PA #12: where to go?

It is an interesting week, with an even more intense weekend. Those who followed my instructions from earlier this week have been riding deep powder every day. PA #10 and PA #11 brought us nice amounts of snow. First of all for the northwest of the Alps and later specifically for the French northern Alps. But now we are in a transition to a new storm. And it will become intense and hectic.

A storm depression that's getting stronger and stronger with the name Pirmin will dominate the Alps in the next 72 hours. This depression continues in the direction of the Mediterranean via France during the weekend. And that will result in interesting weather for the French Alps.

• Thursday afternoon/evening: the front reaches the French Alps. Snow is pushed into the French Alps with a western-southwestern current. That means a lot of snow until Saturday morning, particularly around and to the south of the Ecrins. The snow line fluctuates around 700-1000 meters in the French southern Alps and around 900-1700 meters in the French northern Alps.
• Friday: intense snowfall in the French southern Alps and the areas in and/or south of the Swiss main alpine ridge. The snow line is situated between 300 and 900 meters. The precipitation moves to the Dolomites and the Alpe Adria (border region Slovenia, Italy and Austria) in the course of the day. The snow line is situated between 400 and 900 meters here. There is a very strong Föhn in the south.
• It will snow heavily in the Dolomites and the Alpe Adria in the night to Saturday and on Saturday morning. Because the supplied air is getting warmer, the snow line rises to 900 to 1700 meters. There is still a very powerful southern Föhn with a strong wind in the north, but it is expected that it will disappear during the course of the day.
• Saturday afternoon and Sunday: the snow is now moving to the northwest and north of the Alps. The humid air is pressed against the north of the Alps with a northwestern and cold current. The snow line drops again and it will start to snow steadily.

PA#12: a difficult alert

PA #12 is a difficult alert. Snow comes from all directions, the wind is coming from all directions, from time to time even strong to very strong and the temperature goes up and down. This tricky context makes one thing certain: it will be a tricky weekend as far as the avalanche danger is concerned.

Southern Föhn = storm slabs = avalanche danger

A lot of wind, even though the sun shines, ensures that the conditions change in no time. The avalanche forecasts in the north are already warning for storm slabs and that will only get worse in the coming days. Therefore, check your local avalanche forecast every day and adapt your plans to it. Your local avalanche forecast can be found on every village page, but also every ski area page on wePowder (in the snow safety block) so you can be sure that you have the local avalanche forecast, but you can also visit this site).

What makes the situation even more complicated is that fresh snow falls down on these fresh wind slabs in the northwest and north of the Alps from the weekend .

Southern Stau = lots of snow + old snow cover = avalanche danger

The snow on the southern side of the Alps comes down in large quantities and often it falls on top of an old snow cover that can serve as an ideal sliding layer. The avalanche danger will therefore increase rapidly. In addition, the snow cover between the trees is still rather thin in a lot of places. Pay attention to loose branches and sharks! Don't worry, you can definitely ride powder on Saturday and Sunday, but keep these hazards in mind and adapt your plans to them!

PA#12: where to go?

The advice where to ride the next couple of days looks like this:

1. Friday

• French Southern Alps, especially the resorts in the Hautes Alpes around the Ecrins are going to be really good with lots of snow.

2. Saturday

• Still good in the resorts in the Hautes Alpes around the Ecrins.
• Also excellent conditions in the French northern Alps. The wind is not that strong anymore and again fresh snow has fallen. The sun is coming out.
• Very good conditions on the border between Graubünden and Lombardia. Livigno and Sankt Moritz are the places to go. You'll find a solid base and fresh snow there.

It is mild in the east of the Alps. It snows heavily with a southern current in the main alpine ridge of Austria and the areas south of it, especially on the Italian side it can snow a lot. The snow line is very low because of the cold air in the valleys, but the supplied air is mild and the snow line will rise in the course of the day to 900 to 1700 meters. In short, Föhn in the north of Austria and some rain or snow at high altitude. On the south side a lot of snow, but a rising snow line. Not ideal.

3. Sunday The current turns to the north due the low pressure area which is moving to the east. It gets colder fast and the warm humid air that is still to the north of the Alps is getting stuck between the Alps and the incoming cold air. The result is a rapidly dropping snow line and fresh snow for the north of the Alps. Timing is still a thing. In short:

• It's still good in the resorts in the Hautes Alpes around the Ecrins. Wind form the north is picking up!
• Also excellent conditions in the French Northern Alps. Again some fresh snow during the day.
• Excellent conditions on the border between Graubünden and Lombardia. Livigno and Sankt Moritz are the places to go. You'll find a solid base and fresh snow there. Wind from the north is kicking in!
• Good conditions in the north(west) of the Alps during the day.

It's a difficult weekend. If you don't want to drive too much, go for the areas around the Ecrins. The French holidays have not yet started and so it is still fairly quiet.

TIP, also read: Peak season, tips to ride powder

After the weekend: sun and a bit milder

A back of high pressure temporarily takes over after the weekend. It becomes sunny, but also milder. Dry air and sun is no problem for the snow cover. There will be a change in the air again in the middle of next week.

As wePowder Pro you get access to the 14-day snow and weather maps and the 14-day forecast per resorts (we've got all the resorts in the Alps covered). You never have to miss a dump anymore. When you are wePowder Pro you also have access to 1000+ inspirational freeride routes in the most beautiful freeride areas of the Alps. Sign up as wePowder Pro today. It works great for your karma as well and you'll support the development of the wePowder platform! Thanks!

Stay stoked, Morris