Kaunertaler Gletscher, Austria, blues skies and fresh snow...
The ski season is gaining momentum in many regions, with many ski areas already open and reporting good conditions. However, North America still faces challenges with limited terrain openings despite some cold and snowy weather.
The Snow Headlines - December 4th
- Four ski areas are posting around 150 km/93 miles of slopes open each already.
- Scandinavia's 25-26 season takes off with most big areas open or opening this weekend.
- Improving conditions in the US, with colder, snowier weather, but still limited openings.
- The first resorts have opened in the Pyrenees for 25-26, some claiming the best since 19/20.
- Eastern Europe's season is underway in Czechia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
- Scotland sees colder, snowier weather return.
Snow in the forecast.
Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.
World Overview
After last week's significant snowfalls in the Alps, the past seven days have been much quieter. It has turned colder and more wintry in most northern hemisphere ski regions, but snowfall has been limited.
Hundreds of ski areas opened last weekend, and hundreds more will open over each of the next three weekends. Saturday saw the first openings for 25/26 in several countries, including Andorra, Czechia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.
The larger resorts that were already open continue to expand their terrain, with Ischgl/Samnaun, Cervinia/Zermatt, and Tignes/Val d'Isere all reporting around 150 km/93 miles of slopes open.
The situation in the Alps looks much brighter than in North America, although many resorts managed to open in time for last weekend's Thanksgiving holiday. However, not all were able to do so, and most that did had only a few kilometres of slopes open. Here too, while it has been a more wintry week, a substantial snowfall is still needed.
Europe
Austria
There was a significant increase in the number of Austrian ski areas open last weekend, with around 60 areas opening for 25/26, including major resorts like Saalbach and Ischgl. The latter opened over 150 km/93 miles of pistes, the largest offering in the country.
Sölden, which dominated in November, expanded to 110 km/68 miles, joining the '100 km/62 miles+ club'. Fresh snowfall of 30–50 cm/12 to 20 inches boosted base depths across the country at the end of last week.
An avalanche near the Stubai Glacier caught eight freeriders, all of whom survived, though three were briefly buried.
Conditions remain cold and cloudy, with highs around –1°C/30°F on the slopes and overnight lows down to –9°C/15°F at higher elevations, ideal for snowmaking. Light midweek snow showers are expected to intensify into Friday before clearer skies return this weekend.
France
There's an upbeat mood in the French Alps after the heavy snowfall that ended November.
Even ski areas like La Plagne and Les Arcs are reporting a metre/3.3 feet of snow already lying, ready for their opening day in just over a week.
About 20 French ski areas opened this week, including Flaine and Megève, which had preview weekends but are currently closed midweek.
Val d'Isere opened with its connections to Tignes, instantly creating one of the four largest ski regions currently open worldwide, with about 145 km/90 miles of slopes—half its full area.
It has been a quieter week with cold temperatures and light snowfall, and not much more is forecast.
Italy
Italy has also had a mostly good week, with more snowfall, again lighter than last week, but every bit helps. In fact, the southerly ski area of Limone is claiming the most snowfall in Europe over the past 72 hours—some 35 cm/14 inches.
Despite a thin base, Livigno has opened about two-thirds of its area, currently the most 'all in' in Italy, although the cross-border Cervinia-Zermatt ski region reached 150 km/93 miles open at the weekend. Heavier fresh snowfall is expected across much of Italy, including Dolomiti Superski, which fully opens this weekend, with J2ski powder alerts of 10–30 cm/4 to 12 inches issued for multiple resorts on higher slopes.
Switzerland
More than 60 ski areas were open in Switzerland at the weekend, the most of any European nation and only topped by the US.
Swiss areas have much more open terrain than American resorts, with Zermatt-Cervinia opening about 100 miles of trails at the weekend.
Snow cover has been lighter since last week, and the high avalanche danger levels in the west have decreased slightly. Despite 5–15 cm/2 to 6 inches of new snow, base depths have dropped slightly as the snowpack settles after last week's significant jump.
Snowfall is expected to increase over the next few days, with Zermatt, Verbier, Davos, and St. Moritz among those expecting 15–40 cm/6 to 16 inches, with mixed sunshine and flurries.
Scandinavia
After Norway's Galdhopiggen glacier summer ski area closed last week, there were no resorts open there for a few weeks.
However, as of last weekend, the winter season began with about a dozen areas opening, including one of the largest, Trysil, although bases remain thin and terrain is limited after mild weather restricted snowfall and snowmaking.
Conditions are looking better in Finnish Lapland, with colder conditions near freezing at the warmest and lows down to –5°C/23°F, along with light snowfall boosting Levi and Ruka. Most of the country's other major resorts, including Saariselkä, Pyhä, and Ylläs, have also opened. Sweden saw more resorts open, with Scandinavia's largest, Åre and Hemsedal, set to launch their seasons this coming weekend.
Pyrenees
The ski season got underway at the weekend with about a dozen areas opening on the French and Spanish sides of the mountains, as well as at Ordino Arcalis, famously Andorra's snowiest freeriding centre.
After good snowfalls in late November, conditions are the best in years. Indeed, Spain's Baqueira Beret claims the best conditions in six seasons, with more than 50 km/31 miles of slopes open from day one. The largest resort in the region, Grandvalira, opens this coming weekend.
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe's season started at the weekend, at least in the northern areas (still rather mild in the Balkans, and Bulgarian ski areas have not planned to open for another few weeks).
Slovakia's Jasna opened, reporting about a quarter of its terrain open, with snow lying about 50 cm/20 inches deep at higher elevations. Several Czech areas, including one of the most famous, Špindlerův Mlýn, also opened. The Tatras have been and continue to be cold and snowy. The first centres are also now open in Romania and Poland.
Scotland
Scottish centres had much of their early snow cover wiped out by mild and stormy weather at the end of last week, but it quickly turned colder again with snowfall returning and all-weather snowmaking systems activated. Cairngorm quickly reopened its nursery slopes by the end of the weekend. Other centres, Glencoe, Glenshee, and The Lecht, plan to open later in December using machine-made snow if natural snow does not enable them to do so sooner.
North America
Canada
Canada's ski season continues to pick up pace, although other than around Banff, most centres that have opened so far still appear to be struggling to open much terrain. It has been more wintry this week with highs near –1°C/30°F.
Lake Louise leads the country for snow depth and open terrain, with more than 90 runs open already, plus two terrain parks, after 75 cm/30 inches of fresh snowfall in seven days. In contrast, Canada and North America's largest, Whistler Blackcomb, has only about 6 km/3.7 miles of terrain open, around 3% of its full area.
Forecasts call for steady snowfall in Alberta and British Columbia, intensifying at the end of the week. In the East, Ontario and Quebec resorts, including Tremblant, report fresh snow and cold temperatures, with limited terrain open so far, but more areas are set to open this weekend.
USA
It has been more wintry across most US ski areas, with some particularly healthy snowfalls in the Midwest and New England again. However, most areas still need a substantial snowfall to open much more terrain. Many centres continue to postpone their opening day, and most that are open have just a mile or two of mostly machine-made ski runs available.
Alaska's Alyeska opened over the weekend, reporting a healthier base depth of about four feet/1.2 metres and more than half its runs open from day one.
Other areas with more than a tiny 5% or less of their terrain open include Mammoth Mountain in California, Wolf Creek in Colorado, Arizona Snowbowl, and New England resorts like Vermont's Killington and Stowe.