 Poster: A snowHead
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In Courchevel at the mo. Great conditions on piste. Blue skies and sunshine all day last two days. No snow yet tonight although powder alarms blowing up my phone.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks everyone - will get the accommodation search started!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Back out in Chamonix on the 11th & the forecast is looking simply stupendous right now. Happy bunny  )))
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looks as though winter is finally arriving !
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@under a new name, for great snow, some weather needs to happen! I agree with you, horgand, with a few days for conditions to calm down and what look like a few minor topups next week, your trip could be epic.
A completely biased opinion, because I'm heading there at the same time 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| sproggski wrote: |
@under a new name, for great snow, some weather needs to happen! I agree with you, horgand, with a few days for conditions to calm down and what look like a few minor topups next week, your trip could be epic.
A completely biased opinion, because I'm heading there at the same time |
I love it Sproggski, that's the spirit!!
I'm not into this realism in weather forecasts at all at this distance, all I want to see is it bucketing powder down and the less lifts open means even more fresh tracks the week after next.....
Positive, bias reinforcement, that's the primary function of forecasts for me at this stage  ))
nothing is too fanciful to be feasible in my mind at this stage!!
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 am away the same week albeit elsewhere and have the same view. Sorry to anyone else going out before hand.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Left Morzine this am pissing down with rain at 10:00 - though snowing around 1,250m
Chamonix still raining, though as I neared entrance to Mont Blanc tunnel, snowing then once out of the tunnel major snow, with trees above Entreves / Courmayer weighed down with weight of snow. Kept snowing down to 800m.
Climb back up from Turin past Oulx below Sauze and raining, by Claviere light snow and not a better by Montgenevre, and once back homein Serre at 1400 have around a cm on the grass and mate says there's about 10cm up the hill at 2,000.
La Grave not as much as forecast, and lift closed, though mates there expecting it to open, though winds are 100km so will probably only be open to P2.
I'll pass on what the team is up to tomorrow, (as have work to catch up on)and hopefully things will settle down for Thursday.
Been doing some serious shite in Chamonix past couple of days, with my mate and the guide trying to stretch sphincter muscle 
This was an hours boot pack up a serious steep couloir (crampons / ice axe), after a two hour skin - you can see my mate behind me is a tad fecked
Then long gnarly rappel down to a lovely powder field on the glacier Leschaux
As I've been typing this so snow is coming down a little bit more.............
EDIT: half hour later and it's going for it
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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After a couple days of intense forecast watching found myself a bit skeptical in a warm, dry and brown courmayeur, 5 degrees at 1 am. But all went to plan - woke to winter wonderland and 20cm had fallen in resort by the time breakfast was down. Spitty snow all day long. Felt wet on your clothes but skied much lighter than I thought it would. Clearly not blower but good craic.
They only opened up to about 2200 in resort and only problems with wind in the last 100m of those lifts. Otherwise perfectly calm. Close to knee deep accumulations off piste from early on but hard to say how much fell. Certainly 30 - 40 cm, decent chance a lot more. Really started coming down then at around 4 o'clock, consistent with second front coming in as suggested in some reports. Should be very good tomorrow if upper lifts open.
Not sure where freezing level was but it wasn't an issue, yet anyway, soft squeaky snow down to resort. Only problem was underlay of icy moguls on some pistes.
Thank you weather gods! looks like whole alps getting a freshening up?
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@8611, them's good accumulations 
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You know it makes sense.
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With this wind and ongoing snowfall going to be a good couple of days before things open up high, could well be risk 4.
Be interesting to see what the guides propose for the next three days, and then from Sat onwards big hut to hut to end up on the beach at Nice week on Friday, so just take a look at the Spring touring forecast for Isola 2000 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Weathercam, be greatful for any intel you get on conditions in La Grave and likelihood of opening on Thurs/Fri. Tks!
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Poster: A snowHead
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A few cms in town in zermatt hoping for 10 or so up high....v windy today and last couple days...pistes r battered.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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First time experiencing thunder and lightening while sat on a lift with one of the kids. Huge fork came down in front of us about 330pm. Very glad to get off that lift. Everything immediately shut down for rest of the day leading to long walk outs.
Decent snow already, and tomorrow will be great. But Thurs looks like rain to 1500m in NW.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hard to tell what's happened in Chamonix, wind scoured per webcams but we're not there for a couple of weekends, so woteva.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @8611, them's good accumulations |
Could be a lot more, need to make fresh tracks somewhere to find out.
Was chamonix mostly shut today? A lot of french voices here today which I was surprised at
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| langball wrote: |
| First time experiencing thunder and lightening while sat on a lift with one of the kids. Huge fork came down in front of us about 330pm. Very glad to get off that lift. |
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@8611, it was when the snow had just turned to small hail stones. Of course we were left dangling there for a few minutes in the blizzard wondering where the next strike would come from, sitting right beside one of the pylons. Good character building stuff for the young fella. Though somewhat unappreciated.
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Wouldn't you been ok on a chairlift cos you aren't earthed???
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@NE1, I have had a read up now and you're right it's very low risk. There is an old relevant snowheads thread too, can't seem to post a link on my phone.
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@jedster, I out in StG this weekend also, with my mates. Done a day up at LC at half term, the queue to get up top was frankly ridiculous, I take it that is just half term
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| 8611 wrote: |
| Was chamonix mostly shut today? |
According to Radio Mont Blanc there was a power cut that also affected a fair number of houses. Megeve was shut too.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| langball wrote: |
| @8611, it was when the snow had just turned to small hail stones. Of course we were left dangling there for a few minutes in the blizzard wondering where the next strike would come from, sitting right beside one of the pylons. Good character building stuff for the young fella. Though somewhat unappreciated. |
He'll love that in a few years. Great phenomena to witness up close, albeit small consolation when you feel as exposed as you did.
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@8611, most everything but Les Houches shut due wind.
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You know it makes sense.
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Ski Amade? Anything to report? Please.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| @Weathercam, be greatful for any intel you get on conditions in La Grave and likelihood of opening on Thurs/Fri. Tks! |
hey Bob, are you planning to hang around the area for the weekend? I'm coming over on Sat and a few friends will be there, including Costin. Would be good to ski together again!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| langball wrote: |
| @NE1, I have had a read up now and you're right it's very low risk. There is an old relevant snowheads thread too, can't seem to post a link on my phone. |
Presumably it is similar to birds which stand on power lines. Whilst the power lines aren't insulated, birds can stand on them because the electricity just flows through the wire being the path of least resistance. Likewise you could presumably run electricity through a chairlift cable and no one sat in the chairs would be any the wiser. And lightning operates on the same principles. Even it if hit the cable, the electricity would head straight to the nearest pylon (bypassing any chairs) in an attempt to ground itself being the path of least resistance.
Would still be terrifying though if I was in a chair lift and lightning bolts started coming down around me.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Would the lightning strike destroy the pylon though? The electricity wouldn't pass through you, but the fall would.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Blasting going on here in Serre, about 5-10cm in the valley, maybe 30+ up top - viz not too good, have not heard from LG mates yet as to what they are doing today.
Have another cam up and running so you can see the cloud base etc
http://www.stylealtitude.com/staticwebcam.html
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@snoozeboy, I wouldn't have imagined it would - lightning rods on buildings are not particularly robust and they're designed to attract the strike.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Blue sky now appearing, (see cam link above), might have to go up the hill...........
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@Jonny996,
Really? we hardly queued at all that week. There was one day when one of the bubbles was down in the morning but we (by luck) had a really late start that day and only caught the tail of it - maybe you hit that day?
Malfunctions aside, the peak time to be aware of is the 930 ski school meet at Etape. Ideally you want to be at the lifts when they open or come up just after 930. But that is only a consideration in peak weeks.
The other time it can be busy is when you get a sunny Saturday after a snowy week - quite a lot of people drive in for the day. This can more than trump the general rule that transfer days are quiet in part of course because Les C is not really a Tour Operator resort. This could be the situation this Saturday. I'm staying in Sallanche Friday night but will be making an "alpine start" to pick up my gear from our cave and still get my mate to the ticket office when it opens at 830.
Current forecast is for quite a lot of snow on Sunday - contemplating coming to St G for some trees that day.
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Half a metre and still falling in Les Saisies.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @snoozeboy, I wouldn't have imagined it would - lightning rods on buildings are not particularly robust and they're designed to attract the strike. |
But aren't they made out of copper, so they don't heat up much when struck as the resistance is low, whereas a tree when struck, gets completely destroyed as trees don't conduct electricity so well? I guess the obvious answer here is that the pylons have lightning conductors on them so, like buildings, don't get destroyed in a strike.
Anyway, back to the weather. Last night, a hint of snow down to ground level at 600m here in Lausanne and a huge cloud sitting across the lake over the PdS since a couple of days. Friday looks good for a "shirking from home" day.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@snoozeboy, i suspect the conductivity of a heavy thick steel pylon is closer to that of copper than that of a tree...
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@under a new name, I suspect you're right. However, I still wouldn't like to conduct the experiment of how much closer it is, whilst sitting in a chair next to it during a lightning storm.
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