Heavy snowfall in the past 24 hours in the Alps, particularly in Eastern Switzerland and Austria, has now resulted in accumulations of up to70cm being reported on glacier slopes that are already open for snowsports.
While there are currently mid-winter like white out conditions, with temperatures in the double digits below freezing, and several reports say the snow is 'heavy and wet' rather than powder, it is good news for building depleted base levels up on the glaciers and forming a base for areas where the start of the season is still nearly two months away.
Solden has reported the biggest snowfall to date with 70cm in the last 36 hours, and it is unclear whether that will actually be a problem for the resort which has been cleared by the FIS to stage the first northern hemisphere world cup races of the 2014-15 this weekend for men and women, due to kick off in less than 48 hours time. It's still snowing.
Other resorts posting big accumulations include the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun with 50cm overnight (pictures montage from this morning there above).
There are seven glaciers currently open in Austria and a further four in Switzerland (Diavolezza near St Moritz, Saas Fee and Zermatt) with Engelberg and Glacier 3000 between Gstaad and Les Diablerets due to open on Saturday.