Hot Stuff

It has been so warm out here, the last 2 days late afternoon temperature at the flat has been around 15oC, at 11am it was 20oC on in the shade on the balcony. All this is having a terrible effect on the snow, which is going rapidly.

Yesterday was like skiing in setting cement lower down so today I headed high and went to Fornet at Val d’Isere for a cruisy afternoon. The high winds this season mean that it is pretty sparse high up and the wind since the last snowfall has meant loads of wind slab. There are avalanches everywhere, all plaques, particularly on north facing slopes…. And still I watched 2 boarders, traverse from Cugnai through avalanche debris and on to a slope of about the same angle and aspect as the one which had gone!!!! Suffice to say there were very few folk in the off piste today. Two massive avalanches on my side of the Aiguille Rouge yesterday, unfortunately produced a fatality. Thankfully the temperature is due to drop, either that or I may have to get my wet suit out, it is definitely water skiing in places.