BEAUCOUP NEIGE!!!!

As I'm writing there are bombs rattling my windows. Heidi brought a ton of snow with her to France. Sorry Colorado!! Ever since she's been here the snow keeps piling up.

A couple of days before she arrived we had a pretty good wind event that left a 3cm wind crust on most everything. Vins and I had a good run early in the day, but it was tough skiing. By noon that day the clouds had moved in and it was on.

Plagne 1800 didn't get to much snow the next morning, so I thought it was going to be a normal work day with no new snow. After the morning routine of coffee and fresh bread in Belle Plagne, we rode up to the glacier on the Bellecote Gondola. To all of our surprise we had received about 30cms of new snow up on the glacier. POW DAY!

Remember the wind event? Not good. After the management types did their phone calls and we ate jambon and bread. It was decided no explosives were going to be used today, some agreed, most didn't. So it was decided we'd ski the most used areas and check the conditions.

The conditions were ridiculous.

Olivier(O.B.) and I were headed to check La Chiaupe. A black run with some surrounding aspects that had the potential to slide. All good. We skied some of the lightest powder I've skied. France's snow has a much higher water content than Colorado, so I was stoked when it was light and soft on your face. Colorado Style!! The rest of the day the French guys argued about policy and safety, I skied as much as possible.

Heidi came in the next day so I was planning on sleeping in a bit. Nope. At 7am I awoke to the avalanche control starting for the day around the Plagne 1800 area. AND another 30cm's of snow. Windows rattling, I had a quick cup of coffee and started digging Nico's A4 out from the parking lot.

The next couple of days it snowed on and off, with about another 10-20cm on Christmas Day. The glacier had been closed while I was off. In the locker room it sounded like we were going to do some P.I.D.A (avalanche control) that day since no one had a chance to do any control work the last couple days. We had our morning coffee and jambon before heading to work on the glacier. The glacier wasn't going to open today either. Only for control work and lunch.

Vins and I went together to do a route along some chutes skiers left of Le Chaiupe. We had no big results with any of our charges. Meteo and Jean Yeves were across the slope form us and had a couple good slides through the chutes below them, but nothing to serious either. Back to the top to ski and eat.

Everyone was back safe to the outpost by late morning, and the discussion started about the snow and how safe it really was. While Quick and Lionel were out on their route above the lower chairlift that serves our sector, they had a big avalanche release with only one small charge. Quick told me he thought the fracture line was about a meter thick, and 300 meters wide. And ran for at least 500 meters. HOLY SHIT!

The snow kept falling through the week and the mountains were really starting to look good. One day I went with Olivier S. on a cool route that starts by skiing a nice couloir, and then covers an area overlooking the la Combe area of our sector. See pics.

A day before Heidi left we got some rain below 1800 meters, and it put a mental damper on things that day. Then yesterday when I took Heidi to the airport it started raining again down in the valley. Not good. The whole drive it poured rain to and from Lyon. In Bourg St. Maurice it was full on springtime raining, cold and heavy.

I made my way back to Plagne 1800 and got about 4 switchback up the hill and it was DUMPING! 10-20 cm's had fallen since we left for the airport. Talking to Nico after work he said they didn't get up the glacier until 10:30am and it had already snowed 30cm's by then on the glacier. I asked what the avy danger would be today and Nico thought it would be at a four. That's 4 out of 5. Dangerous! If it hits 5, you just stay in bed.

It snowed all day yesterday and it's still dumping this morning. The bombs have slowed down and I'm itching bad. Over a meter in the last week, I think it'll be good. Happy New Year! to everyone. And come visit any time, it'll probably be worth it.