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On the whole, snow conditions in the Alps remain very good thanks to last weekend’s widespread snowfalls followed by a sustained cold spell. As has been the case for most of the season, the deepest snow is at altitude in the northern Alps where resorts as far apart as La Rosière in France and St Anton in Austria have upper bases of over 3m.

Lower down in the northern Alps snow depths are more modest, but with recent snow falling to very low levels, the scenes are still largely very wintry-looking and conditions are still very good, on-piste at least.

In the southern Alps, snow depths are more modest at all altitudes. However, on-piste snow conditions are still largely good even if off-piste opportunities are scarcer.

The current cold but relatively calm weather in the Alps is set to continue for a few days. Then, over the weekend and into the first part of next week, some relatively weak weather fronts are likely to bring a bit snow to low levels across the northern and north-western Alps.

Across the pond, snow conditions are improving after what has been a very disappointing start to the season so far…

Snow conditions are mostly very good across the Austrian resorts, with the cold weather helping to preserve the wintry-looking scenes, even at low altitude.

The very best snow remains at altitude and in the northern half of the Austrian Alps, with 70/350cm depending on altitude in St Anton and 80/155cm in Obergurgl.

Lower down, there are one or two icy patches in the likes of Söll (40/1400cm), though most pistes are still in very good shape. 

Snow conditions are generally pretty good across the French Alps though there remain a few weaknesses at very low altitudes.

In Morzine (5/130cm), for example, not only does it now look wintrier thanks to the recent snow, but you can also finally ski down to resort, although snow depths remain modest at low altitude. Neighbouring and higher Avoriaz has much deeper snow, with 125/140cm depending on altitude.

Since last reported, fresh snow has also improved conditions in most areas in the southern French Alps, where Risoul now has 30/135cm. 

Most Italian resorts saw fresh snow last weekend and now have plenty of good piste-skiing on offer. Snow depths generally remain modest though, with very limited off-piste opportunities for the moment.

In the Dolomites, most of the terrain is now open and skiing well, with around 70cm mid-mountain in Selva.

The one corner with closer to average snow depths is in upper Aosta, close to the French border, where La Thuile has 35/180cm.  

There is plenty of good skiing available in Switzerland but with quite large contrasts in snow depths from place to place.

Some of the best skiing remains at altitude in the eastern Swiss Alps, in resorts like Davos (85/185cm) and Laax (35/340cm).

Snow depths are more modest in the lower resorts of the west and south, like Gstaad (8/55cm) and Adelboden (15/110cm), although they are still offering good piste-skiing here too. 

Snow conditions in the Pyrenees have improved significantly since we last reported thanks to the colder and snowier weather that took hold last week. Spain’s Baqueira Beret (90/150cm) is skiing as good as anywhere in the Pyrenees right now, as is Andorra’s Gran Valira (50/70cm).

Temperatures have been persistently cold in Scandinavia in recent weeks, though it is set to turn a little less cold over the next few days before some very cold weather returns again next week. Some of the best skiing is currently to be found in western Norway, in the likes of in Voss (80/100cm), where nearly all runs are open. Sweden’s Sälen (73cm upper base) is also offering some excellent skiing right now.

Scotland has some terrain open in Cairngorm and Glenshee, albeit on modest cover. However, further west, Glencoe and Nevis Range still have insufficient snow to offer any lift-served skiing. 

New snowfalls have improved conditions in many parts of the western US this week, although snow depths generally remain far below the average for mid-January.

Breckenridge saw around 45cm fall this week and now has a mid-mountain base just under 1m. Rather more impressive is the 120cm or so that has fallen this week in Snowbird, where the mid-mountain base is now close to 160m. 

Western Canadian resorts have been experiencing very cold temperatures in recent days.

Conditions have been greatly improved in Whistler (163cm mid-mountain base), which has seen over 1m of fresh snow in the last week, though is currently in the grasp of an extreme cold spell which will be in the minus 20s °C over the next couple of days.

The cold is even more extreme further inland, where temperatures in the Lake Louise area (110cm upper base) have been minus 30°C or lower. 

Our next full snow report will be on
Thursday 18 January 2024

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