J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Taking account of the feedback from our change earlier this week, we've revised the Post Rating scheme.

You can now "like" a post and, er, that's it. 8)

Consider this as the equivalent of the old 5-star rating, so only vote for posts you think are excellent. That will give them a nice little icon like this...



It's there as a way of recognising particularly useful posts or replies to questions. We do get some excellent contributions to the forum and it'd be nice to make them stand out a little.

So if you really appreciate something - whether it's a thought-provoking post from Pavel or a Trip Report from Tony - give it your vote.

You get one vote per post, as before, but the difference is that it's now purely positive. Several of you observed that the best way to deal with posts you don't agree with is to respond with your own view, rather than anonymously mark them down, and I agree.

We're going to be using this as a means of voting for entries in some competitions we'll be announcing later today.

Please use it sensibly; we will be monitoring for abuse of the system and can (and will) remove Rating permissions on an individual basis... so please play nicely. 8)

The trees in this shot give some indication of the depth... that's a lot of snow.


Photo : Keystone/John-Christophe Bott


Photo : Keystone/John-Christophe Bott

:cry:

bandit wrote:Tarte au Myrtilles 8)

Gotcha! I knew someone else was eating them... :shock: yum yum.

The worst thing that can happen skiing is... finding bandit's eaten all the Myrtilles! :P

brooksy wrote:it doesn't change from the last good report, so I don't think they want you to know the bad news so as to keep the resorts populated :evil:

That sucks.

Please take a tape measure and report back daily!

It does look as if things will be cooling off (a lot!) into next week so hopefully your wetsuit won't see too much action...

maersk wrote:Via Lattea.
Sauze

I have not gone yet, but the reports seem to be a work of fiction.

For the reports you mention I'd agree. We're looking into this and have passed your feedback onto our supplier, so hopefully we'll have some updates shortly.

We do provide as many webcams as we can find, to add to the information available.

We also encourage everyone to report conditions but for some reason they seem to forget about it when they've gone skiing...

Last Saturday an avalanche (well, two avalanches in fact) caught a couple of people on the route out of the Vallee Blanche above Chamonix.

A full account of the incident (in French) is here - http://frenchy.biz/expeditions/avalanche/

PisteHors have a good translation and some commentary here.

The full account is well worth reading and a good reminder to never let your guard down, but here are some pertinent extracts...

At the end of the VB we climbed 200m to join the North West slopes above Chamonix. From a snack bar the route makes a big traverse of the hill through woods. Despite the northerly orientation there didn't seem to be any refreeze. We had dropped our guard, the snack bar and tracks made us think of a ski resort, in our heads we were no longer in a high mountain environment ... There were a lot of people skiing when suddenly I saw a cloud of snow in front, 2 meters high, an avalanche.

Avalanche
I stopped dead with a skid, I just had time to think "I've had a close shave" when the sky fell in on me. I was pushed to the ground, I felt the snow crushing me more and more, burying me alive.

I thought, this can't be happening, I tried to get up and then the snow stopped. I managed to make a bit of space. my head was half out of the snow but I was stuck, I had maybe 30cm of snow on top of me. I'd heard that once the slide stops you can't move, you have to be in this situation to see just how true it is.

...

Six to eight people were now crossing the debris, most on foot, skis or snowboards in hand when Jon shouted "avalanche, avalanche, get out the way!". A second slide was coming down.

...

A ski tour is only finished when you reach the car-park. In our heads we were safe after the glacier.

...

Before each tour make sure you are prepared, that your friends are prepared. Keep your guard up. Watch out for received wisdom, question what you've heard about avalanches. Train. Be ready to make a U-turn, remember that where there is a doubt, there is no doubt. As André Roch once said "it's great that you are an avalanche expert, only the avalanche doesn't know that".

It's worth repeating that the risk of full-depth avalanches is, and will remain, particularly high this season - due to the first heavy snows having fallen on un-frozen ground.

There will be more like this; don't leave the piste without a transceiver (and shovel and probe) and choose your routes with caution.

Stay Safe.

Iceman wrote:what is the gain now?

I have a cunning plan... :wink:

Although we may change it to a simple thumbsup / like, if the stars still cause angst.

Those lovely people at Igluski are giving away some Warren Miller DVDs.

To enter their competition, just Like their Facebook page and enter your email address.

Iglu's Facebook Page