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The view from the Aiguille Rouge, Les Arcs... picture courtesy of the Tourist Office
This Week's Snow Headlines
- Virtually no snow in the Alps for the past week, but there is a little pre-Easter snow in the forecast and snow has started falling in Austria.
- Still more heavy snow in Western North America.
- Large snowfalls forecast for the Western Alps
- Up to 50cm of fresh snow in the Pyrenees.
- Whistler and Squaw Valley extend seasons towards end of May.
- Scottish ski area closes in spring thaw, others battle on
It has been a largely snowless week in Europe with virtually nothing in the Alps and just a few inches in the Pyrenees. Conditions on the pistes though are generally good to excellent, with almost all resorts having decent cover, it's great carving under blue skies, perhaps just getting a bit too warm in places by the mid-afternoon.
More snow, particularly in the Western Alps, is in the forecast however and as we go to press the first powder alarms have come in for 20cm of fresh snow in the past day on the Stubai glacier and at Schladming.
Elsewhere the Pyrenees have had a good week with some big snowfalls, particularly on the Spanish side, but cover is getting thin on lower slopes and one area has closed in Scotland. Across the Atlantic there's been still more heavy snow in the Western US with resorts from Colorado to California north picking up 30-60cm (1-2 feet) of fresh snow in the past few days.
In The Alpine Forecast
A real mix of weather in the forecast now for the Easter week; following a few snowfalls, the weekend is likely to be warm and sunny in most areas... but that will be followed by a pronounced dip in temperature and the arrival of snow. Scattered snow showers, some heavy, may bring significant accumulations to some areas with widely varying temperatures and precipitation departing from the blue skies of the past week.
As we move into April, the forecast is much less clear but with deep snowpacks at altitude across most of The Alps, the prospects for late and last minute skiing are really very good.
The Alps
Austria
There had been no fresh snow reported this week in Austria until this morning and conditions had been distinctly Spring-like, with the snow getting stickier by mid-afternoon on lower slopes. The good news is firstly that it is now spring so this can be considered normal, and second that it has got a little more wintery in the past 24 hours with fresh snow now falling. Snowing or not, on piste conditions are reported to be largely good. There has been some thawing and there's no snow again at village level in Mayrhofen (a metre up top) and at Solden only 10cm in the village (but nearly 3m up at the top on the glaciers. Indeed the glaciers have the best of the snow depths across the country with 3m/10 feet+ lying on most but virtually all Austrian areas have enough snow to comfortably see them through the final weeks of their season.
France
Other than a few inches down in the Pyrenees (see separate entry) there's been virtually no snowfall on French slopes either this week. Here the forecast is for more significant snowfalls over the next few days around Easter however, perhaps as much as two feet on higher slopes in some places. Otherwise it has been the same 'springlike' conditions here with glorious sunny days and excellent on-piste conditions, although with a bit of a thaw in the afternoon. Base depths are good or even excellent at most areas on upper runs with many having 2-3m or more lying (in fact a metre at Puy St Vincent is the thinnest upper base reported), but in the lower valleys it is starting to get thin with 5-10cm reported at Chamonix, Les Carroz, Les Contamines and Vaujany.
Italy
There's been almost no fresh snow in Italy this week either, only Madesimo reported a 5cm/two inch accumulation last weekend. But thanks to the healthy snowfall in the West of the country since New Year and the good snowfalls earlier this month in the Dolomites, base depths are pretty good in all areas which is good news for cover for the remaining month or so of the season. All Italian ski areas report at least a metre of snow on higher slopes and at least 30cm (a foot) at resort level, many have double that. La Thuile in the Aosta Valley is one of half a dozen resorts reporting more than 2m of snow on upper runs with a 2.7m (9 foot) base, the glacier at Passo Tonale has 2.5m.
Switzerland
It's the same story in Switzerland with no fresh snow reported this week but here quite significant snow is in the forecast models – perhaps as much as 60-90cm in places if they're correct. Again slopes have deep snow cover from previous storms so on the groomed runs conditions have been generally excellent under sunny skies for the past week. Engelberg has the country's deepest snow at 3.8m (nearly 13 feet) on upper runs though only 30cm in resort, it will be open for another two months to late May (22nd). All but one of the Swiss ski centres has at least a metre of snow lying on upper runs, the exception being Adelboden with 7-75cm on its slopes.
Scandinavia
Scandinavia's largest resort of Åre posted the biggest snowfall in Europe, outside the Spanish Pyrenees, with just over 30cm in the past week taking its base up to the metre mark and with five weeks of the season left, good news for April skiing. There was very little fresh snow reported by any other Scandinavian resort but bases are holding out – again mostly around the metre mark right across the region.
Pyrenees
There seems to have been a West – East split in the Pyrenees with heavier snow on the Spanish side (Formigal reported 50cm and bases are up wqell past the 2m mark), then 10-20cm in Andorra (bases 1-1.5m) and nearer 5-10cm reported on the slopes of the French Pyrenees during the week. But everywhere got something!
Eastern Europe
Not much fresh snow reported in Eastern Europe, just the odd centimetre here and there. Reported bases remain survivable for Easter though, typically 30-90cm with Bulgaria's Bansko claiming both the deepest (167cm) base in the region at the top of its slopes and the least (zero) down in resort.
Scotland
Warm weather has impacted snow cover on Scottish slopes over the past few weeks and The Lecht has had to call it a day with only snow patches remaining. It's a mixed picture elsewhere with Glenshee also suffering and only operating higher runs with no beginner terrain accessible. Cairngorm and Nevis Range are also saying conditions are better up top. Glencoe has the most terrain open with almost all runs still open. There may be some fresh snow in the coming week.
North America
Canada
Most of Canada has had some fresh snow this week - just not a huge amount of it! The biggest accumulations of 10-20cm were reported in BC, with just an inch or two across the rest of the country. Revelstoke got the biggest snowfall of 20cm but there was 10cm more for Whistler which has the deepest snow in the country at 3.5 metres and just announced its staying open to the end of May.
USA
It has been snowing a lot in Western North America, as it has done all season, with ski areas in California, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming posting 30-60cm snowfalls over the past few days. Steamboat Spring just tops the table. As has been the story all winter, it's a sadly different picture on the East where ski areas still open have only partial terrain open and thin, mostly machine made, cover as it remains unseasonably warm as it has almost all season. Mammoth continues to post the deepest base on the continent and second deepest only to Chamonix worldwide with 510cm – or 17 feet lying up top. More snow is expected for the week ahead with possibly up to a metre in Colorado if forecasts prove correct.