Snow Update (9th Nov 2009)
INTRODUCTION
It has been another good weekend for skiing in Europe. More snow and cold weather has done wonders for the open glacier resorts and has brought many others even closer to opening for the winter. Obergurgl in Austria opens this Friday then many more resorts open next week.
The open French glaciers received a good amount of snow over the weekend. Conditions on the Tignes glacier are excellent and it is possible to ski down to Val Claret now.
Switzerland and Italy both have great skiing to offer as well. The Presena glacier at Passo Tonale in Italy has now opened for the winter. Their massive base depth last season meant it didn’t all melt over the summer so they have nearly a metre and a half of snow on the glacier ski area already.
Keystone and Copper Mountain in Colorado, America, both opened this weekend and currently offer top to bottom skiing. Timberline in Oregon received a lot of snow over the weekend which has allowed them to open for the winter season.
FRANCE
Snow is still falling in the French Pyrenees, at resorts like Cauterets. There is no measured depth for the amount of snow that has fallen yet, but the webcam suggests there is a massive amount of new snow. Cauterets was forecast around a metre over the weekend, and there looks to have been about this much snow fall.
In the French Alps it has also been snowing, but not as much as in the Pyrenees.
Tignes (15/50cm) received fresh snow and the webcams show a good covering right down to base station level. Seven lifts and five pistes are open at Tignes, with one run down to Val Claret. Up on the Grande Motte glacier the snow is superb, with cold temperatures and fresh snow providing great riding conditions.
SWITZERLAND
Zinal (0/60cm) has now opened for weekend skiing. A 60cm base on the upper slopes provides nice early season turns. Six kilometres of pistes are open and it is possible to ski back down to the village at 1650m, which is excellent for early November. They plan to open daily from 14th December.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, the Titlis glacier at Engelberg (0/45cm) has closed for lift maintenance. They are closed until 20th November and then they should open daily for the winter season from 21st November. A break in operations will allow the snow to build up without being skied on, and conditions should be very good for their opening in two weeks time.
Saas Fee (27/124cm) and Zermatt (12/100cm) both received a good dump of fresh snow over the weekend. Up to 15cm fell on both resorts and around 10cm of this fell to base level at Zermatt. It is only possible to ski on the glaciers at each resort at the moment but it is excellent up there thanks to the new snow.
AUSTRIA
More snow fell at our featured Austrian resorts over the weekend. Many of the glaciers received more than 15cm of snow on Sunday so there is plenty of fantastic skiing to be enjoyed on Monday. The Hintertux glacier (10/170cm) has the most terrain available, with 18 lifts running and more than 60kms of piste available.
Elsewhere resorts like Obergurgl and Obertauern, which are both expected to open within the next ten days, received a good amount of fresh snow. They have also been using the snow cannons in the cold temperatures so the slopes are looking very good for when the resorts open. Obergurgl should be the first of the major Austrian resorts to open, with Friday 13th November their planned season start date.
USA
Timberline (79cm) has finally received a massive dump of snow, which has allowed them to open for snowsports for the winter season. 71cm of fresh snow fell over the weekend and they have managed to groom some of the snow and open two lifts. As you might expect the conditions have gone from terrible to brilliant with all the fresh snow. Off-piste skiing will be good but stick to the upper slopes for that, where the snow base is deepest.
Last weekend also saw the opening of Copper Mountain (46cm) in Colorado. A manmade snow base ensures good cover on the open runs down to the village level at 2800m. Three lifts are running and four trails are available to ski on.
In the east of America, Sunday River (15/30cm) managed another weekend of skiing but the temperature is very warm which is damaging the snow base considerably. They will need a return to cold weather to be able to make snow again.
CANADA
A lot of snow fell in parts of Canada over the weekend, especially at Banff (43cm). More than 35cm of fresh powder blanketed Sunshine Village on Sunday morning, while 15cm fell on both Lake Louise and Mt Norquay. Lake Louise opened for the first time this season on Saturday 7th November and they have three runs open along with some rails in the park open. Sunshine Village is expected to open on Wednesday 11th November, and the snow conditions are excellent.
Sun Peaks (48/65cm) and Mont Saint Anne are opening soon as well, both on Saturday 14th November. This is an earlier than scheduled opening for Sun Peaks thanks to the great pre-season snowfall this year.
EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Heavy snow is expected across most of the Alps this week, especially in the west. It is expected to be quite warm though with the freezing level staying around 2300m, so this could bring rain to many resorts at base level. Snow will fall possibly to lower levels at night though. Above 2300m the snow cannons will be working and with the fresh natural snow the base depth will build up quickly. Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland are expecting the most snow in Switzerland. 45cm should fall between now and the coming weekend. Most of this will fall above around 2000m but it will snow down to the resorts’ base level at night. The majority of this snow, 22cm, is expected next Saturday night from the current forecast. In Austria to the east, it is expected to be a drier week. A maximum of 16cm of new snow is expected at Zurs in the Arlberg region. It should be a cool week but by the time the weekend arrives abnormally warm weather is expected, with the freezing level briefly rising to 3150m on Friday at Zurs.
NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Resorts in the state of Colorado in America are looking forward to the 20cm of snow that is forecast at the end of this week. It is expected to be very mild until Friday though then a storm will move through, bringing with it cold weather and around 20cm of snow. Breckenridge and Copper Mountain are expected to benefit from it the most, but all resorts will get some snow. In the east of America a brief dip to cooler temperatures midweek will be surpassed by a return to warm weather again. No new snow is expected at Sunday River. It could be cold enough in the middle of the week for them to make some snow. It does look like winter has finally started in the Pacific North West though as Timberline is expecting snow to fall all week. 46cm is expected by the weekend which is great news for their visitors.
Winter is well and truly established in Canada. Whistler is expecting by far the most snow this week of our reported Canadian resorts with 111cm expected to fall by the weekend. Around 30cm is expected each day this week and some of this should fall right down to base level too. Their opening date is only a few weeks away and it is shaping up to be a great start to their Olympic season. Elsewhere in Canada it should also be very snowy, particularly at Revelstoke and Kicking Horse who are expecting 60cm of new snow to fall by the weekend.
If you are planning a skiing holiday, let us advise you of the best locations and properties for your holiday. You can call us on +1865 398130 to talk to a travel consultant.
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