Sainte Foy off piste ski snow report weather forecasts avalanche awareness

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

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.

Snow Report

We’ve had some GREAT snow in the last few days even if it has only been a very little bit. Last week I expressed myself in the following manner, “There are times when a guy will take anything he can get ….” What a difference a few cm’s make! Especially in the gullies and lee slopes where the wind has blown the snow, where accumulations have built up to a whopping 15 cm! The colder temps have helped too - making the snow feather light. We didn’t get all the snow that we were hoping for, but we can’t complain at all.

Snow Stability

The outlook for this coming week is for a bit more snow on Sunday-Wednesday.
For the snow stability: of course it has been very stable up until now. But predicting snow stability is all about looking at what we have now and at what could happen in the future. When we do get a good amount of snow we have to think about the layers of angular crystals, ‘frisette’, and depth hoar on flat and shaded slopes above 2200. These layers are not a problem now; but, with the next significant snowfalls (total 30 to 40cm or more in one place), they will be a source of instability under the new snow on shaded slopes that were not subjected to much skier compaction over the last few weeks. So that really means in places that were not ‘pisted off-piste’ and more on north-facing/shaded slopes that have not been skied very much - this weak cohesionless snow makes up the whole snowpack in some of these shaded north facing slopes.

Tip of the week: “The most important thing to remember while riding in fresh snow is to have a smile on your face!” (a quote from my friend Andreas from HAT & Alpine Experience). Let’s hope there will be something more to smile about soon.

‘Ride Hard Ride Safe’!

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