Sunny but cold conditions ahead for Val d'Isere

Sunday was another bright sunny day but there was a strong northerly wind blowing, which made it feel colder than it has over the past few days. You could see the wind blowing snow off the peaks and ridges and that’s always a sign to stay low or in the lee. It was blowing hard enough that the Fornet sector was closed during the morning. We managed to stay out of the wind and enjoyed a great morning skiing some fantastic snow towards Terre Rouge in Tignes but unfortunately the off-piste is getting a little bit more difficult each day as the resort becomes tracked out.

You’ll notice in the photos how we keep our tracks tight so that each skier in the group gets clean snow while taking up as little of the mountain as possible. If everyone skied like this (or at least made a bit more of an effort) we’d have powder snow much longer and it becomes even more important during times of high pressure like we have now. It’s frustrating watch four or five skiers trash a mountainside that could take 100 skiers who were making an effort to conserve the snow, especially now when we aren’t expecting any new snow for another week to ten days.

The avalanche risk has been fairly low with 2/5 above 2400 metres and 1/5 below that level on Saturday but there has still been a few accidents in Val d’Isere and neighbouring resorts with a couple of near misses as a couple of people were dug out alive. One was a young 12-year-old who was found by an avalanche dog. Last Thursday my wife escorted a friend to the Medical Centre as he’d fallen on-piste and broken his thumb. The nurse told her that they’d had one of their worse weeks ever with injuries on the hard frozen piste after the rain and just as many injuries from people falling over on the treacherous pavements. I mention it in ever update for a very good reason because the state of the pavements in this village are criminal and the Commune has a lot to answer for. (We’ll see if this get’s edited out but it does need saying) Please be careful when walking around town. Don’t get caught with your hands in your pockets or a child on your shoulders.

This coming week will be the busiest week of the season and it’s going to be a real mess. Get out early to avoid the bus and lift queues, and skiing over the lunchtime period is also a little quieter. The best snow on the pistes is earlier in the day before they become icy. As skiers and boarders slide over the man-made snow the pistes become polished and get harder and harder as the day wears on and eventually become very icy. If you’re tired at the end of the day take the lifts down because the pistes will be extremely busy with tired skiers, which is a recipe for collisions, and with the ice at the bottom it can be a bit of a nightmare. The weather for the week ahead is mostly sunny with clear blue skies on Monday and Tuesday, then a cloudy day on Wednesday followed by a partially sunny day on Thursday. Have a great week and look out for another update next Friday.