Some nice ridge skiing to start the month.

We kicked off a small windslab, maybe 9” deep.  That ruled out hiking any further along the ridge, so we descended

The face skied great.  12 Inches of cold snow to start the month

Looks nice. Last weekend I toured to the Grand Sure, this is the first mountain you see on the left as you approach Grenoble from Lyon. I also went to the Coupe Icare Blanche at St Hilaire, I will try and post a short film next week of the speed riders.

There is a general avalanche warning out for the Southern French Alps due to heavy snowfall in the area.

Quelques difficultés de circulation ce matin en raison de la neige, spécifiquement en altitude. The Col de Vars and col de Larche (high mountain passes) are both closed due to snow and the RD902 (Gorges du Bachelard) is closed due to avalanche risk. You need snow chains if you are traveling in the region.

In their monthly roundup Meteo France confirm the generally good snow cover particularly in Corsica and the Southern Alps. In the Pyrenees and Southern Alps it is possible to ski from 1200 meters with above average snow cover from 1500 meters. Good snow cover can also be found in certain sectors of the Jura, Vosges and Massif-Central. In the Northern Alps the snow is more or less in keeping with the time of year.

Northern Alps

Very good snow cover, values are normal for the season from 1500 meters in most ranges. Above average in the border regions of the Savoie and in the Vercors. On north sector slopes snow cover varies from 700 to 1000 meters and 1000-1200 on south sector slopes. At 1500 m you can find 40 to 80cm of snow on south facing slopes and 70-100cm on northerly aspects. At 2000 m there is over 1 m of snow. Snow cover is irregular at altitude due to a number of episodes of high wind.

Southern Alps

Excellent snow cover (again – ed.). Well above average for the time of ear. Snow from 800 meters in certain ranges but the ski-line is around 1100-1300 m.
The Martimes Alps have the best snow cver. There is between 90 to 120cm depending on the aspect at 1500m and at 2200 m well over than 200cm of snow. Elsewhere 70-100cm at 1500 meters, 100-160cm at 2000m.

Corsica

Excellent snow cover well above average for the start of February. Since the end of November the snow cover has been well above average. It is the best snow cover since 1979, the start of measurements on Corsica and can be compared to 1999 and 2006. The normal warm spells have been much less pronounces than normal. Snowfall has been regular but scarce below 1000m. There is 100-150cm at 1600m and 250cm at 2000m

Pyrenees.

Very good snow cover since the start of winter. The snow pack got established early thanks to frequent snowfall and fairly cold weather and it is continuing to thicken. The most exceptional cover is at 1800m, where you find most ski runs.. There is 70cm in the east, 100 in the centre and 120cm in the west. You can find snow cover from 1200m on north slopes with depths of 50-70cm at 1500m. At 2000m there is often more than 200cm depth.

Vosges, Jura, Massif Central

The Vosges have snow cover from 600-700m but you have to climb to 900m to find good snow cover. There is 30cm at 1000m and at 1200m there is 60-90cm on the Ballon d’Alsace.
In the Jura there is snow from 500 but it is only skiable from 900m. The snow cover increases rapidly with altitude. There is 10-20cm at 900m. 60-8cmm at 1300m. The best snow cover is on the border with Switzerland where there is 100cm at 1200m.

In the Massif Central snow is abundant on the summits, especially in the Cantal. There is snow from 700meters but you need to climb to 1000 meters to find continuous cover. There is 100cm at 1200meters.

http://france.meteofrance.com/france/actu/actu?document_id=20350&portlet_id=42259

Please Note: the roads to Isola 2000 and Auron are closed until at least Sunday 8th February

Yesterday the avie risk was 3/5, we decided to climb to our old favourite the Aup de Seuil above the col de Marcieu ski resort. There was 15cm on the ground at 1065m and nearer 30cm of somewhat slabby snow near the summit. We didn’t exit the last 10m onto the ridge due to the avalanche risk - someone was just ahead of us in the couloir. Instead we skied down together using the terrain for cover in case of the worst - there have been a couple of avalanches on the route this season although we avoided the known danger zones… it is the unknown one’s that can catch you.

Take care out there, there was a south westerly yesteday so expect north to east aspect to be loaded.

In Serre Chevalier two skiers had a lucky escape yesterday skiing off piste. They triggered an avalanche at 12h30 on the Eychauda. The slide was 1 meter deep, one of the skiers, a 47 year old local man, buried but luckily in an air pocket. He was recovered after 8 minutes by his friend with a broken femur and was heli-lifted by the CRS to hospital in Briançon.

A snowshoer has been caught on the Charance above Gap by a slab avalanche. The group was heading for the col de Guizière situated close to the telecommunication mast between the brèche de Charance (1657 meters) and the tête de Guizière (1814 meters). The impressive slab was several hundred meters long. The snowshoer was taken over cliffs. The CRS des Alpes found the man on the surface of the slide with a shoulder injury. The risk was High (4/5) in the Champsaur sector.

davidof - 09 February 2009 05:51 PM

A snowshoer has been caught on the Charance above Gap by a slab avalanche. The group was heading for the col de Guizière situated close to the telecommunication mast between the brèche de Charance (1657 meters) and the tête de Guizière (1814 meters). The impressive slab was several hundred meters long. The snowshoer was taken over cliffs. The CRS des Alpes found the man on the surface of the slide with a shoulder injury. The risk was High (4/5) in the Champsaur sector.

Is there an official report on this?  That sounds like a pretty intense slide, and the fact that he survived with only shoulder injuries is pretty incredible.

there is so much wind, and more to continue next week possibly,

davidof, im yet to venture high, but with all this wind and cold weather what will this do to the snow pack?
if there is a warm period this will help the pack stabalise, but for now its surely bad news, any positives? besides making us explore new lower level stuff?

The appropriately named Henry Schniewind has a blog entry about managing wind loaded slopes is worth taking a look at.

http://www.getoffpiste.com/2009/02/snow-report-wind-and-wind-loading.html

Personally I’m very cautious and when the risk is 3 and above I head for low/mid mountain slopes with low exposure and trees but around Grenoble we have mountain ranges for all seasons so it is easy to make the choice.

The big advantage of low/mid mountain slopes is that in a normal Alpine season we get rain to 2000 meters and this stabilizes these slopes. You may then get 30-50cm on top which is where you can get a risk 3 or 4 but the amount of snow that can actually be mobilized is limited. Yes it can still kill but keeping away from big open slopes or exposed slopes (cliffs) can mitigate the risk.

Otherwise south facing slopes in the 2000-3000m range are a good choice as they will have had a good freeze-thaw cycle. You need to make sure they are not steep enough to purge either where you are or above you. The problem is the snow can be crusty or heavy. North facing slopes are not to be ignored, if you can find a nice skiable shoulder or a wide but not too steep valley (watching out for terrain traps and steeper, convex, sections - these are the bits that get you).

In the end we headed out for two couloirs in the Chartreuse. Luc has posted links on his website

http://www.bivouak.net/topos/course.php?id_sortie=5996&id_sport=1

the couloir de Rocher des Belles Ombres is something I scoped out in 2005. I didn’t have time to ski it and a team from Volopress did the first known descent in 2007, a couple of groups have skied it since.

I skied the Draille de Charmilles in 2007, a team from Volopress skied the couloir a month later, this might be the third descent.

http://www.bivouak.net/topos/course.php?id_sortie=5995&id_sport=1

A ski tourer has been seriously injured by an avalanche yesterday afternoon on the col de Larche. The man was recovered by his two friends but in a serious condition. He was airlifted to hospital the by the PGHM de Jausiers.

Snow and wind and snow and wind again in Massif Central. Nice skiing and also nice wind sculptures!
Caution: windslabs, and also ice in the upper parts of most steeps and couloirs.

[changed image widths - ed.]

Chaudefour couloirs are excellent to ski - yet watch out for patches of ice and windslabs.

On Tuesday skied a north-facing slope in the Belledonne near St-Colomban between 1800-2400m. Powder was nicer higher, lower it was a heavier but still fun skiing with wider heavier skis - (not as much fun for my partner on skinny light Trab skis).

Ken

Chaudefour looks excellent. St Colomban is a good choice at the moment Ken although there has been some fresh snow which will change things.

Over the weekend the south-east to south slopes turned crusty although there was some heavy glop higher up where the air was colder. On Monday we climbed to the Chamechaude above Grenoble. West facing slopes but cut up snow as there had probably been 1000 skiers before us. There was still some hidden stashes of fresh powder though. I would have thought West through to North-East would have the best snow. There was a biting north-easterly wind at the summit and a lot of snow transport so I could imagine some slab formation on West to South slopes close to summits and ridges above the 2000m range.

Great pictures everyone, looks like a great month all around!

First time I’ve ever watched a remote trigger

My partner was at the top of the skin track when it popped, He felt it settle but couldn’t see what happened.

Georges and I got out Thursday in the Lauziere, mostly on moderate NE slopes. 10-15cm of new snow, just enough to make it fun. Also skied a steeper E-facing higher slope 2450-2700m, angle around 38 degrees, snow a bit wind-affected but skiable - (in my normal wide + weighty touring skis: I wouldn’t want to have tried it on light skis + boots that are getting fashionable).

In the zone 1600-2450m the NE slopes were very skiable—but getting onto any SE sections was firmer: skiable with care, but not as much fun.
Lower around 1400-1600m the NE got a little heavy (maybe a bit of crust?) and I was hitting lots old icy tracks underneath. Required aggression to break thru consistently.

No sign of any instability anywhere.
Lotsa people out in the sunshine, but still space for a few more tracks.

Ken

More snow Friday further north in the Aravis.
No signs of instability—lots of people out skiing lots of different slopes.

about 30cm of new powder - a bit heavy - but nice skiing—unless it was wind-affected (higher up near ridges + peaks) or sun-affected: a bit of crust on SW slopes lower around 1450m. But higher up the SW slopes skied fine.

Gotta hike farther or get more creative to find untracked snow after today (but I saw some possibilities).

Ken