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Apologies if you found the forum offline this morning; a database migration took longer than expected.
It's all done now... and has lots of go-faster bright-shiny things behind the scenes that we'll be using to bring you new stuff for next winter... 8) ...speaking of which; fewer than 3 weeks before the days start getting shorter in the North, although the Southern Hemisphere is just getting going! |
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Welcome to our monthly global snow round-up for June.
This Month's Snow Headlines - Southern Hemisphere 2016 Ski season ready for launch. - Heavy May snow in many ski regions leave excellent conditions for the start of June. - Half a dozen ski areas still operating in North America including one re-opening. - Up to 1,300 metres of lift-served vertical skill skiable in the Alps. 
Coronet Peak, viewed from The Remarkables (who we thank for the photo) today After the northern hemisphere has wound down its ski season through May, with less than 20 areas open worldwide as of 31st May, things start to ramp up again in June with northern hemisphere resorts re-opening for summer glacier skiing on both sides of the Atlantic and of course ski areas starting to open for the 2016 season in the southern hemisphere. By the end of the month we should be back up to triple figures in terms of the number of areas operating. May 2016 wasn't a normal May either, it was one of the snowiest on record in the northern hemisphere and there have been some hefty snowfalls in New Zealand and South America too, as well as moderate accumulations in Southern Africa and Australia, so things are looking good on Europe's glaciers and for the start of winter 2016 south of the equator.
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE (for South, please see below) The Alps Austria There are three glacier ski areas open in June in Austria – slightly less than usual (of the eight that have year-round snow) as the Stubai glacier, normally open in to June or July, as closed early in order to work on a major lifts overhaul. A fourth area, the Molltal glacier, re-opens on 18th June. But open now, year-round Hintertux has had a very snowy May (snowier than last December in fact) and now has a 3.3m (11 foot) base on the glacier. There are 36km of runs open and around 1300m of skiable vertical available down from the summit at 3250 to the mid station at 1950m. The Kitzsteinhorn glacier is open to late July and reports similarly spectacular ski conditions for the start of June and the Dachstein glacier is the third choice. France France is the only one of the big four Alpine nations to go for periods in late Spring and late summer when there's no ski lifts operating at all. This has seemed particularly odd over the past few weeks as there have been big snowfalls on French mountains. Things do change in June when the small ski area at Val; d'Isere opens for a few weeks, and then Les 2 Alpes opens what it claims is Europe's largest glacier ski area on 18th June. It will be followed a fortnight later by Tignes at the start of July. Italy There are just a handful of choices in Italy through the late spring to autumn period now. One resort that usually stayed open to early summer, Passo Tonale, has closed in early spring for the second year running as major infrastructure projects have been underway. Cervinia is also between the end of its long spring and start of its summer ski season (which begins on 25th June) so with Val Senales also no longer open in summer there's really just Passo Stelvio to ski in Italy, which re-opened on the last Saturday of May and is in good shape. Switzerland Only Europe's highest ski slopes above Zermatt are currently open in Switzerland following Engelberg and other late May-openers ending their seasons in the past few weeks. Snow conditions on the Klein Matterhorn have been 'epic' through May with heavy snow bringing powder conditions. Scandinavia Two of Norway's three glacier ski areas – Stryn and Folgefonn are open with the third, Galdhoppigen, due to open at the end of the month. There's reported to be a lot of snow if not quite so much as this time last year. Riksgransen up in the Swedish Arctic Circle, the so-called 'Spring skiing Capital' is also open through to Midsummers and is offering weekly midnight skiing and boarding sessions under the midnight sun as an added novelty attraction now that 24 hour daylight is here. North America As with the Alps, it has kept snowing through May in Western North America allowing for some great fresh snow conditions at still open areas. Aspen Mountain keeps re-opening at weekends altough it says that so far, the Memorial Day holiday weekend last weekend would be the last time this season, maybe. Arapahoe Basin has stayed open, with most of its terrain open, but currently expects to end its eight month winter on June 5th. It looks like the season will have ended on May 30th at Mammoth and Squaw Valley in California, Snowbird in Utah and Killington in Vermont, the last areas open in each state, although some to be being cagey about whether they're definitely going to call it a day on 15-16 or not. Mt Bachelor in Oregon also looks set to have closed, but the near year-round ski area of Timberline, also in Oregon, has more than a 2m base and is scheduled to stay open all summer. Crystal Mountain in Washington State which has been closed since mid-April has also re-opened for summer skiing this past weekend. North of the border Whistler Blackcomb closed on the final weekend of May but will re-open again on the 10th for five weeks of glacier skiing in to early July. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Australia Australia's ski season is due to launch on 10rd or 11th June as the 13th is a bank holiday Monday. Traditionally all Aussie ski areas open that weekend whether there's any snow or not, and in that regard most areas are looking as marginal as usual. However there have been some good pre-season snowfall but in mixed reports some forecasts are for heavy snow in the week up to opening day whilst others say rain is the more likely due to a strengthening La Nina weather system in the Pacific (see Chile report below). New Zealand Most New Zealand ski areas are scheduled to open in June with Mt Hutt scheduled to start running its lifts first on Friday 10th June and Coronet Peak and Cardrona up next on the 11th. After a worryingly mild first half of May conditions are looking good on most of the country's slopes as opening day nears - in fact very good at some resorts that have had up to a metre of natural snow along with constantly low temperatures to allow for snowmaking. So at this point it's looking good for season start. Argentina Argentina's ski areas are scheduled to open from around the weekend of 18th/19th June with the south American continent's largest area Catedral, targeting the following weekend, and a 24th June opening. It has spent 45 million in the off season – mostly on maintenance and upgrades, but with a third of that spend on five new groomers shipped over the Atlantic from Germany. Here's been some good pre-season snow in May although it's a bit early to say how good the season start will be later this month. Chile Chile's 2016 ski season runs from late June until late September, but some resorts are reported to be considering the possibility of an early June opening if snow coverage permits. Excitement levels are running high after some significant pre-season snowfall and a forecast from the Chilean Weather Service's for massive snowfall this winter thanks to the 'El Niño effect' which brought healthy snowfall to Western North America during the northern hemisphere's winter just ended, although the US weather service has recently announced that it believes the strong El Niño is now waning and that La Nina is on the way back. Southern Africa Southern African ski areas Tiffindell in South Africa and Afriski in Lesotho are scheduled to be among the first in the southern hemisphere to open for winter 2016 on the 1st and 2nd of June. Both areas are heavily reliant on snow making but equally both have seen some healthy pre-season natural snowfalls in April and May, so it's looking good for season kick off. |
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Prompted by our news of the threat to French Sleeper trains, including those serving a number of ski resorts, here are some of the best known ski areas close to mainline railway stations.
The name in brackets is the station, followed by the approximate time for a taxi ride to the resort. Avoriaz (Cluses) 60 mins Avoriaz via Prodains (Cluses) 45 mins Brides les Bains (Moutiers) 15 mins Courchevel (Moutiers) 60 mins Flaine (Cluses) 50 mins La Clusaz (Annecy) 30 mins La Plagne (Aime la Plagne) 40 mins La Rosiere (Bourg St Maurice) 40 mins La Tania (Bourg St Maurice) 45 mins Le Grand Bornand (Annecy) 30 mins Les Arcs (Bourg St Maurice) 35 mins Les Carroz (Cluses) 25 mins Les Contamines (St Gervais le Fayet) 20 mins Les Gets (Cluses) 25 mins Les Menuires (Moutiers) 40 mins Megeve (Sallanches) 20 mins Meribel (Moutiers) 30 mins Morillon (Cluses) 15 mins Morzine (Cluses) 45 mins Peisey-Vallandry (Landry) 20 mins Sainte Foy (Bourg St Maurice) 20 mins Samoëns (Cluses) 25 mins St Gervais (St Gervais le Fayet) 7 mins Tignes (Bourg St Maurice) 50 mins Val Cenis (Modane) 30 mins Val d'Isere (Bourg St Maurice) 50 mins Val Thorens (Moutiers) 75 mins Valmorel (Moutiers) 40 mins Information kindly provided by SnowCarbon |
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THE FRENCH SLEEPER TRAINS ARE UNDER THREAT OF THE AXE
CAN TWO TEDDY BEARS THAT SKI, SAVE THEM? For years, skiers have been able to dream of snow while actually travelling to it, on sleeper trains bound for the Alps. With overnight each way, they could get two extra days' skiing on their holiday. But this travel option is now under threat. The French State Department of Transport, which owns the national rail operator SNCF, has announced that unless a viable proposal from a train company is received by 1 July 2016, all but two of the night train routes from Paris will be axed – more than 100 years after they first ran. Video by SnowCarbon Petition to Save the French Sleeper Trains The French Government and SNCF say that the services are too expensive to run and that the services are not as popular as they used to be. But rail experts strongly disagree: most of the costs apply to the tracks (shared by daytime and overnight trains) and not the actual overnight trains themselves; poor marketing of the overnight services by the train companies mean means that many skiers are unaware or have difficultly finding out about them; and consistently the trains go on sale to sale later than they are supposed to, much to the frustration of skiers. Sleeper trains routes to destinations all over France are due to be axed, including Paris – Bourg St Maurice and Paris to St Gervais – between them serving more than 20 top French resorts (see list below). The only ski route to be kept running will be Paris to Briancon, which serves Montgenevre and Serre Chevalier, amongst others. While British skiers will still be able to take the direct overnight Eurostar Ski Train from London to Bourg St Maurice, this service only has seats, not flat beds.
In a bid to help save the sleeper trains, Snowcarbon has created a one-minute film about two teddy bears to travel from London to the Alps by sleeper train (and can actually ski!) The teddies start from London by Eurostar, change in Paris by taxi and then catch a sleeper train (hopefully not for the last time) before tackling some red runs and some après ski. The teddy bears originated from charity shops in West Hampstead, for reference. Snowcarbon, Seat 61, Loco2, Futerra and Back on Track have launched a Change.org petition, to be delivered to French Minister of Transport Alain Vidalies and SNCF CEO Guilaumme Pepy. The petition URL is here: www.change.org/p/sncf-save-the-french-sleeper-trains Other notes: • Sleeper trains have space for approximately of 788 places each. • A typical journey lasts around eight hours, leaving Paris at about 11pm. • A journey from Paris to Bourg St Maurice covers 688km. • The total night fleet used across all current French overnight routes amounts to 203 carriages. • Night trains were initially created in 1872 by Belgian businessman Georges Nagelmackers, who launched the Orient-Express (Paris-Constantinople) and the Rome-Express (Calais-Rome, via Paris). Resorts that would no longer have sleeper trains from Paris: Avoriaz, Brides les Bains, Courchevel, Flaine, La Clusaz,La Plagne, La Rosiere, La Tania, Le Grand Bornand, Les Arcs, Les Carroz, Les Contamines, Les Gets, Les Menuires, Manigold, Megeve, Meribel, Morillon, Morzine, Peisey-Vallandry, Sainte Foy, Samoens, St Gervais, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Val Thorens, Valmorel Information kindly provided by Daniel at SnowCarbon |
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J2Ski's Where to Ski in May 2016
Here's the first of our 2016 monthly round-ups of where to ski, which we'll be sending out until around October when the snows come again to the North (not that they've actually stopped this winter yet!). This Month's Snow Headlines - Heavy late April snow in many ski regions leaves excellent conditions for the start of May. - Alyeska in Alaska closes for 2015-16 after receiving nearly 18 metres of snowfall through the season. - Ski areas in California extend season to the end of May. - Resorts in Europe and North America re-open after heavy snow! - No French ski areas open after May 8th. - Engelberg (open to May 22nd) received a metre of snow in the last week of April. May - like October - is change-over month in world skiing. All but a dozen or so ski areas in the Northern hemisphere usually close, but (unless there's an unexpected early wintry blast), skiing in the southern hemisphere doesn't kick off until the start of June. Even most glacier ski areas in the Alps opt to observe a month or two closed-time before re-opening in June or July for summer skiing. So it is that of the world's 5,000+ ski area, as few as 20 can be open in the latter half of May. In fact at that point in the year more indoor snow centres (there are now about 50 of them) are operating than outdoor ones! The start of this May, however, is looking like a vintage one for the areas that are still open after heavy and consistent snowfall in the last weeks of April in most ski regions. There's been significant snow in the Alps, Rockies, Scandinavia and even Scotland where The Lecht re-opened after a month's closure for the April 30/May 1st weekend. Wolf Creek in Colorado has done the same.
The Alps Austria Austria looks to its glacier ski areas in May – at least after the initial weekend which a few resorts, most notably Ischgl, stay open for. And those glaciers are in great shape after several feet of fresh snow fell in the last few weeks of April. Not all of the eight glaciers in Austria are open in May though. Year-round Hintertux is, of course, but the Molltal and Solden glaciers will close on May 8th and the Piztal glacier has closed already. Two glacier centres are open to the last Monday of May – the Stubai and Kaunertal glaciers. So that leaves the Dachstein and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers which both aim to be open through May and in to June. France France has more areas open to the end of April than any other country, but from early May to mid-June there's an odd five weeks or so when there's no ski area open in France most years, and this spring is no exception. Val Thorens and Tignes will be the last centres open there for the next few days – both open through to Sunday the 8th, but until mid-June there are no French centres open. Val d'Isere, Les 2 Alpes and Tignes will re-open for summer skiing then. Italy May skiing options have been on the wane in Italy too. The number of summer ski centres has dropped from half a dozen a decade or so ago to just two now, and one of those won't be opening until June. To be fair Passo Tonale would normally be open through to June but for the past two winters has been seeing a major upgrade of its lifts (Last summer) and on-mountain restaurants (this summer) so is closing early. Val Senales, the former summer ski area, is open to May 8th and Cervinia is open weekends through to May 22nd but that's probably it for Italy until the Passo Stelvio summer ski area opens at the end of the month. Switzerland The snow is lying deep and crisp and even on Swiss slopes as we enter May. Most of the country's ski areas are now closed with four glacier centres open as we start the month, although only one will be open by the 31st! Glacier 3000 between les Diablerets and Gstaad will be the first of the four to close on May 8th, but Engelberg – which currently has the deepest base of any open resort in Europe at 3.5m up on its Titlis glacier, is open for another fortnight to the 22nd, as is the Diavoleza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin region in the south east of the country. It's Zermatt, with Europe's highest slopes and normally open year round (Conditions permitting) that will still be open through the summer months – all being well. Scandinavia Many leading ski areas in Scandinavia stay open to the first weekend of May and close at the end of Sunday the 1st. Hemsedal in Norway is one such area, and it had 10cm of fresh snow in the last week of April. Some stay open longer, most notably Ruka, up in Finland, which expects to stay open to the 9th and Narvik in northern Norway which will continue to the 16th. Riksgransen, the 'Spring skiing capital of Europe' will stay open to the weekend nearest to midsummers day in June and begin offering its annual snowsports under the midnight sun later in May. Norway has three summer glacier ski areas too which begin to open around now. The Folgefonn glacier, for example, opened at the weekend, with the Stryn glacier due to join it at the end of the month. Scotland It's often the case that Scotland has better snow conditions in spring than in winter and this year is no exception with the centres unable to open until mid-January due to too little snow and weather extremes but now closing in some cases due to lack of business not lack of snow. As we enter May, Glencoe says Monday May 2nd is its last day of the season, leaving only Cairngorm which has not yet announced a closing date. Both areas received significant snowfall in the last week of April. North America Canada There are only four areas open in Canada in May and two of them – Lake Louise and Marmot Basin in Alberta – close after the weekend of the 7th/8th. However the other Banff, Alberta resort of Sunshine is open for a further fortnight and plans to round off it season with its inaugural staging of the Pond Skimming World Cup. Whistler is staying open right to the end of May, closing after the last Sunday of the month, and then only for 12 days before re-opening for summer skiing and boarding on Blackcomb Mountain. It has over 2m of snow lying and was still getting fresh snow at the end of April so is looking good for at least another month. USA It's been a snowy winter 15-16 in Western North America and as a result it's looking like the best May skiing for five seasons. Mammoth and Squaw Valley are the main Californian ski areas that have already announced plans to stay open to at least the end of the month. Mammoth has a 15 foot/4.5m base on upper runs. In Colorado Arapahoe basin is still open and Wolf creek has re-opened for the first weekend of the May at least after fresh snow, Loveland is also open for the start of the month. Mt Bachelor in Oregon and Snowbird in Utah are also operating weekends in May – all report significant snowfall in the last few weeks of April. The nearly year-round snow field at timberline in Oregon is also operational and on the East Coast Killington in Vermont is managing top keep a few runs open with a few feet of mostly machine made snow despite a more challenging season there. Southern Hemisphere No southern hemisphere ski areas are expected to open until early June when resorts in Australia will open regardless of snow conditions and Tiffindell in South Africa and Afriski in Lesotho are also expected to open. The mass opening of ski areas in New Zealand and South America usually gets underway around mid-June. That said, there have been promising pre-season snowfalls reported in the Andes in the latter half of April with La Parva in Chile and Catedral in Argentina amongst those posting very snowy pics on social media. Ski areas in New Zealand have also been posting pictures of their slopes turning white, raising anticipation south of the equator. We'll have more on the prospects for the Southern Hemisphere in next months update. |
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Yep, we sent out 4,000 Powder Alarms this morning! We should probably add a note that you'll need to walk up in most places now... but conditions are going to be fabulous at altitude for the next week or two!
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 21st 2016
Ok, so this really is the last weekly round-up for the 15/16 Northern Hemisphere season... even though it's still snowing. We'll be back at the end of next week with the first of our monthly guides of where to ski, which we'll publish until the snows come again to the North. Thanks for reading, and we hope you have a great summer unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere; in which case your fun is yet to begin! This Week's Snow Headlines - 50cm of snowfall in 24 hours on the Hintertux glacier. - April snow storms bring up to three feet of snow to North American ski areas. - 60cm of snowfall in 48 hours on the Stubai glacier. - Chamonix claims base (world's deepest) now 7.3m after another 60cm of fresh snow. - Heavy pre-season snow reported at La Parva at Chile. We're pleased to report that we're going out on a high with heavy snow in Europe, North America and even the Andes to report in the last few days! In fact, we haven't done any actual maths, but it's looking like April is much snowier than December was in Europe! In The Alpine Forecast Further significant snowfall is forecast for the final week of April with up to a metre of new snow expected on higher runs in the Alps, with falling temperatures likely to produce some fabulous conditions. Although many ski areas have now closed in Europe, those that remain open continue to offer great skiing at altitude so get there if you can!
The Alps Austria The number of areas still open in Austria continues to decrease but for those still open it has been a snowy week with almost all areas reporting 30-70cm of fresh snow since Sunday. The glaciers have seen the biggest snowfalls – most getting 60 – 70cm and topping up their bases at around the 3m/10 foot mark so things are looking good for late spring and summer skiing. Most snow has now gone from the valleys but resorts like Kitzbuhel are still reporting a metre of snow on upper runs. Ischgl, which is building up to its big closing weekend at the end of the month still has top-to-bottom snow cover boosted by a foot of fresh snow this week. There's more snow forecast for the week ahead too, possibly as much as a metre up on the glaciers. France French slopes too – with around half of the country's ski areas still open – have seen significant fresh snow this week. Avoriaz and la Clusaz both reported 25cm of snow in the previous 24 hours on Monday morning and Chamonix says it has had two feet of snow up top in the past seven days, it's open for one more week. There was 25-40cm at many resorts including Val d'Isere, Flaine, Tignes and Val Thorens – the latter two scheduled to stay open the longest in France, for another fortnight yet. Most have great bases, for example 1.3-2.6m at Val Thorens, so could actually stay open rather longer if it wanted. Italy Some big snowfalls on the Western side of Italy this past week too with Val Senales (open to 8th May) seeing 70cm in total and snowy scenes at resorts including Livigno and Cervinia. Only around a dozen Italian areas are still open as the snow didn't reach as far East as Cortina in the Dolomites although base depths (40cm up top) look good enough to see it through to the end of the season. Macugnaga now has the deepest reported base in Italy at 2.4m. Switzerland Some big snowfalls in Switzerland too, year round Zermatt reported 40cm of fresh snow and has a 2m base up top (nothing left at resort level). There was a foot of snow at Samnaun and at Andermatt and 15-20cm of snow at the other still open Swiss resorts. Engelberg, which is open for another month and still has the deepest base (upper) in Switzerland at 375cm, had six inches of fresh on Monday and Verbier got 20cm of new snow too. Scandinavia There's a definite thaw underway in Scandinavia with bases which hovered around the metre mark for four months now down to 30-40cm, a distinct drop on a week ago. There's not been much fresh snow either, just a few inches, but it should see most areas through to the end of the season, generally the weekend of April 30/May 1st. Voss on Norway's coast continues to report the most impressive snow depth with a metre of snow at the base, over double that up top. Pyrenees There are no areas in the Andorran or Spanish Pyrenees still open, but Cauterets on the French side got 5cm of fresh snow this week and reports a 290cm (nearly 10 foot) base. Sierra Nevada in southern Spain will remain open to May 1st and this weekend has a ski-in-your-swimsuit festival with low priced lift tickets on the go. However it received 10cm of fresh snow on Wednesday leaving things looking decidedly chilly for the planned weekend in bikinis and boxers ahead. Eastern Europe Virtually all ski areas in Eastern Europe including all centres in Bulgaria have now closed for the season. Jasna in the Slovak Republic is still operational however and reports a 10-60cm base with no fresh snow. Scotland Nevis Range became the third Scottish area to end its 2015-16 season on Sunday, leaving Cairngorm and Glencoe the two still open options remaining. There was some fresh now at the weekend and optimism that the probable arrival of a 'Polar Vortex' will mean still more fresh snow next weekend. Glencoe says it will stay open for another week and close May 2nd, Cairngorm has not yet announced a closing date. North America Canada Almost all Canadian ski areas are now closed and the resorts that are still open will remain open in to May. They are the three Banff resorts and Marmot Basin in Alberta plus Whistler in BC with skiing on Blackomb Mountain. There's been 12cm of fresh snow at Whistler which still has over 2m of snow on its upper runs. USA About three quarters of all US ski areas are now closed and it's the final weekend coming up for a sizeable chunk of those still open; although several dozen are planning to stay open in to May. The good news is that it keeps snowing, with the highest resorts in Colorado like Loveland (Open to May 9th), and Arapahoe Basin (usually open in to June) both receiving several feet of new snow. Other still-open areas like Copper and Breckenridge got a foot of snow too. Further north there was around 25cm of snow for Snowbird in Utah too. There was no new snow in New England but a number of areas there are still open including Killington in Vermont which often stays open to late spring, it has a 20-60cm base. |
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 14th 2016
Well we did think this was going to be the last one of the season, but there's still more snow (at altitude) in the forecast and there are still ski areas open, so next week will be the final 15/16 Snow Mail before we go Monthly for the summer! 
Les Arcs this afternoon - turned out nice again... This Week's Snow Headlines - A foot of fresh snow at year-round Zermatt. - A foot of snow forecast this weekend in Colorado. - Around half of resorts in the Alps now closed for the season, but most in France still open. - Chamonix, with world's deepest reported snow base, claims it has increased to 7.1m - Andorra ends its 2015-16 ski season. - All leading ski areas in Scandinavia still open. The ending of the ski season is now in full swing in Europe with most Austrian resorts closed, and around half of those in France and Italy also closed. Most areas have also closed in the Pyrenees but all leading ski areas in Scandinavia are still open. It's a little ironic then that for many areas April is proving a snowier month than December; with another 10-30cm of snow reported on the upper slopes in most resorts. Forecasters are also predicting some more snow in the Alps, possibly 30-60cm on higher slopes in the coming week and perhaps as much as a metre at Zermatt. In The Alpine Forecast Another week of varying weather will bring fresh snow at altitude (and rain below), with many areas of The Alps now expecting warm, clear days interspersed with considerably cooler and snowier ones. For resorts still open, the end of season conditions are looking great; generally Spring snow but some real powder possibilities if you time it right...
The Alps Austria The majority of Austria's leading ski areas closed on Sunday and there are currently around 20 of the bigger, higher resorts still open with most of these now aiming for a Sunday May 1st closure. At the still-open areas there has been some more fresh April snow with most receiving between 5-20cm of new snow and still more is forecast for the week ahead, up to 40cm in fact if predictions are correct. Most of the country's glacier areas which plan to stay open to June, July or beyond have good bases in the 2.5 -3 metre bracket so things are looking good for late spring and summer skiing as well as the last few weeks of Austria's main season. France Most French ski areas are still open, for the coming weekend at least, with many open to the end of the month and in the case of resorts like Tignes and Val Thorens, in to May. It has largely been sunny spring conditions on French slopes but there has been some fresh snow at higher elevations – typically 5-20cm over the past week. Chamonix says it got 10cm up top and has increased its claimed snow depth up there from 7m to 7.1m as a result. Bases up top remain good at French areas (Most in the 1.,5m-2.5m bracket) and even lower down at resort level, although low lying traditional villages like Chamonix, Les Contamines, Vaujany and Le Grand Bornand no longer have any snow cover at base. Italy A little more than half of Italy's leading ski areas closed last weekend including most of the ski areas in the Dolomites but you can still ski at Passo Tonale and at Faloria (Cortina d'Ampezzo) and Passo Fedaia (Marmolada) until 1st May. The only fresh snow in the country this week (25cm) was reported at Cervinia, which also has the deepest base at 215cm and will also be open in to May. Switzerland About half of the leading Swiss areas closed for the season last weekend too, with more set to follow this. However the biggest snowfalls in Europe of the past week have been here, with 35cm at Laax and 30cm at year-round Zermatt reported. Most Swiss resorts now have zero cover down at resort level but snow levels on upper runs remain good, with more than 3m at Andermatt and Engelberg (open to late May) and most other open Swiss resorts reporting at least 2m lying. Forecasters are predicting good snowfalls in Switzerland over the coming week with 30-60cm at most areas and possibly more than a metre at Zermatt. Scandinavia In Scandinavia alone there's no real sign of the season ending at the region's international resorts, all of which remain almost fully open and in most cases there are no plans to close before the start of May. Base depths have dipped a bit (mostly in the 60-80cm bracket now) and there's been little sign of any fresh snow – although the biggest resort, Are in Sweden, has reported 10cm of fresh. Light snowfall is expected in the week ahead. Pyrenees Most of the ski areas in the Pyrenees (including all in Andorra and all major areas on the Spanish side) closed on Sunday. However some resorts on the French side remain open, including Cauterets which continues to boast one of the world's deeper snowbases at 3m and fresh snow received in recent days, more than 20cm this week with more forecast. In the south of Spain, Sierra Nevada is making up for its late start to the season and remains fully operational with more than 80km of runs open. Eastern Europe Most Eastern European ski areas closed last weekend but a few still operate. Bansko in Bulgaria has had no fresh snow and has nothing left at resort level but still has a 1.6m base up top. Jasna in the Slovak Republic is also still operating with top to bottom skiing (10-60cm base). Scotland Some fresh snow in Scotland this week and conditions on higher slopes look good at the two still open-daily centres – Glencoe and Cairngorm. Nevis Range has decided to stop opening midweek now but may open weekends if conditions are good and business levels look likely to cover costs – a decision is due for this weekend later today. North America Canada Most of Canada's ski areas closed over the last few weekends. The exceptions are the resorts open to early May – Lake Louise, Mt Norquay and Marmot Basin in Alberta, and to late May – Sunshine near Banff in Alberta and Whistler in BC. Tremblant in Quebec is also soldiering on for another week. There's been little fresh snowfall but bases should certainly last. Whistler now has the deepest at 2.7m (nine feet) whilst it's nearer 1.5m (five feet) still at the Alberta resorts. USA Most US resorts have also now closed for the season and most of the rest are closing this weekend. Mother Nature is not amused however and it's continuing to snow in the West and even (somewhat ironically given the largely warm and snowless winter and early spring in New England) – Stowe in Vermont reported 'mid-winter conditions' earlier this week. The snow in the West is certainly helping this season be a 'banner year' at many resorts in the region. Aspen announced plans to stay open for 'bonus weekends' through April after closing mid-week and Mammoth still has more than a 5m base – the deepest in North America and second deepest in the world. Squaw Valley says it will be open to at least the end of May and Ayeska in Alaska has passed the 20m snowfall-this-season-to-date stat this week, the most of any resort in the world this season by some margin. The snow doesn't seem to have finished yet either, Breckenridge in Colorado, still open, is expecting another foot this weekend. |
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