PA#13: Watch status!

We are still busy with the remains of PA #12 and I can already announce a PowderWatch for PowderAlert #13. A PowderWatch? Yes, to offer you an even better service I chopped the coverage of a significant snow event into pieces. It now works as follows:

1. PowderWatch (there's snow coming)

2. PowderAlert (we know in which regions the snow will fall )

3. Where to go (finetuning: last-minute tips)

4. Aftermath (enjoy, share and reflect)

Aftermath PA #12

Wow. High pressure area Gabriela came in and threatened to control the weather for a while, but suddenly there was storm Quinn that caused significant snowfall in the northwest of Italy and the French Southern Alps. Quinn came, saw and engulfed us with powder. The lifts were closed in San Domenico for two days to open again this morning. In less than 36 hours many places in the Piedmont got around 50-100 cm of freshies and locally even 120-160 centimeters. No, Quinn was not a small storm. Because there was a good base throughout the Piedmont and the faces are dotted with the awesome larch trees it was time for an EPIC alert. Yesterday, today and tomorrow were and are perhaps the best moments to ride in the trees this winter.

The report below shows that the weather stations were quite right. Anyway, many thanks for the frequency and quality with which you share reports. They show a better picture than the webcams that are sometimes placed at locations that don't give a honest impression of the snow conditions in the resort. So please continue to share your local reports!

Sun for the rest of the week

Today the last flakes of snow will come down in the Piedmont and the sun will return right after. And just like in the rest of the Alps the week will be sunny. The nights are cold and clear, the days are mild, sunny and with bright blue skies. Directly within sight of the slopes everything is already pretty much tracked and the sun is noticeably present on southern faces. Nevertheless, there is powder to be found. On north-facing slopes you can still find beautiful couloirs, but always check the avalanche bulletin before you go out and adjust your plans to that.

An alternative are the tree runs under not too steep faces. Because of the protective effect of the branches you can often find fresh powder there and there aren't that many people around.

Powder Watch PA #13

A new storm cycle is in the making and from Friday a breach is beaten into the high pressure dominance of Isa and Hanne. With a northwestern current cold and unstable air is flowing towards the Alps and that will cause significant snowfall in the Alps on Saturday and Sunday. There's also a chance that more storms will follow right after.

For now, the French Alps and western Switzerland have the best cards and also the Po Valley might have to deal with this storm. It's way too early to pinpoint, but we'll give you more details on Wednesday / Thursday. If you missed PowderAlert #12, you can get ready for PA #13.

More details on Wednesday.

Stay stoked,

Morris