On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:26:38 +0100, "Roger Moss"
wrote:


"Ian Blake" wrote in message
.. .
Looks like we are only going to get a fraction of the snow they
promised yesterday.

Now you're being greedy... :-)

Roger

Well there was an awlful lot of snow near Serre Che and to be fair, more than
sufficient snow here. There was plenty of fresh snow for me. On Monday the snow
clouds stayed high and skiing was comfortable. On Tuesday the clouds were low
and I was relieved to finish early. Wednesday there was mist in the valley but
higher up it was clear. Thursday was clear, Friday the wind started to pick up.
Saturday all the high lifts were closed by the wind midday although they
reopened later.

Talking to the senior Crystal Rep who had been at Serre Che I learned that
locally when a snow storm comes into this area it tends to get stuck in a
partiuclar area so Alpe D'Huez/Deux Alpes might get a big dump but Serre Che and
the Milky Way would get relatively little. So Serre Che had a moderate snow
fall at the start of the week but just up the road in the Milky Way they were
getting a very heavy fall. This resulted in an avalanche across the road in
Cesana Torinese and in Montgenevre, who had over a metre on Sunday evening
alone, an avalanche not only came across the road but took the road with it. So
I wasn't being alarmed unduly by the heavy snows forecast. The road between
Briancon and Montgenevre was closed for a couple of days. The avalanche was the
far side of Montgenevre near Claviere. This had the additional problem of being
in what used to be no mans land. So it was unclear who should be doing the
repair. The road was eventually reopened after a rapid repair on Friday night,
allowing the first wave of Christmas skiers into the resorts on Saturday. Mid
week three resorts in the Southern Alps were closed because of too much snow. I
do not know which ones.