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How to Ski Through Fog & Cloud

Henry
Aug 14
4 min read

Updated: Aug 24

We've all been there; peering out from behind the chalet room curtain or stuck at the top of the mountain, watching the cloud and fog roll in around the resort. This is how to tackle this foe.

One day during my repping slot in Flaine last season, the fog rolled in like I had never seen before. I remember this day very clearly - we had had good snow overnight, but with it came thick cloud anchored to several key slopes in the Flaine and wider Grand Massif area. It waxed and waned over the course of the day, but generally hugged the slopes in a couple of areas.

The first of these was up high, as it came pouring up from the Chamonix Valley and into the Flaine Bowl. It hugged the top of the highest lifts, so we started the day staying low. Using the Tetes de Vers lift to get to half way was a smart choice, and we were able to enjoy the slopes on the lower half of the mountain.

This afternoon was a different story. Heading over towards Le Carroz, we encountered a lump of thick, grey, pea soup fog. This is cloud that had rolled up this little intermediate valley between Flaine and Le Carroz, and camped out at the head. It was impossible to avoid.

This is how to ski through fog and cloud.

Avoid It

This first suggestion may seem facetious, but it good navigation and awareness means you can ski to avoid the cloud and fog entirely.

Very rarely does cloud and fog cover the entire mountain from top to bottom; a resort's vertical will be big enough that probably about half of the skiing available will either be above or below the cloud.

The trick is work out where. Normally this is done simply by looking - is there cloud closing in the top of the mountain? Cool. Let's stick to slopes on the lower half of the mountain.

Quite often, however, cloud and fog will sit somewhere around mid-mountain, and it is that "somewhere" that needs be calculated.

The easiest way to do this is to hop on a long gondola; long so you can take in as much elevation as possible, and a gondola (or cable car) so you can turn around and download if it all looks too much. From there, ski high or low to avoid it.

A really good example of this was skiing in Laax this past winter. You can see from the pictures a thick band of cloud hugged mid-mountain. But Laax's main uplifts are long gondolas covering 1,000m vert each, allowing you to quickly and easily get on top of the cloud and survey the available skiing as you go. From there, the upper 1,000m of vert are yours to ski, safe in the knowledge that you won't ski into fog along the way.

Not only did we have 1,000m of cloud-free vert to enjoy, the views of the cloud inversion were spectacular to behold.

How to Ski Through It

Back to our cloudy day in Flaine, we were faced with a bigger problem. After being a cloudless, sun-filled couple of days to kick off this week, on this particular afternoon we encountered a lump of thick, grey, pea soup fog. This is cloud that had rolled up this little intermediate valley between Flaine and Le Carroz, and camped out at the head. It was impossible to avoid, and we were faced with no choice but to ski through it.

So how do you ski through thick fog?

First things first, slow everything down. The light is flat and the snow gets lost in the cloud. You can’t see the type and quality of snow you are about to ski across, so slow down to give yourself more time to react. You also can’t see where the slope ends or if there’s a fork in the road, so this is not the time to be speeding off.

Next, ski together. In dense fog, like we were skiing in on this day, it was very easy to lose our companions into the cloud. When you can only see twenty yards in front, it is really important to ski close with your companions to ensure this doesn’t happen. If you or a friend have a brightly coloured jacket, backpack, helmet or hood, consider placing them in front to more visible when leading a group.

Skiing slowly is key to being able to do this, to return to our first point. If you speed off unexpectedly, boom, you’re off into the fog and your friends can’t see you.

Finally, stick to the side of the piste at all times. Pistes are marked out by a series of poles placed at steady intervals – up to about 100m apart – that are colour coded to the piste you are on. You will also find regular reminders of the piste you're on through signs, as well as a “countdown” on these signs so you know how close to the bottom you are.

These are invaluable to know where you are, how close to the edge of the piste you are, and where to ski when you can't see more than a hundred metres in from of you; simply follow the markers from pole to pole.

There is also a really valuable bit of information on these poles. In France, the piste markers on the left-hand side of the piste are solid colours; on the right, they are topped off by band of bright orange. Similarly, in Switzerland, left-hand piste markers are topped off by a narrow band of orange, right-hand markers with a wide band of orange.

By skiing close to the side of the piste, you can work to keep the piste markers in view at all times. This will tell you where you are and give you an aiming point to keep going, knowing you are making progress the right way.

The back of a skier holding onto a piste marker — Right-hand piste markers in Switzerland have large orange bands at the top; left-hand markers a small band Plus a brightly coloured hood, jacket or other piece of gear makes you a useful marker to follow!

Final Thoughts

There comes a time in every ski trip when cloud closes in over all or part of the resort. And, as we try and make the most of our ski trip, we still want to strike out and enjoy our skiing. It is important to remember these top tips to ensure everyone gets home safe.