David, thanks for the link, I had heard about the TV report but never seen it as I was not in France at the time. I am glad they quoted PisteHors as your presentation of the Mont-Dore couloirs in the ski areas wiki is excellent. 
If you have learned to ski on the Sancy the good thing is that you can certainly deal with any kind of icy snow around the world 
For this season, so far so good. The snow has mostly fallen beginning of December, but it is still good and soft on the tracks in the resorts. Off tracks, the wind blew a good deal away, and the couloirs are now mostly hard snow, not very forgiving… I have seen at the bottom of Puy Ferrand in Chaudefour valley huge fragile frost crystals under a frozen crust, but it seems very localized, the snow elsewhere should be a good base for the rest of the season. Let’s now wait for the next fall, it seems to be coming for the next days, I hope it will allow me to present more “secrets” of the Sancy on my blog. I have in mind a couple of spectacular but not difficult itineraries… but there is not enough snow yet. Let’s light a candle in Clermont-Ferrand’s cathedral!
