Pack your thermal underwear!
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – We’re heading for the slopes shortly, so this will be short and sweet: a great weekend of skiing and snowboarding is out that for those who are ready to brave the cold.
Weather forecast, avalanche conditions, snow depth
Snow whipped off rooftops and swirled around village streets near Lake Geneva, Friday morning
From now until Tuesday: sunny skies with icy temperatures. Everywhere. Wild winds that are already whipping up Lake Geneva are likely to continue through the weekend, “adding to the impression of fierce cold”, says the national weather service, MeteoSwiss.
Temperatures of -10Cwith a high of -8 in Geneva Friday will keep falling, to -12 with a high of -6 by Sunday, and only -7 Tuesday.
Southern Alps areas and the Jura will be some of the cold spots, with La Chaux-de-fonds and Zermatt having overnight lows of -21C Saturday.
Strong winds, up to 55 and 65 kph over the weekend will build in strength, reaching 75kph in many areas and 95kph in Eastern Switzerland at the start of next week.
Snow depth
Small amounts of new snow have fallen in most mountain areas in the past three days. The depth at 2,000 metres throughout the Alps remains more than 200cm and will remain that way given the cold spell. The depth in the Jura is 20-50cm even at 1,200metres.
Avalanche risks are relatively low, 2/5 in most areas except northern Ticino, where it is 3/5.
Jura report
by Shirley Curran
Although the snow conditions are superb, it is extremely cold up on our local hills and the temperatures are due to drop every day until Sunday when we might expect a very slight rise, from the predicted -20C to minus 17! The bise wind is due to strengthen.
If you enjoy feathery light snow and extremely cold weather, this is the time to head for the Jura – but wrap up well and plan lots of stops for hot wine or hot chocolate. The cold is fearsome! As always, I recommend that you check the webcams and the website at Monts-Jura.com before you load up the car.
Alps report: sun and cold weather should provide some perfect skiing, but check resorts for wind closings before you head out, given that the wind is likely to pick up as the weekend goes on. Check our previous winter weekend snow and winter sports reports for links to a number of resorts.
Brought to you earlier than expected! Lifts opening, safety, weather, cars, new radio
La Loge, Jura, November 2010 (photo, Pauline, JC Cusin)
Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Our first real winter sports bulletin at GenevaLunch was scheduled for Friday 3 December, but the skies opened, the snow fell, the lift operators cheered, and we’ve decided to offer this to you earlier than planned. Visit us regularly on Fridays from now until April for our weekly weather and news linked to the Alpine world and winter sports.
Ski resorts open
A good starting place for information about Swiss ski resorts, if you’re unfamiliar with them, is the Swiss Tourism Office web site, which has a wealth of information. Note that historically their information about snow conditions is not up to date for all resorts, but maybe 2010-11 will see a change.
Jura
A number of ski resorts have already opened but be sure to check before you head there. The Jura, which has had snow steadily for over a week, already has a good base.
La Loge, Jura, November 2010 (photo, Pauline, JC Cusin)
The Monts Jura area issued this notice before Tuesday night’s fresh 20-plus cm of fresh snow: “Because of the recent snowfalls, the Monts Jura website is announcing the early opening of some of its installations. This weekend, there will be installations operating with reduced personnel at the Col de la Faucille and Crozet/Lélex and pistes open at La Vattay. Depending on snow conditions, these are the ones that will be running:
La Faucille: Télécombi and the Myrtilles skilift
Lélex: Catheline télécabine, the Loges six-place high-speed chairlift (if there is adequate snow at the summit), the Monthoisey skilift, Crozet Fierney télécabine, Télécorde, the Bergers chairlift
Vattay: Verte de la Vattay, Bleue de la Puthod, Petite Grand and Grande Grand, Noire de Divonne and Verte du Plateau.
Valais, Vaud
Olivia Nobs, three-time world champion snowboarder, leaves the sport due to lack of funding
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – An Olympic bronze medal in Vancouver in 2010 and the world vice-champion title last year, plus three career world championships to her name have not been enough to ensure Switzerland’s Olivia Nobs enough financial security so the snowboard top athlete can continue to perform this year.
The 28-year-old snowboarder’s surprise announcement that she is giving up competition underscores the difficulty of finding adequate funding, of women athletes in general and athletes of both genders who compete in sports other than the most popular.
Nobs, who lives in Lausanne, has been competing for Switzerland for 11 years.
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La Faucille, Jura (photo, ©2010: Shirley Curran)
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Snow began to make a serious appearance in the Swiss Alps and the Jura mountains over the weekend, leaving the first layers that are needed for a good skiing base. Jura skiers were already out Saturday and Sunday 20-21 November, at La Faucille. Cross-country skiers from the Lausanne area began training, while in Saas-Fee early season skiers have been having fun for a couple weeks.
GenevaLunch Friday 3 December begins its popular Friday winter weather and snow sports reports. Here’s a warm-up:
Geneva has a skiing first!
The Monts Jura will be hosting a women’s event, the FIS Coupe d’Europe de Ski Alpin Dames. This major event in the skiing calendar is coming to Geneva for the first time. The success of the Monts Jura resort in hosting the French championship competitions in 2009 and 2010 encouraged the European cup organizers to plan one stage of their competition there. The Swiss Ski Federation will be organizing Friday’s Super-Géant race and the French Ski Federation the Super-Combiné on Saturday in Crozet-Lélex, less than half an hour from the centre of Geneva.
Exceptionally, on Friday 11 February, skiers will be able to buy their day pass for 1€ at the Crozet lift. Pedestrians will be able to watch 140 world class skiers, travelling via Lélex on the Friday and the Saturday, also for 1€. Details on the Monts Jura web site.
Winter tires and chains reminder
Vercorin, canton Valais, Switzerland 21 November 2010, snowy peaks above village
Winter tires are not obligatory in Switzerland, but if you are in an accident and your summer tires or winter tires with worn treads are considered a factor, your insurance company and the judge might see fit to give you the bill.
France does not require them either, although some mountain districts do. Austria and Italy are the same. Winter tires are obligatory in Germany.
Make an appointment now, if you don’t yet have winter tires or want someone to change them for you, as garages get very busy with this work by the end of November.
Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A 14-year-old girl died in hospital after sustaining head injuries from an accident during training as part of the Russian junior snowboard team Friday morning 3 September. She was wearing a helmet and protective gear but apparently slipped while crossboarding and she landed on her head. She had trained on the course a number of times. Emergency teams immediately tried to revive her, without success, and she was rushed to the hospital in Visp, where she died.
Chamonix, 2009 Freeride World Tour competition (Margot)
Chamonix, France (GenevaLunch) - The Freeride World Tour’s second event has been confirmed for Sunday 31 January in Chamonix, with snow conditions considered “excellent”. The Tour, in its third year, has four major events plus 17 qualifying events during the winter.
The season kicked off last week in Russia and after Chamonix the riders move on to Squaw Valley in the US and they finish the season 20 March in Verbier with the “Xtreme”, an event often called the most prestigious in the world of extreme skiing and snowboarding.
The state of the AI en route to the mountains, glorious Jura snow
Weekend walk and circus special in Nyon, Swiss skiers and boarders
Jura (Crozet) Wednesday 20 January (image: S Curran)
Crozet with blue skies - Geneva in the fog below
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - It’s January, so expect a mix of Spring moments and sudden snow showers on the lakefront but pure winter goodness in the mountains this weekend.
Wednesday it snowed in Nyon and along the lakefront, throughout the week the Jura has thrived, as large amounts of the white stuff came down, and the Alps have had sunshine again after gloomy spells.
The road out of town
If you’re heading out of the Geneva area to the Swiss Alps be aware that this is the first weekend when the new A1 autoroute signaling system is open, adding a third lane in each direction between Morges and Lausanne. The system is very easy to follow and there have been no accidents since it was put in place Monday, but you do need to drive attentively, with other drivers sometimes surprised to find the system there. It operates only in the afternoons, until Monday 25 January when it goes into use full-time.
Weather forecast
Foreigners’ injuries falling, as part of whole for Swiss winter sports, avalanches biggest killers
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Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Foreign tourists are gradually becoming a smaller group among the total of those injured in winter sports in Switzerland, new statistics show.
BPA, the Swiss safety board, Monday 11 January issued its annual detailed statistics for non-work accidents: at home, doing sports, on the road.
Foreigners accounted for 40 percent of ski accident injuries, 18 percent of snowboard ones and 27 percent of injuries from other winter sports (average: 32 percent).
By comparison, the figures for 2003 were: 47, 29, 28 (average: 40 percent).
Foreigners accounted for 19 of the 39 deaths from winter sports in 2007, the most recent year noted, up from an average of 15 out of 40 deaths a year recorded for the five years from 2003 to 2007.
Knees for skiers, shoulders for snowboarders
Knees remain the most vulnerable body part for ski injuries, while shoulders and the upper arms are for snowboarders.
Weather and snow outlook for Alps, update on avalanches, non-ski options
Fresh snow in Switzerland's canton Valais: near Visp, 7 January 2010
Update 13:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Snow and cold have been taunting much of northern Europe for the past week, but the Swiss Alps have had only moderate amounts of fresh snow and little of the killer cold that has struck Britain and other regions. The worst snow news in the Swiss Alps in the past week has been several deaths and injuries from avalanches.
Winter in the Lake Geneva region offers more than just downhill skiing and snowboarding. Portable ice-skating rinks (list for Vaud) became popular two years ago and they have allowed a number of small towns to offer this to the public for affordable prices.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – It’s been years since the region has had a winter with such wonderful snow in the French and Swiss Alps and in the Jura.
Temperatures should be reasonable this weekend and mostly sunny skies are on order for the start of the weekend.
Carneval with its crazy costumes, confetti in the streets and marching brass bands is getting underway in many resort areas, particularly in the Catholic cantons.
At 1,000 metres above Sierre, 30cm of snow that have fallen since last weekend remains on the ground, fresh and still powdery. In the Jura, the snow base is deeper than it’s been in years.
Head for the great outdoors this weekend!
Weather forecast
From Meteoswiss: temperatures between 3 and 5C until Tuesday, with partly sunny skies Friday and Saturday, clouding over near Lake Geneva Sunday but remaining mostly sunny in the mountains on Sunday. North wind could become gusty in high areas starting Sunday.
Carving skis and speed
Switzerland’s largest accident insurer, Suva, a non-profit company, continues to visit resorts with a radar for skiers and videos that show the distance they need to stop, to help them understand the implications of their actual speeds – which in many cases turn out to be nearly fast as twice as the skiers’ estimates. This weekend, 20-21 February, they are at Adelboden.
Suva says that carving skis are partly to blame for the continuing increase in skiing accidents, which cost CHF209 million in 2006. Skiers find them so easy to use they are simply unaware of the speed at which they are moving.
Snowboarding accidents cost CHF33m in 2006. Suva’s site has a video that helps you draw your personal winter sports accident risk profile, with suggestions for how to lower your risk.
New Alpine blogger
James Cove, formerly of the BBC, is taking a year out to teach skiing in Verbier, and in the process he’s set up a web site, PlanetSki, with a blog, so if you’re looking for news from a site that’s really on-site (very few ski web sites are), we suggest you visit James.
Jura report
Small girl, large Jura skiscape
Also on site, Shirley Curran, with her weekly report for GenevaLunch: This week the unpacked snow on our upper slopes reached depths of over two metres. What more is there to say? We have frequent falls and the weather is likely to remain cold until Wednesday at least. All our lifts are running, as it is the French holiday period so queues are minimal.
My top tip is again the Refuge de la Loge, where, if you can shift the resident puss from the soft armchairs by the fire, you can enjoy the best hot wine on the mountain, or home baked cake or the plat du jour. Today it was a cheese and potato dish.
