Written Overviews
(Last Updated:09/02/12)
Please note that the snow overview is updated twice a week during the season. For
more up to date information about the latest snow please visit the individual resort
snow reports; which are updated daily.
International
A handful of locations across Europe welcomed further snowfall this week. This included various locations in Austria, southern French resorts, the Milky Way region in Italy, Bulgaria and Andorra. This once again refreshed the already fantastic pistes and skiers and boarders were treated once again to fresh powder on and off-piste. Although Switzerland so far has not received any fresh snowfall this week, the cold temperatures have ensured the piste conditions remained in excellent quality.
After a bitterly cold couple of days, temperatures started to increase significantly on Wednesday 8th February which made pistes a little softer, but nonetheless still remain in fantastic quality. Ski Club Leaders across Europe commented how this increase really made the riding conditions much more pleasant.
Dustings of snow fell in Canada and America on Wednesday 8th February. The better skiing can generally be found the further north you go, with Canada having the best conditions of the two countries. It’s slightly warmer on the east coast of Canada and America so expect soft snow if you’re heading there soon.
European weather outlook
Many European resorts are expecting cloudy skies that will bring light snow scatterings; most of this is expected to clear on Sunday 12th February when it should be another beautiful day for many resorts. However, this is not expected to have any significant impact of the piste depths and quality.
The temperatures are forecast to remain below freezing and it could get very cold again at the end of next week, reaching below -20C in many places.
North american weather outlook
Some snow is forecast in Canada on Friday 10th February and then through the weekend. Some areas could pick up around 20cm from this but it should then clear away for the start of next week. Silver Star and Red Mountain could both benefit from around 15cm of fresh snow over the weekend.
It should be snowy in Colorado, America too with light snow expected on Friday 10th February before heavier snow at the beginning of next week. It should be around 20cm that falls on most resorts, including the Ski Club Leader resorts of Vail and Breckenridge.
Andorra
Andorra snow reports
Sunny skies and cold weather provide excellent riding at our reported Andorran resorts this week. Some fresh snow did fall earlier this week, and the Ski Club Leader at Soldeu (50/90cm) says that the grooming team has done an excellent job of making sure the pistes are in excellent shape with the runs around Soldeu and El Tarter providing great riding.
The fine sunny weather is forecast to last throughout the weekend before clouds move in for the middle of next week, with a chance of further fresh snowfall.
Austria
Austria snow reports
The conditions at our featured Austrian resorts are largely fantastic following further fresh snow that fell over many resorts on Tuesday 7th February. Such places included Obertauern (230/310cm) and Solden (48/263cm) which both enjoyed a healthy 10cm on that day.
On Thursday 9th February there was much cloud cover across the Austrian resorts. In some locations the sun was attempting to burn through to create a clear day, like at Mayrhofen (20/190cm), whilst in a handful of resorts the cloud was low and thick so the possibility of fresh snow was likely. Ellmau (90/270cm), for example, is forecast to receive 5cm by the end of this week, which would nicely refresh the already excellent pistes.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria snow reports
The riding at all three of our Bulgarian resorts has been excellent this week thanks to the fresh snow that has been falling. On Thursday 9th February, the sun was winning through too, improving the visibility and allowing visitors to really enjoy the new snow.
The deepest upper and lower piste depth in Bulgaria on Thursday 9th February was reported at Pamporovo (230/250cm). The riding is nonetheless great at Borovets (205/245cm) and Bansko (180/225cm), although Bansko was only reporting ten out of a possible 18 runs open on Thursday.
Canada
Canada snow reports
A dusting of snow fell at most western Canadian resorts on Wednesday 8th February. Revelstoke (211cm) was one of these. Only 1cm of snow fell but it helps freshen up the groomed runs. More snow is expected over the weekend and into next week but it should remain light. They’ve enjoyed 700cm of snow so far this season.
There was a dusting of snow at Silver Star (113/148cm) too. It has been a dry and sunny start to February but another 15cm of fresh snow is forecast for Saturday 11th, which should freshen things up nicely. Piste conditions remain great.
15cm of snow is also forecast for Whistler (235cm) on Thursday night and into Friday. The freezing level will be around 1300m though so sleet or rain is expected down in the village.
France
France snow reports
It was a beautiful bluebird day for our featured French resorts on Thursday 9th January. Visitors in all French resorts enjoyed unrivalled visibility and milder temperatures in comparison to recent days, creating a comfortable skiing environment. Riders should make the most of the clear skies and sunshine as cloud and snow flurries, creating poor visibility, are likely to return to many French resorts on Friday 10th February.
The southern French resorts were in particularly great shape with a handful of resorts enjoying fresh snowfall on Wednesday 8th February. For instance, Val Cenis (45/200cm) enjoyed a healthy 10cm, Isola 2000 (76/83cm) received a refreshing 5cm and Valloire (100/190cm) had a dusting of 2cm on this day.
It was particularly windy in France on Wednesday, which affected various lift operations across the country. For example, La Grave’s (100/150cm) lift system was temporarily closed because of this reason. However, the good news was that on Thursday wind had largely settled down and La Grave had all three lifts in operation. The Espace Killy, which is made up of Tignes (130/200cm) and Val d’Isere (130/200cm), only had 49 out of a possible 79 lifts open on Wednesday while Thursday saw all but two open.
Germany
The sky above the German resorts was a mixture of sun and cloud on Thursday 9th February, providing good visibility to enjoy the great riding that is available.
All of our featured German resorts, except Oberstdorf (55/330cm) have reported new snow this week. A dusting fell at the resorts on Tuesday 7th February, freshening up the pistes.
As you may expect, the ski area at Garmisch (60/410cm) reports the deepest snow base with a depth of over 4 metres up on the glacier skiing area.
Fresh snow is forecast across the country over the next week or so, with Reit im Winkl (96/280cm) and Spitzingsee (110/190cm) expecting at least 40cm of snow to fall by Friday 17th February.
Italy
Italy snow reports
Our featured Italian resorts largely experienced pleasant blue skies on Thursday 9th February. It was a different story however a couple of days ago when a number of resorts welcomed snowfall. On Tuesday 7th February, 20cm and 10cm fell over Cavalese (10/120cm) and Cervinia (100/290cm) respectively. At both these resorts all the lifts were open on Thursday, providing plenty of access to the fresh snow.
Moreover, The Milky Way region enjoyed significant amounts of new snowfall on Wednesday 8th February when Cesana Torinese (80/120cm), Claviere (80/120cm) and Sestriere (80/120cm) all received an impressive 40cm. Sauze d’Oulx (80/120cm) too enjoyed 15cm on this day, where the Ski Club leader reported amazing on and off-piste conditions with big smiles on skiers faces. On Thursday, all these locations enjoyed fantastic bright blue skies.
Norway/sweden
Norway snow reports &
Sweden snow reports
Cold weather remains in Norway but this is keeping the snow in great condition. Arguably the best snow can be found at Voss (130/330cm), where there is a superb base depth all over the mountain and plenty of great skiing. Their most recent snowfall was 12cm which fell on Monday 6th February.
It’s a similar story across in Sweden. Both Are (62/85cm) and Salen (50/70cm) have excellent snow and lots of terrain open. Are had all 42 of its lifts running on Thursday 9th February and Salen also had all 86 of its lifts running. Snow is expected over the weekend.
Switzerland
Switzerland snow reports
Our featured Swiss resorts enjoyed mostly clear sunny skies on Thursday 9th February, meaning skiers and boarders were treated to great visibility. The slopes are in superb condition as a result of recent temperatures being in the minus twenties and it has now slightly warmed up, although temperatures are still below freezing for all Swiss resorts.
Swiss resorts have hosted excellent conditions recently. In particular, The Ski Club Leader in the Jungfrau region of Grindelwald (48/266cm) commented how the conditions have been fantastic for so long. Furthermore the pistes were almost empty so members have enjoyed many beautifully prepared slopes all to themselves.
Usa
USA snow reports
27cm of fresh snow fell at the beginning of the week at Telluride (145cm) in Colorado. Conditions there are great and although they don’t have the deepest base ever there’s excellent skiing all over the mountain with the fresh snow.
There was some fresh snow elsewhere in Colorado too. Beaver Creek (89cm) reported 3cm of snow falling on Wednesday 8th February. More is expected over the weekend and with all 25 of their lifts running it should be a good weekend.
10cm of snow fell at Alyeska (135/303cm). The fresh snow was quite heavy on the lower mountain as it’s turned warmer but further up it was nice powder. All their lifts should be running over the weekend.