Europe Weekly Roundup #263

The Alps Are Calling, and They're Ready for Winter

• Early-season snow conditions: The Alps have experienced a month of cold temperatures and regular snowfall above 2000m altitudes, resulting in excellent conditions on the open runs. Austria leads in the number of open glacier ski areas, followed by Italy and Switzerland.
• Upcoming openings: Several ski centers in the Alps are planning to open in late November or December, with sufficient snowfall already covering the slopes.
• The Alps are expected to have fair conditions with sunny weather and occasional light snowfall in the coming days. Scandinavia is also forecast to have overcast skies with light snow dusting.

It continues to look good in Europe, particularly on Alpine glaciers, 11 of which have now opened for their 24-25 seasons. It's staying a few degrees on either side of freezing up high, and there have been more 10-20cm (4-8") top-ups to keep conditions fresh. Ski areas are also open with a few kilometers of terrain, and some fresh snowfall has been reported in Finland and Norway to the north. Elsewhere in Europe, Iceland has had a snow covering, and Scottish mountains also reported a rather more significant snowfall on high slopes than the early dustings last month at the weekend. Across North America, it's only a fortnight this coming weekend until we have the first scheduled ski area opening at Banff at the start of November. However, other centers in the US are hoping to open in the interim. So far though, all efforts continue to be thwarted by unseasonably warm temperatures in much of Western North America. That said, it has been snowing in Alaska, and New England's ski mountains have also had a covering, with snow actually accumulating up high in upstate New York, and the Midwest is due for cold and snow too, so it might not be a ski area in Colorado opening first this year. Nowhere has opened yet, though. In the Southern Hemisphere, most of New Zealand’s ski areas that hadn’t already closed did so at the end of the ski day on Sunday, leaving just a couple of centers still open in Chile and New Zealand for a final week or two as we move into the latter half of meteorological springtime.

Europe

The Alps Report

It's still early days, of course, but the high Alps are approaching a month of predominantly cold temperatures and regular snowfalls above 2000m altitudes, with temperatures not moving far above freezing in the afternoons up on glaciers and dropping well below overnight. The consequence is really great conditions on the runs that are open so far. We’re up to 11 centers open now, although the snowfall is widespread, and centers not planning to open until late November or December are reporting snow coverings up high too. Austria continues to dominate when it comes to already-open glacier ski areas, now with seven centers open—that’s as much as the total for the rest of Europe combined, and nearly double the total of ‘the rest’ open in all of Europe (14 if we include the three in Finland and Norway to the north). Conditions have been pretty excellent for the first half of October too, with more snowfall on higher Austrian slopes keeping the cover fresh. So there’s real competition between the seven centers to offer the most terrain to enjoy, plus additional features like early-season terrain parks. Carinthia’s Molltal glacier (0/75cm / 0/30”) was the seventh to open at the weekend, joining five centers already open in Tirol, where the competition is the most intense. Solden (0/106cm / 0/43”), the Stubai glacier (15/65cm / 6/26”), and Hintertux (0/85cm / 0/34”) are all reporting more than 20km (13 miles) of slopes open now. You can also ski on the province’s Kaunertal (30/40cm / 12/16”) or Pitztal (15/70cm / 6/28”) glaciers. Salzburgerland’s Kitzsteinhorn (0/135cm / 0/54”) above Kaprun is reporting the deepest snow of the Austrian centers open so far. There’s no change in the number of ski areas open in the Alps outside Austria, with two each in Italy and Switzerland, while France is still not planning to open anywhere for another six weeks, despite posting images of formerly October-opening glaciers above Les 2 Alpes and Tignes, looking to be in good shape from the same autumn snowfalls. In Switzerland, it remains Saas-Fee (0/175cm / 0/70”)—now posting the deepest base of any open area in the world—and Zermatt (0/150cm / 0/60”) as it has been for the past three months, but the Diavolezza glacier in the Engadin near St. Moritz has announced that it plans to start its 24-25 season this coming weekend. In Italy, Passo Stelvio (15/120cm / 6/48”) and Val Senales (0/50cm / 0/12”), the latter now more clearly welcoming skiers besides members of racing teams there for training. Passo Stelvio has about three or four weeks of its 2024 summer ski season left to run. Cervinia’s lift access to Zermatt’s glacier will also resume at the end of next week.

The Alps Forecast

Fairly benign conditions are expected in the Alps for the remainder of this week, with the snowline between around 2,500m and 3,500m altitudes and plenty of sunny weather expected with clear skies. Temperatures on glaciers will range from -3°C to +5°C. No significant precipitation is forecast, but 1-3cm (/0.5-1 inch) overnight dustings are possible from very light and localized late afternoon and evening snowfalls that may bubble up from time to time.

Scandinavia Report

There was fresh snowfall in Finland in the latter half of last week, so the already open Ruka (40/40cm / 16/16”) turned entirely white for a while after initially having ribbons of white on a brown autumnal background when they opened nearly a fortnight ago, using snow saved through the summer and spread back out on the slopes. Both it and Finland's largest resort, Levi (40/40cm / 16/16”), which is also already open, are reporting great conditions with the fresh snow on the recycled stuff, and temperatures low enough for some snowmaking too. The only other center open at present in Scandinavia is the Galdhopiggen (0/130cm / 0/52”) summer ski resort, which has about 3km (2 miles) of the region’s highest slopes open for 3-4 more weeks. It’s also been reporting temperatures a few degrees either side of freezing and fresh snowfall, so some great conditions are resulting.

Scandinavia Forecast

Predominantly overcast skies are expected in northern Scandinavia through the remainder of this week, with the occasional sunny spell. Temperatures should range from around -3°C overnight to +5°C in the afternoons. Not much precipitation is forecast, possibly just the odd very light snow dusting, bringing less than an inch (2cm) to the slopes for Finland's two open ski centers.