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Val d'Isere Snow Report: 22nd January 2016

featured in Snow report Author Wayne Watson, Val d'Isere Reporter Updated

We’ve enjoyed a stunning week of skiing, and after being problematic earlier in the week, the wind has died down and we’ve had cold but very pleasant weather.

Besides a snowy and flat-light day on Tuesday the rest of the week has been better than was forecast, as far as visibility goes, and Thursday and Friday have seen blue skies with not a cloud in sight.

The pistes have been in immaculate condition. The grooming has been excellent and with the snow quality being as good as it gets ,the tourists here this week are having a brilliant time. January is always a quiet month and the combination of great snow, perfectly groomed pistes and not too many other skiers in the resort, all adds up to a blissful week!

The off-piste skiing has also been outstanding and we've enjoyed enough visibility early in the week to find great snow. Thursday and Friday, of course, have been fabulous with clear blue skies to go along with superb snow.

With a couple of days of unbroken sunshine it has been possible to have a good look around the mountain, and I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen. There have been massive natural avalanches everywhere and this purging will certainly help our safety during the rest of the season. The risk has dropped from 4/5 a week ago to 2/5 today, but there are still some areas that are waiting to go and caution is still a must, but the entire situation is much more positive than it was a week ago. Hallelujah as we've been in a pretty delicate period avalanche-wise!

I had an interesting situation yesterday while skiing off-piste with some new clients who were all fairly new to off-piste skiing. The last skier in the group fell and lost a ski and was having a very difficult time locating it, so I needed to put my 'skins' on and climb back up to help him. It was steep and he was about 100 metres above so I had my work cut out for me. About half-way up I noticed a single track going off into the distance about 150 metres below us and the track came to an abrupt end on the flats below. It was my clients ski and I was very surprised as 99% of the time when someone falls and loses a ski, the ski will always be above them. Normally skiers don't look far enough above themselves, especially in steep terrain. When you fall and lose a ski have a good look around and see if there are any visual clues. If not, chances are your ski is going to be quite a way above you.

Weather: After a few flakes Friday night

  • Saturday Sunny -6C/+2C. Wind from the S at 5km/h.
  • Sunday Sunny -6C/+4C. Wind from the S at 5km/h.
  • Monday Sunny -5C/+6C. Wind from the S at 5km/h

After a cold period we are in for a warming trend that will help the continuing stabilisation of the snowpack. All good news really and enjoy your holiday!

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Location

Map of the surrounding area