Morzine Snow Report: 14th February 2013

Tuesday saw some fantastic powder conditions all over Les Portes du Soleil, but with clouds and snow over most of the area. The sun made brief appearances throughout the day, but for most of day the visibility was poor and the snow fantastic.

Wednesday was the kind of day where when you dropped into the clouds, you were completely engulfed. I was skiing down pistes from pole to pole due to the thickness of the fog. I met a skier half way down a red run who was completely lost, and as he was right in the middle of the run and couldn’t see the piste markers. He had no idea where he was and asked to follow me down. Remember if you are lost in the clouds at any point. The piste markers with the neon tops on them are on the right hand side of the piste, and the ones with out are on the left. This is useful to know so that you don’t end up off the piste and somewhere unpleasant when the weather is bad.

The outlook for the next couple of days is looking a lot brighter and with less cloud around, we should get a chance to enjoy all the fresh snow that’s fallen. Valentines Day - Thursday - is set to bright in the morning with warmer temperatures, (around -5 with wind chill at mid level). The temperature is set to be similar in the afternoon, but with light cloud cover moving in and light snow into the night. The light snow and milder temperatures are set to continue into Friday morning, petering out in the afternoon and the sun will start to peek through again. Saturday, Sunday and Monday are set to be sunny with continued milder temperatures. The wind speeds are set to be low for the rest of the week and the freezing level will be at over five hundred meters and mostly at over a thousand meters. This means it will be mild for the whole of next week. Remember your sun cream this week, even when it’s cloudy.

As we’re now well into February, and the holidays are fully upon us, the resort is going to be busy. The worst hit areas are going to be the Lindarets bowl, between Avoriaz and Chatel, and any central area’s of the resorts. Central Morzine and Avoriaz are going to be rammed full of people, so the easiest ways to avoid this is to avoid these areas. If you are based in Les Gets and looking for a break from the crowds, head over to Mont Chery. It’s a little used, but great area to ski, and it’s usually very quiet. If you’re in Avoriaz, then it’s probably best to head over to the Swiss side, It’s also less used and offers some great skiing. Morzine is a more difficult place to avoid the crowds. As you’re already in central Les Portes du Soleil, the best idea is to get up for first lifts and head further afield as soon as you can. The lift from Les Prodains is a great one to use to get up to Avoriaz, and you can get a bus to the Ardent Gondola, straight into the Lindarets bowl, which is also a good escape.

Lunch is another dilemma completely, as I’ve mentioned in previous reports. The trick to getting a quick lunch is to avoid peak meal times, or take a packed lunch with you.

On that note, I’m about to have dinner in a very snowy Chatel.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I hope you get to enjoy it on a snow topped mountain under sunny skies with me.

It should be a great day to be on the hill tomorrow.

Bon ski!