J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Norefjell-Skisenter, Norway, where it's cold and snowy...

Unusually mild in the Alps, pending a change in the weather. Storms in Scandinavia and snow inbound for the USA, Canada and Japan.

The Snow Headlines - February 1st
- Warm "springlike" sunny weather ends January and starts February in the Alps.
- Weekend World Cups at Chamonix and Garmisch cancelled due to warm temperatures.
- Scottish centres suffer snow loss as warm temps end more than a week of gales.
- Colorado's Keystone announces all 140 runs open for the first time this season.
- Pyrenees continue to battle warm, sunny weather.
- Norwegian ski areas closed for several days as most violent storm in 30 years hits.


Snow forecast for Scandinavia, California and Japan

Re-publication :- our 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
We were reporting "Springlike" conditions for the end of January in the Alps last week and unfortunately, though there has been some snowfall up high in the central and eastern Alps in recent days, not much has changed for the first week of February. We're seeing +10C reached most afternoons at valley levels around 1000m, and the freezing point getting up above 3,000m.

The good news is that that's not too much of a problem yet unless you're searching off-piste powder, as most higher slopes have deep snow cover and the main resorts maintain valley runs with 30-60cm of snow too, so there's not much change in what's open – which is everything pretty much still. It's just hardpacked up high, wet and sticky down low by lunchtime.

There are solid signs of change in the forecast but we'll have more on that next week.

The Pyrenees have the same issue but worse, whilst Eastern Europe has actually been colder than the Alps in recent days, even though Bulgaria is much further south.

In Scotland and Scandinavia, gales have been the dominant factor of the past week, frequently closing centres.

In North America, it was a quieter week across much of the continent with mostly small accumulations of snow reported, but the past few days have seen a major storm arrive off the Pacific coast which looks set in for much of the week ahead in the west.

Europe
Austria
Austrian ski areas have seen lots of sunny, dry, warm, weather this week. That's typically not good news for snow cover, but in truth, there's little change in the stats so far. Lower base depths have dropped but Austrian resorts are well-prepared for that and have piled snow on lower runs through the colder Autumn to keep valley runs complete.

There has also been some snowfall reported up high and upper base depths, if anything, are up a few centimetres.

So most Austrian slopes remain open and pleasant to ski before it gets a bit sticky late in the afternoon. The forecast is for continuing sunshine through the weekend and into next week; 10C+ at 1,000m in the afternoons.

France
French ski areas have faced another week of warm weather and unfortunately, another is coming up with the freezing point expected to continue to rise up to 2000-3000m or higher in the daytime while low-lying resorts see 10C or even more in the afternoon.

Despite the "warm for January" conditions, there's a decent base of snow lying above 1800m in the French Alps – around 1-4 metres thick, so even with these temperatures the thaw is slow and we're not seeing a rapid drop in open terrain as yet; most centres remain 90% or more open.

High pressure is likely to continue into next week, but the forecast thereafter is starting to look colder.

Italy
Italy has been enjoying the same sunny weather as the rest of central Europe for much of the past week, although some snowfall was reported up high in and around Trentino midweek.

The Dolomites continue to post quite a thin base – typically 30-60cm – but most of the region's ski slopes are open, albeit with hard-packed snow.

Kronplatz and Cortina d'Amprezzo have both successfully staged World Cup racing this week while Chamonix and Garmisch in France and Germany have had to call theirs off.

The deepest snowpack in the country is up in the northwest where it's 11 feet deep up high at La Thuile. Cervinia and the Milky Way (Via Lattea) cross-border regions are both posting the most slopes open, each at just under 300km.

Switzerland
Swiss ski areas continue to be, mostly, 90% or more open but they've had the same issue of temperatures reaching double digits above freezing in lower valleys for a second week, and the coming first week of February isn't looking much different either.

Snow depths are such that most runs remain open. The 4 Valleys is posting the most terrain open at nearly 400km with over 95% of their runs available.

Laax has the deepest snow in the country up on its glacier at 12 feet.

Scandinavia
The big issue for Scandinavian ski centres this week has been the violent gales which began arriving late Wednesday leading to many centres saying they'll be closed at least through Saturday. Up to 180 kmph (110 mph) winds were reported on Thursday with Western Norway hardest hit but severe weather warnings are also in place for parts of Sweden. T

he storm is reported to be the most violent to hit Scandinavia in more than three decades. Other than that... Scandinavian centres are in the best shape in Europe really, with sub-zero temperatures keeping the snow in good shape, base depths up to 2 metres now (healthy for these latitudes) and 90%+ of slopes open.

Pyrenees
Unfortunately, there's still not much good news to report from the Pyrenees. After the snowfall earlier in January most centres have at least some slopes open but several weeks of very warm, mostly sunny weather with still more forecast into next week continues to challenge resorts to be able to open lower-lying terrain.

The region's biggest ski area around Pas de la Casa and Soldeu has about half its runs open and everything feels more like early April than the start of February.

Scotland
Scotland finally saw a few clear, still, sunny days to start this week before gales, which had dominated for more than a week previously, returned on Wednesday. Unfortunately, temperatures have warmed up too, so the thin snow cover on lower mountain areas has suffered, although there's been more snow up high, good news for tourers.

The big picture is that we're really back to the nursery slopes maintained by all-weather snowmaking machines at Glencoe, Glenshee, The Lecht and Cairngorm, with some other limited terrain available still at several centres.

Eastern Europe
There's been a little fresh snowfall up high across Eastern Europe and reported temperatures have actually been a few degrees cooler than the Alps although there are similar issues of difficulties maintaining snow cover in low valleys.

Bansko reports its home run open and is up to about 75% of its slopes open, while fellow Bulgarian resort Borovets and Jasna up in Slovakia are nearer 95% open.

North America
Canada
Conditions are about the best they've been all winter across Canada.

There's not been much fresh snowfall this week but there has been some and we seem to have passed a tipping point when almost all runs can open. The change is perhaps most marked in the East where even a few weeks ago some areas had been struggling to open half their runs, but now almost all have 75% or more of their slopes open, and Tremblant is up at 99%.

In the West, there has been a worry of rain at low levels with temperatures creeping up but so far it has stayed away.

USA
It has been a fairly calm week, for January, across much of the US.

That's starting to change now though with a major multi-day storm expected to bring several feet of snowfall beginning in the far western US and set to move towards the Rockies as the weekend approaches.

In the meantime, February begins with US ski areas in a much better place than they were at the start of January, with most of the country's slopes open.

In the east, which had had a particularly poor November and December with warm temperatures and too often rain rather than snow, several ski areas have posted their best January snowfall totals in over a decade. Some are still only half open and catching up but others like the biggest, Killington, reports over 90% of its slopes open now even though bases remain thin.

Grins all round! You had a good day then?

Quite a big slide on a Level 2 day off-piste; air-bag used.



Hard to see anything that he did wrong TBH, and happily he walked away.

Kicking Horse, BC, Canada, where they're readying for 'Community Weekend' with lift passes from $20!

Snow at altitude, and in the East for the European Alps. Heavy snows for various north American ski resorts.

The Snow Headlines - January 25th
- Alpe d'Huez first in world to post 5m base in 2024 before reducing its claim.
- Oregon's Timberline jumps to deepest base in North America after 100" in 7 days.
- Glacier 3000 near Gstaad reports 1m snowfall accumulation in 48 hours.
- Rain again on low-lying slopes and valley resorts in the Alps, heavy snowfall up high.
- Scotland's ski season stalls after launch as storms blow through.


Decent snow forecast for Austria and Japan

Re-publication :- our 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
It's been a week of mixed weather in the Alps; with some big snowfalls, most of them above 1800m, and rain to lower ski areas. Some ski areas report their base depths have jumped more than 60cm in the past week up at 3,000m, especially in the Western Swiss and French Alps.

But there's also been more heavy rain on lower valley slopes and resorts as the freezing point went way up above 2,000mn at times. In between we've had some cold and sunny days and most other weather (fog, gales...) thrown into the mix.

Elsewhere, Scottish centres that were all partially open a week ago are a bit battered after a week of storms with reduced terrain again, the Pyrenees are also battling the elements, in their case just ongoing sunshine and warm weather.

Scandinavian centres are reporting powder and everything open.

In America, there have been more significant snows and conditions continue to improve. Ski resorts are, at last, all fully open, or nearly so, for the first time this season, with decent snow depths too.

Europe
Austria
Austria has had a mixed week, which began with beautiful blue skies and cold, crisp conditions for the Hahnenkamm race weekend.

By Wednesday it had warmed up and the Schladming night slalom, attracting another 50,000 fans, took place in torrential rain.

Conditions are set to remain rather warm, reaching +10C in valleys through the weekend, with the freezing point up above mountain tops for much of the 24-hour cycle, but at least it is expected to be mostly dry.

Despite the unwelcome warm weather news, most Austrian centres, at least the major ones most skiers visit, report they are still 85-95% open and snow depths on glaciers and high slopes above the 3m/10 feet mark.

France
Some real weather extremes over the past week in the French Alps began last week when we saw high slopes above 3,000m report up to a metre of fresh snowfall, while some lower slopes saw rain for more than 24 hours straight. This was followed by a widely cold and sunny weekend, since when the sunshine has continued but the freezing point has crept up as high as 3,000m in places, although thankfully without the rain so far.

Several resorts including Chamonix, Flaine and Les Arcs are posting bases of more than 4 metres while Alpe d'Huez briefly reported its snow depth has reached 5 metres on its highest runs but has since reduced its claim back down to 3.5m. The four deepest posted bases anywhere in the world at present are all in France.

Italy
The latter half of January did see some periods of warm weather and even rain on low slopes in Italy and bases here, particularly in the eastern and southern Dolomites and more southerly mountain ranges, are well below those to the north in the Alps BUT most of the country's best-known ski regions are fully open with the deepest snow (Over 3 metres at La Thuile on the French border) up in the northwest.

There are some exceptions if you go a little further south; of the big regions the Via Lattea (Milky Way) around Sauze d'Oulx and Sestriere has battled to build much of a base all winter but is still 60% open. Most others, including those with thin bases in the Dolomites are nearer 90%.

Switzerland
Swiss centres reported rain at low levels this week, and heavy snowfall above 1800m – so very like the rest of the Alps.

The planned Inferno cross-country ski race in the Jungfrau had to be shifted to a new course up the mountain for the second successive year due to torrential rain on the snow after not enough snow a year ago.

Most ski areas across Switzerland, the major resorts at least, are fully open or almost so; 80-95% of the 4 Valleys around Verbier, 90% at Zermatt for example, and some centres report upper slope bases up 50cm on a week ago. It's just the valley runs not looking so great.

Scandinavia
While much of Europe has been facing warmer January temperatures than usual, that's not been the case for most Scandinavian destinations where temperatures have remained predominantly sub-zero.

Almost all of the region's leading ski areas are 95-100% open and there were reports of powder conditions as far north as Levi in Lapland this week.

Norway, Finland and Sweden seem the best bets for fresh snowfall in Europe right now.

Pyrenees
Hopes of things improving in the Pyrenees have taken a hit with some of the warmest temperatures of the winter so far and lots of sunshine this week – not great news with already thin cover in many areas.

The battle to keep runs open continues at Andorra's Grandvalira and Spain's Baqueira Beret (which had to pull out of hosting the opening round of the Freeride World Tour due to the conditions). Both still have over 100km of slopes open representing about two-thirds of Baqueira's terrain, around half that of Andorra's.

Scotland
Scottish ski centres all managed to open simultaneously at the end of last week but the good news didn't last long as gale-force winds and thawing warm temperatures on lower slopes caused issues as successive storms hit the Highlands.

In better news, the storms did bring heavy snowfall to higher slopes so higher terrain should remain in good shape.

Eastern Europe
It's a mixed picture across Eastern Europe with conditions probably close to average for the time of year.

Bulgarian resorts have struggled for much fresh snowfall in January and to keep lower slopes open, but do report base depths around the metre mark on upper mountains as we start February.

Further north, the big resorts like Jasna in Slovakia have good top-to-bottom coverage but smaller, lower-lying centres in the area are hardly open (or completely closed) with snow cover much more problematic (and in some cases currently non-existent) at lower elevations.

North America
Canada
Canadian resorts are posting some of their best conditions of the season so far after consistent cold temperatures and more snowfall has allowed most of the country's resorts to open most of their terrain – in some cases for the first time this winter.

Whistler Blackcomb is up to 90% open and ski areas like Red Mountain that had delayed opening to late December and only had a small fraction of their runs open are also now nearly fully open.

It's cold – freezing down to -20C, but not as cold (touching -40C) as it was earlier in the month.

The east coast had been particularly hard hit by warm and dry/wet weather in November and December but here most areas are finally mostly open too.

USA
The Northwestern corner of the US has been posting the biggest snowfalls in North America for several weeks now after the final months of 2023 when there was a bit of a washout.

It seems that when a strong El Nino meets cold January air, even warmer-than-average temperatures are cold enough for snowfall.

Timberline, the Oregon ski area which stays open into August if it can, has leapt to the top of the country's snow depth league thanks to a claimed 100 inches of snowfall in 7 days on its higher slopes.

There has been snow falling across the country. The Northeast, which had been suffering warm, wet weather too is now looking much more like a normal January and there's lots of powder reported in the Rockies.

For restaurants; last winter we had a couple of excellent meals - and great service - in the "Kitsch und Bitter" in town. There was another small place tucked away the name of which escapes me, but I'll look it up as it was worth seeking out... With one exception, we had very good food everywhere we ate - just avoid Pizzerias NOT run by Italians. :wink:

Interesting. We encountered this in a couple of mountain restaurants above Kaprun last winter. I assumed it was more to do with the usual reasons for taking payment in cash... are Austrian banks particularly greedy with card fees?

We're looking at improving this; we think some of the weather models are not coping all that well with the rollercoaster temperatures we're getting this winter. We see signals of precipitation, that look like snow at first, then turn to rain in later forecasts.

Also, the higher temperatures mean that there's a much greater difference (than usual) between snowfall at altitude and in the valley (where it's often been rain). We're looking at adjusting the triggers we use to issue the powder alarms to better account for that.

Regarding today; it looks as if the forecast precipitation / snow has not yet reached Sauze (appears to be west and north of Sauze at the moment) so there should be some later tonight.

Beyond today it's looking clearer and drier than of late, so probably won't be many powder alarms for the next week at least!

Skiing at Les Gets yesterday, throughout the day there were the most impressive halo effects due to ice crystals refracting the low angle sunlight. The effect varied through the day, with double rings and prism effects.

I've seen similar occasionally in the mountains before, but not as intense as this.

These pictures are straight off an iPhone with no retouching; this is not lens flare - and the pictures don't really do it justice.







Anyone else get some good pictures of this, or see it at another ski area?

I think this page describes the phenomenon;
https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/differentiation-characteristics-of-the-46-degree-halo-and-Supralateral-arc.html