Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2016/17

[Betleyblizud]

On 12 November 2016 at 09:25, carinthian said:

Love this shot of the magical Matterhorn this morning. Love to go there one day.

 C

Yes that a superb picture! It's Findeln about 2,000m up. The web cam is just a couple of hundred metres or so from the superb Chez Vrony mountain restaurant. Going forward towards the Matterhorn is a nice trail down the mountain, through the forest and under the Gornergrat railway to the Winkelmitten district of Zermatt.

My wife is from Zermatt and my in laws and some family still live their. I've been very lucky in being able to visit regularly over the past 30 years or so! My sister in law rang Thursday to say they'd had about 8 inches in the village and that there were "many metres now on the mountain" . That means about a couple!

Whilst I'm on can I say I think this is the best thread on the forum. The regular contributors are so enthusiastic and informative about the Alps. J10 with his weather updates, Blessed Weather with his info, John Holmes and his annual Wengen tour. Then there's 'C' with his Austrian updates and legendary 'snow portal' forecasts. We've also now got Reefseeker ( for some reason my phone changed this to Reefmaker originally- sorry) joining the party

Enjoy the 2016/17 season!

Edited November 13, 2016 by Betleyblizud
Phone developed advanced AI tendancies!

[Reefseeker]

On 11/12/2016 at 09:52, Midlands Ice Age said:

What a beautiful view from this webcam this morning. Clear continental air and a total knee high snow cover.

Terrific.

MIA

It is an absolutely stunning blue sky day there this morning, and around many of the webcams. I see some determined souls are there making the most of it at Les Arcs, but Tignes is looking gorgeous: http://en.tignes.net/webcams, Chez Chevalier too: http://serrechevalier.roundshot.com/ratier/

Basically, take your pick for your virtual snow fix this morning:)

[carinthian]

18 minutes ago, Betleyblizud said:

Yes that a superb picture! It's Findeln about 2,000m up. The web cam is just a couple of hundred metres or so from the superb Chez Vrony mountain restaurant. Going forward towards the Matterhorn is a nice trail down the mountain, through the forest and under the Gornergrat railway to the Winkelmitten district of Zermatt.

My wife is from Zermatt and my in laws and some family still live their. I've been very lucky in being able to visit regularly over the past 30 years or so! My sister in law rang Thursday to say they'd had about 8 inches in the village and that there were "many metres now on the mountain" . That means about a couple!

Whilst I'm on can I say I think this is the best thread on the forum. The regular contributors are so enthusiastic and informative about the Alps. J10 with his weather updates, Blessed Weather with his info, John Holmes and his annual Wengen tour. Then there's 'C' with his Austrian updates and legendary 'snow portal' forecasts. We've also now got Reefmaker joining the party

Enjoy the 2016/17 season!

Thankyou for your enlightening post. Its good to see you post on here. Please send more during the current season. Your experience and knowledge of one of the great ski resorts in the world will be very interesting for forum members. Yes , Julian and Malcolm put a lot of thought into the presentation and is well liked over here as well. I know many ski operators read it. John is a real stalwart with Wengen knowledge, I think he has been going there for decades. Wish I could meet up with them all for a ski jolly before we get too old! So please keep posting .C

 

 

[dubmuffin]

34 minutes ago, Reefseeker said:

It is an absolutely stunning blue sky day there this morning, and around many of the webcams. I see some determined souls are there making the most of it at Les Arcs, but Tignes is looking gorgeous: http://en.tignes.net/webcams, Chez Chevalier too: http://serrechevalier.roundshot.com/ratier/

Basically, take your pick for your virtual snow fix this morning:)

They all look so enticing, make me want to book a flight out right now, but will probably have to make do with a trip to Hemel for my pre Xmas snow fix

[Midlands Ice Age]

54 minutes ago, Reefseeker said:

It is an absolutely stunning blue sky day there this morning, and around many of the webcams. I see some determined souls are there making the most of it at Les Arcs, but Tignes is looking gorgeous: http://en.tignes.net/webcams, Chez Chevalier too: http://serrechevalier.roundshot.com/ratier/

Basically, take your pick for your virtual snow fix this morning:)

Reef..

Going to Arcs 1800 (taking the grandchildren) the week before Xmas 

After a gap of about 12 years and taking my age into account the more snow the better!

I am rally looking forward to it now. Hopefully this snow can stick around for a while at least and form a good base.

MIA

[Reefseeker]

1 hour ago, Midlands Ice Age said:

Reef..

Going to Arcs 1800 (taking the grandchildren) the week before Xmas 

After a gap of about 12 years and taking my age into account the more snow the better!

I am rally looking forward to it now. Hopefully this snow can stick around for a while at least and form a good base.

MIA

Very jealous indeed; I too am a lapsed snow visitor (terrible skier) hence the web cam obsession, and I am also hoping to get to Les Arcs in the next year or two, plus Edelweisspitze in Austria, and probably Katschi following @carinthian excellent photos of the area. Hopefully the snow base will stay for a fantastic season following such a great start, and will be primed and built on ready for your visit in December. @Blessed Weather and @J10 are the go-to chaps around here for weather. As @Betleyblizud said, this is a fab thread for snow fanatics.

In the meantime, here's Chamonix to be getting on with! http://www.chamonix.com/webcam,12,en.html 

[Blessed Weather]

I've really enjoyed catching up with the thread today - some lovely posts and comments - and thank you for those that mentioned me. 

Hasn't it been a wonderful week in the Alps! Just terrific to have this early snowfall and cold. And it's been great to see a few 'fleet of foot' resorts open early for this weekend - notably Courchevel and Alpe d'Heuz (where you could buy a lift pass for Sat + Sun for 30 Euros - bargain!).

Courchevel this weekend:

Now forgive me, but a special mention for one of my favourite little ski resorts - Feldberg in the Black Forest, Germany. The highest station is only 1,450m, but it's got a remarkable snow record and from November onwards it will open if it possibly can. (I'll be there for a week in early January). Here's a couple of webcam images from this weekend. Note how in the left of the first image you can see where the piste teams have bulldozed the off-piste snow onto the pistes to the right to build piste depth as much as possible:

Feldberg today:

Météo France reported yesterday that snow cover in the northern Alps is "particularly good for this time of the season" and "above average" for the whole of the Alps, with 30 to 60 cm widely at 1500m altitude and up to 1 metre above 2,000m. Temperatures (down as low as -16.4C) in some resorts have been at the second lowest value for 35 years.

There is a milder couple of days coming up later this week (Wed/Thur) with freezing levels typically around 2,500m, but hopefully not too much harm will be done. Indeed, some early season melt and re-freeze gives an even better piste base for the coming season. And if we can trust the models at 7 days out, next weekend should bring the return of further cold and snowfall.

 

[carinthian]

Hi Malcolm, great pictures . You will soon be there ! I can vouch for the great start to the season. The best early conditions I have seen since being here in 2005. Just showing a web shot this morning of another secret gem, Gargellen in the Voralbourg. It is the most wonderful location at the head of the valley and over looked by the mighty Madrisa Mountain.. Hope to make a visit later in the season and stay at the beautiful Madrisa Hotel.  The off piste ski route over to the Swiss Resort of Kloisters is one of the most memorable runs I have made and look forward to doing again, weather permitting !

 C

[J10]

As per Malcolm above, thanks for the nice comments. Much appreciated.

IMO this is one of the best threads on Net Weather and for all the contributions across the season.

Just a quick question on building a base, are these conditions good for preventing avalanches over the season, as recent slow starting seasons has been problematic with avalanches.

[carinthian]

Some recent pictures of the huge amount of early seasonal snowfall in parts of the  French Alps. These from high flying Chamonix. Grand Montets Ski Area opens this weekend.

 C

[Blessed Weather]

18 hours ago, J10 said:

As per Malcolm above, thanks for the nice comments. Much appreciated.

IMO this is one of the best threads on Net Weather and for all the contributions across the season.

Just a quick question on building a base, are these conditions good for preventing avalanches over the season, as recent slow starting seasons has been problematic with avalanches.

Probably not Julian. There are so many factors that cause avalanches and funny enough I nearly posted 4 days ago that Meteo France had issued their first warning for the French Alps after last week's heavy snowfalls. In this case it was just a case of the sheer weight of the new snow - before it had had a chance to 'consolidate' (i.e. the ice crystals of the snow had bonded) - sitting there on steep slopes. Gravity does the rest!

Meteo France warning: http://www.ledauphine.com/montagne/2016/11/11/risque-d-avalanches-spontanees-ou-declenchees-sur-les-massifs-des-alpes-du-nord

Next week could see another form of risk because the Low pressure systems now forecast to run across the south of the UK will waft warm air (WAA) onto the Alps. The resultant melt, especially if heavy rain or warm sunshine comes into the equation, will destabilise the snow.

So the causes of avalanches are many and complicated - factors such as the nature of the snow grains (size, density) and how they change over time due to factors such as temperature, rainfall, humidity and sunshine - and I suspect this season will inevitably and unfortunately bring it's normal number of incidents.

[J10]

6 hours ago, carinthian said:

Some recent pictures of the huge amount of early seasonal snowfall in parts of the  French Alps. These from high flying Chamonix. Grand Montets Ski Area opens this weekend.

 C

Stunning photos there.

[Bryan Bourner]

Hi all.. first time posting but Ive been hanging out on this thread (or the equivalent annual update at least) every year from November to April for the last few years..! Just wanted to pop in and say how much I enjoy all the info and comments here.

I like to make a couple of trips a year to the mountains. Usually France, and usually either 3valleys or EK.. this year I'm going to be in meribel for Christmas and cannot wait! What a start to the season! Let's hope it continues like this. If it does, the late Easter next year might still be a doable trip!

[Blessed Weather]

8 hours ago, Bryan Bourner said:

Hi all.. first time posting but Ive been hanging out on this thread (or the equivalent annual update at least) every year from November to April for the last few years..! Just wanted to pop in and say how much I enjoy all the info and comments here.

I like to make a couple of trips a year to the mountains. Usually France, and usually either 3valleys or EK.. this year I'm going to be in meribel for Christmas and cannot wait! What a start to the season! Let's hope it continues like this. If it does, the late Easter next year might still be a doable trip!

Welcome Bryan. Great to have another enthusiast posting in the thread. Hopefully there's a great season coming up!

[Bryan Bourner]

Fingers crossed! 

Looking at 3v Webcam's today and it looks like Les pisteurs have already been busy starting to shape things.. 

Exciting stuff.

[Ravelin]

11 hours ago, Bryan Bourner said:

Fingers crossed! 

Looking at 3v Webcam's today and it looks like Les pisteurs have already been busy starting to shape things.. 

Exciting stuff.

Saw them out on the webcams at Serre Chevalier too, running over the higher runs at least. Should be some more snow over the Alps in the next week but quite how much, where, down to what altitude etc keeps changing.

[carinthian]

On ‎16‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 00:03, Bryan Bourner said:

Hi all.. first time posting but Ive been hanging out on this thread (or the equivalent annual update at least) every year from November to April for the last few years..! Just wanted to pop in and say how much I enjoy all the info and comments here.

I like to make a couple of trips a year to the mountains. Usually France, and usually either 3valleys or EK.. this year I'm going to be in meribel for Christmas and cannot wait! What a start to the season! Let's hope it continues like this. If it does, the late Easter next year might still be a doable trip!

Good Choice Bryan. One of my favourite runs is Jerusalem into the lovely village of St Martin de Belleville. Keep posting and send some pictures of your Christmas Ski jolly.

 C

[Bryan Bourner]

Hey Carinthian.. I love Jerusalem..! Spent Easter this year in St Martin.. thoroughly lovely place. We stayed in a little apartment next to the church.. gorgeous. 

[carinthian]

8 minutes ago, Bryan Bourner said:

Hey Carinthian.. I love Jerusalem..! Spent Easter this year in St Martin.. thoroughly lovely place. We stayed in a little apartment next to the church.. gorgeous. 

Yes Bryan, not very well known compared with its big neighbours, but a lovely village with door step ski-ing. Stayed there about 5 years ago for a week. Will have to go back one day ! It certainly ranks as my favourite French ski resort for traditional village atmosphere by a mile.

 C

 

[Blessed Weather]

Not a good week coming up for the Alps. With High Pressure to the east of the Alps and Low Pressure to the west, the mountains are stuck with a flow generally from a southerly point with freezing level above 3,000m at times. The GFS 850 chart for Monday 21st shows the problematic pattern for the Alps and you can pick out the resultant föhn (or foehn in French) effect in the lee of the mountains as the air descends and warms:

This from the Austrian weather service:

"Only recently we were able to look forward to the first snow, now comes again the mini-spring. Early next week a strong south-western high-altitude current will continue to dominate the weather. This means jagged clouds on the southern side of the Alps and fog in basins and valleys, with sunshine north of the main alpine peaks."

Meanwhile in France they are worried about preparing the course ready for the first training sessions by the mens downhill racers:

"With just ten days to the first downhill training, the Val d'Isère piste service are working hard to set up the track for the men's downhill. This morning we are working on the top of the track with favourable weather before an episode of foehn and bad weather with a fluctuating snowfall limit between Monday and Tuesday between 2000 and 2300 meters or even 2500."

The photo included with the report (on Saturday 19th Nov) shows the pistes currently looking great. Hope the coming week doesn't spoil things too much:

Unfortunately, looking at the latest model output, even by next weekend there's not particularly cold air over the Alps - generally the +5C 850 isotherm.

[Blessed Weather]

As I posted above, not a good week for the Alps. This report on the Austrian weather website wetter.at today. I've left the foibles of Google's attempt at translation - always good for a smile!

Hairdryer: Ski areas tremble for take-off
Up to 22 degrees - does the start of the season go anyway?

The jubilation was great last week: the temperatures remained at a low level, the snow cannons were running high on the slopes. "The mood could not be better," said Barbara Kronreif from the Dachstein West mountain railways. In Hinterstoder the early winter break even made a pre-season start: on weekends 2,500 winter sportsmen stormed the slopes. Above the Planai center station more than 5,000 skiers frolicked in the deepest winter landscape to the early season start.

But: "Now the days will probably be difficult for the ski areas," says meteorologist Christian Ortner from the Central Institute of Geodynamics. This week there is foehn, spreads mild air. "The snow cannons are likely to be difficult." Does the winter season start in danger?

"No, no way, we will start regular on November 26," says Helmut Holzinger from the Hinterstoder-Wurzeralm mountain railways. "Even if you cannot imagine that in the central room with the temperatures, we have the best conditions with 30 centimeters. The highlight: Once the slope is prepared in cold weather, the blanket becomes more compact due to dry air. "In the past year, we have successfully weathered several weather caprises," says Holzinger.

Here's the latest webcam grab of Planai (mentioned above) and whilst down in the valley is green, the north facing slopes do indeed appear to be holding up OK.

Report: http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich-wetter/Foehn-Skigebiete-zittern-um-Starts/259505743

[gareth moo]

Good evening folks,

I'm guessing that most of you good people in here have viewed the pretty maps produced by the snow-forecast.com site:

I'm interested to know which model / data sets these represent? I'm thinking GFS but not sure. Anyone ?

 

[Blessed Weather]

10 hours ago, gareth moo said:

Good evening folks,

I'm guessing that most of you good people in here have viewed the pretty maps produced by the snow-forecast.com site:

I'm interested to know which model / data sets these represent? I'm thinking GFS but not sure. Anyone ?

 

Hi gareth. I think I'm correct in saying the snow-forecast charts update every 6 hours, which implies it's the GFS (4 x day) and not ECM (2 x day)?

[Ravelin]

29 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hi gareth. I think I'm correct in saying the snow-forecast charts update every 6 hours, which implies it's the GFS (4 x day) and not ECM (2 x day)?

I'd also say they are based on the GFS, the only site I know that definitely uses the ECM is yr.no and that doesn't specifically give snow forecasts, just weather data.

Well despite areas of the Alps suffering from a thaw of the dumps of snow they had, the more southern areas of he Alps seem to be still picking up snow, if only at altitude. The webcams at Serre Chevalier (http://www.serre-chevalier.com/en/webcam/) ain't looking too bad, well up top anyway. The mid one at Serre Rattier still show snow cover but it looks kind of thin and wet, which should hopefully survive and freeze to form a half-decent base. The snow cannons might get a chance again later in the week too as the temps are forecast to drop a bit.

[Blessed Weather]

7 minutes ago, Ravelin said:

I'd also say they are based on the GFS, the only site I know that definitely uses the ECM is yr.no and that doesn't specifically give snow forecasts, just weather data.

Well despite areas of the Alps suffering from a thaw of the dumps of snow they had, the more southern areas of he Alps seem to be still picking up snow, if only at altitude. The webcams at Serre Chevalier (http://www.serre-chevalier.com/en/webcam/) ain't looking too bad, well up top anyway. The mid one at Serre Rattier still show snow cover but it looks kind of thin and wet, which should hopefully survive and freeze to form a half-decent base. The snow cannons might get a chance again later in the week too as the temps are forecast to drop a bit.

Indeed Ravelin. The French press are reporting that Serre-Chevalier is going to open early. Good to see and maybe suggests that slopes with a bit of altitude and north facing will survive this week's milder interlude. 

Serre-Chevalier advances the opening of its skiable area
Initially scheduled for Wednesday, December 7, the opening of the ski area of Serre Chevalier is advanced to Saturday, December 3. An early opening, the time of the weekend, made possible thanks to the recent snowfall. The details of the open slopes will be communicated in the course of next week.

Report: http://www.ledauphine.com/hautes-alpes/2016/11/21/serre-chevalier-avance-l-ouverture-de-son-domaine-skiable-montagne