How to start this blog? I’m trying to find positives to help encourage you all however it’s a little hard. Hang on, here’s one, we’re open! There are more than enough resorts in the Alps that cannot claim that. Here’s another one, we had 10-15cm of snow on Monday night, which made the skiing on Tuesday very nice indeed.

Since then the temperatures have reverted back to being at the wrong end of the thermometer. Yesterday we experience a temperature inversion, which meant that it was colder in the valley than it was up here in Sauze.

Temperature inversions can be caused when less dense warm air moves over more dense cold air, typically this happens near warm fronts. We seem to have been in the relentless grip of a very dominate high pressure moving towards us from the Atlantic which is not only bringing with it warm air but it seems that it is also preventing the cold air associated with the low pressure over Scandinavia from reaching us.

This Scandinavian low pressure is bringing lots of snow to places like Norway and Scotland. I’m glad for Scotland as I have fond memories of skiing there but I’d like to see some of that magical white stuff reach us, not at the expense of Scotland though. Scrub that, it’s time to be selfish!

Today (Friday) is typical spring conditions. With the warmer temperatures yesterday causing the snow to soften, it then froze over night and remains hard even now (lunchtime). I’ve experience almost the full range of snow conditions this week, which just proves that things can change extremely quickly up in the mountains. It’s also very hard to predict with any certainty what the weather will do. We can land on a comet after a 10 year journey but it seems we cannot second guess the weather.

Later today we will hear from the lift company if they are opening any more lifts this weekend. I have noticed that they have been preparing the pistes in the area that provides the link to Sestriere and also test running lifts, which I’m taking as an encouraging sign. This will open up the area and provide a much needed change of scenery for those that have been here for a few days already. I will post on social media as soon as they make the announcement so please keep an eye out.

I don’t want to alarm anyone but I don’t want to sugar coat the situation either. It isn’t the best start we’ve had but at least we’ve started.