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Val d'Isere Snow Report: 31st December 2015

Heading into the New Year with lots of fresh snow on the forecast

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

Our pre-holiday calm is over and we’ve just endured the busiest week of the season. It’s been chaotic at times and the pistes are so busy you wonder if it’s worth skiing or not.

With so many neighbouring resorts closed due to lack of snow Val d’Isere/Tignes have had extra skiers bussed in and combined with the faithful L’Espace Killy clientele it has made for a very congested period. Still, we are extremely lucky to be here and the skiing has been surprisingly good with absolutely brilliant weather.

The pistes are holding up pretty well and are definitely at their best first thing in the morning. With the thin snowpack and huge volume of skier traffic stones start to show through and the pistes become icy fairly quickly. An early start also helps avoid the crowds and once ahead of the game with some thoughtful planning you can keep one step ahead for most of the morning.

There are still two closed pistes to Les Brevieres, the Sache and the Chardons, and they should be avoided at all costs. They are both lethally icy and the Sache is rocky as well.

The pavements in town are still very slippery and caution is needed with just about every step.

The walking trails in town have been very popular this week as many people are only skiing for part of the day and then enjoying the wonderful weather and getting some exercise.

As for the off-piste, the skiing is still limited but we’ve managed to find great skiing every day. We’ve hardly noticed the crowds in the resort as we’ve been out in the back country and have had almost total solitude.

The avalanche risk is still 1/5 but the risk will increase dramatically as soon as it snows. The base is rotten goblet, which is big grains that have no cohesion with the grains or crystals around them, and the existing base will not support the weight of a significant snowfall. Snow is forecast over the weekend and with any luck we could see enough snow to really kick-start the season.

Weather in the village:

  • Friday Sunny -5C/+3C wind from the S at 5km/h
  • Saturday Snow -3C/+1C wind from the S gusting to 40km/h
  • Sunday Partially sunny -5C/0 wind from the S at 5km/h
  • Monday Snow -5C/-1C wind from the W at 5km/h

It looks as if winter is about to arrive with a bang. The most optimistic forecast I've heard is 2.5 metres of snow over the next nine days.

Hang on tight as it could get very serious with avalanche risk and road safety!

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Location

Map of the surrounding area