There are less than six weeks to go until Europe's big resorts begin to open and less than ten weeks until the first Christmas ski holidays depart and it is already snowing in the Alps.
October usually sees the first dusting of the winter, giving the glaciers a shiny new coat and getting us in the mood for winter, but this weekend saw the first blizzards of the season, with half a metre of snow falling across many of Austria's high resorts and double figure snowfall in parts of France, Italy and Switzerland.
As mentioned, Austria led the way over the weekend with a snowstorm that hit resorts from Kaprun to St. Anton. Zell am See and Hintertux, the glacier a short bus ride from Mayrhofen, both boasted around 50cm of fresh, early season powder. With Hintertux's glacier already open, any early season skiers would have been in for a great weekend to get their ski legs back.
France, Switzerland and Italy also benefitted from the weekend's snow storm, but the snowfall resembled what you expect from an early Autumn storm. Val d'Isere and Tignes enjoyed around 10cm of snow, with the Grand Motte open for the weekend, it made for some pleasant skiing. Saas Fee and Zermatt also enjoyed a similar dusting of fresh snow and good conditions for weekend skiing.
Not all the locals were happy with the snow in Val d'Isere this weekend.
Photo: Y.S.E.
In North America there is already talk of a back-to-back La Niña weather systems. La Niña's tend to happen around every four years, but last year's storm led to record snowfall from Whistler and Lake Tahoe to Colorado. If another La Niña is on it's way then the skiing in North America will be phenomenal again this winter.
So with the winter seemingly fast approaching, the first notable snowfall arriving and rumours of a big, snowy weather pattern on its way, lets hope that this winter offers amazing snow across the globe — even if it means we can't make it to work occasionally!
Written by Stephen Adam
© Igluski