Val d'Isere Snow Report: 5th December 2015

The off-piste has been fairly limited but we’ve managed to ski some powder snow every day, along with some soufflé doux, which is smooth wind-pressed snow with a soft texture, and we’ve managed a few couloirs as well. We’ve also ‘skinned’ a few times to access the fresh snow and between the piste skiing and the off-piste it has been a great week of skiing. 

We have also enjoyed some stunning weather as well with clear blue skies and temperatures warm enough to eat outside at lunchtime. But yesterday (Friday) afternoon the clouds rolled in and it snowed between 2 and 5 centimetres overnight. The new snow didn’t really change the conditions of the pistes, but the new snow has helped improve the snow conditions off-piste. The snow has been regenerating and what was tough, winded snow a few days back has been gradually softening up and mixed with the new snow the off-piste conditions, although limited, are better than a few days ago.

Weather:

• Sunday     Sunny -4C/+3C wind from the SE at 5 km/h
• Monday   Sunny -5C/+3C wind from the S at 5 km/h
• Tuesday Partially sunny   -4C/+3C wind from the S at 5 km/h
• Wednesday  Overcast  -5C/+3C  wind from the E at 5km/h

The good news on Wednesday is if it does happen to snow with the East wind we often get a retour de l’est, where we can get a significant snowfall towards the Fornet sector. (A retour de l'est is a unique weather pattern that occurs when the snow coming from the east circles back on itself and it can snow for days while the rest of the resort gets little or no snow. It's the Fornet sector up against the Italian border the profits from this system).

Sometimes it can snow a metre in the Fornet while the rest of the resort is bathed in sunshine. This happened three times last winter and greatly improved our off-piste skiing, and seemed to come when we needed it most. I’m not predicting a retour de l’est but fingers crossed!

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