Les 2 Alpes, France, under sunny skies this week...
This week, heavy snowfall has been reported in Japan's Hokkaido and ski areas around Banff, Canada. Meanwhile, much of Europe remains dry and sunny, although Scandinavia has received fresh snow.
The Snow Headlines - December 18th
- More heavy snowfall in Japan's northerly Hokkaido.
- Ski areas around Banff continue to be dumped on with up to 80 cm/31 inches in 72 hours.
- Much of Europe continues dry and sunny, but Scandinavia gets fresh snow.
- Autumn snowfall totals in parts of New England near record levels.
- Scottish ski centres to open/reopen for Christmas week.
Snow in the forecast.
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World Overview
Sunshine has dominated the weather across much of western Europe. Although conditions are deteriorating on south-facing slopes, fresh snow has been reported in the Pyrenees and Southwestern Alps. Scandinavia has also experienced more snowfall.
Temperatures remain milder than ideal for December, with the afternoon freezing level in the Alps often above 2,000 m/6,561 ft. Fortunately, strong snowfalls in late November and early December have left higher terrain with solid depths, although lower resorts face more concern.
In North America, Pacific warmth has resulted in rain at quite high altitudes, delaying openings for some resorts and limiting what most others can offer. However, inland British Columbia and Alberta have been cold enough to enjoy heavy snowfalls and have the most terrain open. A Polar Vortex has also delivered cold, fresh snow to the Midwest and East, where conditions feel more like a 'normal' December.
Japanese ski areas have seen further significant accumulations, especially in northern Hokkaido. Across the northern hemisphere, most ski areas are now open for the 2025-2026 season, with more lifts set to start this weekend ahead of the peak Christmas week.
Europe
Austria
Austria has had mostly dry, sunny weather for a second week, with some ski areas not experiencing any snowfall since late November. The warmer temperatures have also halted base-building snowmaking efforts; however, the November snow plus low temperatures that allowed resorts to lay down cover means most of the country's big resorts still have 60-80% of their slopes open.
The Arlberg, Ischgl-Samnaun, Skiwelt, Kitzbuhel's area, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and Solden are all reporting 120-190 km/75-118 miles of slopes open despite thin cover (mostly 20-50 cm/8-20 inches). Bases are better, of course, on the country's glaciers.
Unfortunately, there is not much change in the forecast for the coming week, just a few centimetres/inches possible up high and slightly cooler temperatures expected.
France
It has been a second mostly dry and sunny week in the French Alps, with the last significant snowfall reported in most areas a week ago, last Monday. The weather has provided lovely days on the slopes, especially on the upper half of the mountain areas, where the snow lies fairly deep after November and early December falls.
However, temperatures of +5 to +10°C/41 to 50°F below 2,000 m/6,561 ft are clearly not good news for the thin early snow cover and are too warm for base-building snowmaking. Despite the warm weather, ski resorts have been opening more terrain; the 3 Valleys now have about two-thirds open, with about twice as much terrain skiable as their closest competitor.
More big-name French resorts like La Plagne and Les Arcs opened for their 2025-2026 seasons over the weekend.
Promising snowfall is expected in much of the French Alps, particularly the South, through the weekend and into next week. Temperatures are dropping, but the best snowfall will be on higher terrain and in the southern Alps, with 20-40 cm/8-16 inches of snow possible by Monday.
Italy
Unsurprisingly, it is the same story in Italy, with rather mild conditions and plenty of sunshine across the country. The operators of Italy's largest ski area, Dolomiti Superski, have previously stated that such conditions are preferable for Italian skiers who do not like bad weather ruining their ski holiday. However, they might still like more than the 10-30 cm/4-12 inches of mostly machine-made snow on the slopes.
Val Gardena has the most terrain open in Italy, with more than 160 km/99 miles of runs, and its slopes are over 90% open. Cervinia has slightly more if you venture over the border to ski above Zermatt from there.
Sunny weather is expected for much of Italy this weekend, but colder temperatures with light snowfall are anticipated in many areas to start next week. Potentially heavier snowfall is possible for the north west, including the Aosta valley.
Switzerland
The Swiss Alps have also enjoyed another predominantly dry, sunny week, with the freezing level fluctuating between 1,000 m/3,281 ft and 3,000 m/9,843 ft, unusually high for late December. Most resorts are now open or set to launch operations this weekend.
Glacier 3000 above Gstaad continues to report not only Europe's but the world's current deepest snowpack, with upper depths at 3.6 metres/12 feet. Meanwhile, Zermatt has the most terrain open in the country, with around 200 km/125 miles of pistes.
Little change is expected in the forecast, with slightly colder, cloudier conditions and a centimetre/inch or two of snowfall possible later in the weekend up high.
Scandinavia
Things continue to look good in Scandinavia after the warm weeks of late November, with fairly consistent cold temperatures and some light to moderate snowfall. Ski areas have been gradually opening more terrain.
However, not a lot has opened, as demand is relatively low at this time of year, with the northern region now without any sunlight above the horizon, and it is not much better further south. Thus, open slopes are almost all under floodlights.
Norway's Hemsedal has the most terrain open.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees have enjoyed plenty of sunshine and dry weather over the past week, although there has been some snowfall, with most areas picking up 5-10 cm/2-4 inches earlier this week. They also had good November and early December snowfalls, so while open terrain has decreased slightly, it is currently much more than was open this time last year.
Unlike the Alps, a front moved through at the start of the week, bringing a 10-20 cm/4-8 inches refresh to many areas.
Spain's Baquiera Beret has dropped back below 100 km/62 miles open but still has 95 km/59 miles skiable and remains ahead of the giant Andorran Grandvalira region, which is around 85 km/53 skiable miles.
Eastern Europe
Bulgaria started its season at the weekend, despite mild weather over the past month, with Bansko opening about 10% of its runs, unsurprisingly, its highest terrain up at 2,600 m/8,530 ft. It joins a swathe of larger centres open across the region, mostly having had a dry and fairly mild week, as further west.
Slovakia's Jasna has the most open, about half its area or 20 km/12 miles of slopes. Borovets has announced it will not be open for snowsports over Christmas week as it has been too warm.
Scotland
Storm Bran and the following wet, warm, and windy conditions have severely affected the early Scottish snowpack, and the one area that had been offering inbounds lift-accessed skiing on its higher terrain, Cairngorm, has been forced to abandon that, with most of the snow gone. It has had a little in the past few days, and it, along with Glencoe, Glenshee, and The Lecht, plans to open at the weekend for Christmas week, using all-weather snowmaking machine snow to create at least a small area of cover.
North America
Canada
Canada's strong start to the season continues with cold temperatures in the east and lots of snow in the west. The notable exception is along the Pacific Coast, where warmer-than-average temperatures continue to turn much of the precipitation into rain, meaning some ski areas still cannot open there.
Whistler Blackcomb has seen some snowfall on its higher terrain, but only a limited number of runs are currently available.
Further inland, conditions have improved dramatically: resorts like Big White and Revelstoke have enjoyed healthy snowfalls, while Banff's Sunshine and Lake Louise have received 70-80 cm/27-31 inches of fresh snow in the past week, providing superb conditions. In the east, an Arctic blast has plunged Ontario and Quebec to -20°C/-4°F, delivering snowfall and full-on winter conditions.
USA
The Eastern US continues to post America's best snow conditions with fresh snowfall and -10 to -20°C/14 to -4°F temperatures, providing a great slope refresh and powdery conditions as bases build.
Unfortunately, conditions are still challenging for much of the West, particularly in the Pacific Coast ranges, but also in the Rockies, where the main problem is temperatures that are too warm, by over 10 degrees/18°F, causing precipitation to fall as rain on lower slopes when it does fall.
It has been mild and dry much of the time, so some big resorts still have not opened, with Christmas week approaching, and those that are open still mostly have very limited terrain available. Mammoth has the most of the big names, with about 50% of its runs open, while most are at 2-15%.