Good to hear you are back Ken and nice to see the Chalet George crew getting some time off.

I’ve updated the list of accidents for 2009.

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Avalanches/Accident-Statistics

28 avalanche fatalities since the start of the season. This is a review of the period 1st December - 1st March (winter)

http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0910-increase-in-avalanche-deaths-for-winter-2009/

Georges and I got out today hoping for a few hours of sunshine in the morning, but we got more like one. As reported by many sources, the snow had been blown around a lot. I had some fun moments, but overall the combination of variable snow and flat light was overall not fun skiing.
I think we need some more snow to cover this up—and hopefully soon we’ll have some.

We went to Pointe des Raticieres near Valloire in southern Savoie. Didn’t see anybody else out except at the beginning and end—and we had to do all our own trail-breaking (an unusual experience for me in France).

Best snow we found was roughly straight south-facing, not southeast (we didn’t try any northerly aspects). With careful choice of line, there was decent snow between say 2100-2600m. Not light (because of the wind), but at least sorta soft, and no crust. Problem was that we had lost the sun by then and skiing it in flat light was a bit tricky.

Lower down we were hitting the underlying hard layer a lot, and on southeast slopes there were lots of exposed hardpack sections where the snow had been blown off.

Hope it’s better a couple of days.

Ken

South for sunshine, also found nice enough snow for fun skiing. I had been thinking I needed more snow, but adding sunshine was enough to feel confident to enjoy what’s already here.

To maximize my chance of avoiding yesterday’s flat light, I went south of Grenoble to the Pays de la Mure mountain group—my first tour there—tried the Tabor de la Mure from St Honore 1500.

Snow ranged from creamy to chalky-firm, but no crust. Aspects mostly southwest and some northwest. Each area of snow was pretty consistent so I could get into a turning rhythm without being afraid of hitting something unexpected.  Only a few exposed hardpack sections on the tour route, especially on the summit ridge (I used couteaux).
Interesting short route. Mostly less than 30 degrees.
No signs of any avalanche activity.

Saw one other solo skier and a party of four ... everybody seemed to be finding the snow very skiable.

Afterward I was pretty impressed by what I saw driving around the D115 + D114 thru the midst of the Pays de la Mure, over Col de la Mallisol in the south, then back thru the Alpe du Grand Serre station to return north toward Grenoble. Almost the only car on the road on a mid-week day, quiet villages, with impressive peaks around.

Hope to get down there again.

Ken

It is very wild over there even though it is not far from Grenoble. I was at the Tabor the other day, skied the Fontaine de la Mer

http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/268/

Which is great if the snow is nicely transformed.

Wow - never heard of the Fontaine de la Mer before—looks exciting—and glad to hear that you chose that same area.

Yesterday Friday I went back there again and skied Taillefer from La Morte on the west side. I was alone the whole day. Snow pretty windblasted above 2200m, though I caught some decent softer stuff below 2100m—getting a bit mushy down to 1600m.

Since I knew about the previous winds, I avoided the problem of getting onto the Arete de Brouffier ridge at Pas de la Mine—instead got on the ridge lower around 2100m, by starting from Lac de Prevourey.

Grenoble—I was surprised that I could see the whole city while alone in such a wild-feeling place.

I was able to do the whole ridge above Pas de la Mine on skis on snow, and the lower section with only three short gaps in the snow. The lower ridge has one short section which is narrower than anything on the upper.

So now I’ve done only two “moderate” objectives I know in the Pays de la Mure, and that was fun. Not sure if I’m ready for the more serious stuff around there.

Ken

Sharon + I bought lift tickets in the north Vanoise on Sunday, hoping for much fresh new snow—and some sunshine in the morning. Neither actually happened. Saw at most 10cm of fresh snow at 2700m.
(One avalanche report Sunday afternoon said there was more new snow, but checking the ski station reports it was hard to find anyone reporting much more than that).
Perhaps the good news is that it might transform quicker—(? if we get some sunshine and cold clear nights ?)

Thinking we might try a tour or two Monday / Tuesday, higher altitude and tilting northward.

Ken

Yesterday we hunkered down due to the rain. Today we headed “en famille” to Sommand, part of the Praz de Lys ski area. There was about 20cm of Fresh at 1500 m and a lot of off piste to be skied. Conditions a bit sketchy in places. I saw one skier trigger an avalanche on a west facing 35 degree slope at around 1800 meters. Fortunately the base is well transformed at that altitude and the temperatures fairly cold throughout the day so he only mobilized the fresh snow and was able to ride it out.

For this end of March, Massif Central is still oscillating between sunny spring and windy winter. The mountain can be very different from one day to the other, and one face to the next: conditions have to be evaluated on time, on site (and on sight!)

Spring?

Or is it winter?