J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Hi Dave,

We plan to add historical data to our snow report pages in the near future. We have a lot going on right now but hope to have that in place by the end of next month.

As for the correlation between resorts... I suspect that there actually isn't that much; snow conditions can vary hugely from one valley to the next.

Actual snowfall depends so much on wind-speed, direction, air humidity and so on - let alone temperature - all of which vary immensely even between very closely located resorts. Mountain weather patterns are quite extreme examples of chaotic systems, where a small change in a single variable can have huge effects on the overall pattern.

Would make an interesting study if you had the time though... 8)

Ouch... I can change your username to caron-aaah if you like?

But seriously - that sucks for now, but you can be rebuilt. A friend of mine had keyhole surgery to remove cartilage and repair her ACL, and we skiied La Grave 6 months later without a problem.

Tough call on the holiday... Tigne's not a fantastic place to be for a non-skier and you might find being the odd one out of 25 to be a bit of a bummer.

I reckon your idea of cancelling and putting the money aside for a momentous ski holiday next season has merit. Then you'll have something to aim for and motivate you through the post-op (if that's necessary) physio and stuff.

Dave Mac wrote:there may be 470 cm of new snow

I wish! 8)

But I think we can settle for 47cm (and a bit, I reckon).

Get your snow dance on, Dave and I might even make it to Niederau myself to see what all the fuss is about! :lol:

It depends... helmet sizes and, more importantly, shapes do seem to vary a bit. An XXL Head Helmet claiming to be 58cm was too large for me (seemed too "wide", but about the right length), but an XL Salomon lid (also claiming to be 58cm) is a perfect fit.

So... really important that you try them for fit before you buy.

If there's room for a hat then it's way too big - many modern helmets have a lining / webbing arrangement that a) allows an adjustable fit and b) permits air to flow through between your head and the shell.

You definitely don't want it to be loose - snug but comfortable.

A definite change in the weather is in store for the next 7 to 10 days.


The unusually warm and Spring-like conditions of late are starting to give way to something a bit more seasonal. The coming weekend should be cooler than last weekend's t-shirt conditions, with widespread cloud bringing snow at altitude. The Northern alpine areas will see the best of this first band of precipitation, with an initial snow line around 2,000 metres falling to 1,500 or below by late Sunday. Snowfalls are unlikely to be huge but should be enough to freshen the pistes up nicely in many areas.

Further South, the likelihood of snow at the weekend is lower but temperatures should still be falling.

Incoming

From Tuesday onward, there appears now to be a high probability of widespread, decent snowfall to low altitude as temperatures drop significantly. We would stress that this is still some way ahead, but it's looking promising... Austrian resorts, in particular, could be seeing significant accumulations through the second half of next week. Most of the Central and Northern Alpine areas are currently in the firing line for this one so keep an eye...

ise wrote:Wednesday?

Fingers crossed but it should have cooled off and be snowing in Zinal by then... 8)

ise wrote:we're seeing full depth glide avalanches and fractures are appearing all over the place.

Nasty... that sounds like Spring!

Hopefully the forecast dip in temperature will stabilise things again, though I guess the cold needs to be sustained to penetrate the snowpack? Otherwise a thick frozen crust on top of a wet base could be extremely treacherous...

Definitely a time for caution - digging the odd pit or two could be interesting to see how the layers develop; did you fancy some spade-work next Wednesday? 8)

Interesting things happening in the snow forecast...

Looks like a fair bit of precipitation this weekend but with a freezing level in the region of 2,000 metres (boo) for most areas. Localised falls could push the snow much lower, however, as cold air comes through.

The more interesting event is around the 4th though - 10 degree drop in temperature right across the alps, with precipitation too (oo oo oo). GFS has already moved this back a couple of days, but seems pretty sure about it now.

After that, the forecast goes haywire so goodness only knows what the second week of March will bring!

Check the GFS Ensemble for Geneva for a classic example of the wiggly lines going wibble-wobble wildly beyond the 7th!

We'll be watching the next forecast runs with mucho interest... 8)