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Snoworks Ski Courses were in Norway, where it's still snowy, this week... Fewer than 50 ski areas now open worldwide, mostly in North America, whilst pre-season snows are teasing New Zealand. The Snow Headlines - May 8th - 10 ski areas are still open in the Rockies. - More than half the ski areas still open in Europe are in Austria. - Heavy snowfall in New Zealand as excitement builds ahead of 2025 season. - Around two dozen ski areas still open in North America. - Season over in Germany and Spain after centres there make it into May. 
Snow for a few still-open ski areas.
World Overview Last weekend saw dozens of ski areas across the northern hemisphere that had made it into May, end their 24-25 seasons; including Sierra Nevada, Europe's most southerly resort and the last operating in Spain, as well as Germany's Zugspitze Glacier. Many centres in Japan were open through the country's Golden Week holidays which ended on Tuesday, but most are now closed. A few small areas remain open, including the Gassan Glacier which is posting the world's deepest snowpack at over 8 metres. There are still more than 40 ski areas open worldwide. More than half of them are in the US and although that number is set to drop a little over the coming weeks, any decline will be offset a little as summer ski centres begin opening. We're also getting ever closer to the start of the southern hemisphere's season. This past week has seen mostly warming temperatures in the northern hemisphere as you'd expect (although there have still been some snowfalls up high), but in the southern hemisphere, many ski regions have seen pre-season snowfall over the past week, most marked in New Zealand where some resorts have had more than a metre. Europe The Alps With more than a dozen ski areas in the Alps closing for the season after last weekend, we are left with seven centres open this week, five of them in Austria. Here you can choose between the Hintertux, Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn, Molltal and Stubai glaciers which are all still operating, although the Stubai currently plans to end its season on Sunday. Only Les 2 Alpes remains open in France, after Tignes, Val Thorens and Val d'Isere ended their seasons last Sunday (with snow falling). L2A is endeavouring to maintain a 1000m lift-served skiable vertical through May. You can also still ski high slopes on each side of the Swiss/Italian border with Zermatt and Cervinia the only two centres now open in each country. Cervinia currently reports lifts up to Plateau Rosa and the Bontadini lift are in operation, with skiing possible as long as snow conditions allow. It has actually been a cold and snowy week on Alpine glaciers with temperatures typically in the -2C to -18C range and regular light to moderate snowfalls bringing seven-day totals of up to a foot of fresh. The weather is expected to clear with sunshine and warmer temperatures at the weekend for most areas. Scandinavia Scandinavia saw most of its still-open ski areas close at the end of last weekend. Finland's Levi, now into its eighth month of operations, is still going for one more week, whilst fellow northern resort over the border in Sweden, Riksgransen, has a fortnight left. Both are now operating in (or close to) 24-hour daylight due to their northerly latitudes. Riksgransen has begun offering skiing at midnight on several evenings a week. Having been constantly sub-zero for months temperatures are climbing above freezing in the daytime now although still dipping to -5C below overnight. Both centres also reported fresh snowfall at the end of last week and the start of this but the past few days have been drier with more settled conditions, and that's the forecast through the coming weekend. There's nowhere open in Norway this week after the final centres open there, including Hemsedal, closed on Sunday, but its three glacier summer ski areas are scheduled to start opening from this weekend for their 2025 seasons. North America Canada With Lake Louise and Jasper's Marmot basin ending their seasons at the weekend, there are just three Canadian ski areas still open, Whistler's Blackcomb Mountain in BC, Sunshine Village near Banff in Alberta and (on selected evenings and weekends), Quebec's Sommet St Sauveur. They're all aiming to stay open for another fortnight. It's been a mostly sunny week with temperatures getting above freezing even on high slopes overnight and into the teens above freezing at bases in the daytime. The sunshine is set to continue through the weekend with just the possibility of light showers. USA The US continues to offer the greatest choice of open ski slopes, with skiing still available at around 20 ski areas across eight states and from East to West Coasts! Another season extension at Brian Head means it and Solitude, although both are currently due to close this Sunday, are amongst four still open in Utah, along with Brighton and Snowbird. In Colorado you can also still ski at no less than five areas including Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper, Loveland and Winter Park. Additionally, Arizona's Snowbowl has announced two extra weekends, so it's reopening this weekend and next too. Half-a-dozen areas are open on America's Pacific Coast, including California's Mammoth and The Palisades; Mt Bachelor and Timberline in Oregon and Crystal Mountain in Washington state. Finally, Vermont's Jay Peak and Killington are still operating on the East Coast, as is Michigan's Boyne Mountain, the latter two both thanks to piling up the snow on select runs through the winter so that whilst the snowpack is now thawing fast, it'll take a good while until it's all gone. As to the weather over the past week, it's been mostly warm and sunny along the Pacific Coast, there have been some decent snowfalls in recent days (Tuesday/Wednesday) on high slopes in the Rockies, and warmer, sometimes wet weather in the East. For the coming week, it's looking to stay sunny into the weekend in the west, with just some clouds moving into the far northwest. More unsettled in the Northeast with temperatures in the 0 to +12C range and some showers forecast, mostly likely to be rain. Southern Hemisphere The start of the 2025 ski season in the southern hemisphere is probably less than a month away now, and the past week has seen snowfalls reported on ski slopes in South America, Australia, Lesotho in Southern Africa and New Zealand. New Zealand saw the most spectacular falls, along with violent winds, with Mt Hutt saying it had had "about 1.2m" (four feet) up high. It hinted at a possible early opening (the official start date is still a month away) but added "no promises". Ski areas in Argentina also got a good covering, if not quite such volumes (it was about this time last year that they started to see the first of metres of May snowfall in the Andes). Lesotho's Afriski reported a good covering as well. For Australia it was just a dusting but Perisher reported "snowmakers on standby" as overnight lows reached down to -4C. Quite when the 2025 season starts is a matter of opinion as more ski areas buy all-weather snow-making machines. Australia's small Corin Forest area has already opened a "snow play fun slope" using theirs for sledging and the like and on New Zealand's North Island Whakapapa and Turoa on Mt Ruapehu say they'll start their seasons, probably exclusively using snow-making, on the 30th and 31st May respectively. Another New Zealand area, Porters, also offered snow fun at the weekend, at its case on natural fresh-fallen snow. For the week ahead it's looking largely dry and sunny in the South American mountains but with overnight lows down as far as -10C, though daytime highs still getting up towards +8C. A similar forecast for Lesotho whilst in Australia it will be dry too but only just get down to freezing overnight with daytime highs reaching +15C. More unsettled in New Zealand with light rain/sleet/snow showers forecast, temperatures in the -2C to +8C range. |
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A few ski areas remain open into May in the northern hemisphere. Although unusual, it's possible some southern hemisphere resorts may open early by the end of the month.
Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun, Austria, expects to be open until mid-May... Where to Ski in May 2025 The month of May is the last of meteorological springtime and the one which sees almost all of the remaining northern hemisphere's still-open ski areas finally call it a day on their 24-25 ski season. We start the month with about 100 still open, but many of these will close at the end of this weekend. Outside of the Alps and Scandinavia, the European season is just about over. Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada down by the Mediterranean coast, is staying open to the first weekend of May after getting lots of April snowfall. In North America and Japan, as in Europe, the season is winding down fast but there are still 50+ ski areas open, though most of them will close by the middle of May. Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, the 2025 season will probably start early next month. It's not unheard of for resorts in Australia, New Zealand, Lesotho, Argentina or Chile to open in late May though if there's a big pre-season snowfall. There has already been some natural snowfall in Australia and New Zealand, and one Australian centre has opened a "snow play" slope with its new all—weather snowmaking machine. Europe Austria Austria invariably has the most ski areas open in Europe for much of the autumn and late spring. Although the number of Austrian glacier ski areas has been slowly diminishing, there are still half-a-dozen operating outside the main season and most start May with around two metres of snow. Snow depths have climbed a little in April. Obertauern and Sportgastein are amongst the centres open to May 1st with Ischgl and the Pitztal and Solden glaciers open through the first weekend of the month. The Stubai is expected to stay open a further week to the 11th May then the Kaunertal and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers should make it another fortnight, at least to the 18th. Two Austrian areas are expected to make it to June or beyond - the Hintertux and Molltal glaciers. The latter reported fresh snowfall in the final days of April. France The huge snowfalls in France just before the late Easter weekend last month gave a big boost to what had been fairly lacklustre snow depths up to then. Most of the country's ski areas have already closed for the season but Tignes and Val d'Isere's higher slopes are open until the end of the first weekend of the month. Both plan to re-open for glacier skiing in June. The only French ski area aiming to stay open through May is Les Deux Alpes. The plan is to keep 1,000m of vertical descent open between the top of the slopes at 3600 down to 2600m until May 28th, then from May 29th that will drop to the top 400m of vertical on the glacier. A snowpark should remain open throughout but it's all subject to snow and weather conditions of course. Italy Around half-a-dozen Italian ski areas are open as we start May but three of these, Livigno, Passo Tonale and Sulden are expected to close on the 1st, with Cortina d'Ampezzo's Col Gallina and Val Senales staying open to the end of the first weekend of the month. That really leaves only Cervinia expected to stay open through May, switching from winter to summer operations on Monday 5th. The good news there is that Cervinia saw over a metre of snowfall in the latter half of April. Switzerland Swiss centres have been posting some of the deepest snow depths in the Alps through much of the season and about half-a-dozen of the country's areas are open as we start May. Five of these; Adelboden, Gstaad's Glacier 3000, the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz, Engelberg and Samnaun are expected to close on Sunday the 4th. That will most likely mean only the year-round Matterhorn Glacier Paradise above Zermatt is open in the second week of May and throughout the month. Scandinavia Many of Scandinavia's leading ski areas stay open to the first weekend of May, after which there's a mix of some staying open and new glacier centres starting their 2025 seasons. The ski areas staying open longest include Sweden's Riksgransen which has had a cold and snowy April and offers midnight sun ski sessions as 24-hour daylight arrives in May. Over in Finnish Lapland, Levi plans to stay open later than usual, to the middle of the month. Norway's three glacier areas Galdhoppigen, Fonna and Stryn open successively for their 2025 seasons between the 9th and 24th of the month. North America Canada Around five centres are open in Canada as we start May. Two of these, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin near Jasper, will end their seasons after the first weekend, but Alberta's Sunshine near Banff, Blackcomb Mountain above Whistler in BC and on the East Coast, Quebec's Sommet St Sauveur, are all open until around the 20th-25th May, so will offer skiing most of the month. Conditions in the West are pretty good for this late in the spring, after a cold and snowy spring. In Quebec its more remaining patches of snow on the upper mountain. USA The US has more ski areas open than any other as we enter May, with around 10 planning to stay open to at least the final Monday of the month, which is the Memorial Day public holiday in the country. That's also the weekend when the Beartooth Basin summer ski Area on the Wyoming/Montana state line, the only one in North America, is hoping to open for its 2025 season (it didn't open in 2024). Snow depths in the west of the country are amongst the deepest in the world as we start May, widely in the 2-4 metre (6 to 13 feet) depth bracket. The numbers are less spectacular on the East Coast where Vermont's Jay Peak and Killington aim to stay open as long as they can. Other areas open into May include: The Arizona Snowbowl; Mammoth and The Palisades in California; Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge and Winter Park in Colorado; Mt Bachelor, Mt Hood Meadows and Timberline in Oregon; Brian Head, Snowbird and Solitude in Utah, and Crystal Mountain and 49 Degrees North in Washinton State, among others. Asia You can still ski at many of Japan's famous resorts, at least to the end of the first weekend of May, with most staying open for the country's annual 'Golden Week' period which straddles the end of April and the start of May. However, it won't be the waist-deep, light and fluffy powder for which the country is famous, but more a few kilometres of sugary snow left at the top of the mountain. Japan also has one summer ski area, Gassan, which opened in mid-April and aims to stay open until July if its snowpack lasts. It's started with over 9 metres lying – a metre more than last year – so the early signs are good! |
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It's way too early to get excited, but... Cardrona, New Zealand, got snow to the base this week... Europe and North America's remaining seasons now measured in days, but fresh snow in the Rockies. As one season closes, another opens; late autumn snow has fallen in New Zealand. The Snow Headlines - May 1st - Japan's Gassan summer ski area opens for 2025 season with 9.5m base. - Up to a foot of snowfall on high slopes in California. - Snow in southern hemisphere – Argentina and New Zealand - ahead of 2025 season. - 15cm snowfall on high slopes in the Alps. - Last ski area still open in Spain, Sierra Nevada, due to close for season on Sunday. 
Final call for winter in the northern hemisphere?.
World Overview The 2025 season continues to wind down in the northern hemisphere. There were about 150 ski areas still open for the final weekend of April, but that number halved at the start of this week and will halve again at the start of next. The USA has the most areas still open, about 25, with Japan at around 20 and Austria, Norway, Finland and Sweden each at between 10 and 15. For other nations with skiing in the Alps, Spain and Canada, there will be fewer than a half-dozen from next Monday. The weather across northern hemisphere ski slopes has been typical spring, with some areas seeing 10-20cm accumulations on higher slopes, but also rain, sleet and warm temperatures and sunny spells at times. So a very end-of-season feel. Outside the areas mentioned above in Europe, all ski areas in Eastern Europe and Scotland are now believed to be closed and the last centre still going in south-western Europe, and the continent's most southerly, Sierra Nevada, is amongst those due to close this Sunday. The last area operating in Germany, the Zugspitze glacier, will also end its season on the 4th. A few dozen ski areas remain open in Japan where the country's Golden Week celebrations are underway. Summer ski area, Gassan, has opened for its 2025 season, posting the country's deepest base of 9.5m, a snowpack that will hopefully last it through to July. Meanwhile, temperatures are dropping in the southern hemisphere where the first areas are expected to start their 2025 seasons at the end of May. Ski areas in Argentina and New Zealand have posted video of decent looking pre-season snow cover down to base levels. Europe Austria Austria has more ski areas open for the start of May than any other European nation, thanks in part to its seven glacier resorts. Three of these, along with resorts like Ischgl that have a reputation for long seasons thanks to snow-making efforts and natural advantages, will close on Sunday however. Solden and Pitztal also end their seasons on Sunday. It's been a fairly typical spring week with plenty of sunshine but also some snow/sleet/rain showers at times. The Stubai Glacier, which currently plans to stay open until the 11th, posted a 15cm accumulation over the weekend, the Molltal, open into June, just a few centimetres less. In total five Austrian areas remain open into next week including the Kaunertal and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers. Temperatures have been climbing through the week and the freezing point is now above the highest slopes in the country in the afternoons. Sunny skies will dominate through the coming weekend with just occasional light showers. France The French season is winding down. Just four French centres remain open and only one of those will make it into next week. All four have reported small accumulations of fresh snowfall on their higher slopes this week though. Tignes and Val d'Isère have been reporting still having about 75% of their vast area open, one of the largest still skiable in the world for a few more days. They, along with the skiing around Europe's highest resort, Val Thorens, close at the end of Sunday. Les 2 Alpes is the centre remaining open next week and indeed, all being well, all month and through to early July. For May the aim is to maintain 1000m of vertical skiable. With the snow lying nearly three metres deep up top it will hopefully manage that. It has been getting progressively warmer through the last week with sunny skies and the freezing point moving above 3,000m even in valleys, so the thaw is currently accelerating. Italy Italy is also into the final days of its season and, like France, will have only one ski area open next week. There are four other areas open to this Sunday, including Cortina d'Ampezzo which got 5cm of weekend snowfall, Macugnaga and the Presena and Senales glaciers. Livigno, which closed today - Thursday, May 1st - posted the biggest snowfall over the last seven days; around 30cm in total. It has been a week of sunshine and showers, the latter falling as snow on the country's highest slopes. The rest of the week looks sunnier with the freezing point getting up above 3,000m. Fortunately, a lot of Cervinia's shared May skiing area with Zermatt is above that level and is expected to be the only Italian area open next week. Switzerland There's been some snowfall on high Swiss slopes this week, with Engelberg posting 15cm at the weekend. It's been drier since, with temperatures climbing over the past few days and that's how it's looking heading into the first weekend of May. Temperatures are staying above zero right up to 3,000m altitudes. A dozen Swiss areas were still open last weekend but that dropped to five this week and only one – year-round Zermatt - will be open next week (unless any other extends its season). However, this coming weekend you can still also ski at the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz, at the Engstligenalp near Adelboden, at Samnaun, linked to Ischgl and on the Titlis glacier above Engelberg. Scandinavia Finland, Norway and Sweden have more ski centres open for the first weekend of May than the four main Alpine nations combined. Temperatures are of course rising in Scandinavia too though and ski areas in much of the region are seeing their bases diminish fast now, with Sweden's biggest resort, Are, posting only a 15cm base left. There are much colder temperatures and more wintery weather in the far north where daytime highs are still only a degree or two above freezing in Lapland, overnight lows are down towards -10C still. Finland's Levi and Sweden's Riskgransen, now entering a period of 24-hour daylight and starting its midnight-sun skiing season, are the two resorts still open after next weekend. North America Canada There are just a handful of ski areas still open in Canada most of them on the western side of the country, but Quebec's Sommet St Sauveur is still opening at weekends for as long as its snow cover lasts. In the West, Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler and Banff's Sunshine ski areas are both open for another three weeks, but it's the last weekend of the season coming up for Jasper's Marmot Basin and another Banff resort, Lake Louise, which with Whistler's diminished open area is currently posting the most terrain open in the country. It's still fairly cold in the west although temperatures are rising and the spring thaw is well underway now. USA The US has the most ski areas open of any country as we start May, about two dozen from coast to coast, and last weekend and the start of this week saw some wintery conditions for quite a few of them. Ski areas in California posted video of more than a foot of fresh powder snow and resorts in the Rockies got up to nine inches (22cm) over the past few days too – Arapahoe Basin announced it had has 5 inches to start May on Thursday. Despite this, it is, of course, the latter half of spring so outside these snowy spells there's been plenty of sunshine and warming temperatures, so snow conditions are largely soft and wet with open terrain fast diminishing to the upper mountain. Six or seven US areas are due to close this weekend but at least 15 plan to stay open later into May, some now operating just at weekends. |
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 24th 2025
Started by Admin in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, discussing Les Arcs and Val Thorens |
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Great spring snow, blue skies, Stubai Glacier, Austria, open until 11th May... Spring has returned to the Alps, but now with much more snow. And there's been fresh in the Rockies too. The Snow Headlines - April 24th - Huge snowfalls bring big boost to late-April snow conditions in the Alps. - Ski season is all but over in Eastern Europe and Iberian Peninsular. - Ski areas in the Rockies report up to 40cm (16 inches) of snowfall for Easter weekend. - Snowfall totals up to 155cm in 36 hours in the Western Alps ahead of Easter weekend. - Europe's deepest snow level jumps from under 3 to over 4 metres. 
Top-ups for a few still-open ski areas.
World Overview Last week's snow report was published just as the Western Alps ground to a halt as an incredible snowstorm deposited huge amounts of snow in just 24-36 hours. Resort staff were busy trying to keep people safe at this point last week but by the weekend stats were starting to firm up, the biggest accumulations recorded at 170cm – for many resorts as much in a little over a day as they'd had in total over the previous 2-3 months. This volume of snowfall of course caused many logistical issues and set avalanche danger levels at maximum, but by Good Friday the sunshine was returning and ski areas were re-opening terrain that was considered safe. It's been much calmer since and whilst more resorts ended their seasons at the end of Easter Sunday or Monday, those still open to the coming weekend or into May are enjoying some of the best conditions of the whole season on high terrain. After months of little movement or slow decline, Europe's deepest reported base depth has also jumped from 2.5 to 4.2 metres! In the wider skiing world, the weather has been less dramatic and we're down to a few hundred northern hemisphere resorts still operating with almost all centres now closed for the season in eastern Europe and the Pyrenees. Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada, has extended its season to May 4th after a snowy April. Across the Atlantic, it's a similar story with around 50 or so ski areas open, with periods of snowfall reported in the Rockies and other areas, but also temperatures continuing to rise as we approach the latter half of spring. Anticipation of the 2025 season starting in the southern hemisphere, now just a little over a month away, is starting to build. Europe Austria Austria was on the edge of last week's storm, but still saw some decent snow. The biggest accumulations, up to 50cm, were reported above 2500m on the country's glaciers. The Stubai was one of the big winners and is now posting Austria's deepest base at 2.6m, overtaking long-time holder of that marker, Solden, which is down to 245cm up top. It's the glaciers and a few high or snow-sure areas like Ischgl and Obertauern that remain open amongst the dozen or so Austrian centres still operating. It's been a week of sunshine and (mostly light) showers, the latter varying between rain, sleet and snow as temperatures rise and the freezing point gets above 2500m. That's the forecast heading into the last weekend of the season although it's looking more sunny over the next few days. France France saw some amazing snowfalls in the latter half of last week with Val d'Isère posting the biggest accumulation of 170cm (68") over 72 hours, most of it on Wednesday and Thursday. As we published last week's report many ski areas were essentially in lockdown as authorities and ski area managers battled to re-open roads, restore power supplies and make ski slopes safe. Things improved fast from Friday though, as sunshine returned and slopes began re-opening. All the snow continues to give great conditions for the eight French ski areas still open, with one of them, Les Arcs posting a base back above the 3-metre mark for the first time in a month. After this weekend, four French ski resorts will still be open into May; Les 2 Alpes, Tignes, Val d'Isère and Val Thorens. Italy Italy saw some good snowfall in the latter half of April too, especially in the west of the country. Cortina d'Ampezzo in the East, one of the centres open to May 1st, saw plenty of fresh snow just before Easter too. There are half-a-dozen Italian areas open this week, but unless there are any late-season extensions, only one, Cervinia, is expected to be open after Sunday 4th May. Those open now include Livigno, Macugnaga, Madonna di Campiglio, Val Senales/Schnalstal, Sulden (not to be confused with Austria's Solden over the border) and Passo Tonale (Presena Glacier). Switzerland Western Switzerland saw huge snowfalls as we were publishing last week's report, with ski areas closing down here too on Thursday. The Valais region was particularly hard hit with some claiming the snowfall here – of up to a metre in 24 hours – was the heaviest and most intense in the region for decades. Here too things began to improve rapidly from Friday with blue skies returning and runs re-opening. By Saturday Saas Fee, which had been cut off by the snowfall, was reporting a 155cm snowfall total and said its base had jumped more than 1.5m to over 4 metres. Verbier and Zermatt both reported more than a metre of snowfall. Scandinavia The ski season remains in full swing in Scandinavia with most of the region's leading ski areas aiming to stay open to the start of May. There is though something of a north/south divide with ski areas in the far north, generally within the Arctic Circle, still seeing plenty of snowfall and temperatures getting below -10C overnight and rarely above freezing during the day. Further south the bigger resorts like Sweden's Are and Norway's Hemsedal are the other way around, daytime temperatures getting up towards +10C and hardly getting below freezing overnight. That said Are is one of those open to the start of May and still posting more than 90% of its slopes open. North America Canada The Easter weekend was the last weekend of the season for most of the ski areas in Canada that were still open. However, half-a-dozen areas are still running, most in Alberta and British Columbia and at least one centre in Quebec. The good news for them has been up to 30cm more snowfall, especially on higher slopes and temperatures remaining relatively low in western mountain ranges. It's been warmer for Quebec's Summit-Ste-Sauveur but here they're really just skiing and riding on the thawing snow patch that covers the upper quarter of the mountain. USA The Rockies have reported the best conditions in the US this week, particularly around Good Friday when some centres in Colorado and Utah reported up to a foot of fresh snowfall to deliver powdery conditions for the Easter weekend. The Arizona Snowbowl to the south reported similar and announced it was extending its season to May 4th as a result. More changeable conditions included some fresh snowfall in the north of the region for New England, with 6 inches or so in Maine, Northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Mostly dry and sunny on the West Coast. More than 20 US ski areas remain open this weekend, the most of any country in the world, with the majority planning to remain open into May. |
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 17th 2025
Started by Admin in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, discussing Les Arcs and Tignes |
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Verbier, Switzerland, has had almost 2 metres of snow in the last 36 hours... Spring is postponed! In the Alps anyway... Huge snowfalls have temporarily shut lifts (and roads) but transformed conditions. It's also snowed in America. The Snow Headlines - April 17th - Incredible snowfall in the Western Alps. - Up to another half metre of snowfall in the Pyrenees. - Japan's Gassan ski area starts 2025 summer ski season. - Snow for North East US, the Rockies and across Canada. - Ski area in Poland plans to stay open into May. 
Still more snow to come for Europe.
World Overview In the many years of our J2Ski Weekly Snow Reports there have been few occasions when we've reported snowfalls like we've had in the Western and Central Alps over the past 36 hours. After a long period of dry, sunny weather, resorts have been posting up to 1.5m (five feet) of snowfall on Wednesday and Thursday. These kind of accumulations sound great, and will certainly mean great conditions for the next few weeks, but have big safety and logistical implications. Avalanche danger levels are at their highest level, power lines are down, roads blocked and many ski areas are closed for the day; in some, people are being asked to stay indoors due to the extreme avalanche danger. Of course this, the biggest snowfall for several seasons (some places are saying since 1976!), has come very late, and more than 80% of Europe's ski areas have closed for the 24-25 season. However most of the continent's bigger, better known areas are amongst those that have made it to the upcoming late Easter weekend, so next week could be amazing for them. Elsewhere, there's been more snowfall in Scandinavia, with northern areas doing particularly well and lower temperatures keeping the snow in good shape. Snowfall has also returned to Eastern Europe, but Scottish centres remain closed for snowsports, other than Glencoe's dry slope. Across the Atlantic parts of the US, particularly the Rockies and New England, have reported fresh snow, and it's been a good week for still-open Canadian centres with coast-to-coast snowfall on mountains there. Europe Austria After mostly dry and sunny weather last week, the remaining Austrian ski areas still open for the season have reported mixed conditions since the weekend with a lot of cloud rolling in and rain and sleet showers, falling as snow on higher mountain slopes. Austria has not seen the snowfalls recorded further west as yet but the Stubai Glacier reported 30cm on Thursday and there's more coming. About 50 Austrian ski centres plan to stay open for the Easter weekend, representing about 15% of the country's ski areas. The best conditions are on high slopes led by the country's glacier ski areas. Solden reports 97% of its slopes still open and the deepest snow at 2.5m up high, though only 10cm left down at village level. It looks like sunshine and showers for the remainder of this week and over Easter with valley temperatures getting above +20C down at 1,000m. France Following mostly sunny weather again last week, French ski areas saw mixed conditions earlier this week, with some largely light snowfalls above 2000m. Then everything changed on Wednesday (and into Thursday) with massive snowfall, many resorts (Chamonix, Les Arcs, Courchevel, etc.) reporting at least a metre of snowfall in 24 hours. Tignes, where there's an order to stay indoors for much of Thursday, reported 1.5 metres. Roads are blocked, the avalanche danger at 5/5 and there's a high flood risk for when it all starts to thaw... but there's potential for great powder skiing once pistes re-open and are declared safe. Another swathe of resorts closed last Sunday leaving about two dozen French areas open at least to the coming Easter weekend, including most of the big names. The Three Valleys was still reporting around 500km of its slopes remaining open before the storm closure, by far the most in the country, and the world. The Grand Massif around Flaine was posting the deepest snow up top of the big areas, at about 2.5m. The new snowfall has pushed upper bases at Les Arcs back up above 3 metres. After a clearer spell for most areas this coming Friday and Saturday more unsettled conditions with regular snowfall (if not on the scale we're currently witnessing), is expected, especially above 2,000m, through the Easter weekend. Italy Italy started to see light snowfall across the country at the start of last weekend as unsettled weather moved up from the south. This was just a few centimetres on high slopes though with Arabba in the Dolomites and Bardonecchia over on the French border among the early beneficiaries. Snow, sleet and rain showers have continued through the week. Mountains in the west of the country got heavy falls, starting Wednesday, from the current storm. Cervinia has posted the biggest accumulation so far, 1.2 metres, but there are big falls along Italy's borders, La Thuile posting a metre on Thursday morning. About 30 Italian ski areas, representing around 15% of resorts there, remain open for the Easter weekend. Once it is able to re-open its pistes, Cervinia, with the country's highest slopes shared with Swiss neighbour Zermatt, has the most terrain accessible; about 90% of its 320km of slopes were still open before the storm blew in. Switzerland Swiss centres also experienced changeable conditions earlier in the week with Zermatt, which is currently posting the most terrain open in the country, amongst the first to report a few centimetres on Monday. Accumulations on higher slopes were getting heavier through the week, falling as sleet and rain on lower terrain. From Wednesday, massive accumulations of a metre or more (in 24 hours) fell for ski areas across all but Eastern Switzerland. The Valais region saw some of the biggest falls with Verbier reporting over 1.2 metres and one J2Skier reporting there was a stay-at-home order in place following some of the most heavy and intense snowfall for nearly 50 years. Power supplies were also cut and the avalanche danger is exceptionally high. As with other ski nations, 85% of Swiss resorts had already ended their seasons, but those that remain include plenty of the big resorts. With the heaviest snowfall now passing, sunshine and showers are expected to continue through to the Easter weekend with valley highs touching +20C at 1000m altitudes. There should be great powder skiing conditions on high slopes that are still open once its safe to access them. Scandinavia Ski areas in northern Norway and Sweden as well as Finland have posted more fresh snowfall, with some posting more than 30cm (a foot) over the past seven days. Temperatures have typically been in the -5C to +5C range at more northerly latitudes with ski areas reporting a mix of dry spells and snow showers. Some have seen occasional warm days getting above +10C but mostly conditions remain good here. Sweden's Hemavan, Norway's Narvik and Finland's Levi were among the areas posting the biggest accumulations. Pyrenees and Spain Some ski areas in the Pyrenees have closed for the season but six or so of the biggest resorts in Andorra and on the French and Spanish sides of the mountains are still open for the Easter weekend. The region has seen continuing snow showers (along with sleet and rain) over the past week, with Andorra's Grandvalia posting 35cm in the past 48 hours, but it's now looking sunnier for the next few days. For most (probably all) of them that will be the final weekend of the season. That could leave only Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada, which has extended its season to May 4th, open next week. Scotland Temperatures dipped back down to seasonal norms in Scotland on Sunday after being well above for the first half of April. There was even some hill snow reported over the past few days. But it seems unlikely anywhere will see enough snowfall to be able to re-open. Eastern Europe Most ski areas in Eastern Europe are now closed or will close this weekend. All ski areas in Bulgaria are in the former category with Bansko the last to do so on Sunday. Slovakia's Jasna is still open, continuing up to the Easter weekend. It, like the handful of other still-open centres in the region, reports just 20-40% of its terrain, the higher slopes, still open though. It's been a fairly mild week but a few light snow showers have been reported. At least one ski area will be staying open next week though with Polish resort Zakopane's highest slopes planning to stay open until May 1st, conditions permitting. North America Canada Snowfall has been reported on both eastern and western sides of Canada. As with most other big skiing nations, we're down to only about a quarter of Canadian resorts still open, but it's been powder conditions reported at those that are. Lake Louise and Sunshine both posted more than 15cm (6") of fresh to start the week on Monday and there's also been snowfall for Tremblant and Mont Sainte Anne, which are among still-open resorts in the East. The rest of the week is looking warmer and drier with just light showers, probably rain, with highs around +7C in the West but as much as +17C in Quebec. USA As elsewhere, more than three-quarters of US ski areas have now ended their seasons and the country has been seeing some very warm temperatures, particularly over on the West Coast. There have though been some periods of snowfall in some areas of the country. The Northeast did well at the weekend with a "mini-Nor'easter' bringing 15-30cm accumulations to ski slopes in Vermont, Maine and New York state and there was also snowfall in the Colorado and Utah Rockies. |
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Storm of the (late) Season rolling in
Started by Admin in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 2 Replies, discussing Tignes and Val Thorens |
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So, this is happening; reports of 1 metre of fresh on the ground from Verbier, Tignes, Val Thorens, etc. and moderate falls (20cm+) to the valley floors of the Tarentaise so travel today is going to be "interesting".
Plan ahead, take care, and expect lift closures and travel delays as the pisteurs and snow ploughs make things safe. |
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Verbier gets 1 metre of snow in under 24 hours
Started by Admin in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, discussing Verbier |
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The webcam pointed at the snow-depth "table" at La Chaux (at 2,265m) in Verbier, Switzerland is perfectly illustrating the effect of the current storm crossing the Alps.
Yesterday (Wednesday 16th April at 11:00), shortly after the snow arrived. 
Yesterday (Wednesday 16th April at 16:00), after they sweep the left-side of the table to reset, showing about 15cm.
This morning (Thursday 17th April at 08:00), showing the addition of about 90cm since 16:00 yesterday. It is forecast to continue snowing through this morning and then to clear later and for tomorrow. Temperatures are expected to rise on Saturday, so go high (lift openings permitting). So Easter is going to be incredible BUT Avalanche Risk will be extreme and many/most/possibly all lifts will be closed initially. Enjoy, but stay safe! |
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Storm of the (late) Season rolling in
Started by Admin in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports, 2 Replies, discussing Tignes and Val Thorens |
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If you're subscribed to our Snow Mails (if you're not, then you should be!) and you've activated your Storm Warnings and Powder Alerts (if you haven't, then you should do) for anywhere in the South/West of the European Alps you'll be aware that "something's afoot"!
What is looking like the storm of the season is about to push into the Alps. The most affected area is expected to be south of the main Alpine Ridge (Italy's Aosta valley and Monterosa) but it will spill over into both France (Tarentaise and south) and Switzerland's Valais. Many ski areas are now closed, of course, but open resorts likely to pick up a lot of snow over the next few days include Tignes, Verbier and Zermatt - so some good options if you can get there. 
This graphic from Ventusky shows the expected precipitation, according to the ICON forecast model, over the next 48 hours. Yes, that's up to 200mm of rain... potentially 2 metres of snow. There is some variation in the forecasts; with ICON and ECMWF going for around 1.5 metres of snow, and GFS piling more on top of that. 
French Snow forecasts - predictions from ICON The key unknown, until it happens, is the evolution of the snow line. It will start high, above 2500m for the start of the storm (tonight, Tuesday 15th) but is likely to drop as low as 1500m by Friday morning - depending on location. This is what we see for Zermatt for the rest of the week; 
If you're traveling in the affected area on Wednesday or Thursday you should keep an eye on local forecasts and road conditions as there will be torrential downpours at times with the likelihood of flooding in susceptible valleys and disruption to road and rail routes. Expect lift closures during and after the storm, for slopes to be made safe. For skiing at the weekend (Easter), expect conditions on piste to be epic and off piste to be dangerous (at first, at least)! Avalanche Danger will be extreme once the storm blows through so give things time to stabilise and make sure you understand the local, on-the-spot, avalanche risk before you ski. Please take care; it will be huge fun on the marked, open runs after the storm but there will be avalanches this weekend - probably some big ones. If you're lucky enough to be out there, stay safe and send us some pictures... |
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