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J2Ski Snow Report 6th January 2022
Sunset at Cervinia, Italy today... Good snowfall reported from the US and Japan, top-ups coming for Europe... The Snow Headlines - 6th January - Warm temperatures at New Year, in The Alps, before cold this week. - Resorts in the Rockies fully open after up to 7 feet (2.1m) of snowfall in 7 days. - 7 Day snowfall totals in Japan reach 2.4m (8 feet). - Snowfall returns to Scottish slopes after a warm end to 2021. - Travel restrictions ease (a bit) for UK skiers. 
See where it's going to snow this week...
World Overview Europe Something of a weather rollercoaster for the Alps over the past seven days with a very warm end to 2021 bringing rain to some low-lying areas at the end of last week before temperatures started to drop away this week. Fresh snowfall was reported for many in the past 48 hours. The warm weather also impacted the Dolomites, Pyrenees and Scotland and World Cup races in Croatia saw temperatures reach +10C there. On the upside though, at the time of writing at least, pretty much all ski areas are open and most have almost all their terrain open to spread out bumper numbers reported over the festive period. Early season snowfall in the first half of December is forming the bulk of the base which isn't yet spectacular and hasn't been added to much for three weeks now, but is still good enough in most areas for them to be able to open almost all of their terrain. North America The Western US is in great shape after the huge snowstorms that ended December. Resorts quickly forgot about the warm and dry November and the first half of December as they excitedly talked about a 'legendary month' and focussed on 50-60inch (4-5 feet/1.2-1.5m) snowfalls in the last week of 2021 in the US Rockies. And why not? Most were able to fully open all their terrain for the first time this season for the peak New Year week. Further west along the Pacific coast the snowstorms have been heavier still, so the big effort this past week has been digging everything out in order to open, in many cases as the snow keeps falling. The picture is improving in the East and Midwest but remains more mixed and in places problematic, particularly at more southerly latitudes. On the one hand, some resorts have seen 1-2 feet (30-60cm) of snow in the past week, on the other some have been forced to close for lack of snow still and too warm temperatures for snowmaking. North of the border it has warmed up to more bearable levels in the West where last week conditions were described as 'dangerously cold' and some centres had to close temporarily because of it. In Eastern Canada, there had been similar issues to the eastern US but here the more northerly latitude has kept things consistently cold and it's a fast-improving picture. Across the Pacific, it is worth mentioning Japan is seeing snowfalls of similar intensity to California, with Nozawa Onsen posting an eight-foot (2.4m) accumulation over New Year. Europe Austria Austria was one of the countrys most impacted by the warmer temperatures at the weekend with a lot of centres seeing rain to quite high elevations. However, the new week has seen temperatures drop back down to be largely sub-zero right down to the valley floor and there's been fresh snowfall in many areas over the past few days. In fact, we've gone so far the other way where it was +15C in some valleys at New Year we're now seeing -20C on some glaciers. Overall, therefore, the picture moving forward is pretty good. More snow would be welcome as depth-building has rather stalled since mid-December, but all resorts are open and most have almost all their terrain open too. Thanks to those early December accumulations, although depths are not spectacular, they're mostly adequate. France France suffered from the warm weekend temperatures as well, although at higher elevations this wasn't so noticeable and most skiers and boarders just enjoyed the hundreds of kilometres of slopes open at the big areas. The early December snow totals meant that (unless heading off-piste) it was hard to notice any snowfall issues. Temperatures have plummeted here since Monday and most resorts are now enjoying sub-zero numbers day and night right down to the valley. It's also turned snowy and the most fortunate areas may see as much as two feet (60cm) of fresh snow by the end of the weekend, turning things around completely. Les Menuires was one of the first to post fresh snowfall totals, reporting 20cm on Wednesday afternoon. Italy There's been fresh snow falling in Italy over the past few days too with more snow forecast this weekend. Conditions otherwise have also been much the same as elsewhere in Europe with a warm weekend over New Year followed by a temperature drop. Most of the country's ski areas are fully open but some are posting the thinnest bases for major resorts in Europe, particularly around the milky Way/Via Lattea with Sestriere reporting only a 20-40cm base and half of its terrain yet to open. It's cold with sunshine and light snow showers there at present but a heavier fall is expected at the weekend. Switzerland Swiss areas suffered the warm spell like the rest of Europe but as elsewhere December snow accumulations saw ski areas through. The 4 Valleys, including Verbier, report the largest area open in the country with most of the 410km or so of runs open, although you can ski a larger area from the Swiss side of the Portes du Soleil. Andermatt has the deepest base at 2.4 metres (8 feet) on its upper slopes but the whole country could do with a fresh snow boost. There is some snow forecast but not so much here, perhaps 10-20cm at the weekend in Valais, less, alas, further east. Scandinavia Consistently cold across Scandinavia but with varied weather patterns, snowfall most recently in Norway and up in Finnish Lapland but looking heavier for Sweden over the next few days, but with north/south divisions too. It's not been an epic start to the season but the leading resort of Are, Sweden now has about 80% of its runs open and most other ski areas in the region are at a similar point. There have not really been the big powder dumps we're used to in western Norway so far though. Pyrenees The Pyrenees have clung on to their title of having the deepest bases in Europe, but here too temperatures have been very warm with no fresh snowfall to talk of. That said the early December snow accumulations mean that most areas are able to maintain full operations, more or less. As with elsewhere in Europe it's now much colder and snowing with light to moderate accumulations expected over the next few days and hopefully, heavier falls at the weekend. Scotland Scotland's five ski centres had a battle to keep terrain open as temperatures soared towards record highs over the New year weekend, reaching 10C+. All the natural snow cover had already gone during a warm Christmas week but the snow made by all-weathers snowmaking was still there and being topped up. Most managed to keep operating and Glenshee, in particular, maintained a white ribbon a hundred metres or so long. Most sold out of the limited availability tickets. Things have improved a lot since the start of this week however with colder temperatures and snow showers, indeed full-scale blizzard conditions to start the week. Glencoe announced that the season start was now officially 'pending'. Eastern Europe A mixed bag of weather for Eastern Europe with some powder pockets reported through the weekend in Bulgaria but overall the region has been suffering, if anything, warmer weather than further East. The leading Czech Republic area of Spindleruv Mlyn reported only about a third of its 30km of slopes could open and Croatia, hosting the Snow Queen and Snow King FIS slalom races this week looked rather sad with +10C temperatures and brown snow for racers to try to battle down on. But it has got colder in recent days and larger resorts like Bansko have most of their terrain open still, the snow more than a metre deep on the upper mountain. North America Canada Whistler Blackcomb has taken the top spot in Canada over New Year for the most terrain open in the country and in North America and the deepest base in the country too, at 2.6 metres. It's a big turnaround from the issues it faced pre-Christmas with warm, weather impacting the opening of lower slopes. That comes as temperatures that had got below -30C at times in Alberta and BC rose again to closer to freezing making for much more tolerable conditions. On the Eastern side of the country, warm temperatures before Christmas are also passing into memory, hopefully, and ski areas are opening more runs here too. Fresh snowfalls have been reported right across Canada. USA A largely excellent picture for much of the US with lots more snowfall in the West and some snow in the Midwest and Northeast after several areas in California set December snowfall records at the end of last week, almost all the snow arriving in the final fortnight of the month. Mammoth, with over 14 feet (4.2 metres) of snow lying on its upper mountain, is posting the country's, continent's and world's deepest base at present and is the only ski area with more than a 4m/13-foot base. It's also fully open. The stormy weather that ended last year has continued for the first week of 2022 with several resorts in Oregon and Washington State reporting power outages and blocked roads due to fresh snow volumes. There have also been lift closures across the west due to strong winds and the avalanche danger is high. In the East, ski areas in states like Maine and Vermont have reported some decent snowfalls but bases remain modest and the battle to open more terrain is ongoing. Some ski areas further south have greater issues and centres in states like Connecticut, West Virginia and Ohio are having difficulty opening due to warm, dry conditions dominating there still. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 30th December 2021
Andermatt, Switzerland, looking pretty snowy in the sun today... Big snow for the US, sun for Europe but snow coming... The Snow Headlines - 30th December - Up to 11 feet (3m) of snowfall reported in second big fall in a fortnight in US West. - Almost all northern hemisphere's ski areas open for first time in 22 months. - Ski areas in parts of Canada closed due to 'dangerous cold'. - World's largest ski areas in the Alps fully open for first time since March 2020. - Ski areas open in more than 50 countries worldwide. - World's Deepest base, in California, Passes 15 feet (4.5m) for first time in 21/22. - Ski slopes reported crowded all over the world as people seek outdoor recreation. 
Powder time (again) in Japan, more snow for the US, and fresh on the way for Europe.
World Overview Europe It continues to be a nervous time in Europe with the Omicron variant of COVID 19 surging now in most ski nations. However as yet (and these things can change by the hour), all of the continent's ski nations have been holding their nerve and keeping ski areas open. Instead there are increased border restrictions for those arriving (or blocked from arriving) from the highest infection nations and stricter controls on public gatherings. So a very different mindset to a year ago when most of Europe's ski areas were closed. Instead, Christmas week has seen the 3 Valleys offer 550km of open slopes, the biggest skiable area open since the start of March 2020. It's a similar picture for the other big ski areas. The past week has seen limited snowfall after the heavier falls earlier in December and the start of the New Year this weekend will be mild before a return to cold next week, and it remains a good start to the season for snow cover overall. North America North America has been the world focus for snowfall over the past week with ski areas on the West Coast reporting a second series of huge snowstorms. Mammoth Mountain has the world's deepest base now at 4.5 metres while The Palisades reported its snowiest ever December – with 199 inches (5 metres) so far. The snowfalls also translated into big dumps further inland for parts of the Rockies and there was some snow further east too, so it's an improving picture across the country. To the north, it has been very cold, with some snowfall. On the one hand, these conditions have allowed ski areas across the continent to open up more terrain to meet surging demand, reported for the holiday season and further boosted by peoples' desire to get outdoors. On the other, these weather extremes have caused some issues with ski area operations. Resorts in California were closed due to blocked roads, buried lifts and extreme avalanche danger, in Western Canada because conditions were "dangerously cold" and still in the east and Midwest due to issues with warm weather and rain, although these are diminishing. Europe Austria Austrian ski areas continued to report excellent conditions over most of the past week and all of the country's ski areas are now open (most fully open). The Arlberg, Silvretta and Skiwelt regions have all been reporting over 200km of runs open for the Christmas-New Year period, but most resorts have 70-90% of their terrain open, some 100%. There's not been much fresh snowfall in the past week, although some did report a freshen up Tuesday/Wednesday and unfortunately, temperatures have been rising (meaning there's been low-level rain for some) over the past few days. Temperatures should start to dip again at the end of a sunny New Years' weekend with more snowfall likely next week. France Conditions are reported to be largely excellent in France with all of the country's ski areas now open and after almost two years the world's biggest areas like Les Portes du Soleil and the 3 Valleys each posting at least 90% of their terrain open – more than 500km each. Snow conditions are pretty excellent in most areas too, particularly on the groomed runs, with many resorts seeing a 15-25cm top up last weekend and Val d'Isere among those reporting another 15cm on Wednesday. The only downside really has been a rise in temperatures for the start of the New Year which means +10C at resort level for some in recent days, but up above 2000m things are mostly remaining sub-zero. Snow is in the forecast for next week. Italy The Christmas period saw World Cup racing first at Val Gardena, Alta Badia and Madonna di Campiglio before Christmas and then the famous downhill at Bormio, along with a couple of super Gs this year, as the first races for the men after Christmas. Those who watched will have seen Italy's Dominic Paris win the downhill for the sixth time. They'll also have noted the snow conditions were changeable due to the fast-rising temperatures and growing humidity at Bormio this week, the same as elsewhere in the Alps and dolomites. Despite that, (hopefully short-lived trend) conditions in Italy are the best for 22 months in that all ski areas are open and most are fully open, or nearly so. Switzerland Swiss ski centres are reporting excellent conditions although here too temperatures have been warm and are rising. As with the rest of the major alpine nations, most of the country's ski areas are close to fully open. The 4 Valleys now has most of its 400km+ of runs open, the largest area wholly in Switzerland that's open, although you can ski more than 500km of runs from the Swiss side of the Portes du Soleil, where the majority of runs open are on the French side. Scandinavia The ski season continues to gather pace in Finland, Norway and Sweden with temperatures in the far north slightly warmer as the end of the polar-night period approaches, but still typically 10-20C below freezing. Snow cover is not particularly deep anywhere in the region yet but nonetheless, most areas have 50-80% of their terrain open already and a 40-80cm base. Pyrenees The region's biggest resorts like Grandvalira in Andorra and Baqueira Beret in Spain are more or less fully open with over 160km (1200 miles) of slopes open. There's been little fresh snow for three weeks and here too temperatures are unfortunately quite high at the moment but with 2-3m of snow lying that's not a huge issue. Most resorts were either completely closed or only operating on a very limited basis last season so this is very much the best for nearly two years. Scotland A proper 21-22 season is yet to get started in Scotland, at least in terms of there being much terrain open. In fact, most of the country's ski centres have managed to open limited terrain, thanks to cold and snow in the first half of December and more recently, their all-weather snowmaking machine. But unfortunately what's currently open is limited to 100 metres or so of runs at most at best. The picture isn't being helped by a return to milder temperatures this week. Eastern Europe It's a good start to the season in eastern Europe thanks to some big mid-December snowfalls. The snow is already lying over a metre deep at the region's leading resorts like Bansko, Jasna and Pamporovo, at least on upper slopes. The Christmas week has seen a mixed bag of weather with some strong winds and rain at low levels at times, but overall it's a positive picture. North America Canada Arguably the biggest skiing news of the week in Canada has been the very low temperatures, which are of course not unusual for the country but perhaps have arrived slightly early this winter. Lows dropping below -30C saw some ski areas, including those around Banff, close for several days due to the 'dangerous cold'. On the upside, resorts like Red Mountain and Whistler in the south and west of the region that had been battling unseasonably warm temperatures and rain rather than snow are at least now cold enough. Indeed, Whistler Blackcomb can now claim its rightful place of having the most terrain open in North America, with over 80% of its runs open, more than 220 trails. In the East an improving picture too. Here a lot of areas still only have 30-60% of their runs open after a warm, wet Fall, but it is cold and some centres have had 15-30cm of fresh snow in the past week. With snowmaking-friendly conditions at last too things are looking much better. USA The big snow news for North America came on the continent's West Coast where a second series of huge storms off the Pacific in as many weeks brought massive dumps of snow to California from the end of last week to the start of this. With strong winds, high avalanche danger and poor visibility, a number of ski areas in the region had to mostly or fully shut down for several days. Now they've largely re-opened to fabulous conditions. Although most excessive in California, there have been good snowfalls (typically 1-4 feet over the past 7 days), at ski areas across the West. Mount Baker in Washington state was challenging ski areas in the French Pyrenees for the 'deepest base in the world' title at around 3.5 metres (12 feet) after Christmas (although it has now been overtaken by Californian areas). It's a much-improved picture in the Rockies, at least in some parts (four feet this week for Crested Butte). Other areas like Park City are still struggling to obtain enough cover to open at least half their terrain. Further east it's also still a mixed picture with some fresh snowfall and consistently low temperatures but there's still a battle underway to regain early-season losses and open everything up. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 23rd December 2021
Deer Valley, waiting for a few feet of snow to arrive! It's on the way... Merry Xmas Everyone! The Snow Headlines - 23rd December - Almost all ski resorts now open (the most since early March 2020). - A second giant snowstorm currently hitting California. - Austria requires Brits to have had vaccine booster to enter without quarantine. - Europe's heaviest snowfall this week reported in the southeast – Bulgaria & Serbia. - Improving picture across US although parts of the Rockies and New England still on catch up. - Scotland's Cairngorm ski slopes fully booked into New Year. - Europe's deepest snow reported in Pyrenees – 3.5m/12-foot snowpack. 
It's powder time in Japan, some big snows in the US forecasts, and top-ups for Europe.
World Overview Europe After the big snowfalls in the Alps and Pyrenees a fortnight ago, it has been a second predominantly dry and sunny week across much of Europe. Temperatures have remained low in mountain regions though and with blue skies and plenty of early season snow, it's one of the best starts to the season in years. It's also the first for two years when all ski areas can open - so long as they have snow cover. No European nation is currently stopping their ski areas from opening, although there are growing restrictions on travel and stricter limits on operating. The snowfall that has been reported has mostly been in Scandinavia or in Southeastern Europe where ski areas in countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey have all reported some great dumps in the past week. Fresh snowfall is expected back in the Alps though for the upcoming Christmas Weekend. North America It's still an improving picture for much of North America after the poor weather conditions of the past few months set opening schedules behind. The past week saw more good snowfalls in the West, The Rockies and on the East Coast but it is still a game of catch-up with the battle to open more terrain for Christmas and New Year weeks ongoing and mother nature still not fully playing ball - with warm weather continuing to impact the Eastern side of the country in particular. Virtually all leading areas have now opened and in the West, some centres have had several feet of snow over the past seven days. Up in the part of the continent that has had a great start to the season – the Northern Rockies in BC and Alberta Canada, there's been still more snow and everything is open. Another huge snowfall is just getting started on the Pacific Coast and is expected to last through the Christmas weekend. Europe Austria Austria has re-opened after its 20-day lockdown and more or less all of the country's 500+ ski areas are open again, with great conditions for Christmas week with plenty of snow from falls earlier this month. The last seven days have been the second week of largely sunny weather, temperatures around the freezing mark. It is just starting to cloud over now and snowfall is forecast for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day although not everywhere and probably quite light snowfall for most. On Wednesday the country announced new restrictions on skiers arriving from Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway and the UK who now need to have had their booster to be allowed to enter without having to quarantine - and also to have a negative PCR test. France The French season continues to have an excellent start with almost all areas now open and most fully or nearly fully open thanks to the heavy snowfalls the country received a fortnight ago. Bases are also good for this point in the season, the deepest at 3 metres down in the Pyrenees. It has been another fairly sunny week almost everywhere and on-piste conditions are great. Off-piste it is a more mixed picture with the fresh snow getting older and some reports of snowpack instability. Brits remain banned from France which is particularly upsetting some resorts like Val d'Isere where they'd normally be making up the lion's share of Christmas and New Year business. Snowy weather is forecast to return over the coming Christmas weekend. Italy This has been the week when Italian ski slopes are on TV screens around the world thanks to World Cup ski racing in Madonna di Campiglio, Val Gardena and Alta Badia. Fortunately, the country showed off its best conditions with sunshine and plenty of snow right down to the valley floor. There hasn't been any fresh snowfall this week but things are looking good after falls earlier this month. It's very different to a year ago when there was a strict lockdown, instead almost all ski areas are now open and most with all their terrain. Switzerland Swiss slopes are in good shape, with more snow in the forecast to start next week. Virtually all of the country's ski areas are now open and the largest areas are doing battle to see which can open the most for Christmas week. Verbier and Zermatt both have more than 200km (125 miles) of runs open already and look set to step it up a further notch this weekend. Scandinavia Ski areas are now open across Scandinavia but it's not really an epic start to the season yet with ski areas in the southern part of the continent struggling to get adequate cover and nowhere reporting any really good snowfall as yet. Against that, business is booming with the operator of several of the region's leading resorts, Skistar, announcing an all-time high in bookings. The biggest area, Are in Sweden, has about half of its runs open in the run-up to Christmas. Pyrenees The difference between the Pyrenees last Christmas - when nothing was open – and this Christmas with everywhere open and the deepest snowpack in Europe – is remarkable. Base depths of 2.5-3.5 metres on upper slopes are the norm after big early-December snowfalls and Spain's Baqueira Beret and Andorra's Grandvalira have been competing to see who could open the most terrain, both offering around 160km (100 miles) of slopes. There is snowfall forecast over the Christmas weekend. Scotland After the promising start to December Scottish ski centres saw very warm weather through the latter half of last week which melted much of it away. However, the season officially began for four of them (not Nevis Range) last weekend. Cairngorm created the largest area with its large SnowFactory all-weather snowmaking machine, a 150-metre slope, but immediately announced all the limited tickets available had sold out into the New Year. The Lecht and Glenshee also opened very small nursery slope areas and Glencoe have similar next to their sledging run. Temperatures have now dropped again and snow is forecast for the Christmas weekend. Eastern Europe It's been an excellent first week or two of the season across Eastern Europe. Ski areas have been posting images of very deep snow and the snow depth numbers are at 1-2 metres already in countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and even Turkey. Bansko was one of the resorts that opened last weekend reporting excellent conditions and most of its terrain open from day one. North America Canada The Canadian Rockies have had the best conditions in North America for nearly two months now and that hasn't changed very much in the past week, with still more snow for the ski areas around Banff and Jasper on the Alberta side and the likes of Kicking Horse and recently-opened Fernie over on the BC side of the Provincial border. These continue to have the most runs open (100km or so) and deepest snow (up to 2m) in the country. The only real competition for them has come from south of the border in the past seven days with huge snowfalls in California and other regions in the US West as well as further south in the Rockies in Utah and southern California. But it is an improving picture elsewhere in BC with Whistler Blackcomb piling up the snow up top, if not at lower elevations, now with about half its terrain open. In the east, there was the forecast setback at the end of last week with another unusually warm spell but it has been colder and a little snowier again in recent days. So still behind the normal position for Christmas and New Year, but much better than it was. USA An improving picture across the US but with some way to go before we're at normal levels of snow depth and terrain open for large parts of the continent. There has been snow though for most areas. The most marked change continues to be in the West which has had several more feet of snow and it's falling again here now, heavily in California, whereas for most of the rest of the continent it's drier - though snow is expected almost everywhere over the Christmas weekend. Mammoth Mountain, open since late October, is now one of the few areas reporting that it's fully open and also in a select group with the snow lying more than 80 inches (2 metres) deep, so it's looking good. Another system of storms is just getting underway on the Pacific Coast, expected to bring very strong winds and metres more snowfall. Further East the Rockies have had some good snowfalls up high, particularly in Southern Colorado and Utah at the end of last week, but sunny since and most areas are still only partially open, though of course aiming to open more for the busy fortnight ahead. Still more problematic in the East where again there has been some snowfall, Killington reporting a foot of snow at the weekend, but only after another few very warm days. But whilst the past week has been drier it has finally been consistently sub-zero also snowmaking systems can operate and hopefully, it will be a happily snowy New year. Enjoy the first holiday weekend, and we'll be back with our last report of 2021 next week... |
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When are you going, and what sort of skiing are you after? There are many options from Geneva!
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J2Ski Snow Report 16th December 2021
Mammoth Mountain got hosed this week... Powder for America, as the sun comes out in Europe The Snow Headlines - 16th December - Snowfall at last across most of North America. - Austria and Slovakia end quick lockdowns meaning ski resorts can open in all countries. - Huge snowfalls in the Alps and the Pyrenees lead to 'best start in years' claims. - Big snowfalls at last after warm dry Fall on North America's Pacific coast. - High avalanche danger in Western Alps and Pyrenees follows massive snowfalls. - Most of Scotland's ski areas open for the season. - Excellent conditions for the season start in Eastern Europe. In less welcome news for UK skiers; France locks out holidaymakers... for now... 
Snow inbound for America and Japan...
World Overview Europe As far as snow is concerned, the season is getting off to what some are claiming the best start this century in the Alps and the Pyrenees after huge snowfalls at the end of last week gave way to clear skies and sunshine this week. Bases have reached up to 3 metres (10 feet) already, unusual for mid-December, after up to 1.4 metres (nearly five feet) of snowfall at the end of last week. The snow did of course cause access and avalanche danger issues but these have since stabilised. In further good news both Austria and Slovakia, the only two countries that had been limiting ski area openings in short-term late-November lockdowns announced that resorts could open to tourism. This means that for the first time since March last year, all ski areas can open and most now have; the rest set to join them this weekend. Travel does remain an issue of course with most countries operating ever-stricter testing regimes with vaccination certificates required by many. France today announced restrictions on travel from the UK. Elsewhere in Europe countries on the eastern side of the continent have also been opening with deep snow bases after pre-season falls and four of Scotland's five centres managed to open some limited terrain at the weekend. North America It has been the best week for some time across North America with most of the continent's main ski regions seeing some decent snowfalls. The headlines have been taken by the Pacific Coast where ski areas have gone from being the most impacted by the previously lacklustre fall weather (dry and warm) and been dumped on over the first half of this week to such an extent that resorts have gone from being unable to open for lack of snow to being unable to open due to there being too much of it! Up to 7 feet (2 metres) has fallen in some places causing logistical issues and extreme avalanche danger. But that's now being mitigated and resorts are opening with instant good bases. There's been snow for the Rockies and the east, greatly improving things but some centres still have catching up to do. Europe Austria There's a big sigh of relief in Austria as the government announced, almost as soon as we sent out last week's report, that ski areas would be able to re-open to tourism from last Sunday after the country's three-week lockdown ended. Ski areas in Tirol did so almost straight away but other regions like Carinthia and Salzburgerland will do so at the end of this week. The re-opening announcement coincided with some great snowfalls (although in some cases accompanied by stormy conditions at high altitudes). So when resorts did re-open it has been with superb pre-Christmas early-season skiing at most, with fresh, deep snow and blue skies. If Omicron wasn't hanging over everything it would be complete perfection! Austria's rules remain strict with only vaccinated or recovered people allowed to ski. France Conditions are superb in France after huge snowfalls in both the French Alps and the French Pyrenees. The volumes of snow were causing issues at the end of last week with many resorts warning of high avalanche danger both on access roads and up on the slopes. This led to terrain closures on Friday and Sunday. The skies began to clear at the start of the new week though, with excellent conditions and fresh snow. Most of the country's leading ski areas are now open with the remainder due to follow this weekend. Alpe d'Huez and Tignes/Val d'Isere are both currently reporting the most terrain open, about 150km of ruins each. Italy Almost all of Italy's ski areas are now open – a higher proportion than the other major Alpine nation – although pretty much everywhere is expected to be open from this weekend. Conditions are reported to be good for the time of year across the country. Val Garden is posting one of the largest amounts of terrain open anywhere at the moment ahead of them and Alta Badia hosting upcoming World Cup racing. Snow depths are also fairly good to very good across Italy, with the most fresh snow and deepest bases in the Alps on the Western side of the country. Switzerland Sublime conditions in the Swiss Alps too after plenty of snowfall at the end of last week and again skies clearing now. Engelberg has the deepest reported base in the Alps, approaching 3 metres and the cross-border areas of Samnaun-Ischgl and Zermatt-Cervinia are posting the most terrain open of any ski areas in the world at present – about 200km of runs each. The 4 Valleys with 155km makes three Swiss entries in the world top four. Most of the country's leading ski areas are now open for the season. Currently, the weather here looks like it will stay sunny at least to the middle of next week. Scandinavia All of Scandinavia's larger ski centres are now open but there's not quite the snowy abundance here as there is in the Alps, so far at least. Although snow depths and quality are good to the north, the cover is thin and terrain open limited at more southerly latitudes in the region. The biggest resort Are, so far has less than a quarter of its terrain open, although that will no doubt increase for Christmas week. Pyrenees Like the Alps, the Pyrenees have had a remarkable week or two of heavy snowfall and are also reporting superb conditions as the main season begins. Ski resorts reported up to 1.5m (five feet) of snowfall at the end of last week which caused avalanche danger levels to hit 4 on the scale to 5 and several smaller resorts to close for a few days while things were made safe. Others, like Baqueira Beret, dropped from having 130km of runs open to just 7km on Sunday whilst slopes were secured. Now the sun is back out, resorts in the region are posting some of the deepest bases in the world at present, and it is definitely looking good for the season ahead. Scotland Scotland's ski centres seemed to almost surprise themselves by opening last weekend. After a few weeks of cold and snowy weather, centres had a good snow covering but not to a great depth, however. Glenshee announced late Thursday it would open last Friday for the weekend and then Glencoe, Cairngorm and the Lecht which had previously said they probably wouldn't open, decided they would too. Most have closed again midweek as unfortunately there's been a big rise in temperatures to +10-12C which clearly isn't good news for the thin cover, but currently most plan to open from this weekend for the season, probably making use of their all-weather snowmaking machines. Eastern Europe Conditions are looking good in much of Eastern Europe where all of the region's leading resorts are already open or, in the case of a number remaining including the largest, Bulgaria's Bansko, opening this coming weekend. Some centres, including Serbia's Kopaonik, have posted huge pre-season snowfalls and even those not quite so blessed seem to have had some decent early snowfalls. Slovakia, which had had a very short sharp lockdown announced ski areas could re-open at the end of last week so centres there, including the largest - Jasna, are all now open. North America Canada Canada's Alberta and Eastern BC have had the best early season conditions in North America for over a month now and with another foot (30cm) of snow reported in the past week, there's no sign of that changing much. Ski areas including lake Louise and Sunshine near Banff still have the country's deepest bases and the most terrain open in North America although Alyeska in Alaska has overtaken them for the deepest snow in North America. It's an improving picture elsewhere in BC and further east in Quebec and Ontario. All these regions seem to still be running behind with only limited terrain open but they have been reporting plenty of snowfall in the past week and mostly cold weather (although there was a warm-weather 'blip' on the East on Wednesday) so a gradually if not rapidly improving picture. The continent's largest ski area at Whistler Blackcomb is reported to have about a third of its terrain open so far and nearly 2 metres of snow lying up in the alpine, but still very thin cover down in resort. USA It is looking much better in the US than seven days ago (and during the six weeks before that). In the Rockies, ski areas have reported up to three feet (90cm) of snowfall (Crested Butte and Wolf Creek); there's been a lot of snowfall in New England and other Eastern states too. The big snowfall headlines come from the Pacific Coast though where the Palisades reported five feet (1.5m) of snowfall at its base on Wednesday and most other ski areas in California reported at least four feet of snow. This of course caused problems opening as slopes needed to be made avalanche safe and access roads cleared as well as lifts dug out. With many areas running two to four weeks behind their planned opening dates and Christmas just around the corner this was done with maximum alacrity and a swathe of resorts announced opening dates over the past few days, or at the latest this coming weekend. Pretty much everywhere should be open for the run-up to Christmas from Saturday. But things are not yet quite perfect. Things are so far behind what they should be many areas remain on catch up, so while it's a much better picture, it's not yet back to business as usual. The country's largest ski area, Park City in Utah, for example, says it still has less than 20% of its huge ski area open and that the valley run remains closed for now. |
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That does look good! Make some tracks for those of us the wrong end of a journey there...
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J2Ski Snow Report 9th December 2021
Snoworks Ski Courses, Tignes, enjoying the powder... Powder in the Alps, and elsewhere... The Snow Headlines - 9th December - Hundreds of ski areas now open for the first time since March 2020. - Val Gardena the first area to open more than 100 miles of trails this winter. - After a dry Fall, a series of storms, some snow-bearing, hit North America. - Ischgl opens more terrain than anywhere else in the Alps, only for locals for now. - Heavy snowfall in Hawaii! - Another metre of snow for slopes around Banff in Canada. - Decision imminent on whether Austrian ski areas can resume tourism from Monday. - Largest resorts open in Scandinavia for 21-22 season. - First ski areas opening in Eastern Europe for 21-22 season. - One BC reports record opening snow depth, another delays opening for too little snow. 
Snow in the forecast for Europe, America and Japan...
World Overview Europe In most respects, it has been a very good week for European skiing. Hundreds of ski areas opened at the weekend, the majority of them not having opened since the start of the first lockdown in March last year. Not only that but it has been dumping down so there's loads of snow everywhere, some resorts in Austria and France reporting accumulations of up to a metre (40") over the last seven days. The snowfall in France and Western Switzerland/Italy has been particularly heavy and a great sign this early in the season. Against that of course there's the ongoing fear of the virus, particularly the new omicron variant and that ski areas will be shut down again as a result. So far though governments have reacted by tightening border restrictions, requiring more testing, and at ski areas possession of the covid passport to ride the lifts. North America Things are starting to improve on North American ski slopes although we don't yet seem to be in full winter – except in a few northerly locations. However, the warm, dry weather that has plagued much of the continent for much of the past few months (after some promising early snow in October!) has been shaken up by a series of storms moving across the continent this week from West to East. These are still ongoing and the jury is out somewhat on just how much good they'll do, the problem is some are coming in on warm air and actually raising temperatures again and bringing rain to some areas. Ski areas from Colorado to Quebec have been reporting some fresh snow at least in recent days. More promising cold and (hopefully) powder-bearing fronts are coming over and these now look like they're the start of a trend and "winter reset" for the latter half of the month. More and more areas have been opening, those already open have been scraping together more terrain to open and the overall movement is definitely in the right direction. Special mention is also needed for the ski areas around Banff as well as those of Eastern BC including Kicking Horse and Sun Peaks which have seen some of the biggest snowfalls in the world and have the deepest snow and most terrain open on the continent at present. Europe Austria Austria remains in lockdown but we should learn any day now if that is due to end on Sunday or be extended. Although tourism is banned and hotels and restaurants must stay closed, ski areas can open for local people to enjoy their empty slopes, so long as they're vaccinated, and more and more have been doing so, obviously in the hope that they can re-join the rest of Europe next week. The country's largest ski area by some measures, Saalbach, was one of them, as was Ischgl, which unveiled 126km of open slopes on Saturday, the most in the world at this point. They have also been helped by pretty good snow conditions with most areas getting 30-60cm of fresh snowfall at the end of last week, and many getting more at the weekend. It was a dry start to the week but for many, the snow is now falling again making December very good so far for snowfall. France It's safe to say that despite tightening COVID regulations this has been the best week in French ski resorts since the start of March last year. More than 40 areas have opened for winter 21-22, most not having been open for lift-served skiing for more than 20 months, and the icing on the cake was heavy snowfall for opening weekend, with resorts in the Tarentaise reporting up to 40cm in 24 hours. Temperatures have stayed very low, double-digits below freezing in the mountains and sub-zero in most resorts down in the valleys too so the snow is now building bases for the season. Most of the rest of the country's resorts are scheduled to open this coming weekend. There was more heavy snowfall on Tuesday/Wednesday with some resorts posting storm totals of 80cm+ and mid-winter conditions as we publish. The country's health pass (or equivalent) must now be used to get on lifts and a face mask must be worn even on open-air lifts like drags and chairs. Italy Italy has opened the most ski areas in Europe so far and the most terrain with more than 60 centres open, many of them in the Dolomiti Superski region which reported around 700km of terrain open in total. That included 178km at Val Gardena which announced it was fully open from day one on Saturday, with the biggest ski area open in the world this week. Ski areas in the Italian Alps and along the country's northern border received the heaviest snowfalls but in the Dolomites, most areas reported 20-40cm of new snow, with more periods of sunshine than further north and west. Very cold across the country, staying below freezing even at resort level day and night in most areas and hitting as low as -20C in the mountains at night. Switzerland Very low temperatures (as low as -25C) and some snowfall have been a factor on Swiss slopes over the past week, as about half of the country's larger resorts are now open for the season. Swiss centres were allowed to stay open last winter, of course, the only major Alpine nation that allowed that, but there were few international guests as other nations locked down. The largest ski area open in the country is currently that shared between Samnaun and Ischgl (over the Austrian border). Zermatt-Cervinia has also been opening more terrain but doesn't have as much open as it usually does at this time of year when it often boasts the most open in the world in late November/early December. Scandinavia Most of Scandinavia's leading ski areas opened at the weekend. Finland's biggest ski areas have of course already been open a while, some for two months, but the SkiStar group which operates the region's biggest resorts including Sälen and Åre in Sweden, as well as Trysil and Hemsedal in Norway, opens them all from this weekend. Other leading resorts have opened or are opening too. So far terrain is limited, it has been a warmer autumn than usual and initially, some areas had rain instead of snow, but things have cooled down; in fact, it's bitterly cold, and ski areas are making up for the lost time in terms of snowmaking. There's some natural snowfall too. Pyrenees It's looking good in the Pyrenees with ski areas open on the French and Spanish sides of the mountains as well as in Andorra. Last season just a handful of areas managed a very limited opening to locals only from January. This winter, ski areas on the French side have some of the deepest bases in the world at the moment with up to 2 metres lying on upper slopes and after some good pre-season snowfalls resorts like Baqueira Beret, Formigal and Grandvalira are posting some of the most terrain open anywhere in the world at present – 100-130km, so a much better picture. Again many of the areas now open since the weekend haven't operated for more than 600 days since March last year. Scotland After an unusually warm autumn, conditions are looking much more promising on Scottish ski slopes – which have turned white over the past week with several snowfalls and so far temperatures keeping low. Glencoe opened its popular sledging park on Saturday, boosted by snow made by its all-weather system. The excitement in the snowsports community was also raised at Cairngorm when the access road was closed so the snowplough could clear the carparks. Eastern Europe It's an improving picture in Eastern Europe where the first small areas are reported to have opened for the season last weekend and bigger players like Bulgaria's Bansko and Romania's Poiana Brasov are expected to get their lifts turning this coming weekend. There's been some, if not a lot, of natural snowfall and temperatures generally cold enough for snowmaking, although warm spells and rain at this early point in the winter have happened occasionally too, setting efforts back. North America Canada Ski areas in Alberta and Eastern BC reported some of the biggest snowfalls in the world at the end of last week. Sunshine ski area near Banff closed for two days due to extreme avalanche danger just before Lake Louise began its second weekend of World Cup racing, with the women competing this time, after posting more than a metre of snowfall in the previous seven days. They were also posting the most terrain open of any ski areas in the world at the end of last week. Kicking horse, which opens this weekend, says it will have its deepest ever opening day base at 1.7 metres after 3.5 metres of pre-season snowfall. But they're having a much better time of it than much of the rest of Canada and indeed all of North America. There was rain for some ski areas in both southern BC on Canada's Pacific coast and over in Quebec in the past week, so while temperatures have been mostly low and there's been some natural snowfall and good snowmaking weather, things are still running behind where they should be at this point of the year in terms of terrain it's possible to open. Red Mountain in BC has delayed its planned opening this weekend due to too little snow. That said areas in Quebec reported 20cm of snowfall on Wednesday, and one, Massif du Sud, said it would have been opening this weekend but can't get enough staff, so is targeting the 17th now. USA These are troubling times for fans of America's usually powdery slopes. Of course, it remains very early in the season, but still, there has been little natural snowfall anywhere in the country for six weeks now and while most leading resorts have managed to open, except on the Pacific Coast, bases remain low and temperatures worryingly mild as we move further into December. However, we can report a series of storms moving across the country that will hopefully bring snow; some areas might get quite a lot, but others that need it badly not much. There are also worrying signs of some of the storms coming in on warm air well above freezing and potentially bringing rain, the last thing that's needed now. Although most ski areas in California remain closed Mammoth Mountain has clocked up six weeks of operations now and still has the most terrain open in the country – 25 miles of slopes. Alta in Utah meanwhile reports the deepest snow in the country at 75cm or 30 inches. Fingers crossed the storms produce more snow everywhere than forecast so we can have a much more upbeat report this time next week. The Pacific Northwest regions looks most likely to see a decent dump. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 2nd December 2021
Val d'Isere, France, with some fresh snow... Lots of snow in the Alps, and more to come! The Snow Headlines - 2nd December - Snowy weather hits the Alps, but gales close high slopes for a while too. - Some French resorts, including La Clusaz, open early (for the weekend) thanks to snow. - Andorra opens for the season. - North America hosts first World Cup ski races for two years in Canada and US. - Major ski areas open for the season in Spain, good news after last season hardly happened. - Lake Louise cancels 2 of 3 World Cup races but has most terrain open in world at present. - Heavy snowfall in Japan as 21-22 season gets underway there with borders still closed. - A few Italian ski areas delay opening, blame warm weather, then get snow. - Baqueira Beret passes 70km of terrain open, believed to be most in Europe this week. 
Snow in the forecast for Europe, America and Japan...
World Overview Europe The final days of November saw some of the best snowfalls in Europe since the start of the month, giving a much-needed boost to base levels and refresh of already open terrain. There have been stormy conditions too, closing some high-altitude slopes at times, and very low temperatures, particularly up in Scandinavia. Less welcome was the arrival of the new Omicron variant of the virus which continues to complicate things, with new rules for travel out of the UK, and in to Switzerland and France (we're not going to be specific here, as the rules are changing daily and depend where and when you're travelling from and to!). The traditional seasonal issue - lack of adequate snow cover - was the only thing delaying a few centres from opening in Italy, but that now seems to have been overcome by the arrival of snow. Against this backdrop more and more ski resorts have been opening and many more intend to do so this coming weekend. There's more snow falling too, so, pandemic-permitting, a much better picture than a year ago. North America It continues to be a less than perfect start to the 21-22 season in much of North America, but for many areas, things are now looking much better than seven days ago at least. Around 100 ski areas have now opened across the continent, most opening in time for Thanksgiving weekend, although most with limited terrain because there wasn't much snow in November and it has been too warm for much snowmaking. That said, it has been dumping in Alberta and Lake Louise and Sunshine ski areas near Banff in Canada have the most terrain open of any ski area in the world as we start December. The resorts have also seen some of the heaviest snowfall of the past week, posting more than 40cm (20 inches) of fresh since Friday although unfortunately, that impacted three World Cup races scheduled over the weekend, the first in North America for two years due to the pandemic, with two races cancelled. The Men's Downhill that happened on Saturday was on a shortened course. There's been snow in Eastern and Mid-western North America too, but warm sunny weather continues to badly impact ski areas further West in US states like California and Colorado with no immediate respite in the forecasts, unfortunately. Europe Austria Austria remains in lockdown but the initial 20-day period is reaching its midway point with a decision expected in the next few days on whether it will end early, run to its expected December 12th end, or be extended. In the meantime, some ski areas remain open for day-trippers, although with no overnight accommodation or restaurants open. Others say they'll open on schedule even whilst the country remains in lockdown. And it has been snowing quite a lot too, with snowfall down to the valley floor and, after a brief sunny spell midweek, more snow has started falling. France Although restrictions have been tightened to now include mask-wearing on all lifts and to have your digital COVID passport (vaccinated, recovered or negative test) ready to flash as required, ski resorts are continuing to open in France at the time of writing, which of course wasn't happening this time last year. Permission has also been granted for Brits to travel through Switzerland (Geneva Airport) and out again to access French ski slopes without them needing to self-isolate/take tests. It has also been snowing, quite a lot in fact, with snow down to the valley floor across the French Alps. Although half-a-dozen French resorts were open at the weekend, that dropped to three at the start of this week with several only open weekends. This coming weekend will see a bit of a jump to around 30 resorts open, including several deciding to open for a 'preview weekend' because of the snow. Val Thorens currently has the most terrain open – 25km of runs or about or 4% of the 3 Valley's full size! Lans en Vercors opened early on Wednesday, December 1st saying it had had 80 cm of snowfall. Italy Mixed news from Italy as after the excitement of early-season starts at resorts like Cortina and Madonna di Campiglio in November, some resorts that had planned to open last weekend including Bormio and Passo Tonale, decided to postpone for a week until this weekend, blaming warm temperatures. It has got colder and snowier since though and more resorts have been opening including Livigno and several more ski areas in the Dolomiti Superski region. Bormio says it will now open this coming weekend, with dozens of other Italian resorts. Switzerland Despite Switzerland having rising infection rates and making a ski holiday there at present all but impossible for Brits with the new 10-days-self-isolation-on-arrival rule, the country's ski season is beginning to gather pace as it did a year ago when it was the only major western European nation to open its ski slopes in November-December. Conditions have been snowy over the past week, although sometimes driven in on storm force winds which closed several areas including Laax at the weekend. Zermatt-Cervinia usually has the most terrain open in Europe at this time of year but is running a bit behind at present despite opening the Gornergrat sector at the weekend opening up around 70km of runs, but it's been dropping back to 20km midweek. The open areas around St Moritz have therefore kept ahead of it. About a dozen Swiss areas are currently open but that number is expected to triple this weekend. Scandinavia It has been very cold with widespread snowfall in Scandinavia over the past seven days, with temperatures dipping as low as -25 Celsius in northerly latitudes. More resorts have been opening and the region's largest, Åre, is set to join them this weekend with six trails open initially. Other leading ski areas like Hemsedal in Norway also plan to open, just as the most northerly ski centres in Lapland enter a period when the sun does not rise again until January. Pyrenees It's a very good start to the winter in the Pyrenees with the region's largest ski area, Andorra's Grandvalira, opening for the season a few days earlier than expected on Tuesday and one of Spain's leading ski areas posting the most terrain open anywhere in Europe at present. Baqueira Beret says it has over 70km (43 miles) of runs open already, believed to be the most on the continent and second in the world this week, behind Canada's Lake Louise. A number of other ski areas in the region are also open including Masella and down on the Mediterranean coast, Europe's most southerly resort, Sierra Nevada. Most other ski areas in the region are expected to open this coming weekend, including Formigal. The weather in the final weeks of November has been cold and snowy with some centres reporting up to 60cm (two feet) of snowfall on higher slopes. Scotland The weather has turned much more wintery in Scotland at last after a largely warm autumn with heavy hill snow at the end of last week, cold sub-zero temps down to the valley over the weekend and temperatures staying cold with snow showers over the past few days since. Glencoe has also been running its all-weather snowmaking system and aims to open for the season on Eastern Europe It has turned much colder and snowier in Eastern Europe with hopefully good timing ahead of the planned season start dates for resorts there which for most are in mid-December. Serbia's leading ski area Kopaonik posted pictures of its first good snowfall and Slovakia's biggest, Jasna, said it had had 16cm (6") of snowfall up top. Equally importantly it has been cold enough for snowmaking systems to fire up across the region including in Bulgaria. North America Canada Ski areas in Western Canada have been posting both the most terrain open of any ski areas anywhere in the world at present and the most snowfall in the past week. There is though, a bit of feast and famine as whilst the top three areas in the world for terrain open are on the inland eastern side of BC or Western Alberta, further east across Canada and further West towards the Pacific Coast it has so far been a different story with resorts battling to open much terrain. Starting with the good areas though ski areas around Banff including Sunshine and Lake Louise, as well as Sun Peaks in Eastern BC are posting 70-90km of terrain open already, the most in the world, and up to 60cm (2 feet) more snow this week. By contrast, Whistler, the continent's biggest ski area, is open, but with just a few kilometres of runs skiable. Similarly in Quebec, things have improved with Tremblant and other areas opening after some natural snowfall and temperatures finally dipping enough for snowmaking to start. Again, the terrain open so far is very limited and only a handful of areas have opened in the East so far. More hope to join them this weekend though. USA Most of America's best-known ski areas are open among around 100 centres coast to coast – more than any other country at present. But so far there's nowhere really reporting great conditions or much snow. The biggest area open, 40km, is at Mammoth Mountain in California where it has been another warm, dry and sunny week and most areas still cannot open as a result. The deepest reported snowpack, at Vail in Colorado, 53cm, is largely thanks to snowmaking efforts, although the Rockies did see more snowfall at the end of last week before the return of dry, sunny weather. Lots of centres have opened in the past seven days on the East Coast as well as in the Midwest however where up to a foot (30cm) of fresh snow has fallen, by far the most of the autumn. Temperatures also dropped low enough for some consistent snowmaking, although there have been warm temperature spikes at times. But it appears to be an improving picture here, whilst the season start in the West remains somewhat stalled. |
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