J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by TerenceS

I was in Claviere a few years ago and there was great snow, although I don't know what April will be like. There are a number of ski rental shops in the village so there should be no problem there and the prices were reasonable too.

As for the ski pass, I can't remember if it was part of the Milky Way pass which includes Sesitere. However as I recall on the local pass you could pop over the border to France to Montegenvre. In fact the 2 resorts are connected. You can take a lift from Claviere up to one of the reds, then down a forest road and you are in Montegenvre. It is definitely worth spending a day if not 2 there.

To get back you have to take a lift to one of the highest points and come back over the mountain... but if you are a beginner then the return run is not recommended.

I hope you get the snow.

BTW, There is a great little pizza bar/shop in Claviere where you can get hot slices of pizza.

AllyK, I think you should take your chances, because this year could be the last decent year we will see. It looks like the disaster of last year is very quickly going to become the norm.

Not many people realize but at the end of last summer (2007), the amount of Arctic sea that usually melts each summer increased by a massive 25% from previous records. Projections by the IPCC had suggested we would see it with an ice free summer in about 80 to 100 years. This has now been revised to within 5 years time. It also turns about that it is now estimated that 80% of the sea ice is gone, because most of the melting has taken place at the base and it is far thinner now, thereby accounting for the figure and also making it easier to break up and melt.

This flip-over in albedo or reflectivity means it is largely unstoppable and the water evaporating from the Arctic ocean during the summer will allow a lot of heat to be transferred to Greenland and accelerate the already record breaking melting there.

We are quite simply well into positive feedback territory and my advice to all skiers is get as much skiing as possible now, because things are warming up much faster than even the most pessimistic projects.

See for example:
http://www.nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20071001_pressrelease.html
Forecast to 2014....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/09/eaclim109.xml

Hi, I'm planning a week in Niedera from Mar 15th and I am a little concerned about the snow on the lower slopes especially as some of my crew will be learning to ski for the first time.

I have been looking at the historical records (http://www.igluski.com/viewsnowhistory.cfm?rid=232&from=snowreport ) and obviously last year was bad everywhere, but taking say the lower slope figures for Jan this year which range from 10 to 20cm then comparing back to previous years we seem to be below the average (ref above)
Jan 2007 7 cm
Jan 2006 71 cm
Jan 2005 37 cm
Jan 2004 47 cm
Jan 2003 18 cm
Jan 2002 40 cm

Now I noticed about half the time the figures for March are generally lower than Jan, so if we are only now getting between 10 and 20cm and we are half way through the month, then statistically that would indicate there may be even less in March. Needless to say that wouldn't be good.

So I would be delighted to hear from anyone who could comment on these figure and projections. I am assuming that skiing does take place reguarly in Niederau in March, but it is ONLY because the lower slopes are topped up with snow cannons. Further I assume things have warmed up a fair amount compared to say the 1970s or 1980s and that the snow cannons have been maintaining the season length for a number of years now.

Terence