Some new snow but more is needed
Friday May 21, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

The eastern Alps has had some fresh snow with a few resorts in Austria getting around 15 -20cm.

Blue skies are prevailing though across many areas - great for the suntan and for taking photographs but some fresh snow is required particularly at lower resorts.

The warm temperatures of last week have though given way to a colder spell,so helping to preseve the conditions at resorts where no fresh snow has fallen.

See the video report below from James Cove who is in The French Alps.

For details country by country see the detail below that has been compiled with help from our friends at skiinfo.com

ITALY: Italy has seen some of the most snow in the past few days, especially in the north of the country.

Temperatures have dropped dramatically from up to 20 degrees last week to sub-zero temperatures by the weekend and more snow is forecast.

Arabba Marmolada has the deepest snow with 5m of snow with the Pragelato glacier having 4.3m  and Courmayeur 3.3.

AUSTRIA: The country also had some healthy snowfalls last weekend. The most snowflakes could be seen in Vorarlberg where Diedamskopf had 30cm of new snow on Sunday.

In Kleinwalsertal - Fellhorn/Kanzelwand up to 30cm of powder came down last weekend.

The resorts of Großglockner, Katschberg and Ankogel have reported another 10-15cm of new snow. Sölden got 9cm. The Mölltal glacier had 20cm of fresh powder.

Germany had some snow this week in the central and southern uplands, Sauerland, Harz and Black Forest.

Gaby Baur of the Black Forest Tourism Board told the regional broadcasting corporation (SWR), "The current winter season is one of the best we ever had."

SWITZERLAND: More snow is needed in many Swiss resorts in the west of the country though some have had "a dusting." Andermatt in central Switzerland has had 20cm.

In Sedrun, Brienz and 15 other Swiss resorts similar snowfalls were reported.

Disentis had 25cm in 24 hours.

Still snowy on the Jura mountains

Looks pretty in Swiss Alps

FRANCE: It turned very cold on Sunday and the south of the country received some significant snowfalls, especially for March.

Chamonix still has the deepest snow in the country with 4.7m, La Grave has  3.3m and La Rosière 2.9m.

Some of the low level resorts in the Portes du Soleil though say they need more snow.  There is ample cover but it is icy and hard packed according to one PlanetsKI reader.

Enjoying the blue sky in Tignes

SPAIN: There have been big snowfalls in the Pyrenees, and the nearby city of Barcelona ground to a standstill due to the weekend snowstorm.

However that's great news in the mountains and the country's ski resorts are now reporting some of the best conditions all season with great snow cover everywhere.

Sierra Nevada continues to have the greatest snow depth in Europe with five metres on their upper slopes.

Sierra Nevada

This week this most southern resort in Europe will host the European Freestyle Championship gathering the best freestyle riders (ski and snowboard) in the disciplines of moguls and ski cross.

The Pyrenees is still looking very nice with more than 2mof snow on the top of the slopes with Boi Taull having the most with three metres.  Formigal has the most terrain open in the region with 240cm on upper slopes and 136km of trails open.

ANDORRA: The Principality allso received good snowfalls of up to a foot of new snow, although the snow arrived driven by strong winds which led to lift closures at the start of the week.

On the French side of the mountains up to 80cm of heavy snow fell on Monday on the mountains with 20 to 40cm in the valleys.

In Scandinavia this last week has brought some serious snow in the north of the region.

SWEDEN: Björkliden, not far from Riksgränsen, got 29cm in the past week and in nearby ski resort Abisko, heavy snow and wind resulted in extreme avalanche danger, set on 5 on the avalanche scale on Monday, and the resort closed all lifts. It' now down to 4.

In the middle and south of Sweden the snow has eased since last week.

Åre got 12cm the last week. It hosts the FIS Freestyle World Cup on 12-13 March. The temperatures have dropped to just a couple degrees below zero in the mountains and some degrees above zero on the ski areas in the south but ski conditions remain great in a large part of the country.

SCOTLAND: With the wind predominantly from the north east, snowfall has consistently loaded the east faces of the mountains, giving new pistes to ski and snowboard at all areas.

At both Glencoe and Nevis Range, skiers and boarders have enjoyed sliding from the top lifts back to the lowest access points, which is pretty unusual.

Nevis Range Managing Director and ski-scotland member, Marian Austin, commented, "Unlike the ski areas in the east, we do not normally ski to our carpark, but this amazing snow cover, even at low level, has allowed us to offer skiing from 1,190m down to 100m, which is about 4.5km, or close to 3 miles."

The fences on the Scottish mountains that are in place to preseve the snow are mostly buried and actually causing an obstruction and danger as they stick out of the snow.

A rare sight

Winter continues at The Lecht

"The snow this year has been fantastic with constant cold and great skiing conditions," added Pieter du Pon of the Lecht Ski Company.

"Snow has just piled up week after week since before Christmas."

Road up to The Lecht

Eastern European ski areas have received some much needed fresh snow with lower temperatures.

USA: In North America the snow just keeps on falling in California.  Last week over 90cmof snow fell in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain passed the 400" (33 feet) of snowfall mark for the year in the first week of March, which is fantastic news for a ski resort where the season lasts well into May. 

Snowbird, Utah March 6th 2010

A break between storms provides sunshine and bluebird skies to accompany the 22" of new snow!

CANADA: Banff-Lake Louise has just been named Top North American Spot for Spring Skiing by The New York Times (February 28, 2010) and received another dump of 25cm of fresh powder overnight.

Conditions are reported to be "mostly still good" on the continent's East coast too.

Fun in Fernie

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