Ski resorts and tour operators are getting increasingly excited about the ongoing snowfall of the past four days in Europe which they say are leading to a surge in holiday bookings ahead of a difficult Christmas/New Year.
Resorts that are not yet open for the season (most of them) don't routinely publish snowfall data out-of-season but some glacier resorts have been posting impressive accumulation stats, including 40cm in 24 hours at Solden, the same at Tignes and 20cm for Cervinia/Zermatt.
Others have contented themselves with sending out pictures and video showing their slopes and resort streets buried in deep snow – such as at Avoriaz in France, pictured.
Christmas and New Year are hard sells for tour operators this year because traditional transfer day Saturday coincides with Xmas Eve/NYE; the past two seasons have had poor starts for snow cover, and of course the Brexit vote has made the pound fall and thus in-resort costs rise.
The extra good news to set against this is that snow trumps all these problems for most skiers and the snow is still falling in many areas and is expected to continue for the coming days too. Tignes may get another 45cm by Friday, other area perhaps closer to 30cm.
Outside of central Europe Scottish slopes, particularly in the Eastern Highlands, are now white, and in the opposite corner of Europe Sierra Nevada down in the south of Spain posted images of its base covered in snow – more than it was from November to February last winter.
Across the Atlantic huge snowfalls are being forecast for the coming week in northwest North America where Revelstoke in BC says it has already had 2.5m of snow this pre-season. Up to two metres more may fall apparently.
Resorts expected to open there this weekend include Breckenridge, Mammoth and Lake Louise.