Alps & Pyrenees Snow Thread 2015/16

[J10]

It is so sad, that deaths have resulted from these avalanches.

[carinthian]

Some shots from earlier today in the sunshine.

 C

[Blessed Weather]

9 hours ago, carinthian said:

Some shots from earlier today in the sunshine.

 C

You lucky person Paul!! Those photos show wonderful conditions. The photos look as if they may have been taken on a 'helmet cam'? Santa gave me one for Christmas and I'm looking forward to capturing lots of video and stills when I ski Les Arcs in a week's time.

[carinthian]

1 hour ago, Blessed Weather said:

You lucky person Paul!! Those photos show wonderful conditions. The photos look as if they may have been taken on a 'helmet cam'? Santa gave me one for Christmas and I'm looking forward to capturing lots of video and stills when I ski Les Arcs in a week's time.

 

1 hour ago, Blessed Weather said:

You lucky person Paul!! Those photos show wonderful conditions. The photos look as if they may have been taken on a 'helmet cam'? Santa gave me one for Christmas and I'm looking forward to capturing lots of video and stills when I ski Les Arcs in a week's time.

Not long for you to go. Its looking good. Will be nice to see plenty of shots.

[carinthian]

Good view of the Tschaneck with its black and Red Runs. The upper part of the village next to the black run. Beyond the crest of the mountain top leads to the Wonderful Gontal Valley, great for safe off piste ski-ing down into the tree line. That's the planned route for today and lunch at The Prittza Hutt.

 C

[seaside 60]

41 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Good view of the Tschaneck with its black and Red Runs. The upper part of the village next to the black run. Beyond the crest of the mountain top leads to the Wonderful Gontal Valley, great for safe off piste ski-ing down into the tree line. That's the planned route for today and lunch at The Prittza Hutt.

 C

The above photo and the other two look amazing, perfect Austrian slopes and so quiet.

How busy does it get up there or is it relatively quieter normally.

[carinthian]

1 hour ago, seaside 60 said:

The above photo and the other two look amazing, perfect Austrian slopes and so quiet.

How busy does it get up there or is it relatively quieter normally.

Rarely you have to queue for the lifts. Normally, pistes are quiet, but does get busier later in the season due to height of village 1650m asl. St Mararetten on the Lungau side of the Katschberg lift pass gets fairly busy due to its location as a hub for buses and locals.

 C

[Polar Front]

You may want to head to SICILY of all places for lots of snow this weekend!!!!..................

 

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

17 minutes ago, Polar Front said:

You may want to head to SICILY of all places for lots of snow this weekend!!!!..................

Lol. While us snow starved Brits stare out of the window hoping the sleet will turn to snow!! No shortage in the Alps mind.

Anybody fancy doing the job of the guy in the webcam shot below? After 4 days of heavy snow in Arc 1950 (Les Arcs) the amount of snow on the roof was obviously getting dangerous!

[carinthian]

4 hours ago, carinthian said:

Rarely you have to queue for the lifts. Normally, pistes are quiet, but does get busier later in the season due to height of village 1650m asl. St Mararetten on the Lungau side of the Katschberg lift pass gets fairly busy due to its location as a hub for buses and locals.

 C

 

5 hours ago, seaside 60 said:

The above photo and the other two look amazing, perfect Austrian slopes and so quiet.

How busy does it get up there or is it relatively quieter normally.

 

6 hours ago, carinthian said:

Good view of the Tschaneck with its black and Red Runs. The upper part of the village next to the black run. Beyond the crest of the mountain top leads to the Wonderful Gontal Valley, great for safe off piste ski-ing down into the tree line. That's the planned route for today and lunch at The Prittza Hutt.

 C

This is the early morning shot of todays sunrise over The Katschberg, looking down from the top of the run in the picture above. Piste bashers groomed to perfect as usual.

C

[seaside 60]

I have to say that is a very different photo and the perfect pisted run.

Only one problem it needs to be ruined by skies before and after, lol..

[carinthian]

11 hours ago, seaside 60 said:

I have to say that is a very different photo and the perfect pisted run.

Only one problem it needs to be ruined by skies before and after, lol..

Yes, nothing stays perfect for ever ! One advantage of being next to the piste ,you can have run before the lifts open but the piste makers do a fantastic job working most of the night.

 C

[Norrona2015]

After a week of heavy snow in Haute Nendaz colder weather has taken hold. -14*C at 2200 mts asl today, factor in the wind, -20*C. Over the next few days similar temperatures are forecast. A bit nippy!

Edited January 15, 2016 by Norrona2015

[Norrona2015]

Found this and thought of Blessed Weather. Snow report for the Paradiski area.

http://edgemag.net/2016-01-15-paradiski-snow-report-15-01-16/

The author of the report, JP Mcarthy, taught me how to snowboard. 

 

Edited January 15, 2016 by Norrona2015

[Blessed Weather]

9 minutes ago, Norrona2015 said:

Found this and thought of Blessed Weather. Snow report for the Paradiski area.

http://edgemag.net

The author of the report, JP Mcarthy, taught me how to snowboard. 

 

And it's much appreciated Norrona. That's a great website for getting up-to-date info on any of the resorts in the Paradiski area and I've book-marked it. Just love the latest update for Les Arcs....

What a day!  It looked like a repeat of yesterday with colder temperatures but today was truly special.

We had 15cm of fresh snow overnight, which topped up 4 days of continuous snowfall and powder skiing could be found everywhere.  The lighter wind meant some more chairlifts could open including the Mont Blanc chair, which gave access to some fantastic piste and off piste skiing. The Pisteurs did a great job of leaving a portion of the piste ungroomed meaning perfect conditions for those learning their first powder turns.

[J10]

My latest blog will be updated tomorrow.

The latest copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update, and this shows the transformation of snow conditions across the Alps. However as the very sad events of this week have shown watch out for avalanche warnings off piste.

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 31 DECEMBER 2015

http://www.snow-forecast.com/overviews/tips_full

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/overview/default.aspx#.Vm9A1l4vAsU

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 14 JANUARY 2016

INTRODUCTION Conditions across the Alps continue to improve after yet more snow fell over the course of the week. Base depths have increased dramatically across the region as a result, and conditions both on and off the piste are improving daily. The snow was falling heavily once more across the French and Swiss Alps on Thursday 13th January. The freezing level has fallen considerably over the course of the week, so snow is falling all the way down the village level in many resorts. The avalanche danger remains high (currently 4 out of 5 across much of Europe) so be sure to take extra care if looking to take advantage of the new snow over the coming week.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Plenty of snow has fallen across the Alps over the past week, with many resorts having been transformed into winter wonderland as a result of the huge amount of snow that has fallen. The Northwest of the Alps has seen the largest gains, with around 200 centimetres of fresh snow on the upper mountains in the region. The weather outlook is proving hard to predict currently, with weather models changing almost daily. Light snow is likely to fall across much of Europe over the weekend, with moderate totals of around 5-10cm expected in resorts across France, Switzerland and Austria. Italy and Scandinavia will see more changeable weather, with sunshine expected to prevail in the majority of resorts in these regions. Temperatures will remain much below freezing across the majority of Europe over the weekend and into the early part of next week. The sun is expected to make and appearance after the weekend and, after a bitterly cold start to the week, temperatures may slowly begin to rise.

 

Edited January 15, 2016 by J10

[Daniel*]

Thought I would share, you do not see that everyday I'll tell you that.

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

7 hours ago, Earnest Easterly* said:

Thought I would share, you do not see that everyday I'll tell you that.

Nice one Daniel!! Verstappen will be disqualified though - he missed a gate on the slalom course!!

[Blessed Weather]

For those with Sky, the Mens Downhill from Wengen is on Eurosport1 at 11.25 today. The race highlights will be on BBC2 Ski Sunday at 17.15 Sunday.

I hope JH is over there. I wonder if he's in the race again this year?

[carinthian]

23 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

For those with Sky, the Mens Downhill from Wengen is on Eurosport1 at 11.25 today. The race highlights will be on BBC2 Ski Sunday at 17.15 Sunday.

I hope JH is over there. I wonder if he's in the race again this year?

 

23 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

For those with Sky, the Mens Downhill from Wengen is on Eurosport1 at 11.25 today. The race highlights will be on BBC2 Ski Sunday at 17.15 Sunday.

I hope JH is over there. I wonder if he's in the race again this year?

Just a great race. Will watch later as its too nice to stay in. Change over day and the runs are very quiet, so going to enjoy the sunshine and watch the snow flurries come in. Just love it like this. I know JH usually goes out this weekend to Wengen, but not heard from him. Anyway, its super snow condition presently. Off to enjoy and get some pictures and have a mountain hut ski fodder stop for a late lunch. Even the wife coming along, must be doing something good ! Expecting quite a few Brits arriving soon on the Salzburg flights.

 C

[J10]

On 02/01/2016 at 1:18 PM, J10 said:

 

 

The latest ski blog has been updated as per the attached link. Very cold over the weekend, with further snow in places detail for next week is difficult to pinpoint with milder air trying to edge in from the west, but looking likely to remain colder in Austria. (very cold in the east of Austria.)

[johnholmes]

3 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

For those with Sky, the Mens Downhill from Wengen is on Eurosport1 at 11.25 today. The race highlights will be on BBC2 Ski Sunday at 17.15 Sunday.

I hope JH is over there. I wonder if he's in the race again this year?

Soory BW unable to get there in time so having to make do with wathcing it, assuming it was raced, like everyone else on BBC2 tomorrow. Due to arrive Monday when the mob has cleared away. Could be a good 10 days with no snow, sensible temperatures and some sunshine?

[J10]

3 hours ago, johnholmes said:

Soory BW unable to get there in time so having to make do with wathcing it, assuming it was raced, like everyone else on BBC2 tomorrow. Due to arrive Monday when the mob has cleared away. Could be a good 10 days with no snow, sensible temperatures and some sunshine?

Well Someone's got to good it

Have a good one, John,

[Slysi100]

Lots of snow currently falling in Italy. Might be worth keeping an eye on Capracotta which I believe holds the current record for most snow fallen in one day. 

http://www.capracotta.com/falconi

[Blessed Weather]

18 hours ago, Slysi100 said:

Lots of snow currently falling in Italy. Might be worth keeping an eye on Capracotta which I believe holds the current record for most snow fallen in one day. 

http://www.capracotta.com/falconi

Hi Slysi. Yes, it has been a very snowy spell for the Alps. I've just tried to look at the webcam on your link but it appears to be buried in snow!!

But a quieter week coming up weather-wise. Looking a great week to be skiing though, with cold temps that will ensure fantastic on-piste conditions.