J2Ski Snow Report - November 14th 2013

Week Ending November 15th, 2013

* Free to re-publish in whole or part so long as clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with the words "J2Ski Snow Report - November 14th 2013" linked to this page or http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/

Perhaps the best news this week (apart from all the fresh snow!) is of early openings... A number of major resorts, on both sides of the Atlantic, have already announced that they will be starting their seasons earlier than planned thanks to the new snow.

Alpe d'Huez announced today that they will open, for the weekends, from this coming weekend.

This Week's Headlines:
* Still more heavy snow in the Alps.
* Aspen, Big White and Whistler opening early, this weekend.
* Scottish ski season's earliest start for five years.
* First non-glacier resorts open in the Alps

The sun is finally out in the Alps after the best part of a week of nearly non-stop snowfall which at many areas was at its heaviest over the weekend, with some reporting up to 50cm of snow accumulating. Of course only 20 or so glacier areas are currently open and are the only ones actually taking official measurements, but it's a great pre-season boost across the region.

Things are looking snowy in North America too with Aspen and Whistler both announcing they're going to open 10-12 days earlier than planned, this Saturday, because of the good conditions. More than 20 US ski area are now open across the country, more than any other.

The snowy picture even continues to the southern hemisphere, where the season ended in October and summer is a little over a month away, but Australia's Perisher reported 20cm of snow on Monday, getting them in the mood early for winter 2014!

The Alps
Austria
Now the snow storms have eased, Austria's eight open glacier areas have been measuring their deepening bases. The compacted accumulation at Hintertux, which has some of the most terrain open, has increased by 20cm on a week ago to 155cm and the terrain open is up to 37km too. In common with most resorts the snow is now lying down to valley level. The Stubai glacier reports a 110cm base depth with 15cm of fresh snow while at Kaunertal it's up to 181cm (or over six feet!) and seven lifts are operating. The Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun is up to 150cm and expects more snow on Friday.

Obergurgl will be the first area in Austria and indeed the Alps to open without glacier skiing to rely on, and is scheduled to open for the season today Thursday 14th November. It has a 15-45cm base.

France
France was blasted by the same snow storm that covered much of the Alps this past week, but with only Tignes open there are few official stats available as to just how much fell. That official stat however adds up to, about, 50cm at Tignes. The famous glacier resort remains the only open option in France for a final week until Val Thorens, the continent's highest major resort, begins the four week deluge of openings in The Alps a week on Friday - 22nd November.

Italy
Val Senales is still claiming the deepest snowbase in the world at present at 2.6m. It is one of three ski areas open in Italy. The other options are Cervinia with a 1.3m base and skiing over the border in to Switzerland and the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale has a single red run open and a one metre based above 3,000m.

Switzerland
Swiss resorts sit at the top of the world snow depth league at the moment and they've also seen some of the biggest snowfalls of the past seven days.

Saas Fee and Zermatt both have around 2m snow depths on their glaciers and there's now snow cover down to resort level. Glacier 3000 near Gstaad has reported half-a-metre of new snow over the weekend and the Divaolezza Glacier near St Moritz is also looking good.
Verbier is now open at weekends in November and there's 50cm of snow on the glacier there. Engelberg is also due to reopen after its annual maintenance closure and Crans Montana and Davos will also be operating.

Scandinavia
There are now more than a dozen ski areas open in Lapland, Norway and Sweden and there's been more fresh snow in Scandinavia this week. World wintersports focus is also moving its focus north this weekend as the World Cup rolls in to Levi, Finland. Snow depths so far are in the range of 10-30cm. Areas open in Norway now include the leading resorts of Geilo, Voss and Lillehammer.

Pyrenees
There's no report of any fresh snow in the Pyrenees and temperatures are a few degrees above zero. Resorts are expecting to open from 30th November onwards.

Scotland
The Scottish ski season had its earliest ever opening last weekend when Cairngorm opened a chunk of the upper mountain served by the Ciste tow. It was a good weekend with blue skies and clear days. Temperatures rose briefly on Monday but have dropped again and there's a cycle of snow showers and strong winds. Cairngorm is closed during the week but considering re-opening at the weekend, a decision will be made shortly before, depending on the weather. Elsewhere Nevis range and Glencoe on the west are both looking increasingly white, although Glencoe has lift maintenance anyway so won't open this weekend. In the east Glenshee (which has not updated snow reports since the end of last season) and the Lecht have snow cover but from the cams it does not yet look to be enough.

North America
Canada
It's all kicking off in Canada, after the opening of resorts in Alberta over the past two weekends (Nakiska, Norquay and Lake Louise), a fourth option in the province, Marmot Basin near Jasper to the north, who had delayed their opening for a week due to mild temperatures, are opening for their 50th season this weekend. However the continent's biggest resort Whistler Blackcomb, along with fellow BC resort Big White, now plans to open on Saturday too, 10 days early and the first in British Columbia, due to good conditions they say. In the East Mont Sainte Sauveur in Quebec, actually the first in the country to open for the season back in late October, remains open thanks to snowmaking.

USA
The US is currently leading the world for the number of open ski areas, more than 20 already (the only country in double figures) and the numbers opening is also growing rapidly as many more plan to open this weekend and next in order to cash in on the major Thanksgiving holiday in a fortnight's time.

The biggest news is arguably the planned opening of Aspen Mountain at the weekend, 12 days earlier than planned, due to good conditions, and the mountain promises top to bottom skiing.

However there's snow cover across the country and its Killington and Okemo in Vermont, both claiming two foot bases that have the deepest snow cover in the country at the moment.

There's also skiing in California (Mammoth and Boreal), Utah (Solitude and Brighton), Colorado (Breckenridge, Keystone, Winter Park, Loveland, A Basin, Wolf Creek) and Bretton Woods and Loon (New Hampshire). Bases are typically 30 to 45cm.

Several New Mexico resorts led by Sipapu are also planning to open for the season, early, this Saturday; reputedly their earliest ever opening.