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02/10/2011
Issue 61

Sunshine with a possible chance of heavy snowfalls (maybe)

With only a couple of weeks before the London Ski show kicks off England is bathed in an unusual hot spell (for England) and certain thoughts go towards the weather this coming winter. Will there be a record downfall of snow or will the Verdons start to look brown come the end of March?

Anyone who looks in a dictionary will find the definition of forecast is basically guessing. A weather forecast is just a guess albeit with the help of a lot of satellites, Doppler radars and supercomputers. In the mountains these forecasts (sorry guesses) become fairly unreliable on anything greater than 3 days. England isn’t any better, before I got my shorts out again, I remember the Met office predicting heavy snow falls in October. Now I know it’s only the first day of the month but I’m not feeling like I need a jacket and shovel.

In the old days the weather would be fairly absolute in it’s guesses. “It WILL rain” “It WON’T snow”. Nowadays, and possibly to hedge their bets, they might say “65% chance of rain” what ever that means? “99% chance of sunshine” still means it could rain and if it did then the meteorologists could say they were correct (sort of).

Of course it is well known in the mountains the locals have something far more accurate than all the technology owned by the British Met office and Meteo France put together. They have a commune of geriatric sooths who read natures own signs and prophesize based on the feelings in their arthritic joints. It’s quite reminiscent of an intricate antique machine I saw in my youth while being dragged around a museum on a typically damp Whitby summers day.

Dr Merryweather Tempest Prognosticator, to give it its full name, was invented in the 19th century using leeches as barometers. The twelve leeches inside the device; when they become agitated by an approaching storm they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer, which strikes a bell. All very Heath Robinson I hear you say but true.

So is it all eyes on a mystic marmotte call Phillipe who lives just below the Saulier cable car to see when he disappears down his burrow or should we be warned when grand-père Eric goes to the doctor to refresh his arthritis medicine?

For the ski industry in general, all this meteorical indecision is not a good thing. Thinking about buying a ski holiday or a new pair of salopettes is difficult with blue skies and high 20s temperatures. What we need now is some typical London autumnal weather involving a sudden drop in temperature followed by strong winds and heavy rain. That should give people wintery thoughts.

For the diehard seasonnaires the wait is of course exacerbated as soon as the current crop of ski movies come out showing hours of footage of skiers on some unknown mountain in the middle of nowhere up to their chests in perfect fluffy pow. So I'm off to put my copy of Maltese Flamingo and Blizzard of Ahhs into the dvd player.

The editor

London Ski Show

The Ski & Snowboard Show returns in its new home, Earls Court from 19 - 23 October 2011

Welcome to the greatest wintersports show in the world. We manage to squeeze over 160 ski resorts, 22 different retailers, a 50ft hip kicker, fashion show & brand arena, live music, 4 bars, 230 shops and stands plus loads more attractions into Earls Court for just five days.

The show is essential for any snowsports fans from professionals to beginners, prepare to be amazed, be entertained, be wowed and get the best value for money at the Ski & Snowboard Show 19-23 October 2011.