Snow Report, 25th January, 2010

INTRODUCTION
This weekend saw fresh snow fall on western resorts in Europe especially in France and Switzerland. The heaviest snowfall this week is forecast in the eastern resorts of Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Up to a metre of new snow is forecast in Austria and Switzerland, so this gives you an idea of how much the snow conditions could improve.
There is some fantastic skiing in America at the moment, with resorts in Utah and California recently receiving over two metres of fresh snow. Unfortunately it is warm and wet on the east coast, which has turned much of the snow to slush.
Loads more snow fell at Whistler, taking their snowfall total for the year so far to nearly ten metres. There is lots of powder on the upper slopes. Elsewhere in Canada it is colder, with fantastic snow conditions from top to bottom.

AUSTRIA
The fresh snow that fell in Austria last week gave some great powder skiing in many places over the weekend. The snow has now packed down giving excellent on-piste skiing.
The Ski Club rep in Mayrhofen (5/70cm) reports very good on piste conditions, especially on the higher slopes. The base depth isn’t deep but is enough to ensure the grassy runs are completely covered in snow. All the lifts in the Mayrhofen area are running.
There is over a metre and a half of snow on the upper slopes at St Anton (40/170cm). Skiing is very good both on and off the pistes following fresh snowfall at the end of last week. As with Mayrhofen, last week’s fresh snow has now packed down giving generally excellent on-piste conditions.

FRANCE
Many French resorts received snow on Monday 25th January. Generally between 5cm and 10cm was reported on Monday morning and the snow was expected to keep falling through the day.
5cm of new snow was reported at Les Gets (55/130cm), giving a nice layer of powder on the groomed runs. The snowy weather meant the visibility was poor at altitude so it was prudent to take care, especially when skiing off piste. The weather should clear up on Tuesday.
A few centimetres of snow also fell at Courchevel (80/118cm) on Monday morning. This freshened up the pistes, which were beginning to get a bit hard at low levels. All the links over into the other valleys were open providing a huge amount of skiing.

SWITZERLAND
A few of our featured Swiss resorts received fresh snow over the weekend. It was only a light dusting but nevertheless it improved the snow conditions.
Around 5cm fell on Monday at Gstaad (15/160cm). The resort has a glacier and the snow cover up there is excellent. Head high for the greatest amount of fresh snow but the cold weather means the snow is very good even down to the bottom of the ski area at 1000m.
It was also snowing on Monday at Champery (30/80cm) in the Portes du Soleil area. With links to Avoriaz, Morzine and Les Gets in France there is loads of great skiing available. Fresh snow fell over the whole of the area. 180 of the 197 lifts in the massive Portes du Soleil area were running on Monday.

USA
There were some colossal snowfalls across America last week. Many resorts in Utah, Colorado and California received massive amounts of fresh snow.
Mammoth (225/360cm) received two and a half metres of snow in five days. While it fell this affected resort operations but they have since dug out their lifts and bottomless powder can be found across the mountain. On Sunday 24th January 21 of their 22 lifts were running.
Snowbird (246cm), Alta (259cm) and Park City (188cm) also received a lot of snow. Around two metres of snow fell between Thursday 21st and Sunday 24th January at Snowbird and Alta. Only half the lifts are running at Snowbird due the heightened avalanche risk but where the lifts are running the skiing is incredible. Expect chest deep powder on the whole mountain at the start of this week.
Unfortunately it has turned very warm on the east coast, with mid mountain temperatures of 8°C in places. It was also raining at Mount Snow (51/71cm) over the weekend, turning the existing snow into heavy slush. They are doing their best to preserve the snow base however and the mild weather isn’t expected to last too long. Only half the lifts at Mount Snow are currently running.

CANADA
Snow conditions in Canada are generally very good at the moment. The best of the snow conditions can be found inland, away from the coast where it is warmer.
Fernie (210cm) still has an excellent base depth and fresh snowfall last week ensures the snow is in great condition this week. All of the lifts were running on Sunday 24th January giving access to the runs, although some of the lower runs are quite hard packed.
Loads of snow fell at Whistler (280cm), especially on the upper slopes. They have excellent conditions higher up but low down the runs are quite hard due to mild daytime temperatures and cold nights. They are looking to be in excellent shape for the Olympics.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Lots of snow is expected in Europe this week, particularly in Austria and Switzerland where a metre of snow could fall over the next eight days in places.
Lech in Austria is expecting lots of heavy snow at the end of this week and over the weekend. Around 120cm of snow could fall by the end of next weekend. It will also be a very cold week, with the temperature remaining around -14°C at mid mountain so the powder will be light and dry.
Resorts in Italy could also receive significant snowfall this week and next weekend. The heaviest snows are expected at Livigno where up to 67cm could land by the end of Tuesday 2nd February. Other resorts in the east such as Val Senales, Bormio and Selva Gardena are also expecting around 60cm of new snow.
France should be cold and sunny as well, but they aren’t expecting as much as Austria, Switzerland and Italy.
Up in Scandinavia it should be snowy too, with Hemsedal in Norway expecting 53cm of snow in the next nine days. It should also be very cold, especially at the weekend. Expect a high of -19°C on Saturday.

NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
There is good news for east coast resorts, with the return of cold weather expected later this week. Attitash Bear Peak is suffering due to rain at the moment but it should be -14°C by the end of the week, although this could potentially turn all the slushy snow to ice.
In the west, the recent snowstorms for California, Utah and Colorado have cleared. Drier and sunnier weather is expected across most states but some snow is expected on and off throughout the week. The intermittent snow showers should amount to between 10cm and 30cm for most resorts.
It should be snowy in Canada too, but only a light amount of snow is forecast. The most snow is expected at Whistler, with around 40cm expected on the upper slopes by the weekend. The recent mild weather looks like staying, with snow above around 1000m at Whistler. Further inland it should be colder, with temperatures down to -16°C overnight at Big White.
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Snow News, 3rd December, 2009

Introduction

Lots more resorts in Europe are poised to open this weekend, helped by the recent snowstorm.

Switzerland received huge amounts of snow earlier this week. This allowed Arosa to make a surprise opening after having previously postponed their opening to this coming weekend. Around a metre of fresh snow fell there, providing excellent skiing.

Meribel and Courchevel in France open this coming weekend. The neighbouring resort of Val Thorens is already open so the opening of Meribel and Courchevel will create a great place to ski this weekend. All three resorts have excellent snow conditions, particularly on the upper slopes, so there should be some fun skiing on offer.

Read more

Snow Report, 30th November, 2009

INTRODUCTION

The Espace Killy area in France, which includes Val d’Isere and Tignes, opened for the winter season this weekend. They enjoyed great snow conditions and with more snow falling this week the area is off to a great start to the season.

A big snowstorm over the Alps at the moment has dropped up to 50cm of snow in some places. Cervinia in Italy, Arosa in Switzerland and Les Deux Alpes in France all received around half a metre of fresh snow over the weekend. Of these three resorts it is only possible to ski at Cervinia and Les Deux Alpes this week and it should be fantastic with the fresh powder.

Canada has some excellent skiing available. Silver Star opened on Saturday and it was a great opening weekend. Fresh snow and cold weather mean the pistes across the whole of British Columbia and Alberta are excellent.

Snow fell on the east coast of America over the weekend. 20cm of new snow was reported at Sunday River, and they were able to open two lifts over the weekend. These should be able to stay open during the week, with snow cannons keeping the snow in good condition.
Read more

Snow Update (19 November 2009)

INTRODUCTION

Many more resorts in Europe and North America are opening this weekend.

Obertauern in Austria opened for the winter season on Thursday 19^th November. Despite the current mild weather the snow is holding up well and has allowed them to open a number of lifts and runs.

Several resorts in Switzerland are also opening this weekend. Flims/Laax has already opened for skiing and offers a good variety of terrain. Sunny weather this week will make for some good skiing.

Over in Canada, Whistler’s massive snowstorm continues and 221cm of snow has fallen since Thursday last week. They are rapidly heading towards their all time record for fresh snow in November, which was set in 2006. Incredibly deep powder can be found all over the upper half of the mountain.

Most of the available skiing at the moment in the USA is in Colorado. Vail opens its ski area on Friday 20^th November and with plenty of manmade snow it should be good fun skiing at the resort. Resorts on the east coast of America are trying to open but warm weather is hindering their snow making progress.

AUSTRIA

Despite the warm weather over Austria at the moment the snow is holding up well and this week more resorts are opening.

Thursday 19^th November was the first day of the season for Obertauern (25/45cm). Five lifts were opened and these are the Grünwaldkopf, Panoramabahn, Seekarspitzbahn, Kringsalmbahn and Hochalmbahn. Skiers are advised to stick to the marked open runs as snow cover is thin elsewhere.

Obergurgl (25/61cm) is also open. An upper base depth of over half a metre ensures good snow conditions on marked runs. An impressive 17 lifts are running at Obergurgl at the end of this week which is excellent for this time of year and there is plenty of skiing available.

Parts of the winter ski area at Solden (0/81cm) are now open. Nine lifts are open on the Rettenbach glacier and a further seven are open elsewhere in the Solden area. 3cm of fresh snow fell on the glacier on Wednesday night, further improving the ski conditions.

FRANCE

Six lifts and seven pistes are open at the Val Thorens (40/70cm) and due to the altitude the snow conditions are good, despite the mild weather elsewhere. It is advisable to stick to the marked runs as the cover off piste is very thin.

11 lifts are open at Tignes (15/50cm) this week, with most of these being on the glacier. It is still possible to ski down into Val Claret on the Double M piste. As with Val Thorens it is best to stick to the marked runs as there are uncovered rocks off piste. Light snow and colder weather is forecast for Monday which should help further improve the snow.

SWITZERLAND

An updated depth measurement from Saas Fee (19/155cm) now shows there is over a metre and a half of snow on the glacier. Their measurement on Monday showed the depth to be less than half a metre. 8cm of snow fell on Wednesday night on the upper slopes so there is a nice layer of fresh on top of the groomed snow. This combined with the sunny weather provides enjoyable skiing at the end of this week.

Flims/Laax (0/80cm) has opened for the winter season. Six lifts were running on Thursday, mostly from Crap Sogn Goin upwards. 5cm of snow fell on Monday which is still providing good slope conditions. More lifts could open on the Vorab Glacier this weekend.

The little resort of Zinal (5/60cm) near Zermatt (4/70cm) is open at weekends. The resort opens five of its lifts every Saturday and Sunday until

Saturday 12^th December when they should open daily.

USA

More resorts in America have opened this week. Solitude (56cm) in Utah and Winter Park (46cm) in Colorado are now both open. Winter Park has the most skiing available of the two, with seven lifts running this week. Two are running at Solitude and the base depth of more than half a metre provides some good skiing.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Vail (46cm) plans to open on Friday 20^th November. A largely manmade base depth is typical of Colorado in the early season but this means on piste conditions will be good for opening day. There isn’t a lot of snow off piste so stay on the marked runs.

It has gone warm on the east coast again. A temperature of 12°C is expected at Mount Snow this weekend bringing rain to both the upper and lower slopes. This isn’t good news as many of the east coast resorts should be opening around the end of November.

CANADA

Western Canada, particularly Whistler (189cm), continues to receive truly huge amounts of snow. The resort has seen 221cm of fresh snow fall on its upper slopes since last Thursday and another 211cm is forecast to fall before next Tuesday. This brings their total for the season so far to nearly four metres and this is before their original scheduled opening date of 26^th November. If the snow in the forecast is correct, they should break their all time record for fresh snow in November. Due to all the snow the powder skiing is phenomenal but do take extreme care as the avalanche danger is high to extreme.

It has also snowed a lot at Jasper (94/110cm) in Alberta. The resort has received 85cm of fresh snow since Thursday last week so there is plenty of great powder skiing at Jasper. Six out of a possible nine lifts are running giving great access to the powder snow.

Some of this snow also fell at Banff (66/94cm), where Sunshine Village and Lake Louise are currently open. Most recently, 11cm of snow fell at Sunshine Village on Tuesday night. Light snow is forecast over the weekend which should help keep their snow conditions excellent.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK

The mild weather in Europe at the moment is forecast to continue for the rest of this week. However the general trend is for colder and snowier weather to move in by Monday next week. It won’t bring large amounts of snow but it will be welcomed by all the resorts.

This weather trend is true for Austria. Hintertux is expecting the most of the snow when it arrives on Monday. 13cm alone should fall on Monday which will give a great boost to their skiing. The freezing level will also drop from around 3600m on Saturday to 1400m on Tuesday.

Les Deux Alpes in France is also expecting light snow on Sunday and Monday, amounting to around 13cm over both days. The snow should come coupled with a noticeable drop in temperatures, from 12°C at base level on Friday to 0°C by Tuesday.

NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK

Apart from Timberline in Oregon and Jackson Hole in Wyoming, it should be fairly dry across the whole of America.

78cm of snow is forecast to fall at Timberline, predominantly over Friday and Saturday when 55cm will land. The snow will bring lower temperatures with it but once the snow has passed away, warmer weather will follow.

Jackson Hole should see 31cm of snow fall by Tuesday next week. Sunday and Monday is when the snow should be heaviest, and it will come as a welcome relief before the resorts planned opening day. You can expect temperatures of -16°C at the summit of Jackson Hole over the weekend and a more modest -9°C at the bottom.

No new snow is expected for resorts in Colorado over the weekend but it should remain cold. Night time temperatures in Vail will down to around -15°C which is plenty cold enough for the snow cannons to run.

The east coast of America is unseasonably warm still. Heavy rain is forecast for many of the resorts in that area, both on the upper and lower slopes. They desperately need colder temperatures to be able to resume their snow making as their opening dates are fast approaching.

Loads of snow continues to fall on the west coast of Canada. Whistler has received phenomenal amounts of snow already this season and the snowstorm is still going strong. A further 211cm of snow is expected to fall on the upper slopes by Tuesday next week which should mean the resort breaks its record for the snowiest November ever. The record currently stands at 416cm which was set in 2006 and they are currently on 362cm so far this month.

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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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 14^th December.

Elsewhere in Switzerland, the Titlis glacier at Engelberg (0/45cm) has closed for lift maintenance. They are closed until 20^th November and then they should open daily for the winter season from 21^st 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 13^th 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 7^th November and they have three runs open along with some rails in the park open. Sunshine Village is expected to open on Wednesday 11^th November, and the snow conditions are excellent.

Sun Peaks (48/65cm) and Mont Saint Anne are opening soon as well, both on Saturday 14^th 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.

Brought to you by The Ski Club of Great Britain
Ski Club Website
Snow Reports
Ski resort guide

Snow News Is Good News.

According to today’s report from the experts at the Ski Club Great Britain, many European resorts are already enjoying a healthy serving of snow and predictions are there is more to come. Read on to find out where the earlier snowfalls are settling:

Val d’Isère and Tignes:

It has been snowing intermittently in the Espace Killy for a couple of weeks now. The Grand Motte at 3,456m received 10cm of snow over the weekend and even a covering in the town centre of, Tignes Le Lac last Monday. Forecasters expect another smattering to add to the 3 centimetres already seen this week at resort level. Three lifts are already operating in the ski area and more and more pistes are being classified open.

Gstaad:

Gstaad’s glacier 3,000 is one of four Swiss ski areas that are closed due to bad weather. Expect plenty of fresh powder when the clouds finally part.

Zermatt and Saas Fee:

Both these two resorts have opened early for skiing at the beginning of last week. Many of the elements of the Saas Fee snowpark have also already opened as well as five of the resort’s lifts.

For more information on current forecasts or to read through historical snow-reports, the Ski Club Great Britain’s website is a vital research tool. If you are planning an earlier season trip, let us advise you of the best locations for your holiday. You can call us on +1865 398130 to talk to a travel consultant or visit www.oxfordski.com for all our chalet listings.