Morzine Snow Report: 15th December 2011

The worry today was lack of visibility to take advantage of all that fresh snow. Plus the high winds having potential to close some of the lifts, not to mention the effect it may have had on the snow. The local knowledge pointed to a Linderets tree skiing day. We needed the contrast from the trees to get some visibility and Linderets happened to be on the lee side of the mountain, a happy coincidence.

We were back on my preferred mountain access strategy of Super Morzine followed by the Zore télésiège; no cars or buses if at all possible. A little ski down an easy cat track and then a lift via the Proclou chair had us standing on the ridge with Avoriaz on one side and Linderets on the other. The howling wind was biblical, blasting the snow into any un-movable object. We were quickly on the move in the direction of Linderets.

Initially we opted for a warm up down the red Tannes piste, it may as well have been off piste as the snow was deep although a little more packed down and skied. It was great fun letting the skis run and busting through the mounds of un-touched fresh snow liberally dotted around.

We could not get back to the top of the hill quick enough, that first little taster assured us the snow was fantastic and the visibility surprisingly good, I think in the main due to being out of the wind therefore nothing was getting blown around. The Express Linderets took the strain and we were quickly back at the top ready for another run, this time off piste.

All the usual caveats apply to off piste, even though a marked run might be in sight there is a risk of avalanche and therefore you need the appropriate equipment and to be competent in using it. More importantly you need to assess whether it is safe to go off piste (always a relative concept) in the first place, you should check the signs indicating the avalanching risk and ideally use a guide if you want to venture away from it all. See our guide to Staying Safe this Winter.

We dropped down under the lift line and found really deep light snow, each little change of direction had snow billowing in our faces. There was not a hint of breaking through to the underlying layers. With each run down (we repeated a similar line all morning) we gained a little more confidence and therefore speed and aggression – the skiing conditions really were brilliant.

That’s my second powder day in a week. Tuesday was similar but not quite up to today’s epic standards. It looks like there is more to come, it’s still snowing as I type and the forecast for the coming days is very promising. Friday is set to snow heavily all morning and then ease slightly for a final total of around 40-60cm! The temperatures are set to stay very cold which will keep all that lovely snow in great condition.

Bon Ski