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Snow Report Summary
It's pretty mild in The Alps at the moment, but temperatures will fall to seasonal averages by the start of next week - and enough snow to freshen the pistes will come to most parts by Tuesday.
This Week's Headlines:
* More Heavy Snow for parts of Western and Southern Alps and Dolomites at weekend.
* Some US resorts forced to close for several days due to extremely low temperatures.
* Sochi snow conditions appear good for the Olympics
* Scottish areas keep operating through extremes of British weather.
* Austria Needs More Snow.
* World's deepest reported snow base hits 4m mark.
After a wave of snow across the alps and dolomites at the weekend it has been a fairly quiet week of largely clear skies and warmer-than-we'd-like temperatures. Conditions remain 'middling' at most areas with enough snow on the pistes in most cases but not so much off. It's also important to note that the roller coaster weather conditions and temperature changes have led to unstable snowpacks away from the groomed runs in places and there have been avalanche deaths reported on both sides of the Atlantic.
North America has, as widely reported, enjoyed weather extremes this week with ultra cold temperatures leading to widespread resort closures for safety reasons. Cold has not translated in to huge snowfalls however, although conditions are generally OK to good, except on the West coast where the drought continues.
Sochi 2014
With the Olympics starting four weeks tomorrow it seems timely to check the snow conditions in Sochi! So far they seem to be looking better than Vancouver did this time four years ago in the run up to the 2010 Games, when the Canadians ended up with a convoy of lorries bringing snow from higher elevations to the slopes of Cypress Mountain. The snow is reported 75cm deep at Rosa Khutor, venue for Alpine racing events at Sochi. Temperatures are a few degrees above zero at the base and minus two at the top with no fresh snow recently and none expected in the next 72 hours.
You can keep an eye on the snow there with our recently added Snow Report for Rosa Khutor.
Off Piste Danger - Take Extra Care
Critically weak and unstable layers from early season, remain in the snowpack, there have been more tragedies in The Alps since our last email, and French and Swiss authorities have again stressed the danger of avalanches.
Dangerous snow slabs, even on low-angled slopes, will persist well into the season.
If you're looking to leave the pistes at all; take local advice before doing so, check the avalanche bulletin in resort and take extra care on all slopes. Wear a transceiver, carry a shovel and a probe, and do not ski alone - hire a guide if you do not know the resort.
Additionally, the off-piste snowpack is thinner than usual in much of the Northern Alps, with many hidden (and not-so-hidden) hazards of rocks and ice.
The Alps
Austria
Unfortunately Austrian resorts continue to need a good top up of snow, but there is something of a fight back being staged by the tourist bodies who promote them who generally acknowledge that although conditions are not great – most runs are open and most pistes are in good shape. Some, generally higher, resorts have perfectly adequate snow cover – if not very thick cover at lower elevations. Solden, for example, has more than two metres of snow lying on its glaciers, but only a few centimetres of cover at resort level. There was quite a lot of snow on Monday/Tuesday however across many of the main ski regions. Many areas got 5-10cm with Katschberg reporting a full 25cm in 24 hours. Cover is thinnest at the Skiwelt with 20-40cm, Kitzbuhel reports 30-80cm.
France
After some fairly significant snowfalls in the French Alps at the weekend (Avoriaz claimed 58cm in 24 hours), when almost all resorts reported 10-30cm of new snow, it has been dry and a little too warm for most this week. Snow cover is good, particularly at altitude, at most French resorts however – the vast majority with 120-180cm lying, for Chamonix it's 1.5m and Alpe d'Huez claims the deepest at 2.1m . Down at resort it's a bit less impressive, particularly at the lower traditional resorts rather than the altitude centres with 15cm at Plagne Montalbert and 20cm in Megeve for example.
Italy
Italian ski areas have fared amongst the best of the European nations for fresh snow in the past week with the weekend snowfalls particularly generous on the southern side of the Alps. Passo Tonale is suddenly claiming, as it often does, the continent's (and currently the world's) deepest snow at 4m (the first 4m report of 2014-15) and Madesimo, which has been reporting big snowfalls all week, is not far behind at 3.5m. It was among resorts that reported big falls on Sunday that also included Foppolo (50cm), Pejo (40cm) which on the east side of the country Limone reported 20cm of fresh, Bardonecchia 50cm.
Switzerland
Swiss resorts have also reported some good snow falls in the last week. Leysin, Verbier and Gstaad all reported 20-30cm of new snow at the weekend and St Moritz said they got 25cm in the 24 hours to Monday. Andermatt has the country's deepest snow at 3.5m on upper slopes but Zermatt is only a little over a for behind at 315cm and Saas Fee and Engelberg have very healthy bases to.
Pyrenees
Snow depths in the Pyrenees remain among the best in Europe and resorts received a New Year top up of 10-20cm of fresh snow over the weekend. Coming on top of healthy bases built through the last two months of 2013 there were snow depths of typically around a metre at resort level and double that at the top of the slopes at all centres in Andorra.
Scandinavia
Conditions are better than a week ago in Scandinavia where some of the region's biggest falls this season – with Hemsedal and Lillehammer accumulating 40cm of new snow each – reported in the past week. Base depths, never a big issue in Scandinavia but still reassuring when they increase, are creeping up – Lillehammer has hit the metre mark and Are in Sweden has passed 50cm. The snow is still falling with Gaustablikk reporting 20cm in the past 24 hours.
Eastern Europe
It's looking rather dire in some Eastern European resorts which have seen little snow for over a month now and temperatures are in double figures at resort level in Bansko today – giving very end-of-season Spring like conditions. Snow depths are typically around 20-40cm across the region and fresh snow along with cold temperatures for snowmaking is badly needed.
Scotland
Britain's rapidly changing and extreme weather conditions continue to challenge Scottish ski centre operators but none-the-less all have remained open most days and closures have generally been down to gale force winds rather than not being able to offer snow sports. The winds have caused damage to power supplies, lifts, buildings, web cameras, snow fences so repairs are ongoing at some areas while what can be opened, is opened. Cairngorm has top to bottom skiing with very good cover on upper runs, patchy below and on the west Glencoe and Nevis Range are pretty much fully open. On the Eastern side of the country the cover is most marginal at The Lecht with very limited terrain skiable while Glenshee has a lot open but describers the snow as soft after the midweek rain and thaw.
North America
Canada
The big freeze in North America brought ultra low temperatures to Canada although that's less unusual than further south of course. In terms of snowfall some of the biggest beneficiaries at the start of this week were in Ontario where ski areas including Blue Mountain and Mount St Louis reported 25cm accumulations. Out west there were big falls at the end of last week with Whistler, Lake Louise, Fernie and Nakiska among resorts reporting between 25 and 40cm of new snow (10-16 inches) in 24 hours last Friday.
USA
The 'big freeze' was the big news story of the past week in the USA, so temperatures, now rising, were very, very cold on Monday and Tuesday in particular leaving many resorts closed in the East and Midwest for fear of lift failure among other low temperature hazards. The cold weather has not been accompanied by huge snowfalls, but there have been moderate (typically 10-25cm) accumulations reported across the country with ski areas in New England including Hunter Mountain Stratton and Nashoba reporting 20cm -30cm falls l;ast weekend before the real cold hit. On the West Coast the drought conditions continue, which have seen precipitation levels at 20% of the norm, but they're easing further north it seems with Mt Baker (officially the world's snowiest resort) reporting 20cm+ falls on three days out of the past six including 50cm in the past 24 hours. In between there have been some good snowfalls in states like Colorado where Copper and Eldora reported 20cm in 24 hours at the weekend.