Funival Rearview

True to the forecast it was outrageously warm today, but the pistes were surprisingly good to ski (the ones I chose anyway). One result of the warm temperatures is that there are no longer any icy patches on the pistes; they're all soft and squishy.

Another result for the rest of the mountains is that the snow is avalanching off all the steep slopes, especially the ones that have taken a lot of sun; you can see this everywhere.

Incredible then that today a group with a guide chose to ski the Face du Charvet late in the morning. It's a steep slope which has taken a lot of sun by that time. Not so surprising that they got avalanched, and one of them swept over the cliffs - eventually rescued and helicoptered to hospital.

Henry was on the scene; you can see his video footage here:Face du Charvet Avalanche 1.4.2011

I don't know how many avalanches there have been here recently, but it seems like an awful lot.

Oh well.