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Snow returns to The Alps, in significant quantities, and more snow for the American West.
Top 100 Snowiest Ski Areas Worldwide 
Snow piling up in Le Grand Bornand, France This Week's Snow Headlines - Up to 1 metre of fresh snow in the Alps in past 48 hours. - Riksgransen opens for 2017 season with 1.8m/6 foot base. - Up to Another 1.8m / 6 Feet of Snow Reported in California. - Up to 40cm of fresh snow in the Eastern Alps/Dolomites. It has been a snowy day or two in the Alps, much to the delight of resorts which, in many cases, are seeing their best falls for a month. Up to 50cm of fresh snow was reported in the 24 hours up to Wednesday morning, March 1st (at Chamonix and Bonneval-sur-Arc, amongst others) with many leading areas reporting 20-40cm of snow in the same period. The biggest falls have been at higher altitudes, but snow has fallen right down to resort level for many lower lying towns such as Chamonix and Mayrhofen. The latest snow falls have also brought 30cm or more of snow to areas like the Dolomites and South eastern Austria. Elsewhere in Europe it has stayed snowy; the Pyrenees are due more snow later this week and even one Scottish ski area has managed to open almost half of its runs despite the ongoing very challenging conditions (for those trying to run ski centres) up there. Scandinavia has seen more snow also. In North America there have been yet more big snowfalls in the West, but it's been a drier week in the North East, and even a warm one for some more southerly resorts in that region, some of which are having to close early for the 16-17 season, despite its snowy start there, because of a serious thaw. In the Forecast Although the snow in The Alps will pause for a day (North West) or three (East), whilst temperatures rise after the weekend, it appears likely that the weather will cool to seasonal averages by mid-week and - importantly - significant amounts of snow will continue to fall over a wide area. It is likely to benefit higher altitude resorts most, due to the temperatures, but such areas should then be well set-up for a strong end to the season. More Snowy News There is much more detail of the snow around the world in the full version of our J2Ski Snow Report - 3rd March 2017 online. Going Skiing? Please upload a Photo Snow Report! If you're in the mountains, please show us the snow! Check Snow Reports from Ski Resorts for a quick and easy way to upload pictures, straight from your phone.
The Alps Austria Austria received snowfalls at the end of last week when other parts of Europe didn't, and this week its resorts were amongst the first to benefit from the latest big snowstorm in the Alps, with some areas (Silvretta Montafon and the Arlberg) reporting up to 50cm of fresh snow so far from the two systems over the past week. Most of that though (up to 40cm in the past 24 hours) is from the current snows which are expected to continue, on and off, through the weekend. Ski areas that have little or no cover in resort such as Mayrhofen, and areas in the south east which have had little snow at all this season (such as Bad Kleinkirchheim) have done well from the fresh snow so far with 25-35cm of new cover reported. France It has been a snowy 48 hours in the French Alps meaning a good start to March. Many of the country's leading ski areas have posted figures of 30-40cm of fresh snow in the 24 hours to Wednesday 1st March, including ski areas in the 3 Valleys, Grand massif, Portes du Soleil and Paradiski regions, Espace Killy who have been delighted to report powder conditions. 'On the ground' reports have been slightly less enthusiastic from lower elevation centres which are seeing rather wet snow, so as so often it is a case of where on the mountain you take your measurements. Much more French snowfall is forecast. Italy Some good news for The Dolomites of Eastern Italy with one of the best snowfalls of the winter so far here – albeit a winter with very little natural snowfall to date. After 'spring like' conditions a few weeks ago, ski areas in the region have reported full on winter with Arabba reporting 35cm in 24 hours, the biggest snowfall of the year, on Tuesday-Wednesday. Other resorts in the region reported 15-30cm of snow (20cm in the Fassa Valley for example). It's very similar to last year when there was heavy snow in the region in the first week of march after a dry winter in 2015-16 too. The snow is expected to continue through the weekend. Switzerland Swiss ski areas too have had their share of the latest snow storms. No areas have as yet reported accumulations quite as big as in neighbouring ski nations, with Verbier reporting 30cm; Saas Fee and Murren 25cm each and Andermatt and Anzere's 20cm in 24 the hours to March 1st. Over the last 7 days, Swiss areas have reported the biggest numbers in the Alps – Champery in the Portes du Soleil and Verbier in the 4 Valleys both reporting more than 60cm/2 feet of fresh snow in the period since this time last week. Gstaad, which reports the deepest snow base in Europe by some distance at 4.5m, says it has had 70cm of new snow. Forecasters currently expect Switzerland to get much more snow (in fact more than anywhere else) over the coming week too. Scandinavia Scandinavia has had good snow too for the past two weeks. Several resorts in Norway reported nearly a metre of new snow, including at Voss. Perfect timing for Riksgransen, Europe's most northerly resort, to open for its 2017 season last weekend. Hemsedal, which has had quite a thin base for much of the season compared to other leading Norwegian resorts, has had more than 30cm of fresh snow in the past 72 hours leading to powder conditions. Over in Sweden there's been 20cm of new snow at Are, the region's biggest ski area. Pyrenees The Pyrenees have enjoyed a largely dry and sunny week, but that's about to change with about 30cm of snow expected across the region over the next few days. Resorts in Andorra got 3cm (an inch) of snow in the last 24 hours for starters. Otherwise base depths remain good in Andorra and on the French and Spanish sides of the southern European mountains. Sierra Nevada down in the south of Spain got 25cm/10 inches of fresh snow this week and reports a 2m base. Eastern Europe Not much fresh snow reported on the Eastern Side of Europe over the past week. Bulgarian ski areas have now not seen much snowfall for three weeks but base depths remain good there thanks to the big January snowfalls – generally in the 1m to 1.5m bracket. At other leading resorts in the region bases are more like 60-80cm – perfectly adequate as we enter March. Scotland Two of Scotland's five ski areas are currently open and Nevis Range, with 14 of its 32 trails open on its upper mountain, has the most open terrain of any Scottish ski area so far this (let's be honest, fairly terrible) season. Cairngorm has less than half a dozen high runs open, the other three areas don't have enough snow to open but it is currently cold and snow machines are operating. North America Canada A 'middling' week in Canada with up to 48cm more snow in the West but a fairly dry seven days in Quebec and Ontario to the East. Fernie posted that biggest snowfall and, like all large Canadian resorts, continues to boast a healthy base (2.7m/9 feet) and great conditions on and of piste. Most resorts have at least a 2m base and are reporting off piste snow as 'powder' Although only a few centimetres of fresh snow this week Mont Ste Anne claims the deepest base in the country at 406cm up top (90cm at the base of the slopes). It is quite rare for a Canadian ski area to reach a 4m base. USA Yet another very snowy week in Western North America with up to 1.8m (six feet) more snow in California, 1.6m (over five feet) in Utah and plenty of snow in other states in the region too. Mammoth still has the deepest snow base in the world at 8.9m with Squaw Valley approaching 6m in second place. It's been drier on the East after a snowy February with just a few inches of snow reported in Vermont. Base depths remain good though with 30-60cm on lower slopes and over 1m at most resorts in the East – at least at more northerly resorts in the area. Further south and west it's a less enticing picture with warm weather and rain leading to early closures of resorts, although cold weather forecast later this week have led some to announce a planned resumption of snowmaking when that happens. More snow on both East and West coasts for the week ahead, although perhaps not quite such huge volumes for California and Utah this coming week. |
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It's a way to go yet, of course, but I'd certainly be looking for altitude and would probably go for Milan if I had to pick now.
Aosta valley has been getting good snow lately and it looks like there's a lot more to come this next week - but it's also looking like being relatively mild for a while (great for snow above 2,000m, but not so good for lower down). So, Cervinia or maybe Alagna? |
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J2Ski Snow Report - February 23rd 2017
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 5 Replies |
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:thumbup: Thanks for that! We will. No worries there; you can't please all of the people all of the time, so a bit of "feedback" is to be expected - and often valuable if it points up something we can improve. We've got over 37,000 peeps getting our weekly reports right now, many thousands of whom have been signed up for years, so we're probably pleasing most of them - most of the time! :lol: |
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J2Ski Snow Report - February 23rd 2017
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 5 Replies |
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We take your point Mr. Beep, but the 3cm is the figure being used for "lower snow depth" by the various official sources :- http://snow.myswitzerland.com/snow_reports/Valais/ZermattMatterhorn-170 ("3cm in resort") http://www.zermatt.ch/en/Snow-report ("depth of snow city 3cm") ...and the site you link to, uses that figure in the snow depth range shown at the head of every page... http://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en/current/snow-report ("3 - 135cm") For consistency, we'll continue to use that figure; you can guarantee we'll be immediately accused of exaggerating snow depths if we don't :lol: We'll try and make the location of the measuring station clear where we mention Zermatt in future weekly reports though! |
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J2Ski Snow Report - February 23rd 2017
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 5 Replies |
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J2Ski Snow Report 23rd February 2017
A glimpse of Spring before Winter returns to The Alps, and still snowy in America... 
J2Skier Wanderer sent us this great shot of The Dolomites this week This Week's Snow Headlines - Pyrenees continue to post some of the best snow depths in Europe. - Mammoth inches closer to 9m/30 foot snow depth. - Warm and wet at some lower elevation ski areas in the Alps but fresh snow forecast. - More big snowfalls in Western North America - Up to 50cm of fresh snow in Scandinavia. - Davos gets more than a foot of fresh snow. It has not been a week to remember for snow lovers in Europe with little fresh snow and 'spring like' conditions on lower slopes reported, with rain at times. With no fresh snow for several weeks now in many areas there's very little off-piste skiing left and even the groomed pistes have been looking a little 'tired' at lower elevations. There will be a bit of a freshen up this weekend, however, with new snow currently forecast at most areas for Friday/Saturday. It's a slightly better picture in Scandinavia which has seen the most fresh snow this week. Scotland remains pretty well snowless with all areas closed after more very warm weather. The Pyrenees down in the south in contrast continue to have some of the deepest snow in Europe. But North America still has the best snow depths although once again here there's been so much snow in the last 48 hours that several ski centres in the West of the continent have again closed down until they can be sure of safe operations. In the Forecast Things are set to improve in Europe, with useful snowfall (10-20cm) expected across a wide area tomorrow. This will be preceded by a significant drop in temperature so it will feel much colder than recent days, and will bring snow to the valley floor in many places. Northern French Alps are looking particularly good at this point. Late in the weekend, temperatures will again rise but only for a few days before what is looking like quite a major snowstorm rolls in. Although it's on the edge of the reliable timeframe, the forecast models are building support, and several days of heavy snow - and a return to cold - are looking likely for much of the Alpine area from Tuesday next week. Going Skiing? Please upload a Photo Snow Report! If you're in the mountains, please show us the snow! Check Snow Reports from Ski Resorts for a quick and easy way to upload pictures, straight from your phone.
The Alps Austria It has been a little more unsettled in Austria over the past week than the previous dry sunny weather, but whilst there has been some fresh snow it has also been warm with 'spring' conditions at times. St Johann in Tirol, for example, posted a powder alarm for 20cm of fresh snow at the weekend, one of the biggest snowfalls in Austria this month, but the snow was very sticky below 1500m there on Monday and on Tuesday it was raining on lower slopes. Generally though, across Austria, there has been 10-30cm of fresh snow this past week and on piste conditions vary between rather slushy at lower elevations and perfectly good on higher slopes. The coming week looks to be cooler with possibly larger snowfalls. France It has been another largely dry week on French ski slopes. The result is that pistes are now very hard packed and could do with fresh snow to freshen them up. Off piste there is no real fresh snow to be found. The good news – hopefully – is that we do expect a change this coming week with lower temperatures and some snowfall from the weekend onwards. The lack of snow in February means lower slope bases are starting to get rather thin at some lower elevation resorts such as Samoens, Morzine and Plagne Montalbert, although they are still reporting 15-30cm at resort level. Higher up the snow depths are mostly above 1m, but still some fresh snow would definitely greatly improve things. Italy Italy has had a dry week too with expected small snowfalls failing to materialise. The next hoped for 'snow days' are around Friday/Saturday this week. The lack of new snow means that lower runs in the dolomites are again machine made cover on green/brown mountainsides and base depths sadly remain marginal – in the 15-30cm bracket at many areas in the region. The Italian Alps continue to look much better with bases in the West of the country up to 2m deep on upper slopes but even here more fresh snow would be welcome as there's no real off piste skiing possible except on crud. Switzerland A really mixed picture in Switzerland with Davos reporting the biggest snowfall this past week in the Alps – 38cm – but many other swiss resorts receiving no new snow are reporting the same 'spring-like conditions' that have plagued other areas this week. Laax, Jungfrau resorts Grindelwald and Wengen and Engelberg also reported 15-25cm of fresh snow but there was little or nothing across the rest of the country. Most swiss resorts have 20-40cm bases on lower runs, 1-2m on upper slopes. Surprisingly perhaps Zermatt (with the continent's highest slopes, open year round) has one of the thinnest bases on their lower slopes – just 3cm, although there's a healthy 1.4m up on the glacier. Switzerland is expected to get large snowfalls this week if forecasts prove correct with many areas getting several feet of fresh snow (potentially!). Scandinavia There's been some sizable snowfalls in Scandinavia over the past few days after a largely dry February. Bases in Norway at most areas are getting closer to the 'normal' 70-90cm after the falls which included 30cm at Voss and 50cm at less well known Roldal, the biggest fall reported in Europe this week. However Hemsedal, the country's biggest area, continues to struggle with only a 15cm base; it reports 5cm of snow this week. There was 5-10cm of snow in Sweden where the base at Are, Scandinavia's largest resort is a 'normal' 70cm. In Lapland its 50-60cm with no fresh snow reported but again that's an average base stat. Pyrenees The Pyrenees seem to be cementing their position as having the best snow depths in Europe this winter. In Andorra upper slope depths are typically 1.5-2m and on the French and Spanish side 2-2.5m on upper runs. Few ski areas in the alps have more than 2m snow depths this winter and those that do are largely high altitude glacier resorts. Resort base depths in the Pyrenees are 1m+ too. There's not been any fresh snow this past week but more falls are expected next. Eastern Europe There's been little or no fresh snow reported in Eastern Europe this week but bases remain good at most leading destinations at 50-150cm. Bulgarian resorts Bansko and Borovets – at the upper end of those stats – are in particularly good shape from previous snowfalls. Scotland No sign of any respite to Scotland's worst season for many years. All five areas are currently closed with little or no snow remaining after double digit temperatures at the start of this week, so re-opening will need a significant snowfall, and sadly there's nothing that significant currently forecast. North America Canada Another snowy week in Canada with most resorts from East to West coasts receiving 10-30cm of snow, in BC that was more like 30-60cm. Red Mountain got the 60cm, Whistler, 35cm. Base depths are very good across the country too, with resorts in the west typically posting 2-3m lying, although Mont Ste Anne in Quebec still says it has the deepest base at 4 metres. USA There have been more big snowfalls in the Western US after a brief lull, with resorts in California, Utah and Wyoming posting 20-40cm overnight snowfalls on several days in the past week. Heavenly and Mammoth in California both report more than 1.2m/4 feet of snow in the last 7 days and Mammoth's base is tantalisingly close to the 9m /30 feet mark at 891cm/29.2 feet. More big snowfalls are expected but it's not being universally welcomed as resorts like Homewood and Jackson Hole have again been forced to close for periods in order to make ski areas safe. It has kept snowing on the East too with 30-40cm reported in parts of Vermont once again. It's not universally good news in the US though, between the snowy East and West the more southerly, central states have had unseasonably warm conditions all winter with little snowfall and one – Ober Gatlingburg in Tennessee has already announced its giving up the ghost on winter 2016-17 and moving to summer operations. |
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Stunning views! Damn; that's somewhere else added to my list then...
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Sunny in The Alps and Snowy in America...
There's a lift in here somewhere... Mammoth this week This Week's Snow Headlines - Sunny skies in the Alps. - Storm Brings Heavy Snow to Eastern North America - All five Scottish ski areas open. - Mammoth nears unprecedented 9m (30 feet) snow depth. It has been a quieter week in the Alps with little fresh snow but generally good to excellent on-piste conditions, the only complaint for some is that it's a little too warm at lower elevations (below 1500m) in places at times, although generally it is dropping below freezing at night and snow cover is holding up. Above 1500m it is mostly just below freezing in the daytime too. The week has been over-shadowed somewhat by avalanche tragedies in Tignes and elsewhere showing that, as the mayor of Tignes said, however experienced you are, there's no such thing as completely safe off piste skiing. The avalanche risk level has been at 2-4 (the highest level is 5) due to the warmer condition in many areas this week. As always, take local advice before leaving the pistes, go equipped and - especially at the moment - make conservative route choices. Elsewhere in the world the Scottish ski season has got underway properly at last with conditions in the East particularly good. Across the Atlantic Jackson Hole re-opened after five days storm closure and Mammoth mountain is posting ever more 'historic' snowfall totals. Monday also saw some big snow storms on the East side of the north American continent. In the Forecast It's looking like another generally mild and sunny week coming up for The Alps with temperatures a few degrees above average overall, but warmer to the East apart from a colder few days coming up this weekend. There will be some light snow showers in many places over the next few days, and parts of Austria should see 10cm or so of fresh tomorrow - falling to quite low levels. There are some interesting possibilities in the long-range for Europe, and we'll have more on those next week... if they continue to develop! Going Skiing? Please upload a Photo Snow Report! If you're in the mountains, please show us the snow! Check Snow Reports from Ski Resorts for a quick and easy way to upload pictures, straight from your phone.
The Alps Austria It has been perhaps the quietest week of 2017 so far in Austria with very little fresh snowfall. It is mostly sunny, and temperatures are a little warm in the daytime but dropping below freezing at night so not too much thawing. Generally, on piste conditions are good to excellent. Snow depths look fairly safe across the country, the deepest snow as usual on the country's glaciers (Kaunertal has the deepest at 2.6m) but even down in resort most areas have 1-3 feet (30-90cm) of snow on lower runs thanks to January snow storms. There's not much fresh snow in the forecast for the coming week – although many areas may see 10cm or so to freshen things up this weekend. France Unlike Austria, most ski areas in France have continued to see snow showers over the past week and indeed the last few days. The snowfall has been less regular, with some areas getting big falls, others less and on different days, but the Chamonix Valley has posted the biggest accumulation of the past week – about 35cm/14 inches. Many other areas have had 10-30cm though so pistes remain nice and fresh. Base depths are fairly healthy too – typically 1.5-2m at altitude and 50-100cm at the base. Morzine is still bottom of the stats for the major destination resorts after a challenging snowfall season with 30-50cm – that's much better than a month or two ago though. Italy Italy's Western resorts have seen some of the biggest snowfalls in Europe over the past week with Cervinia and Macunaga each reporting more than 50cm of new snow. Other Western areas have had 20-30m of new snow and there has been more in the snow-starved Dolomites, if not huge falls – 10cm in Cortina for example and the same in the Fassa Valley. Cover remains very challenging in the Dolomites but at least it's the healthiest it has been all season with 20-50cm bases. The deepest snow is in the West still with 40-200cm of snow at Pila. There's currently not much fresh snowfall expected in Italy over the week ahead. Switzerland Swiss ski areas have reported 5-30cm of fresh snow in the last week – most of it falling by the weekend. The biggest accumulations were reported at Grindelwald and Murren in the Jungfrau region, as well as at Verbier. Most Swiss ski areas have reasonable-to-good cover with typically 20-40cm of snow in resort and 1-1.5m on upper runs. A few have more snow up top and some less at resort level – Crans Montana says 0-180cm for example. Leysin report the thinnest base at present at 20-50cm whilst Gstaad says it has the deepest base in Europe on its upper slopes with 3.6m (12 feet). As with most of the Alps, little snow is currently expected in Switzerland over the week ahead. Scandinavia Not much fresh snow in Scandinavia this past week. There's been nothing fresh reported in Lapland where bases remain around the 60cm/2 feet mark for the leading resorts. Most large areas have similar bases in Norway, but Hemsedal, the biggest area in the country, continues to struggle with only a 17cm base meticulously measured. It did at least get 8cm of fresh snow this week though and Geilo (50-75cm base) got 13cm/5 inches. Just a dusting of snow at Swedish resorts which again have 60-70cm bases, the norm across the region. Pyrenees Conditions continue to be excellent in the Pyrenees following all the snowfall so far this year. The rate of fresh snow falling has slowed but it is still coming and on top of the established base conditions on piste are superb and there's still untracked terrain off piste if you have a local guide show you where. Bases in Andorra are generally in the 15cm-2m bracket making this one of the best winters in the region for some years. Eastern Europe No massive snowfalls in Eastern Europe over the past week but many areas have reported 5-10cm of new snow to freshen up cover and at most of the larger ski areas snow depths are very good thanks to earlier snow storms. Resorts in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic for example have 1m – 1.5m bases. The numbers are not quite so big in the Slovak Republic, Romania and Slovenia – more like 40-90cm. Scotland All five of Scotland's ski areas were finally able to open some terrain together over the weekend. Cover is marginal still and only limited runs are open as although there has been some snow and temperatures have stayed low, there's not been enough to build a base. Unfortunately more warm weather is forecast for the end of the week. North America Canada Eastern Canada has seen some of the biggest snowfalls in the country in the past few days with 32cm at Mont ste Anne and 48cm at Tremblant. However these snowfalls came after similar and sometimes larger accumulations at the end of last week in the West of the country, Whister Blackcomb has had 73cm in the past seven days. Mont Ste Anne reports the deepest snow in Canada at 383cm, with Whistler in second place of the leading resorts with 255cm. USA Very few ski areas in the world reached a 4 metre base by spring last year but this winter Mammoth Mountain in California says it has more than 5m lying in resort and nearly 9m (878cm) on its upper slopes – nearly 30 feet, an unprecedented figure. It is out on its own for snow depth anywhere in the world but some resorts have deep bases too which would seem amazing if it weren't for Mammoth over-shadowing them – Squaw's base is over 5m for example. California has had another few feet of snow this week after a brief lull. There have been big snowfalls in the Eastern US in the past few days too, resorts like Sugarloaf in Maine and Smugglers Notch in Vermont have had several feet of snow. Killington issued powder alarms for 30cm/a foot on two successive days this Monday and Tuesday. |
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:( So maybe just enjoyed a few too many turns and found themselves below a level they could traverse out from? If that's the case they may not even have been visible to the (supposed) group above. There's speculation elsewhere that the group can be seen at the top of the slope in the webcam snapshot immediately before the slide, but with this new info I guess that would have been the group that triggered it. An ESF instructor with a father and his two teenage sons, apparently. RIP. |
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