Yesterday was properly 'Scottish' up in Courchevel - wild winds, wet snowfall and only a handful of hardy souls out. Andy & Brian braved it through the day with me and acutally we scored a couple of really nice runs off the Saulire when visibility cleared (before they shut it because of the wind...!), but today was payback day - blue skies and powder from start to finish:
Caution is needed though - with the wild winds and varying temperatures the snowpack has had alot of big changes recently and will have plenty of traps - as evidenced by the two skier-triggered slides in Orelle today. It was also quite surprising to see how tracks appeared almost everywhere it was possible to get to (plus ça change...) despite some obvious releases triggered by the PIDA; not to mention the young English skier who got herself cragfast above some steep rocky terrain in Rocher de L'Ombre despite the clear blue skies and perfect visibility. Oh and the number of skiers charging about the further reaches of the couloirs on their own without any visible avalanche kit... Oh yes and the groups led by instructors heading into potential avalanche terrain without any obvious avalanche safety kit (while the non-professional could simply be ignorant of the risk the pros should know better - particularly this winter!).
Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded...
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