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J2Ski Snow Report 21st July 2022
Cardrona, New Zealand - freshies all over... More snow for Oz, NZ and in the Andes... The Snow Headlines - 21st July - Snowstorm in Chilean Andes closes access roads and mountain passes. - Only four ski areas open to public in Europe at present – an all-time low. - Major snowstorm hits Australia, boosting cover in busy peak season. - Saas Fee is arguably first to open for 22-23 season. - Stormy weather in New Zealand brings snow, but also heavy rain and gales. - Claims of conditions "best in a decade" for some ski areas in Chile. - Ski lifts operational and outdoor skiing possible on six continents. 
Snow only on the highest peaks in Europe, lots more in the southern half of the globe...
World Overview A week of extremes in northern and southern hemispheres with low temperatures, heavy snowfalls and at times gale force winds in Australia, New Zealand and South America's Andes and more very hot weather in Europe's Alps and the Pacific Northwest. The bigger picture – once the weather allows access – is of great conditions in the Andes with some reports claiming the best conditions in a decade for resorts in Argentina and Chile and an ongoing epic winter in Australia, where the snow is deep, fresh and everything open. It's more of a roller coaster in New Zealand with some great days but also flooding closing access roads and some areas still being unable to open for lack of snow. In the northern hemisphere, the hot weather means a fast thinning, old snowpack at its best in the early morning and very few areas able to open. Australia Australia is having a great season; after big dumps to start the winter, there have been some top-ups over the past six weeks and mostly low temperatures leading most centres to now be fully open and busy with peak season visitors. A weekend storm brought up to 35cm more snow to resorts including Falls Creek and Mount Hotham; with Perisher and Thredbo now reporting bases past the metre mark. Temperatures have remained cold, with Perisher reporting -11C overnight midweek, and ski areas typically have 90-95% of their slopes groomed and open. New Zealand A real week of extremes in New Zealand with ski areas reporting blizzard conditions at the end of last week, then fabulous blue sky powder days over the weekend. Fresh storms and a warm front started this week and caused havoc with more powder up high but heavy rain on the lower snowpack for several areas and a number reporting sections of their access roads washed away by resulting floods. Oh and 130km per hour (80mph) winds once again. So there have been widespread storm/repair closures through midweek. Things have settled down a little, with colder temperatures and more snowfall over the past few days and most resorts including Mount Hutt, Cardrona, Treble Cone and The Remarkables have re-opened on the South Island with fresh snow particularly good on the upper mountain. Alas, there's still not enough snow cover for the ski centres on Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand's largest resort - on the North Island - to open properly. Only beginner slopes are open at Whakapapa and Turoa so far. South America There are reports that some ski areas in Chile (including Portillo and Valle Nevado) are currently enjoying their best conditions in a decade after heavy snowfalls and consistent cold temperatures. How true the claims are, with no historical comparisons given, is hard to confirm but there are plenty of images with supporting stats of deep powder with buried cars and buildings at these resorts and others across the Andes. The snow has caused issues though; blocking access roads and heightening avalanche danger, although it's an improving picture there. Argentina's Catedral area by Bariloche is now reporting the most terrain open of any ski area in the world with 80km (50 miles) of slopes open. Africa Lesotho's Afriski remains open. Temperatures have been varying between -5C overnight and +10C in the daytime with dry and mostly sunny weather but the snowpack is holding up with overnight snowmaking top-ups possible as required. Europe Still very hot, hot, hot in the Alps which is ongoing bad, bad, bad news for glaciers which continue to find the freezing point high in the air above them day and sometimes night so the thaw of snowpack and sadly the ice below, continues. Only a few areas are open to the public, with limited terrain. These include Europe's highest lift-served ski slopes, above Switzerland's Zermatt, currently accessible from Cervinia too, and another year-round ski area at Hintertux in Austria (which claims the largest area open - 20km of slopes). Italy's Passo Stelvio is also open, as is Saas-Fee, with about half of its usual summer terrain skiable. It could be argued that Saas-Fee is the first area to open for the 22-23 ski season! Up in Scandinavia, the Stryn glacier has ended its season and Galghoppigen closed temporarily leaving only Fonna currently open and also reporting warm weather. North America Just as you can claim Saas Fee is the first resort to open for the 22-23 season, depending on how you look at things, you could also argue Timberline in Oregon is the last area in the world still open from the 21-22 season. Of course, again, Hintertux and Zermatt are too, but as they both aim to open year-round they don't really have a start or end to their seasons. It has been another hot, sunny week in the Pacific Northwest and the snowpack is thawing, but still lying a couple of metres (six feet) thick up high and there should be about a month more of the season there. Copper Mountain also has a snow park open in Colorado but only for those enrolled in private camps. A similar facility on the Blackcomb Glacier above whistler which reopened for the first time in three years has now ended its 2022 season. Asia Japan's Gassan summer ski centre, believed to be the only one still open in Asia, is just about still skiable, but it's getting more marginal and we're probably about at the end – closure date is "end of July" so perhaps a week more. Temperatures have been in the 20s and snow cover has gone from the main slopes but you can just about make a descent using one of two T Bars and a bit of hiking from above the main chairlift up from the valley. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 14th July 2022
Mount Hutt, New Zealand looking pretty good this week... Lots of snow in the southern hemisphere, warm in the northern. Wait! What? A Snow Report in the 'summer'? Yes, in a break to our approach of many years - and thanks to our many new readers from Australia and New Zealand, where it's now winter, we're going to trial running our weekly snow reports all year around. Clearly, the weather gods got wind of our plan and have been delivering the goods... The Snow Headlines - 14th July - Big snow in the Andes; resorts report up to 90cm (three feet) of snowfall in past week. - Hot weather in the Alps closes all French summer glacier ski areas. - Major storms close New Zealand ski slopes but bring plenty more snowfall. - Sole ski area still open for 21-22 in North America extends season to "late August". - Saas Fee opening for 2022-23 season but initially only to race teams. 
Incoming for New Zealand (again)...
World Overview Winter is in full swing on the ski slopes of the southern hemisphere and the past week has seen some big snowfalls in the Andes of South America and on the ski slopes of New Zealand, bringing plenty of powder to both - and there's more on the way. Ski areas in Australia meanwhile are in good shape from earlier falls and are now running at capacity. In the northern hemisphere, the summer sun is making its presence felt and having a severe impact on Alpine glaciers in Europe leaving an all-time low number of centres able to open for summer skiing. There was though a little fresh snowfall up high on glaciers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland at the weekend. It's hot too in Japan and the US but ski slopes are still open in both countries. With one centre open in southern Africa too, it means lift-accessed skiing remains possible on six continents at present. Australia After two stop-start seasons (mostly stop, unfortunately) through the pandemic, Australia has been enjoying a great winter 2022 to date with big snowfalls at the start of last month helping build bases then predominantly cold weather since, with plenty of sunshine but also light to moderate snowfalls topping up cover. That's been the case again this past week and most of the country's ski areas are now fully open (or almost so) with the busy school holiday period underway. Mount Baw Baw posted 20cm of fresh snow on Tuesday, the largest reported accumulation. The country's biggest resort, Perisher, has more than 60km of slopes open while Thredbo is posting the deepest base in the country at 1.1 metres. New Zealand Conditions were already pretty good across New Zealand with most resorts reporting decent snow depths and most terrain open but the past few days have seen a major storm system dump several feet of snow on many centres, temporarily closing resorts while the storm blew through and access roads and lifts were dug out. So with the weather remaining cold and frequently snowy, it's looking good at almost all of the country's ski areas including Mount Hutt, Cardrona, Treble Cone and Coronet Peak. On the North Island, there has been a week's delay to the season start at Turoa but that will now hopefully happen this coming weekend after plenty of fresh snow on Mount Ruapehu. The volcanic activity alert in the region which had been on level 2, meaning a 2km exclusion zone around the crater, encroaching a little way onto the ski field, has been lowered to level one so that's additional good news for the season start. South America After a bit of a stop-start first month of the South American ski season with early snowfalls not really being built upon, things have improved dramatically this week with many resorts in the region reporting a metre or more of light Andean powder dumping on their slopes and creating some of the best conditions in years – not that many skiers have been able to get there the past few winters. Indeed resorts including Portillo, Valle Nevado and Las Lenas are really only opening for the first time in three seasons. But borders are now open again and travel in to enjoy the powder is possible once more. Africa Lesotho's small Afriski centre remains open and after a fresh natural snowfall at the start of the month, it is back to relying on its machine-made snow cover. South Africa's only ski area Tiffindell unfortunately remains closed for the third successive season but there's talk of its re-opening in 2023. Europe It's believed to be the worst summer on record for summer skiing in the Alps with just three areas still open and each of them struggling to open all of their normal summer terrain. The mountains are suffering a double whammy of below-average winter snowfall lying on the glaciers then hit by record high temperatures for much of spring and early summer. All three French summer ski areas – Les 2 Alpes, Tignes and Val d'Isere have closed early (well Val d'Isere decided not to open). This past week has seen more of the same, with temperatures again hitting 20C at 2,000m and 10C at 3,000m. The three glaciers still open are Austria's Hintertux, Italy's Passo Stelvio and Zermatt in Switzerland (which can also be accessed from Cervinia in Italy at present). A fourth glacier, Saas-Fee, is due to open this weekend for its 22-23 season, but initially, because of conditions, will only allow team training on about half of its usual area, with no public access. All that being said, there was actually a 5-15cm snowfall up high on glaciers last weekend, not unusual and not likely to change the overall direction, but a brief respite at least. Further north three small ski areas are open in Norway, which had a snowier winter than the Alps and conditions are generally reported to be better. One of these, Stryn, will end its 2022 season at the end of the weekend though. North America The permanent snowfield at Timberline on Mt Hood in Oregon is the only ski area open to the public in North America in July. The weather has been hot, sunny and dry but fortunately big snowfalls in spring built bases five metres (17 feet) deep in May and two months later there's still more than half of that left. So much so that the centre has extended its expected season to "late August" over the past week. If you sign up for a private camp you can also ski or board on snow terrain still open and lift-accessed above Copper Mountain in Colorado and on the Blackcomb glacier above Whistler in BC, Canada. Asia The only lift-accessed skiing still open in Asia is the Gassan snowfield in Japan. It's lost three-quarters of the eight-metre snow-depth it had when it opened for its 2022 season in April and its main lifts and runs have closed for the season, but still has limited skiing and boarding on its upper slopes, some of it hike-to after using the T Bar to get most of the way up. It's aiming to stay open to the end of July. |
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J2Ski Snow Report July 2022
So that was Perisher, Australia, last week... not too shabby at all! Great conditions in Australia! The Snow Headlines - July 2022 - Molltal and Val d'Isere decide not to open for summer skiing due to poor conditions. - Best start to winter for more than 20 years in Australia after big June snowfall. - Canada's Sunshine ski area opens in July for first time since 1991. - Norway's glacier areas say summer skiing 2022 good, thanks to 21-22 snowfall and cool June. - Whistler re-opens Blackcomb glacier for summer skiing, for first time in three years. - After a warm May a big snowstorm arrives with perfect timing for NZ's season start. - Deepest base in the world for June is at Fonna in Norway at over 7 metres. - Asia's 21-22 ski season ends in July with the last open area in Japan due to close. We are now into full winter, or summer, depending on which half of the world you're looking at. Ski areas in the southern hemisphere are rapidly approaching the peak of the 2022 season and those in the northern hemisphere are heading for what will probably be the hottest days of summer (if they've not already occurred). With the summer solstice behind us in the northern hemisphere, the days are now getting a little shorter and we're on the downhill track to next winter. June saw spectacular snowfalls first in the Andes, then Australia and finally New Zealand, with ski areas in each posting up to a metre accumulation. This was perfectly timed – pretty much - for the season starts with some Aussie areas opening early and deeming the start of winter 2022 the best in over 20 years. In New Zealand, it was more relief after an unusually warm May and early June gave way to a major Antarctic snowstorm. Only in the Andes was the snowfall a bit early for some and accumulated levels had dropped before resorts opened later in the month. But the main relief, besides the arrival of snowfall, across the southern hemisphere, was the return of international guests, in most cases for the first time in 3 years. Back in the northern hemisphere, June was another hot month at times in the Alps and Val d'Isere caused a surprise when it announced it wasn't opening for summer skiing this year due to poor conditions. Neighbouring Tignes did open but warned conditions are so marginal it could close again at any time. Further north in Scandinavia it's a better picture, apparently. There are ten centres (providing access to nine glaciers) open in Europe altogether. Elsewhere there's one centre open each for July in Asia and North America. Japan's Gassan is expected to close for 2022 during July but Timberline in the US aims to stay open until September. Actually in North America, three other areas are open as we start July, with two open just to those booked in summer ski camps and Sunshine near Banff re-opening for skiing in July – until this Sunday 3rd at least – for the first time in more than three decades. 
Incoming for South America...
Southern Hemisphere The vast majority of ski areas in South America are now open and perhaps the first point to note is that this is the first fairly-normal-starting season since 2019, with pandemic restrictions in the main ski nations of South America, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand eased enough to allow international arrivals, under certain circumstances, for the first winter in three years. Restrictions are still in place and they vary. In the Andes, there aren't many requirements in terms of vaccination but international arrivals must show on arrival at the border they have adequate funds and insurance to cover any eventuality, including medical evacuation, if unlucky enough to need it. In Lesotho vaccinated skiers can enter but the unvaccinated still need a recent negative PCR test result at the border. That requirement has been dropped in the past few weeks for New Zealand but still, there are restrictions on which passport holders can enter. New Zealand was famously open through the pandemic years for new Zealanders and for much of that time ski areas could operate fairly normally, just without international staff or guests. As to actual conditions, things have started well in most countries. Particularly notable is Australia where a huge pre-season snowfall led first to early openings at the start of June, then areas like Falls Creek being fully open earlier than ever before. June stayed mostly cold with more snowfall leading to some resorts claiming the best season-start in more than two decades. New Zealand had a more challenging May and early June leading resorts to warn they might not open on time due to inadequate snow cover. Things changed dramatically when a huge storm got here too and instead resorts delayed opening due to blizzard conditions and three-metre-high drifting snow! Things have quietened down and most resorts opened over the past three weeks but there's been a battle to dig out and make terrain avalanche safe. All in all, though, another promising season start. Across in South America, the Andes saw some good snowfalls in late May and early June but by the time resorts opened just after halfway through the month a lot of this had melted from lower slopes and the cover wasn't looking great. The good news is that more fronts moved in over the last week of June, bolstering cover here too. There's particular excitement for ski areas like Portillo in Chile, which opened a week early for the 2022 season after a 90cm snowfall, and Argentina's Las Leñas, which hadn't opened at all, or hardly at all, for the past two seasons. You can also currently ski in Southern Africa at Afriski in Lesotho on about a 1km run, mostly created with machine-made snow, although the centre has had some decent natural snow dumps too, most recently over the final weekend of June. South Africa's only resort Tiffindell says it will miss its third successive winter but hopes to re-open in 2023. The Alps The Alps saw some very hot weather in June, as in May, with temperatures at 3,000m reaching +10C, not great news for the glacial ice or the snow lying on top of it. Six summer ski areas are open as we start the month though, with a further two that would normally be open deciding to give summer a miss in 2022. Val d'Isère announced it wouldn't offer summer skiing this year citing record warm temperatures at altitude in May, and lower than average snowfall last winter meaning a thinner base than usual was thawing fast. Of course, with typical irony, it was actually snowing on the first day it had been due to open last month. Austria's Molltal glacier also decided not to open this summer, saying it will do in the autumn. Here it's not clear if the reasons are environmental or financial. Both have impacted its operations in recent summers. So where IS still open this July? Well, Hintertux and the Kitzsteinhorn are the two Austrian choices. The Hintertux still has nearly two meres of snow lying and claims the largest amount of open terrain in the northern hemisphere at present, some 20km. The Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun is entering the final month of its 10-month ski season and is expected to close on July 19th. That's the same weekend that Switzerland's Saas-Fee should be opening for its 22-23 season, joining the year-round glacier slopes above Zermatt which can also be accessed through July from Cervinia. The other Italian summer ski operation currently open is Passo Stelvio, a particularly popular choice with race teams. Although Val d'Isère didn't open, Tignes did in mid-July, warning though that conditions were marginal and that it might be forced to close at any point. Skiers are warned not to buy a ski pass more than two days ahead and it has been closed several days already in its first 10 days of operation and is reporting only a 15cm base. It joins already-open Les 2 Alpes and both plan to stay open through July, hopefully. Northern Europe It's currently looking rather better for Norway's three glacier ski areas than it did a year ago when warm, windy weather led to rapid thawing and several centres closing very early. So far, touch wood, the Scandinavian centres are saying they got better winter for snowfall than further south in the Alps and that as a consequence they're hoping for a longer summer ski season this year. The stats do seem to match up with most centres posting 2-3 metre bases, about double that for centres open in the Alps. Spring temperatures have also been cooler in the north. The three centres are Folgefonn (Fonna), Stryn and Scandinavia's highest slopes on Galdhopiggen. Stryn says that its season will end on the 17th. Fonna is posting the deepest base of any open area in the world at present with the snow more than 7 metres thick on its upper slopes. North America There's only one ski area still open really in North America – the Palmer permanent snowfield at Timberline on Mount Hood in Oregon. Things weren't looking great for summer skiing in 2022 there at the end of winter, but a cold spring increased the base to 5 metres. It's now back down closer to three metres but that should still hopefully see it through July and, ideally, August. Elsewhere the Blackcomb Glacier has reopened for summer skiing and boarding for the first time in three years but has changed the rules so that only those attending private camps can use it. The same is true at a terrain park maintained at Copper Mountain in Colorado. On the final weekend of June, Sunshine ski area near Banff, which had only closed for 21-22 just over a month before in late May, announced it would re-open for six days to Sunday, July 3rd, conditions permitting. It's its first July opening since 1991, with the focus on being open for Canada's national day, July 1st. It says plenty of the nine metres of snowfall it received through last winter is still lying and its had fresh snowfall in the final week of June. Asia Japan's 'Gassan Glacier' sole summer ski centre which opens each April to July is open again and it is possible for tourists to enter the country once more, so long as they're part of organised groups. Gassan's base has dropped from over 8 metres when it opened 12 weeks ago to less than two now and it will probably close as usual in the next four weeks, especially with parts of Japan sweltering under the hottest temperatures in more than a century. |
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CORRECTION
The first release of our June report stated that Val d'Isere would be opening for summer skiing shortly. Sadly, that's not the case;
https://www.valdisere.com/en/activites/summer-skiing/ Thanks to our friends over at Skipedia for pointing that out! |
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J2Ski Snow Report June 2022
Snow in the car park for Perisher, Australia - opening this weekend! Southern hemisphere winter is coming! The Snow Headlines - June 2022 - Southern hemisphere season starting imminently, closest to 'normal' for 3 years. - International skiers able to return to southern hemisphere for first time since 2019. - Australia's ski season starting a week early thanks to pre-season snowstorm. - Killington extends season into June for first time since 1990s. - Vaccination certificates not required in the Andes but evidence of full insurance is. - Some ski areas in the Alps and Western US close due to heat, others extend seasons. - Big pre-season snowfall in Argentina raises anticipation. - Snowfall in Alps and western North America for final weekend of May. - Only summer-ski-only ski area in US decides not to open in 2022. - Blackcomb glacier to open for summer skiing for first time since 2019. Excitement is building in the southern hemisphere as the 2022 season draws near. Afriski in Lesotho and Whakapapa in New Zealand are expected to be among the first to open, on the first weekend of June, thanks to their snowmaking efforts. The biggest news is that one of the southern hemisphere's largest centres, Perisher in Australia, is to open a week early, for the first weekend of June, with the country currently being hit, with perfect timing, by a major pre-season snowfall. Elsewhere decent snowfalls and cold weather have been reported in the major ski regions of New Zealand, the Andes and Southern Africa. Most ski areas here will open from the second-weekend of June onwards with the majority of the 100 or so ski areas on the southern side of the equator expected to be operational by the end of the month. For most of these ski nations this will (hopefully) be the first nearly normal ski season for three years. At the start of this winter all southern hemisphere ski areas are open to international travellers again, although some restrictions are in place - varying from country to country. Some will only allow arrivals from certain nations at present, others will only allow those with vaccination evidence and others still require arrivals to have evidence of comprehensive travel insurance in place before they're allowed to enter the country. In the northern hemisphere about two-dozen ski areas remain open for June skiing in Asia, Europe and North America. Hot weather in the Alps led to the early closure of a few glaciers like the Kaunertal and Stubai which had planned to stay open into June, but others are still open so far. There was fresh snowfall reported down to quite low levels for the final weekend of May too. North America meanwhile has seen a real roller coaster with +90F/30C temperatures followed by several feet of snowfall in the Rockies. This led some areas to close earlier than expected, others to announce extended seasons. There was more snowfall for the country's Memorial Day long-holiday weekend on the last Monday of May. 
Australia, New Zealand and South America on the radar for snow...
Southern Hemisphere We're at that exciting but difficult-to-predict point in the year when the southern hemisphere's season is about to start but we're not quite clear how good the opening month is going to be. The early signs have been generally promising, with pre-season snowfall and temperatures low enough for snowmaking at the end of May in Australia, the Andes, New Zealand and Lesotho. But whether that remains the case over the next few weeks is they key issue. So far it's looking fairly good – particularly in Australia where a major storm straddling the end of May and start of June is expected to bring 50-80cm of snowfall to New South Wales and Victoria leading to early opening announcements for Perisher so far with more possibly following. The Andes too have had some good snowfalls over the past week. As it stands, Whakapapa in New Zealand should be the first to go, opening its Happy Valley snow fun area this Friday, 3rd June, with Afriski in Lesotho and now Perisher in Australia opening their slopes the next day. After that, currently, in terms of full ski area openings, Charlotte Pass in Australia and Mt Hutt are looking at the Friday of the weekend after, the 10th, with most Aussie areas along with Cardrona in New Zealand following the same weekend. Then the first in the Andes and the rest over the following weekends through June and into July. The Alps It seems to have got hotter earlier than ever in the Alps this years with temperatures hitting +30C in the middle of May, although we did get back to snowfall down to about 2,000m which interrupted some summer operations at the start of the month. So it's a bit of a roller coaster for the summer ski centres, particularly after not great snowfall figures last winter. We start June with three ski areas that would usually be open at this point in the year in Austria, the Molltal, Stubai and Kaunertal glaciers, closed to skiers. The Kaunertal and Stubai both usually end their eight-month seasons early in June anyway but decided to close a fortnight early in mid-May this year because of the snow issues. The Molltal, Carinthia's only summer ski centre, has been increasingly problematic with its opening over the past few years and has now announced it won't attempt to open until September/October. In better news the summer ski season has started, on the last weekend of May, in France and Italy, neither of which had anywhere open in the latter part of last month. Les 2 Alpes re-opened, with Europe's largest summer ski glacier, including a new blue run this summer, as did Passo Stelvio. The French glacier at Tignes will re-open for summer skiing later this month, on the 18th of June, and Cervinia will also be providing access to glacier skiing shared with neighbouring Zermatt, at the end of the month. Otherwise the centres already open and set to stay open, all being well, right through June include Hintertux and the Kitzsteinhorn in Austria and Zermatt in Switzerland. Crans Montana, still celebrating from being awarded the 2027 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships a few days ago, currently has a small area at the top of its glacier open but plans to end their long seasons on the first weekend of this month. Northern Europe In Scandinavia Europe's most northerly major ski area, Riksgransen, ended its 2022 season on the final weekend of May and has said it won't do its traditional reopening for midsummer's weekend in June. We do have Norway's three summer ski centres to choose from this month however – three is actually the most any northern hemisphere country is likely to offer in June, matching France (by the end of the month) and only beaten by the USA (at the start of the month), with Austria and Italy down to two and Switzerland and Japan just one a piece. The Fonna and Galdhoppigen glaciers are already open for their 2022 seasons with Fonna posting the deepest base in the world at present at more than eight metres. The third centre, Stryn, should be open as of the 1st of June. North America There was really yoyoing weather in North America in the latter half of May, perhaps most noticeably measured around the weekend of the 21st/22nd when temperatures in the Colorado Rockies went from 90F to below freezing in 24 hours, followed by a record-for-time-of-year 16" (40cm) snowfall. This happened a week after Breckenridge and Snowbird had ended their seasons a fortnight earlier than planned due to the hot weather and fast thaw. Another variation came further north with the sole summer-only ski area in the US, Beartooth Basin on the Wyoming/Montana stateline (formerly Red Lodge) announcing it won't open in 2022 due to lack of snow, while Timberline in Oregon, the only ski area in North America likely to stay open throughout June, reported a much better than average 5 metre (16 foot) snow depth on its Palmer summer snowfield. There was more snowfall for the final weekend of June in the USA, ironically the heaviest, up to three feet, reported for Beartooth Basin where drivers were trapped in cars as roads were blocked by the unseasonal snowfall. All that being said, where's open for June 2022? Well as we start the month there aren't many survivors and it's not clear how long those currently open will stay open, but besides Timberline we still have lifts turning and slopes open at Mammoth in California, Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Crystal Mountain in Washington state, which recently announced it would stay open two more weekends than originally planned, to mid-May, reporting it has had 10 feet (3 metres) of snowfall in April and May. North of the border, in Canada, Whistler is due to re-open for skiing on the Blackcomb Glacier for the first time in three years from the 11th, although only those enrolled in camps can ski at this time. Killington in Vermont has also announced it plans to re-open for skiing on the first weekend of June, it's latest opening for 25 years. Asia Japan's Gassan summer ski area, which relies on a build up of winter snow to open through spring and early summer is currently open with about a 4 metre snowpack remaining as we start June (half what it was when it opened for the season in early April) which should be enough for it to remain open daily throughout June. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st May 2022
Super early snow for Cerro Catedral, Argentina, got their season started! April snow in both hemispheres! The Snow Headlines - 1st May - April ends with fresh snowfall in the Alps, Pyrenees and across North America. - Ski area in Argentina claims earliest ever opening to kick off 2022 Southern Hemisphere season. - Pre-season snowfalls in southern hemisphere, a month before the 22 season starts. - World's deepest reported May base is 8 metres in Japan's only summer ski area. - Whistler Blackcomb to re-open for summer skiing/boarding for first time since 2019. - More snowfall in US west in April 2022 than in January to March combined. - Southern hemisphere ski areas accessible to international guests again after 3 years. The northern hemisphere's 21-22 winter season is drawing to a close in a much more positive light than when it started; with most of the world's main ski destinations, except Japan, open to travellers. And in the south, some unusually early snow opened the season in South America. 
It's late, it's high... but it's still coming!
World Overview Europe About 100 centres remain open in the northern hemisphere as we start May but about half of those will close on May 1st at the end of the ski day (today) and half of the remainder during the first week of the month. May sees the low point of the ski year before the southern hemisphere's season starts in June and summer ski destinations open up in the north. There are though more areas open in North America to start may than we might have expected a month ago. Snowfall got ever heavier through may, ironically as most areas closed, and soon the month's tally overtook all of January to March combined. So some centres have reopened and others extended their season into May. Europe too has seen quite a snowy end to April, although the thaw has continued. No notable season extension here but high-altitude, glacier and northerly latitude areas remain open into May as usual. Other than a few areas like Jasná (open to May 1st), most ski areas in Eastern Europe are now closed for the season. However, another centre in Slovakia, Tatranská Lomnica, has announced its intention to re-open for the next few weekends to mid-May, thanks to a lot of snow piled up by snowmaking. The Pyrenees is pretty much closed now too in terms of ski uplift. Masella on the Spanish side had said it expected to stay open to May 1st but changed its mind and shut on the 24th. Further west, very unusually for late April, big snowfalls in Portugal led the sole centre there to declare it had more terrain open in the final week of April than it had had all winter and was actually the final area in the Iberian peninsular to operate, although it too had to give up on its hope to open on May 1st. Alas, Scotland's ski season ended on April 24th, with no May skiing there. The Alps About two dozen ski areas are open in the Alps as we start May, but around half of these will close on Sunday the 1st. For snow conditions it's a mixed picture – most have fairly good 2-3 metre snow depth on the high slopes that are open, many on top of glacial ice, but the cover is not so great in parts of the western and southern Alps, closer to a metre, which isn't a healthy depth to withstand the summer heat ahead. The end of April did bring a bit of a boost though with low temperatures and fresh snow up high. In France and Italy, several areas are open beyond May 1st – there's a week more of the season at Tignes and Val Thorens and a week after that at the Presena glacier in Trentino. But after that, there are no ski areas due to be open in either country until Les 2 Alpes re-opens on the final weekend of the month to start its summer ski season, replacing Tignes in offering the country's longest, and reopening in less than a month after it closes for winter. In Italy, it's Passo Stelvio and Cervinia that offer summer skiing in early June. Austria, though, has the most areas open in early May and through the month. There's the year-round skiing on the Hintertux glacier, the Kaunertal and Stubai open through to June and the Molltal is open the first week, but then closing for (probably) a few weeks before re-opening for its 11 months 22-23 season. In Switzerland the snow cover, even up on glaciers, appears rather thin at some centres. After Adelboden, Andermatt, Verbier and others close after the first day of May, ski centres aiming to be open through most or all of May include Crans Montana, Engelberg and Zermatt. The Diavolezza Glacier (0/60cm / 0/24") near St Moritz will stay open to the 8th. Northern Europe The best snow in Europe in the latter half of spring naturally tends to be up at more northerly latitudes, and while 2022 has seen centres in the southern half of Scandinavia struggle to maintain good cover, the north had a fairly cold and sometimes snowy April. Most of the region's big-name areas have now closed for 21-22 (or will do on May 1st in the case of centres like Are in Sweden), but the Finnish resorts of Ruka and Levi which opened for the season seven months ago, plan to make it to the 8th. Norway's three summer glacier resorts will also be opening with Fonna to start the month, then Galdhøpiggen in mid-May and Stryn at the start of June. Sweden's Riksgransen is also open and offers skiing and boarding under the midnight sun (from 7th to 21st May this year) as 24-hour daylight returns to the region 200km north of the Arctic Circle. 22nd May is closing day there with no plan to re-open for midsummer in June in 2022. North America It has been an odd season for North America, with many ski areas in the Western US posting more snowfall in April than in January to March combined. The snow was falling heavily through the latter half of April but unfortunately, the majority of ski areas have already closed. So where can you still ski? Well in the US, The Palisades had said it would close earlier than usual, on May 1st, due to the lousy winter, but then got dumped on and has so far extended its season first to mid-May, now to the end of the month, weekends only, saying it got 8 feet of snow in April. It joins Mammoth as the other Californian option. In Colorado Loveland is open to about the 8th, Winter Park probably an extra week beyond that, Breckenridge to the end of the month and Arapahoe Basin usually into June. In Utah to the north Snowbird remains open and is likely to remain so through the month. The Pacific Northwest scored highly with huge snowfalls in April and ended the month posting the deepest snow in the US. Timberline in Oregon, which aims to stay open through to the start of September with North America's longest season is therefore well placed to make it through. Mt Bachelor and (further north in Washington state) Crystal Mountain are both also aiming to stay open through May. Alaska's Alyeska ski area which has posted the deepest base of any ski area in North America for much of the season is open weekends to mid-May. In Canada Whistler Blackcomb in BC and Sunshine near Banff in BC are both due to stay open for the first three weeks of the month, with Whistler saying its Blackcomb Glacier will reopen for summer skiing boarding, although for private camps, not public access, in June, for the first time since 2019. Mt Bachelor aims to stay open through May. Lake Louise will stay open to the 8th and Vancouver's Grouse Mountain a week later to the 15th. The summer ski area at Beartooth Basin on the Montana/Wyoming border expects to open for its 2022 season on May 27th. Over in the east of the continent, Killington in Vermont is now the only area open, reporting the snow piled deep on its Superstar trail and hoping it'll last for most or all of the month. Asia Many of Japan's leading ski areas stay open up to the first week of May. Niseko still has snow lying more than two metres deep and is open until next Thursday, May 5th, although with the country's borders still closed to tourists that's only useful to those already in Japan. With temperatures in the +5 to +10C range too, you need to be keen to want to ski or board it at this time of year too – it's no longer the floaty, light powder for which Japan is famous. After most of the country's centres close later this week though, the Gassan summer ski area which only opened for its 2022 season in mid-April stays open through to July. It has opened with the world's deepest snowpack where it's still lying more than 8 metres deep. Southern Hemisphere South of the equator, excitement is building in the ski areas of South America, Southern Africa, New Zealand and Australia where the hope is that the 2022 season – the official start of which is now just over a month away – will be the closest to a normal one since 2019, with international guests allowed to return for the first time since then. Whilst pandemic concerns remain an unknown, the good news is that there have been some promising pre-season snowfalls in the Andes and New Zealand in the past month as well as temporary snow cover in Lesotho and Australia too. Actually the 2022 southern hemisphere ski season did already start, kind of, where Argentina's largest ski resort by uplift, Catedral near Bariloche, opened in April (29th and 30th) for the first time in its history after a 1.5m (5 foot) snowstorm in the final week of last month. It was limited terrain, a maximum of 30 people and for two days only, but it was the first to open on that side of the equator in 2022. The ski season is not due to properly get underway until the start of June. This winter it should be possible to travel to all ski areas in Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa and South America from abroad if nothing changes - and many areas have already posted some good pre-season autumn snowfalls, particularly the Andes. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 14th April 2022
A proper bluebird powder morning at La Clusaz, France last Sunday Powder up high, then high temps across the Alps The Snow Headlines - 14th April - World's deepest snowpack drops back below 5 metres. - A second successive weekend of heavy snowfall above 1800m in the Alps (rain below) - More big snowfalls in the Pacific Northwest. - First snowfalls of 2022 reported at Afriski, Lesotho, Southern Africa. - Ski areas in Scandinavia post up to 75cm of snowfall in 24 hours. - Japan's Gassan summer ski area opens for 2022, immediately posting a nine-metre base. - Les 2 Alpes announces plan to close then open again for snowsports in May. 
Spring snow at high altitudes for the northern hemisphere
World Overview Europe Somewhere between 70 and 80% of ski areas in Europe have now ended their 21-22 seasons, with mostly bigger, higher ski centres staying open to Easter and into next week. Those with higher slopes in the Alps, or at more northerly latitudes in Scandinavia, were the main beneficiaries of some decent weekend snowfalls with up to 60cm of snowfall reported (above 1800m in the alps) for the second successive weekend, and up to 75cm in 24 hours in northern Scandinavia – the biggest totals of the whole winter. The snowfall in the Alps arrived with gale-force winds which closed some higher areas on Saturday, and lower slopes got rain, so this all led to an unstable snowpack and high avalanche danger at times. Since then though things have been largely drier and sunnier - and rather warmer - with more stable conditions for Easter weekend. North America Another April week of weather extremes across North America with more significant accumulations up on high slopes in the Rockies, the Sierras, the Cascades and even in high and northerly points in the Midwest and Northeast. But there have also been gale force winds, rain and some very warm weather when and where it has not been snowing, so finding the best day to get on the slopes for a final blast of the season has been tricky. Many ski areas have now closed but around 100 across the continent are still open for Easter weekend and a sizable chunk of those hope to make it through to later this month and more than a dozen on into May. Europe Austria Austria's ski season is winding down fast now with most of the country's lower altitude ski areas closed or closing after Easter weekend. Several dozen ski areas will continue for another week - by mid-May there'll be more glacier areas open here than in any other country. The weekend's snow means these now have 2.5-3 metres lying on the high slopes and they have been reporting great conditions over the past week in the sunshine above the cloud. Hintertux and Dachstein glaciers are posting the deepest bases but the others are only a few centimetres below. France France reported the second weekend in a row of good snowfall above around 1800m. Some resorts actually did better than the previous weekend with Tignes and Val d'Isere reporting 70cm of fresh up high compared to 30cm. La Clusaz confirmed their reputation for late season snow with around 50cm of new snow over several days, best in the high altitude bowl of La Balme. There's an increasing altitude divide as lower ski areas have now lost snow cover below about 1500m, although many of these resorts have now closed for the season anyway and most of those that haven't will do after the Easter weekend. Temperatures have now climbed back up to very warm, particularly in lower valleys, although they're due to dip again over Easter with the chance of snow flurries up high to end the week. A dozen or so areas plan to continue to the end of the month with Les 2 Alpes announcing it will be closed for less than a month before re-opening at the end of May for summer skiing. Italy Italian ski areas have been closing down with many of the bigger areas in the Dolomites now closed and much of the Milky Way over in the west of the country too. The country's higher areas remain open, some seeing fresh snowfall at the weekend. Cervinia, for example, is aiming to stay open to the start of May and is currently posting the largest ski area still accessible in the country (or at least from Italy, with a large part of the 240km/150 miles in Switzerland). As with much of Europe, it has been largely warm, sunny and dry since Sunday with the freezing point above mountain peaks in the afternoons, dropping back down to around 1500m overnight. Switzerland Warm temperatures in Switzerland over the past few days, with highs of +20C reported below 1000m altitude in the valleys, +10C in the afternoons at altitude although dipping below freezing up high still overnight. About two-thirds of the country's centres are now closed but most of the well-known resorts have at least some terrain open. A number plan to make it through to May operations with Engelberg, posting the deepest base in the country of 3 metres up high, aiming to get through to the final weekend of next month. Scandinavia Scandinavia has been a good bet over the past week with some big snowfalls and (unlike the Alps) temperatures staying close to or below freezing, at least in the more northerly half of the region. Bjorli posted the biggest snowfall of 75cm in 24 hours at the weekend, but most centres – almost all of which remain open with many continuing through to the start of May – have had a decent dump. The exception is southern Scandinavia where centres have begun closing, in some cases, including Oslo's local centre, earlier than hoped. Pyrenees A mostly warm and sunny week in the Pyrenees too, although there was a bit of a midweek dip with some snow on higher slopes, and rain on lower runs. Many smaller, lower areas have now closed but the biggest in Andorra and Spain will make it to this weekend, and a few like La Molina have announced their intention to make it through to the start of May. Temperatures continue to climb towards 20C in the valleys, with rain more likely than snow on the slopes in coming showers. Scotland It looks like the season end is coming up fast in Scotland as the cold start to April has given way to warm, wet weather with the freezing point above the mountain tops. There's a lack of official season-end announcements at the time of writing. Glencoe is clearly open with about 40% of its slopes on the upper mountain still skiable. Glenshee announced it had closed for the season a month ago. Nevis Range appears to have moved to summer biking operations only. The Lecht did have beginner terrain with its all-weather snowmaking but was posting "no information" on the status midweek and Cairngorm also seems to have reached the end of the road for its 21-22 season due to the thaw of its final cover. Eastern Europe It's sunny and getting warm in the daytime in south-eastern Europe with afternoon highs of +5C in the mountains, +15C down in resorts although dropping back down below freezing overnight. The biggest area, Bansko, has ended its season but Borovets and Vitosha plan to re-open for the Easter weekend. It's currently looking like it could be a good one with temperatures set to dip back down and snow forecast to end the week. North America Canada A bit of an East-West divide in Canada in the run-up to Easter weekend with cold weather and snow still falling in the west, but plus temps and rain in the East. About three-quarters of Canadian areas including plenty of big-name resorts like Big White and Sun Peaks in the west are now closed but those still skiing and boarding in Alberta and BC should be able to find fresh powder this week. There's still more than a month of the season left too at Banff (Sunshine) and Whistler Blackcomb. The snow cover is more problematic in the East but the largest centre Tremblant remains open and posts the deepest snow and most terrain open there. USA There have been some quite significant snowfalls in the US West over the past few days. The biggest accumulations have been in the Pacific Northwest where several areas still have more than 15 feet of snow lying in Alaska (Alyeska) and Washington State (Mt Baker). Resorts like Heavenly and Mammoth posted 6 inches of fresh in drought-stricken California, and the Rockies saw up to a foot of snowfall on Tuesday-Wednesday. The less good news in the Northeast where the weather has turned warm and wet after a more wintery spell last weekend. As with everywhere across the northern hemisphere, many centres have closed for the season now with many more doing so after Easter Sunday although more than 30 plan to stay open to the latter half of the month. And that's a wrap for our weekly winter reports for this season, look out for our monthly round-ups from the 1st May! |
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J2Ski Snow Report 7th April 2022
Crans-Montana is hosting The Nines by Falken Freeride comp this week... Winter's back! For a while anyway... The Snow Headlines - 7th April - Weekend snow totals in the Alps are up to 60cm (two feet) - World's thickest snowpack now in North America after Asia held top spot all winter. - Strong winds temporarily close ski areas in the Western US. - Mt Baker in Washington state reports 51" (130cm) of snowfall in 48 hours. - Scottish ski centre closed in warm, dry March reopens in cold, snowy April. 
Winter having another go?
World Overview Europe The big change in the weather for April compared to March continues with the first big snowfalls in the Alps (and sub-zero temps down to valley floors) in about a month. The same amounts of snowfall, or more, are forecast for the end of this week too, so we may be getting back into a cycle. But of course, this is April and the overall trend is towards seasons ending and snow melting whatever happens. The Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees and northern parts of eastern Europe have all had fresh snow, as have Scandinavia and Scotland, so there's new snow to report almost everywhere this week. North America It has been a fairly typical spring week in Canada and the US with a mixture of warm weather and snow showers. The Pacific Northwest region has had several feet more snowfall and several resorts have announced extended seasons there. Up in Alaska, bases of over 5 metres (200") have now become the deepest in the world as the deeper bases (up to 6m/20 feet) reported at some ski areas in Japan have now thawed below that level. Elsewhere it's a different picture in California with a thin snowpack although some resorts there plan to stay open into May and there's been fresh snowfall. Fresh snow too in the Rockies and even the Northeast but the tide of season-end closures continues to build with most due to do so this coming weekend or the one after. Europe Austria After a snowy weekend in Austria which saw ski areas posting 20-40cm accumulations, it has been largely dry this week. Temperatures in the mountains have been cooler than they were in March, typically -5C to +5C, and about five degrees warmer down in the valleys. So the thaw continues and more than half of Austrian areas have now closed, or will have at the end of the ski day on Sunday, including the first of the country's big-name resorts. But there's more snow forecast to end this week, interspersed with sunny spells, so those going through to the end of the month or even into May like Ischgl, Kitzsteinhorn, the Stubai glacier, Solden or Obertauern are looking good. France There was the first significant snowfall for about a month for many French ski areas over last weekend with up to 60cm of new snow reported on higher slopes. Val d'Isere posted an old image of deep snow as an 'April Fish' (April fool) on the morning of the first, which fooled most people and led to accusations they'd made money by people booking under false expectations. They later said they'd actually received 30cm of new snow. It has been a little unsettled, though often sunny and less snowy over the midweek period since with temperatures at the base of the mountains getting back up to double figures. There's more snowfall moving in now though with more significant dumps expected over the next day or two and into the weekend. Italy There was snowfall in Italy too at the weekend with Bormio reporting one of the biggest accumulations in the Alps – 60cm up at 3,000m at the top of the slopes, about half that at mid-mountain and not much at the base – reflecting the difference altitude makes at this point in the season. It has been drier, mostly, for the past few days but there's more snowfall expected on Friday and Saturday, though for most areas it will be less than a week ago, more likely 10-20cm. Then we're back to full sunshine and fast-rising temperatures for most from Sunday. More than half of Italian ski areas have closed for the season, or will do from Sunday and the amount of terrain still accessible at those still open is dropping too. The Milky way has only half of its 400km of slopes open but the Cervinia-Zermatt area still has about 90% of its higher altitude slopes open, the largest area in or accessible from Italy at present. Switzerland A fairly snowy weekend in Switzerland with Verbier reporting a 50cm (20 inches) accumulation, greatly improving the below-average cover for the time of year there and in many Western Swiss centres. Resorts have been warning off-piste skiers and tourers of less substantial cover on glaciers making the dangers of, for example, falling into a crevasse, higher. On the slopes, the fresh snow has improved piste conditions and most larger Swiss centres are still open although some big names like Adelboden have closed along with sectors of big areas like St Moritz, whilst higher areas remain open. Engelberg, open to late May, has the country's deepest base upon its Titlis glacier at 3 metres/10 feet. Scandinavia Still fairly good conditions across much of Scandinavia with only more southerly parts of the region seeing regular positive temperatures and most largely resorts remaining at or below freezing still in the daytime. A fairly dry week for most so some great days were reported with long daylight hours now, pleasant temperatures and the snow still in good shape. There has been some fresh snowfall reported, up to 30cm (a foot) in fact in the north and west of the region. Unlike most other parts of Europe and North America, most major Scandinavian ski areas plan to stay open to the end of the month and in some cases even into April. Pyrenees Some occasional snow showers in the Pyrenees but more sunny spring weather dominating and temperatures at bases getting well into double figures above freezing, hastening the thaw. More ski areas, particularly in the French Pyrenees, including big names like St Lary, have now closed for the season and many more will join them this Sunday. But some of the big centres like Grandvalira in Andorra and Baqueira Beret in Spain remain open to easter or beyond and still have most of their terrain open. Scotland It has been cold and snowy in Scotland since the start of the month which has not exactly transformed conditions but has slowed the rapid snow loss that occurred through the warm, sunny weather in the latter half of March. The Lecht has re-opened, although only beginner terrain and thanks to its all-weather snowmaking machine making a good enough base. Cairngorm has stayed open although, by contrast, it says no beginner terrain is available. Nevis Range also has higher runs open and Glencoe continues to have the most runs available in the country. Eastern Europe We are into the last week or two of the season for most ski areas in Eastern Europe although Borovets is expecting to stay open through to the end of the month. Things have finally turned more springlike there over the past week following a cold and snowy March but snow cover is reported to be still good thanks to that March snow, just thawing fast down in the valleys. There has been fresh snowfall in the northeast of the region with ski areas like Jasna reporting 20-40cm of snow. North America Canada Canadian resorts are largely divided between the majority that close in the first half of April and the rest that stay open to the end of the month or into May. Most fall into the first category and either ended the seasons last weekend or will do this, despite snow still falling. Quite a lot of it too - Kicking Horse in BC reported 20cm in 24 hours on Wednesday and nearly double that since Sunday, so it's a powdery end to the season there. Quieter in the East where Mont Tremblant continues to post the most terrain open. Sunshine at Banff, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin to the north and Whistler over on the Pacific Coast are among the Canadian areas staying open into May. USA More snowfall reported for most mountainous areas in the US over the past week, but when not snowing there's also been some very warm weather. On top of this strong winds have been a major factor in the west in recent days too with ski areas on the Pacific Coast closed by gales at the start of the week and in the Rockies at midweek. More ski areas have closed for the season last weekend and more big names including Jackson Hole are due to close this coming weekend. But others are powering through to the end of the month and even staying open into May. Mount Baker in Washington state reported 51" (130cm) of snowfall in 48 hours at the start of the week and has announced an extended season by a week to the 24th. Killington in Vermont, the largest ski area in the eastern US, has announced it is still snowmaking during cold spells overnight in order to keep its main Superstar trail open through May. |
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