J2Ski Snow Report - January 3rd 2013
J2Ski Snow Report - January 3rd 2013
Published : 03-Jan-2013 08:13
The J2Ski Snow Report - Week Ending January 4th 2013(* Free to re-publish in whole or part so long as credited to www.J2ski.com with hyperlink to http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast )
The New Year has brought a bit of a change across The Alps, with blue skies, clear weather and an un-seasonal hint of Spring with unusually mild temperatures for much of the region.
This looks set to last for another week or so before temperatures fall back to their seasonal averages. Much of the French and Swiss Alps will remain largely clear, although heavy snow will push into Austria and the East this weekend.
This Week's Headlines
- Big snowfalls across USA, up to 1.3m in past 7 days in fact.
- Fresh snow after dry weeks in the Pyrenees.
- All five Scottish ski areas still open.
- Record snowfall equals record business in British Columbia.
- Up to 60cm (2 feet) of new snow in France in past week.
Europe
Austria
It has been a moderately snowy seven days in Austria with most resorts receiving somewhere between 10 and 20cm of fresh snow since Boxing Day, the biggest reported accumulation, 35cm at Lech in the Arlberg. Snow bases overall are generally quite healthy too – in the 1-2m range for most resorts, although a few now above 2m – including Obergurgl, with 215cm (over 7 feet), including another 25cm in the past week. Pitztal with 2.5m has the deepest snow in Austria at present along with the highest slopes in the country.
France
It has been a mixed picture for snowfall in France with some resorts reporting as much as 60vcm of new snow in the past seven days, while the majority have reported no fresh snow at all. In the latter case that is not too much of a problem so far with most resorts reporting 1-2m snow depths at least, and several of the big players including Les Arcs and Val d'Isere more than 2.5m. Chamonix has another metre still, it's 3.5m base depth on upper runs one of the deepest in the world at present. The big snowfalls have been reported by Flaine (60cm), Avoriaz (55cm) and La Plagne (52cm) – all in the past 7 days.
Italy
The largest snowfall in Italy over the past week was 20cm reported by Chiesa, one of a handful of Italian resorts now posting snow depths of more than 2m on upper slopes. The best of the snow, or at least the deepest bases, are on the alpine side of northern Italy with Cervinia topping the list with 2.4m. Over in the Pyrenees the snow levels are at their lowest but there's still 80cm in Val Gardena and around the Sella Ronda and further south Cortina reports a more impressive 110cm. The thinnest base though is on lower slopes at Cavalesse – only 5cm, so more snow there would be handy. We're expecting 5-10cm across the country over the next week.
Switzerland
Swiss resorts continue to boast some of the best ski depths in Europe with Andermatt and Gstaad both having more than 3m (10 feet) of snow lying on their upper slopes. It's also been a moderately snowy week with most areas reporting 10-30cvm of new snowfall in the past seven days, one of the biggest falls being at Verbier with 37cm – it now has a 2.3m and it just doesn't stop snowing there. Engelberg, Villars, Leysin and Wengen were also beneficiaries of particularly heavy snowfall I the past seven days and piste conditions there are all reported as 'excellent.'
Pyrenees
After a few largely dry weeks, ski areas in the Pyrenees have received 5 – 15cm of fresh snow over the past 48 hours which has improved conditions on the hard packed pistes, making coverage much fresher. Upper slope base depths are at 60-80cm in Andorra, peaking At 1.43m at Formigal in Spain.
Scandinavia
Not much chance of seeing the best Northern Lights in 55 years in Finland over the past week as the snow has been dumping down, at least by the rather limited scale that's the norm reporting 10cm since the 26th December. There's been less new snow in Norway.
Just a few inches in the past week, but base depths are slightly better with Geilo, Hemsedal and Lillehammer all neck-a-neck with a metre each on upper slopes of the region. Yllas has since 25cm (10 inches) since Christmas. Base depths are around 50-60cm at all major Finnish and Swedish centres, with the biggest, Are.
Eastern Europe
There's been no new snow in Bulgaria for nearly a fortnight but bases are quite well established at around a metre on upper slopes across the country so that's not too big a problem, although fresh would of course be nice . Poiana Brasov in Romania received 10cm of new snow on Boxing Day, bases now 20-40cm.
Scotland
All five Scottish ski areas are, as we compile this report, still open, having enjoyed the traditional mix of gales, sub-zero temperatures, some nice spells and fresh snow when much of Blighty was enduring rain. However an extended warm spell expected over the next few days may make skiing ever more difficult to provide, particularly at Glenshee and The Lecht on the East where many runs are broken now. Cairngorm probably has the best conditions with top-to-mid-station open. And you never know it may unexpectedly get colder, this is Britain after all. Glencoe and Nevis Range on the West are also in reasonable shape.
North America
Canada
The rate of snowfall has slowed a little in Canada but conditions remain great and the snow is still falling.
Big White Ski Resort, located near Kelowna, British Columbia, has a 177cm base which has allowed it to open all 118 runs and all 16 lifts (16 including 6 high-speed chairs and gondola) which resulted in shorter queues (max 15 minutes) during what the resort says was its busiest ever New Year holiday.
The deepest snow in the country and the biggest fall in the past seven days has been reported at red Mountain, also in BC, with 212cm snowbase and 45cm (18 inches) of new snow.
Although there's been little new snow in the past week in Eastern Canada the heavy7 falls in mid-late December has ski areas in the region looking far better than they did, with more than 60cm at Tremblant and over 1.2m blanketing Mont Sainte Anne near Quebec City.
USA
The USA has received more snow than any other part of the world over the past seven days, with ski areas in Alaska receiving as much as 1.3m in the past seven days. But Colorado, Utah and California resorts all had good falls too, if not quite so huge, and it's beginning to look a lot more like a normal powder winter, after 20 months, in Colorado. Aspenites woke to a fresh foot of powder for the new Year's holidays with bluebird skies too in addition to opening of new terrain on Snowmass, Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands. The resort received 20 inches (nearly 2 feet) of snow in the past seven days. Even more unusually there have been big snowfalls on the East Coast and in the mid-West too thanks to the latest storm system which typically deposited 30-60cm on most of New England's slopes. Smuggler's Notch in Vermont was typical with 40cm of new snow and base depths are now past a metre on upper slopes at some resorts including Killington.
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