Val d'Isere Backcountry Snow Report: 24th January 2015

At the beginning of the week a group of friends and I decided to ski the White Hare in Le Fornet which spits you out in the village of Le Fornet itself. This was in fact a pretty poor decision as the snow cover was very thin in this area through the trees and I unfortunately managed to gouge a huge chunk out of my skis on some hidden rocks. After a quick regroup and breakfast stop we decided to head over to Tignes and managed to find some excellent lines lookers left of the Aiguille Perce.

On Tuesday we decided to explore the Cugnai bowl and were surprised to find some absolutely fantastic snow. Traversing as far as possible under the large cliff we found some fresh lines that were a real pleasure to ski. We ended up doing a few laps as it is pretty rare to find untracked snow in this area!

During the week as many of you will know from my last report we were expected to receive a significant snowfall in the area. Unfortunately the weather system never really seemed to hit the main Espace Killy area. However mid week whilst Val d’Isere and Tinges was receiving a dusting of light snow, Le Fornet and further afield was received close to forty centimetres of fresh snow. This therefore made for some excellent skiing for the latter part of the week.

On Saturday I skied with Alpine Experience, Andreas opted for the Col Pers route, accessed from the top of the Pissales Glacier. After a fairly long traverse and a thirty minute climb we were treated with 40cm of Val d’Iseres finest champagne powder! Each of us in the group made our own tracks in what I would consider some of the best snow I have skied so far this season. It is a fairly mellow route initially which then leads into the lower half of Col Pers which was steeper but much more skied out that the initial descent, even so the snow conditions were still quite agreeable. We then hooked onto the Col d’Iseran and made our way back to Le Fornet Village.

All in all it has been a great week for exploring more of the Espace Killy area and ticking off some routes that I have never skied before. Once again this week we are predicted heavy snowfalls. Several snow forecasting websites have predicted snowfall for the latter part of the week. This is obviously a few days away but things are certainly looking hopeful. If the snow does arrive the avalanche rating will certainly increase and in certain areas we are still experiencing a very weak base layer, which with the additional snowfall will become particularly dangerous. I cannot recommend hiring one of Val d'Isere's many professional guides strongly enough. Not only will you find some incredible snow but you will do so in a much safer way than on your own.

Get out in the backcountry and enjoy some of Espace Killys’ many off piste options this week!

-

NB: Off piste skiing and mountaineering are dangerous. The opinions expressed in these articles are very much time and condition specific and the content is not intended in any way to be a substitute for hiring a mountain guide, undergoing professional mountaineering training and/or the individual's own back country decision making.