2 February, 2012
Rebecca Miles, our snow editor, presents our latest independent report of snow conditions around the globe:
I’m writing this in the Alps, from a Powder White chalet in Val d’Isere, France, where I arrived yesterday to small flurries of snow and white stuff on the ground all the way from Geneva. This morning there is sun peaking through the clouds, and resort staff tell me we’re in for the best day of the week so far, after a week that’s seen about 5-10cm of new snow fall and the skies be mainly overcast.
Across the Alps, after things brightened up towards the end of last week, we’ve seen a return to thick cloud cover, fresh snowfalls and the temperature has plummeted, with it set to hit -25ºC before the week is out. While there may be further small amounts of snow falling today and tomorrow, the skies look set to clear for the weekend but the temperatures remain bitterly cold. So wrap up warm folk – if you can bear the cold there should be some good snow to be enjoyed!
Here’s our round up of some of the best conditions around the globe currently – if you know of or experience better, please shout about it on our Facebook page.
France
The more northern resorts have overtaken the Tarentaise for depth of snow, with Chamonix (left) comfortably at 4.5m and La Clusaz at 3.6m. Of the Tarentaise resorts, La Rosière also has 3.6m, while Alpe d’Huez, further south, has 3.5m. Snow clouds are set to deliver a further few cms of snow before the end of Thursday, to add to the up to 50cm that have fallen in the last three days (greater depths in the south than the north) and clearer skies are forecast for Friday and Saturday and going into next week.
Austria
The Arlberg corner of Austria is still out in front in terms of depth of snow – St Anton and Stuben have a gob smacking 4.9m, and Lech (right) and Zurs have 3.95m. The western half of the country has received about 10cm of new snow over the last three days, and it is the western side that’s set to receive a further 10cm or so before the end of Friday. Skies look set to remain overcast and temperatures drop to -25ºC over the weekend.
Switzerland
Conditions are looking good across the whole country – Engelberg in the middle has 4.7m of snow at its highest point, Crans Montana (left) in the west 4.2m and Laax/Flims in the east 4.1m. About 10cm of snow has fallen across the country in the past three days, and a further 5cm or so is due to fall before the end of the day ahead of the skies clearing over the weekend with a little bit of cloud coming in from the east and the temperatures varying between -10ºC and -25ºC.
Italy
Most westerly Italian resorts have seen up to 25cm of fresh snow fall over the past three days, giving new depths of a staggering 3.85m in La Thuile, 2.9m in Breuil-Cervinia, and 2.1m in Alagna. A further 5cm or so of snow is set to fall today (Thursday) and then, as like the rest of the Alps, the skies will clear and temperatures will be around -20ºC.
Last weekend, Colorado started to see the depths of snow fall that it’s used to, and snow depths are now over the metre marker – Breckenridge has 1.17m, Vail 86cm and Aspen 1.37m. Further snow is due to fall as we speak, with Telluride set to get another 11cm to add to its existing 1.19m.
Canada continues to have a good season with more snow falling at the weekend on both east and west sides of the country. Revelstoke has reportedly had nearly 7m fall so far this season, and Fernie has a total depth of 2.77m, Whistler (left) 2.5m and Powder King a whopping 4.1m.
Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Magazine
