Contrary to this morning's headline news in the Metro, there was some great snow over the weekend, with the Alps returning to their beautiful, snow-covered selves. With more snowfall forecast in the next few days and with webcams telling a different, but more realistic story, we replied to the Metro and the BBC news via our Twitter account, this morning.
With between 20cm and 50cm falling in a huge number of resorts over the next three days, there is plenty of snow to shout about and Austria is back among the big hitters this week.
Lech in the Arlberg region is set for 53cm of snow, with the neighbouring resorts of St. Anton and St. Christoph forecast, a more than respectful, 48cm of snow. The high-altitude party-town of Ischgl is set for 45cm of powder and the likes of Maria Alm (45cm), Kuhtai (43cm), Saalbach (41cm) and Kitzbuhel (41cm) are also expecting some base-building snow this week. It doesn't stop there either with 38cm in Soll, 37 in Zell am See & Kaprun and similar levels of snow throughout the country.
The Swiss may have been at the receiving end of some negative press from the BBC this morning, but they are also due some impressive snowfall after a weekend of snow. Flims-Laax and Klosters are both forecast 46cm of snow, Champery (in the Portes du Soleil) and Davos are set for 44cm of white stuff, while Engelberg and Verbier are due 33cm of fresh snow. Crans Montana and Nendaz are forecast 31cm in the next 72 hours, with Grimentz, Zinal and St. Moritz all expecting around 25cm of snow.
Meribel this morning
Britain's favourite ski destination, France, is also expecting some great snowfall over the next few days, after a quite pleasing transformation over the weekend. Avoriaz, Morzine and Megeve should all be on the receiving end of 46cm of fresh snow, with Les Gets (44cm), Chatel (43cm) and Chamonix (33cm), not far behind. The southern French Alps are looking good with 39cm forecast in Vaujany and 32cm falling in the neighbouring Alpe d'Huez — our in resort reporter, Masterclass's Stuart, emailed us this morning to say the Alpe d'Huez will now be opening on Thursday due to the current forecast and snowfall!
The Tarantaise Valley is also benefitting from the current snow storm hitting France. Meribel and Courchevel are both expecting 30cm of snowfall, with 24cm forecast in Europe's highest resort, Val Thorens. La Rosiere, which sits across the valley from Les Arcs, is expecting 33cm of snow, while Les Arcs and La Plagne are forecast 29cm and 27cm of the wonderful white stuff, respectively. At the far end of the valley, Tignes (see right) is expecting another 20cm of snow, to go with the reported 20cm that fell last night, and Val d'Isere should see around 18cm of snow over the coming days.
With the snow falling across the Alps and the general temperature in resort now reaching below the magic -5°c mark, the snowmaking facilities can now kick into gear. Over the next two or three weeks, expect to see Europe's resorts take on that familiar white glow, while the slopes are readied for the holiday season.
The Snowman
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