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Snow snippets: 11 November

10th November 2009, by Chris Gill

The Brenta Dolomites (Madonna di Campiglio) 9 November

Very active on the snow front this week … well, with all this snow many resorts are choosing to bring forward opening dates. It doesn’t ‘maketh’ a winter just yet, and bare in mind that what does open will offer limited skiing and boarding – but the fact is, there is snow and plenty of it at altitude! And the glacier resorts are skiing really well at present – Tignes has just shown what a week’s worth of snow can do. Super.

Here’s the pick of the resorts open or opening this weekend:

• Val Thorens to open a week early
• Madonna di Campiglio and Obergurgl to open 14 November
• Whistler gets a whopping metre of snow and is to open Saturday 14 November – 12 days early
• Lake Louise celebrates a great opening day last weekend; Sunshine opens today (Wednesday 11 Nov)
• Norway’s top resorts also open (Hemsedal reports lots of fresh powder)

France: Val Thorens (55-85cm) has just announced that it will open a week early, on 14 November. The Three Valleys resort will be only the second to offer skiing and boarding in France (the other being Tignes). Around a dozen pistes are being prepared, to be served by five lifts in the Péclet area. Discounted tickets will be sold for 21 euros per day. And the ski tests get going the following weekend (21/22 November) for the Ski Force Winter Tour. But it has been snowing heavily across many parts of the French Alps, laying a healthy base above 2300m.

The Pyrenees have been doing rather well too. Heavy snow has fallen on both sides of the border. We’ve reported on Baquiera-Beret’s good fortune. Now Cauteret on the French side is reporting substantial snowfall in the last week. The resort expects to open at the end of the month, but if this keeps up …

Austria: While it’s the glacier resorts that are providing the most opportunity for early season skiing and boarding, Austria’s highest non-glacier resorts are set to open shortly: Obergurgl first, this weekend.

Italy has done pretty well so far, notably in the Dolomites where Madonna di Campiglio is opening early too. The Grostè gondola and chairlifts will give access to slopes in that sector, with adult day passes at 15 euros. This will continue (conditions permitting) on weekends until the whole area opens from 28 November.

Opening day at Lake Louise, Canada. [(c) Lake Louise resort]

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