It's a mixed picture in the Alps
Monday December 14, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

It's been a funny sort of week in Europe. Temperatures have wavered.  It's been cold with a dusting of fresh snow and sometimes warm with a bit of a thaw. 

However, temperatures have got colder and forecasters are predicting a further dramatic drop, in some places droping to as low as -19ºC.  It could be much colder over the next few days and there may be some sigificant snowfalls across the Alps and Pyrenees.

At the very least it is allowing plenty of snow making.

We are out in the Alps and we'll let you know.

Below is a video report of the conditions at the weekend in Verbier where it finally started to snow and further below a video report from last Friday.

On Friday the temperature was still pretty mild and what was left of the snow in town was thawing.

Mixed picture in Verbier on Friday

Below is a video report of what it was like out in the Alps at the end of last week (Friday).

Meanwhile, here's our the PlanetSKI snow overview on 11th December 2009 from our reporters round the mountains and some extra help from our friends at www.skiinfo.com

This week, for no particular reason, we decided to start in Scotland.

Scotland:  Cairngorm is still open and this week managed to extend its ski area to the bottom of the funicular along a narrow band of snow. 

Low temperatures this week and those expected this weekend should help to maintain their snow. 

The 4 other centres in Scotland are not open.

France:    As with the rest of Europe, France has had a turbulent week, first warm weather followed a cooler period with a dusting of snow, and then rain once again, and yet there’s so much hope for the weekend.

Down in the valley near AnnecyVal Thorens has good snow depths of around 1m.  The Grand Montets above Chamonix has a snow depth between 50cm and 1.5m but remains significantly rocky in places.

Some thirty resorts have started to open their ski areas in France, although mainly open only at weekends their number continues to grow including La Plagne, Serre Chevalier, Flaine, Vars and Avoriaz. 

La Clusaz currently reports the best snow depth in the country with around 1.2m of snow. 

Val d’Isere hosts the 54th edition of the "Critérium de la Première Neige" for women this weekend, followed by the men next weekend.

"I think this week in Val has been some of the best conditions I have ever skied in. The snow was crisp and fresh and the sun was shining but not too warm to melt," says Sappho Barkla from the holiday comany, Erna Low, who was in the resort.

  "The best skiing was in the morning when the piste bashers had been out in droves overnight and the slopes were empty. Queues were non-existent and most lifts and runs were open."

Montgenevre earlier this weekOver in Montgenevre it was good earlier in the week. "We are out training our staff for the coming winter and it's been lovely," says Katie Waddington from Zenith Holidays.  "All our staff are now in their resorts and setting up in order to be ready to welcome our first guests this weekend."

All in all its a good start and if weather predictions are accurate there could be a bumper dump of fresh powder over the weekend.

PlanetSKI reader enjoying Espace Killy this week

Italy:    Some of the best snow in the Alps is in Italy.

The biggest falls were in the north-west of the country Piemonte, Lombardia and Valle d'Aosta, and in the last few days in Alto Adige.  But snow cover isn’t great everywhere - Friuli for example had to postpone opening as snow was sparse.

However the biggest accumulation in the last 7 days was in Val d'Ultimo with 190cm of new snow.  Not far behind is Val Senales/Schnals with 160cm,  Santa Caterina 130cm and Cortina d'Ampezzo 110cm.

The Arabba Marmolada glacier currently reports the deepest snow anywhere in the world with 3.12m on upper slopes, 55cm at the base.  Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale presents a similar scene.   Bormio opened 6 weeks ago  now has 1.9m on its upper slopes and 30cm lower down.  Madesimo and Cervinia - Breuil with1.5 metres on upper slopes.

Switzerland:    After last weekend’s heavy snowfalls Swiss resorts are now reporting some of the deepest snow depths in the world.

Engelberg was almost cut off and boasts a generous 80cm -110cm snow level, whilst Andermatt is recording a 1.3m base at the bottom and 1.9m on upper slopes.   Davos, Gstaad and Les Diablerets are among the latest to receive at leat 20cm top up during the week. 

Conditions in Verbier improved with a further 30cm on upper slopes.  The only ski areas open are Lac de Vaux, La Chaux, and Ruinettes, but there’s more snow on the way. 

Unfortunately the Verbier Ride scheduled to take place in Verbier this weekend has been cancelled due to uncertain weather conditions, see details of the cancellation here. We know that the weather is getting much colder and temperatures may drop as low as -14ºC in places. There is though some snow on roads leading up to the resorts.

On the road again

In Zermatt things are looking up.

" Earlier this week it was too warm and the locals were panicking a little, then we have a small dumpette about 6cm on Monday night and it's just gone much colder, about -2ºC at base level and beautiful blue skies and sunshine," says the publisher of In the Snow Magazine, Dominic Killinger who is in the Swiss resort at the moment.

"Great conditions town, really quiet and a good place to be at this time of year."

Austria:  Austria had limited snowfall last weekend, however there were light dustings mid week and heavier snow is expected at the weekend.  At present the snow line is between 500m and 800m and temperatures will drop to at least -6ºC on Sunday.

To get any decent skiing at the moment you have to go high.

So, glacier skiing is where its at in Austria, and some glacier ski areas are reporting the deepest snow anywhere in Europe.

The Molltal glacier has among the three biggest snow depths in the world at present with 2.2m. The  Pitztal, Solden,Stubai and Hintertux glaciers all have at least 1.5m of snow.  Kaprun has released powder alarms reporting 40cm of new snow in the last 24 hours. In Obergurgl snow depths vary between ½m and 1m and on Hintertux the snow is up to 1.7m deep in places. 

Everyone it looking forward to the ‘Big Chill’ promised for the weekend.

Further Austrian resorts to open this weekend include additional slopes at SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser (15cm) in Brixental and Kleinwalsertal (opening on the 12th) with up to 40cm at the Nebelhorn ski area.  Seefeld – Rosshütte, Gerlos/ Zillertal and Lermoos/ Tiroler Zugspitz Arena will also open with 30cm.

Germany:  Germany presents similar conditions where the Zugspitzplatt has the most snow with 1.25m and Oberstdorf has 30cm.

Scandinavia:
Scandinavia has also suffered the roller coaster effect of the weather experienced in the Alps and Pyrenees with only a few centimetres of fresh snow in many resorts.

Sweden:   Åre in Sweden  is hosting the ladies Word Cup this weekend and they are giving away one free day pass to all spectators who come to watch the competitions.

The ski resort of Säfsen will open 2  slopes at the weekend.

Andorra:    Andorra has had a very disappointing week. 

The promise of beautiful snow last weekend melted away with rain and warm weather. Temperatures reached a very warm +9ºC in the Grandvalira, which includes Soldeau and Pas de la Casa.

 But as in the whole of Europe, more is expected from Sunday.

Looks better than it is in the Andorran resort of Pal

Spain:   Sharing the same Pyrenean mountain range as Andorra, the promising conditions were also affected by the thaw.  

However Baqueira (30-60cm - 77km) and Formigal (10-80cm - 22km) continued to offer fairly good conditions for the Spanish holiday period. The other Spanish resorts within the Pyrenees remained open, but some only just managing to sustain skiing with a thin snowcover on the slopes - these included Panticosa (30cm-60cm -  22km), Cerler (20cm-65cm -18km), Astun (20cm-80cm - 20km), Candanchu (15cm-65cm - 29km), Boi Taull (15cm-30cm - 20km), La Molina (10cm-20cm - 3km), Masella (10cm-25cm - 9km) and Grand Pallars ski resorts including Espot, Port Ainé and Tavascan, 15cm-40cm - 60km .

Further south the Sierra Nevada had 10cm-30cm and 5km of runs open for skiers. 

The weather is cooling down at the weekend and much needed snow is expected across Europe.

There are no reports of any ski areas open yet in Eastern Europe although Bansko in Bulgaria has said it plans to open this weekend and the webcams are showing a snowy picture in the Czech Republic.

NORTH AMERICA

Across the Atlantic most areas of North America have seen improved conditions.

Canada: The exception is possibly British Columbia where conditions couldn’t really actually improve much on the record breaking November snowfall. The only problem there is that it’s very cold – as low as -40ºC overnight, so wrap up well! Kicking Horse and Fernie are now open, joining the rest.   At Fernie conditions are described as, “fantastic” with over a 1.8m of settled snow base in the five alpine bowls.

Heli-skiing is the latest snow sport to benefit from the great snow in BC with Great Canadian Heli-Skiing announcing that its first paying guests went heli‐skiing last Sunday, December 6th, three weeks before the normal start date! This lucky private party, which includes the only North American delegate to be invited to judge the snowboarding events at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, shows that amongst Great Canadian’s guests, snow is definitely trumping the economy.

On the East Coast, which had suffered from warm weather and little snow, resorts have been able to open thanks to some fresh snow and temperatures cold enough for snowmaking. 

Mont-Sainte-Anne near Quebec City began operating for the 09-10 season at 8:30am last Saturday but with only one slope open to the public.

USA:  In Western North America a big storm is tracking across the country bringing large snowfalls to California and now moving in to the Rocky Mountain bringing snow to resorts in Colorado and Utah. 

Squaw Valley reported a 60cm accumulation on Monday, greatly improving conditions at the leading Californian resort.

Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California has reported 86cm of fresh snow in the past 24 hours, and the Colorado resorts of Vail and Beaver Creek are under a winter storm warning  having already received more than 13cm in the past 48 hours.

Waist deep in Heavenly

Storms raging across the US over the last few days have left over 60cm+ of fresh snow at Squaw Valley. The video below shows great conditions (7th December 2009).

Bookmark this page

Related Articles