007 and March/April wasn't too bad.
Whilst underanewname says his punters have been happy there are still four weeks to go and I expect anyone coming out in this period will be less 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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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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BTW the Courchevel website has a very useful historical snow section where the above figures are from if you're interested in the stats!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| zzz wrote: |
| Without snow making it would have been the worst season I've ever seen. |
So what. There is snow making.
Try asking them how their season has been in the Peak District.
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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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| Monium wrote: |
I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about. This is not a bad season, unless you did all your skiing between the third week of January and end of Feb. Which is basically a month - sure it is peak season, but a month of slightly tough conditions out of a season lasting 4 months seems reasonable to me. It is an alpine sport that isn't guaranteed. Any ski trip outside of the Hemel slope is a gamble. |
Total bollox. It has been a terrible season. December was average, January very cold and little snowfall, Feb very warm with little snowfall, March ditto. That's three out of four months. Meteo France claim it is the worst season in terms of snowfall for a generation.
As underanewname is debating, if all you want to do is ski on the piste in the sun then it has been adequate but for the rest of us it has been a disaster.
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James the Last,
Depends if you just want to ski on piste doesn't it?
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Unfortunately zzz is probably right, if you are after powder (which I am) it's been an appalling season. I got one good day in January but that's about it. It's the luck of the draw though, fingers crossed next season is better.
Personally I also think that the snow depth readings are probably wildly optimistic- given the temperatures there is no way that the melt can have been happening as slowly as they would suggest.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| Whitegold wrote: |
See above.
It is bang-on. |
Once, just once, care to quote your source?
So 09/10 season was 5% down was it? |
he did say trending, however i find they never quote sources and even then the sources are invariably based on chinese whispers
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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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| zzz wrote: |
| Monium wrote: |
I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about. This is not a bad season, unless you did all your skiing between the third week of January and end of Feb. Which is basically a month - sure it is peak season, but a month of slightly tough conditions out of a season lasting 4 months seems reasonable to me. It is an alpine sport that isn't guaranteed. Any ski trip outside of the Hemel slope is a gamble. |
Total bollox. It has been a terrible season. December was average, January very cold and little snowfall, Feb very warm with little snowfall, March ditto. That's three out of four months. Meteo France claim it is the worst season in terms of snowfall for a generation.
As underanewname is debating, if all you want to do is ski on the piste in the sun then it has been adequate but for the rest of us it has been a disaster. |
You mean like 99% of the skiiers going to any resort want to ski on piste?
December looked pretty good to me when I was skiing in knee deep powder on the piste, at minus 17 with snowfall most nights. It was way above average for me.
I will give you the start of Feb.
March I was skiing last week and the issue was too much snow on a lot of runs, making it hard work for piste skiiers - some coming off the mountain because they couldn't handle the amount of snow that had been chopped to bumps, once the piste bashers had hit it the slopes were brilliant.
Your statement is that off piste has been a disaster this season. I have to say there was no issue with December or early Jan for us on trips with the odd pootle off piste - for a season to be a disaster the piste skiing has to be significantly affected, because that's what affects the vast majority of skiiers.
Your experience may vary, but for someone who doesn't look at weather reports and instead relies on what they see, what they feel, and the comments of those around them, the season has been perfectly fine in the French resorts we've visited.
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For those of you keen for some statistics......
Borrowing from Chris Angus, Courchevel season 2010/2011 snowfall to date: 195cm
Whistler season 2010/2011 snowfall to date: 1369cm
Squaw valley season 2010/2011 snowfall to date: 1750cm
Snowbird season 2010/2011 snowfall to date: 1381cm
Niseko season 2010/2011 snowfall to date (borrowing from Mike Pow): 1301cm (as of 23rd March)
I'm actually genuinely curious as to why keen off-piste skiers would choose to come to Europe for a ski holiday, particularly one booked in advance. The chances of good snow are so much higher in the Western US and Japan. Even for people not into skiing powder, the pistes are so much better when it actually snows regularly.
I came to Chamonix this season mainly due to the plentiful job opportunities but will be heading elsewhere next winter.
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FAQ
. In fact, I guess that most 'holidaymakers' would rather a bluebird week and no new snow, most Snowheads are probably different though 