Where to Ski And Snowboard - Lots of new snow in France

Lots of new snow in France

11th April 2012, by Chris Gill

After the snow came the sun ... (c) Serre Chevalier tourist board

Wow, what a difference a week can make. Heavy overnight snowfalls have left French ski areas blanketed in fresh powder, in some cases right down to village level at 1400m or so.

Pictures coming in on Wednesday show that the more southerly French resorts have fared best, with 30-70cm new snow reported. Typical examples were Serre Chevalier – which as the images from the tourist office show was a winter wonderland when they woke up this morning – and Montgenèvre. So, there are plenty of fresh tracks for those skiers and boarders lucky enough to be out there this week.

Elsewhere, all the major resorts have received between 8-25cm snow. There was even 5cm reported at village level in Megève. The snow has arrived with a significant drop in temperatures and more is forecast for the weekend. Of course, at this time of year snow falling to lower lying levels is generally heavy and wet; but for late season trips, the altitude resorts in the Espace Killy, Three Valleys, Chamonix and Paradiski are doing very well. Some of the slush has refrozen, so there is new snow on a firm base. And it has been a while since we heard about powder – but it’s there …

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