It^s snowing again, a brief rain shower turned to snow as the freezing level dropped over lunch time. Heavy snow is now falling across the Alps giving a much needed boost to the winter tourism industry. Here in Verbier we’ve had 30 cm and more is forecast to come we hope. It’s a welcome change from the poor conditions over the Christmas period. The BBC’s James Cove, who is also an instructor for European Snowsport, has written a story for the BBC News web site about how the ski industry is dealing with the poor snow levels often found in the early season. People are heading to the higher ski areas and resorts are now offering holiday makers a host of other things to do.
Archives for januari 2007
Snow Dump in Verbier
We have had over 24hrs of snow in covering all the slopes and changing the world from green to white. Yesterday saw a slow start with avalanche control and high winds keeping the upper slopes of the main mountain and Savoleyres no-go areas.
Today early clouds cleared to stunning blue sky and just about every piste was open. There was powder available all over the place and the skiing was awesome. Although there was a chill in the air this didn’t stop the masses.
Over at Savoleyres it was possible to get first tracks down the front side and the runs down to La Tzoumaz were opened up for the first time. Not surprisingly the queues at Medran and Savoleyres gondola were long – but the wait was worth it
Good news for beginners at Les Esserts the button lift is at last open to the top of the slope. Route Carrefour linking Savoleyres to the main mountain is again closed due to avalanche. However, the red track from the bottom of the Savoleyres T- Bar to the top of Les Esserts has been pisted and is skiable for confident intermediates.
Snow is forecast again for tomorrow and Friday and with the New Year rush settling down in the resort we look forward to some amazing skiing into next week. This may be just the time to think about improving your off-piste technique……..
Video 10.30 Wednesday 3rd Jan Just after the clouds cleared. Nice
Sunny view across verbier Just after the clouds cleared. about 25cm of snow in the village. more up top.
IT’S DUMPING
We promised you snow and we’ve really got it – we reckon over a foot in resort last night and loads more up the hill.
In fact, there was so much snow last night that the lifts opened an hour late today while Televerbier got everything up and running.
The strong winds which closed some lifts yesterday have also been in evidence today, although they are forecast to die out as we get more snow overnight, plus there’s more forecast for thursday…
The only negative point is that not enough have you have written in to condemn the alarming bandanna trend which seems to be sweeping ES. If we don’t act now Nicol is threatening to go monoskiing before Easter…
…the alarming sight that greeted us on the Medran map this morning before everything started up.
New Snow at last in Verbier
The last week has seen some of the largest crowds both on-piste and in the resort. With people being bussed in from Chamonix and resorts as far as La Plagne, Verbier has been able to provide good entertainment for all. This morning the New Year excesses saw 9am Medran all but empty of holidaymakers with the vast majority of people being ski instructors waiting for their clients. The brave few were able to get some fantastic first tracks on an almost empty mountain.
This morning snow had fallen only above 2000 metres but by mid-afternoon large flakes were falling down to 1300m. The few early risers that caught the first lifts were rewarded with thick fresh powder from Attelas down to Ruinettes. Below Ruinettes wetter packed snow was still good to ski..
Visibility varied throughout the day from whiteout to flat light to occasional glimpses of the terrain. Winds were gaining in strength throughout the morning with Mont Fort being closed due to this. Falling snow was somewhat wet causing a few to retreat when clothing became sodden – but it was worth it all the same.
This new snowfall is consolidating well onto the hard pack base and with more snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow we hope for a great week of skiing and boarding. Time to break out the fat skis…………………