J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Brucie wrote:Woo Hoo! That is all.

Pictures or it didn't happen... and if they're too jealousy-inducing you'll be banned! :lol:

The folk at Pistehors (an excellent resource for French backcountry and Avalanche/Safety news and reports) have created this map showing where the snow of the past week has fallen.

Pistehors wrote:This image shows where the recent snow has fallen in the French Alps. It is taken from Meteo France figures from 1st Jan through to the predictions for Wednesday's dumpage. Darker is more snow, from 115cm in the Bauges through to 10cm in the Mercantour to the south.

Image courtesy of and copyright Pistehors

More commentary on the snowfall is here - pistehors.com/where-the-recent-snow-has-fallen

We can see the series of Atlantic lows hit the West and North hardest and as the storms pushed inland and south the snowfall abated. This is fairly typical. The inner ranges are often dryer (rain shadow effect) except on the Italian Border where they can benefit from the famous "retour d'est" - a Mediterranean low pressure bringing copious amounts of snow to the Italian alps, but not this year.

The snow fell pretty much as forecast, with a few areas (mainly Pyrenees) getting a little less than expected.

Currently, there is a *LOT* more snow in the forecast; North and West Alps are looking at another metre of new snow over the next 3-4 days, with another metre looking possible for the following week - with very cold temperatures now on the cards for the middle of the month.

The even better news is that the next lot of snow should extend further South and East, hopefully bringing fresh into areas like the Dolomites that have missed out so far.

Hopefully, pistehors will update this map next week! 8)

French Pyrenees very nice and white now... some snaps of Cauterets from Matthieu Pinaud @ Cauterets.

steverandomno wrote:When you speak up, often you'll find many others share the same concern and might later thank you for having the balls to say something that everyone was thinking at the time.

Fair point.

If in doubt, back out! And if you're with a group, speak out!

steverandomno wrote:So I was skiing at the weekend and stepped on the Gondola for one last run...

As the French are fond of saying... it's always the last run when things happen...

That does look like an "interesting" alternative way to the top of the mountain! 8)

We doubt that these will be the last this week; the off-piste is treacherous and unstable in many places. Sadly, just these incidents confirm that a) having a transceiver won't always save you and b) NOT having a transceiver really does load the odds against you for what could be your very last roll of the dice.

Three serious avalanches buried separate groups of skiers, two in Val d'Isere and one near Saint-Colomban-des-Villards, and resulted in the deaths of 2 and serious injury to 2 others.

This morning a group of 3 skiers, reported to be season workers, triggered a slab avalanche near the top of the Bellevard. According to pistehors (who tend to know such things), the slope they were traversing is known to be avalanche prone and ends in a terrain trap. Avalanche risk was Level 4 (that's Level 4 out of 5 - High). Two of the 3 were caught and buried. They were wearing transceivers and the first was recovered quickly, with the 2nd found beneath 1.5 metres of snow after 5 minutes in a state of cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated but remains in serious condition.


Picture from RadioValDisere

In the second Val d'Isere avalanche a group of Spanish skiers triggered an avalanche in the closed Santons run. The piste was closed, due to the avalanche risk, and anyone familiar with it will know it runs through several gullies - natural terrain traps - where the slide occurred. This group did not have transceivers and a search had to await the arrival of pisteurs and avalanche dogs. One skier was buried under one and a half metres and was pronounced dead at the scene after lengthy efforts to resuscitate.

The third avalanche was "huge", apparently and killed a Czech skier who had both an airbag and a transceiver.

PLEASE - READ THIS

I expect we'll be doing this again this week, but :-

- Know the Avalanche Risk Scale and understand that Level 3 is Considerable (that's considerably dangerous for us punters). Levels 4 and 5 mean avalanches are likely, not just possible.

- Know the local Risk Level where you're going.
- Remember the absolute best way of surviving an avalanche (and the only one that always works); is not to get caught in one in the first place.
- DON'T duck the ropes, take a punt, throw caution to the wind or be Billy Big Balls this week. Pistes that are closed, are closed for a reason.
- DON'T leave the pistes without "the holy trinity" and the knowledge to use it.

There's going to be loads of Pow on the pistes this week and next; have fun, but play safe.

Pistehors reports that two climbers were killed in an avalanche above Argentiere yesterday (3rd January).

Pistehors wrote:The avalanche risk was 3 (Considerable localized danger) today with around 30cm of new snow, accompanied by strong winds, on a fragile base. It is the first fatal avalanche incident of the season in France.

The two victims were part of a group of three experienced climbers who were on the Petite Aiguille Verte route when they triggered a slab avalanche. In the fall one member of the group was carried to the bottom of a couloir and died of her injuries. The remaining two climbers were able to arrest their fall but one of the pair sustained fatal injuries during the slide.

http://pistehors.com/two-killed-by-chamonix-avalanche-24197244.htm

Stay Safe
Conservative route choices definitely the order of the day for the next week or so; and absolutely, definitely seek local advice if going off-piste.

Snowy0000 and Snapzzz ; "Nicely Timed" 8)

Excited? Much?