The weather is turning
Tuesday September 1, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

The European resorts are closing for summer skiing and there’s even been some snow in North America. It’s hard to believe but some ski resorts in Europe and North America open in just few weeks time.  So with some help from our friends over at www.skiinfo.com here’s a look at conditions.

EUROPE

In France it’s the last week of the summer ski season at the two open glacier ski areas - Tignes and Les 2 Alpes.   They both close this weekend.  Tignes has taken the opportunity to re-measure the depth of snow on the Grand Motte glacier which it has been reporting at 1.5m all summer, and has found the depth is 10cm (slight difference!), about the same figure as Les 2 Alpes where the base depth had dropped more gradually over the past few months.

Throughout Europe the warm August has taken its toll on the snow depths on the continent's open glacier ski areas. See this PlanetSKI video on conditions on the Saas-Fee glacier and how it has fared this summer.

In Austria it has dropped from four areas open to two in the past week with the Dachstein (near Schladming) and Kitzsteinhorn (above Kaprun) glaciers now closed until fresh snow arrives.

The Molltal and Tux glaciers remain open however, with sunny weather predicted for at least the rest of the week. At Tux, the glacier is holding steady with 165cm of snow, but the number of runs openhas been cut by more than a third to 15km with nine lifts running.

Skiing at Molltal is also limited, down to 3km with a 170cm base, and temperatures on the glacier reported to be hitting a seriously melting 8 celcius.

In Switzerland the neighbouring high-altitude, car free, resorts of Saas-Fee and Zermatt are both open with about a metre of snow on each of their glaciers.

Skiers in Saas-Fee this week We have several reports from Saas-Fee on PlanetSKI including a video interview with the ski coach, Warren Smith, who has been running courses there throughout the summer.

Saas-Fee has the smaller area open, with just three runs to choose from, but the resort's summer terrain park and half pipe are still open.

In Italy there are still three ski areas open for business which, thanks to the two closures in Austria, means the country now has more ski areas open than any other in the northern hemisphere.

The choices are Cervinia - which has six ski slopes shared with Zermatt, Val Senales and Passo Stelvio.

In Norway two ski areas are still open with Folgefonn is reporting a metre of snow.

Both it and Galdhoppigen, Northern Europe's highest mountain at 2,469m, have a single drag lift in operation

NORTH AMERICA

In Canada Banff National Park has been enjoying its first glimpse of winter as snow fell on the mountains at the ski areas of Mt Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunhine Valley.

First snows at Lake LouiseThe announcement of tentative 2009 opening dates is adding to the excitement.  Mt. Norquay is planning to kick off the season with a Halloween party on October 31st and will then open at weekends only through to Decemer 5th.

Lake Louise Ski Area is scheduled to open on November 6, with preparations well underway to again host the first, and Canada's only, stop on the World Cup circuit. The Men's races will take place on November 28th to 29th, and the Women's races on December 4th to 6th.

Sunshine Village plans to open on November 11th.

"We're very excited for the upcoming season," said Dan Markham, of Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine. "We're hoping yet again to be the first resorts to open in Canada, with a great start to this Olympic season."

South of the border at Timberline in Oregon, USA, the slopes remain open for advanced skiers and boarders now, although the centre's terrain park and pipe are closed and the annual September shut down is drawing nearer.

Snow depths are just below a metre and the weather largely sunny.

SOUTH AMERICA

In Chile the huge falls of last week have eased and access roads cleared. Portillo is still reporting some of the biggest accumulations with season-to-date falls of more than 6.8m and snow lying at the top of the slope nearing 3m.  It reports receiving about a metre of new snow in the past 7 days.

Several other resorts in Chile have similar big snow bases, especially the 3 Valleys resorts around Valle Nevado close to the capital, Santiago.

Over the border in Argentina it's a more mixed picture, but the two laregest resorts of Cerro Catedral and Las Lenas are both reporting healthy bases. We have a PlanetSKI reporter in Argentina and he will be reporting next week on how things have been going there this season.

We rather like the resort of Cerro Catedral near Bariloche.  See the PlanetSKI video below.

AUSTRALIA

There's been fresh snow in the past 48 hours in Australia and it has some of the best conditions in the world at the moment. Perisher, the country's largest resort, has 22cm of fresh dry flakes overnight with more on the upper slopes.

"There are plenty of wind blown stashes and powder pillows to be found across the resort ready for guests to carve up." said a resort spokesperson. Mt Buller has had fresh snow too, reporting 12cm of new snow and temperatures staying below zero to keep the snow in great shape. 

NEW ZEALAND

The biggest international competition ever staged in the southern hemisphere has been under way in New Zealand with snowboard superstars hitting the resort of Cardona's Olympic halfpipe.

We have been following the NZ Games here on PlanetSKI and the highlight of the week was Shaun White's victory. It came in atrocious weather conditons with high winds and poor visibility.

Other resorts in New Zealand are currently reporting 'challenging' conditions.

Turoa has a 2.2m base but is closed because of severe gales and rain. Mt Ruapehu neighbour Wakapapa, with a 1.8m base, has also been closed for the same reason. 

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