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Great spring snow, blue skies, Stubai Glacier, Austria, open until 11th May...

Spring has returned to the Alps, but now with much more snow. And there's been fresh in the Rockies too.

The Snow Headlines - April 24th
- Huge snowfalls bring big boost to late-April snow conditions in the Alps.
- Ski season is all but over in Eastern Europe and Iberian Peninsular.
- Ski areas in the Rockies report up to 40cm (16 inches) of snowfall for Easter weekend.
- Snowfall totals up to 155cm in 36 hours in the Western Alps ahead of Easter weekend.
- Europe's deepest snow level jumps from under 3 to over 4 metres.


Top-ups for a few still-open ski areas.

Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

World Overview
Last week's snow report was published just as the Western Alps ground to a halt as an incredible snowstorm deposited huge amounts of snow in just 24-36 hours.

Resort staff were busy trying to keep people safe at this point last week but by the weekend stats were starting to firm up, the biggest accumulations recorded at 170cm – for many resorts as much in a little over a day as they'd had in total over the previous 2-3 months.

This volume of snowfall of course caused many logistical issues and set avalanche danger levels at maximum, but by Good Friday the sunshine was returning and ski areas were re-opening terrain that was considered safe.

It's been much calmer since and whilst more resorts ended their seasons at the end of Easter Sunday or Monday, those still open to the coming weekend or into May are enjoying some of the best conditions of the whole season on high terrain.

After months of little movement or slow decline, Europe's deepest reported base depth has also jumped from 2.5 to 4.2 metres!

In the wider skiing world, the weather has been less dramatic and we're down to a few hundred northern hemisphere resorts still operating with almost all centres now closed for the season in eastern Europe and the Pyrenees.

Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada, has extended its season to May 4th after a snowy April.

Across the Atlantic, it's a similar story with around 50 or so ski areas open, with periods of snowfall reported in the Rockies and other areas, but also temperatures continuing to rise as we approach the latter half of spring.

Anticipation of the 2025 season starting in the southern hemisphere, now just a little over a month away, is starting to build.

Europe
Austria
Austria was on the edge of last week's storm, but still saw some decent snow.

The biggest accumulations, up to 50cm, were reported above 2500m on the country's glaciers.

The Stubai was one of the big winners and is now posting Austria's deepest base at 2.6m, overtaking long-time holder of that marker, Solden, which is down to 245cm up top.

It's the glaciers and a few high or snow-sure areas like Ischgl and Obertauern that remain open amongst the dozen or so Austrian centres still operating.

It's been a week of sunshine and (mostly light) showers, the latter varying between rain, sleet and snow as temperatures rise and the freezing point gets above 2500m. That's the forecast heading into the last weekend of the season although it's looking more sunny over the next few days.

France
France saw some amazing snowfalls in the latter half of last week with Val d'Isère posting the biggest accumulation of 170cm (68") over 72 hours, most of it on Wednesday and Thursday.

As we published last week's report many ski areas were essentially in lockdown as authorities and ski area managers battled to re-open roads, restore power supplies and make ski slopes safe.

Things improved fast from Friday though, as sunshine returned and slopes began re-opening.

All the snow continues to give great conditions for the eight French ski areas still open, with one of them, Les Arcs posting a base back above the 3-metre mark for the first time in a month.

After this weekend, four French ski resorts will still be open into May; Les 2 Alpes, Tignes, ​Val d'Isère and Val Thorens.

Italy
Italy saw some good snowfall in the latter half of April too, especially in the west of the country. Cortina d'Ampezzo in the East, one of the centres open to May 1st, saw plenty of fresh snow just before Easter too.

There are half-a-dozen Italian areas open this week, but unless there are any late-season extensions, only one, Cervinia, is expected to be open after Sunday 4th May.

Those open now include Livigno, Macugnaga, Madonna di Campiglio, Val Senales/Schnalstal, Sulden (not to be confused with Austria's Solden over the border) and Passo Tonale (Presena Glacier).

Switzerland
Western Switzerland saw huge snowfalls as we were publishing last week's report, with ski areas closing down here too on Thursday. The Valais region was particularly hard hit with some claiming the snowfall here – of up to a metre in 24 hours – was the heaviest and most intense in the region for decades.

Here too things began to improve rapidly from Friday with blue skies returning and runs re-opening. By Saturday Saas Fee, which had been cut off by the snowfall, was reporting a 155cm snowfall total and said its base had jumped more than 1.5m to over 4 metres.

Verbier and Zermatt both reported more than a metre of snowfall.

Scandinavia
The ski season remains in full swing in Scandinavia with most of the region's leading ski areas aiming to stay open to the start of May.

There is though something of a north/south divide with ski areas in the far north, generally within the Arctic Circle, still seeing plenty of snowfall and temperatures getting below -10C overnight and rarely above freezing during the day. Further south the bigger resorts like Sweden's Are and Norway's Hemsedal are the other way around, daytime temperatures getting up towards +10C and hardly getting below freezing overnight.

That said Are is one of those open to the start of May and still posting more than 90% of its slopes open.

North America
Canada

The Easter weekend was the last weekend of the season for most of the ski areas in Canada that were still open.

However, half-a-dozen areas are still running, most in Alberta and British Columbia and at least one centre in Quebec. The good news for them has been up to 30cm more snowfall, especially on higher slopes and temperatures remaining relatively low in western mountain ranges.

It's been warmer for Quebec's Summit-Ste-Sauveur but here they're really just skiing and riding on the thawing snow patch that covers the upper quarter of the mountain.

USA
The Rockies have reported the best conditions in the US this week, particularly around Good Friday when some centres in Colorado and Utah reported up to a foot of fresh snowfall to deliver powdery conditions for the Easter weekend.

The Arizona Snowbowl to the south reported similar and announced it was extending its season to May 4th as a result.

More changeable conditions included some fresh snowfall in the north of the region for New England, with 6 inches or so in Maine, Northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Mostly dry and sunny on the West Coast.

More than 20 US ski areas remain open this weekend, the most of any country in the world, with the majority planning to remain open into May.

Verbier, Switzerland, has had almost 2 metres of snow in the last 36 hours...

Spring is postponed! In the Alps anyway... Huge snowfalls have temporarily shut lifts (and roads) but transformed conditions. It's also snowed in America.

The Snow Headlines - April 17th
- Incredible snowfall in the Western Alps.
- Up to another half metre of snowfall in the Pyrenees.
- Japan's Gassan ski area starts 2025 summer ski season.
- Snow for North East US, the Rockies and across Canada.
- Ski area in Poland plans to stay open into May.


Still more snow to come for Europe.

Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

World Overview
In the many years of our J2Ski Weekly Snow Reports there have been few occasions when we've reported snowfalls like we've had in the Western and Central Alps over the past 36 hours.

After a long period of dry, sunny weather, resorts have been posting up to 1.5m (five feet) of snowfall on Wednesday and Thursday. These kind of accumulations sound great, and will certainly mean great conditions for the next few weeks, but have big safety and logistical implications.

Avalanche danger levels are at their highest level, power lines are down, roads blocked and many ski areas are closed for the day; in some, people are being asked to stay indoors due to the extreme avalanche danger.

Of course this, the biggest snowfall for several seasons (some places are saying since 1976!), has come very late, and more than 80% of Europe's ski areas have closed for the 24-25 season. However most of the continent's bigger, better known areas are amongst those that have made it to the upcoming late Easter weekend, so next week could be amazing for them.

Elsewhere, there's been more snowfall in Scandinavia, with northern areas doing particularly well and lower temperatures keeping the snow in good shape.

Snowfall has also returned to Eastern Europe, but Scottish centres remain closed for snowsports, other than Glencoe's dry slope.

Across the Atlantic parts of the US, particularly the Rockies and New England, have reported fresh snow, and it's been a good week for still-open Canadian centres with coast-to-coast snowfall on mountains there.

Europe
Austria
After mostly dry and sunny weather last week, the remaining Austrian ski areas still open for the season have reported mixed conditions since the weekend with a lot of cloud rolling in and rain and sleet showers, falling as snow on higher mountain slopes.

Austria has not seen the snowfalls recorded further west as yet but the Stubai Glacier reported 30cm on Thursday and there's more coming.

About 50 Austrian ski centres plan to stay open for the Easter weekend, representing about 15% of the country's ski areas.

The best conditions are on high slopes led by the country's glacier ski areas. Solden reports 97% of its slopes still open and the deepest snow at 2.5m up high, though only 10cm left down at village level.

It looks like sunshine and showers for the remainder of this week and over Easter with valley temperatures getting above +20C down at 1,000m.

France
Following mostly sunny weather again last week, French ski areas saw mixed conditions earlier this week, with some largely light snowfalls above 2000m.

Then everything changed on Wednesday (and into Thursday) with massive snowfall, many resorts (Chamonix, Les Arcs, Courchevel, etc.) reporting at least a metre of snowfall in 24 hours. Tignes, where there's an order to stay indoors for much of Thursday, reported 1.5 metres.

Roads are blocked, the avalanche danger at 5/5 and there's a high flood risk for when it all starts to thaw... but there's potential for great powder skiing once pistes re-open and are declared safe.

Another swathe of resorts closed last Sunday leaving about two dozen French areas open at least to the coming Easter weekend, including most of the big names.

The Three Valleys was still reporting around 500km of its slopes remaining open before the storm closure, by far the most in the country, and the world.

The Grand Massif around Flaine was posting the deepest snow up top of the big areas, at about 2.5m.

The new snowfall has pushed upper bases at Les Arcs back up above 3 metres.

After a clearer spell for most areas this coming Friday and Saturday more unsettled conditions with regular snowfall (if not on the scale we're currently witnessing), is expected, especially above 2,000m, through the Easter weekend.

Italy
Italy started to see light snowfall across the country at the start of last weekend as unsettled weather moved up from the south. This was just a few centimetres on high slopes though with Arabba in the Dolomites and Bardonecchia over on the French border among the early beneficiaries.

Snow, sleet and rain showers have continued through the week.

Mountains in the west of the country got heavy falls, starting Wednesday, from the current storm.

Cervinia has posted the biggest accumulation so far, 1.2 metres, but there are big falls along Italy's borders, La Thuile posting a metre on Thursday morning.

About 30 Italian ski areas, representing around 15% of resorts there, remain open for the Easter weekend.

Once it is able to re-open its pistes, Cervinia, with the country's highest slopes shared with Swiss neighbour Zermatt, has the most terrain accessible; about 90% of its 320km of slopes were still open before the storm blew in.

Switzerland
Swiss centres also experienced changeable conditions earlier in the week with Zermatt, which is currently posting the most terrain open in the country, amongst the first to report a few centimetres on Monday.

Accumulations on higher slopes were getting heavier through the week, falling as sleet and rain on lower terrain.

From Wednesday, massive accumulations of a metre or more (in 24 hours) fell for ski areas across all but Eastern Switzerland.

The Valais region saw some of the biggest falls with Verbier reporting over 1.2 metres and one J2Skier reporting there was a stay-at-home order in place following some of the most heavy and intense snowfall for nearly 50 years. Power supplies were also cut and the avalanche danger is exceptionally high.

As with other ski nations, 85% of Swiss resorts had already ended their seasons, but those that remain include plenty of the big resorts. With the heaviest snowfall now passing, sunshine and showers are expected to continue through to the Easter weekend with valley highs touching +20C at 1000m altitudes.

There should be great powder skiing conditions on high slopes that are still open once its safe to access them.

Scandinavia
Ski areas in northern Norway and Sweden as well as Finland have posted more fresh snowfall, with some posting more than 30cm (a foot) over the past seven days.

Temperatures have typically been in the -5C to +5C range at more northerly latitudes with ski areas reporting a mix of dry spells and snow showers. Some have seen occasional warm days getting above +10C but mostly conditions remain good here.

Sweden's Hemavan, Norway's Narvik and Finland's Levi were among the areas posting the biggest accumulations.

Pyrenees and Spain
Some ski areas in the Pyrenees have closed for the season but six or so of the biggest resorts in Andorra and on the French and Spanish sides of the mountains are still open for the Easter weekend.

The region has seen continuing snow showers (along with sleet and rain) over the past week, with Andorra's Grandvalia posting 35cm in the past 48 hours, but it's now looking sunnier for the next few days.

For most (probably all) of them that will be the final weekend of the season.

That could leave only Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada, which has extended its season to May 4th, open next week.

Scotland
Temperatures dipped back down to seasonal norms in Scotland on Sunday after being well above for the first half of April. There was even some hill snow reported over the past few days. But it seems unlikely anywhere will see enough snowfall to be able to re-open.

Eastern Europe
Most ski areas in Eastern Europe are now closed or will close this weekend.

All ski areas in Bulgaria are in the former category with Bansko the last to do so on Sunday.

Slovakia's Jasna is still open, continuing up to the Easter weekend. It, like the handful of other still-open centres in the region, reports just 20-40% of its terrain, the higher slopes, still open though.

It's been a fairly mild week but a few light snow showers have been reported.

At least one ski area will be staying open next week though with Polish resort Zakopane's highest slopes planning to stay open until May 1st, conditions permitting.

North America
Canada
Snowfall has been reported on both eastern and western sides of Canada.

As with most other big skiing nations, we're down to only about a quarter of Canadian resorts still open, but it's been powder conditions reported at those that are.

Lake Louise and Sunshine both posted more than 15cm (6") of fresh to start the week on Monday and there's also been snowfall for Tremblant and Mont Sainte Anne, which are among still-open resorts in the East.

The rest of the week is looking warmer and drier with just light showers, probably rain, with highs around +7C in the West but as much as +17C in Quebec.

USA
As elsewhere, more than three-quarters of US ski areas have now ended their seasons and the country has been seeing some very warm temperatures, particularly over on the West Coast.

There have though been some periods of snowfall in some areas of the country. The Northeast did well at the weekend with a "mini-Nor'easter' bringing 15-30cm accumulations to ski slopes in Vermont, Maine and New York state and there was also snowfall in the Colorado and Utah Rockies.

So, this is happening; reports of 1 metre of fresh on the ground from Verbier, Tignes, Val Thorens, etc. and moderate falls (20cm+) to the valley floors of the Tarentaise so travel today is going to be "interesting".

Plan ahead, take care, and expect lift closures and travel delays as the pisteurs and snow ploughs make things safe.

The webcam pointed at the snow-depth "table" at La Chaux (at 2,265m) in Verbier, Switzerland is perfectly illustrating the effect of the current storm crossing the Alps.


Yesterday (Wednesday 16th April at 11:00), shortly after the snow arrived.


Yesterday (Wednesday 16th April at 16:00), after they sweep the left-side of the table to reset, showing about 15cm.


This morning (Thursday 17th April at 08:00), showing the addition of about 90cm since 16:00 yesterday.

It is forecast to continue snowing through this morning and then to clear later and for tomorrow. Temperatures are expected to rise on Saturday, so go high (lift openings permitting).

So Easter is going to be incredible BUT Avalanche Risk will be extreme and many/most/possibly all lifts will be closed initially.

Enjoy, but stay safe!

If you're subscribed to our Snow Mails (if you're not, then you should be!) and you've activated your Storm Warnings and Powder Alerts (if you haven't, then you should do) for anywhere in the South/West of the European Alps you'll be aware that "something's afoot"!

What is looking like the storm of the season is about to push into the Alps. The most affected area is expected to be south of the main Alpine Ridge (Italy's Aosta valley and Monterosa) but it will spill over into both France (Tarentaise and south) and Switzerland's Valais.

Many ski areas are now closed, of course, but open resorts likely to pick up a lot of snow over the next few days include Tignes, Verbier and Zermatt - so some good options if you can get there.


This graphic from Ventusky shows the expected precipitation, according to the ICON forecast model, over the next 48 hours.

Yes, that's up to 200mm of rain... potentially 2 metres of snow.

There is some variation in the forecasts; with ICON and ECMWF going for around 1.5 metres of snow, and GFS piling more on top of that.


French Snow forecasts - predictions from ICON

The key unknown, until it happens, is the evolution of the snow line. It will start high, above 2500m for the start of the storm (tonight, Tuesday 15th) but is likely to drop as low as 1500m by Friday morning - depending on location.

This is what we see for Zermatt for the rest of the week;


If you're traveling in the affected area on Wednesday or Thursday you should keep an eye on local forecasts and road conditions as there will be torrential downpours at times with the likelihood of flooding in susceptible valleys and disruption to road and rail routes.

Expect lift closures during and after the storm, for slopes to be made safe.

For skiing at the weekend (Easter), expect conditions on piste to be epic and off piste to be dangerous (at first, at least)! Avalanche Danger will be extreme once the storm blows through so give things time to stabilise and make sure you understand the local, on-the-spot, avalanche risk before you ski.

Please take care; it will be huge fun on the marked, open runs after the storm but there will be avalanches this weekend - probably some big ones.

If you're lucky enough to be out there, stay safe and send us some pictures...

Fabulous spring skiing in Ischgl, Austria this week.

Spring gains ground, but it's not over yet with fresh snow reported in parts of the northern hemisphere.

The Snow Headlines - April 10th
- Big snowfalls in The Rockies, 50cm of fresh snowfall in Arizona and Colorado to start week.
- More than 500km of slopes still open in 3 Valleys, over 8,000 acres at Whistler.
- Eastern European ski areas post up to 30cm of weekend snowfall, but most have closed.
- Europe's most southerly ski area, Sierra Nevada, staying open to May 4th.
- Up to 10cm of snowfall reported in New Zealand with the 2025 season start 2 months away.


Snow forecasts worldwide.

Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

World Overview
Springtime continues to gain ground across northern hemisphere ski slopes. Temperatures and the freezing point have been climbing, widely to around 3,000m or above in the warmest parts of the day. As a result, the snowline is getting ever higher and for some areas even overnight freeze-thaw can't be relied on some days.

About 80% of northern hemisphere ski areas are now closed, but for the world's 200 biggest, well-known resorts that percentage is much lower. A few big names did end their seasons at the weekend, but most will continue to this Sunday, or Easter and many through to the start of May, some beyond.

Those looking for winter weather this week would have found it in the Rockies and Pyrenees before the weekend and in Eastern Europe over the weekend. Since then it's been Western Canada and Northern Scandinavia that have been posting the most fresh snowfall.

In the wider world there was a good snowfall in New Zealand with 10cm reported on ski slopes raising anticipation for the 2025 season that's due to start there in June.

Europe
Austria
Almost all Austrian ski resorts have seen a week of sunny skies, with valley temperatures reaching +20C at 1,000m altitudes in the afternoons and only just reaching freezing on higher slopes at night. Similar conditions are forecast to continue into next week.

About 20% of the country's larger, higher ski areas remain open, but many will close this Sunday, although about 50 should make it to Easter Sunday.

The Arlberg region above St Anton and Lech as well as Ischgl, linked over the border to Switzerland's Samnaun and staying open into May, both say they have over 200km of slopes still open.

France
French ski areas have seen a very warm, sunny week too. There's certainly no sign of the big April snowfalls of the past few years on high slopes in the country, not yet at least.

Here too afternoon temperatures have been reaching the high teens in valleys and overnight lows on high slopes are only getting a degree or two below freezing.

Snow depths (unlike this time in recent years) are dropping but the country's giant ski areas still have the majority of their terrain open. The 3 valleys lead the way with 500km of runs open still. Tignes/​Val d'Isère still report 95% of their slopes open.

Italy
With Italy's ski slopes typically a little further south and a little lower altitude than those of France, it's no surprise that about 70% of the country's ski runs have now closed compared to 55% in France.

Closures last weekend included some big-name resorts like Alta Badia, Bormio and Val Gardena.

There was some snowfall in the Northwest of the region at the end of last week, with the Aosta Valley among areas seeing 10-20 cm accumulations, but since then it has been the same sunny warm weather here as elsewhere in central Europe and that's expected to continue into next week.

Cervinia-Zermatt and the Milky Way region incorporating Sauze d'Oulx and Sestriere both still report over 200km of slopes open.

Switzerland
Switzerland also enjoyed lovely sunny weather this week and that's expected to continue into the weekend here too, although are signs of cooler temperatures and snow/sleet/rain early next week.

The warm temperatures have of course accelerated the spring melt, with valley highs climbing up towards +20C, however, overnight lows continue to dip below freezing above 2,000m altitudes giving good morning skiing conditions up high.

A few dozen Swiss centres remain open, most with 30-60% of their terrain still open. However, some, including Saas Fee, which is posted the country's deepest snow at 2.8m, Zermatt, Sanmaun and a few others are still at 80-95% open.

Scandinavia
Ski areas in the Arctic Circle in northern Scandinavia have again been posting some of the best snowfalls in Europe this week.

Northern Norway's Narvik reported 25cm of fresh snowfall to start the week, and is open every day into the first week of May.

Elsewhere in the region, there have been lighter snowfalls with temperatures moving a few degrees on either side of freezing from freeze-thaw conditions. It's generally much colder and has better snow quality than all but the highest slopes in the Alps.

Most of Scandinavia's larger centres remain 80-95% open until the Easter weekend or the start of May.

Pyrenees
About a dozen ski areas remain open in the Pyrenees and most of these plan to remain so through to the Easter weekend, in some cases staying open longer than expected into April thanks to the region seeing its best month of the 24-25 season in March.

That continued into the start of April, with more snowfall reported into last weekend after the Alps had returned to sunshine.

It has been warm and sunny in the Pyrenees too since Monday but there are signs of a change over the next few days with colder temperatures and snowfall on high slopes expected.

The Grandvalira region (Pas de la Casa, Soldeu and others) reports its slopes remain 75% open.

Scotland
Scotland's season appears more or less over with Cairngorm no longer maintaining their snow and warm mountain temperatures touching +20C in the Highlands this week melting much of the limited hill snow that remained. It is due to turn cooler and more unsettled but big changes would be needed for adequate natural snowfall to return or it being worth restarting all-weather snowmaking at this stage.

Eastern Europe
Only a few ski areas are still operating in Eastern Europe, but one of them, Bulgaria's Bansko did get some fresh snowfall at the weekend for its final week of the season.

Elsewhere another of the still-open few, Slovakia's Jasna, reported fresh snowfall on Sunday with the wider region receiving up to 25cm of snowfall on Monday.

North America
Canada

Western Canada has had a mixed week for weather with more cold, snowy days, but also some warm, spring weather.

Some of the country's leading resorts ended their seasons last Sunday (including Big White and Red Mountain) with many of the rest joining them next weekend.

The three Banff centres, Marmot Basin near Jasper and Whistler Blackcomb all plan to stay open into May. The slopes at the latter remain about 90% open with over 8,000 acres still skiable, the best conditions up high and in the morning though.

A dry end to the week in most areas but with rain, sleet and snowfall expected at the weekend.

USA
Many of America's big-name ski areas have begun ending their seasons, even with the snow still falling.

Taos, Keystone and Telluride were amongst those shutting down for 24-25 at the weekend, with many more set to follow this coming Sunday.

At the same time resorts including Arapahoe Basin and even the southerly Arizona Snowbowl, had posted half-a-metre of April snowfall over the previous 72 hours. Those were among the bigger accumulations of the past seven days with more springlike conditions dominating since.

Sunny conditions are expected to continue through the weekend in many areas with temperatures getting well above freezing at all levels, as high as +20C (68F) in the valleys.

Spring Skiing in Arosa, Switzerland: A Perfect Alpine Escape


Image courtesy of ABB, Arosa Tourism

We were lucky with some excellent spring skiing in Arosa, Switzerland, a week or so ago. With relatively high-altitude slopes, good snow, and stunning Alpine scenery easily accessible by plane and train, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Getting There: Scenic and comfortable Swiss Railways



We flew into Zurich, then took the train up to Arosa and stayed at The Altein Hotel.

Traveling by train in Switzerland is not just convenient and efficient but also excellent value, especially with a Swiss Travel Pass, which covers both trains and mountain transport.

The route to Arosa by rail generally needs 3 legs; direct from Zurich Airport to Zurich Hauptbahnhof (central), followed by an IR (InterRegio - a semi-fast service) to Chur, ending with the scenic Arosa Line. Each connection is easy to make (top tip: download the SBB - Swiss Rail - app before you go; it's brilliant!) and the platforms and departure boards are clear. The final leg is spectacular; a narrow-gauge railway that climbs through dramatic gorges into the high-Alpine valley of Arosa.



A large number of Swiss ski resorts can be accessed via this route, or similar, from Zurich and other international airports.

Day 1: Introduction to Arosa, and an excursion to Rothorn



For our first day skiing, we were ably guided across the main peaks of Arosa by Jan from ABC Ski School, Arosa whose "local knowledge" helped us quickly get a feel for the place.

There are three main lift-served peaks above Arosa; the Hörnli, the Weisshorn and the Bruggerhorn.

The Hörnli (2,511m) - accessed by the Hörnli-Express gondola - is the gateway to Lenzerheide via the Urdenbahn gondola. Lenzerheide is also accessible from here via an off-piste route as part of the "Ski Safari".

Snow conditions off-piste were thin lower down, so we took the Urdenbahn across to Lenzerheide and then, via some nice open runs and fast lifts, up the Rothorn (2,865m) for some spectacular, panoramic views.



The Weisshorn (2,653m) is Arosa's highest peak, served by a 3-stage cable car, and offers a choice of Red and Black runs. It's a popular launch point for paragliders. The views from here include the Swiss, Austrian, and Italian Alps!

The Bruggerhorn, like the Hörnli, has runs for all standards (beyond absolute beginners) including a "Black Diamond" run (not as scary as it sounds, so long as the snow is good).

Although official snow depths were not spectacular, all the runs were well covered and well-groomed with the snow in good spring condition (quite crunchy first thing, but very nice to ski from mid-morning on).

The slopes were virtually deserted for most of the day (it was March, so low-season). Jan told us that Arosa can be sunnier than surrounding valleys, and that there are days when skiers come across from Lenzerheide for the better weather... as we would see!

We clocked around 40km of skiing, and a little over 6,000 metres of vertical for the day, helped by the generally efficient lifts across the domain (mostly modern gondolas and chairs, although there are a few T-bars...).

Day 2: Free Skiing



We spent our second day on the Arosa side. Clouds had closed in over in Lenzerheide and, per Jan's observations, there were clearly many more skiers making the trip over from there to ski in Arosa.

We enjoyed the long descent from the Hörnli to the valley station; even with thin snow at the bottom it was an enjoyable run and would be fun to do with confident kids! We managed to ski the majority of runs in the bowl during the day, but they are generally long, wide and varied so fun to ski multiple times.

Although off-piste conditions did not encourage us on this trip, there is clearly a lot of fun and interesting freeride terrain easily accessed from the lifts (and even more if you're happy to climb a bit), so there'd be plenty of fun to be had on a powder day!

There are around 80km of pistes above Arosa, out of a total of 225km for the entire Arosa-Lenzerheide area.

Although there were more people around than the previous day, we frequently found ourselves alone on pistes. That was noticeable on several descents from the Bruggerhorn, we assume as it's the furthest peak in Arosa from the connection to Lenzerheide.

We had an excellent lunch at the Tschuggenhütte; great food and an unusually interesting range of options for an on-mountain restaurant.


Image courtesy of ABB, Arosa Tourism

If you visit Arosa, you must stop at the Carmenahütte for a shot of Munggapfupf! This is a hazelnut liquer served warm with whipped cream. The colloquial name roughly translates as "monk poop" apparently... that's what we were told anyway!



Staying at the Altein Hotel: Comfort & Superb Dining
We stayed at the Altein Hotel, historically a sanatorium with an interesting past, but now completely re-purposed as a superb and comfortable hotel.

Beyond excellent health and wellness facilities, a highlight was the food; superb multi-course dinners, blending Swiss specialties with international flavours, served in a spectacular top-floor restaurant. Jan (our guide from our first day) had described the pizzas as "the best in town" and we could understand why.

The buffet breakfasts offered everything you might want, and were the perfect start to each day.

About the Apres!

Although Arosa is certainly family-friendly, and looks to have nightlife on the quieter scale of ski resorts, we need to mention The KuhBar ("The Cow Bar")! Just above the town, at the foot of the slopes, this barn-sized venue has banging techno (Austria is not far away), dry ice and atmosphere... not to mention a giant cow's head that breathes and mooooooos occasionally. Drink prices seemed reasonable, and we imagine there's some epic partying here in busier periods.

Final Thoughts
Great skiing, decent snow on piste, and breath-taking Alpine scenery. The Altein, with friendly staff and outstanding food, was a great place to stay.

With easy Swiss train access, a good range of skiing across Arosa-Lenzerheide, and being a little "off the radar", we really liked Arosa - and we'll be back.

TRAVEL FACTS
We flew with Swiss out of Heathrow (Terminal 2) to Zurich. Swiss.com

Flights to Zurich are available from several airlines, including easyJet from London Gatwick, and from various airports worldwide.

Swiss train information, and numerous worthwhile "Saver" tickets and travel passes, can be found on the SBB website at SBB.ch.

The Altein Hotel is part of the Faern Group, and you can find out more at Faern Collection - Altein, Arosa.

You can book rooms via J2Ski at Altein, Arosa or as part of a ski package holiday from UK at Altein, Arosa, package deals

Fresh snow and blue skies in St. Johann in Salzburg, Austria

Late season snow in Scandinavia, eastern Austria and North America this week, whilst spring sets in across the northern hemisphere.

The Snow Headlines - April 3rd
- Arctic Circle ski areas in Norway and Sweden post some of week's biggest snowfalls.
- Bulgaria's Borovets centre closes early at short notice.
- Over a metre of snowfall, again, in California.
- Austria sees some of its best snowfalls in a month, up to 70cm reported.
- Stormy weather in Eastern North America brings snowfall but gales cut power.
- Scotland's season appears about over.


Snow forecasts worldwide.

Re-publication :- the J2Ski Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

World Overview
There was a bit of a return to winter in the eastern Alps to start the week, with ski areas in Austria especially seeing up to 70cm of snowfall on their higher slopes... but with spring getting a grip elsewhere.

Lighter snowfall was reported over a wider area but springtime continues to take hold nonetheless and even with snow falling up high, most valleys are seeing snowlines rising ever higher.

At least a third of the lower-lying, smaller ski centres have already ended their season and the next two weekends will see most of the rest follow suit. However, the majority of the bigger, higher, better-known destination resorts continue to have 70-100% of their terrain open and intend to remain open at least through to the late Easter weekend.

The snow is still lying up to three metres deep in parts of Europe.

It's a similar changing of the seasons in North America with winter making a re-appearance in the Rockies, California and New England at the weekend and start of this week, with some good snowfalls. At this time of year the cold spells are increasingly short-lived and largely concentrated at altitude. California has had huge snowfalls over the past few days which closed some centres down.

Europe
Austria
Higher Austrian ski slopes have seen some of the biggest snowfalls in Europe over the past week, reversing a trend that saw the country's slopes under-perform for snowfall as Western European centres in France, Italy and Switzerland got much more.

Up to 70cm was reported, mostly above 2,000m altitudes, over the past week, the majority arriving between Sunday and Tuesday. Temperatures remain warm in valleys though so lower mountain areas have mostly had sleet and rain instead, but St Anton did note snow to village level on Monday.

More than half of Austrian ski areas have already closed (mostly the smaller, lower ones that have had rain), whilst some higher areas will stay open to Easter or even into May.

The Arlberg above Lech and St Anton and the Ziller Valley were among the areas posting powder conditions to start the week with glaciers including the Stubai and Pitztal reporting 50-70cm accumulations.

After the late snowfall excitement, the week ahead is expected to be dry and sunny.

France
Sunshine and snow showers on high slopes have been characteristic of the weather in the French mountains this week, with temperatures varying between -15C overnight up at 3,000m to +10C in the afternoons down at 1,000m. The freezing point has moved between around 1200 and 2200m altitudes.

As elsewhere, smaller, lower French ski areas have been ending their seasons, but most of the big, large ski areas will remain open at least until Easter and most continue to post between 80-100% of their slopes still open.

Les 3 Vallées still has over 500km of slopes open, Flaine and the Grand Massif the deepest snow depth at 2.8m up high. A warm, sunny week ahead now.

Italy
Italy has also had a week of sunshine and (rain/sleet/snow) showers.

The snow showers have mostly been fairly light and above 1500m but gave a good refresh to cover where they fell.

About a third of Italian centres have closed so far but as elsewhere in the Alps most of the country's big ski areas remain open with most of their slopes still skiable. Some will be closing this coming weekend though, including Val Gardena, whilst others like Cervinia and Cortina plan to keep at least some terrain open into May.

Sella Nevea over on the country's Eastern border with Slovenia is posting the joint deepest base in Europe at 3m/10 feet up high.

It looks like sunny weather for the week ahead with afternoon highs set to touch +20C at 1000m altitudes.

Switzerland
Eastern Swiss ski areas had a snowy start to the week with Engelberg among the resorts reporting 10-30cm accumulations on higher slopes by Monday afternoon. It was drier further west and south in a reverse of snowfall trends for much of March.

About half of Swiss areas have already ended their 24-25 seasons, but the higher, larger, better-known areas are mostly staying open at least to the Easter weekend and most report 75-100% of their slopes still open.

The rest of this week looks fairly settled with prolonged sunny spells, mild temperatures and a few light showers of snow (generally up high) sleet or rain.

Scandinavia
Northern Scandinavian ski areas like Norway's Narvik and Bjorkliden in Sweden's Arctic circle have posted some of the bigger snowfalls of the past week, as you might expect as temperatures rise across Europe pushing winter ever further north.

Accumulations of up to 30cm in 72 hours were reported over the weekend.

Unlike much of Europe, most Scandi areas plan to stay open to late April or early May but the area is not immune to spring's advance with centres further south in Norway and Sweden reporting periods of sleet and freezing rain as well as light snow showers over the last week with daytime highs getting above +5C.

The week ahead looks set to be sunny for most of the region but with snowfall continuing up in the Arctic Circle.

Pyrenees and Spain
Ski areas in the Pyrenees and the wider region have continued to post some of the best snow conditions in Europe. There have been more snowfalls reported, with the largest area in the region, Andorra's Grandvalira posting another 25cm in 72 hours through the weekend.

The first few days of April have seen temperatures climbing though, the freezing point getting above 3,000m and valley highs above +15C in the afternoons.

The week ahead looks set to be changeable and a little cooler than the Alps with rain and snow showers continuing into next week.

Sierra Nevada, the Europe's most southerly resort, continues to post the deepest snow at 3 metres.

Scotland
Scotland's so far failed-to-really-launch 24-25 season appears about over, barring a surprise very heavy April snowfall. It's unclear if anywhere will be open for the Easter holidays and with 10 more days of dry, sunny weather forecast, it's currently not looking promising.

Eastern Europe
Spring conditions are dominating in Eastern Europe too with the warm temperatures leading to Bulgaria's Borovets abruptly announcing last Friday afternoon that it would close on Monday 31st March, not this coming Sunday as planned. It blamed "an abrupt change in snow conditions" which might have been expected as daytime highs neared +20C.

Most centres in Eastern Europe have now closed but a dozen or so of the larger, higher centres are still going, albeit with plans to close this weekend or next in most cases.

The forecast is for predominantly warm, sunny weather which should deliver some nice final days, as well as continuing fast thawing.

North America
Canada
Things are finally turning more springlike in Western Canada.

Snow has kept falling but lighter than in previous weeks and we've seen daytime highs getting towards double figures above freezing.

On the East Coast, there's been more sunny weather but when the precipitation has arrived it's been freezing rain or sleet at times, as well as snowfall. The end-of-season feeling is translating into the actual end-of-season that's starting to arrive now.

Big White and Sun Peaks in BC are due to close this weekend as well as Blue Mountain and Le Massif in the east. Many others will close over the following two weekends although some areas will stay open into May.

USA
The US has seen some big snowfalls on the West Coast and the Rockies over the past week and stormy conditions also brought some snowfall, although unfortunately with damaging ice, gales and rain in the mix) to the East Coast too. A lot of this happened at the weekend and start of the week with calmer weather since.

Colorado's ski areas saw 6-12inches (15 to 30 cm) of snowfall on higher slopes with Winter Park one of those doing especially well.

Ski areas in Utah did even better though, The Palisades posting nearly 1.2 metres this week.

Here too the arrival of April means most US ski areas will be ending their seasons over the next few weekends although some will continue to Easter weekend and a few dozen into May.

It looks like a drier, sunny few days for most US ski areas this weekend compared to last.