A record winter?

According to friends and family, my hometown in the French Alps enjoyed a “record-breaking” snow level. Record-breaking?

Yes, according to some. Based on what though?

Nothing really tangible; just an impression, it seems. For me a record-breaking snow cover, in the seven decades I've been on this planet, transports me to the 69-70 winter and I have some pretty convincing photos to prove it.

On April 17, 1970, my brother and I went to our mountain village to remove snow from the family restaurant roof (A).

We can see what happened after we did this (B).

As we returned on May 10, 1970, there were still more than 12 feet of snow left (C).

Now, compare this to this year on April 17, 2018 (D) and you'll easily see that the difference isn't even close.







Bottom line: In the absence of photographs documenting a claim for snow depth, always be very skeptical!