Henry's Avalanche Talk, Avalanche awareness, Off piste skiing, snow reports, snow conditions, Val d'Isere, Tignes

Spring avalanches

Now here's a funny thing; Spring time is both the most stable and the least stable time of year.

This oddity is all linked to the melt freeze cycles that Henry has been blogging about recently. When the top layer freezes over night it becomes solid enough to hold a skiers weight. Therefore you cannot break through to the weak layer underneath and trigger an avalanche. However, as the sun warms that frozen layer throughout the day (starting with East facing slopes, through South facing slopes to West facing slopes) it becomes weaker and eventually will no longer hold a skiers weight.

Once this layer can no longer hold your weight there are three main reasons not to be there:

1. It's no fun to ski!
2. You will leave ruts and spoil it for tomorrow's groups.
3. It is now so warm that point release avalanches can be triggered all around you.

Henry and I discussed the likelyhood of a skier releasing slides in spring and we were not very sure, but reckoned it would be unlikely once the melt freeze cycles are well under way. If you think or know different please feel free to leave comment.

It is because of this phenomenon that Andreas (an experienced guide) and I were able to ski right next to these massive avalanches on a tour we made to the Col de Four a few days ago. We were there at just the right time (too early and it would have been so hard the fillings in our teeth would have been in danger; too late and .. well if you are wondering what could have happened if we were too late then go back to the top of this blog and start again!)

 

 

These avalanches all released naturaly once the melting reduced the internal strength of the snowpack to the point that it finally couldn't hold the massive weight of the snow on the side of the hill any longer.

Jamie (HAT presenter)

www.PeakPhotographics.com

Wet & Humid Snow Slabs

There's been a lot of avalanche activity over the last few days that looks like this in the ‘Combe de Signal’ (below) where two avalanches here have have released on West-Northwest facing slopes at 2600 metres in off piste Val d’Isère. Wet/humid slab avalanches have been releasing on all aspects (a bit more on east facing slopes). This is common throughout the Northern French Alps a the moment. Skiers and snowboarders should be aware.

 This instability is due to a lack of freeze at night over the last week which has allowed melting and ‘softening’ to penetrate deeper and deeper into the snowpack eventually reaching the old weak unconsolidated layer from late January to mid-February of faceted grains/depth hoar. These slabs are all releasing naturally as far as I know, there is some debate as to how much a person could influence the trigger and then collapse of the old weak layer or if these avalanches are purely the result of melted/softened layers through the snowpack that eventually slide on that bottom weak layer (that never had much resistance anyway).

Be wary of these natural wet/humid avalanches coming down from above; they can release spontaneously - some have even gone at night! Now is case where you want to know the off-piste in your area really well and do it in the morning!

The colder temps forecast for this weekend will make the snowpack more stable.

Girls on Tour.. with Jimmy

Jimmy (the lucky guy with the girls below) took the girls: Ginny, Helen and KJ on a great tour up to the Col des Fours off the back side of Val d'Isère. See just below this photo for a description of the tour and the ski down:

It was quite a mild start to the day with 1 degrees at the top of the signal cable car at 9.15am  this morning.  We had a  lovely ski of transformed spring snow on the east slopes down to the bridge along with a bit of walking over rocks/ grass and avalanche debris ('combat skiing' as Henry calls it).  

After about a 30 minute climb up the valley a few clouds came  in  - they were very welcomed as it helped to cool us down!! We arrived at the top of the Col de Four (approx 3000 m) just after 11 and it was still very warm with no wind! 

  The ski down the mostly west/southwest facing slopes were beautiful with lovely spring snow - but you had to look for the smooth snow in some places: in between avalanche debris and old tracks from people skiing it too late! (see a description of off piste spring snow here ).

 

Thanks to Jimmy for the photos and the girls for coming along!

Have Fun Be Safe,

Ginny Dawson
 

 

Powder and Spring & unusually quiet mountains

Off-piste snow at the moment in much of the N. French Alps: a bit of powder on top of old spring snow (see vid below) and skiing spring snow are the conditions at the moment and that will continue off and on all week with the sporadic snow showers, clouds and sun predicted for the rest of the week (when the snow and clouds will come in and when there will be sun is anybody's guess!

Note: if you even do a little bit of touring/walking or go anywhere off piste at the moment now you will notice that it is particularly quite in the N French Alps - that is because there are no airplanes!

Below of the back of the Grande Motte in Tingnes from the Couloir de 3500

A little Powder:

 A little adventure (above)

A little spring snow (below)

  

Chemin des Coves Accident 6th April 2010

We reported on an unfortunate accident on the north face of Bellevarde in this post

http://www.getoffpiste.com/2010/04/dramatic-off-piste-avalanche-rescue-in-val-disere.html

We now have some more detailed photos that trace what happened. You can see the full set in the photo album La Daille Accident April 2010

Here is the general site with the route taken by Kiran and the way he was trying to go when he was caught and taken over the cliff,

 

Here are the tracks he was making

 

But here is the cliff he fell off

Here is where his snowboard ended up

Here he is being rescued

This is where he was found

    

What did we notice

• He went off piste on his own (he was lucky to be found, he could have been there all night and died)
• He was without equipment (he was only found by luck)
• He went somewhere where there was no way out (always check your exit) 
• It is possible the slide was triggered by skiers above (there are tracks) be careful there is no one below you when you go off piste.
• The rescue was fantastically expensive with two helicopters and a team of at least 10 people that I saw.  So make sure you have insurance that covers off piste rescue

We have posted this as a reminder to all of us.  As the the head of the Securite des Piste said to Henry only today.  Remember three things

• Know where you are going and whether it is safe/there is an exit
• Be equipped (beeper shovel probe)
• Be insured properly.  The Piste Patrol in Val d'Isere are increasingly finding that many British insurance policies do not cover off piste accidents and this causes immense distress and problems.  We will be discussing this further in later posts and bulletins.

Keep this for next season

Have fun be safe

 

Snowing in N. French Alps

Currently snow showers in much of the N. French Alps above 1700 metres this afternoon/evening. The trend of some snow showers (above 1700 metres) especially in the afternoons along with some good sunny spells will continue for close to a week. 

Should be good conditions off piste skiing. A bit of powder and turning quickly into spring 

Have Fun, Be Safe! 

 Henry

Spring Snow Tips: 'go for smooth'

HAT Snow Report for 17 April, 2010

Playing the spring snow game can be fun and YOU CAN HAVE A GREAT TIME from 8.45 until at least 1pm! Below you can see smooth spring snow with just a thin layer of soft snow on top (photo taken two days ago near the Col de la Rocheure, in the Parc Nationale de la Vanoise, Savoie, France). Read below for tips on how to make the best of your spring skiing.
 

SPRING SNOW

Understand the ‘melt-freeze cycles’ and have fun with spring snow!

Off-piste spring snow is one of the best things that the Northern French Alps has to offer. With lift access to all slope orientations: east, south, west and then north, you can find it and have fun with little effort.

Melt-freeze Cycles

Once new snow melts during the day and then freezes at night (1 melt-freeze cycle) a few times in succession after a snowfall, the top snow layer begins to form a crust that gets deeper and stronger after each melt allows free water to drip down and re-freeze during the night. Any given ‘melt-freeze’ layer becomes stronger with each cycle of melting and freezing due to the deeper penetration of each melt during the day, which then adds more depth to the potential frozen layer at night. If untouched, the top of this frozen layer is smooth and solid first thing in the morning, then it becomes progressively softer as the warm sun and increased temperatures melt it as the day goes by. This process starts on east faces because they get the sun first thing in the morning, then south, then west (north faces at 2500 metres don’t normally get a melt freeze layer on them until late April due to lack of sun).

For good skiing!

The trick is, after a couple of good melt-freeze cycles have created a solid layer on a slope, you need to get on that slope when the snow surface is smooth and solid with only 2 or 3 cm’s of soft melted snow on top (these are generally slopes that have been in the direct sunlight only for an hour or so e.g. an East facing slope at 9 or 10). Then you need to get off those slopes when the snow surface begins to get too soft and mushy or you’ll start breaking through, which is dangerous for your knees. AND the slope may be unstable due to all the melting - then avalanches can be a problem.

In sum:

After a solid melt-freeze layer has formed and there has been a good melt during the day, it needs to freeze well the night before; the ideal is a cool clear night with minimums of –2 degrees (or lower) at 2000 m if your going to be skiing at 2000m and above. This will allow the melted parts of the layer to freeze solid again from that altitude up. Then, in the morning, you look to get on the east facing slopes first thing, 9 AM, because the sun rises in the east and therefore those slopes get the sun first. Then you move to south facing slopes, then west. Do this right and get some of the best skiing of the season.

Aside from a night that is not cool enough, the only thing that gets in the way of great spring skiing is the nasty ruts in the snow that people leave behind because they either ski spring snow slopes (slopes that get lots of sun in spring: E,S and W) before the melt-freeze layer has formed or they ski the slopes too late when they are too soft and mushy.

Tip of the week:

If you have any questions about the timing of good spring skiing, ask an off-piste guide or instructor around town. They will be happy to explain because their quality of skiing depends on people skiing it right!

Have Fun, Be Safe!

Henry and the HAT Team

See http://www.henrysavalanchetalk.com for the events this week!

 

Touring with 71 Signal Regiment

The last couple of days and a night were spent introducing ski touring and mountain safety awareness to the the A-team from the British Army 71 Signal Regiment: Alex, John, Rob, Paul, Chanel and their leader, Marcus.

The snow was a mixture of spring, in-between spring and a bit of powder up high. It's been very cold for this time of year (down to -10 to -12 at 1850m), but then it's waremed up pretty well during the day. Up high it's a bit tricky.. but some great spring skiing is out there at the moment (see the link, Spring Snow, to find out more how to have fun at this time of year by learning about the melting and freezing of the snow!).

Lots of learning lots of fun! See below:

How you walk up on skis...

 

After lots of walking... Skiing!

 

and well, all we really remember is the really fun part, ... skiing...

   Hang in there Paul!

oops, well no one's perfect!
 
 

Spring has sprung again... and combat skiing gets serious!

by Jamie Tweed, Adventure & Shipping enthusiast

Combat skiing with Henry is always a pleasure, and more so than ever today when Henry managed to rescue a perilously perched lost ski from the jaws of a gully in Vallon de la Sache. 

Mary was particularly grateful for the rescue when the next (yet another) off piste pitch of awesome spring snow was found. Big grins all round from a happy trio of Mary, Jamie and Chubbs. 

(photos below by Jean Ribart)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dramatic off piste avalanche rescue in Val d'Isere

Last week there was a serious accident on the steep Bellevarde slopes (skiers right from Orange piste.)  In this post we describe the incident and the lessons that can be drawn

You can see a full set of photos of the rescue in the photo album called La Daille accident April 2010. See left sidebar.

Site of accident

 A British saisonnaire who worked for a tour operator in Tignes left his friends on the Orange piste and boarded alone off piste to skiers right and by mistake went down the Couloir to nowhere.  Realising his mistake he took his snowboard off and started to walk back up the slope to find another route down. 

Unfortunately a small avalanche was triggered above him and swept him down the slope and over the cliffs below.  He landed on the softer snow and was part buried by the avalanche.  He was also knocked unconscious (at about 2.30pm)

At 4.30pm his friends realised he had not showed up for work and called the rescue services.

As soon as they were given the alert they looked all around the off-piste area to the right of the piste Orange known as the "Spatule and Super Spatule" and the steep slopes off Belvarde above the road which is known as the "Chemin des Coves" and finally saw his snowboard totally intact on top of the avalanche debris in the main part of the avalanche deposition area.

Then they immediately flew a rescue team in and they started probing this deposition area - to no avail. Then they followed the path of the avalanche above to the foot of the cliffs 100 metres higher and heard his unconscious murmuring - then found him buried up to his neck in snow..."

By 5.30pm the piste patrol had found him but only because they heard some strange unconscious mumbling noises.

The following sequence of pictures was taken between 1800 and 1900 during the rescue

Here you see the piste patrol getting more supplies dropped by helicopter

Here you see the team helping the victim and the area where he fell

  

Here you see the bigger helicopter coming in to drop off more people and supplies to help

 

Here you see the piste patrol walking down the slope to recover supplies that had been dropped by helicopter and rolled down the slope away from them

 

Here you see the victim being lifted away in a stretcher by helicopter

Fortunately the snowboarder will be OK after some hospital treatment.  But he was very lucky.

What did we notice

• He went off piste on his own (he was lucky to be found, he could have been there all night and died)
• He was without equipment (he was only found by luck)
• He went somewhere where there was no way out (always check your exit) 
• It is possible the slide was triggered by skiers above (there are tracks) be careful there is no one below you when you go off piste.
• The rescue was fantastically expensive with two helicopters and a team of at least 10 people that I saw.  So make sure you have insurance that covers off piste rescue

We have posted this as a reminder to all of us.  As the the head of the Securite des Piste said to Henry only today.  Remember three things

• Know where you are going and whether it is safe/there is an exit
• Be equipped (beeper shovel probe)
• Be insured properly.  The Piste Patrol in Val d'Isere are increasingly finding that many British insurance policies do not cover off piste accidents and this causes immense distress and problems.  We will be discussing this further in later posts and bulletins.