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J2Ski Snow Report 16th January 2020
A sunny day dawning above La Clusaz, France this morning... More snow in America, more sun in Europe... but snow coming... The Snow Headlines - 16th January - Snow forecast for the Alps this weekend. - A second week of heavy snowfall in the US Pacific Northwest. - Japan's season perks up slightly - but locals say it's the worst for at least 30 years. - Nearly a metre of snowfall for some centres in Scandinavia this week. - Some snow and cold weather for Scotland but 75mph winds too. - Moderate snowfall in the Pyrenees. It's been dry for a while in the Alps. That's not bad news for most skiers happy to ski freshly groomed runs in the sunshine as most of the continent's famous resorts remain fully open thanks to earlier snows. It's less good news for anyone after powder or for smaller, low lying resorts which didn't get much snow and where it has often been too warm for snow-making. Europe wasn't all dry though; the Pyrenees got some snow last weekend and it has stayed snowy in much of Scandinavia. It's also colder again - with fresh snow on the hills - in Scotland. And there's a bit of snow forecast across much of the Alps. In the USA it is still dumping in the West, particularly on the Pacific Coast which had such a warm wet autumn. A second successive week of five-foot plus snowfalls means it's now home to the deepest snow-pack not only in North America but also the world. There have also been some good snowfalls further inland in the Rockies, and over on the East Coast. In the Alpine Forecast Temperatures look set to take a bit of a dive this coming weekend. There should be a day or two of light to moderate snowfall across quite a wide area, before skies clear again for much of next week. Long range forecasts are hinting strongly at a major change later this month... we'll see! 
Some heavy snow for Italy, away from the Alps, this week...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria It has been another dry and sunny week, most of the time on the ski slopes of Austria. For most of the country's ski areas, it has been like this for three weeks now, but there does look to be a change in the air, if perhaps only a short-lived one, with 10-40cm accumulations currently forecast for the whole country between Saturday and Monday. In the meantime, on-piste conditions at Austria's bigger resorts are generally very good, in some cases excellent. The Stubai glacier, for example, reports top to bottom skiing in the sunshine with all runs open, all-natural snow and the snow lying 3.3 metres deep up high. Low lying, smaller Austrian area are still suffering from too little snow down low but for most this is not an issue. France For French slopes too it has been another mostly sunny week, with generally good conditions and temperatures at or below freezing down to the valley floor for most of the time. Here too almost everything is open, on-piste conditions are good, off-piste the avalanche danger is low but there's not much fresh powder to be found. The good news though is that - here too - snow is on the way with falls expected over a wide area from Friday, the heaviest for most on Saturday with totals of 10-30cm, currently forecast by Sunday. Italy It's a similar picture for Italy too – a mostly dry and sunny week currently underway, but with snow forecast at last over the weekend. Here the snowfall is a little more mixed in terms of how much and when with the first expected from Friday but longer-term forecasts currently showing the snowfall continuing in to next week in the Apennines down Italy's 'spine' but concluding sooner in the Alps and Dolomites. The numbers are similar to Austria, France and Switzerland though with somewhere between 10 and 40cm in total expected across the country's slopes along with a big temperature drop. In the meantime though, here too most areas are fully open, the sun is shining, temperatures close to freezing so very pleasant on the pistes. Switzerland Switzerland too is in to it's fourth week of mostly sunny days, most slopes open, most resorts with a good snow depth above 1500 metres thanks to autumn snow levels not melting much as it has stayed cold. Snowfall is expected from Friday to Sunday, similar 10-40cm accumulation expected. Last week's report could really be re-run this week, which is to say base depths have hardly changed (actually they've dropped slightly at Andermatt, which was briefly posting the deepest in both Europe and the world at the start of the year at over 4 metres but has now settled back to 3.9 metres up high). The snow is now nearing a month old and is much skied so this weekend's refresh will be warmly welcomed. Scandinavia Although there's snow on the way for much of mainland Europe, Scandinavia has again been the place to be (as it has been much of the past month) if you'd like to have seen fresh snow. There's been snow across the region but by far the heaviest in western Norway where up to a metre (over three feet) has fallen this week in some areas and base depths have gone above 1.2 metres (four feet) in resorts like Voss. This snowfall is, by some way, the heaviest recorded this season so far. Pyrenees The Pyrenees enjoyed a break in the sunny conditions they, like the Alps, had enjoyed since Christmas with a front bringing 10-40cm of snowfall across the region at the start of last weekend. This brought a welcome refresh to slope coverage and indeed a little off piste powder skiing opportunity to resorts in the region, the first of 2020. It has been back to sunshine since, with temperatures a little above freezing, but snow is supposed to start falling again from Friday/Saturday through the weekend with another 10-40cm forecast. Scotland It's definitely looking better this week than it has for the past month in Scotland with some extensive hill snow falling over the past 72 hours, particularly on the more westerly side of the country – the mountains have gone from brown to white again. The issue is that the snow has arrived on strong winds which can blow it off again, although the five Highland areas all have extensive snow fencing to try to avoid that happening. More than half of Scottish resorts have been closed by the winds this week but currently it's hoped that calmer conditions will allow some terrain to be opened by Friday. Eastern Europe It remains a bit of a struggle for ski areas to operate in much of eastern Europe with little fresh snow falling after a warm autumn prevented many from building bases or indeed snow-making. That said, there has been more fresh snow reported in the Tatra mountains (Slovakia and Czech republic) and in Bulgaria it has at least been around freezing on the slopes although more like +5 to +8C down in resort. Bansko is in the best shape with 80cm of snow reported up top. It hosts World Cup ski racing next week and the FIS has declared itself happy with the conditions. North America Canada Canada's Pacific coast has had a third week of pounding by heavy snow falls and there's more forecast here. As a result Whistler, which had been suffering from a warm, wet autumn now has almost all of its two dozen big, fast lifts operating and more than two thirds of its runs open too. Inland there have been more big snowfalls along the Alberta/BC border region and Fernie has hit a 2.87 metre base, one of the deepest in the country. There's been snow too in the east where Quebec has also been having a very bad season, Mont Ste Anne has had more than 40cm of snow since the weekend – about as much as it had had all winter to date, but there has also been a return of the dreaded freezing rain at times. USA The start of 2020 has continued to be exceptionally snowy in Northwest North America with resorts in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Washington State posting more huge accumulations over the past seven days. The biggest total changes daily but Mt Bachelor, with 198cm (over 6.5 feet) in the last seven days is certainly one of those up there. Mount Baker, with over 90cm (three feet) of snowfall in the past 72 hours now has the world's deepest base at 412cm (nearly 14 feet). There's been snow too in California and Colorado as well as over on the East coast although here some areas have seen freezing rain again. Until next week, thanks for reading... |
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No! :lol: From a quick look, that does appear to be way too cold to rain so looks like a data error in the forecast feed we get. We'll have a look but it does happen occasionally and will usually correct on the next update. |
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You just need to select an area of the forum, like Ski Chatter and you'll see a big yellow button. :thumbup: |
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I kitted out mini-me with Nevica gear a couple of seasons ago and think it's good value for the money. Jackets, pants, gloves, fleeces, etc. all seem to be reasonable quality, warm enough and weather-proof for normal conditions. It's lasted well so far and IMO looks better than some other budget brands. He likes the colours too, so all good... :lol:
Only issue we've had is the coating on the goggles seems quite soft and scratches easily, but they're cheap so... |
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J2Ski Snow Report 9th January 2020
Finding fresh in the shade, Snoworks Ski Courses in Ste.Foy, photo (c) Bryan Hogg. Great snow cover in Europe, fresh stuff for America and Japan. The Snow Headlines - 9th January - Sunny skies across much of Europe. - Heavy snow in western North America (up to 1.6 metres in last 7 days). - A metre of snowfall transforms the season at Whistler Blackcomb. - Biggest snowfalls in Europe this week reported in Scandinavia. It has been a second largely sunny week in the Alps, Dolomites and Pyrenees. For most people out on the slopes during the busy New Year week and much quieter current week, this has been a good thing. Almost everywhere is fully open, thanks to good snowfalls pre-Christmas. There is less powder left to be found, of course, and in some places - especially lower elevation areas in Austria, Germany and down in the Pyrenees - it has got a bit too warm, with rain reported at times (but some snow high up). What snow there has been has mostly been reported up in Scandinavia and in north-eastern Europe in the Tatra mountains. Scotland continues to have a bad time of it with temperatures reaching 14C in the country on Tuesday and strong gales. But the centres there are still operating thanks to their all-weather snow-making. In North America, the big snowfalls forecast for the northwest have delivered with resorts posting up to 1.6 metres of snow in the past 7 days. Whistler, which had been suffering badly from a warm-wet season start was a big winner getting more than a metre of snowfall up high. There was snow for the Rockies and East coast too. In the Alpine Forecast The week ahead currently looks like more of the same, with the high pressure system prevailing, although there should be a little snow for many areas to start the weekend. 
Snow for Japan this week...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria A generally dry and sunny week in Austria but with some snowfall higher up (20cm reported by Solden), but also, unfortunately, rain at times down in the valleys. This time last year the northwest of the country had come to a standstill as a three-week-long mega-snowstorm buried resorts metres deep, leading some to be completely evacuated due to the avalanche risk. The ski areas are probably happier this January to have pretty much all their terrain open (we're talking the main international destinations, not the small low-level areas that are having a harder time getting snow cover) thanks to the good snowfalls in November and December. A return to colder, snowier weather would no doubt be welcome - particularly at lower altitude resorts - but there's no real sign of that beyond a little snowfall to end the week in places. France French slopes are in great condition as we move further into January. Almost all of the country's destination resorts are fully open with excellent conditions on the piste. Here too it has been mostly sunny for a fortnight now but it does look like there'll be a little fresh snow on Friday/Saturday – 3 to 6cm for most ski areas – but hopefully a bit of a refresh. Off-piste options are getting more limited now for powder hunters. Snow numbers remain good for French slopes above 1500 metres altitude, with most having at least a metre lying and some reaching three metres (up high) earlier this week, although settling seems to have reduced the stats slightly since. Bonneval sur Arc, over the back from Val d'Isere, for example, reported 3m at the start of this week – and is now at 2.9 metres (the country's deepest). Italy There's no snow to report from the past week in Italy and it has instead been largely sunny skies. This suits most Italian ski resorts which say they do the best business when conditions are like this; bad weather associated with heavy snowfall is less popular. There's no real change in snow depths or terrain open (pretty much everything), with the deepest base in the country (and equal with Switzerland's Andermatt in Europe and the world), 4 metres for the Presena glacier. There's little change in the forecast, perhaps a few snowflakes in the far West of the country along the French border on Friday but that's it for now. Switzerland Swiss slopes too have been largely sunny over the past week. As in France, the deepest snow depth reported, at Andermatt, has actually gone down a little from a week ago from around 4.2 metres to 4 metres, still the deepest in the world (jointly with Italy's Presena glacier) but it appears the warm, weather is having some effect – unusually for early January. Most Swiss ski areas have lots of snow on the ground, from those November and December snowfalls, and all runs open. Scandinavia Ski resorts on Norway's western side again posted some of the biggest snowfalls in Europe over the past week. The snow is still falling here too whilst the sun shines on most of the rest of Europe, Vos has had 30cm of snowfall in the past few days alone, although it's the less well-known resort of Bjorli in Eastern Norway that has topped Scandinavia's snowfall table this week with 75cm (2.45 feet) in the past seven days. Pyrenees The Pyrenees too, have had another dry, mostly sunny week. Bases here are not as deep as the Alps, as there was less pre-Christmas snowfall, but most have adequate snow cover and the bigger resorts like Spain's Baqueira Beret and Andorra's Grandvalira (Soldeu and Pas de la Casa) have almost all their runs open – about 160km and 210km respectively, despite reports that in Grandvalira's case there's only a 30-75cm base. It's deeper at Baqueira. Scotland Alas, yet another challenging week for the heroes trying to keep Scotland's ski industry alive [editor's note - can you tell where our snow reporter lives? :lol: ] when mother nature continually refuses to play ball. This week's obstacles to running a ski area when the slopes were already bare included 14C temperatures and 75mph winds. It was winds rather than warmth that closed areas mid-week as whilst there's no natural snow the all-weather snow-making machines can keep pumping out flake ice. Each area has snow for beginners; whilst at Glenshee, with one of the larger machines, there are a couple of short ski runs maintained on the heather too, others offer small terrain parks and sledging slopes. Eastern Europe Ski areas in northern Eastern Europe have reported the biggest snowfalls in Europe, south of Scandinavia at least, this past week. Slovakia's leading resort Jasna was one of the big winners with around 50cm of fresh. Down in Bulgaria, it has not been snowy but it has stayed mostly colder allowing resorts to open more terrain following snow-making efforts. Bansko has created its long snow road down across green and brown countryside from the ski area to the resort. North America Canada There have been some huge snowfalls in Western Canada with Whistler reporting more than a metre of snow in the past week – almost half as much as it had had all season up to now. The new snow has improved things considerably with around half of the continent's biggest ski area now open, but the freezing level is still well above resort level so the best snow is up high. Inland in British Columbia and over in Alberta, it has been dumping too, but here it has been snowy all winter anyway so it's just powder on powder. In the East, they've had similar problems to coastal BC with little snow and warm temperatures in November and December but here too it's now an improving picture with sub-zero temperatures, fresh snowfall and snow guns blasting. USA There have been some big snowfalls in the US over the past week, especially in the Northwest (which still needed it after its warm, wet autumn) where famously-snowy (usually!) Mt Baker bounced back with 1.6 metres (over five feet) of snowfall and as a result, now has the deepest snowbase in the US (it's usual position) with over three metres lying. Elsewhere, in the West, the biggest falls were reported in northern California, Utah and Wyoming where Jackson Hole has had more than a metre more snow this week, continuing a good season so far. Over in the East, it has been more consistently snowy this week with resorts in Vermont reporting up to 40cm, of snowfall in the past three days, so it's a fast-improving picture here too. |
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Hi, that sounds like a plan...
Munich_Johnny on here is currently living in Niederau and planning to move to Westendorf (IIRC) shortly. You might find some of the info posted a few days ago on the Flights to Munich thread, discussing the SkiWelt, useful. |
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Exactly this. Almost everywhere will be quiet next week, although blue skies and good snow brings out the locals in traditional resorts. You're spoilt for choice, TBH - pick an airport that works for you and go from there? |
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Snow cover's pretty decent across The Alps at the moment; the only exceptions being low-level resorts to the far West really.
There's a high pressure system settled in, so not much in the way of freshies in the immediate future unless you're prepared to hike a bit, but on-piste conditions are being reported as excellent (there'll be more detail in tomorrow morning's snow report) just about everywhere. You can get a quick view of snow depths for the top resorts right here :- www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/ (upper depths on the Mountain column). What sort of skiing / food / apres-ski are you after? Next week's very much low season so you shouldn't have an issue finding accommodation, instructors, etc. |
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