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Here's a view above Les Arcs this morning, with some early snow. There's a lot forecast over the next couple of days, so this should continue for 48 hours or so.
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Some fair points but most resorts have been very busy over the summer and seem confident they can deliver during the winter... as long as we can actually get there, of course! Not sure about packing out accommodation, but as I understand it the intention is to have all eating and drinking as seated service; so traditional apres-ski (understandably, following Ischgl) won't be happening. Given that, I expect numbers at individual tables to be limited also. Fingers crossed that we're allowed to go but with a bit of planning there should be some skiing to be had. If we drive down, in our "social bubble", grab groceries from a hypermarket and check in to a self-catered apartment for the week I don't see that we're going to be any more exposed than just staying at home. We tend to head for quieter resorts / lifts / slopes anyway and we can manage without the apres. |
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France Montagnes have published the guidelines they expect French ski resorts, and their visitors, to adhere to for this coming winter.
We expect very similar measures to be adopted at all ski areas (in Europe and elsewhere) but if we do come across any significant departures from these rules we'll let you know (and please let us know if you know of any!). 
Click on the image (now in English) for the full resolution version French version is here. Public transport (trains, transfer buses, etc.) - Face masks compulsory on the platforms and in the buses / trains. Lifts - Wearing a mask is compulsory in the queues and on the ski lifts. - Daily disinfection of contact areas. Equipment Rental - Wearing a mask is compulsory (in the shop). - Disinfection of rented equipment. - Sanitizer gel available. In your accommodation and at the Tourist Offices - Wearing a mask is compulsory in common and enclosed areas. - Sanitizer gel available. - Disinfection of contact surfaces and increased cleaning frequency. In bars / restaurants - Seated service only. - Spacing of tables of at least 1 metre OR physical separation by fixed or removable wall. - Wearing a mask compulsory when moving around the establishment. - Sanitizer gel available. - Disinfection of contact surfaces and increased cleaning frequency. At the Ski School - Wearing a mask compulsory during gatherings at the start and end of lessons, for the instructor and for students aged 11 and over. In buildings, common areas and public spaces - Wearing a mask is compulsory for people aged 11 and over. - Sanitizer gel available. - Surface disinfection. |
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Yep, every day... although it's a fair bit warmer in much of the Alps than it is here (UK) at the moment...
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st September 2020
Coronet Peak, New Zealand, just got a decent bit of snow... Summer draws to a close with snow high in the Alps, NZ and the Andes! The mountains are waiting for us... stay safe and follow your local authority's advice on travel. We can't all go skiing just yet but we can start planning! The Snow Headlines - 1st September - Snowfall to end meteorological summer in the Alps and Pyrenees. - Several ski areas in Chile finally open for 2020, for locals only. - European mountain resorts report busy summer. - Only 4 ski areas open in the Alps to start September; probably 10+ by month-end. - North American heat ends summer ski season early. - Snow-farming European resorts ready to open for 2020-21 from end of this month. - South Africa the first country to miss out on a ski season - closed for 2020. - No lift-served skiing in France or the USA planned for September. Although only six glacier resorts are open in Europe as we start September, this is the month when we can start to get excited about the season ahead. In the latter half of the month more glacier areas will open, particularly in Austria, and we get back in to double figures. There have just been several early snowfalls high in the Alps, in the final weekend of August. This year, of course, there's the worry as to what will open and when, due to the virus. Though we wouldn't want to tempt fate, the good news is that so far we've only heard of one small Swiss area with a particular set of circumstance that says it won't be viable to open this winter. All the main resorts appear to be planning to open as normal, albeit under 'new normal' operating restrictions. We hear that many alpine resorts have had busy summer seasons and - encouragingly - have been able to successfully operate lifts, hotels, shops etc. with safety measures (distancing and cleaning) in place. Apres-ski won't be the same, but the resorts are confident they can get us up the mountains if we can get there! We'll bring you more on the resort's preparations next month. September Skiing What we won't see in September is any lift-served outdoor skiing in France or the USA. Tignes has given up on its "we're open at least a day every month of the year" schedule and won't even try to open until mid-October (which was about when it did open the past few autumns). In the US, Timberline ski area in Oregon has been beaten by the heat there and closed at the end of August rather than staying open into September as hoped. Both countries do have indoor snow centres open though. In the southern hemisphere, September marks the final full month of the ski season although some of the larger, more snowsure centres are open into early October and a few even November. Thanks to the virus, 2020 has been quite a bizarre winter so far but as we start September about two-thirds of the 100 or so ski areas south of the equator have managed to open for at least some of the season (albeit as little as three days for some). Chile and South Africa have been the hardest hit countries of the six with ski lifts and South Africa's Tiffindell hasn't had a season at all whilst in Chile, only a few areas have, recently, finally opened for the season, for local skiers. In the other three countries, most areas have opened, although in Australia, the Victorian ski resorts have closed again. In Argentina, most areas started their seasons last month, but for locally based skiers only. In New Zealand, almost all areas have opened but spent much of August with restrictions in place after the virus reappeared after more than three months with no cases. 
Late season snow incoming for New Zealand...
EUROPEAN ALPS The start of September is one of those quiet periods in the Alps when most summer ski glacier areas have ended their summer openings but the autumn glaciers have not yet begun their run-ins to the following winter. So we are left with the world's two year-round areas, Zermatt and Hintertux, as well as Saas-Fee which opened in mid-July and normally now stays open through to the end of the winter season. Zermatt's summer-skiing can also be accessed until the end of September from Cervinia on the Italian side of the border. The fourth option is Italy's Passo Stelvio which has the longest summer-ski season, usually six-months from early May to the end of October, but delayed a month by the pandemic this year. August saw some significant high-altitude snowfalls with ski areas in Austria reporting several falls, the biggest of which delivered up to 25cm in 24 hours. The last weekend of the month saw bigger accumulations in the Western Alps, and the first snowfalls on high slopes in the Pyrenees. The last still-open ski area in France, Les 2 Alpes, closed on that last weekend of August as the snow fell. It is worth noting that it made it through to the latest planned opening date this year when in several recent seasons it had to close earlier than planned (as did several other glacier areas) as the summer heat melted the snow cover. It's been hot again but the snow already on the glacier was enough to see it through. Tignes expects to open in early October for its 2020-21 run if conditions are good enough. The number of open areas in the Alps should begin to climb in the latter half of September with half-a-dozen ski areas in Austria expected to open as normal. Among them Solden, Stubai, Molltal and the country's highest slopes on Pitztal. Italy's Val Senales glacier normally opens by mid-September too. Northern Europe & Scandinavia Two of Norway's summer glacier areas, Fonna and Galdhopppigen, are still open. The latter stays open right through to November most years, Fonna until mid-September. Both have a few kilometres of trails open as usual. Fonna is still reporting a four-metre base depth on its upper slopes, down about 10 metres from the huge numbers it reported as it prepared to open in April and May but still the most snow of any open area in the world (some closed ski areas in Chile may have more). Two of the larger ski areas in Finland, Levi and Ruka, will be preparing to open as this month ends. Both have been stockpiling snow through the summer by the process known as 'snow farming' and both intend to have the snow spread back out on the slopes in time to open on Friday, October 2nd. Norway's Kvitfjell will use the same technique to open even earlier, at the end of this month, but for race team training initially, not recreational skiing. North America It was a very hot August in North America, particularly the west of the continent where huge forest fires burned in California and other states and Death Valley reported earth's highest recorded temperature yet. That's not good news for the snow of course and Timberline ski area in Oregon which had planned to stay open to the Labor Day long-weekend public holiday in the US on Monday, September 7th closed the last Sunday of august instead, not quite making it. It had been the only ski area still open in North America so now there's nowhere open at present and barring some freak heavy snowstorm (which has happened in September before) that's likely to continue to be the case through September before the annual race to be the first in the US to open, usually in the latter half of October, gets underway. One of the annual contenders, Loveland two-miles up in the Colorado Rockies, has a countdown clock going to the hoped-for start-of-snowmaking at the end of the month if it's cold enough. Asia There's nowhere open in Asia at present except for indoor snow centres. Some small areas in Japan usually open in October using all-weather snow-making equipment. Southern Hemisphere 2020 will probably be a season to forget for most ski areas in the southern hemisphere, largely due to the pandemic, but, in the end, at least some ski areas have opened in almost every country south of the equator with ski lifts. September is normally the last full month of the southern hemisphere's season in a normal year, so things are nearing their end for 2020 anyway. "Almost every country" opened resorts but one, South Africa, skipped on its 2020 season at its sole ski resort, Tiffindell, which never managed to open. Afriski in Lesotho has now ended its 2020 winter, having been the first to start in the southern hemisphere back in early June. With no visitors coming through the closed South African border it looks like they had a very quiet season. Better news in South America where most ski areas in Argentina had finally opened by the middle of last month, followed by several in Chile in the last few weeks of August. All are operating under very strict pandemic-spread prevention measures, generally for season-pass holders living locally only. It has been quite a snowy winter in the Andes and back in late June and early July there were reports that some areas in Chile had five metres of snow lying, the most for 15 years, which then led some to say that if they did open they had enough snow to last until November a month later than usual. So far though the very late start to the season there and the high cost to income ratio of re-opening has led to only two areas, El Colorado and La Parva, re-opening. They've posted pictures of plenty of powder at present but report base depths of only 30-80cm. The pandemic has also been causing problems in August at the southern hemisphere's other two ski nations- Australia and New Zealand. In Australia the fresh lockdown of the state of Victoria has left only Perisher, Charlotte Pass and Thredbo open in New South Wales over the border. That was particularly galling in the penultimate week of August when a huge five-day snowstorm up from Antarctica deposited up to a metre of snow on the mountains giving sensational powder conditions last week. Victoria is due to review its lockdown on September 13th, and if restrictions are eased Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw say they hope to re-open for the final weeks of the season but Vail resorts have said the two areas they own in the state, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham, won't now re-open until 2021 whatever the decision. New Zealand had a bit of a nasty shock with the virus reappearing in mid-August after more than 100 days with no cases. That led to the reintroduction of the country's Level 2 restrictions – essentially the same social-distancing, limited-numbers and increased hygiene measures that are now the norm in almost all other ski countries. These were last seen in New Zealand before the start of the season in June so this was the first time they'd had to be enforced on the slopes. New Zealand's ski areas are otherwise largely open. With a month to go, it has not been the coldest or snowiest of winters on the whole and some smaller 'club fields' have struggled to open at all complaining of 'warm conditions and wet snow' when it fell but on the whole, almost all have some terrain open and most of the commercial field are almost fully open as we start September. We'll be back next month with an update on how ski areas are preparing for the "new normal" season ahead... |
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st August 2020
Mount Buller doesn't just have snow... they have sunsets too! Ski resorts open on 6 continents? Yes, really, but sadly not many. The mountains are waiting for most of us... stay safe and follow your local authority's advice on travel. We can't all go skiing just yet but we can still read about it! The Snow Headlines - 1st August - 2020 ski season gets underway at last in South America. - Snow depths in the Andes reported to be as much as 5 metres - at virus-closed areas. - 8 Ski areas open for August in Europe. - July ends with ski areas open on six continents. - New Zealand has most ski areas open of any one country. - World's most southerly ski resort opens August 1st. - Largest ski area open is in Australia, with 60km at Perisher. - Chile and South African ski areas still closed by pandemic lockdown. Our strange year continues with more ski areas open in August than there were in the previous three months as pandemic restrictions are lifted. Before we celebrate however, it's worth noting that the total of 40-50 ski areas that are open is around half the normal number. Sadly pandemic lockdowns continue into August in hard-hit Chile and South Africa and ski areas in Argentina have barely opened too. That said with Catedral in Argentina opening to locals for the final week of July, it did mean ski areas were open on six continents to end July with one area each in Africa, Asia and North America and more in Europe and Oceania/Australia. The pandemic continues to impact open ski areas differently. In Australia vigilance levels seem very high with police reported to be running spot checks on social distancing at some resorts and issuing fines to those deemed too close. By contrast, reports from the French and Swiss Alps seem to indicate skiers are left to self-regulate and whilst indoor mask-wearing is now a legal requirement in many glacier resorts, the initial requirements to socially distance different groups on lifts seems to be quietly forgotten. Meanwhile, operations are fairly 'normal' in (hopefully still at your time of reading) virus-free Lesotho and New Zealand. The issue in both nations is a shortage of skiers and boarders, with international borders largely closed except for those who can afford a fortnight's isolation on arrival. In Europe, August has become one of the quieter months of the year with the number of glacier resorts open dropping to single figures from 20+ a decade or two ago. There are half-a-dozen glaciers open in the Alps now and a few more in Scandinavia through what is usually the hottest period of the year. As soon as things start to cool in September those numbers should double as more glaciers open, or re-open. So far, touch wood, summer 2020 isn't looking too bad for snow cover with most glaciers having at least a metre of snow cover and many double that, so hopefully this August will see most stay open. 
Snow for South America...
EUROPEAN ALPS There are seven glaciers open in the Alps as we begin August 2020, but one of these, Tignes, is due to close this weekend, before re-opening at the end of September (hopefully) to maintain its aim of being open for snowsports for at least a day of every month of this year. That hasn't happened in recent years, usually due to lack of adequate snow cover at key times (such as late September) on the glacier, and this year of course because of the virus. Les 2 Alpes is due to stay open through the month though and reports a two-metre snow depth at the start so this could be the first time for a few years it will manage to make it through. Austria The Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun ended its 2020 post-pandemic-lockdown re-opening in late July, but the year-round Hintertux (2.2-metre base), as well as the Molltal (2.4-metre base) glaciers, are open through August (and indeed through to 2021). The Molltal has been heavily promoting a new summer snowpark in recent weeks. Italy In Italy the main ski area open, and popular for international team training (despite a reported few cases of COVID 19 there in June) is Passo Stelvio, which normally stays open through to the end of October. It did not report any snowfall in July but has nearly 2 metres of snow lying and most of its runs open. Cervinia also provides ski lift access to the slopes on the Swiss side of the border above Zermatt until early September. Access to the Klein Matterhorn's 'Glacier Paradise' is open year-round (pandemic permitting) from the Swiss side but is reported to be faster from the resort for those based in Cervinia when access is open. For the start of August, the snow is reported to be lying a pretty healthy 2.2 metres deep and there are around 15km of runs open. Switzerland Last month Zermatt was joined by Saas-Fee as a second Swiss summer skiing option, and like its neighbour now open through to next year. It's popular for race team training too, like Stelvio, and reports good August conditions this year. Saas-Fee has marginally the deepest base in the Alps right now at 2.5 metres. Scandinavia Fonna still has the world's deepest base at 6 metres (20 feet) of snow depth, but that's down 10 metres, nearly, from when it opened in the spring with an incredible 15 metres of snow that road-clearing crews had to dig through. Still, it's more than double anywhere else currently open – although some resorts in Chile would come close now if they could open. It and Scandinavia's highest ski area, Galdhopiggen, plan to stay open through August and should have enough snow cover to be able to do so (as with the Alps, that's not always the case by August). North America As is often the case, only the Timberline ski area on Mount Hood in Oregon remains open in North America through July. It has been reporting a 90cm base and a couple of miles of slopes open on its permanent snowfield for most of July, with no change to the posted snow depth despite warm temperatures and weeks of full sun. It should be open through to early September. Copper Mountain in Colorado also has a little snow left for people staying there for race or terrain park training camps, not recreational skiers. Asia Japan's Gassan ski area was still open on the last day of July but to ski tourers only as it has stopped running its lifts for the season. It reports a 150cm base and some good skiing – albeit with occasional rocks and temperatures of 20C+ for those prepared to make the effort. Southern Hemisphere We're about half-way through the southern hemisphere's 2020 ski season and it's far from a normal one, unsurprisingly. In terms of the snowfall to date it's a great winter in the Andes with the snow now lying up to 5 metres deep; things are not too bad in New Zealand after some good late July snowfalls there, but Australia and southern African ski areas are currently below average. In terms of the virus, it's a terrible winter in the Andes with most South American ski areas still closed. One has now reopened in Argentina for local skiers; New Zealand and Lesotho are operating fairly normally but with fewer skiers as the pandemic has closed their borders to international arrivals; Australian ski areas are either closed or operating at 50% capacity to prevent over-crowding and ski areas in hard-hit Chile and South Africa remain in lockdown. In South America, it is unclear whether ski areas in Chile will be able to open at all in 2020 now. The signs aren't great and time is beginning to run out, but they still seem optimistic, officially at least. It would have been an epic winter as cold weather and heavy snowfall through winter so far has left the snow lying 5 meres deep at several areas including Portillo. Argentina There have been glimmers of light in Argentina which has a fraction of the cases and deaths of Chile and has been carefully easing its lockdown in recent weeks on a regional basis. Cerro Castor in the south near Tierra de Fuego re-opened at weekends since mid—July but initially wasn't running ski lifts, just opening its ice rink and cross-country rails. However it announced on July 29th that the lifts would run and downhill slopes open, for locals only, five days per week from August 1st. In the meantime the continent's biggest area by uplift, Cerro Catedral near Bariloche, re-opened to locals in the last days of July and reports 2 metres of snow lying and about 40km of trails open. A third Argentinian ski area, Cerro Bayo, has also announced its slope opening for local skiers from Saturday, 1st August. Another major Argentinian ski area, Las Lenas, announced early in the pandemic and way before the ski season was due to start, that it wouldn't be opening in 2020 whatever happened. New Zealand In New Zealand, it's a fairly good ski season overall. Snow cover was sketchy in early July but recent falls mean most areas now have adequate to good cover and are close to fully open in terms of terrain. The concern remains a lack of skiers with international borders still closed. That's been offset to some extent by a national effort to get people to support their local hills and some areas reported record business and operating capacity reached early in the day during peak July school holiday weeks. That's now eased off though and resorts are hoping people will keep coming. Australia Australia's season has continued to scrape along through July, partly due to the pandemic but also due to limited snowfalls so far. Victoria has been hardest hit in both respects, with little snow cover and a surge in virus cases leading to the state's borders being closed and Vail Resorts deciding to close its Mount Hotham and Falls Creek ski areas (although the resorts themselves have stayed open, offering winter activities including backcountry skiing – it's just no uplift). Vail does say they'll review this decision before the final week of August so they may be open by the end of the month. Mount Buller and Mount Baw Baw have stayed open but with very limited cover to start august, and Baw Baw only opening weekends. Things are better in New South Wales with Perisher starting August with 60km of its 100km of runs open – giving it more skiable terrain than any other resort on the planet at present. It and Thredbo both have nearly a metre of snow lying on upper runs, better than other parts of the country too. Africa In Southern Africa Afriski in Lesotho has clocked up two months operating and ends its season at the end of August. It has a similar problem to ski areas in New Zealand; actually a worse one, as it relies on South African skiers for the majority of is business and the border remains closed. Lesotho, like New Zealand, has largely suppressed the virus. Afriski has a 600-metre main slope of machine-made snow, but sadly not many skiers on it. In South Africa itself Tiffindell is unable to open and it now sadly looks unlikely it will have a 2020 ski season. Both centres reported some good snowfalls as a blizzard blew through in late July but otherwise it has been sunny and dry, but generally cool. Until next month, stay safe and keep the faith! |
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An unfortunate update to the above; Falls Creek and Mount Hotham have closed due to the virus-related lockdown of the New South Wales border, until at least August 19.
Perisher, in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, remains open. |
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