Whiteout

A whiteout happens when the cloud cover or mist is so dense that the poor light intensity coming from above is the same as the light intensity coming from the snow.  No shadows fall and therefore the snow loses contrast and you can no longer distinguish the ground from the sky.  You can't tell how steep the slope is or if there are any moguls on it.  You can't tell how fast you're going.  You can't see the edge of the piste.  You can't see the piste markers.  You can't see any other people.  You have to feel your way down and it's almost like skiing with your eyes closed.

Today, if you hadn't guessed yet, we had a whiteout.  It was fantastic!  The poor weather keeps the vast majority of muggles indoors.  We've had light snow for the last 24 hours so the snow itself was great.  Unfortunately, we've also had rain above Avoriaz, so it's turned a bit slushy, but it's still good.  We skied until 17:50 today, the latest day so far, and it was still very light even with the thick cloud cover.

To give you an idea of what a whiteout is really like, i thought i'd include this video of Natalie skiing away from me.  You can get some sense of how isolated you feel and how important it is to stick together.