 Poster: A snowHead
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Having been flamed for repeating what the guys in Val D' were telling me about how much snow you need to build a good piste on bare ground It got me thinking how much snow do you need to make a stable base on an average red run?
How much melts to cool the ground? how much compaction do you get after a few passes of the Cats?
Im not talking about how much you need to be able to open a run but what is needed to make the run stable for the season?
Or is the answer 'how long is a piece of string'
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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've skied on very good piste conditions at the start of the season when reported snow depths were 30-50cm (in high altitude resorts in France), some of which was probably manmade snow on the lower runs. When it got busy those pistes developed lots of ice at busy intersections, so more snow than that would have been required to ensure generally good conditions.
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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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Depends on the terrain, if the piste are grassy meadows then 30cm should be enough to get going. A rockier piste would need more to get going. Around schladming slopes are opening with probably 20-30cm of bashed down man made, these are grassy meadow type piste. Last month I skied piste with 10cm of fresh snow on, grass base, was skiable with caution, but did leave my skis needing a service. (which they still need) Stable for a season, piece of string i'd say but once snow is compacted and managed it's quite impressive how long it hangs around.
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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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rob@rar, lovely - I'm out there on Jan 12th, I shall bring the golf bats. 
Free drop from behind the lift pylons I presume?
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rob@rar, if you're not prepared to play properly, don't play at all.
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Bode Swiller, apologies for cheating. Here's another angle which properly shows undersnow conditions of the typical French piste
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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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rob@rar, ah, much more accurate. That'll be the Men's DH course in Val D.
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Bode Swiller,  Believe it or not, it's actually an Italian ski resort (although an off-piste area rather than on piste).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rob@rar, OK, I'm prepared to admit that there are a few pockets of France where it's lovely lush pasture and no pointy bits. The big difference is that the Austrians meticulously comb the grass towards the valley with big cow-mounted brushes so that, in the highly unlikely event there's a hole in the snow cover, your ski will slide more easily. That is absolutely true, Whitegold told me.
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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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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| That is absolutely true, Whitegold told me. |
As ever, he's absolutely right. They use an army of snow pixies to ride the cattle so each lush blade is coiffered in to the exact right place. And they do it at night so as not to alarm people. Quite magical, so I've been told.
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Bode Swiller, rob@rar, both correct, they also do this in some parts of Switzerland, I myself have been fortunate enough to witness this, the snow pixies spend most of the winter asleep in the high mountain cowsheds which many of you will I'm sure have noticed often have small attached bedsit (or larger) type accommodation that the farmers only use in the summer months, as part of the arrangement that many alpine farmers have, they allow the pixies to use these excellent warm spaces in return for the pixies careful grooming of the grass, they do so because many of the farmers have winter jobs as ski instructors. The pixies much prefer these warm winter lodgings to the cold damp caves and marmot/rabbit holes they use elsewhere, so much so that when the farmers return to their alpine pastures in the spring they find them covered in flowers as a thank you from the pixies.
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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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[/img]http://www.webcam-ski.com/interfaces/mtgenevre/interface.php?pk_interface=129&m=images&r=panoramique#depart[img] (alt+p)
all set at Montgenevre, flag sticks removed from the greens, bunkers raked one last time, and pass gates re-installed at the bottom of Prarial lift from resort centre. Just need the white stuff![/img]
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Poster: A snowHead
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CEM, I'd imagine they'd run and hide when they hear you coming.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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30cm of bashed snow on runs that have been prepared (rocks removed, grassed etc) should be ok. You might need 60-100cm of snowfall to get there though. That is why resorts like snow canons, gives you a very solid based for fresh snow.
The problem for lower slopes now is that the ground may be too warm to run piste bashers when it snows. Which means a poor base for the 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 a lot more than they have right now ! 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@ rob@rar, Etna? I was there in September. The scree fields are much smoother, 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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Nineveh wrote: |
| @ rob@rar, Etna? I was there in September. The scree fields are much smoother, of course... |
Yes. The ash fields are smooth but any recent lava flow is like walking over piles of broken glass.
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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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alex_heney, ...animal...vegetable...mineral...at ARC1500 a restaurant had 'paving slab of beef' - so while pigs are vegetable in Austria, in France it's clear that beef steer are mineral (they also has 'crusty of goat' on the menu - which turned out to be hot goat's cheese salad...).
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