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Snow Report Summary
This Week's Headlines
- Heavy snow in Austria as ski areas there begin closing.
- Big powder snow falls in California - up to two feet reported although most ski areas have close for the season there.
- 20cm of fresh snow in Bulgaria.
- Powder snow in parts of Austria, Canada, France and the US for Easter weekend.
- 40cm For Banff Lake Louise - open to mid-May.
Significant snow showers over the Easter weekend, in some cases crowning several weeks of unsettled, sometimes snowy weather, brought late season powder snow joy to a number of resorts in the Alps, with Austria doing especially well on Easter Monday.
At the same time ski areas across the northern hemisphere are increasingly beginning to call it a day on the 2014-15 ski season with lower altitude areas closing last weekend and many more set to follow as the Easter holidays finish for many areas on Sunday.
However hundreds more will stay open to the end of April and in some cases in to May or even later.
In The Forecast!
The next week or so is looking generally mild to warm, depending on the location, with a little scattered precipitation.
Check the J2Ski Forecasts regularly for the latest updates!
The Alps
Austria
Up to two feet of fresh snow has been reported in Austria in the last week, much of it falling from Sunday to Monday leaving superb powder conditions on Tuesday – so long as lifts remained open to access it after the Bank Holiday weekend. Zell am See, which saw one of the biggest accumulations of half a metre in the last week and nearly a foot on Monday night, closed the majority of its lifts and runs on what was one of the snowiest days of the season. High temperatures are now expected over the next few days but the bases are deep on most of the glaciers, many of which will be open to May or June. Other areas like Igls, Seefeld and Bad Kleinkirchheim have already closed for the season.
France
France got its fresh snow a day or two before Austria, at the weekend, and most areas reported smaller 5-20cm accumulations, the biggest at Argentiere with nearly 40cm. Since then it has been more sunny weather with spring like conditions for the majority of French resorts. Some of the lower centres will begin closing this weekend but others will stay open through to early May, and accumulated bases at resorts in the category – such as Tignes with a metre of snow on lower runs, two metres up top and 20cm of fresh snow should now be fine to make it through to closing day even if there's no fresh snow.
Italy
Half a dozen leading Italian areas saw some fresh snow between Friday and Monday too, ranging from 15-20m on higher slopes such as the Seanales and Cervinia glaciers, to 5-10cm on lower runs such as those of Madonna di Campiglio or La Thuile. Again, for those areas aiming to stay open for another fortnight to the end of the month and even in to May, or in Passo Tonale's case beyond to June – snow depths look good now to last through all but the most extreme thaw, even if there's no fresh snow (and not much is now forecast, and what there is most likely up on the glaciers).
Switzerland
It's looking like great skiing for the rest of April on the year round ski slopes of Zermatt thanks to a 60cm (two foot) snowfall in the past week – its upper slope base is up at the 3m/10 feet mark. Wengen, Saas Fee, Verbier and Crans Montana also scored highly with fresh snow accumulations of 40-50cm, many other Swiss areas reported 20cm or a foot. Lower slopes have melted away at more than half of Swiss resorts but are still a couple of feet deep at some resorts including Davos, Saas Fee and Andermatt – the latter still claiming at 6m/20 feet upper slope base depth after another 20cm of snow this week. Other Swiss resorts don't have it quite that deep but a good many do still have 2-3m on upper runs – plenty to see them through to the end of the season.
Scandinavia
The season long snowfall has finally slowed at most Scandinavian area, the larger ones of which will be staying open for three-four weeks mote in to May. Areas in Finland, Norway and Sweden all have at least 60cm bases so thanks to their northerly latitudes, that should see them through.
Pyrenees
No new snow in the last week in the Pyrenees and bases are thawing rapidly, but that said thanks to big snowfalls in midwinter, bases are still at the 1.5-2.5m mark at most areas and should last a while longer. But Grandvalira, the area's largest resort, closes on Sunday and very honestly describes snow conditions in the afternoon as 'slush.'
Eastern Europe
The snow in the Alps did continue on East to bring up to 20cm of late season snow the ski areas in countries like Bulgaria and Romania in the past 48 hours, an unexpected end of season bonus. Thanks to big snowfalls in March Bulgarian centres still have 1-2m of snow lying.
Scotland
Despite very warm conditions in recent days in Scotland, as with the rest of the UK, the three more westerly of the five Highland areas (Cairngorm, Glencoe ad Nevis Range) report good spring skiing conditions with top to bottom cover in most cases, albeit with softer snow and some thinning towards the bottom of the slopes.
North America
Canada
Banff's Sunshine ski area scored nearly 40cm of fresh powder over Easter weekend, bringing powder snow job to local and visitors alike. There's still five weeks of the season to run there, so it has helped build the bases – which are still nearly at the 2m mark. Although Whistler, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin also stay open in to May, although only Whistler quite as long as Sunshine, most other areas have already closed or will do next weekend.
USA
Some big snowfalls in the Western US in the last week, and it's still snowing heaving in California. In fact we're not sure just how high on the irony scale it is that after a fourth and perhaps the severest drought winter on Californian ski slopes, and where's almost all of the state's areas now closed and hoping for better things in 2015-16, there's currently about the biggest snowfall of the season underway with up to two feet of fresh snow reported sat the few areas that are still open – including Mammoth and Squaw Valley. There's been up to a foot of fresh snow in Colorado and to the east at resorts like Sugarbush in Vermont and Sunday River in New Hampshire too. However most US ski areas will be closing this weekend, Crested Butte, Jackson hole and telluride already did. Arapahoe Basin has said it aims to stay open to at least the start of June though.