Snow Sports Thread 2017-18
- Thread starter Jokester
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Any particular reason why?
The road is now open again and the conditions are apparently fantastic according to the ski reports.
It normally only takes a day or two to get back up and running after massive dumps as the infrastructure and emergency services/mountain crews are used to it.
The road is now open again and the conditions are apparently fantastic according to the ski reports.
It normally only takes a day or two to get back up and running after massive dumps as the infrastructure and emergency services/mountain crews are used to it.
Avalanche risk is now 5/5 in parts of the SW Alps so everything will be closed. Apparently this hasn't happened in 30 years.
On piste will be “safe” and maintained by the ski resort. Just don’t go off piste.
Obviously if your going specifically for off piste/back country yeah you’re a bit screwed.
Obviously if your going specifically for off piste/back country yeah you’re a bit screwed.
Most pistes are closed due to the danger.
However, I do except things can rapidly open up after a few days of more stable weather and seasonable temperatures.
Exactly. He’s going next week. They will have had over a week to sort out the avi issues for most of the pistes and “near” piste so as long as they have a reasonably competent mountain crew then they should be fine.
I honestly wouldn’t worry, although it may be worth giving Crystal a quick ring/email as they may have a lot more information than the public on what’s going on there from their reps in resort.
Edit: and just checking resort conditions 2/3 of the runs are open and all but one of the lifts.
Edit 2: scratch that, that was obviously yesterday’s data. Rather than today’s with the new snowfall.
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Associate
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also check your winter travel insurance as most have payouts for days that are closed (but, I'm unsure if that means a % of pistes are closed or the entire mountain - and obviously it's easy to open some green runs at the bottom to prevent a complete closure)
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I'm off again at the start of Feb, so a little concerned, but 3 weeks is plenty to sort things out, assuming there's no more mental snow-dumps... Whatever happens, the avi risk for the rest of the season will probably be horrific.
Seasonal avi risk doesn't depend on quantity of snow but on specific layers. in fact mega dumps can be good because they have an immediate sort term effect of releasing most of the sensitive areas and resetting the snow pack, so danger can go form 4 down to 2 or 3 with 48 hours. Biggest issue is ion the northern alps it has rained to 2500m. I did a ski tour last saturday and even with crampons coudln't get a safe ascent. Was like a 30* tilted ice rink. New snow wont adhere to that and there isn't much that can break up such ice layers.
last I heard they were having a poor season
Ah, any reliable websites to check up on this?
Assuming by poor you mean in terms of snow quantity and quality?
Associate
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yeah, I probably could have phrased it better - I wasn't necessarily meaning lots of snow = lots of avalanche, as otherwise places like Fernie or Japan wouldn't operate. Just the way the Alps have been hit so far this season, with lots of snow, high winds, freeze/thaw conditions and even rain is a nasty combination, both now and for a base layer for the rest of the season. The way I understand it/have been taught - thawing reduces the snow-crystals ability to interlock/bind and rain will add water/weight/movement into the snowpack which will make it more likely to slide, if it doesn't then when it freezes the water will become icy, providing a nice solid layer for new snow to slide off. Keep wondering about upgrading my Dakine Helipack to an ABS type bag, but seem to go touring/shoeing so rarely these days - saying that, it would only take 1 use to pay for itself...
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a common site people use to check snow conditions is http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Borovets/6day/mid
this shows a decent amount of snow is due in Borovets over the weekend, with little wind to blow it all away. The now -> snow report page shows the present conditions with 105cm at the top of the mountain and 80 at the bottom. That's not a load at the top, but it's enough for the mountain to open and have fun on, but probably not a great deal for off-piste (and probably not enough to build a decent freestyle park, if that's your thing). I'm sure Borovets resort has its own website with more info/webcams to check. If it's your 1st/2nd snow holiday, then I'm sure it will be fine.
Also check deals/conditions at Bansko (if you've chosen to goto Bulgaria) as I think it's a bigger/better resort. For some reason I did a season there years ago... Other cheap resorts worth checking are over in Andorra - I've only tried Arinsal, but it was a good week, and i think they've been getting some decent snow this season too.
Thanks for the feedback, in terms of our abilities this will only be our second Snow holiday so off piste and freestyle parks are far from a priority. Hopefully this should be more then enough snow for our needs but as boarders I know fresh powder is always nicer then more hard packed snow to ride on.
If the snowpack gets wet this is also a big problem in the short term can be be a stabilizing event long term. I have seen lots of large glide cracks the last 2 weekends, with water running under large developed slabs. But the snowpack once saturated and refeezing will become very safe, which is why the avalanche danger is very low in the northern alps right now. As alluded to, if the rain causes an ice layer this can cause a problem when there is future snowfall. However, there are lots of variables. For example if the next snow comes with a warm wet start and no wind, and gradually cools then it will tend to stick to the ice layer underneath. If there is a very cold dusting on top then this can cause dangerous ice crystals. I have even seen hail stones collect on an ice layer before, nothing like ball bearing on an ice rink to make things exciting.
If you don;t tour often then the best thing to do is to just pay to use guides or to go on snow safety courses. This is why I like to live in the mountains. With frequent trips you learn the snowpack and regularly read the bulletins. You get more experienced with the local conditions and mountains. And you tend to be happy to completely avoid high danger days compared to if you are on your 1 week holiday. The downside is it can build complacency. Most avalanches happen at level 3 (considerable), where people are less worried, and plenty of people still die on level 2 days (moderate). Nothing worse than heading out on a level 2 day to familiar terrain and not thinking about risks.
Skiclub.co.uk has always been my go to.
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exactly as you've said, as soon as people see a risk of 3 or less, they almost think it's game to go exploring care-free... at the end of the day, it's never 100% safe and you cringe when you see people hiking and riding faces with obvious recent slides, or blindly following existing tracks no knowing where they're going (or how the conditions have changed since the time the tracks were created - didn't that happen in Tignes last year? Some people did a route in the afternoon saying it must be safe, as they did it in the morning, and it slid after moving from shade to sun during the day)