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After the recent heavy snowfall and a few days of sunshine, this week will see more of the same across the Alps. But sunshine is not a bad thing. Snow depths are the deepest for this time of season in quite some time, with St. Anton boasting over 5m at the top of the Galzig.
Another week of sunshine means a week of bluebird days, cruising on the perfectly kept pistes. It also means that the resorts' mountain experts can work on improving the safety of the mountain by blasting any unsafe snow-packs off piste, while the rest of the mountains will start to form a nice sold base as temperatures remain low.
There is some good news for North America where the snow is again falling and resorts can look to catch up the great conditions currently on offer in Whistler. Saying that, Whistler is leading the way in the snow front with 37cm of fresh snow set to arrive by the beginning of next week, and another Canadian resort, Kimberley isn't too far away with 36cm on the radar. Panorama and Kicking Horse are expecting around 23cm of snow, with Fernie, Silver Star and Tremblant all forecast around 20cm.
In the good old US of A, Killington and Stowe, on the east coast is set for around 14cm of snow, while Colorado's Crested Butte, Aspen and Beaver Creek are set for a light 6/7cm dusting over the weekend.
Heading back to Europe, where the sun is making for incredible skiing conditions to go with the masses of snow — there is a little bit of fresh snow arriving over the next few days. Austria is getting a light covering with around 5cm falling in Kitzbuhel, Saalbach, Soll and Bad Gastein. Finland is set for more snow with 23cm forecast in Levi and 20cm in Yllas and the Swedish resort of Åre is forecast 19cm of snow. Sierra Nevada in Spain is set for the biggest dump of the weekend with 73cm of snow on the radar over the next five days — a welcome sight I'm sure!
The main European resorts won't be looking at much but sunshine and cold weather, but with huge snow depths, you are looking at the perfect conditions to cruising corduroy pistes and enjoying a cheeky vin chaud, or elongated lunch on a mountain terrace. The aforementioned St. Anton is boasting up to 520cm of snow, while La Plagne is up at 315cm and Les Arcs at 297cm. Alpe d'Huez's snow record show 290cm of snow, while the Three Valleys offers between 216cm and 245cm on its upper slopes. The ever popular Espace Killy shows 208cm in record, but pictures in resort show snow in the villages closer to 3m, so take it as you will.
Overall the conditions look great, the snow should easily keep for a few days and maybe some more will arrive over the next couple of weeks. Either way, unlike last winter, it's looking like a great year to strap on your skis and make the most of the mountains.
The Snowman
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