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Last week we were invited, by the snappily-named Go to the French Pyrenees to, er, go to the French Pyrenees. So we did. Our trip was supported by the two resorts we visited, but our opinions are our own.


The French Pyrenees - First Impressions!

This was our first experience of the French Pyrenees.

The Pyrenees have not had the big snowfalls that have fallen elsewhere this winter, but we had some great skiing on well-maintained and quiet pistes. We enjoyed good food, on and off the mountains, at prices notably lower than similar Alpine resorts.


Getting There

There are many ways to access the skiing in the French Pyrenees, which run along France's southern borders with Spain and Andorra, but most visitors from the UK are likely to go by air.

Regular flights from various UK airports go out to convenient airports in the area, and we flew from London Gatwick to Toulouse. Flight prices generally appear to be lower than those to Alpine destinations but this does depend very much on date and time of travel.

Toulouse airport is modern and efficient. We flew out on a Tuesday and back on Saturday morning - in an off-peak week - so it's difficult to judge what it would be like at other times but there were no queues of note.

We drove; fast Autoroute for about the first hour south of Toulouse and then onto rural roads which were virtually empty. Total drive times will be between 75 minutes and three hours, depending on which resort you're headed to, so short breaks are easily do-able.

Some of the drive down to Les Angles was spectacular, on narrow, twisty roads cut deep into impressive gorges... this was the D118 road and we'd thoroughly recommend you do this route during the day (but pick another route at night!).


First Stop - Les Angles


Glorious views are definitely a feature, here looking to the East toward Lake Matemale.

Les Angles is an old village, which - following installation of the first lift 50 years ago - has grown into a compact ski resort, in the eastern Pyrenees.

The skiing is varied, with something to suit most levels. As well as nursery slopes at the base, there are some long and gentle pistes descending from the mid-mountain plateau that will be particularly appreciated by beginners and developing intermediates.

Most of the ski area (70%) has snow-making and we found the pistes to be in excellent condition, even without recent fresh snow.

The best areas for strong skiers, Costa Verde and Balcere, were closed due to thin snow cover but look fun!



You can find out more, and check out the piste map, in J2Ski's Les Angles Ski Resort Guide or at www.lesangles.com.

There's plenty to do after the skiing, with a modern spa and even a wildlife park just outside the town.

We'd recommend Les Angles for families with early skiers, as a scenic stop on a road-trip or for a relaxing break.


Ax 3 Domaines at Ax les Thermes


Looking toward the Tute de l'ours, domaine du Saquet

Ax les Thermes, the town, is a long-established spa resort, whilst Ax 3 Domaines is the ski area that has developed from humble beginnings in the 1950s. As the name suggests, there are three sectors to the skiing although these are inter-linked and it's easy to get around from one to another.

Domaine de Bonascre is primarily Blue and Green runs (including some good long trails) above and at the main resort base, where there is a large children's area. Domaine du Saquet and Domaine des Campels are both a little higher, with Blue, Red and Black runs. Lifts in the Campels area are being upgraded and the 'retro' 2-way Savis chairlift is being replaced by two modern, detachable 4-man chairs (one is complete, the other almost...).

There's a good variety of skiing here, for all levels, and we were particularly struck by the off-piste and freeride possibilities; bowls, couloirs and tree runs which are easily accessed from the higher pistes and which lead safely back to the piste.

[If leaving the piste, always carry the appropriate safety equipment and know how to use it!]


Extensive snow-making covers the lower runs, and the pistes were all in good shape.

There's much more about the skiing, and a piste map, in J2Ski's Ax les Thermes Resort Guide and you can find out more at www.ax-ski.com.


Terrain, terrain...

At the time of our trip, March 2019, thin snow cover off-piste prevented us from exploring the terrain away from the marked runs ourselves but it looks like a lot of fun and we're planning on going back...


Five Euros for a good coffee and a big fresh cake? Yes, please!


Take a Bath!

And finally, for the end of your skiing day... Ax les Thermes is a traditional French town blessed, as noted above, with hot springs and spa baths. There are outdoor ponds and pools, and the impressive Bains Couloubret.


Bains Couloubret, picture (c) Alain BASCHENIS

We'd recommend Ax les Thermes for families, mixed groups, solos and... Freeriders!

Arrived here yesterday; lovely town, spectacular views and very quiet. First impressions are of a good-sized ski area with some interesting and long runs and... extensive off-piste and freeride.



More later...

cleo@egyptiantrader.co.uk wrote:Can you add Are Sweden please?

That's there - you need to scroll down to the bottom of the list for Sweden, because of the accented A - Åre.

J2Ski Snow Report 21st March 2019

The French Pyrenees, Les Angles, France, this week.

Big snowfalls for Alpine resorts earlier in the week, with rain for some, and signs of Spring elsewhere.

This Week's Snow Headlines - 21st March 2019
- Seven-day snowfall totals as much as 1.5 metres (5 feet) in the Alps.
- Scottish ski areas have more runs open this week than they have had open all season.
- Swiss resorts still posting the world's deepest snow bases, with two at 6 metres plus.
- Avalanche danger at level 3 'considerable' above 2000m in parts of Eastern Alps.

Last week ended with some of the heaviest snowfalls for several months across most of the alps (and down into the Dolomites) with some areas reporting up to 50cm in 24 hours. That was the conclusion, in most area, of a snowy fortnight that led to rising snow depths, on upper runs at least, across Europe.

Since the weekend though things have turned much quieter in terms of snowfall, with just the occasional, lighter snow shower, and the trend towards warmer temperatures. We are of course entering late March and the start of spring (the astronomical version) so that's perfectly normal with freeze-thaw conditions for the snowpack.

The avalanche danger is mostly level 2, moderate, across much of Europe, but in the Eastern Alps (Austria, parts of Switzerland and Italy), it's at level 3, considerable, meaning off-piste skiers and boarders could set off slides.

Elsewhere in Europe, it's clear but fairly cold in the Pyrenees and Eastern Europe with snowy conditions up in Scotland and Scandinavia. Indeed Scotland is seeing some of its best conditions of the season so far.

Across the Atlantic, it's a similar story with big snowfalls last week largely ending by the weekend (the exception being Alaska where it just keeps dumping) and there have been the first reports of ski areas in southern states like Arizona and New Mexico ending their seasons as temperatures rise.

Equally, though there are more reports of extended seasons as snow bases at most major resorts are well up on the average.


In the Alpine Forecast

Generally clear and sunny for the next week, for most of The Alps, with varying temperatures. There are hints of a cold end to the month in some forecast models but we'll have more clarity next week.



See where it's expected to snow this week...

Re-publication :- our Snow Report Summary, being the text above this line, is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

EUROPEAN ALPS
Austria

Last week was a snowy one in Austria, building up to the heaviest snowfalls, as forecast, on Thursday/Friday.

But it seemed that every day over the past 7 days, some resort, somewhere in Austria posted a 20cm+ 24 hour new accumulation. Most recently that included Saalbach and the Zillertal Arena both posting 30cm snowfalls on Monday. Since then though things have 'calmed down' a good deal and the sun has been out for blue sky skiing on fresh snow.

The deepest bases are on the country's glaciers, almost all of which have snow lying at least 4 metres deep which should leave them in a strong position for the spring. Top of the table is the Dachstein glacier with a 5.9-metre base, the third deepest in the world at present.

France
The fresh snow in the French Alps at the end of last week caused upper slope snow depths to grow by as much as 50cm, compared to this time last week, whilst lower slopes where there was less snow and sometimes rain at low elevation, saw depths diminished.

On high slopes, a number of resorts have gone past the 3.3 metres (11 feet) depth mark when last week no French resort was reporting deeper than 295cm. Les Arcs and La Rosiere are up there on 3.3 metres. Then at the bottom, the lower slope base depth quoted by Chamonix has dropped to zero. Le Grand Bornand reports 20cm on low slopes, Serre Chevalier 26cm, but for most resorts, there's still 60cm plus and at many of the altitude resorts more than a metre, so the final month of the main season is looking good.

Italy
Italian ski slopes are warming up as we move into the weekend with some areas likely to hit +15C in resort and as much as +10C on higher slopes by Friday, which will of course impact on snow conditions. Most Italian areas do have a fairly good cover (the deepest snow is reported to be lying 4 metres thick on the Presena Glacier), but some have only 20-30cm on lower slopes, so they may have problems maintaining cover down near resort for the final weeks of the season.

All in all, it is classic spring skiing now with the best conditions in the morning. There's a possibility of lower temperatures and some light snowfall towards the middle of next week but that's not certain at present.

Switzerland
Swiss resorts continue to post the world's most impressive base depths with Andermatt and Engelberg leading the way with 6m/20 feet+ bases. But behind these huge numbers, most other Swiss areas are looking good too, most with 2-4 metres upper slope base depths and the majority with plenty to see them through the remainder of the season on lower slopes too.

Most of the country's resorts did well from the snowfall at the end of last week, posting 50-100cm accumulations of fresh snow on upper runs. It was still snowing at the start of this week with Laax posting 20cm and Arosa 35cm of fresh snowfall on Sunday/Monday.

Scandinavia
There's been plenty more fresh snow in Scandinavia over the past week with Finland in the far north now in its best shape of the season (which has been a challenging one for reliable snow cover) and now every ski area is pretty well fully open.

There's been a lot of fresh snowfall in Norway and Sweden too leaving more-or-less every area in the region fully open with fresh snow and rapidly increasing daylight hours.

Pyrenees
No real fresh snow this week in the Pyrenees but temperatures have been staying low in Andorra so there's not been any major loss of the snow-pack either.

Bases are fairly good across the region and resort operators are pushing snow down on to lower slopes where the snow has now all gone to ensure top-to-bottom skiing is still possible. There's no snowfall in the forecast but plenty of blue sky.

Scotland
Conditions are arguably the best they have been all season in Scotland after three weeks of mostly cold weather and frequent snow showers.

This week the five Highland centres have reached a tipping point with depths (up to 1.3 metres now on upper slopes) adequate to re-open runs closed since the February 'record warm temperatures' thaw.

About 70 trails are open across the five areas, the most this season, with Glencoe fully open, Cairngorm with more than 20 runs skiable and the other three centres about half open. Temperatures are rising again and there have been closures due to strong winds but generally, conditions are good.

Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe covers a large area of course and the western side of the east – Slovakia and the Czech Republic, benefited from some of the same snow that hit the Eastern Alps last week, with some healthy dumps reported at resorts like Jasna.

Further East there was less fresh snow in Bulgaria, just a dusting in fact, with rain at lower elevations, but temperatures have stayed lower here on the mountains at least than many other parts of Europe so Spring snow conditions are pretty good. It is getting warmer though and double-digit temps are expected top to bottom from the weekend on.

North America
Canada
Warm in the west and full on winter in the East is the current picture in Canada where it is snowing hard in Quebec, but reaching double digits above freezing at resorts like Whistler on the BC Coast.

So it looks like Tremblant's 5.4-metre base, still, the country's deepest may grow still more. Things are now cooling down a little out west and it looks like snow should start falling in Alberta and BC, on higher slopes at least, from, the weekend.

USA
The heavy snowfall in the western US has largely eased off for the time being and it's actually quite warm now with a thaw underway. This has lead to a few resorts in more marginal snowfall states like Arizona to call it a day on the 18-19 season and close until next winter.

To the north of the country though, up in Alaska, it's a different picture with Alyeska ski area reporting more than 1.8 metres (six feet) of snowfall there over the past week.

There does look to be some more heavy snow on the way but for a change its eastern areas that look like they're going to be dumped on with as much as 40cm (16 inches) of snowfall expected in Vermont and New York state by Saturday.

Until next week, enjoy the sunshine...

Quiet pistes, spectacular views and well-maintained runs making for enjoyable skiing under blue skies in Les Angles this week.

The sun is out, although the air was cold yesterday, keeping the previous day's top-up of a few cms feeling good underfoot (ski) on the pistes.



A few pistes (notably some South-facing Red and Black runs) are closed due to thin snow cover, but the extensive snow-making in Les Angles is keeping the majority of the domain in good condition.

Although the base is clearly thin, the Pyrenees not having had the big snowfalls that have blessed The Alps this season, the pistes are in great condition - albeit getting slushy lower down toward the end of the day.

It's been a while since we've been asked for a new ski area, as we cover over 2,000 now, but we've just added a whole new country... (albeit a small one) 8)

Now available for your Snow Mail ski resort choices, is the snow forecast for Malbun in Liechtenstein!