It's looking pretty good out in The Alps
Friday November 6, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

Winter is definately approaching. Temperatures are dropping and the white stuff has arrived in many parts of The Alps and now news that Verbier is opening this Saturday and will be open at weeekends from now on in.  There’s been heavy snow in Scandinavia too

A notice in the T-Bar, a favourite water hole of PlanetSKI in Verbier, says "Lifts opening? Meeting at TeleVerbier Thursday at 1800 to decide if the lifts open on Saturday."

See this related story from Verbier for further news.

Here’s our snow overview with the help of our friends at www.skiinfo.co.uk  

See also this story from earlier in the week on PlanetSKI with plenty of pictures from around The Alps.

France:  New snow has reached France and it is especially welcome as it had less snow last month than areas in the Central and Eastern Alps. Tignes is the only ski area open with 25cm of new snow on La Grand Motte, but it has been chucking it down across many resorts in France. 

Val d'Isere has 25 cm in town and 50cm up on the slopes. It is sticking to its scheduled opening date of November 28th. La Plagne, Les Arcs and Val Thorens also report good snowfall.

From the resort Pierre Sylvain tells us that there is 35cm in town and 50 cm up on the slopes.

Val Thorens, November 5th

It's also falling heavily further south in Serre Chevalier and Les Deux Alpes. However even though it is welcome it doesn' mean it will last as Jane Jacquemod from the Val d'Isere Tourist office says.  "It is not unusual to have snow at this time of year and it is pretty much the norm, sometimes it stays if the temperature remains low and sometimes it melts as the temperature rises.  Let's not exaggerate things though very welcome."

Wise words indeed.

Champery, November 6th

Chatel, November 6th

Italy:  Val Gardena has hit the jackpot this week with 80cm of fresh snow, with 40cm of that in the last 24hrs alone.  Unfortunately the resort is not expected to open until the end of November.  Bormio on the other hand has now opened for weekend skiing. Bormio will run a cable car and a high speed chair serving 18km of slopes between 2,500m and 3,000m altitude. 

Passo Stelvo, Val Senales are open at weekends and Cervinia is open daily, weather permitting, though as we have already reported the lift at the moment just links people to the skiing in Zermatt rather than in the Italian resort itself.

Many other resorts in the Dolomites have had fresh snow some up to 50cm. Cortina has reported 45cm of fresh powder.
 
Austria:  Austria has the most ski areas open in Europe. It is also doing extremely well on the fresh snow-front.  It did well mid-October with the first dump of the season and again this week.  Tuesday saw 25cm of powder on Austrian galciers at Hintertux and Pitztal and 20cm at Mölltal.  On Monday Stubai Glacier had 30cm of fresh snow. 

Other new snow levels include Dachstein Gletscher 90cm; Hauser-Kaibling-Ski 50cm; Kaunertaler Gletscher 124cm; Kitzsteinhorn - Kaprun 102cm; Mölltaler Gletscher 160cm; Pitztaler Gletscher and Stubai Gletscher  are open.

Kitzbuhel and Schladming’s ski areas continue to open at weekends.

Look at the amazing conditions on the Stubai glacier

Switzerland:   Fresh snow has hit Switzerland too. Engadin region around St Moritz reported approx 30cm or fresh snow.  Whilst there was some concern that the fresh snowfall in Saas Fee (approx 40cm of new snow on the glacier) may affect the FIS Snowboarding World Cup event this week it was in fact strong winds that closed the slopes today. 

Verbier has also had fresh snow and will open some lifts this weekend. PlanetSKI will be there, making a few turns, and we'll tell you all about it.

Verbier, November 5th

Germany:  The Zugspitz glacier is now open for snowsports
 
Scandinavia:  Scandinavia had heavy snowfalls at the weekend and even more is now being reported.  Hemsedal has just reported another 22cm - perfect timing for the weekend.  Snow is good in Norway, Sweden and Finland and many ski areas are opening this weekend in anticipation of a great season.

Later we will bring you a round up of pictures from around the Alps so do remember to check back for that if you want to see a little bit of photographic evidence of the snowfall in The Alps. Some of the pictures will make you dream of winter!

 
Canada:  Canada had massive snowfalls last week and Sun Peaks in British Columbia had at least 70cm and as a result it announced that it will open 1 week ahead of schedule.  Sun Peaks Mountain Operations Manager said “This is the earliest we have seen conditions like this and so to take advantage of this gift, we are going to move the planned opening day up to November 14,” and “we aim to open as many lifts and runs as possible.” 

Sun Peaks has been working hard to pack down all the fresh snow giving the Austrian National Ski Team good training slopes in November. Final decision on lift openings will be made on 9th November.

*Alberta: - Banff’s local slopes at Mount Norquay opened Saturday October 31.  Dan Markham of Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine said “It’s great to be skiing in October.  It’s a really fun way to celebrate Halloween.”
 
* Lake Louise: -  aims to open on November 6th. Preparations are well underway for Canada’s leg of the World Cup Circuit.  The mens races take place on November 28th to 29th, and the women’s on December 4th to 6th.

* Nakiska: - close to Calgary, will open this Saturday.  In preparation to Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Nakiska will host race teams in-training from all over the world including the Canadian squad.  The infamous Mapmaker run at Nakiska will be the workout platform for teams from Croatia, France, Switzerland, Monaco, Germany, Norway, Italy, Slovenia and Sweden.

* Sunshine Village: -  Plans to open Wednesdays only from November 11.  Newly renovated Sunshine Mountain Lodge opening shortly after.
 
* Marmot Basin: -  To the north in Jasper National Park, Marmot Basin plans to open on November 11th. 6 lifts will open on the first day.   A combination of natural and man-made snow gives the area a solid base with good snow coverage across the mountain. It initially opens 38 runs with more runs expected thereafter. 

Its new Canadian Rockies Express boasts to be the longest high speed quad chairlift in the Rockies travelling 2.3km, and whisking skiers 596m vertical to the top in less than 8 minutes.  Quite a promise!

More resorts are opening in Western USA thanks to heavy snow in states including Colorado. Conditions have been cold so snowmaking is in progress in California, where Mountain High has opened.
 
* Keystone, Colorado announced it will open earlier than planned on November 5th.  This is thanks to a combination of fresh snow on the mountain and a spate of cold temperatures providing conditions to create artificial snow.
 
Southern Hemisphere:
It's only Mt Ruapehu’s Turoa ski area in New Zealand that remains open, with a 225cm  base.

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