May started with some fresh powder in the Northern Alps, about 10cm at 1500 meters and 20cm abover 2000 meters. This was resting on a hard base which made itself felt at times. Also when climbing on steeper slopes the fresh snow didn’t stick well to this base making ski crampons necessary.

Today (Friday May 2) we were in the Chablais. The temperatures are very warm and the overnight refreeze was poor, at least below 2000 meters. There must have been some thin cloud overnight. As a result the skiing was mediocre on the north facing slope we were on. There is still skiable snow down to 1400 meters and conditions look good once you get above 1600-1800 meters which has often been the rain line over the last few weeks.

Here in Auvergne the Sancy is white and all north couloirs in the area are well filled with the many snowfalls of late. But now the valley floors are definitively back to grass.

A good time to appreciate the couloirs as the resort is empty - the cable car still runs on week ends. Caution with temperature, freezing and sun melt…

This is Puy Redon and val d’Enfer today.

Video of directe of Puy Ferrand a few days ago - but today was exactly the same with the last snowfall 2 days ago.
http://web.mac.com/ericlodi/Sancy_Free/Sancy_Free/Entries/2008/4/27_En_avril....html

Just done 4 days between Zermatt and Zinal, conditions were exceptional. Descending today from the Bishorn at 4153m we had good cover down to 2000m or so

I skied a summit called the Pointe de Marcelly on Friday morning. There was a very poor refreeze which should have been a sign to pick a lower angled slope.

and although some cracks were visible from the car park I didn’t realize how serious they were.

This is a picture from the summit. Here the full depth of the snowpack has begun to slip on the flagstones - I don’t think it was too risky at 8am although maybe not the best spot to be. What was impressive is that the crack ran most of the length of the ridgely but had been bridge by the recent fresh snow. If this part of the slope went it would have taken a 300 meter long slab about 1 - 2 meters deep. I noticed the hidden crack when skiing off the summit the snow gave way beneath me!

We’d planned a traverse of the Brèche Puisieux in the Mont-Blanc range on Sunday. I was doubtful about the project due to the late start of the Aiguille du Midi lift. The first lift is at 8h10 with 15 spots that can be reserved and the rest allocated to guided trips. We got onto the 8h20 lift but had to queue from just after 7am to get this. We finally got skis on our feet at 9am and skied down a sketchy vallee blanche by the normal route (snow was very hard and unpleasant to just above the Requin at the point where crevasse zone starts - here the snow turned to slush in about 100 vertical meters, not a great sign.

Col du Tacul and Brèche Puisieux

We climbed up to the couloir which leads to the Breche de Pusieux - the snow was hard but there was a good grip so no need for ski crampons. However arriving at the foot of the couloir we realized it was 11h40 with another 300 meters of boot packing head. Tibo was not feeling well either. Given that we would arrive on top around 1pm with a 30 meter abseil onto a slope that had been warmed by the sun since 9am we decided to abandon and ski down. There was certainly a lot of activity on the east facing slopes below the Aiguille d’Argentiere

Snow purges

There were a couple of accidents on Saturday in the Mont Blanc massif. One in the couloir barbey under the aiguilles d’Argentière with one injured. It appears two climbers lost their footing on ice - there were reports of a cornice fall.

Tour Ronde on Sunday morning

More serious was on the north face of the Tour Ronde. A 24 year old British woman was killed after a fall of some 300 meters late on Saturday. Her companion, a French man, aged 26, but resident in the UK suffered leg injuries but was able to call for help. The two were ski mountaineering.

haven’t managed to sort the 150 I took in the last 4 days yet, but here’s one at random, some of the group climbing the ridge of the Blanc de Moming 3661m in the Val d’Anniviers in Valais, Switzerland

then off the top of the Bishorn (4153m) yesterday on some great snow, easy and good skiing down to the Tracuit Hut :

Yes that cut up snow is easy once it has softened but is nasty early in the morning when it is still frozen solid. We had that at the start of the VB yesterday and it was a nightmare - I certainly “went for the burn” on that one. With the crevasses you can’t really stray too far from the main track down.

Saturday we went to an old favourite, the Taillerfer, one of the summits that dominate Grenoble. There was no refreeze below 2600mtrs but the firn snow lower down was very skiable. I will post some pigs tomorrow.

davidof - 12 May 2008 02:28 PM

I will post some pigs tomorrow.

that’ll be handy, I like some bacon :D

ise - 12 May 2008 02:46 PM

davidof - 12 May 2008 02:28 PM

I will post some pigs tomorrow.

that’ll be handy, I like some bacon :D

We’ll have to tour to Valporcine then

Here are some of the Taillefer shots:

http://www.lamarmotte.info/photos/catalog.php?dir=./Sports/Ski+Rando/2007+-+2008/2008+05+10+Taillefer+par+la+Combe+NE

Due to a storm there was some snow down to 2200 meters on Sunday night bring around 20cm of fresh powder to the Dauphine mountains but it was a bit crusty lower down.

davidof - 13 May 2008 10:59 AM

ise - 12 May 2008 02:46 PM

davidof - 12 May 2008 02:28 PM

I will post some pigs tomorrow.

that’ll be handy, I like some bacon :D

We’ll have to tour to Valporcine then

we did ski over Roc de La Vache the other day as well

great pics…

Wish I could do Taillefer sometime, but somehow I didn’t get to do any skiing in France in the last few weeks.

Seemed like in the first week of May there was lots more snow down to lower altitudes (and better weather) in the Eastern Alps—here’s some photos.
Special prize was the Piz Bernina.

Somehow my airline ticket had me flying home from Geneva, so I had to drive west across most of Italy. So I made the best of it by skiing on Gran Paradiso—nice day but the snow line was about 500 meters higher, so lots of carrying skis on my pack. I met a local Val d’Aosta guy skiing down early over the old ski ruts. He said if I waited two hours they would soften up. But the main run is west-facing, so in two hours they did not soften up. Still found some decent skiing on gentler slopes lower down. It was great to see the peaks of the Alpes du Nord from a different direction - (problem was I couldn’t recognize most of them).

Hope to be back in France for more skiing next year.

Ken

I’ve not been out recently due to the poor weather and time. Friday was the day to get into the mountains and my friends Jean and David climbed to the summit of Mont Pourri in the Savoie. Conditions were powder over 3300 meters, spring snow lower down. Here are some photos:

http://jean.vial.free.fr/2bgal/serie.php?id_album=94&stat=ok

The weekend has seen a lot of rain, probably more fresh snow higher up. In the Haute Savoie it is still possible to ski from Flaine with just a short walk and of course in the Mont blanc massif - the Aiguille du Midi ridge has had the ropes removed now.

Hope to see you next year Ken and maybe get out with Ise over the summer?

Conditions remain very poor with a very wet second half of May and start to June. There is fresh snow above 3000 meters in the Alps and above 2400 meters in the Pyrenees. This has lead to very unstable conditions with a lot of snow purges reported. Guardians of refuge in the Ecrins have advised walkers and skiers not to head into the high mountains - for example the Dome des Ecrins route. Similar conditions are reported for the Mont Blanc massive.

There have been 3 avalanche fatalities over the last week:-

http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0836-avalanche-on-the-aiguille-du-midi/

http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0837-walkers-killed-by-avalanche-in-the-cirque-de-gavarnie/

http://www.ohm-chamonix.com/fiche.php?id=02&req=1&ling=Fr - Fresh snow above 3000 meters accompanied by very strong winds with large accumulations in place.

Well the weather has finally cleared enough for me to put on my touring skis again with a trip to the Aiguille Du Charmo above Vallorcine.

You can still ski from 1900-2000 meters on north facing slopes, 2400 meters on south facing slopes. There is a lot of snow above 3000 meters as this shot of the Aiguilles d’Argentiere shows.

The snow quality is poor below 2200 meters with deep sun cuts and deep rain runnels making skiing less than fun. Higher up the relief was filled in with fresh snow giving a smooth surface but with some hard, refrozen snow, nearly ice, not far from the surface. Be careful on steeper slopes.