More confidence - new season, new snow, new ezine, new blogs
Welcome to a new ski season and the first weekly ezine from Henry's Avalanche Talk. The snow and weather Gods are being kind to us and will allow the lifts to open in Val d'Isere for the opening day on Saturday 1st December. At HAT we have been busy preparing for a new season, I know that Henry and Andreas are looking forward to meeting many old friends and new faces for this season.
Snow news
There has been much excitement in the press and amongst tour operators about the new snow that fell in November. The truth is this mainly affected Switzerland and Austria. Recent mild weather has depleted snow depths in France. But we are expecting a major new fall of snow this weekend. This time it is forecast to come to the French Alps. This should see us off to a perfect start.
The really good news is that with the fluctuating temperatures, the snow is well bonded to the slope and should form a good base for the new falls this weekend.
New information services
We have completely revamped our web based information services. In addition to this weekly ezine, there are now 4 new blog sites.
HENRY'S SKI DIARY - see Henry's discussion of what it is like out there VAL D'ISERE - updates on current conditions, photo albums and avalanche forecast translations. CHAMONIX - updates on current conditions, photo albums and avalanche forecast translations. HAT BLOG - posts of the ezine articles on avalanche awareness and general HAT news
Each week in this ezine you will find an update on the snow conditions, avalanche awareness tips, weather forecasts, and a translation of the Meteo France off piste safety bulletin.
Looking forward to catching up. Future ezines will be on Thursdays - next one on 6th December.
Regards. Chris Radford - HAT ezine editor
Tip of the week
In order to be able to judge where it is safe to go and where there is a risk of triggering an avalanche, it is necessary to track the evolution of the snow pack in the few weeks prior to your ski trip.
At the start of the season, we are watching to see if the snow falls steadily and creates a secure and stable base. This season, the snow fell in cold conditions in November but since then it has become humid with mild weather. This will cause the snow to compact and bind itself to the slope.
Whereas last year, the weather remained cold after the snowfall. This led to the development of depth hoar on the surface of the snow. When the next fall of snow arrived it fell on top of the depth hoar. This created a weak layer in the snow and this was responsible for a number of avalanche accidents in January.
We will watch to see if the depth hoar develops and keep you up to date.
