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Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2018/19


J10

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
1 hour ago, Timmytour said:

I went skiing for the first time in 25 years last year. The guys I was with had been going every year for a good while and persuaded me to go with them to Ischgl.  I was surprised when one of the guys said how he wouldn't ski if it was snowing, and explained how he couldn’t cope visually with it.  I couldn’t remember experiencing anything like that from my previous times of skiing.  But, like you said, must be a thing with old age.  We had a nice ski over to  Switzerland, a nice lunch, and then a ski back as it started to snow.  I couldn’t believe how disorientated I became.  Even went crashing into the piste edge at one point, not knowing what the hell had bought me down as I’d assumed I had been in the middle of it!.  It hasn’t put me off, as I’m off to St Anton in a few weeks time. But I think if it’s snowing I will put my skis up and relax with a drop of Glühwein instead!

Enjoy your skiing in blue sky conditions I hope but with lots of white powder, magic.

 

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Posted
  • Location: South Leicestershire
  • Weather Preferences: Snow. Cold
  • Location: South Leicestershire

Hey everyone.

I'm off skiing to Les Arcs in France on the 19th January. The conditions arn't bad, but a bit more snow would be good. I've got my eye on the Sunday/Monday potential snow event. We're getting down to the 48 hour more definitive time frame, so which high resolution model is most accurate and best to follow for the region of the world ? Arpege, Hirlam etc ?. I keep up to date with the forecast on snow-forecast.com, j2ski etc - but they can all vary quite a bit from one another (I guess some rely on GFS, others ECM etc). I enjoy looking at the high res models myself more than anything though.

 

 

Edited by kmanmx
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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
18 hours ago, kmanmx said:

Hey everyone.

I'm off skiing to Les Arcs in France on the 19th January. The conditions arn't bad, but a bit more snow would be good. I've got my eye on the Sunday/Monday potential snow event. We're getting down to the 48 hour more definitive time frame, so which high resolution model is most accurate and best to follow for the region of the world ? Arpege, Hirlam etc ?. I keep up to date with the forecast on snow-forecast.com, j2ski etc - but they can all vary quite a bit from one another (I guess some rely on GFS, others ECM etc). I enjoy looking at the high res models myself more than anything though.

Hi kmanmx,
I tend to look at several high res models to get the 'majority' view as there will usually be some variance in the forecasts between them. Of course it's great that models like Arpege, Hirlam and Icon all have individual country forecasts, so you can zoom in depending where you are skiing. For France I would favour Arpege as it's Meteo France's own model.

Websites such as snowforecast.com and j2ski all tend to use GFS forecasts as the data is free. I always check the destination country's own met office as in France that will be their own in-house models and in Austria will tend to be ECM based. Meteo France's page is:

http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/

Hope lots of snow arrives for your trip.

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1 hour ago, Blessed Weather said:

2037126623_MittenwaldmountainFri.thumb.jpg.d2c6185c545e810b4c2c74c2d3113366.jpg

SNIPPED

Wonderful pics Malcolm - on the first one (above), from your apartment, just below the peaks in the centre, it looks like the edge of a snowfield or glacier overhang and avalanche danger from there, I hope that goes behind the ridge and doesn't endanger your village.  I've done a close up below. When you get such extreme volumes of snow, even areas not normally at risk can be.  Please be careful but continue to enjoy it all.  Really giving me the hunger for a good dumping back here. David 

overhang.thumb.PNG.a23525fb11ac4149e14161e4d6913f54.PNG

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Somtimes Skipton UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Somtimes Skipton UK

@Blessed Weather  Malcolm what fantastic photos .When you going to Katschberg ? Their runs all open and access good. Just rain here in Vancouver, planning a few days in Big White Resort next week.

Cheers,

C

1774790141_Mittenwaldtowninsun.jpg.8e42a06fe7163df0c43a4a470b8576ce.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: South Leicestershire
  • Weather Preferences: Snow. Cold
  • Location: South Leicestershire
4 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hi kmanmx,
I tend to look at several high res models to get the 'majority' view as there will usually be some variance in the forecasts between them. Of course it's great that models like Arpege, Hirlam and Icon all have individual country forecasts, so you can zoom in depending where you are skiing. For France I would favour Arpege as it's Meteo France's own model.

Websites such as snowforecast.com and j2ski all tend to use GFS forecasts as the data is free. I always check the destination country's own met office as in France that will be their own in-house models and in Austria will tend to be ECM based. Meteo France's page is:

http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/

Hope lots of snow arrives for your trip.

Awesome, thanks!

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
2 hours ago, Bring Back1962-63 said:

Wonderful pics Malcolm - on the first one (above), from your apartment, just below the peaks in the centre, it looks like the edge of a snowfield or glacier overhang and avalanche danger from there, I hope that goes behind the ridge and doesn't endanger your village.  I've done a close up below. When you get such extreme volumes of snow, even areas not normally at risk can be.  Please be careful but continue to enjoy it all.  Really giving me the hunger for a good dumping back here. David 

Thanks David. There has been continual booms, nor sure whether from avalanche cannons (permanently fixed into avalanche risk areas which can be remotely triggered) or from the helicopter teams dropping explosives into the danger areas to trigger an avalanche. They literally drop a stick of explosive out of the helicopter! When we were in town we could see where avalanches had come down. Thankfully the town itself is far enough away not to be endangered, but it explains why pistes are closed because of the danger.

2 hours ago, carinthian said:

@Blessed Weather  Malcolm what fantastic photos .When you going to Katschberg ? Their runs all open and access good. Just rain here in Vancouver, planning a few days in Big White Resort next week.

Cheers,

C

Thank you too Paul. Me and the others from the UK Senior Downhill Racing Team :oldlaugh: set off for Katschberg on Fri 25th to arrive Sat 26th. German TV has given extensive coverage of the severe conditions in Obertauern, which (as you will know all too well) is the higher resort just up the road. Truly amazing conditions.  Speaking to a local here in Mittenwald it's the worst conditions for 30 years. And for the next two weeks the models are showing rinse and repeat conditions. This could be shaping up to be a record breaking winter for snowfall amounts here in SE Germany and E Austria. 

I just hope our journey on 25/26th doesn't coincide with another monster fall of snow..... or there again... bring it on! :oldsmile:

Edited by Blessed Weather
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5 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

^ Having wished lots of snow for kmanmx.... there is such a thing as too much, and that's certainly been the case here in Mittenwald, in the Bavarian Alps this week. I'm afraid it's going to be a 'no skiing' week for me. Since arriving last Sunday it's barely stopped snowing, with Tues/Weds/Thurs just continual heavy snow. Today the sun has finally come out to reveal the true beauty of this area and I was hoping to ski. But after phoning the Tourist Board I was told all Mittenwald pistes are closed due to excessive snow and avalanche risk and that the road up to Seefeld over the border into Austria (where some pistes are open) is closed, again due to avalanche risk.

Oh well, off to the Black Forest ski resort of Feldberg on Sunday for a week (if I can get out of Mittenwald!) so fingers crossed for some skiing there. A few pics in the sun today, starting with the view from the appt, the lane from the appt, down in the town, and finally a couple of skiers clearly frustrated by the pistes being closed were enjoying walking up a hill on the edge of town and making tracks back down.

2037126623_MittenwaldmountainFri.thumb.jpg.d2c6185c545e810b4c2c74c2d3113366.jpg1610024431_Mittenwaldlanereduced.thumb.jpg.f76ef60b7acc80b7d7e9361363320e49.jpg1451584185_Mittenwaldviewmustuse.thumb.jpg.02ab83d0942c65c0030a222ac610a43d.jpg

 

577242481_Mittenwaldtowninsun.thumb.jpg.8f857d542346506ef2200424a3e8194d.jpg2018423168_Mittenwaldoffpiste.thumb.jpg.dfd2ed4bbb535d6d744403c92d82bb53.jpg

Stunning photos there can we use them for the blogs/front page.

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Somtimes Skipton UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Somtimes Skipton UK
1 hour ago, Blessed Weather said:

Thanks David. There has been continual booms, nor sure whether from avalanche cannons (permanently fixed into avalanche risk areas which can be remotely triggered) or from the helicopter teams dropping explosives into the danger areas to trigger an avalanche. They literally drop a stick of explosive out of the helicopter! When we were in town we could see where avalanches had come down. Thankfully the town itself is far enough away not to be endangered, but it explains why pistes are closed because of the danger.

Thank you too Paul. Me and the others from the UK Senior Downhill Racing Team :oldlaugh: set off for Katschberg on Fri 25th to arrive Sat 26th. German TV has given extensive coverage of the severe conditions in Obertauern, which (as you will know all too well) is the higher resort just up the road. Truly amazing conditions.  Speaking to a local here in Mittenwald it's the worst conditions for 30 years. And for the next two weeks the models are showing rinse and repeat conditions. This could be shaping up to be a record breaking winter for snowfall amounts here in SE Germany and E Austria. 

I just hope our journey on 25/26th doesn't coincide with another monster fall of snow..... or there again... bring it on! :oldsmile:

I believe Katschberg has some fantastic ski-ing presently. Just the south side of the Lungau valley and its a different world to our near neighbours in Obertauern on the otherside. Back early February till the end of March before moving. Anyway enjoy the ski-ing and Katschberg. Sure you will.

C

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
6 minutes ago, J10 said:

Stunning photos there can we use them for the blogs/front page.

Hi Julian - yes of course you can use any of the pics. I've loads more and maybe next week if I get a chance I'll do an album in the photo gallery. Those are reduced size typically around 2mb but I have higher res (around 4mb) if you require. :oldsmile:

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14 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hi Julian - yes of course you can use any of the pics. I've loads more and maybe next week if I get a chance I'll do an album in the photo gallery. Those are reduced size typically around 2mb but I have higher res (around 4mb) if you require. :oldsmile:

Thank you Malcolm, it is a perfect image to show the incredible snow over some of the Alps.

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

Many years ago when I was fit I would have fancied that slop in the middle of this mountain.!

image.png.47693ab88efdb9f55a929fa80e5b5980.png

 

Edited by johnholmes
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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
On 12/01/2019 at 11:54, J10 said:

Thanks as always for the weekly blog Julian. Lovely choice of Mittenwald pic as it sums up the copious snowfall very well.

On 12/01/2019 at 12:02, johnholmes said:

Many years ago when I was fit I would have fancied that slop in the middle of this mountain.!

image.png.47693ab88efdb9f55a929fa80e5b5980.png

 

It looks mighty fierce to me John. I think the only way to tackle that run would be to close both eyes and push off the top, hoping for the best. :oldlaugh:

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

I'm in the Black Forest this week and with the sun coming out yesterday I finally managed to get some skiing in. Feldberg is only a small resort with 5 chairlifts, 4 drag lifts and 16 pistes including one black & several red. The area provides 30 kms of skiing and as can be seen from a few pics from yesterday, the skiing is either on wide, open pistes or through trees. Very enjoyable.

Feld4.thumb.jpg.cf1459b4e310432198be8612615c79b3.jpgFeld3.thumb.jpg.bf5b22ee42ff67a37a4d578f327f965d.jpgFeld5.thumb.jpg.0adbd9a36c2d4368c177fa40587f422a.jpg

Feld2.thumb.jpg.92ed4a46af7f104b46c5e73e80fd6e1d.jpgFeld1.thumb.jpg.a8261bb091c59c52ad96f7728d7cf426.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Aviemore
  • Location: Aviemore
2 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

I'm in the Black Forest this week and with the sun coming out yesterday I finally managed to get some skiing in. Feldberg is only a small resort with 5 chairlifts, 4 drag lifts and 16 pistes including one black & several red. The area provides 30 kms of skiing and as can be seen from a few pics from yesterday, the skiing is either on wide, open pistes or through trees. Very enjoyable.

Feld4.thumb.jpg.cf1459b4e310432198be8612615c79b3.jpgFeld3.thumb.jpg.bf5b22ee42ff67a37a4d578f327f965d.jpgFeld5.thumb.jpg.0adbd9a36c2d4368c177fa40587f422a.jpg

Feld2.thumb.jpg.92ed4a46af7f104b46c5e73e80fd6e1d.jpgFeld1.thumb.jpg.a8261bb091c59c52ad96f7728d7cf426.jpg

Looks great that, snow looks bloody good too!

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
6 minutes ago, Paul said:

Definitely wouldn't have wanted to be near this in Switzerland.

 

That looks a real dangerous one, what of the building?

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

https://panocam.skiline.cc/lauberhorn

Lovely piccs at the start area for the Lauberhorn downhill and the crowd at the bottom.

snow and blue sky=Wengen at its best, hopefully be like that next week!

 

Watch on Ski Sunday, well worth it, fancy doing 70+ mph on two planks?

Edited by johnholmes
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This Week's mini blog

Last Week

862568135_Last7dayssnow.thumb.JPG.47b5cb8979b45e408c12f1d7a22ede9a.JPG

As has been very widely reported, there have been massive snow amounts across the Alps over recent weeks. Austria has seen the most, but also with Eastern parts of Switzerland and Southern Germany having extremely large snowfalls.

Last week saw further heavy snowfall over Eastern areas, but it turned a little drier here recently. Further west it had been drier, but there have been snowfalls here over the past week, improving conditions somewhat.

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/travel/ski

image.thumb.png.4835c2cfdb9b982630015e8837fb4ad2.png

Synoptic Pattern

1679212333_20012019850.thumb.gif.bd75bd13ebbe34f2a36380ec13ff59b5.gif1417382095_20012019500.thumb.gif.7c5722ed8c0b6f972da2dbcb974652cb.gif

Mostly dry to start the week with a right of High Pressure, towards the weekend, low pressure over Western areas giving moderate snowfalls in places.

850Hpa Temperatures
Monday / Tuesday coldest in East -6c to -8c, less cold in West -1c to -4c
Wednesday coldest in North -6 to -7c, -3 to -4c generally
Thursday coldest in North and West -6 to -7c, -3 to -6c Far South Switzerland / Austria, closer to 0c Italy

Friday coldest in East -6c to -10c, less cold in West -1c to -5c

This Weeks Snowfall

Much drier for Eastern areas but cold and given the recent abundant snowfall, there should still be excellent conditons.
Further moderate snowfalls for Western areas, which should help ongoing conditions.

1040775517_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.981998facfeb0f3c5429f217f54e5d9f.JPG1562801018_3-6dayssnow.thumb.JPG.edc902c60d8d45d948521cf50b6d372b.JPG

Edited by J10
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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Hi Everyone. I'm in Katschberg, Carinthia (Austria) for a week's skiing with my friends and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. It's a typical Austrian resort with plenty of lovely mountain restaurants to stop for coffees and lunch and few lively apres ski bars at the bottom of the pistes at the end of the day.

The skiing is dominated by lots of red runs, so fantastic for high speed cruising and there's a couple of steep black runs too. The easy blue runs are a little limited in number, so maybe not the best place to learn to ski and progress? But just my view and having said that, the resort is very 'family friendly' and welcoming. 

We had 6 inches of fresh snow overnight Mon into early Tues before it turned into a beautiful sunny day, but tempered by a strong gusty wind with the snow whipping across the pistes and one of the main chairlifts closed for a time. It's now Weds morning and it's snowing again with poor visibility. 

The skiing is on two mountains which is best illustrated by the piste map. Some pics, first of all of the Katschberghohe / Tschaneck skiing. The first photo is taken from the Aineck side and shows all the runs well; the reds on the left and the black on the right.

1809471966_KatsPisteMap.thumb.jpg.bf8b83aaee4dc89a88279c604ded5bb0.jpg359996161_KatschbergHohepanorama.thumb.jpg.45034520deb71c40a2bb2c26564c9dd9.jpg1645918609_KatsHohebestredup.thumb.jpg.7a43cf29b144fd8c30f686e8e4ea4276.jpg1250469895_KatsHoheRedbottow.thumb.jpg.82997e33474ff4bf1865fe5455550a5f.jpg

Then switching over to the Aineck skiing where the runs are VERY long with the 'A1' red measuring 6 kms (3.7 miles). The first pic is looking towards the mountain from the Katschberg side. The black goes straight down from the top with the long red (11) wiggling down alongside. The other pics are looking down towards the St. Margarethen side from the A1 red.

2112475244_KatschbergAineckpanorama.thumb.jpg.18c3169f018b6b5c3b4426edf2514ed6.jpg1855176079_KatsA1Top.thumb.jpg.2090cf03074be159c87d6c27e08ba453.jpg171291704_KatsStMargBDs.thumb.jpg.9e31c2214c0b842ba80819b875b21c3e.jpg

So to try and summarise, it's a really enjoyable resort for intermediates but is limited for beginners and experts.

I'm very much enjoying the week! :oldsmile:

Edit - Well you live and learn. After all the time I've been on this forum I didn't know you could open up these pics and then zoom in by clicking on the pic again (and again).

Edited by Blessed Weather
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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

What a last day here in Katschberg. Thoughts of any skiing quickly disappeared as the forecast strong winds and snow duly arrived at 10.00. It's been snowing steadily all day and the wind gusts are now so strong they are causing our wooden chalet to creak. Truly blizzard conditions this evening, so the walk into town for our last meal will be fun! It's been a wonderful week here - some superb skiing and the locals are incredibly friendly. Getting out in the morning could be fun - snow chains already fitted.

The obvious venue when it's snowing hard: 110472541_KatsWildererAlm.thumb.jpg.a7a89a873d2af44856d5f388945827b0.jpg

The view out of the window this evening: 380951851_KatsEveningsnow.thumb.jpg.bc7efe48f0c5a57367144fb2a2c8f78b.jpg

Edit: Pics from tonight's trip into town.

1445395049_Kats1.thumb.jpg.b88da02c40701027f9ed21ad1cd8efc9.jpg693843639_Kats2.thumb.jpg.5651f4a476151543935359a2d5e2da40.jpg1645101484_Kats3.thumb.jpg.9aa0e2f5d36a56fb1081a2de6f1f2ca9.jpg

Edited by Blessed Weather
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Synoptic Pattern

To start this weekend an area of Low Pressure over the Alps (Centred Southern France 995mb). This feeding in a long draw northerly for the west of the Alps and generally cold weather over much of Western and Central Europe.

Into next week and the low pressure slowly being squeezed away to the Southeast, with a ridge of high-pressure edging in off the Atlantic. This should bring in drier, more settled and less cold conditions.

The High Pressure remaining in situ over the Alps for most of next week, so some rather quiet and settled conditions for the most part. Towards the weekend, Low pressure over the UK could bring some North Westerly winds and some fronts from the North.

182655224_02022019500.thumb.gif.8ffe4d37748d04573ddedc762815e6f7.gif1831589360_02022019850.thumb.gif.bbd7bd9d7c1c0b73da2b399eef311fba.gif

Precipitation

Looking at the precipitation over the Alps this weekend, for Saturday evening this is concentrated in an area of North Eastern Italy and South Eastern parts of Austria. During the early hours of Sunday morning this becoming more widespread across much of the Alps.

Sunday sees widespread precipitation over much of the Alps, with some very heavy bursts over parts of Austria, especially around the Tirol region. Later on Sunday the precipitation becoming concentrated in more Northern parts of the Alps. By evening the precipitation fading considerably with many southern parts of the Alps becoming dry.

Any patchy precipitation for parts of Austria fading quickly on Monday leaving a dry spell of the Alps under High Pressure lasting through the reminder of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

A front is forecast to edge in from the North West on Thursday giving some precipitation for the French Alps, Switzerland, SW Germany and possibly NW Austria. During the day this slowly spreading South Eastwards across the Alps and fading as it does so. At this stage the forecast is for the remnants of this front dying out on Friday.

Snowfall

983866444_0-3dayssnow-West.thumb.JPG.337252102e441deab537c0486c8d6edd.JPG437064929_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.fa3c2fde4013d70b98ec82c4431276e6.JPG

Edited by J10
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