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Just a quick heads-up on conditions here...
Have now skied three days under a mix of skies (mostly blue!) and in temperatures a little above average for the time of year. On the Pistes - excellent for Spring Despite the warmth, the pistes are holding up very well and most of the time you're skiing on maybe a cm of wet snow lying on the packed base - so the feel's actually pretty good. A few of the lowest, South-facing, runs have been closed, and there are some sketchy patches on the final sections of some home runs but most of the pistes look like this... 
Cabeau (blue), above Col de la Croix Fry, about 1600m altitude, 7th April 2014 And, yes, there's pretty much nobody here! 8) The previous couple of days we spent at La Balme; this goes up to 2600m with largely North-facing pitches. Above 2000m it's still pretty much normal, packed snow but softening where the sun hits it. The long run down from Bergerie (1800m) is fully covered all the way to the car park, with great skiing but the odd pebble on some of the Red variations (Roualle) and a few patches of heavy slushy bumps toward the bottom. The piste-bashers have been busy farming snow late into each evening and they're doing a great job at keeping the pistes topped up. With reference to another discussion we had on here; the "Saharan Sand" layer is much in evidence with lots of streaky, brown snow in places. Off Piste - extreme care! Cover is still good above 2000m but there are plenty of purges, with some very big slides from snow-laden North-facing slopes in the afternoon, and plenty of signs of instability around. No powder now, so really not worth the effort/risk. The picture below is of a large slide from the (closed) Lapiaz Black onto the top section of the Fernuy Red; this is probably around 1700m - plenty of snow but now a bit less on the upper slopes! :lol: 
South-facing (off piste) slopes are turning to grass up to about 1600m. The Outlook After hitting 18C in the town yesterday afternoon, it's raining and 5C this morning so we're hoping there might just be some freshies at the top this afternoon. Temperature is forecast to drop a little for the next couple of days, and thereafter, so there's still going to be good conditions through Easter. An unexpected pleasure The good weather has brought some lovely cars into the mountains... seeing (hearing!) a pristine red Lambo Miura come down the valley from the Col des Aravis, past our chalet and then howl and thunder its way up the far side toward Croix Fry rounded off the day very nicely... 8) |
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Not so bad then... just gotta roll with it at this time of year. 8) We're heading for the Aravis for next week; packing the shorts! |
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Week Ending April 3rd, 2014
Snow Report Summary Spring continues in The Alps, and the forecast is for more sunshine, a little snow at altitude, and perfect Spring Skiing into next week... although there is a hint of cooler weather following. This Week's Headlines: * More than 1.5m (five feet) of snow in the last six days at Squaw Valley, California. * Back to spring conditions with almost no fresh snow in the Alps. * Fernie in Canada first North American ski area to build a 4m base in '13-'14 after another 70cm of snow in the last seven days. After a return to fairly dry, spring weather in much of Europe, there have been huge snowfalls again in Western North America - although many of the continent's areas close this weekend or next. There's been snow on the east coast too so both Sugarloaf in Maine and squaw Valley in California are predicting this coming weekend could be their best of 13-14, even if it is the first in April! Over the coming week some modest falls (typically 5-15cm) are expected in the run up to Easter in the Alps, there'll be bigger falls (30cm+) in Western America and in Japan where Niseko will be open until May. Alps Austria The last week of March was similar to the first fortnight of the month in Austria – spring like conditions and almost no snow. Lower elevations began closing last weekend for the season and more will follow this Sunday. Along with some of Europe's lowest major ski areas however, Austria has more glacier skiing than any other country and at certain times of the year – September for example – half of the dozen or so areas open in the northern hemisphere are all in Austria. The good news is that Austria's glaciers, and indeed the higher slopes at its non glacier resorts, look good. Hintertux, which tops the Austrian snowfall table with a 4m base on its glacier is (along with Zermatt) one of two resorts in the world open 365 days a year. France It's blue skies and beautiful days in the French Alps too where most resorts are open for at least another fortnight and a sizable proportion to the end of April and even in to May. There's been almost no fresh snow reported, just a couple of inches nearly a week ago at Isola 2000 in the southern Alps. But bases remain very good at the vast majority of areas, two thirds have at least 2m on upper slopes and almost all at least a metre – some, including Chamonix, Flaine and Avoriaz nearly 3m still. A few resorts including le Grand Bornand and La Plagne are saying snow cover has thinned to 10-20cm down at the base of their slopes. Italy Western Italian ski areas caught the last of the big snowfalls in the alps just a week ago so are still posting figures of 20-40cm of snow for the week, though in reality that all feel last Wednesday/Thursday are resorts including Cervinia and Sestriere. Passo Tonale continues to report the world's deepest snow base at 6m/20 feet and should stay open into June as usual as a result. Almost all resorts throughout the rest of the country have healthy bases thanks to the great season Italy's had – typically in the 1.3-3m bracket although Macugnaga has 3.8m, Madesimo 4.5m. Even at resort level most areas haver at least two feet of snow lying, Cortina has about the least reported with 30cm by the village although it's still 1.5m deep on the tops. Switzerland It has been a dry week on Swiss slopes too with no fresh snow recorded in the past week. Andermatt is still reporting a 4m base as it has for several months now. Snow levels have fluctuated rather more at resorts with a little less snow lying including Engelberg and Saas Fee, both around 3.5m and both open in to late April or May. Saas Fee closes first but then re-opens in July for its nine month season right through to the end of April 2015. Most Swiss resorts have plenty of snow to see them through the remainder of the season but several are honestly reporting that they have no snow left to resort level, including Adelboden, Crans Montana, Leysin, Gstaad and Wengen. It's 5cm deep in the village at Laax. Pyrenees After the heavy snow last week in the Pyrenees things have slowed down a good deal with 5 – 15cm reported by resorts in the last week, the most recent falls of around 5cm on Sunday. Bases remain excellent for the time of year with 2 – 3m lying on the slopes in Andorra. Scandinavia The snow has finally stopped falling in Scandinavia although snow levels means resorts should be good to stay open to early May – as many do – and possibly to June in the case of Finland's northerly Ruka, which likes to claim the longest season in the world for a ski resort without a glacier. Snow depths in Norway are the best in the area, with Hemsedal, one of those with four weeks of the season still to run, has a 1.6 – 1,.8m base. Over the border in Sweden Are, the region's biggest resort, reported 3cm of snow on Monday, it has a 70cm base. Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is in thaw mode with just a few centimetres of snow left in Romania and challenging conditions in Romania, with little snow cover on lower runs, and what there is left very soft. Kranjska Gora in Slovenia has called it a day on 13-14 and closed for the season. Scotland Scottish skiing continues to be in good shape with another more settled week than through much of the winter. Temperatures are warmer, snow is softer, there's a gradual but as yet not catastrophic normal spring thaw, and generally things are looking jolly good for April and the coming Easter fortnight. Continues remain at their best in the West where Glencoe still has one of the world's deepest snow bases at nearly 4m and is fully open. Nevis Range claims just a few feet less and is virtually fully open. At Cairngorm is 25cm on lower slopes, 2m on upper runs and mostly open, Glenshee in the east has the greatest challenge maintaining runs and The Lecht is no longer operating this season unless there's a sudden major return to winter. North America Canada Another snowy week in Western Canada, nearly all resorts have benefitted but among those shouting loudest are Red Mountain in BC who report, "It's that time again when March storms come rolling on through bringing us great snow. We've had 38cm in the last week, and our base is at the highest it's been all season - and it's here for the taking!" Over the provincial border in Alberta Banff Lake Louise are happy too, "March has been as phenomenal as expected, with 33cm overnight last night topping up our current snowfall 719cm/23.5ft so far this season. Oh and we're open for skiing until May 19." They scored the second biggest seven day accumulation in the country too with 62cm,m but Fernie was top once again with over 70cm and now has a 4m base, the deepest in North America. USA The US has seen some of the biggest snowfalls in the past week, although most of the ski areas there close this week or next. That's not the case at Mammoth mountain however which has received a metre of snow in the past week and is open at least until the end of May. Other ski areas in California, with the winter drought now a distant memory, scored big snowfall boosts too, with Squaw's 1.5m (five feet) one of the biggest snowfalls anywhere in the world this year. The snow has been moving east in the past few days with Park City Mountain Resort one of several Utah centres reporting a foot of fresh snow yesterday. In Wyoming Jackson Hole, which has led the snow depth table in the country all season, got yet another 75cm of snow this week and still has the deepest base of a major US resort, at 3.6m (12 feet) but will be one of the first to close for the season in the next few days. Over on the east coast conditions remain fairly good with 30 – 120cm the typical bottom-to-top snow depth at most New England ski areas. |
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Quite a few over the years, and they stick in the mind... Les Deux Alpes, a season or two back. The weather cleared at the end of a pretty hostile day; almost everyone headed for the bar but a friend and I just caught the very last chair back up Valentin before it shut. Stood for a minute at the top with not a soul around, the sun long down behind the hill and the town lighting up in the twilight below... 8) |
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Spring Snow not so slow then... :shock: |
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Crawford and Alcott take Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships Super G titles On the first day of the Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships in Meribel, GB racer Chemmy Alcott (Hampton Court, Surrey) - who has announced that she will retire at the end of this Championships - claimed the Ladies' Super G title in her last ever Super G race with an impressive time of 1:23:91. Meanwhile, in the Men's Super G, reigning overall British Champion Dougie Crawford (Bearsden, Glasgow) looks to retain the title he won last year, as he took first place in the Men's Super G with 1:19:20, over four seconds faster than his other British competitors. In overcast conditions, Chemmy Alcott showed that despite an ongoing battle with a leg injury, she is still a force to be reckoned as she took the Super G title by over two seconds. In second place was Cara Brown (1:26:01) and Honor Clissor (1:27:91) came in third. Both were satisfied with their performances on what they described as a challenging course.
In the men's race, Dougie Crawford took the title of British Super G Champion, fighting off challenges from Billy Major (1:23:57) who finished in second and Max Baggio (1:26:59) who took third. On a technical course, over half the field didn't cross the finish line, including 2012 overall British Champion TJ Baldwin and Jack Gower.
This is the 11th year of the 2014 Delancey British National Alpine Championships, the biggest event in the British Alpine ski racing calendar. Supported by Delancey - Principal Sponsor of British Ski and Snowboard - for the 4th year, the Senior and Junior Championships take place from 30 March to 7 April followed by the Under 16 and Under 14 Championships from 8 April to 11 April. Sir John Ritblat, President of BSS and Chairman of Delancey's Advisory Board said: This is Delancey's 6th year of funding and my 36th year. As the longest supporters of British snowsport, we are extremely proud that Delancey has been able to play its part in supporting our nation's athletes, and are delighted that this years Championships has started with such good conditions and impressive results from our British team. Delancey British Alpine Championships 2014 – Super G results (British racers only): Men's: 1st - Dougie Crawford: 1.19.20, Billy Major: 1.23.57, Max Baggio: 1.26.59. Women's: 1st – Chemmy Alcott: 1.23.91, 2nd – Cara Brown: 1.26.01, Honor Clissold: 1.27.91 Full results from the Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships can be found on the official website: www.britishalpinechamps.com. |
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This received via Billip1 :-
For more details, see http://www.glencoemountain.co.uk/ |
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Piste Map? No contest - Ski Welt for the win! The only piste map that makes just as much sense turned upside down... 8) Rumour has it that a legendary adopted Scot of Mancunian extraction has spent the last 60 years trying to decipher it, and he's still going back for more. As for piste markings, well Courmayeur can have that crown. It may have improved in recent years but either the pisteurs are completely colour-blind or they have a running competition to see how many different colored poles they can plant on a single piste. |
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