J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Avalanche Academy

Actually the snowpack has settled down massively in the Alps now. A week ago it was Category 5 avalanche risk, but now it's down to 2.

Recent fluctuations in temperature have bonded the snow together pretty well. The risk of depth hoar (the cause of many avalanches) is also very low - normally early season the snowpack is shallow, so the steep temperature gradient (from ground to air) causes depth hoar to form. A deeper pack lessens the risk by reducing the temperature gradient.

So, overall I would say that while there is ALWAYS risk, the risk at the moment is no worse than a normal year. Enjoy your skiing....

Every Monday night at 7pm throughout the season we are delivering an Avalanche Awareness presentation at La Terrasse bar FREE to anyone who wants to come along. The first was held last week, and was completely packed out - so much so that we are considering holding two every week if we think there is enough demand.

La Terrasse are generously providing the venue, so I would encourage anyone coming along to show their appreciation by buying a drink from the bar.

That's all folks, FREE AVALANCHE AWARENESS PRESENTATION EVERY MONDAY 7PM, LA TERRASSE, CHAMONIX. This is not a gimmick, and you do not have to buy anything, sign up to anything, or give us your details - hope to see you there.

Stay safe....

Despite the growing numbers of off-piste users in France, the national avalanche bulletin from Meteo France is still only published in French. The web address to find it is also pretty damn long !

So, in order to make things just a little easier for people this winter I started tweeting a summary of the avalanche forecast for Chamonix about two weeks ago. I tweet it every evening for the following day, and other snow info that people might find useful. Anyone interested just needs to follow @AvalancheAcad on Twitter.

For those of you not on Twitter, we have also linked this bulletin to our Facebook page Avalanche Academy.

And finally, for those who want the detailed forecast for any French Region or who have spared their lives the constant deluge of info from Social Networking sites, we also have a link directly to the Meteo France Bulletin on our homepage http://www.avalancheacademy.com .

We hope this will keep you all in the powder, and out of the headlines this winter. Bonne ski....

The SLF documents are excellent and I strongly recommend people to have a look at them. I also thought I'd let you know that I'm currently developing a Resources section on my own website to help share information with people that might help them. Have a look at: http://www.avalancheacademy.com/page.asp?id=resources

Safe skiing folks...

I just thought I would echo your comments about the Bolognesi books. I think his Avalanche book is particularly good, and the "Nivotest" card in the back of the book is a very simple way of determining the risk level. I recommend this book to all my clients. Safe skiing...