le Grand Rocher this morning:
There is about the same amount of snow as at the start of November but the quality is not as good below 2000 due to the strong southerly winds and rain episodes.
It is skiable from around 1300 meters (lower in certain cases) but from 1300-1700 the base is very humid due to the rain and has not yet frozen. The wider the skis the better. From 1500 meters there is about 10-15cm of fresh snow on this base. From 1700m the base is firm enough with 20-30cm of fresh powder. Very skiable even if the snowpack is a bit uneven in places (large snow pillows). Higher up the strong winds have stripped ridgelines and summits.
The recent snow fell directly on the ground below 2500 m on southerly aspects and consists of two principal layers. A humid base and a layer of fresher powder snow. On Northern aspects this new snow has fallen on a weak layer of snow left from early November. The strong south-westerly winds have formed slabs on these slopes. The principal danger is to be found at higher altitudes.