Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2017/18

[Blessed Weather]

Not somewhere you normally think of to go skiing, but certainly looking great this week:

While I'm on the forum, may I wish @johnholmes a wonderful week in Wengen. Setting off tomorrow I believe John? I hope the forecast of copious snow this coming week doesn't detract from you having a great time!

Wengen mid-mountain forecast at 1,672m 

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Wengen/6day/mid

[johnholmes]

Thanks for that B, I have decided to just enjoy being out there, bit touch and go at times for the village level re snow, but above about 5000 ft it should be snow. Walking and mountain railway trips from one cafe to another look the game plan for this week. Too far ahead to be sure of what the 2nd week may brig. I need some blue sky for skiing these days as the eyesight is getting worse, making it hard to see the snow undulations. This coupled with my skiing not being as good or strong as a few years ago makes me wary of falling, hard to get up when I do. Sounds like a moan, just being realistic, I have had over 45 years of fabulous holidays on skis, mostly the Jungfrau area but also some resorts in Austria along with attempting to ski in the Cairngorms, shudders at the thought of some of the wet and windy weekends there. Had two wonderful weekends there though, calm, great snow, all the way into Aviemore.

Hope anyone who is booked to go skiing have a great time, those who have not been give it a go. Even just being in the mountains is wonderful, I so envy C (Paul).

cheers for now, will try and rop the occasional photo in here.

 

[carinthian]

Couple of pictures taken today as the cloud cover cleared. Just look how well groomed those pistes are. Almost perfect.

 C

[dubmuffin]

Great photos, hmm hadn't considered Greece for a ski holiday! I've decided to book an extra ski weekend in Italy, using an upcoming milestone birthday as an excuse for such extravagance, and make the most of the snow conditions, which look impressive across the Alps at the moment. On our last two trips we had difficult conditions for the first time and I can understand why having less than perfect eyesight can make it even more challenging. In response to John's post, I wondered if anyone had watched the short documentary Snow Day http://www.snowdayfilm.com? 

I watched it on Amazon prime the other night and found it quite inspiring, I hope I'll also be able to ski into my 80s if I make it that far. I guess being 2.5hrs drive from a ski resorts helps:)

[beatpete]

From Le Corbier 10 days ago, Great work keeping the roads open, though it did wake me at 5am every morning.....

[Blessed Weather]

Just the job!!

 

[J10]

Further Snow in recent days over the Alps. http://www.snow-forecast.com/whiteroom/snowfall-returns-alps/

I found this the other day, an avalanche indicator for France http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/bulletin-avalanches/savoie/avdept73

So for the  "Alpes du Nord - Savoie" region. An avalanche risk 4 Strong. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by J10

[Reefseeker]

Getting very excited from all the snow reports around the Alps, long may it continue:) We are off to Filzmoos in Austria on 7 February for maybe some beginner ski-ing (for 'beginner' read 'done it loads of time but am pretty rubbish') and especially for some snow and mountain walking (all advice from the more knowledgeable welcome on walking in this type of area). I checked the webcam and updates this morning, and it appears the conditions are 'perfect' with the last snowfall on the 14th; the webcam is showing fog but plenty of snow on the trees and big wide empty slopes. Can't wait!

Edited January 17, 2018 by Reefseeker

[Blessed Weather]

And no doubt caused by the wind eddies of a snowboarder going downhill too fast......

 

[Blessed Weather]

It's been a wild day up in France's highest skiing village today. I can't see that much skiing would have been possible in those conditions!!

 

[carinthian]

Night time ski-ing in Katschberg. A reserve mainly for the younger souls. Most of the adults congregate around the Schnapps Bar !

 C

[seaside 60]

28 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Night time ski-ing in Katschberg. A reserve mainly for the younger souls. Most of the adults congregate around the Schnapps Bar !

 C

Morning Mr C

Now that is a special photo, having been there its nice to see plenty of snow there, but wow love it.

 

[carinthian]

5 minutes ago, seaside 60 said:

Morning Mr C

Now that is a special photo, having been there its nice to see plenty of snow there, but wow love it.

 

Yes, its great at the moment. Lots of super ski-ing to be had on mostly empty slopes. Got some friends staying at the Cristallo Hotel this week, they well pleased. Have to watch the low cloud though , comes in very quickly. -6c at the moment in the village.

C

[Blessed Weather]

Another 'horror' video clip from Verbier, Switzerland, from yesterday. I can only assume the wind got up quickly whilst the gondola was running. Must of been scary on that!! A change of salopettes probably required afterwards!

Hopefully JH is warm and safe in Wengen - enjoying a warming brandy and delicious cake in his hotel hopefully!

 

[Reefseeker]

Much as it is a British disease to take a warm jumper to a tropical island 'just in case', the same applies to watching weather forecasts weeks before going to a location for snow, 'just in case' it has all melted by the time we get there. And thus I find myself on the day that Filzmoos is enjoying 20 cm of fresh snowfall and ski locations are overladen with the white stuff, wondering if the Azores will ridge up a warm Euro high and destroy my snowy dreams! Living in the south-east of the UK is starting to affect me... 

And by the way, this is how lovely it is looking this morning:

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Reefseeker

[carinthian]

1 hour ago, Reefseeker said:

Much as it is a British disease to take a warm jumper to a tropical island 'just in case', the same applies to watching weather forecasts weeks before going to a location for snow, 'just in case' it has all melted by the time we get there. And thus I find myself on the day that Filzmoos is enjoying 20 cm of fresh snowfall and ski locations are overladen with the white stuff, wondering if the Azores will ridge up a warm Euro high and destroy my snowy dreams! Living in the south-east of the UK is starting to affect me... 

And by the way, this is how lovely it is looking this morning:

 

Looking good. When you going out ? Here is our resort this afternoon. My friends staying out here for the week have had a great week. Now time for skis back to the hire shop. Its always a sad time on Friday when the last run of the holiday is finished. More excited folk out from blighty tomorrow and they can expect winter wonderland on arrival !  Last beers this evening with the old boys before they fly back to LGW and MCR in the morning.

 c

Edited January 19, 2018 by carinthian

[Sneachtastorm]

On 1/17/2018 at 15:03, Blessed Weather said:

And no doubt caused by the wind eddies of a snowboarder going downhill too fast......

 

Any idea what the wind speeds with it would have been? 

[Blessed Weather]

20 minutes ago, Sneachtastorm said:

Any idea what the wind speeds with it would have been? 

Apparently there's a Fujita Scale for tornado winds, ranging from around 40 mph for category 0 and up to 300 mph+ for a category 5 (strongest winds around 300 foot up). But tbh I'm not sure that was a 'true' tornado? Maybe just a swirling eddy of wind caused by local circumstances? I've experienced one on the slopes of Stowe in Vermont and we had to hunker down while it blew past. It felt the equivalent to a strong wind of around 40 mph, so about the same as a category 0. But it was certainly a fascinating experience!

[Reefseeker]

48 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Looking good. When you going out ? Here is our resort this afternoon. My friends staying out here for the week have had a great week. Now time for skis back to the hire shop. Its always a sad time on Friday when the last run of the holiday is finished. More excited folk out from blighty tomorrow and they can expect winter wonderland on arrival !  Last beers this evening with the old boys before they fly back to LGW and MCR in the morning.

 c

What a beautiful picture, your friends must be very down; only one thing to do and that's have a few cheering 'halves' this evening to squeeze the literal very last drop out of the stay. We will be there in Filzmoos on 7 February, so a little while yet. Pondering clothing choices at the moment while perusing endless webcams of the ski resorts wishing we were there already. As the saying goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and I remember previous Euro highs and their impact on the snow resorts so have already decided that the Azores will definitely be out to get us! 

[johnholmes]

23 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Another 'horror' video clip from Verbier, Switzerland, from yesterday. I can only assume the wind got up quickly whilst the gondola was running. Must of been scary on that!! A change of salopettes probably required afterwards!

Hopefully JH is warm and safe in Wengen - enjoying a warming brandy and delicious cake in his hotel hopefully!

 

Safe and warm BW, awful weather. Snow, gales. Fog, now thawing with a bit of sun. No skiing for me, lots of coffee stops, just a drop now and then to cool the coffe!

dont seem able to get my IPad to send photo sorry

 

[carinthian]

1 hour ago, Reefseeker said:

What a beautiful picture, your friends must be very down; only one thing to do and that's have a few cheering 'halves' this evening to squeeze the literal very last drop out of the stay. We will be there in Filzmoos on 7 February, so a little while yet. Pondering clothing choices at the moment while perusing endless webcams of the ski resorts wishing we were there already. As the saying goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and I remember previous Euro highs and their impact on the snow resorts so have already decided that the Azores will definitely be out to get us! 

Still some time off yet and the weather charts can flip as we all know to well . Sometimes blue sky and sunshine can be a better preference than a week of cloud , wind and snow. There is plenty in place at the moment. Have a nice time and bet your counting the days down. Regarding my old cricket chums, its in their nature to drink pints and not halves ! My wife will be glad to see the back of them. I need a rest.

C

[J10]

Latest Snow Blog Now Out

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/news/8688-further-heavy-snow-over-the-alps-this-week-but-mixed-with-variable-temperatures

Further Heavy Snow this weekend, but turning milder for a time midweek.

[Blessed Weather]

2 hours ago, J10 said:

Latest Snow Blog Now Out

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/news/8688-further-heavy-snow-over-the-alps-this-week-but-mixed-with-variable-temperatures

Further Heavy Snow this weekend, but turning milder for a time midweek.

As always, many thanks for the time you put into the weekly updates Julian. I'm off to Val d'Isere early Sunday morning, and from what I can see from studying lots of different forecasts (as you do!) your blog looks spot-on! So hopefully once Monday's left-over precipitation is out of the way a bit of skiing in sunshine for 2 or 3 days and then some snowfall to end the week. 

I always go on about it, but an important point in my view is that the temperature is forecast to fall sub-zero every night (in Val d'Isere). This allows the piste teams to do their magic, repairing and grooming the slopes ready for the next day!  

Hopefully I'll be able to make a post or two with pics during the week!

[J10]

34 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

As always, many thanks for the time you put into the weekly updates Julian. I'm off to Val d'Isere early Sunday morning, and from what I can see from studying lots of different forecasts (as you do!) your blog looks spot-on! So hopefully once Monday's left-over precipitation is out of the way a bit of skiing in sunshine for 2 or 3 days and then some snowfall to end the week. 

I always go on about it, but an important point in my view is that the temperature is forecast to fall sub-zero every night (in Val d'Isere). This allows the piste teams to do their magic, repairing and grooming the slopes ready for the next day!  

Hopefully I'll be able to make a post or two with pics during the week!

Looking good for Val D'Isere - and as you say plenty of snow over the weekend and then looking bright/sunny from mid week.

Have a good one, and send some snowy pics back.

[J10]

On a side note, after seeing the weather over the Alps this winter has the weather always been that volatile or are we seeing a new water pattern emerging.