UKH

Hi all,

heading to Argentiere la Bessee in a couple of days and wondering if anyone has been there recently, or is there at the moment.

I've been looking at conditions.ice-fall.com.

From what I can gather, there's a lot of fresh snow about and conditions are thin! Just looking for some extra info.

Cheers!

In reply to Hidden:
If you have instagram: @nvalentine760 is out there climbing at the moment, putting up pictures. I'm sure he could inform you about conditions through pm.

Joe

In reply to JFraser123:

Awesome tip, he has a few photos up from the past few days!

Thanks man.

In reply to Hidden:

Warm temperatures and heavy snow are putting me off. Local Hostel Host suggests skiing. Disappointed.

In reply to Hidden:

It looks better towards the end of next week according to
https://www.yr.no/place/France/Provence-Alpes-C%C3%B4te_d%E2%80%99Azur/L�...

Early part of the week would be a good time to explotre the lesser known ski resorts in the area. They're not very extensive, but they're not very expensive and not very crowded ...

In reply to Hidden:

I was nearby in the Val Clarée & the Queyras over the holidays leaving on Tuesday. Lots of fresh snow and I don't think I've seen it so snowy at this time of year in some 20+ years of regular visits. Was XC skiing rather than climbing so no information on climbing conditions although temperatures were mostly negative the whole time we were there (& every night)

In reply to Doug:

Thanks for the info!

In reply to Hidden:

Hi Hidden

I live just out L'argentiere la Bessee, as others have said, we have had lots of snow at the start of this season, it has been quite heavy over the last week, last few days was cat 5 on the avalanche forecast, with an additional orange alert,
the fore cast for tomorrow has dropped down to a 3, but still at all heights and nearly all aspects, there is more snow forecast next week looks like a returning east, so the Queyras is looking to have the lions share this time.

Not been out on the ice so far this season to busy skiing and many of the climbing venues are at rick from avalanche from above,

a good app for the avalanche forecast is the metro ski one.

have a great trip stay safe

cheers Rob

In reply to Hidden:

You might try Aiguille Queyras. It's about 45 minutes drive away towards the border with Italy. 5 minutes from the centre up the river is a artificial ice fall that has been created by local guides running hoses at the top of the cliff. There's nothing spectracular but it does make for some amusing and realistic moves. The local bars are quite pleasant.