Snow Report, 25th February, 2010
INTRODUCTION
More snow in France earlier this week means the skiing is excellent once again. Lots of areas received up to 40cm of fresh snow on their upper slopes but lower down the snow is wetter.
The same is the case in Switzerland and Austria. Not as much snow has fallen in these countries as did in France and milder weather means the lower pistes are soft or even slushy in some parts. Good skiing can, however, be found up high at all the areas.
The end of this week sees one of the biggest dumps of snow in Scotland for a long time. All five main resorts are closed due to extremely heavy snow and high winds. The snowfall is also affecting access roads but when the weather clears the skiing will be comparable to top powder resorts in the world, especially considering how the snow drifts at the Scottish resorts.
It’s also snowed loads in America, particularly the east coast. Resorts like Sunday River and Sugarbush have been hit with around 75cm of fresh snow, which fell on Wednesday 24th February. It also snowed 70cm down at Mammoth in California, continuing their excellent season.
Eyes are still on Whistler in Canada and the weather there. Fortunately it has been dry and sunny recently, allowing them to run most of the alpine skiing events without problems. However another storm is heading for the area, bringing with it up to 50cm of fresh snow. This is great news for recreational skiers but not such great news for event organisers. Fortunately, most of the skiing events have now taken place.
AUSTRIA
No new snow has fallen in Austria since Saturday 20th February in most places. Despite the lack of fresh snow the pistes are generally in very good condition all over, especially high up.
Some great skiing can be found at Lech (85/170cm) where heavy snowfalls on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th February last week left some great powder on the mountain. This snow has all packed down now leaving the upper pistes in excellent conditions. Milder temperatures this week and sunny weather have left the lowest pistes a little slushy but on the whole the conditions are very good.
The pistes at Zell am See (25/110cm) aren’t as good as at Lech. The Ski Club rep in Zell am See says that the mild weather and general low altitude of the resort has taken its toll on the snow conditions. The upper pistes are fairly hard but lower down they are much softer, still offering some fun skiing.
FRANCE
Snow fell across most of France earlier this week with some substantial accumulations in some places. Mild weather has been dominant which unfortunately means that rain fell at resort level for many places.
The Ski Club rep in Avoriaz (175/230cm) said there was lots of fresh powder on the upper slopes of the Portes du Soleil area. Many areas were knee deep in fresh snow on the highest slopes. Further down the snow is heavier and even slushy in places. Rain fell down in Morzine (70/210cm) right up to around 1500m so it is worth staying high for the best of the snow.
It was a similar story in Tignes (114/180cm) where the upper slopes received snow and the lower of the Tignes villages received rain. Due to the height of the Espace Killy area it fell mostly as snow, especially above 1800m. The whole area is fully open, including all the links over to Val d’Isere (117/180cm) where conditions are also generally good. The Ski Club rep said the snow up on the Grande Motte glacier was excellent on Wednesday 24th February.
SWITZERLAND
A few Swiss resorts received fresh snow on Wednesday and Thursday but most haven’t had fresh snow since the weekend. This allowed people to enjoy the generally good snow conditions.
The deepest base in Switzerland of our featured resorts is at Engelberg (75/275cm). Nearly three metres of snow lies up on the Titlis Glacier and its surrounding mountains. The resort is known for its off-piste skiing and the conditions off piste are excellent now. The last significant snowfall was on Friday 19th February so it hasn’t snowed for a while but there is plenty of tracked powder to be enjoyed off piste.
The Ski Club rep in Verbier (25/165cm) said they enjoyed some great runs when skiing the upper slopes on Wednesday 24th February. 10cm of snow fell on Tuesday which gave a good layer of powder to ski on. He said it is best to stick to the upper slopes, as always, as milder weather has turned most of the lowest slopes fairly soft and slushy.
USA
There has been loads of snow on both sides of America this week. Over on the east coast many resorts received up to 80cm of fresh snow on Wednesday 24th February, which is the biggest dump of their season so far.
76cm was reported to have fallen at Mount Snow (76/122cm) on Wednesday which is the most they have received so far this season. The whole mountain is blanketed in powder, which is up to waist deep, which should make for some incredible skiing on their steep slopes. It is best not to try to ski the easy runs as the snow will just cause you to grind to a halt. Find some of the steeper terrain and enjoy the face shots.
Meanwhile over in California it has also been snowing loads. Mammoth (274/396cm) received 71cm of fresh snow, also on Wednesday. There is plenty of super steep terrain at Mammoth as well so it is perfect to enjoy all the fresh powder. They are having an excellent season and have already received 9 metres of snow so far, and it’s only February.
CANADA
The good news is that fresh snow has arrived at many resorts in western Canada. Between 3cm and 13cm has fallen so far on many areas but it should continue, further improving the riding conditions.
The greatest amount of snow fell at Silver Star (144/180cm), which received 13cm of fresh snow on Wednesday 24th February. This is the first significant snowfall in the area since 16th February so it comes as a welcome relief. All of Silver Star’s terrain is open, including the back side of the mountain which houses many steep double black diamond runs. These should be great fun with the new snow.
It’s also been snowing on the east coast of Canada. 15cm of snow fell at Tremblant (30/70cm), also on Wednesday. The hard packed pistes are nicely covered with the fresh snow which should give some fun skiing all over the mountain.
EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
The weather in the French Alps is expected to remain fairly mild. Heavy snow is forecast at Argentiere over the course Friday which could dump around 30cm of snow on the upper slopes. Mild weather is then forecast over the weekend, with a freezing level of up to 2200m.
Over in the east of the Alps, it should be snowy too. Resorts like Davos in Switzerland and Ischgl in Austria are expecting around 30cm of fresh snow by the middle of next week. As with France, Sunday is expected to be a warm day with the freezing level rising to around 2100m in most areas.
Scotland is in the grip of a powerful winter storm on Thursday 25th February. The storm has already dropped around 70cm of fresh snow in some places and it should continue to snow on Thursday night and Friday. The snow and high winds are expected to last until Sunday, before clearing away on Monday. Skiing in Scotland next week could be the best it has been for a long time.
Oppdal in Norway is expecting a big dump of snow next week. 50cm is the predicted total but it should fall towards the end of next week. This will be great for the resort if/when it happens.
NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Heavenly in California/Nevada is expecting the most snow in America over the coming seven days. 47cm should fall, with it being heaviest on Friday 26th February and then towards the end of next week. However Monday 1st March could be a very warm day, with freezing levels rising to nearly 3500m.
The snow on the east coast isn’t supposed to let up any time soon either. It should remain snowy until at least Monday, accumulating to nearly 50cm by the time the weather has cleared. This is on top of the 70cm of fresh snow they received on Wednesday 24th February.
It should be snowy in Colorado too, but not as much as the other two areas mentioned. 30cm is expected at Vail by the end of next week which should provide some excellent skiing conditions.
Up in Canada, snow should fall all weekend and next week at Whistler. This could hamper some of the Olympic events but fortunately most of the alpine skiing events are finished now. For recreational skiers it should be an excellent time with the fresh snow.
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