"Roger Moss" wrote in message
...
Currently holed-up in Tignes, while driving snow hurtles past the hotel
window. Of which more anon (see below).
We started our current 'little tour' the week before last in Montgenèvre,
which is now looking very different after most of the through traffic has
been banished underground. The snow conditions were surperb, even though
the sun shone most days - high altitude and low temps kept things well
nigh perfect.

Ventured over to Clavière, Cesana and Sansicario while there, where snow
was if anything even better, but cloudy (while Montgenèvre was still
bathed in sunshine). Great skiing there right now, I'd say.

Next up was Valloire, which looked less well-covered (apparently due to
high winds blowing it off higher terrain) on our arrival last weekend, but
got steadily better with almost nightly fresh falls. No sign of
snowmaking, then, even over towards Valmeinier (which has plenty of snow
right now).

Yesterday was glorious when we left, and temps low - around -3C - making
the descent a tippy-toe affair. But we made it, and had no trouble once we
reached the Autoroute on the valley floor. Then headed up to Bourg and ran
up to Tignes, again with no problems on standard tyres. A bit slidy in Val
Claret, however...

And so to today, which was interesting, to say the least. The expected
heavy snowfalls appeared around dawn, despite which we headed out in a
large group up the mountain, before things really clamped down. Which they
did, big-time - sooner than expected. Then the wind increased. The
fast-accumulating powder was pretty floaty and forgiving, but visibility
was a real limiting factor. After somehow making it intact over to La
Daille, we headed back in the gondola pretty hastily, as things were
getting now a getting 'marginal'. Progress from here on was interrupted
while our piste was closed for a precautionary declanchement by the
avalanche teams - oh, and a warm-up lunch break. When we re-emerged into
near white-out the fresh snow was knee-deep, and for the first time since
I began skiing, I took the chairlift back down, amid gusts which made the
ride, er, interesting. Saw no-one else doing ski-heroics on the way down,
and from the comments of the lift-guy, things were on the point of
closure.

Currently in real blizzard conditions, as winds increase. Tomorrow looks
like bringing even heavier falls, before fine weather returns for
Sunday/Monday - I'll try to keep everyone posted.

Roger

http://mountainpassions.blogspot.com/
www.mountainpassions.com - an Online Magazine with Altitude

Well, as per the blog, the huge falls in the Tarentaise, etc., passed
through and allowed everyone to get in and out of Tignes around midday - but
only with chains, snow-tyres, etc. Saw an upturned bus at the roadside S of
Bourg - flipped the previous evening, apparently, with only the driver on
board.

No problems driving down to Brides-les-Bains, which had snow cover right
down to the valley floor when we arrived. Toured around Méribel, Courchevel,
Saint-Martin de Belleville, etc., on great snow, with no sign of thawing and
only occasional ice where powder had been eroded by Sunday traffic, when the
locals piled in.

Even before the fresh falls, though, we were really amazed at conditions
over in Italy, runs above Cesana in particular being the stuff of dreams.
Only downside here was an accident victim being treated at the piste-side -
a British 'boarder who seemed to have hit a tree. On our next run down he
was still being attended to, and we were halted while a helicopter from the
Aosta Valley flew in to take him off the mountain - one look by the medics,
though, and the pilot cut the power; the victim was obviously too unstable
to be moved. We left them to it, with a sense of foreboding.

The image still haunts us, and we wonder whether anyone has any news of the
guy involved? It lloked very bad, but we hope he made it...


Roger

http://mountainpassions.blogspot.com/
www.mountainpassions.com - an Online Magazine with Altitude