Messages posted by : admin
J2Ski Snow Report - February 25th 2016
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 12 Replies |
|
|
Tony - there's a bit of uncertainty about the likely track of the Sunday/Monday storm system but it's got the potential to bring some spectacular falls to a few places... and plastering the Dolomites is high on the list of possibilities so keep your fingers crossed and it could well roll on through.
Current forecast has the biggest fall (for Solden) at around 30cm on Monday but I think that might change... :mrgreen: Still got space in your chalet??? :lol:
:thumbup: Must admit I've never really got the need to strap a snowboard to each foot, popular in recent years, so these would probably suit me - will look out for them. |
|
J2Ski Snow Report - February 25th 2016
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 12 Replies |
|
Boom indeed... next week looking rather good Mr. H -) |
|
J2Ski Snow Report - February 25th 2016
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 12 Replies |
|
|
J2Ski Snow Report - February 25th 2016
It's snowing in Arc1950 right now... More snow to report this week, with regular top-ups and some substantial snow now in the forecast. This Week's Snow Headlines - Big snowfalls expected again in the Alps over the next few days. - Up to two feet of fresh snow in Western North America. - Alyeska now reports more than 15m of snow. - It keeps snowing at Voss in Norway - 1m in past week. Many of the world's ski areas have seen moderate accumulations this week, although varying temperatures have again been the order of the day in Europe. Despite this bases remain good in most areas and conditions excellent on higher runs but, the story of the season, the spectre of rain at lower levels, continues to affect some regions. In The Alpine Forecast After another brief warm spell (Sunday and Monday), temperatures will return to seasonal averages with the cooling accompanied by snow. Increasing snowfall is expected for the coming week, starting in the next 48 hours in most areas with up to 1.2 metres of snow forecast at some locations (the biggest accumulation in the last seven days was about half that). The longer-range forecasts keep the snow coming throughout the next two weeks. In fact the snow is already falling in many areas and powder alarms of 20-25cm have been issued for up to 25cm of fresh snow overnight in the French Alps at Chamonix, Les Contamines and La Clusaz amongst others. Significant snowfall is expected into the Dolomites over the weekend, with lighter snows following into March. The Pyrenees should see useful falls, albeit lighter than The Alps, next week. Further East, most Austrian areas should see useful snowfall, also continuing well into next month according to current forecasts. The Alps Austria The biggest accumulations of the last week have been in the 20-40cm bracket at Solden, Pitztal, Obergurgl and St Anton. Otherwise most areas got anything between 15cm/6 inches and zero. The Ziller Valley continues to look rather green at lower levels with Mayrhofen and Zell am Ziller lacking resort level cover and in Zell's case not huge amounts up top either (40cm) – although Mayrhofen has 90cm/3 feet. The deepest snow is of course on the glaciers with Solden and Kaunertal up at around 2.7m. Some very big snowfalls of up to four feet (1.2m) in total are expected on these higher slopes over the next seven days. France The past week has been one of the least snowy for a while in France but still most of the leading resorts in the Northern Alps clocked up 15-30cm more snow in the past 72 hours and bases continue to look very healthy. Chamonix, which claimed the biggest snowfall in the last week (50cm), also has the deepest base up to 4.1m – nearly 14 feet. There's 40cm down at resort level. Elsewhere most of the big resorts remain in good shape, many with 2-3m on upper slopes 60 – 150cm at the base – including Avoriaz, Espace Killy, Flaine, Alpe d'Huez, Les Arcs, the list goes on. Lower elevation areas are more challenged however, there's almost no snow at resort level in Vaujany for example, though it's 3m deep up top. Italy There's been very little snow reported in Italy in the past week although big falls of a metre or more are forecast for the coming week. Bases remain modest in much of the dolomites, albeit much better than a month or so ago. Most have around 30cm/a foot at resort level and 60cm up top but Cortina has hit the metre mark on the upper runs. Conditions remain better in the West where La Thuile has the country's deepest base at 2.9m, overtaking Cervinia on 2.4m. Switzerland All Swiss ski centres got at least some snow this week with Engelberg, boasting the country's deepest base at 355cm, reporting the biggest seven day accumulation of 55cm. Ironically the resort with Europe's highest slopes, Zermatt, reported the smallest accumulations – only 5cm. Most lifts and runs are open with on-piste conditions largely good to excellent. Generally depths are good across the country though, of mostly better towards the west. Grindelwald in the Jungfrau has very limited cover at resort level but most other areas report a foot or more down at village level and most 1.5-2.5m up top. Scandinavia After a rather dry week last week it has kept snowing all week in Norway, in fact it has had the most consistent snowfall since last weekend. Voss kept reporting 20cm or more each 24 hours and that has added up to a metre of snow over the past week, and taken its base to 2.4 metres, by far the deepest in Scandinavia. Elsewhere there as another 10cm at Are in Sweden and similar falls in Lapland where depths are around the metre mark – very healthy for Finland. Pyrenees After last week's snowfall there have been more limited accumulations in the last seven days – most resorts receiving between 5 and 15cm of new snow. Bases remain good with 60-1230cm of cover at most areas and heavier snowfall is expected next week. Sierra Nevada in the south continues to improve with another 15cm of snow reported, more forecast and depths up to 1m now. Eastern Europe Conditions are not great in Bulgaria where it has been warm and wet leaving the accumulated snow base heavy. Forecast snow for the past fortnight has failed to materialise, although a few inches are forecast again for the coming week. There's been rather more snow further north at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia (15cm this week) and Jasna in Slovakia (10cm) so they're looking a little fresher. Romania though, like Bulgaria, has had no new snow and the base at Poiana Brasov only 20-40cm. Scotland Scottish slopes have had a great week with mostly clear skies and little wind but with some pleasant overnight top offs of fresh powder to freshen things up each morning. That snowfall has added up to 20cm in the past week at Glenshee in the East but right up to nearly 80cm at Glencoe in the east, bases are in the 40-100cm bracket and most lifts and runs are operational. North America Canada Moderate snowfalls in Eastern and western Canada with some powder alarms for 20cm or more of fresh snow in 24 hours at Tremblant and Mont Ste Anne in Quebec in the past few days. The biggest snowfalls though were once again in the west with 40cm at Big White where there's a base of 2.7m (9 feet) now, the deepest in the country. Other BC resorts including Revelstoke, Sun Peaks and Whistler recorded 20-30cm. Tremblant did report the third biggest snowfall in Canada though with 30cm over the week. Similar snow volumes ae expected over the coming week. USA There have been some substantial snowfalls in the Western US again with 60cm at Heavenly and 50cm at Squaw Valley but these were very sharp storms, concentrated in 24 hours last weekend, and both have been fairly dry ever since. Most other ski areas in the West have had around a foot of snow but there have also been reports of rain at lower elevations in some areas. Alyeska has had the most snow – 85cm, and has passed the 15m season-snowfall-to-date figure. Smaller snowfalls in the East but at least some snow – Stowe has had 15cm. |
|
Everybody knows about that... 8) |
|
|
M.Thovex just released a new video, so grab yourself a coffee and take 5...
|
|
|
As we think this is pretty important, we thought we'd check and see if any of the ski websites we looked at last year have upped their game...
Well, good and bad news; a couple of sites have shown that they can be bothered with your security, but there are still some that can't. Props for improving their security go to :- - The Ski Club, who now score a pretty secure A- (previously "obsolete and insecure") on the SSL Labs Test (links above). - SkiAndSnowboard.Co.Uk, now scoring an A (previously "untrusted"). And loud boos, for no improvement, for :- - Snow-Forecast, CrystalSki (who can't be bothered to use the right certificate!) and Snowheads. To re-iterate; when you login to a site without secure http (i.e. https), or with weak security, it's equivalent to writing your password on a postcard and sending it through the mail... |
|
|
Yep, earned your turns there; very nice!
|
|
J2Ski Snow Report - February 18th 2016
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 4 Replies |
|
|
J2Ski Snow Report - February 18th 2016
The view from Brevent, Chamonix, this afternoon A lighter week to report, but the snow keeps coming... This Week's Snow Headlines - Chamonix passes the 4m Snow Depth Mark. - Alyeska in Alaska has now had more than 14m/47 feet of snow this season. - Three feet more snow at Avoriaz. - Big snow in Quebec, Tremblant gets 41cm in 24 hours. - Mammoth posts deepest snowbase in the world at present at 4.3m. - Sierra Nevada in southern Spain finally gets significant snowfall. A week without any dramatic snowfalls to report; just good old fashioned top ups of snowbases all over the northern hemisphere, with around 90% of ski centres seeing some snow, some as much as 90cm/three feet, most nearer a third of that. In The Alps it has kept snowing and got colder, the temperature drop being especially welcome in this season that has too often seen rain at lower elevations. Most noteworthy perhaps was more snow in the Dolomites, fresh snow in the Pyrenees and even stable conditions in Scotland. Not a lot happening across the Atlantic although big snowfalls in New England and Quebec saw East Coast beat West Coast for snowfall totals for only the second time this season. In The Alpine Forecast Heat wave! But it won't last long; this coming weekend will see a steep rise in temperatures in much of The Alps... followed by an equally steep fall as next week begins. This Sunday and Monday look clear and mild (warm in the sun), although temperatures will drop sharply into Tuesday. That temperature drop looks like ushering in a period of un-settled (and snowy) weather that we expect to last through to the end of the month. There are a couple of promising snowfalls in the forecast for next week (currently Tuesday and Thursday) and more to follow those. The Alps Austria Less snowy this week than the past few in Austria, but still quite snowy with every ski area in the country posting some snowfall, most 10-20cm, some (Ischgl) as much as 40cm. There's been another foot (30cm) in the past week at St Anton and Kitzbuhel has had 25cm (10 inches) as has powder pocket Fieberbrunn. It's still not quite a classic winter, with resorts in the Ziller Valley including Mayrhofen and Zell still struggling for resort level snow, although on the higher slopes conditions are pretty good. The Kauntertal glacier is posting by far the deepest snowbase in the country at 386cm, more than a metre more than closest contender Solden. More moderate snowfall is expected in Austria over the coming week. France France has had more healthy snowfalls over the past week with up to three feet of fresh snow reported (at Avoriaz) and the deepest snow base (Chamonix) pushing through the 4m mark. Generally the picture is good across the country's ski areas although there remains an issue of snow cover at lower level resorts like Samoens. Most have 30-90cm bases and some like Meribel, Avoriaz and Val Thorens over a metre now at resort level and double that higher up – meaning they should be good for the rest of the season now. Small to moderate snowfall accumulations are expected over the coming week. Italy Italian resorts have also had less snow than a week ago, but still some, and thankfully it has continued to fall in the Dolomites as well as in the West of the country. San Martino posted a powder alarm for 20cm of fresh snow in 24 hours yesterday (Wednesday) and Alta Pusteria reports 60cm (two feet) of fresh snow. The biggest accumulations have been in the Aosta Valley with Pila and la Thuile reporting 60cm and 75cm of fresh snow respectively in the past week, but Arabba in the dolomites has had another foot (30cm) in the same period. La Thuile also has the country's deepest snow base at 2.7m (9 feet). 30-60cm of snow is forecast across the country's ski areas in the coming week. Switzerland Moderate snowfall in Switzerland too with a return to the most-snow-in-the-west pattern with Verbier adding 45cm this past week, St Moritz 5cm. Snow depths remain pretty good across the country with most areas having 50cm-1m at resort level and 1m-2m on upper slopes, Engelberg still the snowiest in the country with a 3.5m base. A few resorts do have thinner cover at resort level with Champery and Grindelwald in the 10-15cm bracket. Much bigger snowfalls – possibly up to a metre, are expected in the next seven days. Scandinavia Not much snow reported in Norway over the last week although resorts like Voss have the region's deepest snow base now at 1.8m. There's been more snow than normal up north in Lapland though with a foot (30cm) of fresh at Yllas and bases in the area around the metre mark. More snow in Sweden too with 20cxm for the biggest centre, Are. Pyrenees It has been the snowiest week in a while for the Pyrenees with most areas posting 30-40cm of fresh snowfall across the region. Bases have been boosted to around the metre mark and resorts are reporting powder conditions. Sierra Nevada down in the south of Spain, which had had almost no natural snow all season and relies on natural snowfall has finally had a healthy fall this week. Similar snowfall is expected over the coming week too. Eastern Europe There have been moderate snowfalls across Eastern Europe with leading resorts in Slovenia, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all reporting 20-25cm of new snow in the last few days. None of the expected snow arrived in Bulgaria, apparently, but snow depths remain good at around the metre mark. Scotland Conditions have been largely stable over the past week in Scotland with most centres open most days and relatively good conditions and most terrain open. There have been a few inches of fresh snow, particularly last weekend and up to 30cm more is expected over the coming week. Lowther Hills in the south of the country have also had a good snowfall in the past 48 hours. North America Canada There's been another foot of snow in Western BC but the big news from Canada this week is that Mt Tremblant in Quebec has posted one of the biggest powder alarms on the North American continent with 41cm in 24 hours Tuesday/Wednesday having seen very little natural snow all season until now. Fernie, which reported 15cm of snow in the past week, has the deepest base in the country still at 2.5m, a few centimetres ahead of whistler which reported 30cm of fresh snow this week. USA A quieter week in the USA with the biggest snowfalls reported in the East of the country for only the second time this season. Sugarbush in Vermont hit 45cm/18 inches of fresh snow, beating the 14 inches at Breckenridge out west in Colorado – the most on that side of the US. Mammoth still has the biggest snow base in the region at 4.2m up top, although its only had a few inches of snow this week. That's about to change in the next 48 hours however as several feet of fresh snow are expected by the end of the weekend. |
|