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J2Ski Snow Report 1st February 2018
You can ski by the light of the Full Moon in La Clusaz, France this coming Saturday J2Ski Snow Report 1st February 2018 A quieter, milder, week in the Alps with a bit more snow (and cold) incoming. This Week's Snow Headlines - A quiet weather week in the Alps to end a stormy, snowy January. - Most snow in Europe this week in the Pyrenees and Scandinavia. - Intense snowfall expected in parts of Eastern Europe. - Up to a metre of snow in Iran after a snowless start to the season there. - Volcanic activity threatens second Japanese ski area. - More heavy snowfall in Northwestern North America. - Thaw hits some Scottish ski areas. Conditions in the Alps have stabilised a good deal after nearly a month of snowy and stormy weather. Resorts that were still cut off by avalanche danger a week ago are now accessible again and have all or almost all of their slopes open again - most reporting great conditions - after the snowfall stopped, the sun came out and the avalanche danger reduced over the past week. There have been big snowfalls in Norway and the Pyrenees, particularly the French side, got a lot of snow at the weekend. Scotland has seen a thaw, followed by cold and snow, all in the past week. It has turned more unsettled in North America too with some very big snowfalls in the continent's north west and improving conditions further south and more snow in the East too. Huge snowfalls in Iran and China, the former particularly welcome as ski slopes had been barren there until this week. Japan continues its snowy season too but with the unusual addition of increased seismic activities at the resort of Zao; with tremors and a 'volcanic danger warning' following the eruption at another ski area last week! In the Alpine Forecast Widepsread snow is expected across quite a wide area of the Alps today and tomorrow, with some heavy snow expected for Eastern Europe (and North East Italy). Settled - and cold - weather, with occasional light snow, is then expected to prevail for much of the next week. Further snows are indicated in about 10 days time, but that'll be clearer next week. 
See when and where it's going to snow...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria Conditions are good across Austria. Most resorts have enjoyed sunny days over the past week, the only real negative was temperatures getting a little too warm at the weekend and start of this week, particularly at lower elevations. It's colder again now though and fresh snow is expected towards the end of this week with moderate falls of 10-15cm a day adding up to 25-35cm by Sunday. Resorts in the far East of the country, like Nassfeld and bad Kleinkirchheim may get substantially more. Snow depths are very good across most of Austria – a large number of areas have more than 3m snow depth and several more than 4m, the Dachstein Glacier topping the table at 5.5 metres. Most others have at least 1.5m on upper slopes, of the bigger resorts St Johann in Tirol is posting the lowest numbers but still good enough at 50-70cm. France Little or no fresh snow and sunny skies have been the order of the day in the French Alps over much of the past week. Conditions have been close to perfect on piste and even off piste more terrain has become accessible to knowledgeable local guides as the avalanche danger has gradually lessened. The exception has been down in the French Pyrenees (see separate section) which had a snowy weekend. February looks like it will start snowy though, for one day at least, with up to 30cm/a foot of snow expected on Thursday in many French Alpine resorts, but then, if forecasts are correct, nothing much more on Friday or Saturday. Base depths are excellent across most French ski areas. The deepest is 455cm (15 feet) at La Rosiere but many other resorts have 3m/10 foot plus bases. Italy There's been no fresh snow in Italy either for the past few days, and very little this week. Here too conditions are largely very good, with plenty of snow from earlier falls from the eastern Dolomites to the Western Italian Alps and right down the Apennines too. With blue skies and light winds this is the kind of dolce vita skiing that Italians (and most other right-minded people) love. Cervinia continues to have the country's deepest base, just shy of 4 metres, but as with the leading ski areas in the other 'big 4' European skiing nations, base depths are good across the country. Snow is in the forecast, but mostly for the western half of the country with up to 50cm forecast for Thursday and Friday in the Western Italian alps. That said forecasters are expecting a huge snowfall around Slovenia in the western Alps on Friday-Saturday and that may catch resorts in Italy's far North east too with about a metre of snow predicted! Switzerland Swiss resorts too have enjoyed a largely dry, sunny week. Base depths are good, conditions generally excellent and as with much of the alps there'll perhaps be 20-40cm of fresh snow confined to Thursday/Friday so change over day should be fine on Saturday. Crans Montana seems to have suddenly checked their snow depth measuring – having claimed a base of 6.5m a little over a week ago, they've now revised that down to 4m – so there has either been a fairly catastrophic thaw or someone was loading the wrong stats. Engelberg, which has claimed the deepest base in the world for much of the winter however, is still up there on 6.25m – down 30cm on its peak but still 21 feet. Eastern Europe Some huge snowfalls are being projected for the end of this week in Slovenia in particular – more than a metre of snow could fall within 48 hours on some centres if the forecast models prove correct. That should be good news as a number of resorts in the region have been suffering from warm temperature leading to wet snow and a thaw. One brand new ski area in Romania, complete with top-to-bottom snowmaking embarrassingly had to close three days in to operations due to torrential rain and temps too warm for the snow machines to work according to reports. Scotland A bit of an East-West split has developed in Scotland with Glencoe and Nevis Range in the West holding on to most of their snow cover from the falls two weeks ago (and subsequent top ups) but the snow cover mostly melted away at Glenshee and The Lecht in the East. Glencoe still has about 80% of it terrain open, Nevis Range about 60%. There's been more fresh snow in the past 24 hours and The Lecht has taken delivery of its Snow Factory all weather snow making machine. Pyrenees The Pyrenees saw the biggest snowfalls in Europe at the weekend with resorts on the French side of the mountains reporting up to 60cm of fresh snow. There was less in Andorra (10-20cm) and on the Spanish side but conditions remain good here on the pistes, almost all of which are open with nearly all lifts operating too. Andorra slope depths are 110-160cm on upper runs now. Scandinavia The biggest reported snowfalls in Europe since the weekend have been in Norway where some centres have reported up to 40cm of fresh snow in 24 hours and 70cm in the past 72 hours. Voss, Geilo and Roldal are amongst the big snowfall winners of recent days reporting powder conditions. As is often the case it has been less snowy further East in Sweden and Finland but here bases are good and most runs open anyway. North America Canada There have been some big snowfalls in the past 72 hours in western Canada with whistler posting 60cm (two feet) of new snow since the weekend. It's one of those reporting a base depth of more than 3m now, reaching 316cm – about 10 other resorts have passed that mark too. Inland BC and Alberta have seen smaller but still significant snowfalls too. Things are not so good in the East where snow depths are now around 30 – 90cm at most areas and there's been little if any fresh snow this week, but most are largely open. Tremblant in Quebec, the most visited in the East, has 77 of its 93 runs open for example with a 60cm base. USA A fairly snowy week in the US, with the Northwest seeing the biggest falls, particularly Mt Baker in Washington State, traditionally one of the world's snowiest resorts and now starting to build up to its usual number one position for global snow depth with over 2 metres of snow in the last 7 days taking its base up to 536cm. It's a still improving picture further south in the West with park City in Utah now up to 250 of its 350 runs open, so still getting there but getting better. There's been some fresh snow in the east too which has had a pretty good winter on the whole so far. |
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Fancy Skiing by the light of the moon?
Full Moon Parties: 3rd February and 3rd March - La Clusaz, Annecy Mountains 
This weekend and next month skiers can party under the Super Blue Moon! For the 15th Year - The Full Moon Party in La Clusaz, Annecy Mountains kicks off with DJs and bands playing in the bars and restaurants of La Clusaz in the Crêt du Merle and Beauregard sectors. The resort stays open both Saturdays, 3rd February and 3rd March from 9pm to 1am. The 4 locations on the le Crêt du Merle area hosting parties are: Chez Arthur; Chalet des Praz, La Ferme and le Salto. The following lifts will be open: - TSD Crêt du Merle : 9pm-1am - TC Ice rink : 9pm-12.30 - TC Beauregard : 9pm to midnight, - TK Louveteau to access a family ski run: 9pm to 12.30am Prices :- Adult from 17 €/ - Child from 10 € 
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Alpe d'Huez Snow Reports - January 2018
Started by User in Snow Reports from Ski Resorts, 10 Replies |
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Looks a bit wind-blown, but good! Crusty off piste?
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Warren Miller, maker of ski movies for 60 years, has passed away
Started by User in Ski News, 2 Replies |
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This collection of clips featuring big mountain skier Chris Anthony is a good taster of the segments his films were built on.
Grab a coffee and kick back... |
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Warren Miller, maker of ski movies for 60 years, has passed away
Started by User in Ski News, 2 Replies |
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Sad to hear of the passing of Warren Miller today, aged 93.
Picture courtesy of the Seattle Times, who have a good write-up here - Warren Miller, Seattle Times
He made literally hundreds of movies, but will be best remembered for his annual ski flicks of which he made the first back in 1949! For many years, the release of his annual ski movie was part of our build-up to winter, and we might have to do a little binge-watching at the weekend... RIP Warren and thanks! |
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J2Ski Snow Report 25th January 2018
Just a chair lift in the snow, Grand Massif, France J2Ski Snow Report 25th January 2018 After some more massive snows, the weather has cleared for a few days allowing Alpine resorts to open more terrain. This Week's Snow Headlines - Snow in Alps cuts off a number of big name resorts for a time. - Scottish ski centres enjoy their best day for several years. - Big snow in Western Canada - Whistler clocks up 1.5m in 72 hours. - Huge snowfalls close ski slopes in Western Alps due to avalanche danger. - Japanese ski area hit by avalanche set off by volcanic eruption. - Europe's (and the world's) deepest base now 6.6m (22 feet) It has been another incredible week in the Alps with yet more huge snowfalls as January 2018 looks set to go down in the record books as one of the snowiest ever. All the snow has not been great news for skiers and boarders in some resorts, particularly in the Western Alps, as the avalanche danger has been so high they have been unable to open their slopes safely and in some cases access to resorts has been temporarily cut too. The snow finally stopped falling in most areas on Monday or Tuesday and the skies turned blue allowing those resorts to start re-opening their slopes and re-open road and rail access too. Zermatt was the last to re-open its over-land connection to the outside world, its rail link to neighbouring Tasch, at 5pm on Wednesday. Resorts quickly began posting pictures of spectacular snowfalls and happy skiers, whilst stressing that the avalanche danger remains high outside areas declared safe. Snow is expected to begin falling again late Thursday and in to Friday and intensify on Saturday, possibly causing more transfer day problems but, currently at least, falls are not expected to be as huge as in previous weeks, probably more in the 20-50cm total range. Elsewhere Scotland had an epic Saturday with the best conditions for several years, Scandinavia has had some good snowfall and In China and Japan there have been huge snowfalls too. Japan has even had a volcano erupt at one of its ski areas, although that isn't strictly 'weather'. Across the Atlantic there have been the first really big snowfalls since November in Western North America with Whistler reporting good falls in the past week, boosting its base to 2.7m, one of the deepest in the country. Conditions at ski areas in the Western US are looking increasingly good too. In the Alpine Forecast Much more "normal" winter weather is on the cards for the next week. Snow is expected, mostly to the western Alps (northern French Alps, Swiss Alps and northern Italian Alps) but probably not in the quantities of the last couple of weeks. Generally clear and settled conditions will prevail otherwise, with temperatures a little above seasonal averages until the end of the month. AVALANCHE RISK Avalanche risk levels remain high over a wide area and this will continue for a while. As always, be careful to follow local advice if going off-piste; carry avalanche safety kit and do not ski alone. 
See when and where it's going to snow...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria Conditions are great in Austria, as snow conditions stabilise and the heavy snowfall gives way to sunny days. Off piste the avalanche danger remains high at most resorts, but resorts are working hard to make groomed slopes safe and more and more terrain is opening. If anything it seems to have been more strong winds rather than excess snow that has been the problem in recent days at some high altitude areas. Only glacier areas like the Dachstein and Kaunertal glaciers were still closed on Wednesday. Base depths in Austria are exceptional for January with the (closed) Dachstein reporting nearly 6 metres (20 feet) of snow lying and snow depths at St Anton (which was cut off for several days and like many areas had a level 5 maximum avalanche danger over the weekend) from 1.7m in resort up to 4.2m at the top of the slopes. France French slopes have been dumped on once again over the past week, causing big issues for some resorts which had to close all or most of their terrain at times. The Chamonix Valley was particularly hard hit with slopes closed and some guests staying in accommodation in possible avalanche zones advised to stay indoors with shutters closed whilst the avalanche danger remained at 'extreme.' Things began to ease off on Tuesday when resorts began to open terrain, often having to first plough their way to the lifts. Base depths are still being assessed at some resorts but those that are measuring them are reporting snow reaching 5 metres in depth at La Rosiere and plenty of others are past 4m and many 3m. More snow is on the way from Friday which could cause issues on change-over day. Italy Italy too has seen plenty of fresh snow of course, with Cervinia having to close all its runs until Tuesday when it began to re-open slopes. It's reporting the deepest base in the country at 3.9m. Other resorts in the Italian Alps are looking good too with 3m bases and base depths in the Dolomites are now as deep as 245cm at Canazei. Here excess snow has not been a slope-closing issue but the Sella Ronda has been briefly closed a few times due to strong winds at high points on the circuit. Switzerland A remarkable week in Switzerland which has topped the tables for the deepest snow, the biggest snowfall, the most ski resorts cut off and the highest avalanche danger. Engelberg and Crans Montana have gone tit for tat in a battle for the biggest totals with Engelberg on top at 655cm (22 feet) at present. The avalanche danger is now easing slightly and more terrain has been gradually opening across the country with great conditions reported almost everywhere. Eastern Europe Snowy conditions in much of Eastern Europe too, although again with occasional snow at lower elevations. Bansko reports 20cm of fresh snow and is moving ahead of other Bulgarian areas in terms of snow depth with 40-200cm reported lying compared to 20-50cm at Vitosha. It's a similar picture in other eastern European nations. Scotland Scotland had one of its best days for several years on Saturday when a combination of a week's snowfall ending with a rare perfect blue sky day with no wind led to thousands of skiers attempting to hit Scottish slopes. Unfortunately the demand was so much that the centres were overwhelmed and there was a six mile tailback on the road up to Glencoe and all five highland centres reached capacity and had to stop selling tickets. Sunday was a bit stormy so there were fewer folk on the slopes and this week has seen a rapid rise in temperatures leading to a thaw and more stormy days however centres are optimistic that when things calm down again there should be enough snow left for operations. Pyrenees Conditions are fairly good in the Pyrenees with almost all runs open and all lifts operating right across the region. There was some heavy snow, albeit with periods of rain at lower altitudes, before the weekend and more snow is in the forecast for the Pyrenees this coming weekend, with up to 60cm expected at some areas. In Andorra base depths are at 40cm to 140cm whilst in Spain depths have reached 225cm at Formigal and the numbers are similar on the French side. Scandinavia It's looking good in most parts of Scandinavia with up to 50cm of fresh snow reported in Norway in the past 72 hours. Roldal has the deepest base in the area at 2.8m but most resorts have good 1-2m bases. Further East in Finland and Sweden there's been less fresh snow but with temperatures at double digit below freezing the perfectly healthy bases aren't going anywhere and most runs are open and lifts operating. North America Canada It's been a very snowy week in Western Canada, in fact as far west as Vancouver Island there was so much snow that Mt Washington ski area had to close for the first time in nearly 20 years, leaving a few dozen skiers trapped overnight. Around two metres of snow fell in a very short period. On the mainland there were huge snowfalls too at Western ski areas like Cypress and Grouse Mountains and Whistler where up to two metres of snow fell again, but here over a longer period – about a week. Suffice to say it's been powder skiing all week. Further east in to BC and Alberta there's been fresh snow too, just not so much, and it's looking good still in Quebec and Ontario with base depths there still good. USA Conditions continue to improve in the Western US. For the first time this season Park City, the largest resort in the US has more than half of its runs open – 190 of 347, after fresh snowfall this week. It's a similar picture across ski states California and Colorado as well as Utah. Mt Baker, one of the snowiest resorts in the world, is rapidly moving forward on its base totals with nearly 90cm (three feet) of snow in the past 72 hours and has reached a 4.5m base, the deepest in North America at present. Most ski areas in the Midwest have had fresh snow too and their good season continues. Little fresh snow on the East Coast but bases remain healthy and most lifts and runs open. Temperatures are a little warmer than they have been for most of this month. |
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Look like nice boots but I'm not sure how well those soles would grip in snow.
"Approach Shoes" by the likes of Salomon (Evasion and similar models) are intended for rough trails so tend to have chunky soles that are good for tramping about resort in the snow. |
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Tough call; a few relatively clear days are forecast (tomorrow through Thursday) that should allow road and rail links (and ski lifts!) to be progressively re-opened but a bit of snow is on the cards for Friday/Saturday. It is looking clear and settled from then on though, so next week might just be the week of the season (if you can find safe pitches to ski).
I don't think "normally" applies... 8) Widespread Level 5 (today) is really quite exceptional and, given the amount of snow now in place, it's going to take at least a few days to moderate. Clearer weather will help though. |
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