A good weekend on the pistes of Val d'Isere

Saturday was a day of rejoicing as the sun came out and it was wonderful to see the mountains again. The snow off-piste was wind compressed because we’ve endured some violent winds of over 100km/h and it has also been affected by heat, humidity, and rain. However, we did have some excellent skiing and everyone savoured the sunshine and beauty of the mountains.

On Sunday, it was back into the flat light again as another big storm approached. It didn’t snow on Saturday night so we had no new snow to work with but the piste skiing was excellent with nicely groomed pistes and, as it started to snow as the lifts opened, the pistes became softer as the day went on. Now that the holidays are over there were very few people on the mountain and that makes all the difference.

It’s incredible how much snow has fallen and how many avalanches we’ve had, both natural and provoked by dynamite. With the sunshine on Saturday, you could look around and see what has slid and what hasn’t, which is important for off-piste safety later in the winter. There was an avalanche on the Danaides where about 100 trees were taken and piled into the Laisinant Express chairlift and many of the trees were caught up in the cable. It took a couple of days to sort out but the lift is now back in operation.

The rain and high temperatures last week didn’t do much for the short-term skiing but it did stabilise the mountain, which is great for the long-term. The avalanche risk dropped from 5/5 to 3/5 in just a couple of days to give you an idea of the stabilising effect of the rain and heat, followed by colder temperatures and a good re-freeze. I would guess that the risk will be back up to 4/5 by Monday morning after heavy snow and wind on Sunday night.

We are expecting a "retour de l’est" and the Fornet sector towards the Italian border could see between 75 and 150cms of snow on Sunday and Monday. The Fornet took so much snow during the last storm that the security and piste services haven’t had the chance to clear snow from around the lifts and groom the runs. If the sector receives another 150cms of snow, it will take some serious work to get the part of the mountain up and running again. Towards Tignes, there will be much less snow but another 20 to 40cms will make a huge difference to the quality of the off-piste skiing again.

If you’re here this week have a fantastic time. The resort is empty again so you’ll have the pistes to yourself. With colder temperatures and more snow, the off-piste should be significantly better again.Look out for another update on Friday!