Latest snow report
Updated: 11.30am Friday 27 January 2023
Snow conditions in the Alps are generally very good right now. Best of all are the resorts close to the French/Italian border, roughly from Val d’Isère southwards, including the likes of Bonneval sur Arc, Montgenèvre, Sestriere, the resorts of the Queyras, Prato Nevoso and Isola 2000. These areas saw between 50cm and 80cm of fresh snow earlier this week and are skiing superbly right now.
Some of the eastern and south-eastern Alps (e.g. Obertauern, Nassfeld, Alta Badia) also saw some significant snow earlier this week and are also in great shape. The north-western Alps (e.g. Grand Massif, Portes du Soleil, Gstaad, Vebier, Jungfau region) have seen little if any new snow this week but are still reaping the benefits of the snow that fell last week, particularly as temperatures have remained cold.
The areas with the least snow right now (i.e. relative to their average at this time of year) are deep in the “Intra-Alpine” valleys of the central Alps, including the likes of Zermatt, St Moritz, Livigno and Obergurgl. These areas are still offering some excellent piste-skiing, but their bases remain modest and off-piste opportunities are relatively limited.
Across the pond, Utah and California remain the stand-out states, with exceptionally deep snow-packs in many resorts…
Austria
Snow conditions are generally good across the Austrian Alps. The freshest snow can be found in the east, including Obertauern (90/150cm), and the far south, including Nassfeld (40/120cm), both of which are skiing superbly right now.
Most other resorts have also seen at least some snow this week, which has improved the fortunes of lower resorts such as Söll (40/85cm) and Zell am See (40/65cm) even if base depths remain relatively modest. Further west, the Arlberg area is also in good shape with 65/150cm of settled snow in St Anton.
Sunny skies and good snow cover in the Austrian Vorarlberg. This is Warth – 27 January 2023 – Photo: warth-schroecken.at
France
Snow conditions remain excellent across the vast majority of the French Alps. The very best conditions are currently to be found in resorts close to the Italian border, roughly south of Val d’Isère (105/260cm), including Montgenèvre (200/270cm) and Isola 2000 (190/210cm).
Further north, resorts such as Flaine (60/240cm) and Avoriaz (280/290cm) have missed the most recent storm but are still skiing superbly thanks to the big dumps last week.
Great skiing in Les Saisies – 27 January 2023 – Photo: lessaisies.com
Italy
The best snow conditions in the Italian Alps right now are in the far south-west (i.e. southern Piedmont) where resorts such as Sestriere (40/120cm) and Prato Nevoso (40/100cm) had a lot of snow earlier in the week.
The far south-east (Dolomites) also had some fresh snow earlier this week, albeit less than in the south-west, and have some excellent skiing on offer in the likes of Arabba (40/100cm) and Madonna di Campiglio (65/110cm).
In the more central region of the Italian Alps, areas such as the Monte Rosa (15/70cm) and Livigno (45/60cm) have not seen any significant fresh snow for some time now, but can still offer some excellent piste-skiing, partly thanks to temperatures remaining cold.
Good snow at all levels in the northern Dolomites. This is Kronplatz – 27 January 2023 – Photo: kronplatz.com
Switzerland
The best snow conditions in the Swiss Alps are currently in the far west, where resorts such as Morgins (60/320cm) and Verbier (50/115cm) are still benefitting from last week’s big storms.
The northern Swiss resorts of Mürren (45/115cm) and Engelberg (15/100cm) are also in excellent shape even if the snowpack remains modest at low altitudes.
The resorts that have seen the least new snow in the last couple of weeks are the more intra-Alpine ones such as Zermatt (15/115cm), St Moritz (30/50cm) and Davos (35/95cm). Snow depths here remain well below average for late January but the skiing remains very good, on-piste at least, helped by it having remained cold.
Sunny skies and excellent piste skiing in the Aletsch Arena – 27 January 2023 – Photo: bettmeralp.ch
Rest of Europe
There is plenty of good skiing available in the Pyrenees right now, with some of the best conditions in Spain’s Baqueira Beret (105/155cm). Snow depths are more modest in Andorra’s Soldeu (25/70cm), although there is also some enjoyable skiing to be had, especially on-piste.
Scandinavia is also offering good conditions, with the most impressive snow depths still being in Norway, with 150cm up top in both Voss and Hemsedal.
Milder conditions have led to a deterioration in the snow conditions in Scotland, however, some skiing is still possible with reasonable cover at altitude in most of the centres. There is currently around 30cm of settled snow in Cairngorm, and over 1m in the higher gullies of Glencoe.
Loss of snow cover lower down in Glencoe, but still enough for skiing at altitude – 27 January 2023 – Photo: winterhighland.info
USA
Snow depths remain highly impressive across Utah and most of California. Indeed, Alta (370cm mid-mountain base) has had more snow so far this season than in any other year since records began. Mammoth, however, has the greater snow depths with an incredible 615cm up top.
Over in Colorado, snow levels are more normal in Breckenridge (60/105cm) where there is plenty of good piste skiing on offer.
Incredible snow depths in Mammoth right now – 27 January 2023 – Photo: mammothmountain.com
Canada
Snow depths are below par in the western interior of Canada, with settled snow depths of 50/110cm in the Banff-Lake Louise area. There is still some enjoyable on-piste skiing on offer, but off-piste opportunities are relatively limited for now.
Further west, Whistler is also a bit below par although you can find lots of good skiing, especially on-piste and at altitude.
Our next full snow report will be on
Thursday 2 February 2023
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