Deer Valley Resort, Utah, posted this great view today...
Big snowfalls for much of the northern hemisphere, bringing much-needed snow for the USA, and piling it up high in the Alps.
The Snow Headlines - January 11th
- Biggest snowfalls of season reported across North America, improving poor cover to date.
- Low temperatures and more snowfall in Alps pushes more resorts past 3m/10 feet bases.
- Portugal's season gets underway after cold weather finally reaches SW Europe.
- 3 Valleys post more than 550km of slopes open, Portes du Soleil 530km.
- Scottish centres open slopes beyond the beginner areas.
- Les Arcs and Flaine reach 4 metre base depths up top.
More snow forecast for many European and American ski areas
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World Overview
There have been some good snowfalls on slopes in Europe and North America over the past week. We've also seen a drop in temperature in the Alps and the Rockies and many other mountain ranges of Europe and North America. So, it's good news all around, but with different benefits to different areas.
In North America the situation was fairly dire in about 80% of the continent's ski areas from coast to coast with the snowpack less than half its normal level for early January and less than half of the continent's runs open; so the new snowfall is really welcome, allowing more terrain to open and bringing powder to slopes that had seen precious little.
In Europe, it is a similar story in the Pyrenees, but the Alps already had above-average snow levels so the new snow has simply improved an already positive picture and the colder temperatures brought snow down to the valley floors again.
Europe
Austria
A much better January 2024 than January 2023 in Austria with low temperatures and fresh snowfall on what was already a pretty good position through the Xmas/New Year holidays when the vast majority of the country's ski areas were 70-90% open.
This new snow – with many areas posting up to a foot in 24 hours over multiple days - has arrived along with colder temperatures, meaning conditions are the best they've been all winter.
A number of resorts including St Anton and the Stubai Glacier are reporting snow lying more than 10 feet (3 m) deep up high.
Five areas have more than 200km of slopes open and although Kitzbuhel is only posting 188km – that's 100% of their terrain.
France
The French Alps have seen the biggest snowfalls in the world over the last seven days with several resorts posting 70-90cm accumulations.
Conditions for early January continue to be among the best they've been for many years with the snow lying up to four metres deep on upper slopes, more than 80% of the country's runs open and snowfall down to the lower valley floors over the past week, improving things at ski areas that hadn't had so much snow down low like Morzine and Megeve.
Even the French Pyrenees, which has had much less snowfall than the Alps to date, saw significant falls this week.
The 3 Valleys are now over 90% open, the most in the world, and the Chamonix Valley has the deepest snowbase in the world at 380cm up top at Grands Montets.
Italy
Southern and Eastern Italian ski areas have had a rather warmer-and-drier-than-they'd-like start to the season, but temperatures have been dropping and last weekend saw some decent dumps in the Dolomites as well as in other parts of the country which hadn't needed them so badly.
Despite reduced natural snow, most centres in the Dolomites still had most of their runs open thanks to expert slope maintenance, but now resorts like Cortina d'Ampezzo which had been posting a 30cm base (but 80% of its slopes open) have doubled that and are reporting powder now.
It has turned sunny again in most areas since the weekend falls but temperatures have remained low, keeping the fresh snowfall, well, fresh.
Switzerland
Swiss slopes have, like the rest of the Alps, enjoyed a week with lower temperatures and plenty of fresh snowfall.
In fact, the country is leading Europe (and the world) in terms of the percentage of its runs open – more than 80%. Some areas have more open than others with the biggest, the 4 Valleys around Verbier, approaching 100% open – they've made it up to 98% of their 400km+.
Of the big regions, the Portes du Soleil (that includes terrain over the French border) has struggled the most this season due to lower elevation slopes, but there's been an improvement here too with 90% (more than 530km) of slopes open thanks to the recent cold and snow to low altitudes.
Scandinavia
Scandinavian ski areas have continued to report some very cold temperatures – touching -30C – over the past week, leading many to close some or all of their runs and particularly aerial lifts, for fear a mechanical failure could leave skiers dangling in such very low temperatures.
Away from the slight cold issue, conditions are generally very good across the region with most centres 80-100% open and those low temps keeping the snow in pristine condition. The deepest, as usual, is in Western Norway, now up to about 5 feet lying near coastal Voss.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees looked like they were on course for a decent dump of snowfall at the weekend but unfortunately, the Andorran and Spanish centres initially only got a few centimetres (although some later reported 30cm snowfalls) whereas on the French side, up to 60cm accumulations were reported and a much bigger improvement on the (fairly dire) conditions that had dominated there.
So it is that the Grand Tourmalet region of La Mongie/Barèges is the only area in the region reporting 100% of its slopes open – 100km of runs – putting it ahead of the huge Andorran Grandvalira region which has only about 80km – a third of its area, still.
Spain's Baqueiura Beret just has the most with 106km of slopes – about 65% of its area.
Scotland
Scottish centres continue to try to open terrain beyond their beginner slopes which are maintained by all-weather snowmaking systems.
Fairly cold weather has helped with that and Glencoe reports good ski-touring conditions to the summit above its (still closed) inbounds terrain, which can be reached with its access chairlift.
Cairngorm has its M1 Poma serving M1 and White Lady pistes if you hike up and Glenshee has some extra terrain open too.
Eastern Europe
A mixed picture across Eastern Europe, although with great conditions for most resorts and more fresh snow this week.
The lesser-known ski areas in Croatia and Albania have been posting pictures of deep snow cover and it is looking good for Slovenia as well as further north in the Czech and Slovak Republics.
In the latter, Jasna now has 100% of its runs open.
Bulgaria has had some snowfall and is reporting colder temperatures but most areas, including Bansko, still have less than 50% of their slopes open. Only Borovets is posting over 80% of runs open there.
North America
Canada
Conditions have improved in Canada this week with up to half a metre of snowfall reported on ski slopes across the west of the country for the start of this week, and snow in the equally-hard-hit East as well.
There has been more light snowfall and some very low temperatures, in the -5C to -25C range, through this week and that's set to continue into next.
Whistler Blackcomb is one of the big winners from the new snow, now having 80% of its slopes open and the most skiable terrain actually available to ski in North America once again, having previously had less than half its runs open.
There's still some catching up to do from the poor position prior to these snowfalls, but things are moving in the right direction now.
USA
Some much-needed improvements in the US thanks to more consistently cold temperatures and snowfalls across the country.
Some resorts in California and Colorado have reported up to two feet of snowfall on high slopes.
These have moved things in the right direction although fewer than two-thirds of ski area slopes are open.
There was snowfall in the East too, and it is staying cold and snowy into next week.
The country's biggest ski area, Park City in Utah, still doesn't have quite so much terrain open as Vail, to the south (which of course owns Park City). Vail now has more than 80% of its runs open, one of the highest percentages in the US, while Park City is nearer the average 60% of theirs.