Snow Conditions
The regional Avalanche Bulletins also contain information about snow condtions and the weather outlook.
Wednesday, 28 November, 2007
Henry’s Avalanche Talk launches new information services
Henry’s Avalanche Talk, launches new information services to help you stay safe and have fun out on the snow. HAT (Henry’s Avalanche Talk) have completely revamped their web based information services. In addition to the weekly ezine, there are now 4 new blog sites.
• (1) Comments • Read More... •
Monday, 19 November, 2007
Record breaker for les 7 Laux
After last season’s poor winter with a loss of over 600,000 euros mid-mountain ski resorts have been looking skywards with some trepidation over the last few weeks. The storm which has blasted Austria and Switzerland, dumping around a meter of snow in 24 hours in Davos, finally ground its way south into the French Alpes. Although it had lost some of its early force it still managed to leave 50cm of snow at the top of the pistes of les 7 Laux in the Isere department. Enough to give the piste director the seemingly crazy idea of opening his ski resort in mid-November.
• (2) Comments • Read More... •
Thursday, 15 November, 2007
French ski resorts race to open
With fresh snow covering the Vosges, Jura and Northern Alpes, French ski resorts are racing to get their ski areas opened. Here is round-up of the current situation. The greatest quantities of snow, around 40cm fell in the pre-alpes and at mid altitudes – around 1500 to 2000m.
Early season snow is a bonus for ski tourers
• (10) Comments • Read More... •
Wednesday, 11 July, 2007
Retrospective on the 2006-2007 ski season
It would all have worked out fine if it hadn’t been for those pesky journalists - to paraphrase the comments of a spokesman for the Compagnie des Alpes (CdA). According to the CdA’s quarterly financial report the admittedly poor snow conditions got mixed up with the story about global warming and it was this that frightened skiers away from the slopes. The spin doctors even claim that the season was better than average above 2000 meters. Once again we are sifting through 12 months of weather data in an effort to find the truth behind the 2006-2007 ski season. Our primary focus is on off-piste and ski touring not on snow that comes out of the end of a canon.
Fresh Powder in July
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Tuesday, 29 May, 2007
Two dead in French snow storms
The return to winter has had fatal consequences for two hikers on the island of Corsica last night. The walkers were in separate groups and were trapped when a winter storm broke over the island bringing sub-zero temperatures and limited visibility. One person plucked to safety by the mountain police today described how he had sheltered behind a rock as wind speeds reached 200 km/h driving snow into deep drifts. Both victims were residents of the French mainland.
• (1) Comments • Read More... •
Monday, 14 May, 2007
Peasant Lore
Followers of PisteHors will know we are big fans of peasant lore. Consulting the Almanac Savoyard gives the following dictum…
Tels Quatre-Temps, Telles saisons.
Si les Quatre-Temps amènent le mauvais temps, il y en aura pour longtemps.
The Quatre-temps are four groups of three days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). For the spring they follow the Carême feast days, for the summer Pentecost, autumn the 14 of September and winter, the 13th of December. Anyone who followed the rule this year would have known that ski season would be warm and dry.
PisteHors webcam this afternoon
• (3) Comments • Read More... •
Wednesday, 02 May, 2007
Dog days for 2007 ski touring
It has been a while since I’ve posted any snow reports but then it has been a while since we’ve seen any significant fresh snow. The last significant dump dates back to the end of March with almost zero precipitation in April a month of normally unsettled weather mixed with excellent powder ski conditions. However this morning it has snowed down to 1800-2000 meters in the Alps and Pyrenees and we are hoping for some excellent skiing once the weather clears.
• (1) Comments • Read More... •
Thursday, 22 March, 2007
French winter makes comeback
It was panic yesterday in the tiny ski resort of Saint-Pierre de Chartreuse as winter made an unexpected return, or should that be start? With half a meter of fresh snow the piste director spent the evening ringing around his list of temporary staff in an effort to get some lifts running. Most had already headed for the coast to prepare for the summer season after a disappointing winter of lay-offs and short time working.
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Thursday, 15 March, 2007
Stable conditions and spring snow
We’ve spent the last few days touring in the Maurienne, Grands Rousses and Belledonne areas in a mixture of conditions from choppy powder to perfect spring snow. After a fairly lively Saturday with a lot of avalanche activity conditions seem to have stabilized, at least below 2500 meters with the major risk being wet snow avalanches and purges in the afternoon. East facing slopes were in condition from 10am but the snow quickly turned soft under the warm, spring sun.
Grand Replomb North couloirs
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Sunday, 11 March, 2007
Weekend of unstable snow conditions in the Isère
The weekend has seen some very unstable snow conditions in the Isère following a drop in temperatures, strong winds and fresh snow down to 800 meters. On Saturday ski tourers in the department were surprised to trigger a number of avalanches in the mountains well below the 2400 meter level specified in the area’s avalanche bulletin where the risk moved from Moderate (2/3) to Considerable (3/5).
Fare canyon, scene of an avalanche today
• (1) Comments • Read More... •
Members
Log-inRegister
About PisteHors
Advertise
F.A.Q.
Updates
Comments
Trip Reports
Ski Search
Hiking
Last 12 Issues
Atom
MyYahooNews Categories
Recent Forum Posts
Video cameras - 06/09/2008 01:43 pmMondial du Freeski and Snowboard - 04/09/2008 10:38 am
Anyone tried camping in a ski resort - 03/09/2008 05:33 am
Black Diamond AT boots - 22/08/2008 03:16 pm
Were to buy approach skis??? - 21/08/2008 03:04 pm
Stats
Total Entries: 832Total Comments: 904
Total Members: 2376