It's about the best of the winter
Friday January 15, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Chamonix seems to have some of the best conditions with a base of over 4m at the top of the resort. Good news for us at PlanetSKI as we are going over there at the weekend for a few days.

We'll let you know what it's like and show you some video and pictures too.

Elsewhere it has snowed across many parts of the Alps.

We have of course had some snow in the UK and many people have been out on their skis and snowboards enjoying the wintery conditions as we have reported here with some great photos.

In Scotland at the moment 3 out of the 5 ski areas are shut because of too much snow and heavy drifting.  We have a separate report here.

Here's a detailed round up of conditions in the mountains, with the help of our good friends over at www.skiinfo.com,

FRANCE: The good snow in Chamonix seems to be reflected across France with the resort of Formiguères getting 80cm. 

Meanwhile there's 60cm in Puy St Vincent and 50cm in Alpe d'Huez.

Where is Formiguères we hear you ask? 

It is in the French Pyrenees and this is what it looks like at the moment.

Good conditions in the French Pyrenees

"With the exceptional snowfall recently we now have very good snow cover. At the moment, you can ski on a fresh snow with optimum conditions," says Carmen Hernandez, the Communications Manager at Formiguères.

Over in the better known resort of Tignes it is pretty good as one of our PlanetSKI readers, James Timothy, reports. 

"There is great snow here and after I came out with my partner, Jane Peel, on a journey from hell that took 36 hours it has been brilliant," he tells us. "Fresh powder and the visibility is set to improve as well."

Tignes Le Lac this week

Thanks for the snow update and the photo too!

For a report on their journey from hell, see here. Poor them!

The Grand Massif area is also doing well with a base of 2.7m.

"This year, we received the most important snowfalls at Christmas. The snow is really good but people have to be careful when free riding as conditions off piste are very dangerous at the moment," says Pierre Claessen, Manager of Flaine Tourist Office.

There have been numerous avalanches in Europe this month, as we have already reported.

The avalanche risk is especially high (4/5) at Abriès, Alpe du Grand-Serre, Auron, Ax les Thermes, Isola 2000, Les 7Laux and Serre Chevalier.

The level changes on a daily basis so do check out the details on a local basis.

Meanwhile in nearby Les Gets conditons are goo too.

"It has snowed another foot or more this past week and the slopes in Les Gets  are all complete. The very light  powder is covering  the  mountain following last week's very cold conditions. It has now warmed a little skies have cleared and christmas crowds have gone, being low season at present there are people skiing and snowboarding around with big smiles on their faces," says PlanetSKI reader, Peter Baker, who works in the resort for The Edge Snowsports school.

Take a look at some photos from Les Gets that he has sent us at the bottom of this article.

AUSTRIA:  Sölden had 37cm of new snow in the last week and it now has a 1.85m base.

The Mölltal Glacier still has the most snow in the country with 3.1m and the Hintertux Glacier has 2m.

ITALY: Northern Italy has reported some of the biggest snowfalls in the past few days with Courmayeur and Val Senales both reporting 40cm of new snow. La Thuile has 30cm.

"New Year's day was the best we can remember and the  first days of 2010 have been extraordinary too: we've had 11,200 people on the slopes; the most in last 10 years," says Luisa Aureli Bergomi from Courmayeur.

Below is a photo of the New Year celebrations from Courmayeur.

These top off a week of heavy snow in the north of the country. Limone Piemonte reports 1.95m and Arabba Marmolada 1.2m. The country also has some of the world's greatest snow depths, the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale reports 4.3m and Bormio 3m.

SWITZERLAND:.  The country has seen good snow falls in the past week with 40cm of new snow at Gstaad - Glacier 3000, which now boasts some of the deepest snow in the country with 1.8m of snow on upper slopes and 45cm in the valley.

The top snow depth in Switzerland however is at Andermatt-Gotthard with 2.2m.  Saas Fee has 2.1m and St. Moritz just a little less with 2m after it received 45cm of snow in the past week.

In our base resort of Verbier things are pretty good though we could do with some fresh snow and the moguls are well and truly formed in places with hard-packed snow on piste.

3,300m - top of Mont Fort

  GERMANY:  It has received a lot of new snow and it has caused problems across the whole country. In the mountains though it is welcome.

In the last week more than 80 German resorts reported 10-45cm of new snow. The Zugspitzplatt has the deepest snow depth with 1.8m, Oberstdorf has a little less with 1.7m.

ANDORRA:   It's been good news in the Pyrenees in the past week too with plenty of new snow boosting the previously rather average conditions in the Principality. 

Pas de la Casa has14cm of fresh snow though it is due to warm up a bit over the next few days and over in Arcalis, the highest resort in Andorra and where much of the terrain is north facing, the conditions are said to be good with smome new snow and more forecast for the beginning of next week.

SPAIN:  In the Spanish Pyrenees there has been some welcome new snow too with Baqueira Beret reporting 12cm and Formigal 24cm.

In Eastern Europe conditions remain largely good in northern countries but less so in the south.

BULGARIA:  Some ski areas such as Borovets and Pamporovo are struggling with just a few centimeters of snow and warm temperatures.

Bansko is not suffering as badly as it had built up a bigger snow base in December and most runs are open there.

In Northern Europe temperatures have been low across Scandinavia although there's been less fresh snow than the previous week.

SWEDEN: Hemavan broke the season temperature record with - 40.8ºC last weekend.

More snow is expected across the region at the weekend.

One unusual twist on the cold weather that is affecting much of the northern hemisphere is the opening of a new 2km long ski run in the south of Holland.

The temporary trail winds down a slag heap from a former mine and is next to the world's largest year round indoor snow centre, Snow World Landgraaf, with its 550m slope.

The indoor six-seater chairlift is being used by people to reach the top of the indoor slope. Then they leave the building through an emergency exit and get onto the real stuff outside.

It is not clear how long the snow and thus the ski run will last, but temperatures have remained around freezing, dropping to -5ºC at night; the same as the indoor temperature at SnowWorld.

USA:  Conditions are still generally good across North America. 

All the resorts in Tahoe as well as Mammoth in California are open and reporting fresh powder and a base of 1.8m - 2.7m in Mammoth, 90cm -1.8m in Squaw Valley and 60-90cm in Heavenly.

Vail Resorts say business is down this winter but not by much, as we have already reported here.

CANADA: Whistler has reported more fresh snow and the pattern has been repeated at many other Western Canadian resorts in Alberta and British Columbia.

Whistler has a 2.35m base on the upper mountain and has had 3cm of new snow in the past few days.

However, further south the Olympic venue, Cypress Mountain, was forced to close this week due to heavy rain - not a great sign with the Games three weeks away and the half pipe needing to be maintained in good shape.

On the East Coast the weather has quietened down after the New Year storms with limited fresh snow in the past week. 

But most areas now have healthy bases and the weather has been cold enough for more snow making, so getting chance to clear access roads and prepare the pistes properly is seen as a good thing by most resorts.

If you are out enjoying the conditions keep safe, have fun and do let us know what it is like at inbox@planetski.eu

For the spirit of the mountains.

As promised here are some photos from Les Gets in the Portes du Soleil in France.

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