Snow for the Euros.

[bobinch]

I would try to get in touch with Joe Vallone (guide) or Ray Hughes (aspirant guide) on Facebook. The skiers lodge may be able to point you in the right direction.
.

Thanks Foggy. Sorted with skiers lodge. Joe said he was fully booked from November!

[m-ruta]

The gf is competing at Freestyle World Champs in Sierra Nevada mid March and I'm not one to turn down an excuse to go to Spain. The plan as it stands is to hang there for a few days while she does her thing, then spend a few weeks hunting for snow before she has to be in Milan at the end of the month.

Should we even bother considering skiing around Sierra Nevada this season? Conditions reports seem limited and webcams seem to show patch skiing anywhere but the groomers, but then it looks like the kind of place that may always be patch skiing. It seems like a rad area and it would be sweet to tour around a bit if conditions allow.

After that, where would you folks recommend going that has some snow? We're really hoping to tour rather than pay for lift tickets, although we'd be willing to take the occasional lift if it got us to some decent skiing.

Or should we just pack the climbing gear?

[rod9301]

The pyrenees have a normal amount if snow, and March is forecasted to be wet.
I'm in the French pyrenees, but the Spanish ones are closer.

Great steep terrain. Andorra too.

[GBB]

It's been too long since I've poked my head in here. However, I'm headed to the promised land next week and will be looking to make some turns with the girlfriend. We'll be based in Innsbruck visiting non-skiing friends but will be looking to escape for 2-3 days.

Most of my Yurp skiing has been in the Dolomites with a few days in the Vorarlberg and Oberbayern / Ost Allgaü. St. Anton is the leading favorite right now with the pending forecast and considering the fact that neither of have skied there.

What say ye sagacious locals?

[freak]

The gf is competing at Freestyle World Champs in Sierra Nevada mid March and I'm not one to turn down an excuse to go to Spain. The plan as it stands is to hang there for a few days while she does her thing, then spend a few weeks hunting for snow before she has to be in Milan at the end of the month.

Should we even bother considering skiing around Sierra Nevada this season? Conditions reports seem limited and webcams seem to show patch skiing anywhere but the groomers, but then it looks like the kind of place that may always be patch skiing. It seems like a rad area and it would be sweet to tour around a bit if conditions allow.

After that, where would you folks recommend going that has some snow? We're really hoping to tour rather than pay for lift tickets, although we'd be willing to take the occasional lift if it got us to some decent skiing.

Or should we just pack the climbing gear?

Id recommend to at least try skiing the sierra nevada. they have a pretty good winter this year and march can offer great corn conditions (with a bit of luck). afterwards the pyrenees are of course closer than the alps, but if you are driving to milan anyways you will pass the western/southwestern alps (and pyrenees) anyways, so it would be easy to check different places out more or less along the way.

It's been too long since I've poked my head in here. However, I'm headed to the promised land next week and will be looking to make some turns with the girlfriend. We'll be based in Innsbruck visiting non-skiing friends but will be looking to escape for 2-3 days.

Most of my Yurp skiing has been in the Dolomites with a few days in the Vorarlberg and Oberbayern / Ost Allgaü. St. Anton is the leading favorite right now with the pending forecast and considering the fact that neither of have skied there.

What say ye sagacious locals?

Incredibly bad season here, pretty much still skiing on rocks everywhere. Situation is improving very slowly with the recent (and forecasted) snowfalls, st. anton has a bit more snow than the resorts directly around innsbruck, the snow situation is not great there as well (great nowhere around here though). If you have only three days and are staying in innsbruck anyways, the best thing would be to decide on short notice depending on weather and snow conditions.

freak~[&]

[Rossymcg]

It's been too long since I've poked my head in here. However, I'm headed to the promised land next week and will be looking to make some turns with the girlfriend. We'll be based in Innsbruck visiting non-skiing friends but will be looking to escape for 2-3 days.

Most of my Yurp skiing has been in the Dolomites with a few days in the Vorarlberg and Oberbayern / Ost Allgaü. St. Anton is the leading favorite right now with the pending forecast and considering the fact that neither of have skied there.

What say ye sagacious locals?

Keep checking on wepowder for snow coming and coverage, then decide on arrival

[GBB]

Incredibly bad season here, pretty much still skiing on rocks everywhere. Situation is improving very slowly with the recent (and forecasted) snowfalls, st. anton has a bit more snow than the resorts directly around innsbruck, the snow situation is not great there as well (great nowhere around here though). If you have only three days and are staying in innsbruck anyways, the best thing would be to decide on short notice depending on weather and snow conditions.

freak~[&]

Keep checking on wepowder for snow coming and coverage, then decide on arrival

Confirmed my suspicions. Thanks for the feedback.

[PaDuKa]

A slight thread drift but probably not worthy of its own. The wife and I are considering a trip to check out the Dolomites next September (coming from Colorado) before heading further south. I am curious if anybody has an opinion on the best place to fly in and how to get around. It looks like Innsbruck or Venice are the most convenient airports and then we were considering renting a car versus rely on a bus and/or train however this may be a terrible idea. Any thoughts?

Also, I wanted to spend a day or two checking out some of the via ferrata's in the area. We are both experienced climbers but neither of us have climbed/hiked a via ferrata. Is it worth hiring a guide or is it fairly straight easy to rent gear there and complete a few moderate lines on our own? In addition to a harness and normal hiking gear, it looks like we will need the specialized lanyard, gloves, and helmet. It seems that some people also bring a rope and gear to improvise a belay and/or rappel, but is this really necessary on the well traveled routes?

[Alkares]

I did a couple via ferrata last summer on Cristallo (Cortina), was super mellow, i only had the ferrata harness/lanyard, no gloves were really needed where i was, but you could surely bring some if you feel the need. If you're experienced climbers id recommend just looking for route info on the net, or grab a guidebook. There are a ton of awesome hiking routes in the area and most are well documented. There are also quite a few huts you can stay at overnight.

Dont miss Lago di Sorapis if you're in the area, most amazing color of a lake that i've ever seen.

P.S. Fly into Milan and rent a car, you dont wanna rely on public transport in that area as its not the most reliable and takes forever to get anywhere with.

[klar]

A slight thread drift but probably not worthy of its own. The wife and I are considering a trip to check out the Dolomites next September (coming from Colorado) before heading further south. I am curious if anybody has an opinion on the best place to fly in and how to get around. It looks like Innsbruck or Venice are the most convenient airports and then we were considering renting a car versus rely on a bus and/or train however this may be a terrible idea. Any thoughts?

Also, I wanted to spend a day or two checking out some of the via ferrata's in the area. We are both experienced climbers but neither of us have climbed/hiked a via ferrata. Is it worth hiring a guide or is it fairly straight easy to rent gear there and complete a few moderate lines on our own? In addition to a harness and normal hiking gear, it looks like we will need the specialized lanyard, gloves, and helmet. It seems that some people also bring a rope and gear to improvise a belay and/or rappel, but is this really necessary on the well traveled routes?

You can make it work with public transport but will probably have significantly more fun renting a car. Doesn't really matter which of the closer airports you pick.

For experienced climbers I don't see why you would need a guide to do via ferratas. Finding rental gear should not be a problem, it has become very popular in recent years and shops have adjusted accordingly. Do an easy-ish one to start with and you'll figure out pretty quickly what it is about and whether or not you like it. People typically bring ropes for extra safety if they have kids or very inexperienced people along for the more challenging routes. The issue with via ferratas is that you are not supposed to fall. If you do manage to actually fall into the line in a way where you end up dangling from the lanyard (unlikely), you will not die because you are attached to the line but it will be unpleasant (falls are unlikely to be "clean") and you will quite likely have further problems (think hanging from rope bridge/ off overhanging cliff by the lanyard - how are you going to get back up?). This risk can be mitigated by using a normal belay in some key places. Some routes get very crowded, at times with very inexperienced people who consider even the very challenging via ferratas an extended hiking trail. This can be fairly stressful. Not trying to put you off via ferratas, they can be quite fun, just saying. Many are indeed super mellow and you may not even feel the need to use the harness/lanyard combo. The grading system is reasonably well established and will give you an idea of what to expect.

[klar]

The gf is competing at Freestyle World Champs in Sierra Nevada mid March and I'm not one to turn down an excuse to go to Spain. The plan as it stands is to hang there for a few days while she does her thing, then spend a few weeks hunting for snow before she has to be in Milan at the end of the month.

Should we even bother considering skiing around Sierra Nevada this season? Conditions reports seem limited and webcams seem to show patch skiing anywhere but the groomers, but then it looks like the kind of place that may always be patch skiing. It seems like a rad area and it would be sweet to tour around a bit if conditions allow.

After that, where would you folks recommend going that has some snow? We're really hoping to tour rather than pay for lift tickets, although we'd be willing to take the occasional lift if it got us to some decent skiing.

Or should we just pack the climbing gear?

missed this earlier. the sierra nevada is fun and there is some good potential for corn touring. the season so far hasn't been too bad snow wise. typically you'd want to take a lift up or skin up the resort and then tour from there and later return to the resort. other than the resort, access points are pretty limited. i spent a couple of days there last april: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-Sierra-Nevada

the sport climbing in the area is great and granada the town is also great. really nice place to hang out in general and march is nice because it's not too hot yet.



edit: bad news out of courmayeur, hope you all are ok. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39143909

[m-ruta]

Thanks all, really appreciate the feedback. Stoked!

[Rossymcg]

edit: bad news out of courmayeur, hope you all are ok. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39143909[/QUOTE]
Any news on the victims? Someone mentioned they saw a gang of teenagers going past an avalanche danger sign in the direction where the slide occurred, whilst riding the lift. Then not long after heard the slide

[klar]

Not really, I've read that one German, one Belgian and one Italian national died. five other people were dug out in some form and taken to the hospital. reports are saying that 18 in total were somehow caught in the slide (?).

[PaDuKa]

You can make it work with public transport but will probably have significantly more fun renting a car. Doesn't really matter which of the closer airports you pick.

For experienced climbers I don't see why you would need a guide to do via ferratas. Finding rental gear should not be a problem, it has become very popular in recent years and shops have adjusted accordingly. Do an easy-ish one to start with and you'll figure out pretty quickly what it is about and whether or not you like it. People typically bring ropes for extra safety if they have kids or very inexperienced people along for the more challenging routes. The issue with via ferratas is that you are not supposed to fall. If you do manage to actually fall into the line in a way where you end up dangling from the lanyard (unlikely), you will not die because you are attached to the line but it will be unpleasant (falls are unlikely to be "clean") and you will quite likely have further problems (think hanging from rope bridge/ off overhanging cliff by the lanyard - how are you going to get back up?). This risk can be mitigated by using a normal belay in some key places. Some routes get very crowded, at times with very inexperienced people who consider even the very challenging via ferratas an extended hiking trail. This can be fairly stressful. Not trying to put you off via ferratas, they can be quite fun, just saying. Many are indeed super mellow and you may not even feel the need to use the harness/lanyard combo. The grading system is reasonably well established and will give you an idea of what to expect.

Thanks for the info. I wouldn't mind getting out on some actual rock routes, but it is really not that kind of trip and we will be packing light. Are the more popular routes crowded even during the week? My other option would be to rent a mountain bike for a day or two. How is the mtbing in the area?

[PaDuKa]

I did a couple via ferrata last summer on Cristallo (Cortina), was super mellow, i only had the ferrata harness/lanyard, no gloves were really needed where i was, but you could surely bring some if you feel the need. If you're experienced climbers id recommend just looking for route info on the net, or grab a guidebook. There are a ton of awesome hiking routes in the area and most are well documented. There are also quite a few huts you can stay at overnight.

Dont miss Lago di Sorapis if you're in the area, most amazing color of a lake that i've ever seen.

P.S. Fly into Milan and rent a car, you dont wanna rely on public transport in that area as its not the most reliable and takes forever to get anywhere with.

That lake looks insane. Will add it to the list.

[herr_stoiber]

Thanks for the info. I wouldn't mind getting out on some actual rock routes, but it is really not that kind of trip and we will be packing light. Are the more popular routes crowded even during the week? My other option would be to rent a mountain bike for a day or two. How is the mtbing in the area?

Don't worry about the ferratas. You will be fine, just rent gear and give it a go. Much less crowds during the week and you will get a feel for the area and difficulty ratings very quickly.

Mountain biking anywhere in the Italian Alps is more than awesome and the Dolomiti offer some insane trails. There are a few bike parks but if you don't need lift access then there is so much to do. Only thing to be aware of when scanning the www for trail descriptions is make sure they fit your skill level. 99% of the riding is done on un-groomed hiking trails and there is a tendency for people here to consider highly technical riding the norm. As I said this really depends on what you're used to but should be considered so you don't end up walking 95 of the 100 tornanti (switchbacks) of your chosen trail.

[rod9301]

Don't worry about the ferratas. You will be fine, just rent gear and give it a go. Much less crowds during the week and you will get a feel for the area and difficulty ratings very quickly.

Mountain biking anywhere in the Italian Alps is more than awesome and the Dolomiti offer some insane trails. There are a few bike parks but if you don't need lift access then there is so much to do. Only thing to be aware of when scanning the www for trail descriptions is make sure they fit your skill level. 99% of the riding is done on un-groomed hiking trails and there is a tendency for people here to consider highly technical riding the norm. As I said this really depends on what you're used to but should be considered so you don't end up walking 95 of the 100 tornanti (switchbacks) of your chosen trail.

How true about highly technical trails. I'm in the French pyrenees, and trails are highly technical and scary, mostly due to switchbacks.

[twat]

[peds]

What the pissnipples are we going to do with all this snow?!

[peds]

What the pissnipples are we going to do with all this snow?!

Don't worry, I found the answer.

[subtle plague]

Lemme guess: you melted it with your radioactive laser eyes.

[geo039]

Don't worry, I found the answer.

Slushy snow cones? Hope everyone is enjoying the snow. Stuck here until Sat

[peds]

Lemme guess: you melted it with your radioactive laser eyes.

Nah, that's not until Friday.

https://instagram.com/p/BRWOyCRgEqV/

[McDee]

Baldric is such a fun dog! Always makes me smile when he's bringing the stoke. Does he stay chill in that harness all the time?