Tricky conditions.

Conditions in the Alps continue to follow their familiar pattern of being either slightly too snowy or not nearly snowy enough. Mid February  much of Switzerland, northern Italy and the Rhône Alps has been sitting at a fairly emphatic 4/5 avalanche hazard, with several days reaching a full and uncompromising 5/5.

Then the sun came out and it got very, very hot.  This created various avalanches in the Chamonix area that ended up on the piste:

                                                    sorry about the guy stating the obvious.

My view is you should always wear an avalanche transciever if you are skiing on the piste as well as off piste if the risk is high 3 or 4.

The tricky conditions were however ideal for  teaching snow craft and avalanche avoidance, which I did with four very keen skiers James Luke Will and Kass.

Add good example of hard wind slab

Plus as a result of some unwanted freeze thaw at about 1800meters we got to ski some henious breakable crust.

It was therefore with some intrepidation that I headed out the next day  with Kristoff and his father Staffan.  Yet it turned out to be stunning .  We set off from La Flegere and headed over to Brevent.  We took the cable car to the summit.  Despite it still being the French school holidays [zone Paris] and blue sky  there were few people around.  We skied off down the Charles Boson  piste and then cut off it and headed over to the Col du Brevent.  

We dropped off onto north facing slopes where we found perfection

We skied down until the altimeter read 2000 meters.  Here we put on our skins and climbed up to lac Cornu.

Then across the lake where we stopped for lunch, before making the final climb to the Col de La Glieres.

We then skied back down the Combe de la Gliere, where we joined the Lachenal piste.  Stunning day, stunning skiing and we saw no one all tour.  As good as it gets.

Skiing Through Chaos

Iconic Land Rover in its element 

 

Dax enjoying himself

It was raining hard in Chamonix. Every ski lift was closing — or had already closed — due to avalanche risk. So we knew we weren’t skiing in the valley. It had to be snowing somewhere; the question was where, and at what altitude.

Mark, Annie, Gavin, Dax and I headed for Combloux. We arrived, got out of the car, and were immediately soaked by torrential rain. It did not, at that moment, feel like a masterstroke.

Yet as we rode the first gondola, the rain turned to sleet, then to big,fat flakes of snow. Eventually it became dry, fluffy snow — the sort you imagine in brochures and rarely encounter in real life. Because we were in the trees, we had visibility, shelter, and a day of skiing untracked bottomless powder. The trick, as ever, was simply being at the right altitude, on the right aspect, with a realistic appreciation of what 24 hours of weather had just done to the snowpack.

On Thursday the weather was just as chaotic — if anything, more so. Even more snow, and once again everything closed in Chamonix. This time we headed to St Gervais. The avalanche risk was 4/5, which concentrates the mind. Low-angle slopes,  trees, careful route choices: , all of it necessary for a good day

Friday dawned clear. We headed to Les Contamines and were treated to world-class conditions. Every turn was smooth, cold, and deeply satisfying. Even so, route choice remained a critical necessity. Blue skies do not repeal the laws of physics, nor do they reset a snowpack that has spent the week being rearranged by storms.

Annie in pillows of powder

Choose the routes carefully

Saturday, the snow returned. After careful reading of the weather forecast we decided to head to Courmayeur . The skiing was again exceptionally good. Significantlly colder than Chamonix meant the snow was as good as it gets, and there was a lot of it!

two meters?

We also managed to enjoy a good lunch at the Chaumiere. , 

On the final day, Sunday, we returned to Italy once more, this time heading to La Thuile. By then the rhythm of the week was clear: read the weather, respect the snowpack, choose terrain accordingly, and avoid confusing enthusiasm with judgment.

It’s remarkable how often good skiing follows that formula.

After lunch we skied endless powder fields all the way back to town. 

On of the many long descents.