Messages posted by : admin
And traditional rather than purpose built? For starters :- Samoens, Les Carroz, Les Contamines, St.Gervais, Les Gets, La Clusaz, Le Grand Bornand... etc. 8) |
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80% OF SKI LIFTS OPEN FOR THE GRAND OPENING OF VAL THORENS THIS SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER
It's the launch of the winter season in Val Thorens this Saturday 28th November, bringing with it a breath of crisp fresh air and plenty of good news. Conditions for snowsports fans look amazing, with 80% of the ski lifts open, excellent snow cover, with 70 cm at 2,300 metres and 100 cm at 3,200 metres already… And it's still snowing! Snowsports, equipment tests and veritable show on snow awaits the 20, 000 skiers expected to attend the unmissable Rock On Snowboard Tour and Freegun Snowscoot Tour. Val Thorens has no qualms about opening now and being able to offer a top quality ski area until the end of the season, on the 8th May. Once again, the teams have kept their promise to open the ski area progressively, which they have been doing over the past few days. The recent snow fall and the drop in temperature, combined with the outstanding job done on the ground, allowed the resort to give the keenest and most impatient skiers a dress rehearsal on Wednesday 25th November, before the grand opening planned for Saturday 28th November. From this weekend, the majority of the ski area will be open: 6 sectors, 21 runs, 80% of ski lifts and 2 summits at an altitude of 3,000 metres. For locals, the fact that the ski area will also be accessible from Orelle from this Saturday is the cherry on the cake! This weekend, the resort will be welcoming the 1st stage of the ROCK ON SNOWBOARD TOUR; try out equipment from some 26 different brands totally free of charge, enjoy entertainment for children and adults and experience thrills and sensations aboard a snowscoot! |
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If you've not checked your Profile on J2Ski for a while, or maybe you just missed it, you might not know that you can get daily updates, in addition to our Weekly Snow Report.
You can set this up very easily. If you're not logged in - Login to J2Ski here. Go to your Profile area and under Snow Mail Settings you'll see a section Choose When and What We eMail You. In that section are options for regular updates, Powder Alerts, and Snow Storm Warnings. Enjoy! 8) |
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They won't be running coaches this season Andy (see the details of the temporary road here) although mini-buses might work? |
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Thanks for posting that - great info on SkiPass.
For those unfamiliar with the area, the D1091 is the road that runs East/West over the Col du Lauteret. You've got Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d'Huez on the West (of the new road) and La Grave and Serre Chevalier to the East. It's a fantastically scenic road but gets blocked by heavy snow at times in most winters; the new road looks like it might be "interesting" when the weather closes in! :shock: If you're driving to Serre Che this winter, then plan to go via the Italian side... and if you're heading up to La Grave (between the collapsed tunnel/new road and the Col) it might be as well to be prepared for a long stay (if you can get there in the first place)... :lol: For clarity, check this link to Google Maps |
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And, not to be outdone by their Aravis neighbours at La Clusaz; Le Grand Bornand will also be opening part of their ski area this weekend.
Le Grand Bornand, photo (c) D. Machet
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Just confirmed by the Tourist Office :-
La Clusaz - with La Balme top and centre - earlier this week The Col de Balme lift (the top-most chair-lift of the Balme sector), however, will remain closed. The blue runs Bergerie and Balme will be opened. Lifts Open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: - Gondola Balme - Chairlift Bergerie Rates: - Adult Day and Senior 22 € / Junior Day (-15ans) € 16 / - 4:00 Adult and Senior € 18 / 4:00 Junior (-15ans) € 14 (Free for children under 5) The Caisse de Balme will be open from 8:45 am to 16h and Caisse Centrale from 8:30 to 17:30. Confins Nordic area: The Nordic Site Confins opened last weekend and offers 11 km of tracks. |
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J2Ski Snow Report - November 26th 2015
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 4 Replies |
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J2Ski Snow Report - November 26th 2015
The Snow This Week What a difference a weekend makes! 
Les Arcs this morning - courtesy Les Arcs Tourist Office This Week's Snow Headlines - Big snowfalls in the Alps. - Number of ski areas open in Europe and North America moves from double to triple figures. - More than 60 US ski areas are already open - far more than any other country. - First resorts in Pyrenees set to open at weekend, including ski areas in Andorra. - Val d'Isere and Val Thorens among those opening on Saturday, Courchevel opened for a day midweek. - Numerous resorts in Alps, Pyrenees, Rockies, Scandinavia etc Prepare to Open. - Month of near non-stop November snow in Western North America, - Further snowfall in the Alps. - Marginal conditions in Eastern North America. - Good covering, but not yet quite enough, on Scottish hills. Last Friday/Saturday gave parts of the Alps a near 30C temperature drop from mid-teens above freezing to mid-teens below in less than 24 hours. The results were gale force winds (Tignes reported up to 150km/h gusts) and heavy snow. That snow was not quite at the excessive levels forecast by some but still some areas got nearly a metre through the weekend on upper runs and the 20-40cm forecast for most proved correct. More important than the snow volume really though has been the ongoing dramatic change from summer-like to mid-winter weather since the big snowfalls, with temperatures remaining double digits below at many areas, allowing Europe's snowmaking arsenal to fire up. The snow hasn't just been in the Alps too; with up to 50cm of snow reported in the Pyrenees. It wasn't just last weekend either, with snowfall continuing, and set to continue, albeit probably with smaller accumulations. So, without wishing to tempt fate, it's all looking much better than a year ago. Elsewhere in the world there's been snow on Scottish hills although Yad Moss in the English Pennines was the first outdoor snow centre in the UK to open for the season, last Sunday. Cold weather has allowed snowmaking in Scandinavia. There's been snow in Eastern Europe and the Dolomites and still more snow across the Atlantic in Western North America. Things remain more challenging on the East Coast however with ski areas battling to open with snowmaking for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. In The Forecast The cold temperatures are set to continue into next week, although they look likely to rise above seasonal averages as we head into December. There is more snow in the forecast for this weekend, and lighter precipitation for the following week. Even if we see a period of high pressure (as is possible), it's unlikely to trouble any but the very lowest resorts as just about everywhere has had enough snow and cold to start laying down good bases now. The Alps Austria Austria's glaciers are finally losing their dominance of the autumn skiing market after more than 10 weeks, as more non-glacier ski areas finally start to open. That said, it's still about a dozen Austrian areas open and two thirds of them glacier centres until this weekends when Ischgl joins in and the rest begin to follow suit. Conditions are mostly good with many areas getting a foot of snow on higher slopes last weekend. Obergurgl currently has the biggest area open with more than 60km of runs and deepest base and the Kaunertal and Pitztal glaciers the deepest snow at around 1.2m (four feet). Solden may overtake its neighbour for terrain open however as it plans to open top-to-bottom on Saturday. France France got the best of the weekend snow and it was snowing again here by midweek, and continues to do so. Temperatures have stayed well below freezing too to help with snow-making. Up to a metre of fresh snow was reported by Sunday on the highest slopes at ski areas including Tignes and Val Thorens. Tignes has remained the only open French area this week (having closed over the weekend due to the stormy weather) but was joined on Wednesday by Courchevel which announced it would open 10 days early because of all the snow – running three lifts and opening three runs. At least five more French areas are expected to open this weekend including Montgenevre, Val d'Isere, Val Thorens (postponed from last weekend because of the stormy weather) and several areas in the Pyrenees including Cauterets. Italy Italy too got a good share of the fresh snow with 30-60cm accumulating across the country's ski slopes over the weekend. Cervinia is in particularly good shape and now has a 145cm base with the link open over to Zermatt. Although there's only Val Senales and Solda open besides Cervinia at present everything will change on Saturday when many of the leading areas in the Dolomites, including Cortina's slopes, are scheduled to open and more Italian areas in the Western Alps too. Switzerland Nendaz in the 4 Valleys currently reports the deepest snowbase anywhere at 235cm (nearly eight feet) on upper slopes following the big snowfalls in the region at the weekend. It's among the dozen or so already-open areas in the country which includes Laax, which has reopened, along with Davos. Several areas have also announced they'll open this weekend including Andermatt, Grimentz and Arosa. Scandinavia Scandinavian conditions have remained cold but not especially snowy with most of the snow on the slopes machine made so far. Things are looking best in Lapland where Levi and Ruka both report 45cm of fresh snow and Ruka is currently hosting the FIS Nordic World Cup season opener after the disappointment of Levi having to cancel World Cup races a fortnight ago for lack of snow. Few centres in Norway and Sweden are open yet but most main areas do intend to open this weekend, if only with limited terrain and 5-20cm bases. More substantial snowfalls are forecast for the coming week. Scotland Scotland has already got in to its usual ski season pattern of roller coaster temperatures with subzero at the weekend followed by touching double digits down at resort level by Thursday. However the snow on the mountains at the weekend is still looking white from below and more is forecast this weekend maintaining hopes that some areas may be able to open imminently. Pyrenees Things are looking good in the Pyrenees after up to 50cm of snow fell last weekend and there have been more fresh snowfalls in recent days too. Much like the Alps this meant a transformation from summer to winter-like conditions almost overnight. Quite a few resorts in the region have announced they'll be opening this weekend thanks to the snow, amongst them La Molina on the Spanish side and Cauterets on the French and both Grandvalira and Vallnord in Andorra. Eastern Europe No areas are known to have opened so far in Eastern Europe but there was significant snowfall, particularly on higher slopes and temperatures have been low enough for snowmaking on lower runs too, so areas should be able to start opening imminently. North America Canada Western Canada continues to post the biggest snowfall totals in the world to date. Revelstoke, which is now opening early for a preview weekend, is heading towards a remarkable 4m of snowfall during November, more than anywhere else in the world as far as we've heard. About a dozen ski areas are now open with others opening at weekends. Most are in the west but Mont Saint Sauveur in Quebec has opened with a 4-8cm base. Many areas now have 90-120cm bases (3-4 feet), Whistler is on 80cm with Big White boasting the biggest base at 145cm, or just under five feet. And it keeps snowing in the West! USA It continues to be a tale of two sides in the US after the East Coast won the race to be the first to open in late October, since the start of November temperatures have been too high in the East whilst it has been dumping down out west. The deepest snow depth so far reported is at the resort that usually scores the most snow of any area on the planet by the end of each season (although not last season). Mt Baker in Washington state already has 2m lying on upper slopes. However the biggest snowfalls in the past 48 hours have been in California where the latest storms have brought accumulations of up to 40cm in 24 hours to resorts including Kirkwood and Northstar and there have been similar falls at Squaw Valley. There's been plenty more snow around the rest of Western USA and some areas such as Okemo in Vermont and Wildcat in New Hampshire have managed to open with 6-18 inches of machine made snow. There's no end to the snow out West forecast, Aspen is expecting another foot in the next three days. |
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