Last week I was on a regular trip to L’hospice du Grand-St-Bernard with a group from the UK. We made our way up in some fairly wild conditions with the customary wind driving down the pass blowing the falling snow into our faces!
On the way up I snapped this shot of the snow which shows the sand that’s fallen recently. It gets transported from the Sahara and it’s a fairly common occurrence. The impact it has on the conditions though is hugely variable as is often the case with snow, something that decreases stability on some occasions can be beneficial on other occasions. This time, around this area, it’s been broadly beneficial. The sand’s accompanied by some warmer air which, along with some cooler nights, has restructured the snow in a positive way. A more interesting effect, remarked upon by SLF, was that surface albedo was increased which means the snow absorbed more heat and further stabilised. None of which is a general rule, next time it could be quite different!
The next day though was glorious, clear skies, sunshine and a cold snap to air, just perfect weather to be high up in the alps! In fact, we’re not going that way just yet so we turn around and head over the lake.
We decide, instead of heading directly down, to explore one of the nearby valleys and enjoy some great untracked snow from one of the cols back towards the main trail.
And here’s a shot looking back towards the main trail from a side valley, the small building is the petit hospitalet which had been a welcome shelter on the way up on the previous day.
