 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi guys,
Last year was v poor for snow fall- I went to les arcs and they had 3m that season- norm is 15-18 I think.
Is it complete pot luck as to what this year will be like??
Pardon my ignorance, I'm pretty new to this- last season was my first ever skiing. I'm hooked. Totally.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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billy_boy_2010,Thought last year was a great year for snowfall. we had fresh pow most days out of 15, some with blue skies, up to 3 feet in places too.
Agreed about hoping next year will be as good 
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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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| Quote: |
Is it complete pot luck as to what this year will be like??
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yes. But if you read the 11/12 snowfall thread, you can join in all the exciting speculation!
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| Bones wrote: |
| billy_boy_2010,Thought last year was a great year for snowfall. we had fresh pow most days out of 15, some with blue skies, up to 3 feet in places too. |
Although the Brit dominated resorts in France had an awful season which tends to skew perceptions. But yes, I remember last season as being pretty good lasting from November through to May and plenty freshies both in NW Europe  and the Austrian Alps.
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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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its all in the el nino la nina thing... last season was great early on..it just that it then stopped in jan...and the dry carried on in Europe till july..
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| billy_boy_2010 wrote: |
Hi guys,
Last year was v poor for snow fall- |
No it wasn't. 
| papasmurf wrote: |
| its all in the el nino la nina thing... last season was great early on..it just that it then stopped in jan...and the dry carried on in Europe till july.. |
You may be right El Ninja /Nono/Nena, but we had no problems, in fact had some awesome stuff dropping for most of the season. Got a bit Frenchlike during mid Jan for about 2 weeks but then went back to pow for the rest
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we had a great oct,nov,dec but then jan till the end of the season was really really poor..remember being on the glacier at zugpitze mid October thinking ooo this is going to be an awesome season..then it turned really dry and fairly warm in France, switzerland and Austria...still some great days...just not as many as should have been.
remember a few years back all the press saying skiing was finished after a poor season and then we had some smashing snow fall in the following years..5 year cycle and all that..
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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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Hasn't been a big snow season for a few years, I think we're due one soon...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Colin B, December in Tignes was OK???? It was great, for once we didn't lose a day's skiing due to wind and too much 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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| clarky999 wrote: |
| Hasn't been a big snow season for a few years, I think we're due one soon... |
Scotland 2010 was pretty good, skied every weekend from December till the start of May, skied the last weekend end in May and midsummers day. If I remember right we even had fresh snow on the first weekend in May 
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My experienced of how bad the snow was was based on a week in Switzerland and a week in France- in Feb and April. Guess it was good elsewhere and good at the start of the season.
Fingers crossed then! 
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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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Certainly my experience last season was very poor - in late January in Verbier, mid February in La Grave and mid March in Gressoney (and late March at Nevis), with very old hard snow making the steeps dangerous and pistes icy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I was in Morzine in Jan and we got plenty of ski ing but the warm conditions before we arrived became very icy as we started as the temperature dropped. At times it was glass and very bare in places. Not sure how the rest of the season went but the webcams in Morzine stayed green for a lot of the time, so hopefully things will be better this season
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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.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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If it's snow you want, it's snowing in Tignes right now 
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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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clarky999, snowball, I can't speak for Les Arcs but as Tignes is just round the corner as the chuff flies its close enough. In the 1970s the average snowfall for Tignes was about 15-18m, over the last 10 years it has been 7-8. Speaking to the locals they believe that it is thsi difference that is having the greatest effect on the glacier vice the alleged global 'warming'.
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Maybe WhiteGold's right then. FWIW I think Niseko only claims an average of 13m though, Stuben about 9/10.
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Just heard on BBC news that record snow fell in St Moritz overnight... Can anyone confirm?
Ta
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I heard that too. I think it said Switzerland as a whole but St Moritz particularly. Pity no-one can afford to go there  Won't last anyway.
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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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Yesterday's fall (1st of the season)
Link here
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There was a big dump down to about 1500m when I was in Tignes last October. It looked really good right down to Le Lac, some managed to ski down from the glacier. 2 days later there was hardly any of it left.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
There was a big dump down to about 1500m when I was in Tignes last October
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Last October, probably the same dump, I had to cobble together an ill-fitting set of chains to drive from our apartment, at 1550m, down to Notre Dame de Bellecombe. It was quite heavy snow, IIRC - and we didn't have winter tyres on, having driven out in September. We'll be doing it again this year, but this time I'll make sure I've got the proper chains in the car.
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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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| Quote: |
In the 1970s the average snowfall for Tignes was about 15-18m, over the last 10 years it has been 7-8
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Really not sure about this.
I can dig out the chart, but the Val d'Isere website had stats earlier this year which showed very low snowfall for the early 70s - averaging around 4ms, very high anomalous maximums of around 9ms in the late 70s (77/78 & 79/80) and, averages around 6m for much of 80s and 90s and about 5.5ms thereafter. In all though averaging around 5 to 6m for the last 38 years.
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| nozawaonsen wrote: |
| Quote: |
In the 1970s the average snowfall for Tignes was about 15-18m, over the last 10 years it has been 7-8
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Really not sure about this.
I can dig out the chart, but the Val d'Isere website had stats earlier this year which showed very low snowfall for the early 70s - averaging around 4ms, very high anomalous maximums of around 9ms in the late 70s (77/78 & |
You are right. 9 meters is a big snow year in the alpes. In 1999, the last awesome snow year, Chamonix got 9 meters total. The last big snow year in the French alps was 2006/7 and was probably less than that.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, It was Toussaint week, we got caught too, the transfer minibus we were in was having it's winter tyres fitted the following day. Took us ages to do the last couple of miles.
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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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davidof, I thought 2006/7 was really poor, are you sure it was then.
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Poster: A snowHead
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snow on the local peaks this morning, looks like down to 1500m but the clouds have closed in and its been pissing it down all day, so may the hills are getting some white stuff..though weathers set to get warm again for the rest of the week, so probably a false start for now.
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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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problem with the Alps is you can really good snow on one side and wee wee poor the other..then your next trip goes to the side that was good and they have a drought and the other areas get a massive dump, then you think its been poor all season which in fact it hasn't.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I was suprised at the 15-18m claim for Les Arcs too! I have been in Niseko for a 17m season and that is a LOT of snow, we've only had a bit over 5m in Portillo so far this year, and that seems more like what I have experienced in Europe.
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| Quote: |
problem with the Alps is you can really good snow on one side and wee wee poor the other..
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and you can have terrific snow in one part of the season and rubbish snow in another. Hence so many different memories.
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Yep, pam w, timing and location are everything when it comes to how you remember your season and for the best memories, it helps to be flexible with both.
| snowball wrote: |
| Certainly my experience last season was very poor - in late January in Verbier, mid February in La Grave and mid March in Gressoney (and late March at Nevis), with very old hard snow making the steeps dangerous and pistes icy. |
You were a week too late. This was my memory of late March at Nevis ... http://www.winterhighland.info/publicreports/index.php?50,2675
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