Latest snow report

Updated: 7.30pm Saturday 18 December 2021

Early season snow conditions remain excellent across most of the Alps, even though nearly a week has passed since the last big storm.

 

Temperatures have been very mild at altitude in recent days, with freezing levels over 3000m in the western Alps. However, thanks to the low angle of the sun and low humidity, any snow melt has been very limited.

 

For the most part, anyone lucky enough to have been skiing in the Alps in the last few days will have enjoyed firm, grippy pistes at most altitudes, with just the odd isolated icy stretch here and there.

 

As for the forecast, there may be a few light flurries in the north-eastern Alps on Monday, and maybe also in the western Alps on Thursday, otherwise most regions will continue to be dry with plenty of sunshine.

 

Across the pond, conditions are much improved in the western US...

Austria

Snow conditions remain good right across the Austrian Alps, with some of the very best skiing to be found in the Arlberg area, where Lech has 70/105cm of settled snow, depending on altitude.

 

Further east, lower-lying Söll (30/100cm) is also offering excellent piste skiing, as is Nassfeld (55/110cm) in the far south of Austria, close to the Italian border.

Kaunertal, Austria – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Fine weather and excellent snow conditions on the Kaunertal glacier in Austria – 18 December 2021 – Photo: facebook.com/kaunertalergletscher

France

Snow conditions remain excellent for December right across the French Alps, both in the north and south, and in both high and low resorts.

 

Weathertoski is currently in Alpe d’Huez (115/180cm) where we found around 90% of the pistes in great condition today, with just the odd isolated icy patch here and there.

 

Lower-lying Les Gets (70/190cm) also has impressive snow levels and is skiing exceptionally well for this early in the season. 

Alpe d’Huez, France – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Excellent early season snow cover across the Alpe d’Huez ski area – 18 December 2021 – Photo: weathertoski.co.uk

Italy

Snow conditions in the Italian Alps are generally pretty good, even if snow depths are more modest than in the north-western Alps.

 

Cervinia probably has some of the best natural coverage of the Italian resorts, with 30/120cm depending on altitude.

 

Over in the Dolomites, Alta Badia (50/80cm) is also offering some fantastic piste skiing on a mix of natural and man-made snow. 

Prali, Italy – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Fantastic snow conditions in Prali in the Italian Piedmont – 18 December 2021 – Photo: facebook.com/praliski

Switzerland

Snow conditions remain excellent in the Swiss Alps, even if much of the obvious powder from the early December storms has now been largely tracked out.

 

The deepest snow (relative to altitude) is currently in the west and north of the country, with 120/130cm of settled snow in Villars and 40/240cm in Engelberg.

 

Further south, St Moritz has a more modest 45/95cm, but is still offering good snow conditions at all altitudes. 

Engelberg, Switzerland – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Deep snow cover across the Engelberg ski area – 18 December 2021 – Photo: facebook.com/engelberg.titlis

Rest of Europe

Early season snow conditions remain excellent in the Pyrenees, with some seriously impressive snow depths in both Spain’s Baqueira Beret (240/280cm) and France’s Cauterets (200-260cm).

 

Snow depths are much more modest across Scandinavia, with 40cm (upper depths) in Norway’s Hemsedal, for example, where temperatures are well below freezing and will continue to be so for some time to come. 

Baqueira Beret, Spain – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Snow cover is exceptionally deep in the Pyrenees right now. This is Baqueira Beret – 18 December 2021 – Photo: facebook.com/baqueiraberetesqui

USA

Snow conditions are generally much better across the western US since we last reported. In California, Mammoth saw a lot of snow earlier this week and now reports upper snow depths of 203cm.

 

Across in Utah, Snowbird is also in good early season shape, with 80/165cm depending on altitude. 

Canada

Banff-Lake Louise continues to offer fabulous early season snow conditions, with impressive settled snow depths of 115/160cm depending on altitude.

 

While there is more of a discrepancy between the upper and lower mountain depths in Whistler (10/190cm), further snow is forecast here at all levels today, and the area generally has pretty good conditions for mid-December. 

Whistler, Canada – Weather to ski – Snow report, 18 December 2021 Heavy snow in Whistler today – 18 December 2021 – Photo: whistlerblackcomb.com

Our next full snow report will be on
Thursday 30 December 2021

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