J2Ski Snow Report - April 4th 2013
J2Ski Snow Report - April 4th 2013
Published : 04-Apr-2013 10:53
Week Ending April 6th, 2013* Free to re-publish in whole or part so long as clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with the words "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to
http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/
Still... it looks like staying cool in The Alps for a few more days, before easing toward seasonal temperatures next week. A little more fresh in some locations is in the forecast but mostly we expect fine Spring skiing on the substantial base until the end of the season...
...and there are some cracking deals available if you can get away at short notice...
E.g. Late Package Deals (from the UK) to France and Late Swiss Chalet Deals. Get out there...
This Week's Headlines
- Sierra Nevada, Spain, claims a 20 foot/6m base; the first resort in the world to reach that this season!
- Over 70cm of fresh snow in 7 days at some French resorts.
- Austrian ski areas start closing for season.
Europe
Austria
The snow is still falling in Austria in reasonably healthy volumes, but ski areas there including St Johann in Tirol, which have some of the lowest altitude ski areas in the Alps, have already begun ending their seasons. Most others will close by the end of next week. There are exceptions however that do stay open to the end of April or in to May and several of these have reported 20-30cm of new snow on top of already healthy bases as winter maintains its grip. Among these were Obertauern and Kaprun. Pitztal, which has Austria's highest lifts and stays open to early May, has not had much new snow but still has the country's deepest base at 3.8mk (nearly 13 feet) so that's not much of a problem.
France
French resorts have seen the biggest snowfalls in the world over the past week, the largest 77cm – or more than 2.5 feet, at Avoriaz. But other areas have been reporting big accumulations too, including Flaine, Argentiere, and Alpe d'Huez – each with 50-60cm (up to 2 feet) total. Base ain among the best in years with most areas having at least a metre still at base level and many more than 3m (10 feet) lying on upper slopes, so with the snow still falling it has been a consistently good winter on French slopes. Although depths are still above 5m down in the French Pyrenees at Cauterets, the snow in the Alps is at 4.4m (nearly 15 feet) at Alpe d'Huez, 3.9m (13 feet) at Flaine and 3.75m (12.5 feet) at Val Thorens.
Italy
Italy has had good falls of snow too, with the Dolomites in the East doing slightly better than the Alps this week – Cortina and Arabba both reporting more than 50cm (20 inches) of new snow against 30cm (a foot) at Cervinia and Sauze d'Oulx. Most of the snow in the Alps feel over the last few days of March, up to Saturday, while snow in the Dolomites arrived a little later with big snow over the weekend. Snow depths are under 50cm at many Italian resorts down at village level, but still 1.5 – 2.5m on upper runs so the rest of the season seems secure, and in any case more snow is expected. Passo Tonale, usually open to June, has the deepest base in the country at 4m.
Switzerland
Gstaad in Switzerland remains the Alps' only ski area claiming a 5m+ base – 510cm (17 feet) in fact, and there's more than a month of the season remaining there on the Diablerets glacier. It, like resorts in most of the rest of the country, has not reported any fresh snow in the past seven days however, but there were some accumulations., including an impressive 45cm (18 inches) more for Verbier where the snow is still 75cm (2.5 feet) deep at resort level and 275cm (9 feet) on upper slopes as its great 12-13 season continues. Other sizable snowfalls this week in Switzerland include 13cm/5 inches at Murren (2.8m base) and another 20cm (8 inches) at year-round Zermatt which currently has a 2.5m base.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees have had their best ski season in 10 years with regular snowfalls topping up bases still around the 3-5m mark following huge snowfalls in late January and early February. As a result, many areas have extended their seasons to late April or early May. The snow is still falling with centres across the region reporting 10-20cm of new snow. In Andorra bases are 2-3m (7-10 feet) on upper runs and in Spain there's still 3.9m (13 feet) on upper runs at Baqueira Beret which will be open to May 5th. On The French side the snow is deeper still – at 5.4m in Cauterets.
Scotland
Ski areas in Scotland are finding it hard to believe what a great season they've been having with a rare combination of consistently low temperatures allowing them to maintain and build bases rather than facing thaws and needing to rebuild bases as so often is the case. After extreme weather (gales and heavy snow blocking roads) at the start of last week, the five areas have seen a week of near perfect conditions with blue skies, little wind and fresh snow on top-to-bottom cover. The only problem this can cause in the Easter holidays is a fully stretched operational infrastructure as the areas struggle to cope with the crowds.
Eastern Europe
Base depths are slowly thawing away in Eastern Europe as 2012-13 draws to a close in the region. But in Bulgaria Pamporovo, Bansko and Borovets all report 1.5m (5 feet) or more still on upper slopes so there's plenty to last the remaining weeks of the season. The only fresh snow reported in the area was an inch (2.5cm) at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia.
Scandinavia
Scandinavian ski areas have had a fairly dry month now with little fresh snow but at the same time bases have endured due to generally low temperatures – ranging from about 80cm (2.7 feet) at resorts like Ruka in Finland or Geilo in Norway to a maximum of 1.6m at Voss on the Norwegian Coast. However the vast majority are in a narrow 1 to 1.2m base (3.3-4 feet) band and most will be open to the start of May. A small fresh snow falls was reported at Sweden's Are (7cm/3 inches).
North America
Canada
Many Canadian resorts are due to close in the next 10 days and so it's time for pond skimming and charity fund raising fun races. However there are exceptions with more than a month of winter to go at Marmot Basin, Lake Louise and Banff Mt Norquay and longer still for Whistler Blackcomb. There's not been a lot of new snow reported anywhere in the country over ther past 7 days – Ferbie still has the deepest base at 2.7m (9 feet). What new snow there has been (less than 5cm/2 inches) has fallen in the East of the country where Mont ainte anne has a good 1.8m (six foot) base on upper slopes.
USA
The snow is still falling in east and west USA with media reports of a late burst for resorts, particularly on the east coast where there was 'a return' to winter' last weekend with up to 20cm (8 inches) of fresh snow falling. Although resorts in the West will mostly be closing in the next 10 days too, led by Jackson Hole this Sunday, there are still some significant snowfalls being reported, including a foot (30cm) in 48 hours over recent days at ski areas around Park City in Utah. Base depths are above 4m (13 feet) still at resorts famed for staying open later in to spring including Timberline in Oregon and Mammoth in California so the May – July snowsports period looks reasonably secure too.
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