J2Ski's Where to Ski in March 2025
J2Ski's Where to Ski in March 2025
Published : 01-Mar-2025 08:40
March starts with Japan leading the snowfall tables, North America about average and Europe quite variable according to location. Snow is forecast for Scandinavia, but a mild week ahead for the Alps.
The sun setting at Avoriaz, France, this evening.
Where to Ski in March 2025
March marks the start of springtime and the start of the end of the northern hemisphere's ski season. With long daylight hours and rising temperatures, the quality of the snow changes as does the atmosphere, becoming more relaxed and less intense.
The start of the month usually sees the high point of snow depths, before the spring thaw begins.
For 2025 it's a mixed bag. Japan is the stand-out ski nation for snowfall to date, the month starting with the first areas having passed the 7m base mark, the deepest anywhere for several years. North America is running at about average, and Europe's numbers are fairly unimpressive.
In Europe, base depths have grown in March and April in recent years due to late-season snowfall so it remains to be seen if that happens again in 2025.
March starts with fairly decent snow depths and everywhere fully open, or almost so. There are a few exceptions, notably Scotland, but overall it's a positive picture.
Europe
Austria
Austria tends to see more of its centres close in late March or the very start of April than the other three major ski countries in the Alps.
This winter has been marked by a lack of heavy snowfall with many ski areas yet to really see one-metre base depths reached on higher slopes, while valley runs have been maintained by snowmaking.
Despite that, the month starts with the majority of runs in the country open. The Arlberg (St Anton, Lech etc) is reporting the most at 280km (175 miles) about 98% of its full area and Saalbach Hinterglemm and Ischgl Samnaun also both have more than 200km of slopes open.
France
Although French Alps snow depths aren't the greatest ever, they are the deepest in Europe as we start March, with several areas including Chamonix and Flaine posting 3m+ (10 feet plus).
On top of this most of the country's larger destination ski area areas, including the big players like the 3 Valleys, Grand Massif, Portes du Soliel and Paradiski report their slopes close to 100% open.
Most French areas stay open through March and this is also when a spate of music festivals including Rock The Pistes and Tomorrowland Winter are staged on slopes across the country.
Italy
Italy hasn't had much snowfall this season, but most of the country's ski centres are reporting their slopes fully open for March, albeit with thin cover, typically less than half a metre, much of it machine-made snow, across their slopes.
Dolomiti Superski is at the forefront with almost all of their 1,200km of runs available. The deepest cover is at La Thuile on the French border where it's up at 2.5m.
Switzerland
As with the rest of the Alps, conditions are pretty good in Switzerland as we start March. Here too, most of the country's well-known destinations report pretty well all of their slopes open.
The region that had had the least snowfall this season, down in the southeast around St Moritz and Arosa, did have one of the better accumulations in the latter half of February, bolstering cover.
Base depths are below average, most noticeably at lower elevations where it's the white slopes on green valley backgrounds. Temperatures reached +10C at 1,000m in the final week of February so the snowline is rising.
Scandinavia
Snowfall in Scandinavia this season so far is running below average, but not that far below average and February, along with some very low temperatures, saw more and more terrain opening.
As we start March most of the region's ski areas remain 60-80% open, still not every slope yet.
March is usually one of the best months for skiing in Finland, Sweden and Norway.
As the weather becomes decidedly more springlike with often slushy snow in the afternoons in the Alps, it is typically colder with snow conditions better up in Scandinavia. In addition, there are increasingly long daylight hours at these northerly latitudes.
Scotland
It's been a pretty lousy winter so far in the Scottish Highlands with very low snowfall and a familiar pattern of spells of very mild, wet and windy weather repeatedly thwarting any snowpack build-up.
Four centres, Glencoe, Cairngorm, The Lecht and Glenshee have all-weather snowmaking machines that can create small areas of snow to offer at least some skiing, and during the most positive spells, all have managed to open limited natural terrain.
Spring does typically bring heavier snow so we have to hope for a late blast of winter.
Nevis Range, which doesn't have an all-weather snowmaking machine, is yet to open this winter.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees haven't had the best of seasons; it started late, about a third of the way into December, after a big snowfall saved a largely snowless autumn. Not much changed through December and January but last month did see snowfall for much of it, in varying amounts.
Although few areas are 100% open, conditions are currently the best they've been all winter with the biggest areas like Spain's Baqueira Beret and Andorra's Grandvalira reaching 75-85% open.
Eastern Europe
It looks pretty good across Eastern European ski slopes from north to south as we start March.
Bulgaria and the wider Balkans ski region have been posting healthy snow depths (approaching 2m up top) since the start of the year – better than a lot of areas further north.
Resorts in the Tatras and Carpathians up in Czechia and Slovakia haven't had so much snowfall and are mostly down below the metre mark - but do start March reporting all runs open for them too.
North America
Canada
Conditions are about as good as they get as we start March across Canada.
A month ago, things were already good in the west, with everything open and above-average snow cover – that's still the case now after a very cold February ended with some significant fresh snowfalls.
On the East though there was inadequate cover after a poor first half to the season left areas struggling to open runs still. A cold and snowy February for Quebec, Ontario and the wider region has fixed that leaving good conditions here now.
USA
Conditions are fairly good across the US as we start March with most areas across the country fully open.
Some very cold temperatures and very heavy snowfall in February have helped a lot.
The country's national weather forecasting agency has put out a March forecast predicting below-average temperatures and above-average snowfalls this month in the Pacific Northwest region. It's less promising for the Rockies though, at least the southern half, where temperatures are expected to be warmer than average and precipitation lower – that includes Colorado and Utah.
Most of the rest of the country looks around 'average' for this point in the season.
Asia
Japan has been having an incredible snowfall season and resorts there have been posting base depths topping 7 metres in the final week of February, the deepest in the world not just this season but for several seasons.
March is usually a month of fast change in Japan when the daily dumps suddenly end and the snowpack, however deep, becomes more granular and less the light, deep, floaty stuff it's famous for.
This spring it will still be deep, just perhaps not powdery for very much longer.
Most major ski areas will be open until the country's annual 'Golden Week' celebrations in early May.
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