Messages posted by : admin
+1 ...and will likely cost you less than Val D or Zermatt... 8) |
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J2Ski's Where to Ski in May 2015
Snow Report Summary This is the first of our monthly guides of where to ski and what's happening during the months of the Northern Hemisphere Summer. After a very odd winter 2014-15, more than 4,000 ski areas in the northern hemisphere closed last month (April) leaving only a select few dozen heroes to stay open in to May. With the majority of those closing after the first weekend in the month, no Southern Hemisphere destinations yet open and even some Summer and Autumn glacier ski areas taking a break, mid-May is actually the quietest period in the whole ski year with the number of open areas dropping below 20 worldwide. But - after the exceptionally bad start to the season for snowfall in the Alps, Dolomites and Western North America, the last few weeks have seen some quite significant snowfalls on top of the bases that did eventually build, so at those few centres that are still open, May 2015 isn't looking too bad a month for snowsports! In some cases it's better than December was in fact. Some ski centres do remain open in most of the Northern Hemisphere's major skiing regions, with the exception, as far as we've been able to ascertain, of Eastern Europe and The Pyrenees where all centres now appear to have closed for the season. Here's the j2skicom low down on what's looking good high up (by altitude and latitude): The Alps Austria Although a few resorts including Obertauern and Ischgl stay open to the first weekend of April, you'll need to head up to one of Austria's glacier ski areas (and, with eight, it has more than twice as many as any other country) to ski or board during the rest of May. The good news is that the snow depths are very good and there has been fresh snow in the past few weeks, so things are looking good! The Kaunertal and Stubai glaciers both aim to stay open at least to June and Hintertux is open year round. Solden will close its twin glaciers for snowsports, until September, after this weekend (May 3rd) and the Dachstein glacier will also close then but the Molltal and Pitztal glaciers will have their last day of the season on 10th May. Kaprun's Kitzsteinhorn glacier will stay open another fortnight until the 24th May. France France is the only one of the big four Alpine nations that has no ski areas open from mid-May on, although several glacier areas – including les 2 Alpes and Tignes, will re-open in the latter half of June. French ski areas open for a week or two more include Chamonix and Val d'Isere to this Sunday 3rd May and Tignes and Val Thorens to a week on Sunday, 10th May. All currently have upper slope bases of at least 1.5m (five feet). Italy Snowsports in Italy this May look set to be extremely limited. The former summer ski destination of Val Senales as well as glacier resort Cervinia and other high altitude ski areas like Livigno are set to close this Sunday, May 3rd, for the season leaving only Passo Tonale likely to be the loner Italian ski option through May – a few red runs are normally served by a single drag lift up there through to early June. The snow is currently more than 4m deep there, one of the biggest bases in the world, so it's looking good. At the end of the month, on Saturday May 30th, Passo Stelvio, the country's summer-only glacier area, will open for its 2015 season. Switzerland Glacier 3000 (by Les Diablerets) which was formerly open to mid-May has decided to close earlier this year, after the coming weekend in fact, so the only options in Switzerland from next Monday are year-round Zermatt, Engelberg (until the 24th of May) or the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz. All have good bases and reported fresh snow in the past week. Zermatt's near 800m summer vertical is among the biggest in the world from May to November, beating most resorts in the southern hemisphere for that measure too. Scandinavia Finland Ruka used to be open from October to June but for the past few seasons has decided to close earlier than previously, this year the last day will be May 10th. On the upside, it used to just keep one run open to the end, whereas it enters May with almost all 30+ runs open. Norway Most Norwegian ski areas close for the season after the coming weekend. It has been a good season for most with consistent snowfall from start to finish. Narvik up in the north got 20cm of fresh snow in the last few days of April. There are three glacier areas in Norway which are starting to open in May for summer skiing. Folgefonn will be first – opening on May 1st in fact, then Stryn, which operates a double chairlift, will follow on 21st May. A third area which operates Northern Europe's highest lift, a T Bar up to 1850m, Galdhøpiggen, is due to open the following day, May 22nd. Sweden As with Finland and Norway most Swedish areas close after this weekend, when the focus switches to 'the spring skiing capital' of Riksgransen 200km north of the Arctic Circle. Famously open to midsummers day in June, Riksgransen is also bathed in 24 hour daylight from mid-May when skiing under the midnight sun is offered on selected days. Snow conditions are currently good with lots of fresh snow in the last weeks of April. Scotland The last five days of April have been the snowiest for several weeks bringing fresh cover for the start of May at the two centres that have remained open – Glencoe on the West coast and Cairngorm above Aviemore. Glencoe has most recently says it expects to close on May Day due to too little business to justify running the lifts any longer, rather than too little snow. Cairngorm may keep open a little longer. Canada Canada's ski season continues to mid-May at Sunshine ski area near Banff and at Whistler – both of which will remain open to Sunday May 17th. It has not been a particularly memorable ski season in Canada but both have good snow depths of 1.5m (five feet) plus and have had fresh snow. There'll be about a month with no lift-served skiing in Canada when they close until Whistler re-opens for glacier skiing in June. Lake Louise and Marmot Basin in Alberta are also open for the first weekend of May. USA It's not yet clear how many US resorts will make it through May. Some of the usual candidates for late spring skiing on the West Coast like Squaw Valley in California and Crystal Mountain in Washington state have closed up shop already after the lacklustre winter here, but that said the last weekend of April saw a foot of fresh snow on Californian slopes. Mammoth hasn't specified a closing date but enters May with top to bottom skiing and talk of events at the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May so it looks a promising bet. Mt Bachelor in Oregon has also said it plans to stay open from Wednesday to Sunday each week through to Memorial Day too, subject to snow cover. Arapahoe basin in Colorado has said it intends to stay open in to June and snowbird in Utah is normally open through May, especially at weekends. Timberline on Mt Hood in Oregon should also remain open. On the East coast end-of-April snow in New England has helped Killington in Vermont which has built a big base on one of its runs and may also stay open through to June. Southern Hemisphere There has been some snow reported south of the equator already in Australian and particularly New Zealand, where the very keen have been hiking up to ski down in April. But, unless there is significant and consistent pre-season snow resulting in early opening, most ski areas won't open until the start of June. |
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And the latest update from DEC...
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Many amongst us who ski, climb, spend time in the mountains or have travelled in Asia will identify with the iconic landmarks, mountains and people of Nepal.
Here are the latest updates from the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee... Quick Links - DEC Youtube Channel - Donate via DEC |
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Winter has one last roll of the dice...
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 4 Replies |
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Could be a fun week in the mountains... all indications are of a pretty heavy SNOWfall tomorrow in the Northern Alps, down to mid-altitudes...
After which it looks like temperatures will climb by about 20C over the next 7 days; next week is going to be HOT! Gotta love Spring. 8) |
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Superb... remind me again why I love the mountains?
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Still Skiing in Scotland But “Sad” That Skiers Don’t Believe, Says Scottish Skiing Supremo
Started by User in Ski News, 2 Replies |
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I believe... but it's so very far away... (from the South Coast) :(
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 16th 2015
Snow Report Summary Welcome to what will be, barring unforeseen major snowfall, our final Weekly Report for the 2014/15 ski season. Starting next month we'll revert to our usual Monthly round-up of worldwide conditions until the snows come again to the Northern Hemisphere. This Week's Headlines - No snow reported in the Alps this week - first time this year! - Over a foot of new snow at Whistler. - Heavy pre-season snowfall in New Zealand. - Mt Baker re-opens. - Powder snow conditions in Riksgransen - Over two feet of snow in past 48 hours in Utah. As we enter the latter half of April the rate of closure of northern hemisphere ski areas is gathering pace and by the end of this weekend more than 90% will have ended their 2014-15 ski seasons. The past seven days have been the first when no snow at all has been reported in the Alps, after a few centimetres were recorded in the high Swiss Alps at the end of last week. Some fresh snow is forecast for the coming week however. But that's not to say the season is over if you want to keep skiing. Plenty of areas sill have a month or more of the season left and of those, heavy snow has been reported in the past few days at Whistler, Snowbird in Utah and Riksgransen in the Swedish north, for example. Excitement is also starting to build for the 2015 ski season in the southern hemisphere where, following a snow covering in Australia, the snow was deep enough to make a few turns on slopes in New Zealand this week (for those prepared to walk up). In The Forecast! After the warmth of the last week, temperatures will cool dramatically in the East of the Alps for a few days, with several wet-weather systems crossing the region. Expect fresh snow at high altitude (Zermatt, we're looking at you) and good Spring conditions elsewhere. Check the J2Ski Forecasts regularly for the latest updates, and remember to check with the local Tourist Office before traveling, as many ski areas are now shut, or about to do so (and they don't always tell us!). The Alps Austria There's been no fresh snow in Austria this week where three quarters of ski areas have now closed. On higher runs and the country's glaciers however snow depths remain very healthy and there are great on piste conditions under blue skies most days. Kaunertal has the deepest snow in the country at just under 4m (over 13 feet) but it's looking good too even at non-glacier resorts like St Anton which still reports 3.5m on upper runs and 60cm (two feet) down at resort level. France Although many will close on Sunday, France still has the highest number of ski centres still open of any of the major ski nations with around 80% of resorts currently operational. There's been no fresh snow this week but most report good spring snow conditions and deep bases. Avoriaz still has 3m (10 feet) deep snow on its upper runs and 130cm in resort. Base depths are good at other French resorts planning to stay open in to May – for example 2m on upper runs in Chamonix, 1.8m in Tignes and 2.3m in Val Thorens. Italy Just under a third of Italian ski areas are still operational with the deepest snow reported at Passo Tonale – which typically keeps a couple of red runs open on the glacier in to June – which has a 4.2m (14 foot) base. The snow is also still deep on the Val Senales glacier and along the Aosta Valley at resorts like Cervinia and la Thuile. There's not much open in the Dolomites now but Cortina is soldiering on with 50cm left on the mountain tops. Switzerland Andermatt is continuing to claim the world's deepest snowbase at 5.5m, although that's down from the peak 6m of the past few weeks – it looks like that will be the snow depth high point of 2015 now. Just under a half of the country's ski areas are still open and although there's been no fresh snow depths remain good on upper runs at those areas that are still operating although few have anything left on their pistes at resort level. Exceptions include Saas Fee with 25cm and Davos with 30cm. Scandinavia Almost all Scandinavian ski areas remain open and most will remain so to the start of May. Bases are mostly holding out although there has been a marked thaw at a few areas such as Norway's Geilo, where it has dropped below 50cm for the first time this year. A few inches of fresh snow have been reported and there's been 20cm up at Riksgransen in Northern Sweden, which is open for two more months and had powder skiing at the weekend. Pyrenees All ski areas in Andorra and most of those in the Spanish Pyrenees have now closed for winter 14-15. There are however some areas on the French side and smaller centres on the Spanish side that are still operating – relying on the big snowpack built up through the winter, rather than any fresh snow, as there has not been any since March. With a 305cm (over 10 feet) base, Cauterets in the French Pyrenees still boasts the country's deepest snow base. Eastern Europe The season is reaching its natural end in Eastern Europe with most areas now closed or closing this weekend. Bulgarian ski areas are still reported to be open however, although there's been no new snow in the past few weeks the large falls of a month ago mean depths are still good on mountain tops – up to 3m deep in places still. Scotland There's a definite thaw under way on Scottish slopes although Glencoe, Nevis Range and Cairngorm remain open with diminishing cover on lower runs. Conditions are generally very pleasant with blue skies and calm weather. Nevis Range says this weekend may be their last of the season. North America Canada Most Canadian ski areas have now closed but there's been fresh snow on Western slopes with Whistler reporting a foot of fresh on upper runs (rain down below) and a 2m base, Banff 20cm – both areas are open for another month to mid-May. Marmot basin – open to early May – has had a few inches of fresh snow too. Elsewhere Mont Ste Anne and Tremblant remain open in Quebec although there's been no fresh snow this week. USA A mixed week across the US. In common with the rest of the northern hemisphere most areas are now closed, or will this weekend, but there was heavy snow in the North West of the country leading to powder conditions on still-open Utah slopes and for Mt Baker in Washington State, famously the resort which in an average year gets the most snow in the world but this year had to close in March for the lack of it, to re-open this weekend. Elsewhere Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Killington in Vermont both say they expect to stay open to June whilst Timberline in Oregon which is usually open nearly 11 months of the year has had a foot of fresh snow. |
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