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Snow overview: 08 February

8th February 2010, by Wendy King

Sunny late afternoon in Les Arcs

Nice one! Lots of fresh snow fell at the weekend, improving snow cover at many Alpine resorts low and high as we move into the busy school holiday period. Conditions generally are very good, with ample powder (though getting tracked out already!) and cover that few will complain about – although not necessarily perfect to valley level: lower lying places can expect the fresh to be sitting atop artificial or icy stuff, but it ain’t half bad really.

The best of the weekend snow fell in Austria, Germany and France, but parts of Switzerland and Italy can claim further useful contributions too. And it is due to get colder – much colder – by the end of the week, so that should help to preserve new cover. Watch out for the avalanche warnings though: these rose rapidly as a result of the heavy snow; many resorts are still offering a level 3 risk.

In North America, Canada remains quiet in weather terms. You can be confident of pretty good snow on-piste though, despite the lack of major dumps in the past week or two. West coast USA on the other hand has lived up to its ‘mammoth’ snowfalls in the past few days; the east has fared a little better too …

Austria

Snowfall in the past week or so has greatly enhanced cover on lower-lying areas. Lots of resorts are now claiming maximum snow depths in excess of a metre. Cloud, fog and windblown snow have been a problem here during the poor weather, but the slopes are in pretty good nick generally. And there is still plenty of untracked powder to be found. Bad Gastein (20/140cm) and Kitzbuhel (60/125cm) are fine; St Anton and Lech can boast some of the best conditions, though 20-30cm snow fell in the Ziller Valley on Saturday.

France

Heavy snow then glorious blue skies during the remainder of the weekend (See Editor Gill’s blogs on the Tarentaise.), what more could you want! Plenty of snow fell across France on Friday; Le Clusaz deserves special mention though gaining 35cm, and this corner of the Alps has done rather well out of recent snowfall. But all of the main resorts received modest amounts. Further south, Les Deux Alpes (50/140cm) reported 10cm to pep up the pistes, Serre Chevalier 30-40cm up top on Saturday.

Italy

The Dolomites at last got a share of the weekend snowfall, which was a welcome refresh after almost a month without a significant top-up. Accumulations differed widely though with Moena (30/180cm) receiving 40cm, while Alta Badia (60/140cm) reported only a dusting of 5cm. Further west Courmayeur scored again as did Cervinia – both reporting 40-50cm on Friday/Saturday. Funny how one resort stands out for a time; seems to be Courmayeur’s turn!

Switzerland

For a change Switzerland did not hog all the new snow, in fact much less fell here than across the neighbours. But there was a refresh for several areas. Up to 20cm fell in Arosa (100/150cm), Lenzerheide got 5-10cm and Pontresina (200cm) has everything open and sunny skies on Monday. Villars and Verbier got dustings on Sunday, but off-piste is reported mixed at present; cover isn’t as deep as elsewhere.

Pyrenees

Resorts in the Pyrenees and Andorra are skiing well; most ski areas are reporting upper snow bases in excess of a metre. Arcalis received 5cm on Friday and is forecasting further showers later this week. Formigal (105/220cm) and Baquiera-Beret (120/185cm) haven’t received any freshies for a week – but few will complain about their snow cover.

Germany, Scandinavia, Bulgaria

Heavy snow fell across Germany through the weekend; showers persisted on Sunday along with valley fog and varying visibility. But up to 30cm new snow lies on Garmsich-Partenkirchen’s upper runs and all the slopes are well covered to valley level. It has cooled down again too, following a milder couple of days. North in Scandinavia, not much snow has fallen and some resort runs are getting hard in Norway – but cover is good in Hemsedal (100/150cm). Sweden’s Are has a little fresh snow and reports excellent on- and off-piste skiing. In Bulgaria, conditions have improved considerably in recent weeks. New snow and colder weather arrived at all the main resorts over the weekend, though Bansko still boasts the deepest cover.

North America

In Canada, all eyes will be on Whistler when the Olympic Games start on Friday. The resort has its best snow above mid-mountain and there’s more forecast this week. Very little snow has fallen in other resorts, and it hasn’t been particularly cold either. But a regular couple of centimetres has kept the slopes refreshed in Panorama (45/98cm), Kicking Horse (148cm) and Big White (185cm).

In the US, Colorado continues to trundle along in a none-to-special a season so far – though Aspen has done rather well lately, gaining 50-6ocm last week. There have been light snow showers (about 10cm) for Winter Park and Breckenridge (145cm); the slopes are fine, though they’re not talking excess powder here. By contrast, the place to be is California – where this week’s storms gave Mammoth over half a metre more to brag about.

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