I’ve just spent an hour driving back from Albertville in heavy snow and poor driving conditions. At times it was hard to see where the edge of the road began. This reminded me that the avalanche risk is High (4/5) in the Haute-Savoie and Central Pyrenees tomorrow and probably Sunday. With the return to sunnier weather over the weekend be extremely prudent. The situation is particuarly delicate above 1800 meters with a number of unstable layers close to the surface. Beware of steeper slopes above your route due to the risk of purges and remote triggering. Choose well travelled, low angled routes and avoid convex slopes. Even a single skier, boarder or snowshoer can trigger a slide.

The risk is still Considerable in the rest of the French Alps.

So far about 50cm fallen in Argentière and the roads from Chamonix are totally untouched. I decided to take the train up to Argentière tonight for that reason and walked home to Les Tines at about 2130. There were many cars stranded or spun on the road, very poor conditions for driving.

30cm - 40cm in Vallorcine, Col des Montets is closed, the Forclaz is open but chains or 4x4 needed

The weather station on la Davie gives a good summary of the situation

http://213.3.18.26/flowcapt/stations/FCHE1/

a lot of snow transport from the north to the south, very cold weather over the last month which has created some weak layers. On the snow height chart you can see the 25cm of windslab building up on those south facing slopes. If the risk is 3, it is probably a high three. Bluebird day tomorrow.

There was an avalanche today in the Vercors near the Deux Soeurs (col d’Arzellier) involving two ski tourers. One of the skiers was under the snow for 40 minutes after being carried 200 meters down the slope. He was found thanks to his avalanche beacon but had suffered a leg injury, a fractured hip maybe. The winds were from the north and west and if the location report is correct this is an east facing slope.