| End of the 2007/2008 winter season!
Well - it's official - no more skiing or boarding. What a season we had, with fantastic fantastic snow from December right up until the end of the season in May. Our webcam shows the current view from our chalets - make sure you visit again to see the green grass of summer and to check out the early season snow!
Weekly Snow Report - reproduced courtesy of Top Ski
 Pat Zimmer, founder of our partner ski school Top Ski, produces detailed weekly snow reports including On and Off Piste, Heliskiing and Touring conditions,
Snow Stability and Avalanche Risk.
For lessons and/or guiding to make the most of the fantastic snow we currently have, visit their website - www.topskival.com.
Check out the Top Ski Webcam below for a totally different view of Val d'Isere - over the centre of town with the Solaise Mountain in the background.
Thanks to Pat for providing our detailed weather reports for the 2007/2008 season. Reports will start in December for the 2008/2009 season but until then we'll leave you with this gem from the end of April 2008.
Hi every body !
A few snow falls between 10cm/15cm each time and some sunny episodes made for a super week skiing. The temperatures kept pretty low for the season which provided excellent skiing.
ON PISTE
Once more we enjoyed excellent snow conditions on piste, with packed cold power on all the top part of the resort and a little more hard packed on the bottom part. The idea was to ski the bottom parts just after they started to defreeze providing a super carpet of spring snow and then move the higher piste in the resort.
All the pistes were open and well groomed and looked after by the snow machine.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Face de Bellevarde” “ Santons” “Pissaillas”
Sector Tignes :
“Carline” “Myosotis”
OFF PISTE
A week like we like them, even though we did not have sun everyday but we had such good and varied snow conditions!
In the north faces in altitude we had up to 30cm of light dry cold powder some was even better then the middle of the winter. Bellow 2400m in the snow was transformed into spring perfect spring snow. Our off piste skiers really had a ball !
Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Pointe Pers” “Grand Vallon” “Couloir Lorenzo – Bois de la Laye” in powder
“banane” “Super Santons” in spring snow.
Sector Tignes :
“ Col des Vès” “Col de la sachette” “Cocaïne Nord” in powder.
“Petites aiguilles” “Glattier” in spring snow.
SKI TOURING
A very good week for ski touring wit a clear choice either powder in the north faces or spring snow in the other faces.
Sector Val :
“Glacier Pers” “Col des Fours” in powder.
“Lorès” powder on the top and great spring snow in the steeper lower part.
Sector Ste Foy :
“Fogliettaz Nord – Mont Cetti” super powder.
Warning
For your information the Gorges du Malpasset are impassable because of a lack of snow, the best return to the Fornet from the Prariond valley is from the Torsaï. The summer pass can be taken but only for people with a mountain culture has it is very narrow in places, we recommend to take a rope.
SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
For mid April the snow cover is still very good and mostly above average.
0cm/70cm at 1500m, 50cm/170cm at 2000m and more than 200m above 2200m.
The skiable limit is between 1100m in the north faces and between 1800m/2000m in the south faces.
Bellow 1800m/2000m the snow is transformed in all expositions due to the defrost/refrost, in the south faces the snow is transformed up to 2400m in the north faces in altitude the snow is still cold and powdery, in places has been wind blown.
SNOW STABILITY
Generally the snow cover is stable, but some new wind-slabs has been formed in the north-west and north-east faces close to the ridges and at the entrance of the couloirs.
Some natural avalanches might occur in the south faces if the temperature rises.
ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In all the mountain range.
Risk : 2 MODERATE.
Risk : 3 HIGH in the south faces due to temperatures rise.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
Small south-west low pressures for the beginning of the week and from Wednesday return of a high pressure.
From Sunday night to Monday 7th, arrival of a low pressure with snow fall limit rain/snow at 1000m.
Monday 21st and Tuesday 22cd the winds turn to north-west with clouds and clearings.
From Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 18th return of high pressure.
TOP SKI WEBCAM
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam click www.topskival.com open news/photos.
Exhibition in Verbier
Zoë Kronberger's exhibition “Forces of Nature” goes on until 26th April at the Galerie ART BARN at le Chable. Full on-line catalogue available to view on www.artbarn-verbier.com
Exhibition in Val d'Isère
At Top Ski we have a permanent exhibition of Zoe Kronberger's paintings.
All the Top Ski instructors and guides wish a very good week.
Until next Sunday for the next Top Ski news.
All the best,
Pat Zimmer
|
