New year, new snow in Les Arcs

Following significant snow overnight at all altitudes, the mountain is currently shrouded in cloud although there is the likelihood of some clear spells throughout the day (particularly early on). Visibility is therefore poor in some areas, although this can largely be avoided by changing elevation. From Tuesday night onwards we can expect heavy snow for at least two days. This may lead to some sectors, such as the Aiguille Rouge/Glacier du Varet becoming temporarily inaccessible. The freezing point has been shifting dramatically over the last few days and will continue to do so as blustery winds (turning strong on Wednesday) continue to affect the weather in the Alps. The pistes are therefore going to be predictably unpredictable for the immediate future. There will be powder though, lots of it.

Whilst the accompanying cloud and “flat” light can be inconvenient, fresh snow is always a benefit. Having seen 35cm of new snow across Les Arcs overnight, there is hittable powder in many areas (try the wealth of off-piste from the Col de la Chal down to Arc 2000, the powder fields below the Arpette lift or even the top section of Ecureuils (black run) above Plan Peisey). Unfortunately, influxes to snow can also make some areas unsafe, so some lifts will likely stay shut (Aiguille Rouge, Grand Col) and others open sporadically (Varet, Clocheret, Comborciere) for the next few days.

Even from Sunday to Monday, the conditions seemed to change considerably. There are a lot of factors affecting the pistes at present and conditions at different levels, or even different sides of the mountain, can be completely dissimilar. New Year’s week is always a busier time and more skiers do more turns; when it comes to steeper runs, more turns means more moguls, especially considering these regular dumps of snow. Even fairly innocuous areas, like the top of the Clocheret (red) run or the Lac (red) run into Edelweiss (blue) from the Col des Frettes have seen very lumpy conditions over the last couple of days. Despite the snow, places which are susceptible to wind (top of Clocheret, L’Arpette peak, middle of Cachette, top of Mont Blanc and start of Rêches) can have the top layer stripped off, making them quite hard. The shifting freezing level has made some of the lower runs slightly inconsistent, with a “rolling” top layer, where they have received “wet snow” and even sleet (below 1600m). Typically flat, higher altitude runs (like Edelweiss and Plan des Eaux) can actually be quite fast, due to the amount of traffic pressing down the snow. There really is something for everyone out there.