Henry's ski diary - off piste ski guide, snow report Val d'Isere, avalanche awareness

Still snowing, still dreaming

It has snowed another 10 cm or more in some places which has freshened things up & made for some very nice skiing even tho visibility not very good. tomorrow will b tremendous as a sunny day is forecast!

Another Great Day

HATadventures course team: Michael, Morten & Soeren. This photo sums it all up (see below for vids). Got 10-15 cm last night, sun today and it's snowing again!!

 

Snowpack Update

What an amazing couple of weeks. Rarely have I seen so much snow and such a stable snowpack at the same time.

The snows that are coming now (end of week of March 24) are supposed to be fairly light, in terms of accumulations and in consistency, throughout the Northern French Alps and surrounding areas.

Current Stability

There have been quite a few accidental slab releases over the last few days (Météo France has reported several each day) most without consequence probably because the slabs have not been all that big and/or the people were able to ride out or weren’t taken too far. I have seen and heard of a few slabs triggered at distances of 10 metres or so on slopes facing North East to East – which makes sense since the winds have been mostly coming out of the West & North West and this will continue through the weekend. The winds aren’t supposed to be as strong for this weekend and that is a relief!

Tip of the week:

Watch out for slab instability (& releases) as a direct result of very recent wind loading on slopes and in general areas that were/are protected from wind in recent storms (these are very often East’ish’ slopes, but not always!!). Some of the very recent slab releases have had fractures at the top (or crown walls) of up to 70 cm. So, despite the exceptional stability of all this new snow, I’m still being very careful as I enter into steep areas of nice smooth fresh white snow.

‘Ride Hard Ride Safe’!

Henry

Henry

PS We’re doing lots of transceiver training at the moment in Val d’Isère: 35 euros for saisonaires for a full afternoon of coaching, timed searches, basic rescue procedures & a waterproof reference card. Call Jamie on 06 23 05 75 09

Slabs Triggered from a distance...

there were quite a few slabs triggered from a 10 metre distance observed by colleagues and me today. Also, natural, artificial & other accidental in Savoie & Haute Savoie mainly small for the moment. This slope under the Mt Blanc chair in Val d'Isère is facing North East. The wind has been mostly coming out of the North West (although is supposed to change to South briefly tomorrow then back to North West through West for Thursday on through the weekend). This slab, a direct result of very recent wind loading, exemplifies what is in store for the next few days (and so does the distance triggering). Only I think the instability will grow with the continued wind loading and new snow accumulations. The avalanche activity has been relatively calm over the last 10 days or so, but I think the instability could pick up with all this new snow and wind over the next few days. The slab in this photo and the way it was triggered is telling us something.

It just won't stop!

Over a metre of snow has fallen in the last 4 days and it's now snowing again... 15-30 cm is supposed to come down in the next 16 hours or so with strong winds out of the North and Northwest in the French Alps

snowing again!

in fact it is dumping. 60cm of light snow in the last 12 hours! If you don't believe it, check these vids out (photos coming soon Mike!)

Epic Day

.... with HAT & Dan Egan's X-Team Ski Clinics

Here's Richard True setting a good example as usual. For more photos see 'Skiing with HAT & Ski Clinics' (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the right date on the photos!). For Vids see below

 

Waist Deep!

Skiing with Dan Egan's X-Team Ski Clinics It's been snowing pretty much non stop for two days now. Here's Cathy making a few turns... and disappearing!

It's dumping!

Snowed 25 cm last night and cleared for a good part of the day today. Then it started snowing again this pm. 30-40 cm for tomorrow! I'll try to get some photos and vid but still too busy having fun. This week with Dan Egan and Ski Clinics

Winds coming out of west & n.west some slabs but seemed be holding pretty stable in espace killy today... but tomorrow things will be more unstable tomorrow with the new accumulations. we'll all be alert tomorrow for wind slabs and people cutting slopes above us

Still Great Sun & Snow

Still haven't had time to take photos and vids - having too much fun out there! You'll have to use your imagination! More snow starting on Saturday evening - snowing on and off all week at least until Thursday (Savoie & Haute Savoie).