J2Ski Snow Report - February 20th 2014
J2Ski Snow Report - February 20th 2014
Published : 20-Feb-2014 11:23
Week Ending February 21st, 2014Re-publication :- our Snow Report Summary, being the text up to "The Alps", is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.
Snow Report Summary
Following yet more snow, just about everywhere, the next few days will be mainly clear and cool in Europe - although with some useful snow expected tomorrow. North and West look likely to get the best falls, with 10-30cm widely forecast.
This Week's Headlines:
* Whistler tops weekly snowfall tally with 1.3m (4.3feet) in last 7 days.
* Verbier gets a metre in the same time.
* Exceptional snow cover in Scotland where bases reach 4.5m.
* Much more fresh snow in the Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees, Cairngorms, Scandinavia, New England, Rockies, Japan...
* Niseko's snow depth reaches 4m after another 25cm of snow in past 24 hours.
* 90cm/3 feet of snow in 7 days for Cervinia and also for La Rosiere.
Well the snowfall around the northern hemisphere is showing little sign of letting up. There have been more big accumulations reported on both sides of the Atlantic with East and west sides of north America getting 'dumped on', again, and the Alps also reporting a fresh wave of heavy snowfall.
Northern Britain too, while still seeing little or no snow in the glens, is reporting, with ever more Biblical gravitas, the deepest snow depths of all time, probably (no one has ever really bothered measuring it too accurately, particularly in the past) on Scottish mountains.
And as the most controversial (in modern times) and most expensive Olympics of all time draw to a close (next up, the Winter Paralympic Games!), it's hard to know whether Sochi will have endeared itself in the hearts of international skiers after Olympic racers complained of 'tropical' conditions and saw races moved to early morning to avoid double digit plus temperatures, or delayed for days by fog.
The Alps
Austria
Ischgl, unusually doesn't have one of the deepest snow bases in Austria this season, despite having one of the longest seasons in the country from November to May. So it will be pleased to have clocked up the biggest snowfall in Austria over the past week – adding 60cm (two feet) to its base, which is now up to 1.1m. There have been good snowfalls across the country though, with many resorts adding at least a foot (30cm) of fresh snow. The Hintertux Glacier added 50cm and now has a 2.5m base, Obergurgl another 40cm and there was 35cm in Lech. The Pitztal glacier, Austria's highest slopes, have the deepest snow at 3.3m (11 feet). Similar snowfalls are expected over the coming week.
France
It has been a very snowy week in France and most resorts now have 2-3m upper slope base depths – the lowest for a major French resort is 1.5m (five feet) at Courchevel while Avoriaz, Serre Chevalier, Flaine and Isola 2000 all have 3m/10 feet or more. The country has seen the biggest snowfalls in the alps over the past seven days with many of the largest resorts reporting 60cm/2 feet or more of fresh snow, some (La Rosiere) as much as 90cm/three feet. Other big winners for snowfall included Les Arcs with 83cm, Meribel with 75cm, Val d'Isere and Val Thorens with 70cm each and Alpe d'Huez got 68cm.
Italy
Italy's remarkable season continues although unusually for this winter, while there's been fresh snow across most of the country, it has perhaps been just a touch less than in the other 'big four' nations. The exception is Cervinia on the Swiss border which reports 90cm of new snow in the last week – one of the biggest accumulations anywhere in the world in the last seven days – its base is now 3m/10 feet – good news for skiing in to May.
Passo Tonale with 5.5m (nearly 18 feet) – where skiing continues to June – has the world' deepest snow base still, with Madesimo on 5m the only other ski area in the world with a 5m+ base. In the Dolomites the snow is still falling and bases are typically around the 3m mark too – Arabba got another foot this week.
Switzerland
Switzerland is just about up there with France in terms of big snowfalls for most of its resorts over the last seven days. In fact Verbier's 1m of snow claimed for the past week is the biggest accumulation in the Alps. Falls of 30-60cm have been widely reported across the rest of the country, with Andermatt saying it's had 75cm of new snow, although claiming its upper slope depth remains at 4m as it was before the new snow started falling. That's still the deepest snow base in Switzerland though. Zermatt got 70cm of new snow and has a 3.4m base, its neighbour Saas Fee the same but is up on 3.6m. Crans Montana still has one of the thinnest rest-level bases at 25cm but has had 50cm of fresh snow.
Pyrenees
Snow cover remains excellent in the Pyrenees with Andorra's areas reporting another 10cm fall on Monday. Snow depths are as good as they get. There's over seven feet of snow now lying on the region's largest ski area, GrandValira with 2.2m that should now easily last to the end of the season in two month's time. VallNord has the deepest snow in the principality at 2.6m (just under nine feet) at its Arcalis base, at Pal Arinsal its 1.6m.
Scandinavia
The snow is still falling in Scandinavia too with up to a foot (30cm) of fresh snow reported in Norway, which has been the snowiest country in the region all winter. Lillehammer now has a 2.5m base and other leading areas like Hemsedal and Trysil are coming up towards 2m. In Sweden, Area has had six inches of fresh cover, one of its best accumulations of the winter so far and in Finland there's a dusting of fresh snow.
Eastern Europe
The snowfall is Eastern Europe of late January does not seem to be being repeated and we're back in to another dry phase. There's been no fresh snow in Bulgaria but with two to three feet of snow lying there's still plenty of cover which is better higher up the slopes. Things are getting a bit dire in Romania with only 10-30cm left at Poiana Brasov and four weeks now since the last snowfall. Slovenia is reporting the best conditions in the region with six inches/15cm of new snow in the last week.
Scotland
All remains remarkably good on Scottish ski hills where Nevis Range, which last week claimed the deepest ever snowbase in its nearly 25 year history, at the weekend reported the busiest day it had ever had on its slopes – now the half term holidays are in full swing. Prone to the same weather as the rest of Blighty, there's a mix of stormy days and beautiful still, clear, sunny days leading to heaven or hell on the slopes. There's so much snow (Glencoe claims a 4.5m base), with pictures appearing of entire lift towers buried, that the avalanche risk is high on steep slopes and some runs on Cairngorm are yet to be dug out for skiing, but conditions remain amazingly good overall.
North America
Canada
The snowfall that was just getting started in Canada a week ago has continue to build to give Whistler the biggest reported snowfall anywhere in the world in the last seven days with 1.3m – or four feet, four inches. Most other ski areas in Western Canada reported at least a foot of fresh snow but Fernie was second to Whistler with 90m/3 feet in the past week. Its base is now 2.5m but it still lags a little behind Mont Sainte Anne in Quebec which continues to have Canada's deepest snow base, now at 275cm, although there has not been much fresh snow in the East of the country in the last seven days.
USA
After the huge snowfalls in California a week ago things have eased – although not a huge amount, with smaller but still significant snowfall in Western USA again this past week, which has also seen a lot of fresh snow in New England too.
Mount snow in Vermont with just under two feet (56cm) of new snow topped the fresh snowfall table, and many other ski areas in the region got just a little less. But it was a close run thing with Jackson Hole in Wyoming out west less than an inch behind on 54cm.and most other resorts in the West getting a healthy 20-40cm top up – Mammoth's top snow depth is now just under 1.8m/six feet. Jackson Hole has the deepest snow, for a major ski area, in the US at 265cm.
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