Snow conditions
We’ve had some really good skiing since the last massive dump, despite the battering that the wind did on a few occasions. On the wind that picked up, for example, on Saturday the 13th: I took the Col des V’s lift up in Tignes a couple days after only to see that the wind had beaten the snow up so badly there that it was un-skiable; meanwhile there was some nice light powder on some similar facing slopes not far away (a mystery to me!). Anyway, it’s now been well over a week since the last big snowfalls in the eastern part of France along the border of Italy. But, here we go again (well sort of). If you’re lucky enough to be somewhere like the Espace Killy along the French/Italian border or in Italy itself, then the chances are that you’ll be getting a little more snow on Thursday and Friday while everyone in France is cursed with clear weather. Total on the French side for those two days looks like only 15 cm on the French side, but more in Italy.
Snow stability
The very warm temperatures during the early part of Christmas week created quite a lot of instability on slopes exposed to the sun – especially south-east facing slopes. An avalanche almost hit me while I was driving on Tuesday afternoon around 15.00 – it came down onto the road just in front of me between Bourg Saint Maurice and the Espace Killy around 1600 metres. It released from one of those many cracks that you can see on slopes exposed to the sun. These avalanches start as the snow starts creeping and flowing internally then cracking, gliding along the ground and sometimes releasing to form a ‘glide avalanche’. Actually, quite of few of these ‘glide cracks’ turned into ‘glide avalanches’ when it was warm out – and they will again if it gets warm again next week, which is very possible since a big high pressure system is due to set in sunny weather for the New Year. But the net effect of relatively warm weather is settlement of the snowpack and ultimately a more stable situation especially if the temperatures decrease just after Christmas. That is one reason why the avalanche danger rating has come down significantly.
In summary, the avalanche danger decreased rapidly (except on the sunny slopes below 2500 metres) after the big snowfalls, thanks in part to the warmer temperatures, but I have been paying attention to some localized instability on steep slopes around ridges and passes above 2500 metres where wind slabs built up and released (on diverse aspects) during the snow and wind events over the last two weeks. Plus it’s colder up there above 2500 metres – so the snow stabilises more slowly. I’ve probably been paying attention to these slopes since I’ve been having a lot of fun recently skiing on those north’ish exposures because the snow has stayed colder and nicer there during the warm periods.
Have Fun and Be Safe! Henry
