WORLD SNOW ROUNDUP #137
Issued: 29 April 2020
By Patrick “Snowhunter” Thorne
North American Roundup
European Roundup
Asia Roundup
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OVERVIEW
There have been positive signs, with regard to the coming ski season, throughout the Southern Hemisphere. In the past few days snow has fallen and areas may be able to open for winter 2020 as lockdown rules are eased.
In terms of snowfall, New Zealand areas posted reports of some snow up high last week and some centres in Chile reported their first pre-season snow of 2020.
Afriski, in Lesotho, which is due to open (pandemic permitting) in a little over a month, reported its second significant pre-season snowfall of 2020 on Tuesday.
In Australia, it is turning wintery with rainfall expected to turn to snowfall later this week. The snow is moving into south-eastern Australia and is expected to reach the Blue Mountains.
With regard to operating during the pandemic, ski areas in New Zealand have received good news of a slight easing of the lockdown. This looks like it should allow resorts to commence winter operations. The country has moved from it’s highest level of public protection, level 4, to the slightly eased level 3 this week and ski areas hope things will be down to level 2 by the time the first are due to open in June. This would still demand social distancing plus other protective measures. Some ski areas have re-started socially-distanced autumn activities like mountain biking in the past few days with the move to level 3.
In Australia, signs that some sporting activity will be allowed to resume have also been seen by some ski areas as a good sign that some 2020 ski area operations may be possible in June if the snow is there then.
In Chile, El Colorado and La Parva are currently the only resorts shown on the global alpine ski racing events calendar for 2020-21 with races, scheduled for late July, still on at present.
INTRODUCTION NORTH AMERICA
The big news in North America this week was the first lift-served skiing for more than three weeks with Mt Baldy ski area in southern California deciding to re-open. They argue that as some local facilities, including golf courses, were reopening, they could operate with greater social distancing than other leisure facilities.
The move seems to have been popular with the limited number of lift passes available selling out, despite the fact this is later in the spring than the ski area would usually be open. They report the snow softening by mid-morning as daytime temperatures head up towards the 60s Fahrenheit (20s Celcius). More detail in our US West report.
What of the snow? Well, despite the fact that it’s the start of May on Friday, this week, there has been quite a lot of fresh in some parts of the continent at least.
The northwest saw some good snowfalls at the start of this week, unusually late in the spring for some areas.
USA
ROCKIES
ROCKIES REPORT There are fairly typical late-April conditions in the Rockies with temperatures getting up above freezing in the valleys in the daytime but staying well below freezing up on the ski slopes overnight. It differs a little depending on how high and how far north the ski area is, but that’s the overall trend: a mixture of sunshine, cloud and a little rain/snow in recent days. There’s nowhere currently open although it seems likely we’ll see lift-served skiing in the region again before spring is out. Arapahoe Basin is one area that is usually open until July and they issued a blog at the weekend saying that although re-opening was not imminent in the immediate future, they were looking at ways to re-open as safely as possible once ski area reopening is permitted. Other areas that can open in late spring include Breckenridge, in Colorado, and Snowbird, in Utah, among others. Colorado’s governor has subsequently issued a slight easing of restrictions through May, so long as pandemic cases do not surge again. Ski areas don’t seem to be mentioned in the eased restrictions (at least so far) but some interpretations of the new rules might make it possible for them to re-open with a very limited operating model. The Beartooth Basin summer ski area up on the Wyoming/Montana border says it intends to open from May 30th to July 5th this year (snow and weather permitting).
ROCKIES FORECAST It’s dry, warm, and sunny for much of the Rockies over the coming week with temperatures climbing to T-shirt weather and getting quite hot down at lower elevations by the latter half of this week. There’s little in the forecast except for sunshine for most of the region but some cloud with an outside chance of rain showers, potentially snow up high, may creep into the north of the area by the weekend.
WEST
USA WEST REPORT The big news from the US west this week was the unexpected decision by Mt Baldy ski area to re-open at the end of last week, the first ski areas in North America to do so following the pandemic shut down last March. Some seasoned skiers from the area in southern California have noted their surprise that the centre in southern California, one of the closest to LA, could re-open so late in the season. But there were some heavy snowfalls during the earlier part of April in the region and currently, Baldy is selling tickets through to May 25th. Prior to the lockdown changing everything, Baldy had been expected to end its 19-20 season around 21st April. Although snow data being published at present is limited, a resort statement described conditions as, “as good as they get in April.” There are lots of restrictions in place of the type we are seeing at other re-opened ski areas in Europe, including the requirement to purchase lift passes online in advance (these appear to be sold out for several days in advance at present) with time slots issued for arrivals through the ski day to avoid everyone arriving at once. They are also stressing that open terrain is only suitable for good-to-advanced skiers saying, “this is not the time to learn to ski.” So far no other areas have followed suit but some have hinted they will re-open when there’s more of a statewide lifting of the lockdown. Talking to the LA Times a Mammoth Mountain spokeswoman said they were looking at how to re-open but had no date in mind. The resort has stayed open to August several times in the past. Vail resorts have previously said they’d re-open Heavenly if they can and a number of other Tahoe resorts, including Squaw Valley, have stayed open to the 4th of July. As regard to the weather on the west in general, it has been mostly dry, often sunny and mostly warm, with ski areas posting temperatures at least 10 degrees and sometimes as much as 20 degrees above freezing.
USA WEST FORECAST It’s wall-to-wall sun forecast for California and states further north for the coming week. Temperatures up high at resorts like Mammoth should stay pretty cool, just a few degrees above freezing. But at lower elevations, it may be 15-25 degrees above freezing at times in the day.
EAST
USA EAST REPORT There was fresh snowfall on Sunday night and Monday morning in the northeast, turning things white again in states including New York, Vermont and Maine. Currently, these states remain in lockdown in terms of backcountry skiing and most ski areas say they’re definitely now closed for winter 2019-20 if the lockdown is eased. A few, including Killington in Vermont, could potentially re-open for some skiing though if restrictions are eased to allow that before the end of next month.
USA EAST FORECAST Mostly dry now after the recent snowfalls and getting warmer too. So where there is precipitation it will be back to rain on most eastern US ski slopes. But sunshine is more likely with temperatures climbing back to double-digits above freezing by the end of the week down at the base of lifts and getting well into positive temps on the tops of the mountains too.
CANADA
CANADA REPORT It’s been a fairly standard late-April week on Canadian ski slopes other than those ski areas that would normally still be open like Marmot Basin, Lake Louise, Sunshine at Banff and Whistler Blackcomb. They have now been closed for a month or more. It hasn’t stopped snowing though and most of the afore-mentioned resorts have reported fresh snowfall, as did a few in Quebec in the east at the start of the week. There may still be an outside chance that a few areas including Sunshine and Whistler will be able to re-open for limited snow-sports later this spring if the lockdowns in Alberta and BC are sufficiently eased to allow it by then.
CANADA FORECAST A big mixture of weather across Canada with mostly warmer temperatures in the east; that is five to ten degrees above freezing even at the tops of the mountains. Therefore, snow will be thawing rather than falling. It’s more mixed in the west with Whistler due to see some snow albeit with its common issue of rain down low but there will be sunny days too. The coldest weather will continue to be around Banff and the Rockies where temperatures will be well below freezing much of the week in the mountains and close to that even at the base of the lifts with more snowfall expected too.
INTRODUCTION EUROPE
Even without the coronavirus closing ski areas, we are very much at the end of the 2019-20 ski season in Europe. A few resorts would be staying open to the start of May and a handful of alpine glaciers through to June, July and beyond. Hopefully, some of these will re-open in late spring or summer if the pandemic permits. But for now we are putting our Northern Hemisphere reporting into summer mode and stopping detailed reports from individual countries and completely from the Pyrenees and Eastern Europe. This will be the case until what we all hope will be a return to normality in the autumn and the start of the 2020-21 ski season.
But the number of ski areas currently open in Europe has not dropped quite as low as we might have thought it would just a few weeks ago. Resorts in Scandinavia are staying open, e.g a few Swedish centres, or re-opening, as is the case in Norway where a growing number of small centres will be operational for a final few weeks of the season. These are soon to be joined by the Fonna glacier, which is open throughout spring. Norway’s other two spring/summer glacier areas have also confirmed they’ll open later in May too.
Ski areas in the Slovak Republic have been allowed to re-open now for summertime operations. That’s interesting because Jasna, one of the country’s biggest, is running its big chairlifts, gondolas and cable cars from this Friday, May 1st. It’s the first time a ski resort with that kind of high capacity and enclosed lifts has re-opened during the pandemic. Therefore, appropriate measures are in place, with social distancing in lift lines and chairs and cabins only allowed to hold around 25% of their usual number of passengers, again to ensure social distancing. This looks like it will be the way most of the world’s leading ski areas operate once they can re-open.
As for snow in Europe this week, there’s been more reported for Scandinavia, with one Norwegian centre, that has just reopened, posting 25cm (10 inches) of fresh in 24 hours on Tuesday morning. Cold nights also allowed for some fresh snowfall on Glencoe in western Scotland although warm daytime temperatures are gradually thawing the thick snow cover.
Elsewhere in mountains of Europe, it has mostly been the usual late-April weather with plenty of sunshine and most precipitation falling as rain. But there has been some fresh snow up high on glaciers and high peaks, including down in the Pyrenees where the Pic du Midi (the start of an iconic wintertime off-piste descent on the French side of the mountains), posted fresh cover at the top on Tuesday morning.
THE ALPS
THE ALPS REPORT The weather has been changeable in the Alps over the past week. It has become progressively cooler in many areas through this weekend and into the start of this week with rain at times, turning to snow again down to increasingly low elevations.
In terms of what is and is not possible or is going to be possible over the next few months in the different alpine nations, which still have snow in late spring and summer, it’s a fast-changing situation.
Austria appears to be moving the most quickly, announcing first that outdoor activities, including ski touring, could resume this Friday, May 1st and more recently there is news that restaurants could re-open mid-May and hotels and mountain railways from May 29th; however, whether glacier areas will be able to re-open at the end of May is not yet known for sure and there will certainly be lots of pandemic spread prevention measures in place if they do. Essentially, the details are still being worked out. As to ski touring in May, although it is allowed, it is officially “not recommended”. The avalanche danger level is quite high at present and ski touring remains categorised as an irresponsible activity when, if things go wrong, medical attention may be required that needs to be concentrated on the fight against COVID 19.
France, Italy and Switzerland are all cautiously easing restrictions and some French resorts, including Les Arcs and Val d’Isere, have said they will start their summer seasons at the beginning of July (naming the 4th and 5th of the month). Other areas are yet to be so specific.
Switzerland has allowed shops, hairdressers and other facilities to reopen this week, but so far there’s no news on ski areas. Zermatt is usually open for skiing every day of the year so it would seem likely to be one of the first to re-open when restrictions are eased.
In any case, despite a slight easing of restrictions within individual countries, the advice (and often the law) remains to stay home, stay safe, and don’t attempt to travel for now.
THE ALPS FORECASTMore of the typical spring conditions are forecast for Austria’s mountains throughout the week to come. It should stay sub-zero up on the glaciers but get above freezing at mid-mountain and be well into double-digit positive temperatures in the valleys. There’s a chance of more snow up high at the weekend though, after predominantly sunny conditions for the rest of this week.
SCANDANAVIA
SCANDANAVIA REPORT There are a growing number of small to medium-sized ski areas re-opened in Norway including Al, Haukelifjell, Hovden, Roldal and Skarslia and Voss Myrkdalen. There’s been more cold weather and fresh snow for many, Roldal (200/600cm / 80/240”), which has the deepest base of the open areas (and the closed ones), reported 10cm (4”) of fresh snow on Sunday/Monday.
The glacier slopes of Fonna will open this Friday, May 1st with the Galdhopiggen glacier joining it in mid-May and the Stryn Glacier announcing it will open for its 2020 season on May 29th , meaning all three Norwegian glaciers are set to open through next month.
All of Norway’s re-opened areas have strict measures in place to prevent virus spread including the advance online purchase of lift tickets. Centres are selling out in advance. Roldal announced on Friday that Saturday skiing was sold out.
In Sweden, Bjorkliden and Riksgransen remain the only two ski areas in the world known to have stayed open through the pandemic. Bjorkliden is coming to its final week of the season, closing next week. But Riksgransen is open to the end of May and will be offering skiing under the midnight sun again next month, as 24-hour daylight returns. It has eased restrictions a little and is now taking bookings again having previously suspended any new business whilst remaining open for a limited number of existing reservations.
SCANDANAVIA FORECAST There’s not much fresh snow in the forecast for Scandinavia for the coming week but it’s not going to be too warm in the still-open ski areas either, with temperatures hovering a degree or two above or below freezing on most days and nights. Quite a lot of cloud is forecast with occasional sunny spells.
JAPAN
JAPAN REPORT With the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan it is believed that all of the country’s ski areas, that were still operating and planning to stay open to early May, decided to close at short notice last week.
Japanese snow and ski industry experts SnowJapan say that a few places (including Geto, Gassan and part of Shiga Kogen) are suggesting they might think about re-opening after 6th May, the date up to which Japanese citizens are currently being asked to limit social interaction to fight the pandemic’s spread. It’s unclear whether they will re-open or not. Gassan normally operates through to July so looks the most likely to re-open at some point if any do. Ironically, after Japan has suffered a mostly “warmer than usual” season through the past six months, the last week or so has seen lots of “colder than usual” weather reports.
JAPAN FORECAST Although the season has ended a little early in Japan the snow is still lying on the slopes of the ski areas that would have made it through what would have been the final weekend of the season for almost all. It is getting warmer again and what precipitation there is in the forecast will fall as rain. As a result the snowpack will be melting fast. Niseko, for example, will see temperatures climb up to +15C (59F) by the end of the weekend. The Gassan Glacier (300/899cm / 118/354”), one of the few Japanese areas that looks like it may re-open in May or June, has a similar forecast but obviously plenty of snow lying to see it through.
