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Deer Valley Resort, Utah, posted this great view today... Big snowfalls for much of the northern hemisphere, bringing much-needed snow for the USA, and piling it up high in the Alps. The Snow Headlines - January 11th - Biggest snowfalls of season reported across North America, improving poor cover to date. - Low temperatures and more snowfall in Alps pushes more resorts past 3m/10 feet bases. - Portugal's season gets underway after cold weather finally reaches SW Europe. - 3 Valleys post more than 550km of slopes open, Portes du Soleil 530km. - Scottish centres open slopes beyond the beginner areas. - Les Arcs and Flaine reach 4 metre base depths up top. 
More snow forecast for many European and American ski areas
World Overview There have been some good snowfalls on slopes in Europe and North America over the past week. We've also seen a drop in temperature in the Alps and the Rockies and many other mountain ranges of Europe and North America. So, it's good news all around, but with different benefits to different areas. In North America the situation was fairly dire in about 80% of the continent's ski areas from coast to coast with the snowpack less than half its normal level for early January and less than half of the continent's runs open; so the new snowfall is really welcome, allowing more terrain to open and bringing powder to slopes that had seen precious little. In Europe, it is a similar story in the Pyrenees, but the Alps already had above-average snow levels so the new snow has simply improved an already positive picture and the colder temperatures brought snow down to the valley floors again. Europe Austria A much better January 2024 than January 2023 in Austria with low temperatures and fresh snowfall on what was already a pretty good position through the Xmas/New Year holidays when the vast majority of the country's ski areas were 70-90% open. This new snow – with many areas posting up to a foot in 24 hours over multiple days - has arrived along with colder temperatures, meaning conditions are the best they've been all winter. A number of resorts including St Anton and the Stubai Glacier are reporting snow lying more than 10 feet (3 m) deep up high. Five areas have more than 200km of slopes open and although Kitzbuhel is only posting 188km – that's 100% of their terrain. France The French Alps have seen the biggest snowfalls in the world over the last seven days with several resorts posting 70-90cm accumulations. Conditions for early January continue to be among the best they've been for many years with the snow lying up to four metres deep on upper slopes, more than 80% of the country's runs open and snowfall down to the lower valley floors over the past week, improving things at ski areas that hadn't had so much snow down low like Morzine and Megeve. Even the French Pyrenees, which has had much less snowfall than the Alps to date, saw significant falls this week. The 3 Valleys are now over 90% open, the most in the world, and the Chamonix Valley has the deepest snowbase in the world at 380cm up top at Grands Montets. Italy Southern and Eastern Italian ski areas have had a rather warmer-and-drier-than-they'd-like start to the season, but temperatures have been dropping and last weekend saw some decent dumps in the Dolomites as well as in other parts of the country which hadn't needed them so badly. Despite reduced natural snow, most centres in the Dolomites still had most of their runs open thanks to expert slope maintenance, but now resorts like Cortina d'Ampezzo which had been posting a 30cm base (but 80% of its slopes open) have doubled that and are reporting powder now. It has turned sunny again in most areas since the weekend falls but temperatures have remained low, keeping the fresh snowfall, well, fresh. Switzerland Swiss slopes have, like the rest of the Alps, enjoyed a week with lower temperatures and plenty of fresh snowfall. In fact, the country is leading Europe (and the world) in terms of the percentage of its runs open – more than 80%. Some areas have more open than others with the biggest, the 4 Valleys around Verbier, approaching 100% open – they've made it up to 98% of their 400km+. Of the big regions, the Portes du Soleil (that includes terrain over the French border) has struggled the most this season due to lower elevation slopes, but there's been an improvement here too with 90% (more than 530km) of slopes open thanks to the recent cold and snow to low altitudes. Scandinavia Scandinavian ski areas have continued to report some very cold temperatures – touching -30C – over the past week, leading many to close some or all of their runs and particularly aerial lifts, for fear a mechanical failure could leave skiers dangling in such very low temperatures. Away from the slight cold issue, conditions are generally very good across the region with most centres 80-100% open and those low temps keeping the snow in pristine condition. The deepest, as usual, is in Western Norway, now up to about 5 feet lying near coastal Voss. Pyrenees The Pyrenees looked like they were on course for a decent dump of snowfall at the weekend but unfortunately, the Andorran and Spanish centres initially only got a few centimetres (although some later reported 30cm snowfalls) whereas on the French side, up to 60cm accumulations were reported and a much bigger improvement on the (fairly dire) conditions that had dominated there. So it is that the Grand Tourmalet region of La Mongie/Barèges is the only area in the region reporting 100% of its slopes open – 100km of runs – putting it ahead of the huge Andorran Grandvalira region which has only about 80km – a third of its area, still. Spain's Baqueiura Beret just has the most with 106km of slopes – about 65% of its area. Scotland Scottish centres continue to try to open terrain beyond their beginner slopes which are maintained by all-weather snowmaking systems. Fairly cold weather has helped with that and Glencoe reports good ski-touring conditions to the summit above its (still closed) inbounds terrain, which can be reached with its access chairlift. Cairngorm has its M1 Poma serving M1 and White Lady pistes if you hike up and Glenshee has some extra terrain open too. Eastern Europe A mixed picture across Eastern Europe, although with great conditions for most resorts and more fresh snow this week. The lesser-known ski areas in Croatia and Albania have been posting pictures of deep snow cover and it is looking good for Slovenia as well as further north in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In the latter, Jasna now has 100% of its runs open. Bulgaria has had some snowfall and is reporting colder temperatures but most areas, including Bansko, still have less than 50% of their slopes open. Only Borovets is posting over 80% of runs open there. North America Canada Conditions have improved in Canada this week with up to half a metre of snowfall reported on ski slopes across the west of the country for the start of this week, and snow in the equally-hard-hit East as well. There has been more light snowfall and some very low temperatures, in the -5C to -25C range, through this week and that's set to continue into next. Whistler Blackcomb is one of the big winners from the new snow, now having 80% of its slopes open and the most skiable terrain actually available to ski in North America once again, having previously had less than half its runs open. There's still some catching up to do from the poor position prior to these snowfalls, but things are moving in the right direction now. USA Some much-needed improvements in the US thanks to more consistently cold temperatures and snowfalls across the country. Some resorts in California and Colorado have reported up to two feet of snowfall on high slopes. These have moved things in the right direction although fewer than two-thirds of ski area slopes are open. There was snowfall in the East too, and it is staying cold and snowy into next week. The country's biggest ski area, Park City in Utah, still doesn't have quite so much terrain open as Vail, to the south (which of course owns Park City). Vail now has more than 80% of its runs open, one of the highest percentages in the US, while Park City is nearer the average 60% of theirs. |
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It's cold in Hemsedal, Norway, so wrap up when skiing that fabulous snow... Snow keeps coming for the Alps, and it's getting colder. Snow in the forecast for parts of US, and a lot coming for Japan. The Snow Headlines - January 4th - Chamonix claims first 4-metre base of anywhere in the world for 23-24 season. - A foot of much-needed snowfall for Mammoth Mountain in California. - Up to 1 metre (3 feet) of snowfall in first three days of 2024 in the Alps. - Scottish ski areas open limited terrain beyond beginner areas. - Avalanche Risk Level rises from 2 to 3 in the Western Alps with new snow. - Scandinavian centres close lifts and pistes due to extreme cold. 
Snow and COLD is forecast for the Alps, parts of Canada and US, and Japan.
World Overview It's 2024 and things have started well in the Western Alps with French resorts posting up to 95cm of snowfall up high so far this week and Argentiere in the Chamonix Valley hitting a 4 metre base, the deepest in the world and a number not reached in Europe until late March last season. There was some rain and sleet on low-lying slopes and the avalanche risk level has crept up a notch, but the big picture remains positive with most centres posting 80-100% of their slopes open. It's not great everywhere though. The Pyrenees continue to suffer from dry and sometimes warm weather while up in Scandinavia it's the opposite with some lifts and runs closed for safety reasons due to temperatures as low as -30C. Conditions continue to be challenging for lack of snowfall in North America but there have been some promising signs with a foot of snow in California - the biggest fall of the season there so far. Europe Austria A good week for most Austrian resorts with cooling temperatures and some fresh snowfall. Most of the country's resorts have been operating with all, or nearly all of their slopes open and overall things are looking much better than they were 12 months ago. The Arlberg, with a published snow depth of 60/330cm (2-11 feet) around St Anton and Lech has both the country's deepest reported snow up at Valluga and the most terrain open – around 90% of its 300km+ of slopes. France There were media scare stories in the Daily Mail and others of a French ski season 'wash out' from rain at the start of this week. There was a grain of truth in this – rain and sleet at low elevations, briefly getting quite high – but for the vast majority of resorts most skiers head to, with most of their terrain above 1800m, there was minimal impact and in fact, most are celebrating fresh snow (in some abundance). Morzine showed the two extremes; reporting 72cm of snowfall on higher slopes over the first three days of the year, whilst seeing periods of rain at resort level. Italy There's a great variety in snow depths across Italy at the moment – ranging from around 30cm to nearer 3 metres – with the deeper snow in the north and west of the country where snowfall so far this season has been well above average. In the south and east it has been below average so far. Despite this, most slopes are open in most parts of the country. A similar proportion (70-80%) of slopes is open in the Dolomites as at resorts like Cervinia and La Thuile in the north. There's been some fresh snowfall this week and temperatures have been a little cooler than Christmas week, but a big fresh fall would be welcome. Switzerland Swiss centres are reporting some of the best conditions in the Alps at present. Almost all centres are 85-95% open and many have seen 5-15cm of snowfall in the last few days, further improving conditions. The 4 Valleys are 95% open, with the most terrain open in the country and one of the biggest areas in the world at present. Cervinia-Zermatt is in second place with 275km of runs, about 85% of its full area. Lötschental has the deepest snowpack at just over 3 metres (10 feet). The wintery weather is expected to continue through the weekend. Scandinavia Some very cold temperatures in Scandinavia this week, particularly up in Lapland where leading resorts like Levi and Ruka have been warning of colder temperatures in resort than at altitude, due to an inversion. On the upside, both have the sun back above the horizon for a few minutes each day this week. There's been fresh snowfall and most Scandi areas are running at around 90% open. Sweden's Are has the most open terrain, about 80km, a little ahead of Norway's Trysil with 70km. Pyrenees Not much change to report from the Pyrenees with the same scenario as a week ago, unfortunately – very little snow cover and minimal fresh snowfall. Spain's Baqueira Beret continues to post the most open terrain at about 110km, while the largest area, Grandvalira, only has about 40% of its slopes open. Snow is expected this weekend, with temperatures as low as -15C, so there should be some improvement by this time next week. Scotland Scottish ski areas continue to face challenging snow conditions although cold weather and natural snowfall have allowed Glenshee to open some extra lifts and Cairngorm say they'll have their famous M1 and White Lady runs open this weekend (it will be a hike up to them with the funicular out of action) and the experience has been designated 'experts only' for now. Eastern Europe It has been another mostly sunny week in Bulgaria with daytime valley temperatures up at +10C, although getting back to freezing up high overnight. Continuing 'springlike' conditions are impacting snow cover and quality a bit. Further north in the Czech and Slovak Republics and in Poland, it's more wintery. As a result of these differences, Bansko has about half of its runs open, while Jasna in Slovakia has nearly all of theirs in operation. North America Canada Canada's ski areas are continuing to battle to open terrain with ongoing dry and sometimes warm weather. The continent's biggest resort Whistler Blackcomb has been celebrating hitting the 1m base depth mark this week on its upper slopes and all of its lifts are now running at altitude. There's also fresh snow on high slopes on Mont Tremblant in the East, which is around half open, more than double the 20% most centres in the East are posting. No big improvement in the forecast. USA Conditions continue to be challenging across most US ski areas. The best conditions are still in the Rockies at some resorts in Colorado and Utah. Some like Steamboat, Vail and Winter Park have 70-80% of slopes open, whilst the likes of Park City and Beaver Creek have more limited terrain available. The East and West Coasts also have reduced terrain open. It has been a better week in the East with snowfall rather than rain at last and in the West snow-starved Mammoth, reported a foot of snow on Wednesday, its biggest fall of the winter so far. |
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Chamonix vs Clusaz for travelling with toddler
Started by Electroneutron in France, 1 Reply, discussing Chamonix and La Clusaz |
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La Clusaz would work, although I've no experience of the creche(s) there.
It's a compact village but make sure you stay central (or on the ski bus route) as some of the accommodation is a bit of a walk into the centre. From the centre you can ride the gondola up to Beauregard at the top of which is a plateau with walks (snow shoes may be required, depending). Hopping on the bus you can get to La Balme and ride another gondola up to a restaurant with great views (no easy walks in winter though). I'm pretty sure the bus is free, but you will need a pedestrian ticket for the gondolas. The bus will also get you to Confins, where there's a lake (likely frozen), some nice walks and also cross-country trails, and a good restaurant. There are similar options in Chamonix but, at least when I was last there, the buses between areas can get busy. St.Gervais might be an option, if there's a creche, as you can jump on the cog railway up to the glacier - which might be fun for junior - and I think there are cross-country trails from the village. Not been there for many years though, so I may be wrong! |
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Tignes Trip Report - December 2023
We returned to one of our favourite ski areas just before Christmas; Tignes, part of the Espace Killy domain in the French Alps. We briefly covered snow conditions in our snow reports from Tignes here but suffice to say that the week prior had seen heavy snow, so the pistes from Tignes Le Lac and up were about as good as it gets. Bases were deep, and surface condition anything from loose to packed powder and chalky, with a few areas on the home runs turning to hard-pack - so probably 99% excellent in terms of cover! Tignes Tignes comprises five or six separate villages, at varying altitudes, with the majority of the skiing (and skiers) around the two highest centres of Tignes Le Lac and Val Claret. The upper valley is well connected with it's neighbour Val d'Isere, and with linking pistes and lifts to the lower villages. Let's get this out of the way first; Tignes is a purpose-built ski resort, and whilst the architecture is not to everyone's taste it works well and has a consistency and efficiency to the layout, accommodation and transport connections. But we came to ski... So what about the skiiing? TL/DR; It's one of the great ski areas, with some fantastic skiing on and (especially) off the piste. For absolute beginners (first time skiers), Tignes Le Lac (likewise Val Claret) is perhaps not the ideal resort although there is a small (and free) starter slope served by a magic carpet in Tignes Le Lac. There are also easy slopes around the lower villages. For "improvers" (able to ski an average Blue run) and up, however, the ski area is fantastic and almost every corner of the entire domain (and across the neighbouring Val d'Isere) can be reached on a Blue. 
The Genepy blue rolls down from the top of the funi, with great views all the way. If this is you; do not overlook the blues (including the Genepy run) down from the Funicular! From the top station of the funicular, exit from the lower door on the left side of the train (when looking up the hill) and ski on to 6km of rolling blue - with stunning views - down to Val Claret. And the best thing? They're rarely busy. There's a snow park and some interesting - wide and undulating - blue skiing in the Gratalu area, with descending runs from here to both Le Lac and Val Claret. 
For Intermediate and good skiers, many of the lengthy Blues have Red shortcuts/variants. The Reds from the top of the Grande Motte are fabulous and give you several wide and nicely pitched options back in to Val Claret. Strong and confident skiers will want to tackle the Black runs from Toviere into Le Lac, and seek out the Col des Ves chair (not always open) and the Stade de Lognan runs. 
Most of the lifts are modern and fast! And then there's the off-piste... If you're properly equipped (transceiver, shovel and probe - at least), can ski any snow and have good awareness of avalanche safety then both Tignes and Val d'Isere offer an amazing range of popular off-piste options and itineraries. If you'd like to try this, and don't yet have the kit (or knowledge) then excellent courses and instructors are available locally, including the likes of Snoworks (see our experience with them in our Snoworks Course Diaries here) and other schools. And what about the skis? For this trip, we rode Salomon Stance 96s - which were ideal for the excellent piste conditions and the small amount of "side piste" we ventured into. Mountain Story - new management, same great service 
Regular readers may recall that we've happily used Mountain Story in Tignes Le Lac for rental skis in the past. The business has now passed to Cyril Maille and is clearly in good hands, with an enthusiastic, friendly and helpful crew (thanks guys!).
We got great coffee and found the Mountain Story Cafe a chill place for occasional breaks. 
Until the next time, Tignes! |
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Happy New Year to all our readers! Abundant snow, and turning colder in Europe. Fingers crossed for North America... we wish you safe tracks and good snow!
Innsbruck, Austria, lighting up some snow-covered slopes for New Year. As we enter 2024, it's a very different ski world to what we saw 12 months ago. Whilst the lowest valleys in the Alps do (temporarily, we hope) again have slopes of white ribbons on a green/brown snowless background, November and December just gone saw huge snowfalls leaving the snows up high at levels that weren't reached until March last year and most ski areas are 70-95% open as we start January. Across the Atlantic, it's the opposite. This time last year ski areas in the west had been battling major storm after major storm bringing huge snowfall accumulations; this season it's warm, dry weather that's the problem (and sometimes rain rather than snowfall when precipitation does arrive). Fewer than half of North America's slopes have opened so far and there isn't any big change forecast for January so far... El Nino has a lot to answer for! Back in Europe, the Pyrenees are also battling warm, dry weather, whilst it's a mixed picture in Eastern Europe, but mostly good news for Scandinavian ski centres. Scottish centres are having their now familiar battle to open terrain with mother nature as capricious with her snows as ever.
Europe Austria Austria finds itself in almost the exact opposite position to a year ago when many of the country's resorts were starting the season with ribbons of white pushed down green hillsides to create valley runs. This winter a succession of snowstorms, the heaviest just before Christmas, has left the country's ski areas posting the world's deepest snowpacks at present. The Arlberg region around Lech and St Anton is topping the table at the start of January with 3.6m (12 feet) lying up high. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, bases in valleys are more likely to be 30-60cm (1-2 feet) and prone to disappearing more quickly if temperatures rise. That's less likely in January than in most months, thankfully. France In common with Austria, several French ski areas are starting January with bases of 3 metres (10 feet) or more on their higher slopes, numbers not reached until well into March at the end of last season, so the big picture is a positive one. The final half of December was mostly warm and dry so lower valleys have suffered, although low-lying resorts like Les Gets and Morzine have seen the snow return in the last day or so. This January does start well with much more snow at 1500-2000m. Big ski areas with most of their terrain above 1800m altitude, like the 3 Valleys or Tignes/Val d'Isere, have 90% of their terrain open to start the month - and good snow over much of it. The forecast as we go to press is indicating some decent, even heavy, snow to quite low levels for the French Alps in particular. Italy Most of Italy's ski areas are in good shape for the start of January, at least in terms of open terrain. Snow depths are generally not as good as further north. Nearly all runs are open in Dolomiti Superski, for example, even though the snow levels are only 20-60cm at most areas. But they're long experienced at operating with thin snow cover and have almost all their runs open. That's not the case for the Via Lattea (Milky Way) as we start January though unfortunately. It only has a foot of snow lying and only about a third of its 400km of slopes open so far. Switzerland Swiss slopes are in great shape after all the snowfall in November and December. The country's big resorts and their associated ski areas are reporting almost all of their runs open and decent snow depths – typically 50-100cm, on lower slopes and 150-250 up high. Verbier and the 4 Valleys is 95% open and most of the country's other big regions like Zermatt, Samnaun and Laax are similarly starting the year operating at almost full capacity. The only problems are at lower elevations where warm weather has melted valley snow so only key runs are kept open. The Portes du Soleil is the most obvious case of this with about a third of its runs still closed, although we expect this to change with colder and snowy weather forecast. Pyrenees Unfortunately, the Pyrenees have had a bad start to the 23-24 season with very little natural snowfall and warm temperatures impacting snow cover in valleys. As a result, some centres have only just opened; with resorts like Spain's Cerler only managing to open a few kilometres of slopes, less than 5% of their terrain so far. That said, the big-name resorts with access to more high-altitude terrain have managed to offer more. Baqueira Beret had the most terrain open all through December, peaking at 120km or about 75% of their terrain, Andorra's Grandvalira (including Soldeu, Pas de la Casa et al) more like 80km, a third of theirs. Scandinavia It's looking good in Scandinavia as we start 2024 after a cold autumn and regular snowfalls as well as temperatures low enough for snowmaking. Most of the region's big resorts have 80-95% of their slopes open, including Sweden's Are and Salen, and Norway's Trysil, only Hemsedal is lagging a little behind. The final days of December also saw some of the first big snowfalls – up to two feet in 24 hours – reported. In the far north, in Lapland, January sees the crowds visiting Santa start to dissipate and the sun that dropped below the horizon for a few weeks of non-stop polar night, in the last 2 or 3 weeks of December, begins to reappear for a few minutes each day. Eastern Europe It's a mixed picture across Eastern European destinations as we start January. In the northeast of the continent, it was a largely cold and snowy end to the year with the result that January 2024 is looking much more promising than January 2023 did, with most areas open and posting at least half their slopes skiable. Jasna, in Slovakia, the region's biggest, has closer to 90% of its runs skiable and a base depth of up to a metre. Things look promising in Southeast Europe in the first half of December with snowfall down to low levels, but 'springlike' weather to the south has melted cover on lower slopes. Bansko starts January with about half the runs open, although Borovets reports more than 90%. Scotland Scottish ski centres have had their usual up-and-down conditions in the final weeks of December. What they're lacking is very much snow cover as yet as most of the little hill snow that's arrived has been blown off by 100mph gales or thawed off by warm spells. Of course, this being Scotland things could change quickly, getting better or still worse. But as we start the month there are just small areas used mostly for nursery slopes at Cairngorm, The Lecht and Glenshee thanks to all-weather snowmaking machines. Glencoe has a dry slope for nursery skiers and is using its all-weather machine to make a toboggan run. Nevis Range doesn't have a functioning all-weather snowmaking system so have been struggling to open any snow areas though have had a toboggan run available at times. North America Canada The start of Canada's 23-24 season continues to stutter rather with ski areas on the West and East coasts still battling warm and sometimes wet temperatures, with little snowfall to report. As a result, the big players on either coast – Whistler in the West and Tremblant in the East, still only have about half of their runs open and thin bases. The closest to 'normal' is in the Rockies along the BC/Alberta border where centres including Sun Peaks, Sunshine and Lake Louise are posting the biggest open areas in the country. Others like Panorama say they are 99% open, despite the snow lying only a foot or two deep. USA Unfortunately, it's the worst start to the season for quite a few years in the US – the exact opposite of Europe in fact. On the East Coast, there has been snowfall but then periods of warm weather and rain which has shut centres down right up to the final week of December. Hopefully, January will bring more consistent cold. An El Nino winter like this one typically brings plenty of snowfall to the region, it just needs to be colder. The West Coast is facing similar issues, but less precipitation, so the big ski areas in California are still battling to open even half their terrain with thin bases. The best snowfall and conditions have been reported in the Rockies with Jackson Hole already past 3 metres of seasonal snowfall to date and ski areas in Colorado and Utah reporting they're about the only US ski areas fully open (or almost so) for the start of the New Year. As we go to publish this, there are some decent snowfalls in the forecast, but still a mix of temperatures. |
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La Plagne, France, posted quite the sunrise last weekend... Some decent snowfall for parts of the USA, even more in Austria... and there's more in the forecast for the Alps. The Snow Headlines - December 28th - Over half-a-metre of snowfall for Christmas in the Colorado Rockies. - Huge snowfalls in Austria - up to a metre in 24 hours reported. - Australia's Mt Buller ski area unveils snow stored for Christmas celebration. - St. Anton posting the world's deepest snowpack of 3.55m (nearly 12 feet) up high. 
There's snow forecast for the French Alps, parts of Canada and US, and Japan.
World Overview We're into the final few days of 2023 and for most skiers happy to stay on the pistes in the Alps and Dolomites, conditions are really very good at most resorts. The past week has seen a lot of sunshine and after some snowfall, heavy in places, a week ago it's been mostly dry and a little warmer than we'd like, but nearly all resorts are largely open, typically with 75-95% of their slopes skiable. Snow depths are up to 3.5m deep too, the best numbers we've seen at this point in the season for quite a few years. Other areas doing well include Scandinavia, which has seen big snowfalls in the last few days and north-eastern Europe, where resorts like Jasna are also almost fully open. Elsewhere it's a mixed bag. The Pyrenees, for example, have had little snowfall so far and often temperatures too warm. Some areas have hardly opened but bigger resorts like Grandvalira and Baqueira Beret have 40-70% of their slopes open and on the French side one centre has managed 100%. In Bulgaria, conditions are described as "spring-like" at present but centres have 60-90% of their slopes open. Up in Scotland it has been a wild week of torrential rain, wet snowfall and gales cutting power and closing access roads - but the centres there have at least opened nursery slopes for the Christmas holidays. Across the Atlantic, it remains 'challenging' for lack of snow in many areas although Colorado and Southern Utah saw up to two feet (60cm) of snowfall reported this week. In the West though it remains too dry and centres are battling to open much, whilst in the east snowfall alternates with rainfall as it is too warm, the latter damaging the snowpack. Europe Austria Austria has reported some of the biggest snowfalls of the past week, most of it happening on the Friday and Saturday before Christmas – most areas have seen predominantly dry weather since then, getting quite warm below 1500m. But the snowfalls were very heavy, with the Zillertal Arena claiming a full metre in 24 hours and other Austrian areas posting pictures of huge dumps for them too. As a result, St Anton is now posting the deepest snowpack in the world at over 3.5 metres with the Kaunertal glacier only a little way behind. Most Austrian areas are also 70-90% open, so it's all very different, in a good way, from a year ago when they were struggling for adequate cover. France We're seeing two extremes on French ski slopes, with some of the world's deepest snow depths above 2,000m, but down in low valleys not much snow left after a few weeks of mostly sunny weather, so it's the old ribbons of white down to resort bases we've been familiar with. After the last snowfalls at the end of last week it has been mostly dry, often sunny and with the snowline up around 2,000m, some thawing at lower levels. It's very different to a year ago, so far though, with plenty of snow still lying above about 1500m. Important to note though that it's essentially all good above 1800m so big areas like Tignes-Val d'Isere and the 3 Valleys have 80% of their areas open with 3m+ snow depths up high that weren't seen until spring last season. Italy It's been a mostly sunny week in Italy with some warmer-than-we'd-like temperatures on lower slopes, getting up to +10C in the afternoons. There are also big differences in snow depths across the country with some areas surviving on thin cover of 30-50cm, while others in the Northwest are up near 3 metres. So the big picture is that overall, some cooler temperatures and fresh snowfall would be welcome. Ski areas like Dolomiti Superski, which have long become experts in operating with thin snow cover, have 80-90% of slopes open despite only 20-40cm bases, but the Milky Way (Via Lattea) in the west still only has about 40% of its slopes open around Sauze d'Oulx and Sestrière. Switzerland It has been a predominantly sunny week across Swiss ski slopes too after a little snowfall at the start of last weekend. Conditions are excellent on slopes across the country, with centres here posting the most open terrain (highest percentages) of any of the main ski nations. The 4 Valleys around Verbier, for example, are more than 90% open and it's a similar story for most of the country's other well-known areas. Snow depths are much better in the north and west with thinner cover for areas like the Engadin and Jungfrau, although they still have most of their runs open. Pyrenees Sadly there's been no respite for the problems faced by ski areas in the Pyrenees due to a lack of snowfall and warm weather so far this season. Most centres are now open but some resorts like Cerler and Canadanchu in Spain have only about 5% of their runs open with a few centimetres of cover. The big resorts like Grandvalira (Soldeu, Pas de la Casa etc) in Andorra and Baqueira Beret in Spain are managing a lot better, to be fair, with 80 and 120km (40/75% of their terrain) open respectively but everywhere could do with colder weather and a big snowfall of which there's no sign as yet. Scotland Scottish ski slopes have turned from brown to white since Christmas Day with repeat light snow showers and low temperatures making things look much more wintery. Cairngorm, The Lecht and Glenshee have all opened small beginner areas using their all-weather snowmaking machines, but there's not enough natural stuff yet to open any full runs. The coming week is looking fairly promising – staying cold, snow showers, but a bigger dump to really build bases is the dream at the moment. Scandinavia It has stayed cold across Scandinavia where the sun is due to start rising again from January 1st up in Lapland's Levi. There was also the first decent dump of more than just a few centimetres a day, reported by Bjorli in Norway, getting 60cm in 24 hours, and other Norwegian ski areas reporting 20-40cm accumulations too, giving a much more powdery pallor to the pistes. Overall, conditions are good with the big areas now reporting 70-90% of their slopes open. The largest, Sweden's Are, has the most open with more than 80km of its 90km of slopes skiable. Eastern Europe Skiers in Bulgaria have been describing "almost spring like conditions" as warm weather has followed some decent pre-Christmas snowfalls. Snow depths have dropped a bit but remain fairly solid with still the best part of a metre lying on high slopes. Borovets has more than 90% of its slopes open, for Bansko it's more like half. Elsewhere, Jasna in Slovakia continues to look good with most runs open there. It's looking sunny through the weekend and into the start of January, valley temperatures continuing to be too warm, reaching +10C in afternoons, but staying closer to freezing up high. North America Canada Whistler Blackcomb is finally posting the most terrain open in Canada after passing the 50% of terrain open mark a few days after Christmas, it's now at 60%. It's a struggle though, its most optimistic snow depth measure is 90cm (3 feet) up in the Alpine and it's rainy with no snow at resort level. A similar issue is impacting all ski areas in Western BC with Red Mountain only just managing to finally open for the season with just a few runs available in the last few days. Along the BC / Alberta border on the eastern side of the province though, conditions are the best in the country with areas around Banff and resorts like Panorama 80-98% open with decent depths. Over in the east ski centres continue to face problems with warm weather bringing rain rather than snowfall and making snowmaking impossible but still, there are some runs open at bigger resorts like Tremblant. USA Another week of mixed fortunes with the ski resort marketing men pushing to keep a positive spin on what remains a fairly lacklustre season start across the US. The Rockies continue to post the best of it with Steamboat reporting more than half-a-metre of snowfall perfectly timed for Christmas while Vail still has the most terrain open in the US, ahead of resorts with larger areas. Others like Snowbird and Alta in Utah are posting the deepest snow in North America (outside Alaska) and almost everything is open now. On the East Coast, there's still a battle with periods of warm wet weather, whilst on the West it's just too dry and with too little snow so resorts continue to struggle to open much. |
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Tignes, France with great snow already - before more arrived today... Great snow at altitude in the Alps, with more arriving. Some heavy snow in the forecast for parts of the US, Canada and Japan. The Snow Headlines - December 21st - Many ski areas in the Alps posting deeper bases up high than they had all last season. - Challenging conditions continue in much of North America, rain closing East Coast resorts. - Snowy start to Bulgaria's ski season. - French resorts posting most open terrain and deepest snow in the world. - Scottish ski season hopefully starting this weekend after Wednesday launch postponed. - Challenging times in the Pyrenees. We're out in Tignes this week, and if you're heading here (or to many other alpine ski areas) for Xmas - you're in for a treat! 
Some big snows forecast for Europe, America and Japan.
World Overview With the peak Christmas and New Year weeks coming up, it's looking very different to a year ago with the Alps in good shape, despite a few weather ups and downs, but things looking well below par in most parts of North America where dry, warm conditions linger. The snowfall in the Alps of the past 6-8 weeks has left the snow lying deep and for many areas it is already deeper than it got all last season, with more and more reaching over 2 metres lying on higher slopes, several now passing 3 metres (10 feet). Scandinavia is also in good shape but eastern Europe is more of a mixed picture and Scottish ski centres are struggling to open for the season at all, relying on all-weather snowmaking. Things aren't great in the Pyrenees yet either, again too warm and dry here so a battle for centres to open and then prepare much terrain once they do. It's a similar story across the Atlantic with dry warm weather on the West Coast leaving resorts like Heavenly, Mammoth and Whistler with little open and heavy rain to start this week closing a lot of centres on the East Coast too. Only the Rockies, in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, are looking fairly good. There are some potentially heavy snowfalls in the forecast for parts of the US, Canada and Japan but it remains to be seen how much that translates into reality. Europe Austria It was a sunny weekend and start to the week in Austria with temperatures creeping up a little, if not so much as forecast at the end of last week. But things have got back on track since midweek for most areas with plenty of fresh snowfall since Wednesday which is expected to continue into the weekend. Temperatures have also dropped back down below freezing to low levels. More and more terrain has opened up ahead of the peak Christmas to New Year fortnight, with the Arlberg region leading the way with the slopes about 80% open around Lech and St Anton. The Skiwelt and Ischgl/Samnaun also have more than 200km of slopes open each. It's looking increasingly snowy for the next three days, above about 1300m at least (rain below). Sunshine returning from Christmas Day. France French resorts scored some big snowfall gains at the end of last week just after we published last week's report, with several posting over 50cm of fresh on high slopes after earlier rainfall last week. It's been sometimes snowy since giving some great conditions. The 3 Valleys is now about 85% open – nearly 500km of slopes skiable - and several French resorts including Flaine are already posting 3 metre (10 feet) bases, the deepest in the world right now. A snowy few days ahead with up to 30cm accumulations possible through the weekend, but temperatures are unfortunately set to rise to high single figures at low altitudes in the afternoons by Christmas when skies are expected to clear for next week too. Italy It has been a fairly uneventful week on Italian slopes with just a few light snowfalls, plenty of sunshine and temperatures mostly hovering around freezing. The result is that there's little change from a week ago to snow stats. Val Gardena has the most terrain open in Italy, with more than 170km of slopes, although Cervinia's cross-border, year-round ski area shared with Zermatt has passed 220km of slopes open. A period of more changeable weather over the next 48 hours should bring between 15 and 30cm of snowfall by the end of Saturday to ski areas across the country before sunshine returns for the Christmas period. Switzerland A fairly quiet week on Swiss slopes as well, with plenty of sunshine following snowfall at the end of last week. Most resorts are reporting good conditions and many better snow depths than they saw all last season. Saas Fee has the country's deepest base, up another 10cm this week to 260cm. There's more snowfall coming through the weekend, along with rising temperatures, but skies are expected to clear and go back to sunny weather, and a little warmer, next week. Pyrenees Alas, it has continued to be predominantly sunny and hitting +10C in Pyrenean valleys so many smaller centres remain closed and the bigger resorts are struggling to open terrain with thin cover. Some are doing better than others with Baqueira Beret reporting over 100km of slopes open at the weekend, about 60% of their runs. The region's largest area, Andorra's Grandvalira, is up to about a third of its 240km of slopes open and said all inter-resort links were open this weekend, although some skiers noted some connections were so far only possible by lift, not piste. The forecast, for cooler temperatures and some precipitation, is a little more promising. Scotland A familiar story in Scotland with the five Highland centres struggling to open due to lack of natural snow cover. What little there had been earlier this month has suffered from temperatures of +10C and higher earlier this week, although temperatures are now dropping away and snowfall is expected. But the TechnoAlpin SnowFactory machines that make snow internally to spray on small areas of the slopes are proving a godsend again. Glencoe already has there's open for a sledging slope, and Glenshee had planned to join them on Wednesday but changed its mind with temperatures too mild even for all-weather snowmaking, delaying until at least Christmas Eve. Cairngorm currently says it'll open from Friday with a nursery slope and The Lecht plans to create a terrain park next week with theirs. Scandinavia A mixed week of weather in Scandinavia with some more southerly areas seeing daytime highs hit +6C briefly during a sunny spell to start this week before it got colder and snowier again. Further north it stayed below freezing throughout and in the far north we're a week into three weeks of Polar night when the sun isn't getting above the horizon in Lapland, so it has been very cold, again, up here. Most centres have 30-60% of their slopes open with Norway's Trysil posting the most piste kilometres open, ahead of the region's biggest area Sweden's Are. Going into the Christmas weekend most resorts will see -5C to -15C temperatures and further snowfall. Eastern Europe Bulgaria's ski season got underway last weekend at Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo although Vitosha remained closed. Resorts had generally been dampening expectations due to the warm, dry weather in the lead-up to opening which meant only limited terrain could open. There was a big snowfall on Saturday though which raised spirits considerably ...before things returned to sunny and rather warm through this week. North America Canada Canada's ski season remains sub-par on both the East and West coasts, both with a similar story to tell – too warm and too dry. In Quebec, when it wasn't dry, it was raining earlier this week, leading most areas to shut down operations for a few days. In the West, the continent's biggest area Whistler Blackcomb still hasn't opened half its terrain. The most snowfall and the highest percentages of open terrain are in Eastern BC and western Alberta where resorts are 60-100% open and several, including Fernie, have passed a metre base depths up top. USA It has been another below-par week for most US ski areas. The East Coast has had a particularly bad time with torrential rain leading to many areas closing again just before Christmas while in the West, California remains dry and sunny so resorts like Heavenly and Mammoth still have only about a third of their terrain open and a thin base - although there has at last been a little natural snowfall in the last few days. The Rockies have the best conditions with snow several feet deep and most resorts 50-90% open, Vail posting the most terrain open in the country right now. The deepest snow is up in Alaska which has bucked the trend with it lying a few metres deep. The forecast is for more sunshine though a little cooler, outside chance of more snowfall later in the weekend. |
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Light snow expected later today, and more overnight and tomorrow. Looks like another day for low light lenses! Pix to follow…
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