© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
© Wayne Watson
A warm and sunny week in Val d'Isere
The search for untracked, good snow..
After a beautiful sunny period with unusually high temperatures for this time of year the resort was a bit of a mess off-piste-wise. There was sun-crust on the sunny exposures, wind-damage elsewhere, and anywhere nice to ski was totally tracked-out. Although we've had some fabulous skiing we were even starting to run out of places to walk to!
Fortunately we received 35cm of fresh snow Saturday night followed by light snow all day Sunday and we’ve definitely been given a ‘fresh canvas’ with which to work.
On Saturday night as the snow fell winds of 120 km/h were clocked during the night on the Tete du Solaise, and I was very surprised at the quality of snow we skied Sunday morning. The visibility was poor but the snow was excellent. However, very little was open because the Piste Service couldn’t do their normal avalanche control because of high wind and lack of visibility, and with the avalanche risk being bumped back up to 4/5 after a period of stable conditions most of the resort remained closed.
But we did have some fantastic skiing and the base has been topped up again to help see us through the winter. It is forecast to rain in town Sunday night and up to about 2,200 metres so we should have some great snow higher up the mountain if it isn’t too damaged by the strong winds that are also part of the equation. Fingers crossed!
As the norm after a heavy snowfall the piste skiing on Sunday was dreadful after about 11 o’clock. With all the soft snow the pistes became incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable very quickly, but with the snowfall forecast to stop around midnight the piste machines will have the pistes groomed to perfection again and piste users should be in for a very good week.
Weather:
- Monday- Mostly sunny 0C/+7C Wind from the S at 5 gusting to 55km/h
- Tuesday- Mostly sunny -2C/+7C Wind from the S at 5 gusting to 45km/h
- Wednesday- Snow -6C/0C Wind from the NW at 5 gusting to 55km/h
- Thursday- Partially sunny/few flakes of snow -8C/-2C Wind from the NW at 5km/h
- Friday- Sunny -6C/+4C Wind from the SE at 5km/h
As you can see we'll be expecting a little bit of everything this week and it should be a great week for both off-piste enthusiasts as well as those who prefer their snow groomed.
With the wet snow mixed with a little light drizzle Sunday evening be very careful as the pavements around town will be treacherous. Walking the streets of Val d'Isere is certainly the most vulnerable part of your holiday so don't be caught with your hands in your pockets.
Take care and have a brilliant week!
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