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

15cm of Fresh Snow in Val!

There was some confusion in Val d’Isère over the weekend as the Gods forgot that it was summertime! Snowball fights broke out as holiday makers and locals alike rebelled at the 15cm of snow that had fallen at the top of the Col d’Iseran! The snow line was just above the village at 1900m, and the Col was temporarily closed to traffic while the snow ploughs did their work.

 

No fun, however, for the fishermen competing to catch the biggest fish at the Lac d'Ouillette... the cold kept the insects away and the trout in the deepest parts of the lake!

 

Today, when the cloud temporarily lifts from the top of Solaise, I can still see a healthy sprinkling of the white stuff! The Solaise Express chair lift is still running for the Mountain Bikers and walking enthusiasts. Not today thanks… Brrrrrrrrrr!

 

I’m getting excited about the winter… don’t get me wrong…. but a bit of sunshine before then wouldn’t go amiss!

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)

  

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!

 

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)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Snow Today and for a few more. Great for..

.. Nice Touring and Nice Skiing..

Conditions are classic spring off-piste at the moment in the 

Northern French Alps. It looks like the trend will continue for 

the next week with sun and some clouds forecast for most 

days. To see how to best enjoy the spring snow, go to my 

summary on Spring Snow posted on this blog on April 7 

(for conditions on April 10) or click here!

 Nice Touring

Nice Skiing!

 

... and nice friends on the way...

 

 

Snow Report and off piste advice for 10 April, 2010

Here is this weeks review and update from Henry

Switching to Spring! Temperatures are rising and that means more off-piste spring snow. Here’s a ‘HAT quick guide to spring snow’.

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: north, east, south and west, you can get on it with little effort. 

Melt-freeze Cycles

Once the 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. 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

Top tip for today

Chris and his family followed Henry's top tip today to go up to Fornet where the weather was clearing!

 

Well despite the slightly erroneous tip regarding the weather.  We had a great day on fantastic snow.  Skied all all morning from 10.30 to 2.00pm.

So here is the greeting from the whole family

Thanks Henry, weather forecasting may be a bit hazardous, but the snow was superb

It is still snowing this evening.  Winter snow and sun on Monday, then spring predicted to return on Tuesday