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OFF PISTE SNOW REPORT Brought to you by Henry’s Avalanche Talk www. henrysavalanchetalk. com A bizarre three days of weather this week will be followed by a calmer weekend and fresh snowfall at the start of next week. In three days we had drenching rain up to 2700m, followed by a very mild grey and flat light day with slushy snow, followed by a very cold day of monster winds (217km/ hr) that blew the authors shutter off its hinges.
Shiny crust and water affected snow Tignes 6th Feb – photo Mike Crompton
This left us with a weird snowpack. Look at this image taken on 6th Feb of the refrozen shiny crust, also showing rivers of water that had flowed under the snowpack during the warm weather (2500m in Tignes). There was cold dry snow that had fallen at the end of the storm, but it had been blown away by the wind
But at the same time in shady sheltered spots, the powder that fell remained and offered real powder skiing on Wednesday 5th Feb. Fortuntately the weather should settle down this weekend.
It looks like becoming a little more stormy again from Monday to Wednesday with further snowfall expected in the mountains of the Northern French Alps. The quality of off-piste snow is very varied at the moment. Wind and rain have really affected the surface snow, making it very crusted and difficult to ski in places. In more sheltered spots in the lee and in gullies, there are some excellent strips of powdery off-piste skiing to be found. Because the snow surface varies so much, we really need to keep our concentration as we ski, keeping our eyes open for what’s ahead. After recent storms, there’s also some serious rough avalanche debris out there that is difficult to traverse through. Recent history of the snowpack Recent high winds, maximum speeds of 217 km/hr on the Pissaillas glacier (above Val d’Isère/Bonneval), have been blowing the snow around (and sometimes off) the mountain. These winds were accompanied by persistent precipitation, mainly in the form of rain, drenching the snowpack, particularly at 2700 m and below. The wind and rain have caused a lot of the steeper slopes to purge themselves of snow, making for a more stable situation after the initial instability. Snowpack stability below 2700 m-ish has now vastly improved on all sides of the mountain thanks to this deeply humidified snowpack, followed by consolidation and refreezing during sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday night into Wednesday. Things have now really firmed up, making for a much safer situation as far as avalanches go. The snowpack, at least below 2700/2500 m, is now a lot more stable than it was before the recent episode of persistent rain. Even after the next expected snowfall on
