Val d'Isere Snow Report: 7th January 2016

Those who remain faithful to this wonderful resort are always rewarded and earlier in the season when the press reported no snow in Europe we were still open with about 85% (I made that figure up) of the lifts and pistes open! And with very little snow I’ve still managed to ski off-piste every day of the season.

We’ve had over a metre of fresh snow and more is on the way, and it is forecast to snow off-and-on for the next seven days. Needless to say the pistes are now pretty well covered and the only problem is that with all the fresh snow they become bumpy and uncomfortable very quickly. The early starters can get some great powder on the pistes and just off the edges and the snow quality has been superb!

As for the off-piste, we’ve enjoyed the best skiing of the season so far. The sun was out Tuesday and Wednesday and we profited from some extraordinary powder skiing. It was deep, light and such a nice change from the snow we’ve been skiing up until now.

Unfortunately the avalanche risk is 4/5 and we had two serious avalanches on Tuesday with one fatality and another skier in a coma with a broken pelvis and two broken legs. The risk will remain high for quite some time and after such a prolonged period without snow the base is rotten and anything steep should be considered a ‘no-go-zone’. And please do not feel that you are safe by wearing a beep, an air-bag and carrying a shovel and probe. We are in for a serious period of danger and prudence and respect are a must.

Weather in the village:

• Friday- Rain and snow -5C/+2C Wind from the S at 5km/h
• Saturday – Rain and snow -2C/+1C Wind from the S at 5km/h
• Sunday- Snow -5C/0C Wind from the S gusting to 60 km/h
• Monday- Snow with partial sun -5C/0C Wind from the SW gusting to 60km/h
• Tuesday- Snow -7C/-3C Wind from the W gusting to 60km/h

Don’t be alarmed by rain in the village because it means snow higher up the mountain, but we also need the mountain to purge itself (or avalanche) and rain and heavy snow is exactly what we need on top of the weak base. Once the underlying goblet has been purged the new snow can start to rebuild a hopefully safer snowpack.

Wet snow during a big storm also helps to protect the village because wet-snow avalanches don’t travel as far and do not have the destructive wind-blast and vacuum that huge powder avalanches have. A tragic example of the destructive force of a powder avalanche was February 10, 1970 here in Val d’Isere when the UCPA hotel was hit and 39 people lost their lives. So a little rain is a good thing at the moment!

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