Top ski Val - News of the winter

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Winter 2009-2010

13-Dec-2009 - News n° 2

Hi every body !
I hope that you all had a very pleasant summer and that you are in good shape and are looking forward to a new season and fantastic descents with Top Ski.
Since the beginning of November we regularly put pictures on the Photos Galery of our site for you to see that we already had a good cover of snow and had excellent skiing especially last week end when had fantastic powder.
The mountain is ready for this winter and we hope that we will have as much fun and snow as last season.
If you need any information do not hesitate to call our office every day from 8.30pm to 12pm and 3.15pm to 7.30pm.

ON PISTE
Most of the pistes are open except some on La daille and on the face de Bellevarde which are still closed and reserved for the races of the Critérium de la Première Neige until the 20th of December.
The men’s races just finished yesterday and the first ladies training will start Thursday.
In altitude the snow on piste is cold packed powder extremely nice and grippy from the mid section down to the resort it is man made snow which of course is a little harder but as always very well prepared by the pisteur’s piste bashers.
Our preferred pistes of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Glacier and Mattis” on solaise.
“Manchet” “Orange” after 12pm for superb spring on piste spring snow.
Sector Tignes :
“Tommeuse” and “H”

OFF PISTE
The quality of the snow has been affected by the wind and it one has to find some powder in the gullies protected by the wind.
There are still nice pitches facing north with very cold crystalline snow.
One has to remain very prudent under 2300m as the base is still very thin with a lot of objective dangers, roots, rocks.

Our best off piste runs of the week :
Sector Val d’ Isère :
“Super Spatule” and the top of the “Face du Charvet”

Sector Tignes :
“Tourne Est” in the Aiguile Percée sector.

SKI TOURING
To get to the protected north facing slopes with the cold powder one has to put the skins on to be rewarded.
Our best ski touring of the week :
Sector Val d’Isère :
“Col des Fours”
Sector Villaret du Nial
“Plan du Cheval”

SNOW COVER CONDITIONS
We have snow from 1000/1400m but the skiable limit is above 1600m. For early December the snow cover is average for the Beaufortain and the The Tarentaise.
40/50cm at 1800m / 50/100cm between 2500/2800m
Above 2400m the S and SE winds changed the surface of the snow into windblown crust only a few protected north facing slopes have still cold powder.
Underneath 2400m we had rain a week ago which packed the snow and now with the cold temperature turned into a good solid but thin base.

SNOW STABILITY
The cold temperatures is transforming the snow into cold crystals without cohesion which we will have to watch if we get a new snow fall.
A few wind slabs were formed under the influence of the S and SE winds particularly in the N to East exposure between 2700/3000m.

ESTIMATION OF AVALANCHE RISK / SCALE OF 1 TO 5.
In the Hte Tarentaise.
Risk 2 Moderate – above 2400m.
Risk 1 Low – underneath 2400m.
ATTENTION : The snow cover is very thin and has little cohesion under 2400m, a real danger exist with hidden obstacles such as roots and stones.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE WEEK
This week we are mainly expecting nice sunny weather with very cold air which should not bring us significant snow falls.
The isotherme 0° will be at 300m and temperature at 1800m will vary between
-10°/13°

TOP SKI WEBCAM AND PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Check the weather of your favourite ski resort on our web cam and the latest photos on our web site www.topskival.com .

All the Top Ski instructors and guides are in Val and invite you to come and share some beautiful descents and take advantage of our – 15% pre season prices on all our private basis prices.
All the best, see you soon.
Pat Zimmer

01-Dec-2009 - News N°1 - Val d'Isère is open !

We hope you have had a good summer and that your thoughts are now on the coming ski season. Our first "newsletter" is arriving at the same time as the first snow here in the mountains. Over the last few days, Val d’Isère has put on its white coat and it is beginning to feel like winter here.