Latest snow report
Updated: 5pm Thursday 13 January 2021
Snow conditions are generally pretty good right now in the Alps, and excellent in the north-western Alps (e.g. 3 Valleys, Grand Massif, Portes du Soleil, Verbier, Villars, Wengen, Engelberg) where the heaviest of the recent snow has fallen.
The weather always helps of course, and this week’s largely sunny skies are certainly adding the enjoyment factor. The pistes are largely in good shape even in areas that haven’t seen much snow this year, such as the southern French Alps and the Italian Piedmont.
A little snow is possible in the far north-eastern Alps early next week, but high pressure will continue to dominate the weather in the Alps over the coming days, possibly even until the end of the month, with lots more sunshine for most.
Across the pond the Banff/Lake Louise area of Canada is the place to be right now…
Austria
Snow conditions remain good across most Austrian resorts, with the deepest snow (relative to altitude) in both the far west, where Lech has 85/175cm of settled snow depending on altitude, and in the far south-east, where Nassfeld has 60/130cm.
Snow depths may be more modest in the classic lower-lying resorts of the Tirol and Salzburgland such as Kitzbühel (15/60cm) and Zell-am-See (25/90cm), but they do also have some excellent piste skiing on offer right now.
Some new snow is possible early next week in the northern half of the Austrian Alps, though it probably won’t amount to much.
Excellent snow conditions in Carinthia right now. This is Bad Kleinkirchheim – 13 January 2022 – Photo: badkleinkirchheim.com
France
Snow conditions remain excellent across most of the French Alps, especially in the north thanks to the recent heavy snow. Base depths in La Plagne are now 105/210cm depending on altitude, and 55/150cm in lower-lying Les Gets.
Snow depths are more modest further south, though there is still some perfectly enjoyable piste skiing to be found in Risoul (40/80cm).
No new snow is forecast for the French Alps for the next week at least.
Sunny skies and good snow in the French Maurienne. This is Aussois – 13 January 2022 – Photo: haute-maurienne-vanoise.com
Italy
On-piste snow conditions are generally good across the Italian Alps even if some resorts haven’t seen any significant snow for some time now. Bardonecchia (30/60cm), for example, is offering perfectly decent on-piste skiing, however, snow depths are low for January, and much more is needed to avoid problems later in the season.
Snow cover is a little deeper in the north-western Italian resorts such as La Thuile (35/160cm), however, no snow is forecast anywhere in the Italian Alps any time soon.
Sunny skies and hard, grippy pistes today in Kronplatz – 13 January 2022 – Photo: kronplatz.ch
Switzerland
Snow conditions in the Swiss Alps remain good, especially in the north and west, which caught the heaviest of the recent snow. Mürren currently has 50/115cm of settled snow depending on altitude, while Villars has 50/120cm.
Further south and east, snow depths are generally more modest relative to altitude, although there is still some very enjoyable skiing to be had in the likes of Arosa (50/80cm) and St Moritz (40/75cm).
A little snow may fall early next week in the far north-eastern Swiss Alps, however, in general, no significant snow is likely in the Swiss Alps for quite some time.
Excellent snow conditions in the northern Swiss Alps. This is Engelberg – 13 January 2022 – Photo: engelberg.ch
Rest of Europe
The main Pyrenean resorts have plenty of snow, with Spain’s Baqueira Beret (170/275cm) skiing particularly well right now. Andorra’s Granvalira area is also in good shape, with base depths of 90/170cm and predominantly sunny skies forecast for the next week at least.
It’s unusually mild in Norway right now, with rain forecast lower down today in Geilo (40/60cm), meaning that snow conditions will temporarily be a bit wet. Temperatures are colder further north in Scandinavia, where Finland’s Ruka (75cm upper slopes) expecting some fresh snow this weekend.
In Scotland, mild weather has seen much of the snow disappear in recent days, with only some very limited skiing now on offer in the eastern resorts, such as the Lecht, with little sign of any new snow in the forecast any time soon.
Good snow conditions in the French Pyrenees. This is Formiguères – 13 January 2022 – Photo: formigueres.fr
USA
Most western US resorts have plenty of snow, with California’s Mammoth (230/445) leading the way thanks to the recent succession of big storms. No new snow is forecast here anytime soon though.
No snow is forecast for Colorado either, where Vail is reporting an upper base of 130cm with excellent on-piste conditions, but variable or tracked out off-piste.
Canada
Whistler has reported another 50cm of fresh snow on the mountain since last week, with a settled mid-mountain base of 235cm. Snow conditions are generally pretty good, especially on-piste, although milder weather means that the picture is more mixed off-piste and lower down generally.
Further inland, the Banff/Lake Louise area continues to have a fabulous early season, with another 60cm of fresh snow over the last week alone.
Deep snow in the Banff/Lake Louise area – 13 January 2022 – Photo: snoweye.com
Our next full snow report will be on
Thursday 20 January 2022
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