Early season Vanoise conditions = tenuous!

Conditions continue to be somewhat challenging here in the Vanoise; even before the big snowfalls of the 27th/28th the snowpack was treacherous - there were several avalanches around the wider 3 Valleys area on a variety of slope aspects - and the situation was only made more spicy with the extra snowfall and the wind that came along in the following days. Largely unreported was the death of a skier in the Mont de la Chambre sector of Mottaret, caught in a slide and only reported missing when he failed to meet a friend later, and along with several other avalanche incidents (including 2 fatalities and some close calls).

This weekend saw rain to about 2200/2500m, above this altitude the snowfall was accompanied by wind so the situation will continue to need careful management and choice of slopes (and we haven't even talked about the lack of base and number of rocks apparent in lots of skier's tracks off piste!).

The following video from La Norma on New Year's Eve highlights the current precarious nature of the snowpack - the slope is only just over 30º and this is an area which when you ski it generally has a 'friendly' feel to it - just goes to show that every slope needs to be approached with care, and that even slopes you are familiar with need to be treated as if it was the first time you were skiing it and the decision-making should match this...



Given the choice I would be heading high for any off piste or touring, but with a large warning bell ringing concerning wind-loaded slopes and the possibilities of weak layers buried at some depth...

2016 early planning - Kyrgyzstan and Lofoten

Winter is still proving to be slightly reticent in appearing here in the French Alps, and we are still waiting for a proper base to come into place off piste so in the meantime plans are already gently shaping up for 2016...!

First up is a return to Kyrgyzstan (see here for the 2012 trip reports) - the general plan for 2016 will be a 2 week trip, with a week at the 40 Tribes yurt along with a day at the Karakol ski area and possibly a couple of days cat-skiing too (to be confirmed...).

A return to Lofoten also seems inevitable, with likely dates based around the week of 2 - 10 April 2016.

If either of these trips floats your boat then don't hesitate to get in touch!

Transceivers and interference

Major snowfalls have been happening across the Western Alps (50cm+ here in the Vanoise yesterday!) and there should be no need to remind everyone that the avalanche risk will be high for some time to come until the newly fallen snow has time to settle, and even then there will be some persistent weak layers under the new snow due to the thin early-season snowpack...

Conservative slope selection will need to be applied, along with careful group management and it goes without saying that those venturing off piste and into the mountains would be advised to carry avalanche safety kit and know how to use it.

On that note - this autumn I revisited 2 papers presented at the International Snow Science Workshop in 2013, concerning potential interference on transceivers from consumer electronics. This is a subject that is becoming more and more relevant with the increasing carrying of smart phones (particularly with touch screens), along with GPS, POV cameras, video cameras etc - the basic premise is that any device consuming power generates a magnetic field and this can compromise transceiver function.

The papers both took a systematic approach to studying the effects both on transmit and receive mode, and the results take a bit of sifting through - so here is a 'laymans' summary of the results and recommendations - unsurprisingly these match closely the observations I have made in non-scientific tests over a number of years:

Transmit mode:

Possible effect = loss of range.

Recommendations = minimum distance of 20cm between possible interfering objects and Transceiver

Note 1: Objects found to have an effect on the transmit range included: alloy bottle, food wrapper, shovel blade, belt buckle
Note 2: Range reductions of more than 30% were uncommon, so applying some reduction to manufacturers recommended search strip width should account for this

Receive mode:

Possible effects = loss of range, loss of accuracy of direction/distance readings

Recommendations:
- minimum distance for no interference: 1m for phone with active screen, 70cm phone with screen off, 60cm camera in active mode. (With these devices switched off there was no discernible effect)
- watches (GPS or smart watches) had a significant influence within 10-15cm (hold your transceiver in the opposite hand!)
- avoid storing transceiver close to magnetic field as this can magnetise the antenna over time.

Note: significant loss in range was observed in receiving transceivers


Further notes:

- at its furthest range a transceiver is at its most sensitive and so more prone to interference, for example a digital camera 36cm away from a receiving transceiver creates noise of similar level to the received transceiver signal!
- analog function allows increase in range as human hearing is more efficient at detecting/discerning 'real signals' from noise, so can cope with a higher signal-to-noise ratio

In summary: it is strongly recommended to keep phones and other electrical items switched off whenever possible, and certainly this should be standard protocol in the event of an avalanche incident.


References:

Meister and Dammert
"Effect of consumer electronics on avalanche transceivers"
Genswein, Atkins et al.
"Recommendation on how to avoid intereference issues in companion and organised avalanche rescue"

Glencoe off piste guidebook

Kenny at skimountain.co.uk was kind enough to give me a copy of the new Scottish Offpiste Skiing & Snowboarding - Glencoe guidebook when I saw him at the Kendal Mountain Festival last month:

This book follows on from the very successful Nevis Range & Ben Nevis guidebook and takes a very similar format.
The book covers the Glencoe area from Beinn a' Bheithir in the West, the North and South sides of the glen itself, and down as far as the hills above Bridge of Orchy and Tyndrum in the South. With 93 routes of all levels there is plenty to go at in here for all ski mountaineers, from those looking for a mellow day in the hills to skiers seeking serious (in all senses) challenges, and for those who don;t want a strenuous day, there is also a full and detailed description of the off piste accessible from the lifts at Glencoe Mountain Resort.

The routes are well-described, accompanied by very clear topo diagrams/maps and photos which should help even a complete stranger to these parts find their way around with reasonable ease.

Sample page:

Back from the Nevis topo is the simple 6-step grading system of difficulty, along with the great "similar to", "harder than" and "combine with" information bars, all of which make the book very user-friendly.
Also useful for first time ski visitors to Scottish ski areas is a guide to Scottish lift etiquette, which takes some understanding to not commit a faux-pas!

The section covering the history of skiing in the glen along with the development of the Glencoe ski area makes for interesting reading, and the guide to pronouncing local place names means that no page of this book should be left unread (and having heard many, many bad interpretations of the pronunciation of 'Buachaille' this is possibly the most useful page in the book:-) ).


Another great job from Kenny, and with so much of Scotland's mountainous terrain still to be covered here's hoping there are more books in the pipeline!


Buy your copy of the guidebook direct from Kenny at the skimountain.co.uk website.

ABS Recall - steel cylinders & twin bags

Another recall for ABS avalanche airbags - this one appears to concern any twinbag which may have been used (test or real deployment) with a steel cylinder dated pre-3/12/2014.
Full details on the ABS website: https://www.abs-airbag.com/en/service/recall/

Pre-Christmas conditions - 3 Valleys

As you may be aware, the start of this season has been quite (very poor) in terms of snow - while it is not unusual for lower parts of many resorts to be on partial opening until into Christmas week, the lack of any appreciable amounts of snow up high are definitely out of the ordinary.

In the 3 Valleys currently Courchevel has limited opening, with no realistic possibility of off-piste adventures, Meribel has very limited opening, with downloading on lifts necessary to get back to the valley, while Val Thorens actually has about 80% of lifts and pistes open. Off piste remains very thin, but one or two possibilities remain for avoiding the crowds which aren't almost certain to damage skis or body. Late morning today there was a good clear spell and I took advantage of this to take this week's team off in search of the few cms of fresh we had had last night:

There is a bit more snow in the forecast for this week, but not enough to make an appreciable difference yet, so much care is needed to seek out safe off piste turns - head high, and stay in the depressions which have accumulated a bit more depth through the autumn.

British Mountain Guides CPD

I have just spent 2 days over in Verbier running some CPD for a group from the British Mountain Guides. The theme of the sessions was based around steep skiing - technique, tactics and psychology, and the experience of the group varied from an Aspirant Guide preparing for her final ski test this winter, to guides with over 20 years working experience. Despite very limited snow (basically we had to stick to the few open pistes) we managed to have a very productive 2 days, covering lots of topics and with all of the group making some good changes in their own skiing. All we need is a bit more snow so the gang can put it all into action!

Photo courtesy Jonny Baird.