 Poster: A snowHead
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This is from a Dutch Wintersports Forum.
In one week, thirteen people have died in avalanches in Italy and six in France. And that's just the number of fatal accidents; The number of avalanche incidents without deaths is much higher. In the media you read that mountain rescue services call for great caution, but often with a very poor explanation why the conditions are so dangerous at the moment. So: what's going on?
Persistent Weak Layer
The big problem of this winter is a weak layer deep in the snow cover that can no longer stabilize.
For an avalanche, you basically need three things:
A weak layer
A cohesive layer of snow above (which can feel like powder snow)
A slope steeper than ±30°
This season we are dealing with what we call a Persistent Weak Layer in avalanche science. This is a weak layer that, as the name suggests, continues to exist and does not or hardly stabilize. Due to a long period of clear and cold weather and a low snow depth at the beginning of the season, this cohesionless layer has formed. This layer consists of a kind of sugar snow. All the snow that fell later is now on top of it. The snow of the past few weeks has therefore fallen on an extremely unstable underlay without cohesion. You can compare it to a wooden plate lying on a layer of marbles. The moment the snow layer breaks on this weak layer, the entire plate can start to slide. Because this weak layer is present over large parts of entire mountain massifs, the fault lines of avalanches can become enormous.
Remote triggering
What is also typical for this snow cover is that you can disturb it from a great distance. Sometimes up to more than a kilometer. So you can trigger an avalanche high above you at the bottom of the terrain. Think again of that wooden plate on marbles: if you push or walk on the structure at the bottom, you move the tension upwards.
Why this is so dangerous
This type of snow cover is extremely treacherous for several reasons:
The danger is invisible
It cannot be deduced from recent weather
You can only recognize it by the avalanche report or by digging snow profiles
The weak layer is buried in the snow cover. On the surface, everything can look perfect: dry powder, even spring snow, lots of tracks, "it's been skied so many times". And yet that deep-lying layer can suddenly break, after which the entire slope starts to move. That's why you see so many well-known and frequently skied off-piste slopes coming loose this season. In addition, the danger is extra great because the weak layer is deep. As a result, the avalanches that are triggered are often very large. Fault lines of more than a kilometre (like last weekend over Valfréjus), unprecedented avalanches (yesterday and Saturday in Saint-Véran and Montgenèvre) and even avalanches during freeride races (Serre Chevalier) are all typical for this type of snow.
What can you do?
So we have this danger, but what can you do if you still want to go off-piste? You have to be extremely restrained. Actually, one clear rule applies: Stay below 30° This is the magical limit below which (dry) plate avalanches cannot spontaneously slide. But beware: you not only have to stay below that 30° yourself, you also have to make sure you don't get below those steeper slopes. Even if there are slopes of >30° above you, you are in danger. On Sunday, two young ski tourers died in an avalanche that ran through an almost flat valley, but triggered a huge avalanche above them.
Keep this in mind:
Even more than usual, slopes that have already been skied are no guarantee of safety.
Forests are absolutely no guarantee of safety: trees are often the main points in this snow cover
Many famous off-piste runs are also more dangerous than usual this season, because all new snow is also on the same weak layer.
And on top of the weak layer, you may have to deal with the classic, more traditional 'wind slab' avalanches. If these are triggered, they can also tigger large, deep avalanches.
Can this still work out?
It is logical to wonder whether this snow cover can still become stable. Actually, there is only one real way: saturation with water. This requires prolonged warm weather or rain, which causes the snow cover to become deeply drenched. This process is accompanied by temporary extreme avalanche danger, but can eventually make the weak layer disappear. Because rain and heat have difficulty penetrating deep into the snow cover, this usually only happens late in the season, and on high northern slopes often only after the ski resorts have closed. Another possibility is that a lot of snow falls, so that we as skiers ski so high above the weak layer that we no longer activate it. Back to the metaphor: if you put enough heavy plates on top of the marbles, they are less likely to break. But even then, the problem persists in places where the snow cover is thinner due to wind or terrain. Then you can still hit that deep weak layer. Of course, this new layer can also be unstable on its own and hit the weak lower layer if it comes down as an avalanche.
In short
This winter we are dealing with a very problematic snow cover, in almost the entire Alps, where extreme restraint is required. That's difficult when you dream of that perfect powder descent, or when you see others skiing that is too steep slope, and nine times out of ten it goes well. But remember: in Russian roulette, things also go right more often than wrong. And no powder descent is worth an avalanche.
Original Sourse
https://www.wintersport.nl/weblog/10/02/2026/veel-lawinedoden-waarom-is-het-nu-zo-gevaarlijk
NOTE
French Alps (Major Destinations) are on MAX LEVEL 5 right now i,e Danger to Infrastructure, Villages, Life 
Some resorts are completely closed off ..
La Plagne
https://x.com/BFMTV/status/2021923145783845014?
Risque d'#avalanches exceptionnelle dans les Alpes
https://x.com/lachainemeteo/status/2021909053027627326?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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you need to ask?
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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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Last season PWL was a big issue in the area we were in and about a dozen people died.
This season in different area we seem to have got lucky. Getting ECTX or ECTN mid 20s in pits. All around the area there is PWL.
But in general a very spooky season.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Volatile weather is bringing volatile snowpack.
Cold, hot, rain, freeze, snow, freeze, wind, cold, rinse, repeat.
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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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oh dear lord both idiots in one thread 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I think sometimes people bash Stanton just because it’s him, and if someone else posted this there would be no comment.
I’m a one week a year skier, and while I might have known this deep in my subconscious, I appreciate the reminder. We aren’t all seasonnaires.
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I thought it was quite helpful/informative, too.
I mean, he does relish doom and gloom, but sometimes it may be warranted!
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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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All of that is pretty accurate. The only other way for the current situation to stabilise is a big avalanche cycle which purges the snowpack and allows something more stable to replace it in the next snowfall. The risk there is, if it purges all the way to the ground there's a fair chance that in the new, thin snowpack, depth hoar will just form all over again.
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I read "Original Sourse" as original scouse . 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Do you think that with generally warmer weather there is often a narrower or non-existent window between the snowpack stabilising and it turning to crust or crud hence tempting OP skiers out too soon?
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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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Well, today I saw so many people skiing lines without any kit, and I told a few feckwits that in no uncertain terms, though also didn't want them ripping our lines 
The best, however, was a woman who had done the ten min ridge hike and was standing on the edge, and I asked her (she had no backpack) where here security was, and she pointed at her chest, and said it was under her jacket, so I asked her where her shovel and probes were and to that she said her son had them, I asked where he was and she said down the slope already, you just can't make it up
For sure, that pitch looks ok and is not uber steep, but I've seen that whole face go as it propagates across the face, and we had already skied it once but why oh why isn't there a sign up at the start of the hike advising people that they need the neccessary gear, I do think that the resort could up their education game!
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And three more fatalities in Val d'Isere today. 25 so far this season. RIP all.
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You know it makes sense.
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Terrific photograph @Weathercam, I share your frustration with the ignorance of so many!
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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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@Harry Flashman, it's not the content, but the intent.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Skevinski wrote: |
| And three more fatalities in Val d'Isere today. 25 so far this season. RIP all. |
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/two-brits-dead-avalanche-france-ski-5HjdSL2_2/
The skiers were swept away at the Alpine resort of Val d'Isere after the avalanche struck at around 11:30am on Friday.
The resort's tourist office said one of the victims was French and the other two were British nationals.
Piste chief, Cedric Bonnevie, confirmed an investigation has been launched.
The two Brit nationals were part of a group of four skiers accompanied by a professional instructor and were skiing off-piste at the time, while the French victim, believed to be a woman, was said to have been skiing alone at the time it hit.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Was it a 5/5 for VdI? What on earth were they doing off piste in that, you don’t need a guide you need God!
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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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@Nadenoodlee, 4/5.
But this incident took place only 5 hours after the curfew ended in Tignes.
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@Nadenoodlee, 4/5, and triggered from above. We were off-piste today, playing it very safe, as were many others.
You weren't there. Please don't judge.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Nadenoodlee, If it was 5/5 everything would have been closed, as was La Plagne yesterday. A very rare occurrence.
This morning the avalanche risk was reduced to 4/5 and some lifts and runs gradually opened. The information given on the La Plagne website was as follows:
The avalanche risk has fallen to 4/5 this morning: an Avalanche Triggering Intervention Plan is underway to secure the ski area. Gradual reopening expected in the morning. You can follow the opening status in real time on this page.
Maximum vigilance remains in place regarding avalanche risk. Only the slopes are safe, and the off-piste area remains extremely dangerous. Do not venture off-piste, including local off-piste (on the edge of pistes and between two pistes).
It seems quite specific to me but I would be interested to hear why people think it is still safe to ski off-piste when the risk is at 4/5
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@skichampcouk, the bigger question is why do people consider it acceptable to ski off piste when the level is 3/5, “pronounced risk”. I have, we all do, but is it sane?
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| Dr John wrote: |
| @Nadenoodlee You weren't there. Please don't judge. |
It's a pretty forlorn hope to ask people on the internet not to judge.
But it does sound on the face of it like the kind of behaviour that warrants some judgement. In this context that judgement could save lives...making readers stop and think if their actions are sensible, or think about the actions of others in the same way, can help to build safer habits.
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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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Buddy, I realise that it's a different time of day in Indonesia, but I'd lay off the arak. It's an overly aggressive lunchtime tipple, in my humble opinion.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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One of the biggest dangers, especially on powder frenzy days, is even if you think you know what you are doing and can pick a safe line down, you can’t control skiers and exposure from above. Sounds like they got buried in the terrain trap at the bottom. Airbag not going to help much for that.
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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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@BobinCH,
Classic example of that on the link below, not a piste but the main road 2km shy of the Cold du Lautaret after heli PIDA.
We've stayed clear of that sector all season and looks like we might for a while longer.
https://www.data-avalanche.org/avalanche/1771000128006
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Poster: A snowHead
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| One of the biggest dangers, especially on powder frenzy days, is even if you think you know what you are doing and can pick a safe line down, you can’t control skiers and exposure from above. |
But it's not a 'safe line' if you are exposed to lots of steep terrain above you on a day of generalised High risk...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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"We have had some very complicated, very unstable snow since the beginning of the season," Luc Nicolino, slopes manager at La Plagne, told AFP.
"It's a kind of mille-feuille with many hidden, fragile layers."
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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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@GreenDay, Yip! I can’t recall if the Arcelle run was officially open or if the Manchet chair was running or not.
I would add there is a deal of convexity to the whole of that slope so folks above can’t see folks below and vice versa. But with an avalanche of that size a point of safety would be difficult to achieve.
But there were plenty of warnings about large avalanches reaching roads, villages etc.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Telegraph reports that the two British skiers had ended up in the stream (this in the bottom of the Manchet valley) and that they were found using dogs as their transceivers had stopped working. Which begs the question, why? Water damage if they were literally in the stream? Otherwise insufficiently robust for their purpose?
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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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@Alastair Pink, "professional instructor " ... instructor or guide? Do we know?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@James the Last, TWO transceivers not working seems odd, was the search area so large that the weren’t found until after the batteries ran out? Also worth remembering that injuries from such a large avalanche can be fatal so transceivers don’t always help
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@under a new name, Not yet, the ‘echoes round the valley’ have gone quiet.
@James the Last, The report I read in French quoting Cedric the head Pisteur said 2 victims were found by locating their transceivers. The professional reported he was one person missing who was found in the stream with a transceiver not working. Whether it was water damage, mechanical trauma or just not switched on was not specified.
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I wondered about that. Are instructors (not Guides) allowed off piste? Are they allowed out in what folk here tell me are non- insurable risk levels?
How about avalanche control - there's a lift there, but obviously this wasn't a controlled area. What's the slope angle which slid?
What's the relationship between this slope and the lift there? Was the lift closed, and if so, why?
Don't judge? Well if you take big risks, a god on your side seems like a good idea.
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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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@phil_w, The Manchet Express is on the other side of the valley.
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@under a new name, @chocksaway, a guide, longstanding and v experienced. I’ll not say his name.
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