Live day 2: the dump of the decade!

The second day of our live blog where we follow the dump in the Piedmont, Aosta, the Swiss Alps and the French Alps. It's a storm that only happens once every thirty years in the French Haute Tarentaise / Haute Maurienne according to MétéoFrance. Check out the forecast which tells you everything about this unique storm here. It's no surprise that the avalanche danger is critical in all the regions above.

9-1 16:10 Live from Pelvoux

It's not the eye of the storm, but the skiing in Pelvoux, France, was great today. The lifts were open and the avi danger was easier to manage!

9-1 15:56 The sun is coming out in the western Piedmont

The sun is trying to come out in resorts like Sestrière, Sauze d'Oulx en Montgenèvre.

9-1 15:50 Freezing level reached a maximum on Monday

9-1 15:42 The most snow came down in the western Piedmont

Between 120 and 200 cm of snow!

9-1 15:40 Avalanche danger now HIGH in the Piedmont

9-1 15:14 Avalanche goes couch surfing

A short video from the avalanche that came in through the windows in this appartment in Sestrière. Fortunately there was only material damage.

9-1 14:52 Looking for a road in Tignes

9-1 14:38 Tignes

Hey driver, move that bus!

9-1 14:30 Cervinia

Before and after the storm. A bit of a difference.

9-1 13.58 Dude, where's my car in Vars?

Do you want to support wePowder?

Are you not a wePowder Pro yet, but do you regularly read the weather forecast or use the services on wePowder? With an upgrade to wePowder Pro you support us, you can express your gratitude and you'll ride more powder. And it works great for your karma as well. Thanks! Oh, and you'll get a free 7-day trial when you register yourself on wePowder. No strings attached!

9-1 12:43 Lots of snow in La Plagne

9-1 12:26 The road between Tignes Le Lac and Tignes 1800 is open again

9-1 11:57 Two meters of fresh snow in Monte Rosa!

(source: Facebook)

9-1 11:50 The road to Val Thorens is open again!

9-1 11:44 The ski area of Val d'Isère is still closed

9-1 11:32 An avalanche reached a house in Sestrière

An avalanche entered a house in Sestrière through the windows. Source

You can find more pictures in this article.

9-1 11:28 Les Orres couldn't be more white

9-1 11:27 Tignes almost disappeared

9-1 9:50 Valet parking in Les Arcs is currently unavailable

9-1 9:48 Live update from the ski area of Les Houches

The snow is pretty heavy, because it was pretty warm when it came down.

9-1 9:43 The ski area of Zermatt is not opening today

The avalanche danger is EXTREME in that part of Switzerland. To make things worse: you can't leave the village and the power may be cut off now and then.

9-1 9:37 Saas-Fee

The road between Stalden, Saas Grund and Saas Almagell remains closed at least until Wednesday the 10th of January.

9-1 9:21 Huge avalanche in Les Houches

A huge avalanche came down and hit the little village of 'Le Pont', which is part of the community of Les Houches (close to Chamonix). About 15 chalets were hit, but according to officials there's only material damage and that there aren't any people injured. Trees came down on cars and there's no power anymore. (source in French)

9-1 9:12 Roads closed in Val d'Isère

The road between Val Thorens and Les Ménuires in Les 3 Vallées is closed as well.

9-1 9:08 Montgenèvre

Yes, that's a car in Montgenèvre. Hopefully it was equipped with a beacon.

9-1 9:02 Bonneval sur Arc

Check out the amazing amounts of snow that came down in Bonneval sur Arc yesterday! And as you can see, there's still some snow in the forecast.

9-1 8:54 Sestrière

It looks like the next Frozen movie will be shot in Sestrière.

9-1 8:52 Tignes

Tignes is buried under a thick blanket of snow!

9-1 8:47 HIGH to EXTREME avalanche danger

The avalanche danger is EXTREME (5 on a scale of 5) in parts of the Haute Savoie, as you can see on the image below. Check out the website of MétéoFrance for more information.

Same story for the southwestern part of Switzerland, where the avalanche danger is HIGH to EXTREME. Check out the website of the SLF for more information.

The avalanche danger is also extreme in the Piedmont, where the risk is also 5 on a scale of 5. Check out this PDF for more details.

Do you want to support wePowder?

Are you not a wePowder Pro yet, but do you regularly read the weather forecast or use the services on wePowder? With an upgrade to wePowder Pro you support us, you can express your gratitude and you'll ride more powder. And it works great for your karma as well. Thanks! Oh, and you'll get a free 7-day trial when you register yourself on wePowder. No strings attached!

8-1 21:11 Val d'Isère

The avalanche danger is EXTREME in Val d'Isère right now and people are asked to stay inside. A lot of roads are closed!

8-1 20:14 Tignes

8-1 19:53 Bonneval sur Arc

8-1 19:13 Sestrière

8-1 19:11 Cervinia

8-1 19:11 Prali

8-1 19:08 Tignes

8-1 19:05 Avalanches from roofs in Bonneval sur Arc

8-1 19:00 Very rare

The current retour d'est is very rare. Météo France published the following statistics:

• This extreme situation only occurs once every 30 years in the Haute Tarentaise/Haute Maurienne
• East of the Queyras: every 10 years
• Mercantour (with resorts like Isola 2000): every 2 years

8-1 17:50 Val di Susa

It's dumping in Val di Susa.

8-1 17:51 Cervinia

Cervinia (on the south side of the Matterhorn) is getting hammered.

8-1 17:30 Extreme avalanche danger

According to Météo France, the avalanche danger is now EXTREME in some regions in the Haute Savoie. There's an active weather alert for that region.

8-1 17:10 Bonneval sur Arc

Some great images from Bonneval sur Arc. There's still a lot of snow in the forecast.

8-1 15:45 Bardonecchia

Heavy snowfall in Bardonecchia in the Italian Piedmont.