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J2Ski Snow Report June 1st 2023
You can still do this, in June, at Mammoth Mountain, California... US resorts extend into June, season approaches for the south. The Snow Headlines - 1st June - Southern hemisphere's 2023 season starts next week - if nowhere opens early? - Only around a dozen ski areas still open from 22-23 northern hemisphere season. - Snowy weather in Australia ahead of the season start next week. - Just four ski areas open in the Alps - one each in the main Alpine nations. - Colorado's ski season ends Sunday, with snowfall forecast. - Three ski areas open in Norway - the most of any country in Europe. 
See the snow forecast for the week ahead...
World Overview We're into June and that means the start of the main 2023 ski season in the southern hemisphere. It's also the start of wintertime by the meteorological measure of the seasons. So far things look fairly promising in the main ski regions with some big pre-season snowfalls in the Andes and some cold and snowy weather in Australia and New Zealand, although there have been warmer spells too. The earliest official target opening date is next Friday 9th for Mount Hutt in New Zealand but it seems likely somewhere else may try to get in there earlier. The end of May saw about half of the still-open ski areas in the northern hemisphere call it a day on their 22-23 season at last, but more than a dozen are continuing, with about half of these being fresh summer 2023 openings of (mostly) glacier areas. They are fairly evenly divided between Europe and Scandinavia plus one in Asia - Japan's Gassan summer ski centre. Scandinavia has been reporting the coldest, snowiest weather in the north, delaying the season start of one of Norway's summers ski glacier area by three days last weekend. Europe Alps Two more Austrian glaciers closed at the weekend leaving just year-round Hintertux open. In Italy though, which has not had anywhere open for the last three weeks, skiing is back on with the Stelvio Pass re-opening and the Passo Stelvio ski area opening for its five-month 2023 season through to early November, all being well. The initial signs here are good from the looks of opening images showing base buildings buried in snow. You can also ski in France, at Les 2 Alpes, with Tignes and Val d'Isere due to open for short summer ski seasons later this month. Europe's highest slopes above Zermatt are also open. So, unusually, there's one ski area open in each of the big four Alpine ski nations for the next few weeks. Scandinavia It has been a wintery week in Scandinavia. There are now three small glacier centres open in Norway, more than any other single country in Europe at this point in the year. New snow meant the Stryn glacier, the latest and last of the three to open, ended up repeatedly delaying its opening planned last Thursday to eventually open at lunchtime on Sunday. The cold and snowy conditions have continued here and at the other two open areas, Fonna and Scandinavia's highest ski slopes at Galhopiggen. Sweden's Riksgransen has ended its 2023 main season but plans to re-open after three weeks of closure for a Midsummer ski celebration from June 22nd to June 25th, including midnight-sun summer skiing for the first time in several years. North America There were a dozen ski areas open in the US last weekend (and one unexpected brief reopening of Summit Saint Sauveur in Quebec) but that number has halved as we enter June. Mount Bachelor, Winter Park, Snowbird and Arizona Snowbowl are among the areas that finally ended their long 22-23 seasons after the Memorial Day public holiday on Monday. However we do have one newly opened option, with the small Beartooth Basin ski area in Wyoming, the only summer-only area in North America, which opened on Saturday for the first time since summer 2021. And Snowbird says it plans to re-open after a few weeks break, from mid-June. In terms of skis areas still open from the winter, we are down to four. California's Mammoth Mountain and The Palisades – both still reporting snow lying nearly 5 metres (16 feet) deep on their higher slopes - are still open and remaining so at least into July. The Palisades is now only operating its Alpine Base. They've been reporting mostly sunny weather although with the odd rain shower. Temperatures still dip to freezing overnight but in the 60s Fahrenheit during the day. You can also still ski at Colorado's Arapahoe Basin although it has confirmed it will close this coming weekend on June 4th. Snowfall is expected for the final weekend – although just an inch or so. The summer ski area at Timberline in Oregon, the Palmer Snowfield, is also open. In the eastern US, Killington re-opened to advanced skiers on June 1st but it's assumed that was the last day of their season. Southern Hemisphere Australia It was a very good week for pre-season snow and excitement build-up in Australia with repeat 10-25cm snowfalls and cold weather for snow guns to work full throttle. That was up to a few days ago when temperatures warmed up. At the last report Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Perisher, Thredbo and other areas are all looking in good shape for the season to start at the end of next week, on June 10th the start of the long holiday weekend. With conditions looking good, the big question is, will any open early? New Zealand Pretty good conditions for many New Zealand ski areas too with snowfall and low temperatures following a mild spell. Mount Hutt has the earliest officially announced opening date of any southern hemisphere ski area, although of course Managanui ski field already opened for three days in May after a big pre-season snowfall. Now though, with winter here properly, we're (hopefully) talking about ski areas opening and staying open. South America It's looking good for the season start in both Argentina and Chile too with cold weather and decent pre-season snowfalls here. The earliest expected opening is still about a fortnight away but here too some centres could open early. Ski tourers have been pictured skiing already at Las Lenas ski area after it received more than a metre of late June snowfall, but officially the season doesn't start there until June 14th. Fellow Argentinian resort Chapelco and famous Chilean centre Portillo have also reported some good pre-season snowfalls if not so much as Las Lenas so far. Africa At the present time, it does not appear that either of Africa's southern ski areas – Tiffindell in South Africa, which last opened in 2019 for skiing and Afriski in Lesotho – will fully open this winter. Afriski says it will be open but that it won't be able to run its lifts and snowmaking for logistical reasons, so snow play only. That got started on Wednesday this week after a good early natural snowfall. |
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J2Ski Snow Report May 25th 2023
The sun finally sets (this coming weekend) on a great season for Palisades, California... More early snow in the southern hemisphere. The Snow Headlines - 25th May - More pre-season snowfall in Australia and New Zealand. - A third Californian ski area to open this weekend. - One ski area open in each of Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland from Monday. - At least six US ski resorts to open during June. - Stryn Glacier delays 2023 opening due to forecast snowfall on access road. - Last two areas open in Colorado announce closing dates. - Canada's 2022-23 season ends as the last three centres close. See the snow forecast for the week ahead...
World Overview The past week has seen more snowfall and cold temperatures for the Andes, Australia, New Zealand and even southern Africa, as the 2023 season draws closer – now just over a fortnight away assuming there are no more early openings. In the northern hemisphere, more ski areas have ended their seasons in Europe and North America, including the last areas that had remained open in Canada and in Eastern Europe, leaving just the centres in the Alps, Scandinavia and US that are still going. There are also more resorts opening for (northern hemisphere) summer glacier skiing, or (in the case of the US) just re-opening as there's still so much snow on the ground. In Asia Japan's Gassan Glacier summer ski area remains open. Europe Alps After months of cold and snowfall on higher slopes in the Alps, there have been a few more clear, blue sky days to enjoy the snow this week. From next week, only the Hintertux Glacier will be open in Austria - it's currently posting the deepest snow (over 3m/10 feet) and most terrain open (25km of slopes) in the Alps. The Kaunertal and Stubai glaciers ended their seasons last weekend but two other Austrian glaciers, the Kitzsteinhorn and Mölltal, will be open until this Sunday, May 28th. Elsewhere in Europe, France's Les 2 Alpes glacier is reported to have a small amount of terrain open and Switzerland's Zermatt continues to offer snow sports on Europe's highest lift-accessed slopes. There's nowhere open in Italy still but that is due to change from this weekend with Passo Stelvio summer ski area scheduled to open for its (hopefully) five-month-long 2023 season. Much depends though on whether the pass road is cleared in time. Cervinia is due to join Stelvio as a second Italian option from late June. Scandinavia It's been staying close to freezing at Scandinavia's four open ski areas and one of these, Stryn, which had already opened for cat skiing at the start of the month but planned to open its lift on Thursday 25th, is now going to delay to Friday, as there's snow forecast and temperatures down to -2C, making driving potentially hazardous, they say. The Fonna and Galhopiggen ski areas are also open in Norway and Sweden's Riksgransen is coming up on its final weekend of its 2023 season BUT has announced it will re-open for midnight-sun summer skiing over midsummer in late June for the first time in several years. North America Temperatures are finally rising on high slopes in Western North America but the snow is lying so thick that a dozen ski areas will be opening slopes for the last weekend of May coming up, a long one in the US thanks to the Memorial Day holiday. Many are now just opening weekends and have earlier hours, typically 8 am to 2 pm, than mid-winter, and of course, for this time of the year, only limited terrain is still open. There's been plenty of sunshine this past week but occasional showers too and overnight lows still getting down close to freezing. California will have the most choice with Dodge Ridge mountain resort unexpectedly re-opening this weekend, joining The Palisades and Mammoth Mountain, both still reporting the continent's deepest snow at 16-18 feet up top. It will run a double chair from the base and reports it has now passed the 750" season snowfall total mark. Breckenridge closed last weekend in Colorado but Arapahoe Basin and Winter Park are still open. However closing dates have been announced, with Winter Park naming next Monday May 29th as their last day of the season, Arapahoe Basin continuing to the following Sunday, June 4th. Further north in Utah, it's the last weekend of the season at Snowbird and Brighton after Solitude ended its record-long season last weekend. Both plan to close after Memorial Day but Snowbird will then re-open in mid-June. Skiing also continues in Oregon, with Mount Bachelor approaching (probably) its final weekend of 22-23 but Timberline continuing into June and hopefully all summer. Talking of summer, America's sole summer-only ski area, Beartooth Basin, is scheduled to open for its 2023 season this weekend. Finally, on the East Coast, Killington in Vermont remains open with snow remaining on its Superstar bumps run. By contrast, Canada's ski season ended on Monday when the last three still-open areas, Mont Saint Sauveur in Quebec, Sunshine near Banff in Alberta and Whistler Blackcomb span their lifts for the last time for the season. However, Whistler will open its Horstman glacier on Blackcomb Mountain for snowsports in June and July – but only to those signed up for private camps. Southern Hemisphere There have been more promising pre-season snowfalls coupled with low temperatures for base-building snowmaking at ski areas in both Australia and New Zealand as the 2023 season start date gets ever closer. Assuming no one opens early, that's just over a fortnight away with most Aussie areas and resorts like Mt Hutt in New Zealand planning to open around June 10th. Most ski areas in the Andes, South America, won't open until about a fortnight later than that, assuming snow conditions are good. There it has been a little drier and warmer this past week in some areas, but Argentina's southerly Las Lenas was among the centres posting a decent pre-season dump earlier this week. There was cold weather and snowfall in southern Africa at the end of last week but currently, sadly, Afriski in Lesotho says it won't be running its snowmaking and lifts this season for technical reasons and there are currently no signs that Tiffindell in South Africa, which last operated in winter 2019, plans to reopen for 2023. |
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J2Ski Snow Report May 18th 2023
Manganui, New Zealand, got snow and opened for last weekend... Southern hemisphere season kicks off early (if briefly). The Snow Headlines - 18th May - Southern Hemisphere's 2023 ski season starts early after snowfall in New Zealand. - Norway's glacier ski areas open for 2023 season with world's deepest reported snowpacks. - Breckenridge closing for the season this Sunday. - Slovakia's Jasna staying open through May. - "Mid-winter" conditions in mid-May in Colorado, up to a foot of fresh snow. 
Snow on the high mountains still...
World Overview The big news of the last seven days was the southern hemisphere's 2023 season starting earlier than planned when up to 40cm of snowfall was reported in New Zealand. The club-run Manganui ski area was the first to open, from Friday through to Sunday. Australian ski areas have also reported colder weather and lighter snowfall to end this week. Meanwhile, the season continues to wind down in the northern hemisphere but there were still more than 30 ski areas open across Europe, Asia and North America and it has kept snowing too. On Europe's glaciers conditions are colder and generally better than in the hot spring of 2022 and in the US, the four Colorado ski areas still open last weekend saw "midwinter conditions" with up to 13" of snowfall in 24 hours reported last weekend. Europe Alps After the big snowfalls reported on Alpine glaciers a week ago, conditions continue to be mostly cold up high, with more, albeit lighter, snow showers keeping things fresh. It continues to be a much colder and snowier picture on glaciers than in spring 2022. Altogether seven glacier ski areas are still open, five of them in Austria, although two of these, Kaunertal and the Stubai, plan to close after the coming weekend. For the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun and Mölltal glaciers, there's another week, to Sunday May 28th and Hintertux is open year round. Also open are Les 2 Alpes in France and Zermatt, which is now the only ski area still open in Switzerland after Crans Montana closed at the weekend. There's nowhere currently open in Italy but Passo Stelvio should open for its 2023 summer ski season the weekend after next. Scandinavia We're into the final fortnight of the 2023 season at Riksgransen, Sweden's most northerly ski area, 200km north of the Arctic Circle and where it's now 24-hour daylight at its northerly latitude. Skiing and boarding beneath the Midnight Sun are offered on Thursday and Sunday evenings between 10 pm and 1 am. In Norway all three glaciers at summer-ski areas, Stryn, Fonna and Galhopiggen, are now open for the 2023 season. They're reporting snow depths of up to 10 metres, immediately the world's deepest snowpack for summer 2023, overtaking California's Mammoth after six months of it having top spot, so that's hopefully good news for being able to keep open through the warmer summer months this year. Eastern Europe Slovenia's Kanin ski area continues to re-open high terrain at weekends, mostly for team training, but this weekend is expected to be the last for 2023. Less expected is Slovakia's largest ski area of Jasna, which to be fair had been posting a decent upper slope depth all winter, announcing its plans to stay open through May. North America Canada It's the final weekend of the season coming up in Canada with the three areas still open gearing up for their final turns. Whistler Blackcomb has reported that operating for its final planned week is touch and go due to warm weather causing snowpack instability and high avalanche danger. There are similar issues for still-open Sunshine near Banff, although here there's no talk of a shutdown of the slopes. Finally, Summit St Sauveur in Quebec has one snowy slope expected to be open for the final weekend of the season. USA The US continues to have more ski areas open than any other country, using the snowpack built up through the winter. Many are now just open weekends (Friday to Sunday) and limited hours (typically 8 am to 2 pm) though. The main snow news of the last week came from Colorado where Breckenridge, Winter Park and Arapahoe Basin remain open and there was lots of fresh snowfall last Friday. Further north Utah's Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude areas are also still going strong and Sundance reopened at the weekend, although just for last weekend, 5 weeks after it had ended its season, partly to celebrate the deep snow still lying. The Snowbowl in Arizona to the south is also still open. Out west in California, it's been much warmer but Mammoth and The Palisades are still posting North America's deepest bases and planning to stay open to July although Kirkwood has now closed its season. Further north Oregon's Mt Bachelor and Timberline are still open, the latter opening its Palmer permanent snowfield for its summer ski season this week. Crystal Mountain up in Washington State is also still going. Despite the recent snowfall though, Breckenridge announced earlier this week that it has decided to end its season at the end of the day on Sunday. Killington is now the only ski area still open in the Eastern US, with an ever thinner base on its Superstar spring bumps run, but cold weather forecast to end the week with snow possible on the highest peaks in the region. Southern Hemisphere Australia After a decent dump of snowfall a fortnight ago Australian ski areas have seen drier and milder temperatures until the past 36 hours. The temperature has now dropped down to -5C with snow showers overnight and snowmaking systems (and in some cases all-weather snowmaking systems) have been in action - with the official season start date now three weeks away. New Zealand Snow arrived in New Zealand just as our report last week was being published and up to 40cm was reported over the next 24 hours. The season is due to start there early next month, but the club-run Manganui snowfield decided to open early, running its lifts from Friday to Sunday before determining the cover was no longer adequate. This was the first lift-accessed skiing in the southern hemisphere open for 2023. Andes Most ski areas in Argentina and Chile begin opening in mid-June so we're still 4 weeks or so away, although early openings are not unheard of if the snow arrives early. So far the forecast is fairly promising with some pre-season snowfalls, low overnight temperatures and daytime highs getting down towards freezing too. Southern Africa Afriski in Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa have traditionally been among the first to open each winter in the southern hemisphere, often at the end of May. This year the weather looks to be playing ball for the essential snowmaking base build-up with overnight lows well below freezing and even some natural snow forecast, but unfortunately neither area is currently planning to open for skiing at all this season, according to local media. |
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J2Ski Snow Report May 11th 2023
Fonna Glacier, Norway, started their summer season this week... Snow coming for New Zealand, still snowing on Alpine glaciers! The Snow Headlines - 11th May - Heavy pre-season snowfall in Australia. - Snow forecast for New Zealand. - 22/23 season over in Finland, Italy and Slovakia. - More than 30 ski areas still open in nine countries in the northern hemisphere. - Less than a month to the start of the 2023 southern hemisphere ski season. - Snow still falling on Alpine glaciers – Hintertux reports 50cm in 24 hours on May 11. - Levi and Ruka complete 7-month 22-23 ski seasons in Lapland. 
Up next! Snow for New Zealand's ski areas...
World Overview As we move further into spring in the northern hemisphere, another swathe of ski areas in Europe closed after the weekend, including all those that had been open since 2022 in France and Italy. There are still more than a dozen places skiable across the continent, with reports of more fresh snowfall on glaciers over the last week. In fact some of the totals up high continue to be much greater than they were in actual wintertime. The USA continues to have by far the most ski areas open of any one country in the world at present. Although half-a-dozen resorts closed after last weekend, nearly 20 continue to operate, most having extended their seasons thanks to record snowfall last winter. In the wider world, the season has more or less ended in Japan with the last resorts closing at the weekend, and just the Gassan summer ski area open there now. In the southern hemisphere, where the 2023 season is approaching fast, there have been some good snowfalls on Australian slopes and higher runs in the Andes. New Zealand too has reported some big snowfalls – up to 40cm in 24 hours – in the last few days. Our southern hemisphere section is back for 2023 below and will be expanding over the coming weeks as the number of northern hemisphere ski areas continues to fall. Europe Austria Several more glacier ski areas ended their 22-23 seasons in Austria at the weekend, with the country's highest slopes at Pitztal, as well as Solden's twin glacier ski area, now closed for snowsports until the autumn (when they're often among the first to open for the new season). Five Austrian areas remain open to the end of May, more than any other European country at this point. The Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn and Mölltal glaciers plan to stay open through to Sunday May 28th, the Stubai to the 21st and the Hintertux glacier intends to remain open year round. It continues to be cold (full-time below freezing above 3,000m) with snow showers almost daily, some of them quite major – up to 50cm in 24 hours in fact - so it's a much brighter picture than the warm spring of 2022, so far at least, although low visibility continues to be an issue. France The French ski season is over, kind of, Tignes, Val d'Isere and Val Thorens, which had been the last areas still open there for the 22-23 season, all closed at the weekend. However this year Les 2 Alpes has reopened for late-spring/early-summer glacier skiing, which it has moved forward by nearly two months from the usual 'summer' opening. It plans to keep its glacier slopes, claimed to be the world's biggest skiable glacier area, through May and June so in 2023, the French ski season continues! That said, L2A currently has very limited terrain open, mostly used for team training, but open to the public. The snow depth is reported to be 1.5m (5 feet). Snow showers have continued with the freezing point at 2500-3000m altitude and the occasional 5-10cm up at these heights. But there have also been 4-6 hours of sunshine most days. Italy Cervinia ended its season at the weekend, and was the last Italian area still open so currently there are no lift-served Italian centres available. Passo Stelvio will open for glacier skiing on the final weekend of the month and Cervinia itself will re-open for summer skiing in June. Switzerland Four more Swiss ski areas including Adelboden, the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin, Engelberg and Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets closed on Sunday leaving Crans Montana and Zermatt the two still open areas in Switzerland. Crans Montana though will end its season on Sunday, while Zermatt intends to return to year-round opening of its glacier ski areas if the summer allows in 2023 (2022 saw a 7 week closure in August and September last year as the snow melted from the glacier). Here too the weather has been generally cooler than average for early May and has stayed below freezing on glaciers, double digits below (freezing) up at the highest points of Zermatt's area. There have been more snow showers and Zermatt's glacier snow depth has actually increased slightly. Scandinavia Finland was another country where the 22-23 season ended last weekend as Levi and Ruka came to the end of their 7 month ski seasons. All of the ski areas in Norway open through the last winter ski season have also closed, but last weekend saw the Stryn and Fonna summer ski areas open (Stryn initially for cat skiing only) for glacier skiing. The country's third summer area, Folgefonn, is due to join them next weekend. The other Scandi ski option right now is Sweden's most northerly area, Riksgransen, which is now offering twice-weekly skiing and boarding under the midnight sun now that 24 hour daylight has arrived at its location 200km north of the Arctic Circle. The lifts re-open on Thursday and Sunday evenings from 10pm to 12:30am. Conditions are pretty good but temperatures could be cooler, as currently they're in the zero to +10C range with a mix of sunshine and showers, the showers more likely to be rain than snow until things get cooler. Eastern Europe Slovakia's Jasna stayed open a week later than expected but closed on Sunday, leaving Kanin in Slovenia the only area still open in Europe outside of the Western Alps and Scandinavia. The resort, located on the Italian border and offering views out to the Adriatic, is opening for (at least) two more long weekends of spring skiing up high. The snow depth is reported to be up to 2m and there's about 5km of slopes still open. After a warm weekend it has also been cold with snow showers on higher slopes this last week. North America Canada Lake Louise was the latest Canadian ski area to end its season, last weekend, leaving Sunshine near Banff in Alberta and Blackcomb Mountain by Whistler in BC the only two areas fully open. In the East of the country, Summit St Sauveur in Quebec is opening one run at weekends. All three are aiming to stay open through to May 22nd. It's turning sunny for the remainder of the week after cool temperatures and some snowfall in the west over the last few days. USA The US continues to have by far the most areas open in May, many in the west of the country thanks to record snowfall through the winter. More than two-dozen areas were open there last weekend in 11 states and although half-a-dozen closed after Sunday afternoon, almost 20 remain open either daily or at weekends, mostly in Colorado, California, Oregon and Utah. In terms of weather, the big thaw is underway but its still snowing in the West, and California's Palisades posted 11" of fresh snowfall in the last week. In California, Mammoth and The Palisades remain open with the world's deepest snowpack still, and a third area, Kirkwood, is also still operating but may close this coming weekend. For Colorado, Copper and Loveland have closed but Breckenridge, Winter Park and Arapahoe basin remain open. In Utah, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude still going strong. Oregon's Mt Bachelor, Timberline and Willamette Pass are also still open, as is Crystal Mountain up in Washington state. Lee Canyon in Nevada, the ski area closed to Las Vegas, has kept extending its season and will re-open next weekend, now making this the centre's longest ever season. Over on the East Coast Jay Peak and Sugarbush closed leaving only Killington still open and hoping to remain so through May. Southern Hemisphere The southern hemisphere's 2023 season is just a month away now with the first ski areas in Australia, New Zealand South America expected to open in early June. Unfortunately, there's no sign of any skiing being possible in Southern Africa this winter, at least at a regular ski area. Tiffindell, South Africa's only ski area, has not operated since 2019, although it has not officially shut down permanently either. Afriski, Lesotho's ski area, announced earlier this year that it would not operate this winter. The past week has been a very good one on Australian ski slopes with several snow showers, each delivering up to 15cm of fresh snow (and some gale force winds to drive it in). Most resorts have also fired up snowmaking systems, including Selwyn Snowfields, due to re-open this winter three years after it was ravaged by bush fires. New Zealand had seen warmer temperatures until the past few days but on Thursday 11th May resorts across the country posted images of substantial snowfalls, up to 50cm in 24 hours. There has also been snowfall on high slopes in Argentina and Chile again too, with up to 15cm accumulations reported here. |
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J2Ski Snow Report May 4th 2023
Perisher, Australia, with an early 15cm (6 inches) this week. More snow in the Andes... and the European Alps! The Snow Headlines - 4th May - Heavy snowfall on high slopes in France for the start of May. - Pre-2023-season snowfall reported in the Andes, Australia and New Zealand. - High avalanche danger from wet snowpack in the Alps and Western North America. - Around 60 northern hemisphere ski centres still open for the 22-23 season. - Spring/Summer-only glacier ski areas begin 2023 openings in France and Norway. 
Still snowing in Europe...
World Overview We're into May now and the number of ski areas still open in the northern hemisphere has dropped to double figures as more centres ended their 22-23 seasons after the long May weekend. Big weather fluctuations have been reported in ski regions in Europe and North America in the last 7 days with snowfall on high slopes in both continents, particularly heavy in the high French Alps at the start of the week, but also record high temperatures, for a time, in California and Utah before temperatures dipped again and fresh snowfall began. One common factor in conditions at still-open ski centres on each side of the Atlantic is heavy, wet snow conditions, leading to considerable avalanche danger and sadly reported fatalities from avalanches in both Europe and North America in the last week. May also marks the real countdown to the start of the 2023 season in the southern hemisphere and up to 15cm (6") of snowfall reported on high slopes in Australia, the Andes and in New Zealand have helped to raise anticipation levels. Europe Austria Austria has the most ski areas still open of any country in Europe, with six glacier resorts still open and reporting good conditions from the recent snowfalls on glacier slopes, including a few centimetres more this past week. Sunday will be the last day of 7-8 month seasons at the country's highest centre, Pitztal, as well as at Solden, host to the opening World Cup Alpine ski races of the season back in October last year and boasting the country's deepest snow all season. Three more glacier areas at Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn and Mölltal plan to stay open through to the end of the month on May 28th - and the Hintertux glacier remains open year round. France Remarkably, there was about a foot (30cm) of snowfall on French ski slopes above 2,000m on Monday, 1st May. Unfortunately most ski areas had already closed and the three still open – Val d'Isere, Val Thorens and Tignes could only offer white-out conditions to those in resort. Tuesday the 2nd was a different story with clear skies and remarkably good conditions for the start of May. All three still-open French centres are due to end their seasons after this weekend, but Les 2 Alpes has re-opened for late-spring/early-summer glacier skiing planned to run through May and June so the French ski season continues. Italy Most ski areas have now ended their 22-23 seasons in Italy, with Cortina d'Ampezzo the last to close in the Dolomites on May 1st. Livigno, Macugnaga, the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale and Sulden am Ortler also ended their 22-23 seasons at the weekend. That leaves just Cervinia still open through this coming weekend and reporting great conditions with fresh snow lying up high. Italy won't have any ski areas open for three weeks from Monday but glacier ski area Passo Stelvio is due to open at the end of the month for its 2023 season. Switzerland Half a dozen Swiss areas remain open into May, with most seeing some more fresh snowfall up high to start the week, with sunnier skies since. Four of these, including Adelboden, the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin, Engelberg and Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets are expected to close on Sunday. Europe's highest slopes, above Zermatt, will remain open through May. There was sad news from Samnaun, which, along with Andermatt, ended its season on Monday, as two women skiing just off an open run having accidentally strayed off onto a cat track, were caught in an avalanche, leading to the death of one of them. Scandinavia Scandinavia offered some of the best conditions in Europe through April, but although it remains cold with some areas posting 20cm of fresh snowfall in the past week, many of the region's big resorts including Sweden's Are and Norway's Trysil and Hemsedal, have now ended their seasons. You can still ski until next Monday up in Lapland and Levi and Ruka which are coming up to the end of their 7-month ski seasons. Sweden's northerly Riksgransen ski area will start offering skiing under the midnight sun shortly too, as it approaches 24-hour daylight up in the Arctic Circle. Finally, Norway's three summer-only glacier ski areas begin opening for the season this weekend. Pyrenees The 22-23 season is now over in the Pyrenees with the last area in the region that had still been open, Cauterets in the French Pyrenees, ending its season last weekend. Scotland Scotland's ski season really ended at the end of the Easter school holidays over a fortnight ago when the last few runs still open at Cairngorm were closed. Despite mostly warm weather last week, however, fresh snow was reported on high peaks to start May with some ski tourers hiking up to earn their turns. Eastern Europe With Jasna and a few other ski centres that managed to keep terrain open to May 1st calling it a day on their 22-23 seasons, there's just one centre known to still be operating, at weekends, in Eastern Europe. There are about 6lkm of high runs open above Kanin in Slovenia, a centre famed for its spring skiing. North America Canada There are four ski areas still open in Canada after Marmot Basin and Mount Norquay bear Banff ended their 22-23 seasons at the weekend. Lake Louise is due to be next to close at the end of the ski day on Sunday, but the third Banff area Sunshine in Alberta, as well as Blackcomb Mountain by Whistler on BC's Pacific Coast and (over in Quebec to the East – and at weekends only) Mont St Sauveur – are all aiming to stay open through to May 22nd. Sunshine reported fresh snowfall at the weekend but also closed a lot of terrain due to high avalanche danger from the wet snowpack. USA The US is the country with the most ski areas still open as we start May, and many of them have extended their seasons because of the huge snowpacks built up through the winter and spring. About two dozen areas remain open, the majority in Colorado, California, Oregon and Utah. The past week has been a bit of a weather rollercoaster with warm weather leading to fast thawing and flooding concerns into the weekend, but then a temperature drop bringing more snowfall to Mammoth, which plans to stay open to July and still has the world's deepest snowpack at more than 20 feet (6 metres). In Utah, the Little Cottonwood Canyon was once again closed this week due to the latest high avalanche danger, cutting off access in and out of still-open Snowbird once more. To add to the mix some ski areas in Colorado were closed earlier this week due to thunder and lightning storms. The ski season on the East Coast is all but over with Maine's Sugarloaf deciding to call it a day on their 22-23 season at the weekend. However, Jay Peak, Sugarbush and Killington still have a white ribbon or two of snow on green hillsides to enjoy some final turns on. Killington hopes to stay open later into May but it's looking like this coming weekend will be the last of 22-23 for the other two. |
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J2Ski Snow Report April 27th 2023
Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun, Austria, still open, still snowy... Northern hemisphere gets more snow, and it starts in the Andes. The Snow Headlines - 27th April - Alta passes 900 inches of snowfall this season - two days after closing. - Still 10 Austrian ski areas open for the start of May. - State of emergency in Utah as huge snowpack starts to melt, still snowing up high. - The season is over in the Balkans and the Pyrenees. - More than two dozen North American ski centres extend seasons into May. - Fresh snowfall in the Andes ahead of the 2023 season. 
A little more snow forecast for the end of the season...
World Overview The snow continues to fall on high slopes in the Alps. Glaciers started this week by posting pictures of 20-30cm overnight accumulations. That's a much brighter picture (for those of us who like the snow) than this time last year when plus temperatures were reaching 4,000m altitudes and there was fast thawing of snow cover in the Alps. It's coming (very) late in the season but we've now had six weeks of predominantly cold and snowy weather up high, with no real sign of a major change. Across the northern hemisphere, more than 100 ski centres in over 15 countries now plan to stay open until at least May 1st. The biggest number - about 20 – are in the USA where many have extended seasons due to the huge snowpacks lying on Western mountain slopes. There's been more fresh snowfall here too this week. Elsewhere, the season is pretty much over in the Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Scotland and the North American East Coast has had warm weather too. Fresh snowfall has been reported in the South American Andes this week, above 2500m, where the 2023 season starts in just over a month. Europe Austria Although more big-name ski areas including Innsbruck and St Anton closed for the season last weekend, there are still 10 Austrian areas aiming to stay open into May, the most of any European nation. We're into the final week of the season unless there's a last-minute extension, at Obergurgl, Obertauern, the Stubai Glacier and Ischgl, all due to close at the end of the ski day on Monday, May 1st, the latter after their big end-of-season mountain concert. The Pitztal and Solden glaciers will close a week later, with Solden currently posting Austria's deepest base at 3.3m (11 feet). Then the Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn and Mölltal glaciers are aiming to stay open right through to the end of the month with, of course, Hintertux aiming to stay open year-round. It currently has almost all of its 60km of slopes still open. This week has seen more significant snowfalls on glaciers which have led to some closures for fog and blizzard conditions, but also great fresh snow. France Half a dozen ski areas are still open in France with Tignes (still with Europe's deepest base up on the Grande Motte, now at 428cm) and Val d'Isère, along with Val Thorens the three resorts planning to continue for a final week after the coming weekend. Unusually though a fourth option, Les 2 Alpes, which closed last weekend for the main ski season plans to re-open through May from next weekend, for glacier skiing, having brought its summer ski season forward by a couple of months. French ski areas have not had as much high-altitude snowfall as glaciers further east, and thawing has diminished snowpacks by about 30cm compared to a week ago, but there have been cold temperatures and more fresh snow up high. Switzerland Very similar conditions in Switzerland where more snowfall was reported on higher slopes this week too. A dozen or so ski areas remain open with Adelboden, Andermatt and Samnaun among those ending their season this coming weekend. Those carrying on into May include the Titlis glacier above Engelberg, the Diavolezza Glacier in the Engadin Valley that's officially part of the St Moritz ski area and Glacier 3000 near Les Diablerets and Gstaad. Europe's highest slopes above Zermatt aim to stay open year-round. Scandinavia Scandinavia has had some of the best conditions through April and the last week has brought a fresh drop in temperatures and more snowfall in many areas. Here too, however, the season is winding down with well-known areas like Voss in Norway closing last weekend and most other big-name centres like Sweden's Are and Hemsedal in Norway closing after the May weekend. Next week Levi and Ruka will complete their seven-month ski seasons by operating for a week into May, and we'll be approaching the period of 24-hour daylight up in the Arctic Circle so Riksgransen will offer midnight-sun skiing again for a few weeks. Norway's three summer ski areas are also near to opening from 6th May on. Pyrenees The ski season in the Pyrenees ended at the weekend. All centres in Andorra and Spain are believed to have closed by mid-April, but Cauterets in France carried on to last Sunday. Scotland The ski season is really over in Scotland now. There has been fresh snowfall and low temperatures this week after very warm weather last week, with new hill snow on peaks for the most determined ski tourers, but what little lift-served skiing there was left at Cairngorm ended after the Easter school holidays. Eastern Europe There's little still open in Eastern Europe now. All centres in Bulgaria have closed for example. However, the largest in the north of the region, Slovakia's Jasna, is aiming to stay open until Monday, May 1st and even reports a little fresh snow up high. Further south, Kanin, on the Italian border above the Adriatic, is famed for its late spring skiing and was one of the first ski areas in the world to re-open after the pandemic lockdown. It is likely to stay open later into May but is only open at weekends. North America Canada Conditions remain fairly good in western Canada with more snowfall reported on higher slopes at still-open centres. Open ski areas are diminishing in number with Mount Norquay and Marmot Basin due to end their seasons this weekend. Lake Louise will carry on for a further week with Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler and Sunshine near Banff carrying on through to May 22nd. The season is pretty well over in the East of the country with just Sommet St Sauveur planning to open a short terrain-park-type trail at weekends through May so long as the snow lasts. USA There are still several dozen US ski areas open, with most planning to remain so into May, and while Utah has declared a state of emergency over flooding fears, remarkably there's been still more heavy snowfall reported in the west. The largest centre in the US, Park City in Utah, is planning to close after skiing on Monday, May 1st but dozens more centres, mostly in California, Colorado and Utah with a few in Oregon and Wyoming, are planning to continue later into May, some into June or July. Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Crystal, Solitude (which passed the 800 inch season snowfall to date mark in the last few days), The Palisades and Winter Park are among them. Most skiing has now ended in the eastern US where the weather recently has been warm and wet, so what's left is very much the thawing snowpack. Maine's Sugarloaf expects to close after May 1st skiing but Jay Peak, Killington and Sugarbush were soldiering on at the last report. |
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J2Ski Snow Report April 20th 2023
Tignes, France, open until 6th May (summer skiing from 17th June)... Northern hemisphere season still not done... The Snow Headlines - 20th April - Up to a metre of snowfall reported on high slopes in the Alps up to last weekend. - Less than 10% of ski areas still open for the final weeks of April. - Crans Montana extends ski season to mid-May. - Deepest snowpack in the Alps hits new 22-23 season high of 452cm 
Nope, snow's not stopped falling yet...
World Overview The season continues to wind down in the northern hemisphere with more of the big-name resorts closing their 22-23 seasons. But many are still open and it keeps snowing, up high at least, with some resorts reporting over a metre of snowfall in the last 7 days, heaviest in the Alps up to the weekend. As a result, Tignes has hit a new record snow depth in the Alps of 452cm for the 22-23 season. Elsewhere, almost almost all ski areas are closed in the Balkans and Pyrenees, and Scotland's 22-23 season is over, but the majority of resorts remain open in Scandinavia, with fresh snowfall and fairly low temperatures still reported. Across in North America, many ski areas have now ended their seasons, but dozens remain open into May and there's been more snowfall in the west, although temperatures are into the 80s (Fahrenheit) in the East. Europe Austria Austrian ski areas reported some of the biggest snowfall totals in Europe in the final few days of last week. Up on the country's glaciers, most of them open into May, snowfall totals of 60-110cm over the four days to Sunday were reported, giving great conditions up high. Since the weekend things have calmed down a little, with temperatures rising and just light snowfalls. Most Austrian ski areas have now closed and some that are famed for their long seasons like Obertauern and Solden are into their final week or so of winter, but there's at least a month of the season left at some glaciers including Molltal and year-round Hintertux. France More than 80% of French ski areas have now closed for the season, but there are around 20 still open and planning to close on one of the next three weekends. Tignes, still posting the deepest base in Europe up on its glacier at just over 4.5m (15 feet), and Val Thorens will be the last to do so on the 7th. However this summer the French season won't now end then as Les 2 Alpes has announced a re-thinking of its summer skiing; now closing for the final week in April and then re-opening for, hopefully, all of May and June for summer skiing, earlier than before by nearly two months. As to current conditions, French resorts did not post quite so much snowfall into last weekend as resorts further east in Austria and Switzerland but still, there was up to half-a-metre on glaciers and base stats went back up. There was rain lower down and it's been drier and getting warmer since Sunday. Italy About a dozen Italian ski areas are still open into the final weeks of April. There was snowfall here at the end of last week too, right down to the Dolomites where Cortina will keep a part of its terrain open to the start of May. Here too it has been a quieter few days after the snowfall at the end of last week. Other Italian ski centres open to the start of May include Cevinia, Passo Tonale and Livigno. Switzerland Swiss centres also saw fresh snowfall up high in the latter half of last week with Engelberg among the areas eventually reporting more than 60cm (two feet) of fresh snow on its glacier. It's one of around 20 Swiss resorts still open and of half-a-dozen aiming to stay open into May. Since the weekend it has warmed up although with snow showers continuing up high. Saas Fee has the deepest snow in the country, up again to nearly 4 metres after it too had a decent dump and a bit more up high in more recent days. Its final weekend of the season is just starting, but then it's only three months until the 23-24 season starts there in July! Scandinavia Although most of the big Scandinavian centres remain open to the first weekend in May (some like Ruka and Levi in Lapland another week after that too), about half of the region's mid-sized areas did close last weekend after the end of the Easter holidays. Temperatures are finally rising with +5C or +6C measured in the afternoon at some more southerly centres, but most of those still open have reported some fresh snowfall too this week (30cm at Trysil) and that they're more or less fully open still when resorts in the alps may just be down to their highest terrain only. Pyrenees All of the Spanish ski centres in the Pyrenees are believed to have now closed, as has the largest in the region, Andorra's Grandvalira, last Sunday. Only one area is thought to still have about 10km of its slopes open and lift-accessed; Cauterets on the French side of the border, which is closing this Sunday. Scotland Scotland's 2022-23 ski season, which unfortunately never really got going properly, finally ended last Sunday when Cairngorm, which had had a few runs still open, called it a day. There had been some cold temperatures and fresh snowfall to low levels at the end of last week but it was too little, too late to reopen the closed slopes at the four other centres and since the weekend temperatures have warmed up a great deal. Eastern Europe The season is largely over in Eastern Europe with all the main centres in Bulgaria as well as other countries including Romania and the Czech Republic closed for the season. The largest resort in the Northeast, Slovakia's Jasna, is hoping to stay open until May 1st and reported fresh snowfall for the weekend. Down in Slovenia, Bovec, famed for its high-altitude spring skiing with views out to the Adriatic, is open into May too, with the snow still lying 2 metres deep up top. North America Canada Western Canadian resorts have reported more snowfalls in the last week, but most have now closed or will do this coming weekend. Sunshine, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin near Jasper will be open into May, as will Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler. Most centres have now closed in Canada's east, where temperatures have been quite warm, but the biggest, Tremblant, will stay open to this coming weekend, its season extended after record snowfall amounts this winter. USA Ski areas are ending their seasons in the US too of course, but several dozen centres now have extended their seasons into May and the list keeps growing. It also keeps snowing, with more snowfall reported for the Rockies, the Pacific Northwest and in the Sierra Mountains in California – if not perhaps quite so much as earlier in the spring. There's been a more rapid season-end in the East, with some very warm temperatures topping 80F reported this week, but some centres including Killington and Sugarloaf still have some slopes open. In the west Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Brighton, China Peak, Copper, Crystal Mountain, Heavenly, Jay Peak, Kirkwood, Loveland Mammoth, Mt Bachelor, Park City, Snowbird, Timberline, The Palisades and Winter Park are all open into May, although some only at weekends. |
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J2Ski Snow Report April 13th 2023
This was Les Arcs, France, this morning... just saying... Northern hemisphere season slowing, but the snow's still falling... The Snow Headlines - 13th April - Access road to Alta and Snowbird closed for much of the past week due to avalanche danger. - Snow base depths begin to drop in Europe and North America. - Fresh spring snow both sides of the Atlantic. - Japan's Gassan summer ski area opens for the 2023 season. - Fresh snow reported on Australian ski slopes two months ahead of 2023 season. 
Yep, still snowing...
World Overview About 90% of ski areas across the northern hemisphere have either closed in the past few days, following the Easter weekend, or will do so this coming weekend, but it's still possible to ski at hundreds of locations across Europe, North America and Asia, which are remaining open to the end of April or even into May. In Europe, it was a cold and (up high) sometimes snowy Easter weekend, but things have warmed up since, although weak fronts moving across the continent have brought more light snowfall to high slopes. The thaw is finally starting to win through with the deepest snowpack down 30cm (a foot) compared to a week ago. It's a similar story across in North America where again there was weekend snowfall but now the thaw is marked and the deepest snowpack (in the continent and the world), at Mammoth in California, has dropped back down below 8 metres. Europe Austria It's been quite cool and there has been more fresh snowfall on higher slopes in Austria over the last few days. That's slightly ironic given that the 22-23 season is rapidly ending in the country with many areas closing after the Easter weekend and plenty more closing this coming weekend. However those that open later into April and the few continuing into May or even June are the ones reporting the snowfall, including 20cm for Solden, 12cm on the Kaunertal glacier and 10cm at St Anton, so it's looking fairly good for the next week or two here. In the short term, more cold and snowy weather is forecast through the weekend. France As with most parts of the skiing world, with Easter behind us and the latter half of April nearly beginning, most of France's ski areas have either closed down or will be doing so soon (this coming weekend or next) and those that are still open have, in most cases, shut down large chunks of their terrain with a focus on higher runs. Ski areas open up to May include Chamonix, Tignes, Val d'Isere and Val Thorens, and the good news is that it has been decidedly wintery on those higher slopes above 2,000m altitude with repeat snowfalls through the last week. Base depths, even up high, appear to have finally peaked though with Europe's deepest at Tignes dropping from a season-high point of 4.5 metres (15 feet) for the past few weeks to 4.2 metres now. Italy Most of Italy's ski areas closed for the season on Monday or Tuesday this week but a good many remain open including Val di Fiemme open until this weekend on the 16th, an extra week at Kronplatz (until 23 April) and Arabba (until 25 April) with more than a fortnight of the season left to run at Cortina d'Ampezzo until 1 May and three weeks for Cervinia to May 7th. The past week has seen a mix of all weathers with plenty of sunshine - and valley temperatures rising to double figures. There have been showers too, with a few centimetres of fresh snowfall above 2,000m, and rain lower down. Switzerland Swiss ski areas have begun closing and most of those still open will be closing after Sunday's skiing; but several dozen areas will be open later in the month. As with other Alpine nations, it's these higher centres that have been reporting snowfall with low temperatures over the last few days and more snowfall forecast for the rest of this week and through the weekend. Several centres reported 25cm of snowfall in the last 24 hours with Zermatt (hoping to stay open year-round again if summer heat allows after being forced to close last August-September) one of the big winners and decent dumps too at Samnaun (Open to May 1st) and Saas-Fee. Scandinavia Scandinavian ski areas have been reporting some good fresh snowfalls over the past few days after a sunny Easter weekend. 5-20cm accumulations have been reported and with temperatures only just beginning to climb a few degrees above freezing so the snow quality is also still good. Unlike further south, most ski areas in the region remain largely fully open, thanks to their northerly latitude, and will remain so into early May in the case of big players like Are, Hemsedal, Levi and Ruka. Pyrenees The season is all but over really in the Pyrenees with most of the ski areas in the region now closed for 22-23 and almost all of those remaining planning to close at the end of this coming Sunday. The Easter weekend here was very warm and sunny although it has cooled in the last few days with snowfall on the very highest peaks but rain lower down. The largest area Grandvalira has just a foot or so of snow left up high and about a quarter of its terrain open until Sunday, having closed Soldeu-El-Tarter on Tuesday. Scotland Scotland's season is more or less over. There was some hill snow to start the week which Glencoe described as potentially the last chance for ski tourers who can use the centre's chairlift to ease access to the touring terrain. The only lift-accessed skiing still just about open at the time of writing is at Cairngorm which reports soft snow conditions and the runs in the Ptarmigan Bowl becoming thin in some sections, "...but still good snowsports to be had." Eastern Europe Most of the well-known ski areas are still open in Eastern Europe and it has been a cool and snowy week for many with fresh accumulations on higher ground. Daytime highs of +15C were reported at the resort level in Bulgaria in the last few days and most areas are expected to close there after a final ski day on Sunday. Bulgarian ski areas are now running at 30-60% of their slopes open for the last few days of 22-23. Jasna in Slovakia has the most terrain open. North America Canada Springlike conditions were reported in eastern Canada but much more wintery weather in the west, where Whistler was largely shut down by gales at the weekend and Fernie by heavy rain over the last few days. Fellow BC ski area Revelstoke, though, posted 25cm of fresh snowfall in 48 hours and a snowy final few days to the season there. USA Last week saw more huge snowfalls in the Rockies with the resulting avalanche danger so great in parts of Utah that some ski areas including Alta and Snowbird have been cut off for most of the past week for road safety reasons. There was snowfall in other areas too, but not with quite such dramatic volumes (another five feet/1.5m) or consequences. Spring has now though finally sprung and most US resorts are seeing sunshine, warm temperatures and a fast thaw. Lots have also ended their season on schedule, including Jackson Hole after declaring a record 595" seasonal snowfall total. However, dozens more have extended their seasons into May, or beyond, including Breckenridge, Heavenly, Mammoth, The Palisades, Snowbird, Winter Park and most recently the country's biggest ski area, Park City. |
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