Meribel Snow Report : 17th December 2012

Weyheh – it’s a powder day! I’m pleased to report the grisly, drizzly weather of the past two days has ended. This morning we woke to proper wintry conditions and 20cm of fresh fluffy stuff in the resort. So of course we had to go out for a little play in the powder.

One of the lovely things about the early part of the season is that there are few people around. The fresh snow doesn’t get tracked out in minutes and there is none of the usual panicky rush to get on first lifts. We strolled onto the Saulire Express at 9.30, left wiggly lines in the virgin snow under this lift and when we returned to the same area nearly 3 hours later, there was still untracked snow to enjoy. There aren’t many weeks in the season when you can do that.

In case you haven’t been reading these snow reports, I should explain that we’ve had an exceptional start to the season with around 2m of snow falling in early December. The visibility hasn’t been great but everybody is thrilled at the sheer amount of snow everywhere. Annoyingly, the past few days have been mild and rainy – always a downer in a ski resort – but after last night’s snow, the resort is prettily snowy again and conditions on the slopes are great. Surprisingly, there are some benefits of rain and mild weather: according to avalanche expert Henry Schniewind, warmth followed by freezing weather has a stabilising effect on the snowpack. After several avalanche deaths in France in the past two weeks, this can only be a good thing.

I know that lots of skiers find deep fresh snow difficult, intimidating or downright frustrating. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of my life floundering around, falling over and headplanting in fresh snow, I feel I should pass on the various useful bits of advice I’ve been given over the years.

• You can find out from the lift offices which runs have been groomed overnight and which have ungroomed, fresh snow. Pop in and ask for a print-out of their lift opening schedule.
• Get out early! The more tracked out it is, the harder the fresh snow is to ski.
• If you fall over and lose a ski, the only way to find it again is to slowly retrace your tracks, scything horizontally through the snow with the tail of your other ski to until you hit it. If you lose both skis, use your poles to search with.
• Your lost ski is almost invariably much higher up the slope than you expect.
• If you fall over in deep snow and find it difficult to push yourself up, hold your ski poles in the form of a cross and use this to push up against.
• Let the weaker skiers in a group stay at the front so if they fall, there is somebody behind to help out
• Take lessons.  Without the right technique, deep snow is hell. Once you can ski it, it’s the best fun in the world.
• If you want to go off-piste into the fresh snow, please, please, please go with a professional instructor or guide and take avalanche transceivers, shovel and probe – and make sure you know how to use them.

As Henry likes to say, stay safe and have fun out there!