High Avalanche Danger In the Alps

With the ongoing heavy snowfall in most of the Alps, ski resorts are warning skiers and boarders in the mountain this week to stay on the pistes.

"Fresh snow + beautiful sunshine = magical atmosphere in Tignes today!" said a spokesperson for the French resort, who added, "We know you just want to enjoy a bath of powder snow right now, but the avalanche risk is very high (4/5), so please, be strong, stay on the piste."

Tignes has had around 50cm of snow in the last three days and is forecast to get much more over the coming week. Temperatures are double digits below freezing at the summit.

The snowfall has been similar across the Alps with most resorts claiming 30-70cm of fresh snow in the past few days, with Chamonix posting the biggest accumulation to date 1.3m (over four feet).

Piste conditions are fantastic in Chamonix today. Grippy cold snow and very few people so you can really open things up. Have not even considered going offpiste yet, went to Les Houches today. Great piste skiing and has to have the best scenery of any ski resort in the world. Just a line of giants Mt Blanc, Aguille Du Midi, Dru, Vert, Chardonnet to look at as you head up the lifts.
I was surprised not to see more signs of natural avalanche activity in the mountains. The relatively warm afternoons and cold nights seem to be / will hopefully allow things to settle pretty quickly if people can be patient. 11th looks like a good day to go and find some powder, just be careful not to go on anything too steep, avoid big slopes and terrain traps. All this snow is coming with very high wind, so if you do trigger whole slope may be joining you.