Winter returns to Val d'Isere in March

While entering the Col Pers we came up behind three skiers who were totally unequipped, and I said to my group that I’d bet there wasn’t an avalanche transceiver amongst them. They skied in front of us on the first pitch and continued on down into the Gorge du Malpasset and ended up needing to be rescued by the piste services. Seems I need to mention each and every week that the Gorge du Malpasset is impassable, dangerous, and aptly named (more people were rescued by helicopter on Tuesday as well).

I had a rare day off on Saturday, as my client broke his wrist on Friday afternoon, so I can’t say much about the skiing except that it was extremely warm. My colleague Chris had decent visibility, so he skinned 30-minutes up to Mont Roup and had a really good ski in warm powder. He finished early as they’d had the best of the day, and the snow was really heating up. The piste skiing on Saturday’s is always excellent as it’s the quietest day of the week, and the pistes in the Espace Killy are immaculately groomed. After one of the busiest weeks of the season last week, this past Saturday would have been blissful for piste skiers.

I was back in action on Sunday, and it started out looking like a very, very tough day. The wind was blowing a hoolie and many of the upper lifts remained closed or were slow to open, and the visibility was extremely poor. Fortunately it had snowed Saturday afternoon, and a little during the night, so at least we had a fresh cushion underfoot and the morning ended up being pretty jolly good. We skied off the Verte, then Bonnevie’s Drag three or four times in the best light of the day, before skiing the meadows from the Borsat down to the Grand Pre and Epaule du Charvet. We then changed sectors and skied two very atmospheric runs in the Grand Vallon at the Fornet. The snow was excellent but we were in a total white-out and I needed my compass to make sure we kept on track. With that said we did circle around to ski it again.

The temperature dropped dramatically Sunday night, and with -12C on the summit of Bellevarde Monday morning, all that wet snow froze and the pistes were extremely icy on the lower-half of the mountain. Unfortunately the real problem was the wind, which eventually shut down most of the resort. I had a very short morning finishing about 11:15 when the wind caused the Pyramid Chairlift at the Fornet to shut, and that was it for our off-piste skiing. Anything on the lower-half of the mountain was frozen crust, the type of snow that threatens the knees, and with the lower pistes being frozen solid there really wasn’t anything pleasant to ski. The upper slopes with colder winter snow were inaccessible due to the lifts being unable to operate.

On Tuesday the sun returned, and I’ve never seen such a big queue for the Olympique at 08:45. All those skiers who were suffering from cabin fever on Sunday and Monday were out in full force, but fortunately the Olympique is a world-class lift and it shifted the people pretty quickly. With the wind blowing from the north-west over the past couple of days, I headed to the lee slopes and enjoyed a stunning morning with a mix of perfect powder, warm powder, soft creamy compressed snow, and even a few pitches that resembled spring snow. We opened up the Tour du Charvet in brilliant snow and came across a huge of herd about 40 chamois at the bottom, which added greatly to the ambience.

It snowed another 5cm to 10cm on Tuesday night, and with decent visibility on Wednesday for a flat-light day, we had great skiing in the Little Lavachet, the Tourne off the Aiguille Percee, the Sache and the Familial. Thursday was a total surprise as I was expecting to find another 10cm of fresh snow, but in places there was at least 30cm and the skiing was fantastic with a light-bulb of light hanging above the Charvet. I skied the Epaule du Charvet, the Tour du Charvet, and the always impressive Face du Charvet, with at least 30cm of fresh powder on the upper half of the mountain.

The pavements in town froze with the drop in temperature, making for some treacherous footing while walking about the village. I mention the state of the pavements every week, and it might sound repetitious, but they are extremely nasty. On Wednesday morning when I got off the bus at the Rond Point for our ski school meeting, several pisteurs were administrating first-aid to one of their colleagues who’d slipped on the ice and cracked her head. It looked fairly serious, and an ambulance arrived to take her to the medical centre. Please be careful; keep your hands out of your pockets and don’t carry children on your shoulders.

February felt like spring with non-stop sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures, but winter returned during this past week with -12C on Bellevarde most mornings, and strong northerly winds that made it feel quite bitter at times. We’re expecting a big snowfall of up to 40cm Thursday night with high winds on Friday, but the rest of next week looks pretty pleasant with plenty of sunshine. Have a fantastic week and look out for another update next Friday.

Follow more from Wayne in his Daily Diary.

NB: Exploring beyond the ski resort boundaries is an amazing experience for anyone who's physically fit and has mastered the pistes well enough. There are, however, risks associated with venturing outside the safety of the marked/patrolled ski area, including awareness of your actions on those below you on the slopes. Mountain guides are professionally qualified and have extensive knowledge of the local terrain to provide you with the safest and most enjoyable possible experience in the mountains; as a visitor here we highly recommend you hiring one. Many ski schools also provide instruction in off-piste skiing, avalanche safety and mountaineering techniques. Make your time in the mountains unforgettable for the right reasons, ski safe!

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 backcountry decision making.