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Engelberg's open for snowsports today; no snow in the village (unsurprisingly) but still 6.5 metres at the top (3,000 metres).
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Presumably avalanche risk; fresh snow on a deep snow pack that's probably now quite wet and heavy from mid-mountain down? We've just been told that they hope to open tomorrow, subject to conditions. |
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Where To Ski or Snowboard In May 2018
Click to find out how to WIN Salomon Skis or a Snowboard (just by answering a few questions)... Here's the first of our monthly guides to help you find the snow during the northern summer and southern hemisphere's 2018 winter . This Month's Snow Headlines - Heavy late April snow in many ski regions leave excellent conditions for the start of May. - Summer only areas begin opening in Scandinavia, USA and Japan. - Snow still lying up to 6.9m (23 feet) deep in the Alps. - USA has 16 ski areas open at start of May, almost double the total of 9 in 2017. - Good pre-season snow falls reported in New Zealand. The start of May 2018 is looking decidedly snowy compared to this time most seasons. Fresh snow has been falling on still-open high slopes in the Alps in the final days of April and more is expected up high at the start of May too. That comes after one of the snowiest winters on record at some western areas, meaning bases are far deeper on the continent's glaciers than they were last summer - hopefully enough to withstand the thaw this year. There's been some fresh snow in North America also and around 20 areas are open here as May begins, including an unusually high number on the eastern side of the continent after a cold and sometimes snowy April. May is usually one of the quieter months in world skiing with most ski areas in the Northern hemisphere closed while southern hemisphere ski areas have not yet opened. That said, around 80 ski areas are open at the start of the month, and a few glacier areas actually open for their summer ski season in May, but by the end of the month the overall numbers open will drop to around 15. Then they'll start to climb again in June as southern hemisphere resorts open and more glacier ski areas re-open in the Alps. In the Alpine Forecast More snow is in the forecast for many of the high altitude ski areas still open, but with very few open resorts now it's important to check local conditions and resort opening times directly before travelling! 
See where it's expected to snow this week...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria The snow is lying up to 5 metres deep on Austrian glaciers with the Dachstein, one of the country's two glaciers that endeavour to stay open year round (the other being Hintertux) reporting the deepest cover. Also open through May are the Stubai and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers, both reporting great conditions and expecting to stay open to June and July respectively. Of the Austria's other four glacier ski areas Solden closed on the last Sunday of April, Pitztal will close May 6th, Molltal on the 13th and Kaunertal will close on the 21st. France In the French Alps only two ski areas are scheduled to be open after May 1st – Tignes to the 6th and Val Thorens to the 8th. After that there'll be nowhere open in France until Val d'Isere re-opens for summer skiing in June, followed by les 2 Alpes and Tignes. Val d'Isere has made big news of the fact it will open on 2nd June, a few weeks earlier than usual, initially expecting to use winter slopes without glacier cover for morning summer skiing until mid-June. It's the first time the resort has ever done that in its 82 year history and it says its down to all the snow received this winter. Italy In terms of glacier skiing it's a similar picture in Italy with the glacier ski areas at Cervinia, Passo Tonale and Val Senales all scheduled to close at the end of the ski day on the 6th. However here there will be skiing at the end of the month as the 'summer-only' Italian ski area of Passo Stelvio will open towards the end of the month on the 26th. Switzerland Engelberg is posting the world's deepest snow at 6.9 metres as we enter Mayand will stay open through May; as will Zermatt, which offers year round skiing. Glacier 3000 and the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz are also staying open just in to May. Scotland Scottish skiing has made it in to May this year with Glencoe planning to stay open to May 7th. Scandinavia In Scandinavia there are about 30 areas open, most in Norway, some reporting up to 15cm of fresh snow in the final days of April. Many will close May 1st, some like Ruka in Finland, open since early October thanks to snow farming, on the 6th. However the Folgefonn ("Fonna") glacier in Norway only opened at the end of April with a 4m base and 15cm of fresh snow so it is open all summer. It will be joined by the Galdhoppigen glacier area on May 20th and finally the Stryn glacier on June 1st. Also open throughout May is 'Europe's Spring skiing Capital' Riksgransen up in the Swedish Arctic Circle where skiing/boarding under the midnight sun is offered several times a week from mid-May. North America Around 20 ski areas are open in North America as we start May. Unusually there are almost as many ski areas open in the East of the US as the West after a cold and often snowy April, at least until the last week, in the region. Closed midweek but open next weekend for the last time in the 2017-18 season are Sugarloaf and Jay Peak in Vermont, Wildcat Mountain in New Hampshire, Sugarloaf in Maine and Mont Sutton in Quebec. Killington will stay open "as long as the snow lasts" – daily until the 13th then weekends for the rest of May. There's been some good April snow too in the West and the usual suspects have announced they'll be staying open later in to May and in some cases right through to June and potentially July. In California Mammoth and Squaw Valley have been said they'll be open until May 28th, but they often extend their seasons beyond that. In Colorado Arapahoe Basin has given June 3rd as the end-of-season date so far but again further extensions are not unusual. Two other Colorado areas, Loveland and Winter Park are open to May 6th. Snowbird in Utah says it will continue a further week top May 13th whilst in Oregon Mt Hood Meadows says it will stay open to the 18th, Mt Bachelor to the 27th and Timberline is open year-round. Finally the summer-ski-only area of Beartooth Basin (formerly: The Red Lodge International Ski and Snowboard Camp) on the Montana/Oregon border will open for its summer season on May 26th. North of the border the usual four ski areas have made it in to May, along with, more unusually, the previously mentioned Mont Sutton in the East. Marmot Basin and Lake Louise in Alberta will be open to the first weekend of the month, then Sunshine at Banff and Whistler Blackcomb will continue another fortnight to the 22nd May. Asia As with Scandinavia, a few dozen Japanese ski areas stay open in to the start of May but most close on May 1st or Sunday May 6th. The big exception is the ski area near Gassan which, like Norway's glacier areas, is so snowy in mid-winter it isn't actually dug out with its access roads cleared until April, then stays open to July. This year it tried to open in mid-April but had to close due to lift problems but then finally opened on the last Saturday of April for its 2018 season. Southern Hemisphere Snowmaking, with 'all-weather snowmaking machines' has been reported underway in Australia whilst some ski areas in New Zealand got up to 50cm of fresh snow over the last weekend of April, but the 2018 ski season isn't due to kick off properly until the second weekend in June unless there are early openings. |
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WIN Skis or a Snowboard by taking part in the SCGB Snowsports Survey!
Started by User in Ski Deals and Competitions, 4 Replies |
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Take part in the Ski Club of Great Britain survey for the chance to WIN a pair of SALOMON XDR80 Ti skis or a SALOMON SICKSTICK snowboard worth over £500 each!
Our friends at the Ski Club of Great Britain want to find out more about what today's skiers and snowboarders are looking at from their snowsports holidays and are running this survey in collaboration with their partners. We would like to invite you to take part in this survey with the chance to WIN SALOMON XDR80 Ti skis or a SALOMON SICKSTICK snowboard! All you have to do is fill in the questionnaire before the 23rd of May – it should take no more than 5-15 minutes and all your answers will remain anonymous. To complete the survey, and enter the competition, go here :- http://surveys.spikeinsight.co.uk/s3/J2Ski18 Good luck and thanks for your help! |
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Can anyone beat the almost half price family ski pass at Alpe D'Huez at Easter?
Started by User in France, 8 Replies |
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There are quite a few but, as you've noticed, not always widely advertised. We've covered a few here; notably La Clusaz's "Learn to Ski for Free" late-season deal, but you also might keep an eye on Monterosa (Champoluc et al) as that's only a couple of hours extra drive via the Mont Blanc tunnel and for the past few years they've done "lift pass included" deals with accommodation for the last week or two of the season. There's certainly been a push in French resorts to bring more people to the mountains at Easter and later, and - especially after this winters epic late-season skiing - we can expect that to continue. |
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Note :- this will be our final weekly report of this epic season, but we'll be back next week with the first of our monthly round-ups which run until the snows come again to the North.
J2Ski Snow Report 26th April 2018 
Above the clouds at Tignes this morning - which is open until the 6th May J2Ski Snow Report 26th April 2018 This Week's Snow Headlines - Snow making gets underway in Australia. - First Norwegian glacier ski area opens this week. - Some fresh snow reported on high slopes in Scotland (2 ski areas still open). - Mt Baker closes for season after 70 feet of snow. - Engelberg back to top of snow depths table. - Fresh snowfall in Colorado and Alberta. The number of ski areas open continues to plummet and we're down to around 50 now that plan to make it in to May - although about a quarter of those will close on May 1st itself. It has been a fairly quiet week on the world's ski slopes with most reporting predominantly cool to mild weather, often sunny, with just a few small snowfalls, the biggest reported in Western Canada – and there only 15cm (6 inches). In most places bases are thawing as temperatures climb higher above freezing, as you would expect with meteorological summer just over a month away, but as the snow is lying between 2 and 7 metres thick at almost all of the still-open areas, there's plenty left! South of the equator, one ski area in Australia has reported snowmaking underway, despite temperatures being well above freezing, as it has an all-weather snowmaking system. It says this will guarantee snow cover at the official start of the season in early June. In the Alpine Forecast Another warm week ahead, with the exception of a cooler snap expected to bring a lot of snow (at altitude) to the North West (of the Alps) around Monday. 
See where it's expected to snow this week...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria It's mostly glaciers that are open in Austria this week although one of them, Solden, will close this weekend. Most of the others plan to remain open to later in May, June or even July whilst Dachstein and Hintertux endeavour to remain open year round. Snow depths are excellent on the glaciers – typically 3 to 5 metres – so they've been coping well with the sunshine so far and provided sublime conditions from mid-morning to early afternoon. Ischgl and Obertauern are also both open although their snow depths are diminishing more quickly with little left at resort level and about a metre or so on upper runs. Both will close May 1st after big season-end party weekends. France About a dozen of the bigger French ski resorts are still open. They're all reporting sunny skies and Spring skiing conditions with the snow in its best shape between about 10am and 1pm. All of these resorts have the snow lying several metres deep up top, so there's no fear of its thawing away before closing day. It's the last weekend of the season coming up at La Plagne, Les Arcs and Montgenevre where the season will end on Sunday, April 29th at the end of the ski day. Chamonix and Val d'Isere will stay open, they say, to Tuesday May 1st whilst Tignes will continue to Sunday the 6th and finally Val Thorens will keep its lifts turning until Tuesday the 8th of May. Italy About a dozen Italian resorts too, are set to make it through the final weekend of April, with Cervinia and Val Senales saying they'll be open a further week after that, to May 6th. Here too the weather has been predominantly dry, warm and sunny so the snow is melting, but at most of the still-open centres it's at least two metres thick still. Cortina in the dolomites actually has the thinnest base of the still open areas at 10-70cm. It has set its closing day for May 1st but should be OK until then. At the other extreme the snow is 4.2m (14 feet) deep still at Cervinia up top, and 165cm deep in resort. Switzerland With Mt Baker (which last reported a 7.2m base) closing at the weekend, Engelberg's 7m snow depth reverts to the deepest of open ski areas in the world. It ended skiing to the valley at the end of Sunday and now has skiing up at Titlis where the sow is deepest and the temperatures low through to the end of May. It even reported a few centimetres of fresh snow (literally an inch) up high over the past few days too. Engelberg will be one of the few Swiss areas open in May as the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz and Glacier 3000 near Gstaad both plan to close at the start of May. A number of other ski areas are also reported open to this weekend at least – among them Adelboden, Andermatt, Samnaun (linked to Ischgl) and the 4 Valleys. Eastern Europe It remains mild in much of Eastern Europe with temperatures typically in the 5-20 degrees Celcius range. So almost all ski areas are closed and the snow is old and thawing at those that are still reported open to this weekend, such as Vogel in Slovenia, which still has a snow a base 1.8m (six feet) thick up top, while Kanin Bovec, also open, reports a 4m base. Scotland Nevis Range decided to call it a day on their 17-18 ski season last Sunday, two weeks earlier than they had been hoping, but the thaw has been rapid over the past few weeks. Glenshee and The Lecht are already closed and Cairngorm, although still open at time of writing, has limited snow left and so limited terrain open. Glencoe looks to be in the best shape reporting all terrain open and snow 60-100cm deep despite the thaw. It's staying open to May 7th making it one of the latest to stay open in to spring of Europe's non-glacier ski areas. Pyrenees We incorrectly reported that both ski areas in Andorra were closed for the season last week after Google lied to our snow reporter and he made the novice mistake of failing to check the J2ski report. Vallnord is in fact still open in Andorra until the coming weekend, so apologies to them and you. They even reported a dusting of snow on Sunday. Elsewhere, Sierra Nevada in southern Spain is also open through to May 1st having extended their season. Scandinavia There's been a few centimetres of snowfall on still-open slopes in Norway and Sweden over the past few days. The other news from the region is that Norway's Fonna glacier summer ski area opens this Friday for the long Mayday weekend – there are no official snow stats from there yet but the management assure us conditions are excellent. North America Canada There are four Canadian ski areas still open in Western Canada and they've been reporting perhaps the best conditions anywhere over the past week with fresh snow falling and everything open. The choices are Lake Louise and Sunshine at Banff, Marmot Basin to the north and over the border in BC, Whistler Blackcomb is open too. It and Sunshine stay open to late May, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin close May 6th. There are a handful of ski areas open in to Quebec in the East too after a blast of late season snow a week ago there. Mont Sutton says it will open the next two weekends. USA The cold and snow of a week ago appears to have come to an abrupt halt in the USA and disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived, with little fresh snow reported in the past 7 days. But the US probably has more ski areas open still than any other country, with about 15 open daily and a further 20 or so open at weekends – albeit with this coming weekend being the last weekend for many of them. About a dozen ski areas in the Midwest and on the East Coast will open this weekend, still thanks in large part to the unexpected big dump of snow a week ago. A few have announced their plans to also open the first weekend in May (5th/6th) with Killington aiming to go to the end of the month. On the West it is more a case of the usual late season suspects with Squaw and Mammoth in California; Timberline in Oregon, Snowbird in Utah and A Basin and Loveland in Colorado (which have reported 20cm of fresh snow in the past few days) all expecting to stay open well in to May and in some cases to June. Others are open including Winter Park, at weekends, to the 6th, extending its season by a fortnight in response to good April snowfalls. |
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Tignes le Lac Note :- this trip was taken between the 9th and 15th April 2018, and the photos show snow conditions at that time. At the time of writing - 24th April - warm weather has reduced snow depths but conditions above 2,500m are broadly similar and there has been further snow at altitude since. Tignes is open until May 6th, and cooler weather - with more snow (!) - is forecast for this coming weekend. This was all booked very much last minute after spotting some cheap flights out of our local airport, and we chose Tignes for the altitude, likelihood of fresh snow, and the convenience of a modern and well-connected lift system. Our previous trip had been in December 2016 with considerably less snow than we expected to find this time... Overall Impressions 
Looking from Tignes le Lac toward Le Lavachet For us, Tignes works and works really well. There is a school of thought that says "high-density" accommodation is more efficient for ski resorts - with less overall impact on the surrounding environment - than chalets sprawling in all directions, for example. If you take that on board then Tignes makes perfect sense. There doesn't seem to be anywhere that's more than a short walk to a lift, or - failing that - a stop for one of the frequent buses that circulate continually between and within the villages. As with our previous trip, we had good, friendly service - literally - everywhere we went. Skiing and Snow Cover So, what about the skiing? In short, it was fabulous. 
Tignes Val Claret, amongst tremendous April snow cover - all over everywhere! As we all know, snow fall this winter has been exceptional and good snow cover really brings Tignes vast terrain to life. Off-piste avalanche risk was high, with huge amounts of snow and warming weather, throughout our stay but we were never short of interesting "side-piste" and mellow, less-exposed pitches to explore. 
Powder on the Val d'Isere side on Friday 13th! The day of the season for us. Lift Infrastructure With a handful of exceptions, the majority of lifts are modern 2-speed, high-capacity chairs that take you quickly to where you want to be. They're supplemented by the Toviere gondola, giving access from Le Lac up and over to Val d'Isere (and to various descents back toward Le Lac or Val Claret) and the Grand Motte's funicular and cable car. 
The modern and fast Toviere gondola 
Always something going on in Tignes... 
The view from Toviere Eating and Drinking As you'd expect, high altitude eating and drinking is not cheap in the mountain restaurants but we found the quality of food to be good; although we always minimize "down-time" (and spend!) by carrying snacks and water, and taking small, fast lunches. We had good meals in various eateries in Le Lac and can thoroughly recommend the Creperie Bretonne and the Arbina Hotel. Service in both was friendly and welcoming. 
One of several excellent meals, this one at l'Arbina, Tignes le Lac 
Some say, he's my young apprentice. He used to follow me around, now he leads... All we know is that he's called The Skig... As of today, 85% of the pistes are open, 96% of the lifts and there's still over 1 metre of snow in Tignes Le Lac and 2.5 metres on the Grande Motte... and fresh snow is forecast for the weekend. Just saying... 8) |
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