Snow for the Euros.

[bbirtle]

thanks brian! yoo hoo!

Hayduke and I preparing to invade tonight...staying at the Hotel Croix Blanche (arriving around 10.30-11, I think).

Glad to hear you made it over safely. Just got back from Cantina. We'll likely be on the 8h46 train... thinking Vallerocine if the weather stays closed in but will check what's open in the morning and make a decision. Orange Mountain Hardware jacket, black Mammut ski pants, completely fucked all to hell Scratch BC 2004 (the beige ones with the orange chick on them) skis.

I sent Hayduke my mobile number. At the least, text me we'll do apres at Chambre Neuf.

Welcome to town you came at the right time!

[TeleAl]

17 December 2005 07h00 Leysin
Snowed all day yesterday and last night.
Still snowing this morning.

[powslut]

St Anton update:

60cm in town, over 120cm in the trees on Galzig and its still coming down. Galzig only opened for a couple hours today and you'll see me write words that you will probably never see again from me: It was too deep. Once you got into the sheltered areas you could only connect two to three turns before choking on the face shots.

Unfortunately I tweaked my knee falling off of a 2m cornice in the alpine and may have to miss the next few days of this madness...

Meat - for cheaper accomodation i recommend staying in Pettneu or Shnann. They're not too far down the valley and are connected to St Anton by bus. Check out the central reservations at www.stantonamarlberg.com

[Franz Klammer]

Powslut, has the Rendl opened yet? Stuben?

[powslut]

Powslut, has the Rendl opened yet? Stuben?

rendl apparently opens on the 20th and stuben has only had albona 1 opened so far. until this weekend it was pretty grim around here.

[Franz Klammer]

http://wetter.dachstein.at/

Krippenstein

230cm base
100cm new snow (holy shit) - and still snowing

[edg]

That's just sickening, Franz.

edg

[Franz Klammer]

http://wetter.dachstein.at/

Krippenstein

230cm base
100cm new snow (holy shit) - and still snowing

I don't get back to Europe until December 21st, but my brother wants to hit the Kripp on December 19 and 20. Any takers? Come on Subtle, you know you want to.

[TeleAl]

17 December 2005 19h00 Leysin, CH
Snowed HARD all day.
Our tracks were filled in after every run.
Wind blowing, viz not so good up high, fine in the trees.
Ahhhh, the trees.

Not sure where we are in terms of snow (base/fresh),
but there is alot out there, and plenty of it!

And still snowing.

[TeleAl]

00h30
Still snowing HARD!
Hasn't stopped all day.

[TeleAl]

18 December 2005 07h30.
Blue sky.
Everything else is white.

[Franz Klammer]

18 December 2005 07h30.
Blue sky.
Everything else is white.

How much?

[powslut]

looking real good here, just stopped snowing....wish i could ski today

[Ripzalot]

How much?

you're in eberg, right? stay put. you got the best of it. still good towards western switz, but south in the valais (saas fee zermatt verbier) it petered out.

http://www.slf.ch/swiss-snow/hn1dc.html
http://www.slf.ch/swiss-snow/hsrdc.html

[TeleAl]

How much?

Plenty.
I didn't measure it, but the place is filled up to the brim.
We got the best of it here if anyone asks me. The direction of the storm made for a settling of snow all over Leysin's South side. Wind howling on top, while no wind elsewhere. Tour d'Ai blocked it all.

The final bit of snow, some 30cm, was light and fluffy.
That on top of heavier bonding snow.

Here is the rough deal.
We had snow like a snow cannon would produce for about a day.
It came full on hammering down. Thick, filling snow.
That was followed by light and fluffy, and blue sky.

Don't make me brag. Thigh to waist deep with skis on.
Skis off was another story. Ask Batman.

Edit = My next report comes with the next snow. I don't do crystal balls.

[Franz Klammer]

you're in eberg, right? stay put. you got the best of it. still good towards western switz, but south in the valais (saas fee zermatt verbier) it petered out.

http://www.slf.ch/swiss-snow/hn1dc.html
http://www.slf.ch/swiss-snow/hsrdc.html

No, I'm currently in Boston, but I am going home to Austria for Christmas. See the Euro Skiing Tour Thread for the schedule.

[ulty_guy]

well, i can certainly vouch for al's ascertations....it was very deep.

the tele-man was nice enough to let me crash in cell block A for a couple of nights and chase him and the boys around leysin saturday and sunday. saturday was complete storm skiing and leysin is probably one of the few places in the alps with great tree skiing, and it was vital. probably 2 feet of fresh at the beginning of the day, another foot easily fell during the day (with more depositing in the trees). we just couldn't resist tacking another run on, we skied bell to bell and walked onto the lift every time, hardly anyone out. by the end of the day, when i would look back up hill for the other 3 guys i was with, i was only seeing balls of moving fluff with hands and a head sticking out. al, my favorite memory of the trip was standing on a cat track and not even seeing bill till he got spit out in a cloud of snow and hearing his crazy detroit laugh.

all of us were kicked after saturday only to wake up sunday to complete and utter bluebird. now the word bluebird is overused in my mind, this is no exaggeration. the wind had died through the night and left another foot of the lightest pow i've ever skied in the alps (on top of the monster accumulation from the day before). we were first cabin (again ) and ripped everything as it opened up across the mountain. riding in the caboose down the black run, sailing straight into the sunrise behind 3 plumes of crystally powder, unreal. the thighs and crotch of my bibs were wetting through from constantly being in waist deep powder. i wasn't even reaching my hands down and i had a hard time keep them out of the snow.

if there was ever a more perfect day to catch some footage, it was sunday. alas, none of us could even fathom stopping for photos in this gobble-fest. it all still seems like a dream.

[Ripzalot]

well, i can certainly vouch for al's ascertations....it was very deep.

the tele-man was nice enough to let me crash in cell block A for a couple of nights and chase him and the boys around leysin saturday and sunday. saturday was complete storm skiing and leysin is probably one of the few places in the alps with great tree skiing, and it was vital. probably 2 feet of fresh at the beginning of the day, another foot easily fell during the day (with more depositing in the trees). we just couldn't resist tacking another run on, we skied bell to bell and walked onto the lift every time, hardly anyone out. by the end of the day, when i would look back up hill for the other 3 guys i was with, i was only seeing balls of moving fluff with hands and a head sticking out. al, my favorite memory of the trip was standing on a cat track and not even seeing bill till he got spit out in a cloud of snow and hearing his crazy detroit laugh.

all of us were kicked after saturday only to wake up sunday to complete and utter bluebird. now the word bluebird is overused in my mind, this is no exaggeration. the wind had died through the night and left another foot of the lightest pow i've ever skied in the alps (on top of the monster accumulation from the day before). we were first cabin (again ) and ripped everything as it opened up across the mountain. riding in the caboose down the black run, sailing straight into the sunrise behind 3 plumes of crystally powder, unreal. the thighs and crotch of my bibs were wetting through from constantly being in waist deep powder. i wasn't even reaching my hands down and i had a hard time keep them out of the snow.

if there was ever a more perfect day to catch some footage, it was sunday. alas, none of us could even fathom stopping for photos in this gobble-fest. it all still seems like a dream.

sounds like feb 15th last year.

must....resist....the despair...

[ulty_guy]

jay- bill, tim, al, and i all knew that we couldn't have been having that much fun without a sacrifice first....we all agreed that mailing you to the snow gods was worth it

but seriously, heal up and you'll be out there before the end of the season. it's not like anyone else is going to beat you and the boys to the pow there in leysin!

[keksie]

skied schlick again on saturday, in trees easily over waist deep. i had to click some random snowboarder out of his bindings cause he had fell down and couldnt get up.. too much snow. i think you get the idea..
sunday - skies were clearing but my time was very limited as i was going to fly from munich to finland for the christmas, and the airport taxi was leaving at 2pm. so i went to patscherkofel, cause it was the nearest resort for me and the map looked like it could have some tree skiing. yeah there were some trees but why didnt anybody tell me that this place is like an airport? flat. and apparently not a good location either (wrong side of the mountain..(?)), there was only like 15-20cm of new snow (which was nothing compared to schlick). oh well, i took a couple of runs and went to pack up the rest of my things.

[H-man]

looking real good here, just stopped snowing....wish i could ski today

I heard 3+ feet and the off piste is pretty much all set with coverage. Any tuth to it? Avi update?

Thanks

[TeleAl]

I heard 3+ feet and the off piste is pretty much all set with coverage. Any tuth to it? Avi update?
Thanks

Avi conditions to be concerned about. A few big cracks out there, and it is not from the current snowfall but the bonding layer below the snow.
Cracks showing earth below.

Latest snow came in small granular like from a snow cannon for about a day. The end of the storm, another 12 hours or so, was nice and light.

3+feet??? I can't say. But, I won't argue.

[powslut]

my last day skiing on friday there was about 120cm in the trees below osthang and it didn#t stop snowing until yesterday morning. coverage is definately set, now we just need to wait for it to settle out a bit.

from the avalanche report: der letzten Tage betragen 110 bis 130 cm, lokal auch mehr

[supercastor]

It was nice in Les Diablerets this WE. Sunday incredible, sunny and Fat Fresh Swiss Pow, just heavy enough to be the finest pow for snowboarding. I'd say around 60cm of fresh (3 days fall). All the freestyle stars from te freeski were out there so it was hard to find untracked fields (plus avalanche danger blinking red), but still, nice to have its 6th powder day on a december 18th

A few pictures : http://www.skipass.com/articles/sais...reeski1000.php
(and my text for the french speaking guys in here)

Almost nothing back in Grenoble, maybe 20cm fell in the last 3 days according to the roomates but a lot of wind has swept (sp?) everything above 2000m.

Time for a freestyle christmas break : no snow scheduled before next year (France).

[Franz Klammer]

My brother just phoned me saying that the Krippenstein was closed today and probably will be closed tomorrow. You might ask why?

Here's the answer

Total Snow: 300cm (170cm in the last 4 days)