Where to Ski And Snowboard - Snow is coming to the Alps next week

Snow is coming to the Alps next week

4th December 2014, by Abi Butcher

Zell am See in Austria today: in need of some snow

Some some significant snow is in the offing over the next week or so in the Alps, says WTSS weather expert Fraser Wilkin, founder of Weather to Ski, so try not to panic about the snow conditions.

Images of grassy slopes in European ski resorts are causing substantial concern among skiers and snowboarders planning on early-season trips, as well as tour operators waiting to welcome holidaymakers to the Alps.

Anxiety was further compounded yesterday when Courchevel and Meribel in the Three Valleys announced a postponement in their opening — due this weekend but currently put back for a week. A decision has yet to be made over whether the FIS World Cup, due to be held 13 and 14 December in Courchevel, will still take place.

While there is still decent piste skiing in the higher resorts such as Zermatt, Cervinia and Val Thorens, many Austrian resorts are looking bare (such as Zell am See, above). Temperatures have been so mild it has been impossible even for snow cannons to make artificial snow.

But it is now snowing in the Dolomites and parts of Austria, and Fraser Wilkin insists the situation is not so grim: “A cold front will move across the Alps from the north-west later tomorrow and into Saturday bringing more widespread precipitation, a drop in temperature and light to moderate accumulations of snow for many over the weekend.”

In North America, however, the conditions are completely different — this weekend Jackson Hole plans to open 100% of its territory, the Lake Tahoe resorts have an accumulated 18 inches following a recent storm and the Colorado resorts are looking brilliant, too.

For a detailed look at the current skiing conditions, see this week’s snow report.