Season Diary - Day 11

Henry

Dec 13, 20242 min read

Friday 13 December, 2024

The last day dawned as clear and bright as any other on this course that had seemed both, at different pointe, never ending and flashing by all too quickly.

The day before had finished on something of a down note. Free to enjoy ourselves after completing the assesment day, we had let off steam, cruising around the resort on our afternoon of avalanche safety skills and, to be really honest, ignoring the prerequisites of skiing to policy and trying our best to be the best Reps we could be.

After the 11th hour hiding we took from the guide, we were determined to make this day a success. We set off to question the one answer we held with any certainty: terrain.

In effect, any avalanche problem that you face - weak layers, new snow, wind blown snow, terrain traps - can be solved by choosing better terrain in the first place.

Avalanches only occur on slopes between 30 and 45° angle. A simple avalanche is made more complex by the terrain it occurs in; will you be swept off a cliff or on to rocks if a small avalanche catches and carries you here?

Therefore, if we can avoid terrain that is in the "goldilocks" zone of 30-45°, and can avoid terrain below a slope of this elevation (thus avoiding being avalanched on to from above), we could pretty well guarantee that we would not be involved in an avalanche.

Some of by best skiing days have been days when we've had to answer this question. In March 2024, just over the hill in Val D'Isere, we lapped the same low-angle tree run time after time - our terrain answer to a high avalanche forecast higher up the hill. Trees are an anchor, which means destructive avalanche rarely start below the treeline (not careful word choice) and higher up the hill exposes the snow to greater wind drifting, adding to the avalanche problem.

On this, the very final day of the course, we set off down Familial and towards La Daille, sticking to the sidecountry the whole way. We discussed some slopes that are avalanche prone, including one towards the end of Familial that we had seen avalanche when I was doing this part of the course a few years earlier. We discussed terrain choices, what 30° looks like, and how to make sure your answer of "terrain" is always the correct one.

After this afternoon of skiing, we headed back to Tigne. We shared a beer or three at the Loop, then went back to the hotel to find out we'd all passed the course, some with more flying colours than others.

I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by this time in Tignes. I've learned to respect the mountain and draw the best out of my fellow skiers in a way I wouldn't have been able to do before.

A newly minted Ski Club Rep, coming soon to a ski slope near you!