Up To 1.2m (4 Feet) of Snowfall in 3 Days Sets Alps Up For Rest of Season

The biggest snowfall of the season to date has buried much of the Alps, setting the region up for the latter half of the season.

Accumulations of up to 60cm (2 feet) in 24 hours were reported with Chamonix posting the biggest 72-hour total of 1.2 metres (4 feet). Fellow French resort Flaine posted 105cm (3.5 feet) whilst La Thuile, just over the Italian border, got 80cm (32”), and Switzerland’s Crans Montana 70cm (28”).

The snowfall has bolstered base depths with Avoriaz, Chamonix and Les Arcs all now posting 3m/10 feet plus lying on their higher slopes. This is seen as good news for the remainder of the season, especially with Easter Sunday at the later end of its range, not arriving until the latter half of April. That’s translating into an uptick in interest in later season ski trips, according to travel companies.

“We’re seeing a big increase in bookings of Easter ski holidays, with some customers saying they had planned not to ski this year but the incredible snowfall is too good to miss.  There’s still quite good availability booking is brisk which means discounts will vanish so, if you want to enjoy some of the best skiing in years with your kids, now is the time to book,” says Richard Sinclair of SNO Ski Holidays.

It’s also worth noting that snowfall was heavy into Austria (the Stubai Glacier is pictured below this week) and further east in Italy and Switzerland where some ski areas had been struggling with very little snowfall this season until this week. Livigno in Italy saw its base depth more than double after it saw over half a metre (20”) of snow.  

The news isn’t all good. Some lower ski areas including Austria’s Schladming and La Clusaz in France saw torrential rain ahead of the snowfall and avalanche danger levels have widely climbed to level 3 (“considerable"), and in some parts along the Swiss/Italian border level up to 4 ("high") on the scale to max 5 ("very high"), as a result of the conditions. There’s always been one off-piste avalanche fatality this week in the Grand Montets region of the Chamonix Valley.

However most ski areas in the Alps were already posting good conditions with almost all slopes open so the new snowfall is really just a bonus to build bases further with the start of springtime only a month away.