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#1
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avalanche ratings
Do they really mean anything?
Last week I was in Arc 2000. The previous weeks had been cold with light precipitation so it was quite reasonable that the start of the week the avalanche risk was set at 2. Then the cold departed and the zero degree isotherm ascended above 2500m. Friday I was skiing down Comborciere a black run in a small steep valley. The heat of the day had caused some of the edge of the valley to slide down leaving avalanche debris across half the piste. I just skied past it. Saturday arrives it is now raining 2500m. When the weather had cleared a bit I skied dowm Muguet and Comborciere. A dirty area of snow where piste basher had flattened the debris and a spot of bare hillside was all that remained of previous days fall. As I rode up Pre Saint Esprit my brother pointed out a snow plough clearing snow that had slipped onto the road. We continued up Arcabulle then headed towards Arc1850 on Grand Renard. There was a Piste worker setting up a fence to direct skiers around some more fallen snow from the Aguille Grive. Not too serious it would hurt if it had hit someone but was only an inconvenient snow pile. After lunch I am skiing along Grand Renard but decide against going into 1850 and turn down Dents du Peigne (Blue) followed by Lac (Red) and inevitably onto Edelweiss (Blue) . Here we encountered avalanche debris right across the piste only stopped by the high bank on the other side. There was a scar all the way up to Arpette. I was able to ski offpiste around it. At this point I decided snow conditions were terrible and the light was flat so I stopped skiing early and went for a shower and clean clothes then wait for the train home. We saw numerous minor snow slips around the resort and two sizeable avalanches onto the piste. As we were leaving we noticed that the avalanche risk had risen to 3. I would think that where many actual avalanches had been occuring the risk should be more than that. |
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#2
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avalanche ratings
Ian Blake wrote:
Do they really mean anything? I guess they're fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. They are given for an entire resort AFAIK so they can't accurately reflect the risk in any given part of the resort. The rating was 3 in Tignes last week for the whole week but I saw one small slide and one huge slide happen before my eyes and there was evidence of avalanches on almost every slope. Several pistes had been hit. I've never seen so much avalanche debris! Certainly focussed the mind on the tranceiver training. |
#3
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avalanche ratings
On 01 Apr 2010 11:03:31 GMT, Ollie Clark
wrote: Ian Blake wrote: Do they really mean anything? I guess they're fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. They are given for an entire resort AFAIK so they can't accurately reflect the risk in any given part of the resort. Generally they're done at a wider level than the resort - certainly in Switzerland. And they go into a lot of detail about which slopes, orientation and gradient, will be most likely to slip, and at what time of day depending on the weather. As such, they're incredibly useful as guidance of where to not go, particularly at this time of year as the warmer weather starts to shift a season's worth of snowpack. So the number ratings should be taken only as a first high-level guide; if it's 3 or more you really should read the full report, unless you're staying entirely withing controlled areas. The rating was 3 in Tignes last week for the whole week but I saw one small slide and one huge slide happen before my eyes and there was evidence of avalanches on almost every slope. Several pistes had been hit. Generally the pistes are not opened until they've been made safe, although clearly it's not always the case. I've never seen so much avalanche debris! Certainly focussed the mind on the tranceiver training. Heh. It's often like that at this time of year. -- Ace Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk/ All opinions expressed are those of the poster and in no way reflect those of the Ski Club or its members |
#4
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avalanche ratings
On 01 Apr 2010 11:03:31 GMT, Ollie Clark
wrote: Ian Blake wrote: Do they really mean anything? I guess they're fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. They are given for an entire resort AFAIK so they can't accurately reflect the risk in any given part of the resort. The rating was 3 in Tignes last week for the whole week but I saw one small slide and one huge slide happen before my eyes and there was evidence of avalanches on almost every slope. Several pistes had been hit. I've never seen so much avalanche debris! Certainly focussed the mind on the tranceiver training. One of the runs in the Grand Massif had blocks of snow piled all along a hundred metres or more of the adjacent drag lift: it wasn't entirely clear whether it was a manually-triggered avalanche or a manually-triggered avalanche that was bigger than expected (there were rumours of both), but apparently it took a couple of days to clear the route of the drag lift. There were several fallen avalanches when I was in Flaine a couple of weeks ago, though all happened AFAIK before I arrived. Oddly, the off-piste slope where last year our instructor showed us a fallen avalanche, and nearly demonstrated rather more than he had bargained for when another section fell away, looked OK. -- -Pip |
#5
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avalanche ratings
Hi Ian
As Ace mentioned: You should read (and understand) the avalanche report always completely - and read it daily (I read it with my mobile phone - for switzerland it is wap.slf.ch; in Germany unfortunatley there is no wap-service). They name the typical risk locations (example: "behind cambers and in depressions in directions from north to south east") and the development over the time of the day, with a preview for the next days. The structure and the content of the report is standardised in all european countries. Also you should get some more general knowledge about avalanches. The situation, you are describing (raising temperatures while the day), is the standard cause for increased avalanche activity. This announced change of conditions, has been definitely mentioned in the report. Florian |
#6
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avalanche ratings
Ace wrote:
On 01 Apr 2010 11:03:31 GMT, Ollie Clark wrote: So the number ratings should be taken only as a first high-level guide; if it's 3 or more you really should read the full report, unless you're staying entirely withing controlled areas. Or skiing with a guide you know has read them, I guess. The rating was 3 in Tignes last week for the whole week but I saw one small slide and one huge slide happen before my eyes and there was evidence of avalanches on almost every slope. Several pistes had been hit. Generally the pistes are not opened until they've been made safe, although clearly it's not always the case. I didn't mean to suggest that the pistes had been hit when open. I'm pretty sure they were closed when the avalanches hit and then reopened when the danger had gone (ie. all the snow around had slid onto the piste!). I've never seen so much avalanche debris! Certainly focussed the mind on the tranceiver training. Heh. It's often like that at this time of year. I suppose avalanche debris is better than patches of mud and rock... Cheers, Ollie |
#7
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avalanche ratings
Ace wrote:
Heh. It's often like that at this time of year. Talking of which, how is Engelburg holding up ? Got a trip planned for weekend of 24/5, but not sure if it's going to be worth it... TIA |
#8
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avalanche ratings
On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:54:19 +0100, BrritSki
wrote: Ace wrote: Heh. It's often like that at this time of year. Talking of which, how is Engelburg holding up ? Good at the moment. I didn't ski last weekend, for the first time since November, but my wife was teaching all day Saturday and it was OK. The run home to the village was closed today, I noticed, despite some new snow. That's probably it for skiing home. Got a trip planned for weekend of 24/5, but not sure if it's going to be worth it... But the snow at upper levels is still great, and comparing with last year I'd say there's still a good chance of half-decent skiing by then. We skiied to the third weekend in May last year, but some neighbours tell us that they were still skiing the second week of June. Limited, of course, but not just the glacier runs. Officially, your dates are the last of the 'season', as I'm sure you're aware, but it does seem that they kept the 4-man chair at Laubersrgrat open later than that last year, and the Jochpass chair stays open all summer anyway, so if there's still snow you can ski, at least part way. If you'er happy to walk the bottom part there should be plenty. Please feel free to email and perhaps meet up if you're still on for it. Would be good to put a face to the name, if nothing else. bruce dot rogers at roche dot com -- Ace Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk/ All opinions expressed are those of the poster and in no way reflect those of the Ski Club or its members |
#9
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avalanche ratings
Ace wrote:
On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:54:19 +0100, BrritSki wrote: Ace wrote: Heh. It's often like that at this time of year. Talking of which, how is Engelburg holding up ? Good at the moment. I didn't ski last weekend, for the first time since November, but my wife was teaching all day Saturday and it was OK. The run home to the village was closed today, I noticed, despite some new snow. That's probably it for skiing home. Got a trip planned for weekend of 24/5, but not sure if it's going to be worth it... But the snow at upper levels is still great, and comparing with last year I'd say there's still a good chance of half-decent skiing by then. We skiied to the third weekend in May last year, but some neighbours tell us that they were still skiing the second week of June. Limited, of course, but not just the glacier runs. Officially, your dates are the last of the 'season', as I'm sure you're aware, but it does seem that they kept the 4-man chair at Laubersrgrat open later than that last year, and the Jochpass chair stays open all summer anyway, so if there's still snow you can ski, at least part way. If you'er happy to walk the bottom part there should be plenty. Please feel free to email and perhaps meet up if you're still on for it. Would be good to put a face to the name, if nothing else. bruce dot rogers at roche dot com Thanks for that Bruce, I'll let you know... |
#10
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avalanche ratings
On Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:04:39 +0100, BrritSki
wrote: Ace wrote: On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:54:19 +0100, BrritSki wrote: Got a trip planned for weekend of 24/5, but not sure if it's going to be worth it... But the snow at upper levels is still great, and comparing with last year I'd say there's still a good chance of half-decent skiing by then. We skiied to the third weekend in May last year, but some neighbours tell us that they were still skiing the second week of June. Limited, of course, but not just the glacier runs. Officially, your dates are the last of the 'season', as I'm sure you're aware, but it does seem that they kept the 4-man chair at Laubersrgrat open later than that last year, and the Jochpass chair stays open all summer anyway, so if there's still snow you can ski, at least part way. If you'er happy to walk the bottom part there should be plenty. Thanks for that Bruce, I'll let you know... Update: This weekend had some brilliant skiing. REally good spring snow conditions, firm first thing so choose the sunnier slopes (Engstlenalp) the softening up nicelt through the day and moving to less sunny bits later. Some folk weer still skiing down to the village, although the run was officially closed. We didn't bother. Next weekend (which was the one you meant, despite your 24/5 typo) should still be brilliant, with a bit more snow forecast and quite cold conditions for the next few days, so if you can still make it I don't think you'll be disappointed. -- Ace Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk/ All opinions expressed are those of the poster and in no way reflect those of the Ski Club or its members |
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