Conditions Report
Report from February 12, 2026
Deep.
Not much else needs to be said.
Oh, and 5/5 (Extreme) avalanche danger.
There was hardly anyone out. Even fewer than the previous day, and that day had already felt empty.
Our plan was simple:
-
Ski the exact same lines as the previous day
-
Avoid any terrain with overhead hazard
-
Keep everything small, controlled, and manageable
Skiing the same lines again felt good. We knew the terrain. We knew the exposure. We knew where we could exist safely.
I started the day with my new friend Eric from Lyon.
It was nuking snow. Harder than Wednesday. Colder, too. The snow wasn’t sticking to the goggles as much, which made everything easier.
We dug a pit, ran some tests, and confirmed the instabilities in the snowpack.
We could see our old tracks.
I dropped in, made two ski cuts. Nothing moved.
I committed.
The snow was deep, dry, and delicious.
Eric followed and we zipped out of there.
Back on top, I decided to test a small funnel zone with slightly more avalanche potential. A ski cut there produced a shallow mini-avalanche that moved slowly and didn’t propagate far.
That zone skied preposterously deep.
We continued working the ridge like this until we’d skied everything we’d skied the day before.
On the other side of the chair was a fun zone we’d hit previously, but it had overhead hazard. We skipped it entirely without hesitation.
In the afternoon, we tried one final run off a nearby chair, but honestly, the terrain just wasn’t steep enough. We dribbled down the mountainside like melted butter in a hot pan.
By about 1:30 p.m., we were done.
We’d gotten in, gotten out, moved carefully, and done everything right.
Everyone was happy.
The snow was ridiculously deep, and we all wore dirt-eating grins.
We quit while we were ahead, and that felt exactly right.
The Fahrenheit Seven hotel was incredibly kind.
Even though we’d checked out before 9 a.m., they let us use the spa, sip on tea, snack on walnuts, goji berries, and raisins, enjoy the sauna, shower, reorganize our gear, pack up, and even meet with the Les 3 Vallées marketing manager inside their facilities.
From there, we drove down to Bourg-Saint-Maurice at the base of Les Arcs ski area.
Our plan for the next day was to visit the secret gem: Sainte-Foy Tarentaise ski resort.
Merci, la France.
