Poster: A snowHead
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PG, myself and Bungle are hoping to come to the FS on the 24th as well, depends on a) if we can get there in time and b) whether or not we can drag the rest of our group over (some are in ski school)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hope you can make it, zippy. If anyone's around in La Plagne on the Saturday night, I intend going to the European Cup night slalom being held at the Jean-Claude Crétier stadium....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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PG,
I'll try to get there. It depends on what we're doing that day, we may have a guide depending on weather conditions so don't wait! We may also be holing up at Beliou La Fumee if the weather is bad for some serious tripe - I'm with 16 others and have to go with the flow. PS We have a bagpiper with us so if anyone would like a tune one evening...
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Damn. Meteo France have downgraded a couple of the double snowflakes days to singles since this morning
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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No sign of the snow yet ... but Meteo France has just added Friday - at least for now, a double snowflake day! The snowline for today/tomorrow is very low - around 4/500 metres, around 1500/1600m estimated for Friday's fall.
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PG, any idea what a double snowflake day translates to in actual snowfall? I'll be a bit disappointed if it's only two snowflakes.
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rob, This morning's single snowflake ("light snowfall") disappeared earlier on - and although cloud is building up, it has yet to start snowing. The double flake ("heavy fall") remains in place for this pm.
From previous experience a single flake has meant anything from zero to at best three or four inches over a twelve hour period. The double, five or six inches upwards over the same period.
Saturday morning is now included in the forecast, a conservative single flake estimate at the moment.
The longer avalanche-net.com 7 day forecast has changeable weather, sun and snow showers, from Saturday afternoon through to Monday.
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Interesting discrepancy between the forecasts - the reliable Chamonix Meteo has between 70 and 110cm falling before the weekend, with a let up only tomorrow, Meteo France Gives us something similar with a big fall on Frday, but the usually over optimistic Snow-frocast.com gives us most of the snowfall today, with some low level rain on Thursday and a dusting friday/Saturday, totalling about 30cm.
The consistent feature of the forecasts is winds up to 80 km/h which will blow it all about a bit.
I've put out the bad weather kit to pack in any case.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Light snow falling now in Bourg. Getting darker by the minute, the slopes at 1600 now well above the cloudline...
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All, started at Arc 1950 - 10am and 11am
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Cheers Bungle, that's great - I keep flipping between the 2 pictures!
Now, fingers crossed, it just needs to carry on for 12 days.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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For the terribly obsessed amongst us, Arc 1950 actually has 10 different webcams (although some seem to differ from others only by about a 5 degree vertical tilt on the camera).
At the start of the month, they moved the cameras from looking down from Arc 2000 and placed them on the fourth building in Arc 1950. Unfortunately, they also removed the one good angle that showed you the ski area up to 2000 - they now all show views of the Arc 1950 buildings (and in some cases useless pics of the floor). In addition, the diagram in the web cam page has not been updated to reflect the new camera angles so although the icons switch to different cams the view they give has little or nothing to do with what the diagram suggests it should show.
Anyway, all the cams can be accessed with the following:
http://www.arc1950.com/webcam.php?cam=X
where X is a lower case letter from a to j - case of the letter for the cam must be lower case eg
http://www.arc1950.com/webcam.php?cam=a
or
http://www.arc1950.com/webcam.php?cam=e
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Wed 17-08-05 23:28; edited 1 time in total
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About 3 inches so far, settling nicely right down in Bourg SM ... will be going up tomorrow and I'll add a few snaps of conditions tomorrow pm....
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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What's the smiley for HUGE GRIN?
On each of the times I've gone skiing this season the snow has been poor, but it has snowed quite heavily just before I arrived. The snow gods are looking after me this season!
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Poster: A snowHead
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rob@rar.org.uk, Rob, let's hope it continues, I think we need quite a bit to repair 4 weeks of damage... and just in time for me on my snowboard to slide the whole lot halfway down the mountain as well
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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zippy, there are some absolutely massive flakes coming down right now!!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Wind has got up suddenly - just so long as it doesn't all blow away at altitude, as it did in December! Still snowing hard, traffic almost at a standstill - even with new snow tyres it was hard driving into town just now. I intend following davidof's advice for tomorrow - with all this snow, wind-blown, on top of the rock-hard old snow, I'll stay away from the exposed slopes (north and east-facing) and base myself down in Villaroger, sticking to those slopes between the trees....
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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PG, are 2000 & 1950 exposed or sheltered from the prevailing winds? or is it up at the aiguilles rouge (excuse spelling) where the snow could be blown off?
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Looking at the webcams, nothing in Austria (Obergurgl) yet
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A few trees around 1950, and both 1950 and 2000 are in the same "bowl", but enough wind can strip a lot of the snow from the slopes. That said, given that you're here next week and that there should be some more snow, on and off, until Saturday, conditions should be just fine for a while - until the mass influx of holidaymakers turn up early Feb, at least!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Snowing hard, very windy, the snow is already starting to form drifts down in the valley. Wonder what it's like higher up. Definitely a day to be cautious tomorrow...
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Good job we had a reasonable amount yesterday - the Meteo France forecast for more snow in the area over the remainder of the week has been seriously revised downwards. Stopped snowing over most of the night, has just started again, pretty light stuff though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It's snowing much heavier than forecast over here though, I just upgraded my weekend ski forecast to Zag level
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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This morning's Telegraph has a snow round-up - click here - with a prediction for the Alps: "Further significant snow falls are predicted for Sunday."
It's not stated where that forecast comes from.
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Indeed, big falls predicted for Sunday - but last night Meteo France suddenly revised Thursday's (today's) forecast for the Tarentaise, from occasional showers to significant snowfall. Just shows how quickly things can change in the mountains.
Public services (civil servants) on strike today. I'm hoping it doesn't include the road gritters and snow ploughs, or traffic throughout the region will be paralysed. It's already settling heavily, down to approx 400m apparently.
I'm supposed to be collecting Kuwait Ian from Chambéry at lunchtime too!
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You know it makes sense.
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Brief update on yesterday's conditions ... probably about 25 cm all told, blown about a bit at altitude. Ended up skiing with Masque most of the day, going from Peisey to 1800 and up to 2000. Still very quiet, but the few people around have managed to scrape off most of the new snow on the more popular steeper slopes - as davidof suggested, the old snow and yesterday's fall hasn't bonded at all as yet.
Cleared up nicely most of the day, visibility good, only starting to close in by late afternoon. Very little snow overnight Wednesday/Thursday, but snowing on and off this morning Thursday.
Particularly at 2000 it was risky going off piste yesterday - both from avalanche danger (level 4, so extremely high, anyone venturing off-piste had to be extremely vigilant) - as well as from the plentiful hidden rocks. Conditions on the prepared pistes were great, couldn't be better.
Strong winds forecast today - all over the French Alps. Very cold temperatures, with northerly winds up to 60/70 mph at altitude, so high wind chill factor - and I suppose, rather varied settling of today's forecast snowfall higher up, particularly on the exposed north-facing slopes.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Quote: |
the old snow and yesterday's fall hasn't bonded at all as yet
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PG, would it be fair to say what is needed as a day or so of slightly (only slightly) milder weather to help bond all the snow together?
or am i talking rubbish?!
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Poster: A snowHead
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That would help, and milder temps are forecast this weekend - the snowline for Sunday's forecast fall being ca. 1600m.
PS Masque was NOT one of the boarders responsible for yesterday's mayhem! He certainly proved the point that darksiders can carve! A few of them anyway )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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still snowing...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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flying_squirrel, good news... (tried to phone you this morning! Couldn't make this morning's meet, work problem...)
[edit: your phone is constantly engaged! Have you paid the bill? ]
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 21-01-05 12:23; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Tomorrow's break in the weather no longer seems to be happening. According to latest forecast from Meteo France, it looks like it will be snowing more or less constantly from now until Sunday night.
Then from Monday clearer weather, accompanied by a big drop in temperatures, is expected...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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flying_squirrel, PG, thanks for the updates.
8 days to go!!!
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Report from Kuwait Ian up at Peisey....
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Overcast, quite mild this morning. Conditions on piste good, visibility ok. A kind of "frozen drizzle" fell during the early part of the afternoon (at 1400m in Peisey), visibility deteriorating rapidly, snow falling from mid afternoon, gradually getting heavier. |
Down in Bourg temperatures rose considerably, rain and sleet falling most of the day. Snow coming down now.
Tomorrow light snowfall forecast all day, getting heavier Sunday.
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Sleet coming down quite hard now in Bourg St Maurice, windy, warmer than forecast. By Sunday night a high pressure is set to establish itself to the east, bringing down some Arctic temperatures for the remainder of the week. Temps at 2000m in Les Arcs are forecast to drop to between -15°C and -20°C by Friday of next week - so pack those warm clothes! Anyone arriving in the Alps this weekend has timed it perfectly.
____________________
Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. [Samuel Taylor Coleridge]
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We had light snowfall overnight here in Les Arcs 1800, and this morning it has gotten heavier. Moderate to heavy at the moment, with very poor visibility and light wind. Temperature is quite mild. On-piste conditions are wonderful: lots of soft fluffy stuff everywhere, although still a bit icy in patches on the approaches to Peisey and Vallandry where new snow has been swept off the piste. I guess that with the current snowfall even those isolated patches will be well covered by now. The resort seems very quiet at the moment.
Unfortunately I have a stinking cold, so this morning I'm having a lie in - currently typing this report on my phone while in bed, looking out of the window as the snow falls! I can think of worse places to suffer with the flu!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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some great photos there, PG!! I am soooo jealous
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