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J2Ski Snow Report February 9th 2023
Tremblant, Canada; cold, snowy and now 100% open! Very cold, very snowy, but easing off now The Snow Headlines - 9th February - A week of snowfall and gales in Austria leads to high avalanche danger. - Ultra-low temperatures in North-eastern North America close slopes. - Up to a metre more snowfall in Japan where deepest base now over 5 metres (200"). - Ski areas in Bulgaria near full operations for first time this winter thanks to cold temperatures. - Unusual midsummer snowfall on Australian ski slopes. 
Snow for Scandinavia, America and (more) for Japan
World Overview Conditions on ski slopes around the world are the best they've been so far this season. It perhaps speaks volumes that some resorts are only just reporting they've reached 100% operations, while others are still not quite there yet, as we get into February. The big weather events of the past week have included heavy snowfall and gales in Austria and neighbouring areas up to the weekend. These have boosted snow depth a lot but unfortunately also brought high avalanche danger and weekend fatalities for some skiing off-piste. Across the Atlantic, the big weather event was exceptionally cold weather at the end of last week in the north-eastern corner of North America, one area in New Hampshire setting a world record wind-chill low of more than -100F (-75C). Many resorts closed for a period during the coldest weather. Elsewhere mostly cold, but sunny, in the western Alps and Pyrenees, snowy in Bulgaria and Scandinavia and across much of North America. Europe Austria Austrian ski centres received up to a metre of snowfall up to last weekend, meaning snow conditions are now excellent. The heavy snowfall, fluctuating temperatures and gale-force winds unfortunately led to extremely high avalanche danger, however, and there were multiple off-piste avalanche fatalities as the Avalanche Risk Level hit 4 (on the scale to 5). That risk has now subsided, although it is still Level 3 (Considerable) in many areas. In terms of groomed slopes though conditions are the best they've been all season and most centres are finally now fully open having hovered at 70-90% before. Base depths at several centres including Solden and Zell and See / Kaprun are up beyond 2 metres and among the deepest in Europe – a table dominated by French areas until now. France While the Eastern Alps saw big snowfalls last week, French ski slopes stayed dry, in many cases for a third successive week, although southern areas had snowfall a fortnight ago (and also got a bit of a dusting on Monday/Tuesday this week). So there's not much off-piste left un-skied and runs are groomed getting icy and hard-packed first thing, although temperatures are now warming a little. There's no real snowfall in the forecast for the coming week either, but most French resorts do remain fully open, or nearly so. Italy Italy had a bit of a national divide over the last seven days, with the northwest remaining mostly dry, but the northeast getting the edge of the windy, snowy weather that moved in from the arctic down through Poland, the Czech and Slovak republics to Austria. Bormio reported it was closed on Friday by the gales but then had fresh powder for the weekend. The Dolomites also got light snowfalls. The country's deepest reported snow is now on each side of the north of the country with La Thuile in the west previously deepest with that snow two weeks ago but now overtaken by Sella Nevea on the Slovenian border in the northeast following last weekend's snow. Switzerland Switzerland marked the dividing line between the snowy and windy eastern side of the Alps and the mostly sunny western side up to the weekend. As a result, some centres in the centre and the east of the country saw bases boosted, Engelberg one of the last to post a decent dump – 25cm – on Monday this week. Since then the country has, like most of the rest of the Alps, been predominantly sunny. There's been a change at the top of the Swiss snow depths table with Saas Fee, posting the deepest since last summer, overtaken at last by Lotschenal and Gstaad's Glacier 300, although the numbers are still less than 2 metres. Scandinavia Good conditions reported across Scandinavia with snow falling, cold temperatures and more daylight hours. The heaviest snowfall has been in western and northern Norway where several areas have had more than half a metre of snowfall in the last 7 days. Northerly Bjorkliden in Sweden opens for its 2023 season this weekend, a fortnight before its neighbour Riksgransen opens for its own three-month run. Pyrenees A mostly dry week for the Pyrenees, but not entirely so, with snowfall at the start of the week adding 10cm to the base at Grandvalira (the region's biggest area, in Andorra, encompassing Soldeu-El Tarter and Pas de la Casa among other areas). Conditions remain generally good, despite rising temperatures, with most areas 80-90% open following late January snowfall. Scotland Yet another week of mixed fortunes in the Scottish Highlands with some days very mild, some snowy and a common factor, as it almost always is here, strong winds, also causing operational issues. Basically, things aren't great but Cairngorm and Glencoe do have "spring skiing" on higher slopes and other centres have nursery-type terrain closer to the base thanks to all-weather snowmaking systems. It's currently colder and snowier. Eastern Europe A good week for eastern European ski areas, on the whole, with heavy snowfall in the north, the same system that Austria got, but with strong winds too. Colder with snow showers in Bulgaria but more terrain has opened as a result including the long slope down to Bansko's base. There have been reports of very strong winds too though. Jasna in the Slovak Republic is another area to report this week that it is now fully open for the first time this season. North America Canada Good conditions from coast to coast in Canada with Tremblant, the biggest area in Quebec, announcing it was finally fully open for the season earlier this week. It joins Whistler in the west which made its own fully-open announcement just a few weeks ago. Quebec saw incredibly cold weather at the end of last week, with some areas reporting wind-chill of -50C and most closing for a few days for safety reasons. Things are a bit warmer and there's been fresh snowfall since. Heavier snowfall over in Alberta and BC for powder conditions there. USA The Northeastern corner of the USA suffered the same super cold weather as further north from Thursday to Sunday with Mount Washington in New Hampshire posting a new record wind chill of more than -100F (-73C) on Saturday. Most resorts in the region were closed for a day or two. The ultra-lows come after an often unseasonably warm and wet winter so with recent snow the Northeast now has its best conditions of the season. Further west things continue to be good with several feet more snow in the Rockies and Mammoth still posting the world's deepest snow at 6.3m (21 feet). |
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J2Ski Snow Report February 2nd 2023
Vail, Colorado, USA, looking very tempting... Eastern Alps get snow, as does USA and Japan... The Snow Headlines - 2nd February - Fresh snowfall in Austria and the eastern Alps, little or nothing for France. - Snow falling across North America – best conditions of the season so far. - Europe's big ski areas are close to fully open for the first time this season. - Up to 90cm (3 feet) of snowfall in 24 hours was reported in Norway. - Huge snowfalls bury some Japanese ski areas. - As low as -60C forecast for Quebec this weekend. 
Austria leads the way in Europe, decent snow elsewhere
World Overview The Alps have an East-West divide at present with snow falling in Austria and other eastern areas, but remaining dry in most of France and the west, where the Northern French Alps have not seen much fresh snowfall for a couple of weeks again now. Despite that though, resorts are opening ever more terrain, helped by the cold weather, and the giant regions are nearly fully open. It's improving too in the Pyrenees (although there's been no snow here for a few weeks either) and Bulgaria (which has had more snow), while Norway and Scandinavia continue to see full winter and report the biggest falls of the week in Europe. Over in North America, there's been snowfall pretty much everywhere, but most welcomed in the east where it was most needed. With up to 2 feet reported in New England and very low temperatures, things have been transformed. Canada is reporting good conditions but ultra-low temperatures in the east and high avalanche danger in the back country of BC. In the wider world, Japan has seen its biggest snowfalls of the season, measured in metres at some resorts and there have been big falls for India's Gulmarg too. Europe Austria Austria is where winter has returned in the alps this week, with snowfall starting on Sunday and continuing on and off ever since. Some ski areas have posted more than 30cm of snowfall so far and the storm has intensified a little as we complete this week's report so some may reach double that by the start of the weekend. Saalbach was one of the early beneficiaries posting 15cm (6") of snowfall in the 24 hours to Tuesday and several top-ups since then. A similar picture for Zell am See, with 25cm (10") of snowfall on Wednesday morning and for most other Austrian resorts. France France has not seen much of the fresh snowfall so far but it continues to post the best snow stats in Europe. Considering the Portes du Soleil and resorts like Les Gets, Chatel and Morzine were making headlines three weeks ago for having little or no terrain open due to the warm weather, it's in good shape for the start of February with more than 500km of slopes open – about 90% of the total and Avoriaz posting the deepest snowpack in Europe with around 3.3 metres (11 feet) on its highest runs. Other big-name French resorts are also filling Europe's top 10 for snow depth and most of the country's huge ski areas are now 85-95% open, the most this season so far. Italy Italian ski slopes are generally in good shape, although there's been little fresh snowfall to report over the past week. The snow in the west just over a week greatly improved conditions in most areas however and the Dolomites have been in pretty good nick all winter, having skipped the early warm and wet periods further west, then also had a snow top up just over a week ago. Sunshine has dominated much of the country the past week and through the coming weekend with no snow likely until the middle of next week, maybe. Switzerland Switzerland has had its own moving dividing line this week with mostly cloudy conditions and light snow falling in the east, but sunshine prevailing in the west. So far the snowfall hasn't amounted to much beyond a freshen up of the snow cover, typically a few centimetres a day and the other trend is a warming of temperatures at mountain bases, reaching 5C at 1500m in the afternoon after the fortnight-long freeze. But conditions are largely good and there is more terrain open than in December and January; the 4 Valleys around Verbier are around 90% open. Scandinavia Winter continues in full force in Scandinavia with Western Norway posting some of the biggest snowfall totals of the season so far over the last few days. One little area, Bjorli, reported 90cm (three feet) of snowfall in the final 24 hours of January. Base depths in the area have now reached 2 metres at Voss and the largest Scandi area, Sweden's Are, has about 75% of its slopes open. Pyrenees It has been a dry and sunny week in the Pyrenees, staying fairly cold but getting progressively warmer with temperatures getting into plus figures to high elevations, if only by a degree or two. The recent cold and sunny weather has improved conditions a good deal from where they were the last time it was like this a fortnight ago though. The biggest area Grandvalira (25/70 cm / 10/28") continues at about 80% of its slopes open, the most all season, and quite a few smaller centres on the French and Spanish sides of the mountains are 100% open even though base depths remain below average. Scotland Scottish ski centres have had more promising conditions over the past week, with blizzards on Tuesday and snowfall down to the valley floor, however, it's not yet really compensated for the snow lost around mid-January. Glenshee remains down to three runs maintained with their snow machines and Glencoe has the most open, about half of their terrain, mostly upper mountain. Eastern Europe Conditions continue to improve in Eastern Europe. The areas in the south that had been really struggling with warm temperatures and almost no snow at all in Bulgaria and neighbouring countries have seen more snowfall and are now between 40% and 70% open. Pamporovo has top to bottom coverage, Borovets has been able to open its terrain park and Bansko has nearly 50km of slopes open. Further north there have been blizzard conditions at Jasna and across the Slovak and Czech republics. North America Canada Conditions are good right across Canada right now in most respects. On the East Coast, it is definitely the best snow of the season so far thanks to a series of snowstorms and consistently low temperatures. The tree skiing or 'sous bois' for which the region is famous is coming into its own with Tremblant reporting excellent snow there. That said the next few days will see temperatures in the -40s Celsius, dangerously low, which is likely to see centre closures. In the west, where conditions were already good, bases keep building with more snow showers. Silver Star in BC was the latest to hit a 2m base on their upper mountain terrain. British Columbia is reporting very high avalanche danger in the backcountry though, with warnings to keep away from steep runs. There have been five fatalities since Jan 1st. USA There's been snowfall reported at US ski resorts from coast to coast. There was already deep snow in the West with more and more areas posting that they've already had more snow than they had by the end of last season. The snow has been most gratefully received in the East where it's been a very different story and up to two feet of fresh cover has made a huge difference at resorts like Killington and Stowe, allowing them to open all their runs and for skiers to enjoy great powder conditions since the weekend. |
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Good questions! The posted Avalanche Risk Level in a resort refers only to off-piste areas. The Risk Level applies to the general ski area (excluding the marked runs), and resorts will often have boards with information specific to particular slopes or areas at the foot of relevant lifts. And yes, in Europe, the Risk Level is posted for your information and the decision to go off-piste is yours to make. You can find the meanings of the various levels here Avalanche Risk Levels You will almost always be safe on the piste, but avalanches on (or more usually, onto or across) pistes can and do occasionally occur - but they are very rare. When they perceive a risk, resorts will close any pistes* (and sometimes lifts) that may be under threat from avalanches on slopes above (or in the unlikely event that the pisted slope is itself unstable). Risk Levels of 5 will often see entire ski areas closed until suspect slopes have been dealt with or conditions stabilise. * This is probably the number one reason you should never ski a closed piste! On that last point, and given this post is regarding insurance, it's worth noting that almost all winter sports insurance excludes "acting against resort advice"... so if you get avalanched skiing a closed piste and have to be rescued, you'll be getting a bill! |
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J2Ski Snow Report January 26th 2023
These views from Hintertux pretty much captures conditions there today; sunny, cold and snow. Snow, Sun, and cold in Europe, USA and Japan... The Snow Headlines - 26th January - Remaining cold in much of Europe, with temperatures freezing or below to low levels. - After months of storms in US West, more snowfall at last for East coast instead. - Heavy snowfall in southern Alps – up to 70cm reported fresh this week. - The Scottish Highlands go from coldest to warmest place in the UK. - Improved conditions in the Pyrenees thanks to cold and snow - terrain reopened. - Staying cold and snowy in The Balkans where conditions continue to improve. - Very cold weather and heavy snowfall in Japan. - Dave Ryding takes a 2nd in the WC Hahnenkamm Slalom. 
Useful snow in many areas, and Japan getting hosed...
World Overview Conditions are really very good now for much of the Alps as we near a fortnight since 'the change' that saw cold air move in, and remain in place since, along with heavy snowfall at the start of last week. It's been generally drier and sunnier this last week but going into the weekend there were snow showers in Austria and the start of this week saw up to 60cm of fresh snow reported in the southern Alps, heaviest on the French/Italian border. Elsewhere in Europe conditions are similarly much improved in the Pyrenees and Balkans thanks to cold and snow there too and remain good in Scandinavia. Scotland has seen warm weather after last week's snow but some terrain has survived. In North America, the seemingly endless stream of snowstorms in the west has finally taken a break but the East Coast now is getting the cold and snowy weather it has been waiting for all season. Elsewhere in the skiing world, a very cold front is hitting Japan bringing heavy snowfall, there's also been more snow reported in the Atlas mountains of North Africa and ski centres have opened for the season in Israel and Lebanon following colder, snowier weather there too. Europe Austria Different parts of Austria have had snowfall at different times this past week. After last week's heavy snow eased off in the western Alps it kept snowing into the weekend in the Tirol and across northern Austria, with Kitzbuhel reporting 20cm of fresh on Saturday morning for the famous Hahnenkamm race. The snowfall focus then turned to southern Austria with Nassfeld and Schladming posting 30cm accumulations on Tuesday. The country continues to see snow showers in different areas but low temperatures everywhere and more consistently cold weather is forecast to return early next week. France French resorts have again posted some of the biggest snowfalls in the alps over the last week. This time though it was mostly southerly areas – especially resorts like Bonneval and Isola 2000, posting 30-50cm totals by Tuesday while Montgenevre reported over two feet (60cm) of fresh snow. Generally conditions much improved on only two weeks ago with most areas fully open now and fresh snow cover. Remaining very cold, with highs around -1C for most areas but into the minus 20s up high. Italy Italy has seen some of the best of the recent snowfalls this week with snow depths at one of the country's biggest areas, the Milky Way (Sauze d'Oulx, Sestriere et al) doubling at the base and tripling on higher slopes with a 60cm (to foot) jump since the weekend. Further east there was fresh snow too at lots of centres across the country and the Dolomites, which avoided the rainy warm spell to a large extent a month ago are reported to be in excellent shape. Switzerland It's been a mostly cold and dry week across Swiss ski slopes, with temperatures dipping into the -20s at a time up high and staying below freezing down in mountain valleys too. Most of the country's resorts are open now with the 4 Valleys around Verbier posting 90% of its terrain now open. Bases are a little thinner over in the east of the country but still adequate and there are fresh snowfalls forecast next week after a mostly sunny weekend ahead. Scandinavia Fairly good conditions across much of Scandinavia with snow depths reaching 1.8 metres (six feet) around Voss on the west coast and big resorts like Are, Hemsedal and Trysil all reporting they are more or less fully open with cold weather and more snow showers. Daylight hours are also starting to increase quickly, making a big difference in northerly latitude areas in Lapland. Spring ski centre Riksgransen's 2023 season is now just a month away. Pyrenees It's a much-improved picture in the Pyrenees, as for the Alps. There's been a good bit of fresh snowfall and with cold weather too, the big ski areas that had dropped to only having about half their runs open, are back up to 70-80%. Grandvalira which incorporates Pas de la Casa and Soldeu has 180km of its 240km of slopes skiable and Spain's biggest Baqueira/Beret is back up to about 75% of its runs open. Scotland Scottish ski areas had very cold and snowy weather last week, but then temperatures rose on Sunday to be the warmest in the British Isles. That's impacted the snowpack with The Lecht, which was closed last Thursday/Friday with access roads blocked by drifting snow, to only being able to open a few short runs a week later for lack of snow. But all five centres remain open, most with more runs than The Lecht, the Cairngorm funicular has reopened after four years closed, and the weather is getting colder and snowier again. Eastern Europe Good news from eastern Europe with low temperatures and frequent snow showers continuing to rapidly improve what was a very lacklustre start to the season there. Bansko, Borovets and others have gone from almost nothing open a fortnight ago to more than 50% of their terrain now, and further north in Slovakia, Jasna, which had had about half its runs open, is close to 100% operational after snowfall there. North America Canada Canada has had a fairly quiet week with low temperatures and occasional snow storms. The biggest difference really is in the East – Ontario and Quebec – where it's now consistently cold and keeps snowing, which is good news after warm weather in December and earlier this month prevented many areas from opening much. In the west, everything is open, including North America's biggest ski area, Whistler Blackcomb, which is 100% open for the first time this season. It's also hit the 2-metre base mark on its upper runs. USA There's been a change after weeks of mega-storms hitting the pacific coast and often warm and wet weather in the East. Essentially it's the storms now hitting New England and much drier and sunnier in the west, allowing centres there to finally take stock and re-open terrain buried by metres of snow (all of the world's deepest snow stats are in the Rockies or US West Coast with Mammoth posting 6.6 metres (22 feet), the most of all, lying up top. |
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J2Ski Snow Report January 19th 2023
Looks like the season arrived for Morzine, France, this week... A lot of snow in Europe and the USA... The Snow Headlines - 19th January - World's deepest snowpack passes 6 metre/20 feet mark in California. - Europe's deepest snowpack passes 3 metre/10 feet mark in France. - Bulgaria goes from no snow to hosting World Cup skiing in a little over a week. - Les Gets goes from completely closed to completely open in 7 days. - Colder weather and snowfall for the Pyrenees. - Best conditions of season so far in Scotland as low temperatures and snowfall continue. 
See where it's going to snow...
World Overview Although the 'no snow in the Alps' stories keep coming, there has been up to a metre of snowfall up high, and at least half that at lower elevations, which has greatly eased the snow cover problems at lower elevations (there never really were any higher up). Resorts that had had to close runs have mostly reopened them. The big issue now is high avalanche danger. Elsewhere in Europe it's much improved too in the Balkans, Pyrenees, Scotland - and Scandinavia remains snowy. Over in North America snowfall records continue to be broken in the west and the snow conditions in the east are improving, particularly north of the border in Quebec and Ontario where its finally consistently cold as it should be. Europe Austria Austria has not seen the snowfalls of ski areas further west over the past few days but over the last week, most resorts have seen 30-60cm (1-2 feet) of fresh cover with lighter snowfall continuing in many areas. Most of the big regions like Ischgl's Silvretta, the Arlberg, Saalbach and Skiwelt had been able to keep around 70-80% (perhaps 200km) of their slopes open prior to the latest snow. That remains the situation just with lots of fresh snow and much lower temperatures. The avalanche risk is typically lower here than in France, level 2, though not everywhere (some level 3). France France has seen the really spectacular snowfalls of the past week with several resorts reporting more than a metre of snowfall up high in total and Avoriaz and Alpe d'Huez passing the 3 metres (10 feet) snow depth mark on their higher slopes, the only resorts in Europe to do so. More significant is that there has been 30-60cm of snowfall for lower resorts like Morzine, Megeve and La Clusaz, allowing them to open up lots of terrain after the limitations the warm weather over Xmas/New Year created. Les Gets went from nothing open at the start of last week to fully open and a level 4 avalanche danger warning a week later. Its Portes du Soleil connections have also reopened with a total 400km+ of terrain open there. Italy Western Italy has seen lots of fresh snow along its borders with France and Switzerland. In the Dolomites, there's not been so much, but it has stayed cold here and there's been a good refresh of snow cover. Most areas are in good shape with Dolomiti Superski's slopes close to fully open, the Milky Way running at about 70% open at the time of writing. Switzerland Switzerland has had plenty of snowfall too, the heaviest in the west. It means there's powder once more in areas famed for it, like the 4 Valleys, which reports its slopes up from 70 to 90% open. Some low-lying and/or south-facing resorts like Gstaad and Crans Montana are in much better shape with snow to low levels and in Crans's case, a metre of new snowfall up high. As with the rest of the western Alps, the fresh snowfall has also brought increased avalanche danger risk to 'considerable' or 'high' (3 or 4). It's cold in Switzerland too with temperatures well below freezing. Scandinavia It's been cold and snowy for another week across much of Scandinavia. Myrkdalen ski area near Voss, famous for its powder, has overtaken Hemsedal to become the snowiest resort in the region after more than 50cm (20") of snow there this week. Not quite so much elsewhere, but most Scandi resorts are fully open with fresh snow and rapidly increasing daylight. Pyrenees and Spain It's good news in the Pyrenees and other parts of Spain too after a warm and dry month in the region. Most resorts posted 15-30cm of fresh snowfall and powder conditions on Wednesday, not only bringing a big improvement in snow conditions but also the amount of terrain open with biggest resorts Baqueira Beret in Spain and Grandvalira in Andorra both going back above 100km of slopes open and hopefully more on the way. Sierra Nevada in the south reported 15cm of fresh snowfall on Wednesday. Scotland A cold and snowy week in Scotland with all five centres open and with the most terrain open at each since the height of last season. Glencoe had almost all runs open with Cairngorm about half of theirs and reported 15cm of fresh snow on Wednesday. The Lecht was cut off for the day with its access road blocked by snow. Unfortunately, there are signs of rising temperatures from early next week, but it's unclear how warm it will get and how much damage may potentially be done to snow cover. Eastern Europe A big improvement in conditions for ski areas in more southerly parts of eastern Europe. Kopaonik in Serbia reported blizzard conditions on Thursday and cold sometimes snowy weather in Bulgaria means Bansko has gone from almost nothing open to being able to host World Cup competitions this weekend. Further north it has been snowing heavily at Jasna and across the Czech and Slovak Republic's ski regions. North America Canada It has been a fairly dry, cold week in Canada, although with some light snowfall reported, heaviest in the West. Over in the east, in Quebec, it has been more consistently cold so conditions are by far the best they've been of the season so far there. Whistler has reopened much of its terrain after storm closure and has reached the 2m base mark on its higher runs. USA Records seem to be constantly being broken in the Western US as storm follows storm, with just brief respites of sunny, still weather in between, particularly along Pacific coast mountains. Mammoth's upper slope depth has gone through the 5 and then 6 metres (20 feet) mark in the last week and more and more resorts in California and the Utah Rockies have reported going through the 400 inches (10 metres) season-to-date snowfall mark. For some, this is now the snowiest winter in nearly two decades. All the snow is a mixed blessing – obviously great in the long term and for powder skiing where safe but constantly digging out and making things practical and safe for skiers and boarders is an ongoing battle for the resorts with lots of enforced closure periods. No such problems on the east coast where things remain below par due to warm weather and limited snowfall, but another front should bring a few inches more at the weekend. |
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J2Ski Snow Report January 12th 2023
La Clusaz, France, just got a whole lot whiter... Snow fell, and more's coming... The Snow Headlines - 12th January - Colder temperatures and snowfall arrives in the Alps. - More huge storms push snow depths in Western North America towards 5 metres/17 feet. - Colder temperatures and snowfall finally arrive in the Balkans to the relief of Bulgarian ski areas. - Californian ski area reports 7 feet of snow in first 10 days of 2023. - Some snowfall in the Pyrenees and Portugal's only ski area is open. And there's more snow in the forecast for Europe and much of the northern hemisphere. 
Big snow coming! Check where...
World Overview The main news of the past seven days has been the return of snowfall and colder temperatures in Western Europe. Ski areas in the Alps have reported up to 70cm of fresh snow up high since Sunday, more like 20-30cm in valleys. That's been enough to turn things around at low-lying resorts that had been suffering – Gstaad, Les Gets, Villars, Megeve and others to some extent although much more snow is needed. Fortunately, there's a lot more forecast after the weekend. Elsewhere there's been some snowfall in the Pyrenees but more is needed (and forecast), Scandinavia continues to look good and it's an improving picture in Scotland. The Balkans finally have snowfall and it's been cold enough for snowmaking in most areas too. Over in North America, more huge snowfalls in the west over the weekend and start of this week took base depths up towards 5 metres, the world's deepest still, in California but it remains a challenging time on the East Coast where resorts in more southerly states have been unable to open for lack of snow and cold weather and the bigger resorts of New England continue to face challenges too. Europe Austria Austrian slopes are in much better shape than a week ago with many areas posting 30-40cm of fresh snowfall in the last few days. The Skiwelt, including resorts like Westendorf, Ellmau and Soll warned skiers that, exceptionally, it would be making snow during the daytime in an attempt to pile it up as much as possible while temperatures were low enough, to maximise the change in the weather. That technique had, in any case, allowed it and other big Austrian areas like Arlberg and Saalbach to keep most of their runs open when ski areas at similar altitudes in France had struggled in recent weeks. Solden's base depth is creeping nearer to two metres up top, at 185cm now, the deepest in the country by some margin. France The best week for a month or so in the French Alps after heavy snowfall from Sunday to Tuesday brought up to 60cm (two feet) of snow to higher slopes and, more importantly for many ski areas, 20-30cm to lower slopes too at resorts like La Clusaz, Morzine and Megeve which had been struggling to open much terrain. Les Gets, which had had to completely close its slopes during the warm spell, re-opened a run on Tuesday and then half-a-dozen lifts and runs on Wednesday although the connection to Morzine and the wider Portes du Soleil remained closed at the time of writing. Italy There's been heavy snowfall along Italy's Northern and Western borders, with regions like the Milky Way and La Thuile-La Rosiere posting up to 50cm of fresh cover. Less new snowfall so far in the Dolomites but then they were already in pretty good shape having missed the temperature peaks and rain that hit further west. So the picture across the country remains fairly good with most areas 50-80% open. Switzerland Swiss ski areas have seen base depths jump by an average of 20cm over the past few days as they shared in the fresh snowfall across the Alps. Saas Fee continues to post the deepest at 1.8 metres (six feet) up high on the glacier. The new snow has not made a huge difference to what's open; Verbier had a little over half of the 4 Valleys terrain open and though a few more runs have opened, that's still the case - but with generally improved snow conditions. The avalanche danger level is up though, to 3 on a scale to 5 in many Swiss areas. Some lower centres like Gstaad which had been largely closed at the valley level have now been able to open more low-lying runs. Scandinavia Scandinavia continues to post the most consistently good conditions in Europe with Norwegian resorts looking particularly good – up to 1.5m of snow lying at Hemsedal, Voss, Geilo and others – much of it fresh since Christmas. There's been less for Sweden but up in Lapland, where temperatures have been in the -20s (Celsius), it just keeps snowing. Pyrenees Several fronts have brought light to moderate snowfalls to the Pyrenees over the past week. This has improved things a little with the largest Spanish resort in the region, Baqueira Beret, reporting 5cm (2") of fresh snow. Andorra's Grandvalira (Pas de la Casa, Soldeu) still has the largest area open, with about half its 240km of slopes open. Scotland There's been over a month now of mostly cold weather on Scottish hills and there's been more fresh snowfall over the past few days (accompanied by the usual gale force winds), but there's still not much of a base and Cairngorm, Glenshee and The Lecht still have a couple of short runs open each using their all-weathers snowmaking machines. Nevis Range doesn't currently have anything. Glencoe is the only centre with runs open with natural snow cover on its upper mountain at present. Eastern Europe The good news is after a month of often warm and dry weather in The Balkans it's turned cold and snowy in Bulgaria. Although there's a lot of lost ground to make up snow cannons are firing and Bansko reports 20cm of natural snowfall. Further north Jasna in Slovakia already had 20km or so of slopes open and the fresh snow there has further improved conditions. North America Canada Eastern Canada has been seeing the best of the fresh snowfall over the past few days, finally getting the combination of cold temperatures and precipitation needed after months of cold but dry or warm but wet weather, so conditions are the best of the season so far. It's more consistently cold and snowy out West, with more snow accumulating on the slopes of Alberta and BC. USA It's been still more snow, snow, snow in the Western US with a spate of records announced as the latest huge storms move in from the Pacific. Mammoth says it has already had more snow than the whole of last season while The Palisades says it has had seven feet of snow since January 1st. The Rockies are in great shape too, with Snowbird in Utah passing the 300 inches (7.5 metres) seasonal snowfall to-date mark. So plenty of snow; the main issue now is the volumes and stormy weather making it difficult for resorts to open much, although we're currently in a few days of clear weather before the next huge storm rolls in. It's a very different picture on the East Coast however where, unfortunately, it is more like the Alps with ski areas struggling to open runs due to periods of warm weather. Next week's looking increasingly interesting for Europe, so keep an eye on our forecasts and we'll have more detail next week... |
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No other explanation makes sense Daved! Timed your trip nicely... 8) |
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J2Ski Snow Report January 5th 2023
Park City, Utah, USA got their year started nicely... Snow in Europe, but more in America. The Snow Headlines - 5th January - Snow forecast for the Alps from the weekend. - More big snowfalls and wild weather in Western USA. - More rain to mid-mountain in parts of the Alps, but fresh snow higher up. - Scandinavian resorts post low temperatures and fresh snowfall. - Palisade Tahoe posts 95cm of snowfall in 24 hours to Jan 1st 2023. - More Scottish centres open more terrain. 
See where it's going to snow...
World Overview We're getting deja-vu in the J2Ski snow reporting team with the same weather cycles, it seems, starting the New Year as ended the last. But a change does appear to be in the air with increasingly confident forecasts of significant snowfall in the Alps from Sunday. For the past week though the most active weather systems have been slamming into America's West Coast bringing more short-term operational issues while at the same time building on what were already the deepest bases in the world this season. In the Alps the operational difficulties are, unfortunately, being caused by mild temperatures with a repeat cycle of rain for New Year weekend on slopes up to about 2,000 – 2,500m, though thankfully with not quite so serious impact as the heavier and sustained rain at Christmas weekend. There was also snowfall again higher up so conditions above about 2,000 metres are generally pretty good, but more challenging at lower levels. Colder weather and more significant snowfall is expected at the start of next week. Elsewhere the Pyrenees have similar issues to the Alps (although there was some snowfall here on Monday) and it's worse still in the Balkans where there's been almost no snow and it has been warm and sunny. Further north though cold and snowy weather in Scotland has allowed most areas there to open some terrain and Scandinavia actually seems quite wintery! Europe Austria Austria has had a fairly quiet week with a little light snowfall for the New Year but predominantly dry and frequently sunny weather. Bases remain thin and the mild weather is challenging but the big ski areas like the Arlberg, Skiwelt and Saalbach Hinterglemm are each managing to keep about 200km (125 miles) of slopes open. The best conditions continue to be on glaciers with Solden currently the stand-out for top to bottom snow cover and open terrain. But the whole country, like the whole of the Alps (and the Pyrenees), could do with a fresh big dump of snowfall and some consistently cold temperatures. There is snow forecast for next week, but probably 15-30cm accumulations, less than further west. France Another less-than-ideal week in the French Alps with more rain and mild temperatures over the New Year weekend – although not so much or so damaging as a week earlier. There was up to a foot of snow above 2500m so high areas like Val Thorens, Tignes and others are in much better shape, 60-80% open and actually reporting pretty good conditions. The good news is the heaviest of the forecast snow this coming week is expected in France with 30-60cm falls expected between Sunday and Tuesday along with sub-zero temperatures to the valley floors. Italy The Dolomites have been dry for weeks now and snow cover remains fairly thin, but conditions are reported to be among the best in mainland Europe because there hasn't been any rain and while not cold, it hasn't been so mild as further north and west. Over in the north and west of Italy, there have been the same issues of mild temperatures at low altitudes but few have suffered the rain problems. The Milky Way region over on the French border has about 75% of its slopes open and conditions are reported to be very good on the Cervinia-Zermatt cross-border slopes. Colder weather and snow is expected here too from Sunday. Switzerland A largely dry week for Switzerland too with just some light snowfall up high earlier in the week. As with the rest of the Alps, there have been 'mild air issues', particularly at low altitudes, but resorts like Andermatt and Saas-Fee are posting some of the best snow depths in Europe on their higher terrain. Again as with the rest of Europe, higher Swiss slopes, particularly above 1800m altitude, are reported to be in good shape on the prepared slopes at least. And temperatures are dropping and there's snowfall now in the forecast at last, heaviest in the west. Scandinavia Scandinavia is the one part of Europe, (well perhaps also Scotland) that actually feels 'wintery' with temperatures well below freezing day and night and plenty of fresh snowfall. Hemsedal in Norway reported powder conditions for New Year weekend while Levi up in Finnish Lapland was excited to see the sun reappear above the horizon for the first time on New Year's Day. Much more snowfall expected daily over the coming week. Pyrenees The Pyrenees are facing similar issues to the Alps with temperatures too high much of the time and little fresh snowfall – although one front did bring a few inches high up earlier this week. But the amount of open terrain in most areas is unfortunately now less than it was in mid-December due to the loss of cover on lower slopes. Andorra's Grandvalira has the most open. Scotland Scottish ski areas have regained a lot of the lost ground from the pre-Christmas temperature spike now. The open terrain at each area remains limited but Cairngorm, Glencoe, Glenshee and the Lecht each had two or three runs open for the New Year's weekend and there's been more cold weather and snowfall since …but also rain at times. Eastern Europe There's a continuing north/south divide in Eastern Europe with ski areas in Slovakia and the Czech Republic like Jasna and Spindleruv Mlyn reporting most of their terrain open, fairly cold temperatures and even a little fresh snow. Things are unfortunately still very difficult in Bosnia, Bulgaria and other more southerly ski nations where it remains predominantly warm, dry and sunny. The only snow is being machine-made in the middle of the night when temperatures have been dipping to -5 or -6C. North America Canada It has been a weather roller coaster for Western Canada over the past week with ski areas battling against gales, heavy snowfall and icing conditions as temperatures fluctuated between -25C and +5C as fronts moved through. Big White and Whistler were among areas that seemed to face particular issues getting lifts working and opening terrain, issuing repeat apologies and thanking skiers in the resort for their patience. But overall the snow depth numbers keep increasing which is clearly good in the long term for the rest of the season. There's a more mixed picture in the east of the country. After Storm Elliot deposited up to 60cm (two feet) of snow on the slopes it has unfortunately got much milder and some lower slopes have seen the snowpack damaged by rain. Overall base depths have increased though and there's more terrain open than a week ago. USA The Western US, particularly the Pacific Coast has once again seen violent storm systems slam in from the Pacific, dumping several feet more snowfall on the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and Rockies. These mountains were already posting some of the deepest bases in the world (Mammoth Mountain the very most at present) so the new snow has just increased the differentials. It didn't float gently down though and was once again driven in on 100mph winds and, sometimes mixed with freezing rain. So resorts battled high avalanche danger, critical tree well risk, iced-up lifts and many more issues while outdoor New Year celebrations were cancelled. As with Canada there's unfortunately been a return to warmer weather and some rain after the big Christmas storm, but ski areas like Jay Peak in Vermont and Whiteface in New York state have missed much of the wet stuff and are still reporting good powder conditions. |
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