WORLD SNOW ROUNDUP #212
Issued: 18th October 2023
By Patrick “Snowhunter” Thorne
World Overview
Excitement continues to build for the 23-24 season in the northern hemisphere. Some of the biggest snowfalls of the past seven days came in the western US with first Pacific Coast resorts seeing up to 6″ of snow and then more significant snowfall in the Rockies, where we’re getting ever closer to the first ski areas opening.
In Europe, it is Scandinavia and the far north of the continent seeing the most snowfall so far with the leading resort in Iceland deciding to groom a run after lots of early autumn snowfall on Saturday to give a smooth descent for those prepared to hike up before the area officially opens. There’s been snowfall too in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Scotland.
The Alps continue to wait for a big autumn snowfall but things have improved since the weekend
with temperatures dipping to below freezing around the clock at altitude and dipping to single
figures in valleys, so much closer to the autumnal norm. However, plans for more glacier ski centres
to open have been pushed back again, with several that had planned to open at the weekend
delaying planned start dates as the season start conditions remain marginal.
The southern hemisphere’s 2023 season continues to wind down, now into (probably) its final week
with just three centres still open in New Zealand and South America. There was fresh snowfall last
weekend to send the season out on a high there though.
Europe
EUROPE INTRO
Temperatures finally dipped in the Alps at the weekend, getting consistently below zeros on glaciers and down to around 2,500m, day and night, while dropping to single figures much of the time in alpine valleys too. There’s been some snowfall reported on high slopes, particularly in Austria and further north in the Czech and Slovak republics, where ski areas saw their first snowfalls of the autumn at the weekend. Glacier season start continues to be on a knife edge though after the largely warm and dry start to the autumn, with centres that had aimed to open at the weekend with marginal cover, announcing further pushbacks to their season start dates. It’s a more promising picture still in Scandinavia where Iceland’s Blafjoll managed to open for an unexpected October ski day at the weekend after some early natural snowfall there and mountain tops turned white across Norway, Finland and Sweden, in some cases with snow down to valley level.
AUSTRIA REPORT
Unfortunately, the Stubai and Solden glaciers, which had hoped to open for the season last weekend have pushed back their opening dates again due to the warm, dry conditions in the Austrian Alps up to last weekend. The Stubai is now aiming to open next weekend, which is also the target opening weekend for the Kitzsteinhorn and Molltal glaciers, however Solden now looks like it might delay opening until November, after it is due to stage the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Tour launch events on the final weekend of this month. But Austria and the Tirol region does still have three centres open, the most of any country in the world at present. They’re year-round Hintertux (0/10km / 0/4”) and more recently opened Pitztal (0/15cm / 0/6”) and Kaunertal (0/50c. / 0/20”). Bases remain thin and open terrain limited, with Hintertux posting the most with 17km (11 miles) of runs despite its thin reported cover, the others only a few kilometres each. Hoped for snowfall volumes have not arrived on the scale it looked like they might a week ago but it is much colder at last and there have been snow flurries with resorts including lech and Obertauern posting images of higher slopes turning white at the weekend.
AUSTRIA FORECAST
Remaining cold with the freezing point moving between 1000 and 2500 metres through the 24-hour cycle and the remainder of this week. Much more unsettled weather than we’ve had in recent weeks with snow flurries and potentially heavier snowfalls at higher elevations.
SWITZERLAND REPORT
Saas Fee (0/160cm / 0/64″) and Zermatt (0/200cm / 0/80″) remain the two open ski areas in Switzerland and also continue to post the deepest bases of all open areas in the world at present. It has got much colder than it has been, since the weekend, with temperatures on glaciers finally down below freezing day and night and the occasional light snow flurry. Unfortunately, at least one of the Swiss centres that had planned to open this coming weekend, Engelberg-Titlis, has joined the list of glacier resorts announcing a delay due to the recent conditions in the Swiss Alps, even though things have now got colder and snowier there this week. It’s pushing back a fortnight to the 4th of November, all being well. “Unfortunately, we still have to be patient. The warm autumn days and the lack of natural snow do not allow the preparation of the glaciers at the moment,” a spokesperson said at the end of last week. At the time of writing a fourth area, the Diavolezza glacier near St. Moritz in Engadin is still due to open this coming weekend.
SWITZERLAND FORECAST
Skies have been mostly clear over recent days but the remainder of this week looks much more unsettled with temperatures staying low. There is a chance of more significant snowfall on higher Swiss slopes if we’re lucky.
FRANCE REPORT
It has turned colder at last in the French Alps too with temperatures down to single figures in alpine valleys and well below freezing on higher slopes. There have been reports of light snowfalls on high slopes too. Les 2 Alpes had hoped to open some glacier ski runs this coming weekend but cancelled the plan several weeks ago with the warm autumn overall meaning snow cover could not be guaranteed. So, currently there remains nowhere expected to open in France until the last weekend of November.
FRANCE FORECAST
Remaining around freezing or a little below, above 2500m, with the freezing point dropping into valleys overnight. More unsettled conditions with the chance of some snowfall on high slopes.
ITALY REPORT
Italy’s Cervinia ski area (0/200cm / 0/80”) has re-opened its access to the glacier skiing above Zermatt a month before the region is due to host the first cross-border World Cup ski race, opening the downhill speed racing season. Cervinia says that this time they won’t close lift access in spring or autumn 2024, staying open daily, weather permitting, the same as the 365-day access from Zermatt. Passo Stelvio (0/30cm / 0/12”) has also managed to stay open through the recent warm temperatures and is being rewarded now by a drop to subzero weather and the chance of fresh snowfall again at last for the final weeks of its 2023 spring-summer-autumn season. It’s open to about 1 p.m. daily and has around 40% of its terrain open.
ITALY FORECAST
The current forecast is very promising with temperatures remaining below freezing, getting colder with the potential for significant snowfall at the weekend or early next week.
SCANDINAVIA REPORT
Winter continues to make its presence felt in Scandinavia with white slopes at the three centres that are already open for snow sports and reported by most centres ahead of their season starts. One of the biggest accumulations was actually reported up in Iceland where deep natural snowfall covered the slopes of the main resort, Blafjoll, before the snow-making guns have been turned on to build an autumn base. The local skiers were delighted on Saturday when the resort announced it had groomed a slope to allow those prepared to hike up to ski or splitboard a smooth run. The hillsides have also been turning white again around the already-open Lapland ski areas of Levi (10/20cm / 5/8”) and Ruka (20/20cm / 8/8”), which each have about 2km (1.25 miles) of slopes open. You can also ski in Norway at Galdhøpiggen (30/100cm / 12/40″), which is home to Scandinavia’s highest slopes and has been operating through the spring and summer, its season extending to early November. Elsewhere, Riksgransen and the Stryn summer ski centre, both of which won’t open until 2024, have been reporting snow cover starting to build already for their opening next spring, still 4-6 months away.
SCANDINAVIA FORECAST
Cold but mostly sunny for the week ahead in Scandinavia. Up in Levi and Ruka temperatures are expected to be in the -4 to -10C range. So it feels very cold and consistent snow-making conditions too, but with little or no natural snowfall expected there.
CANADA REPORT
Another week of snow covering high slopes around Banff at ski areas including Sunshine and Lake Louise where the start of the 23-24 ski season is now only about 4 weeks away. There was a little snowfall reported late last week on the east coast in Ontario and Quebec as cold winds from the Arctic met a precipitation-laden front.
CANADA FORECAST
Staying cold but fairly dry in Alberta’s mountains with temperatures in the -4 to +4C range on higher slopes, valley temperatures peaking at +10C in the daytime. Light clouds with sunny spells are forecast but not much rain.
USA REPORT
A week that has given plenty of excitement for skiers with more snowfall across the west and snow-making ramping up on high slopes in Colorado. Colder and some snow on the highest slopes in the east too. There was even a solar eclipse thrown into the mix on Saturday morning. Most of the recent snowfall came in the final days of last week with resorts as far south as California and New Mexico seeing snow on higher slopes. The return of lower temperatures enabled high-altitude areas in Colorado to resume snow-making efforts with Arapahoe Basin announcing at the weekend that they were probably “just past half of the way they needed to go” before they’d have enough snow to be able to open. Keystone Resort and Vail Mountain also fired up their snow guns at the weekend, yesterday evening. The two centres used fully automated snow-making equipment once the wet bulb temperature (a combination of air temperature and humidity) dropped below 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Keystone’s early-season snow guns are equipped with their own weather stations, allowing the resort to measure conditions in real-time, save energy, and take advantage of cold weather windows the moment they open. It’s one of four or five Colorado resorts racing to be first in the state, and potentially all of North America, to open for winter 23-24. There was also 6-12″ of natural snowfall reported on high slopes in Colorado as well.
USA FORECAST
After last weekend’s snowfall it has turned sunny again and those conditions are expected to continue through the coming week. Overnight lows on high slopes will still get 4 or 5 degrees below freezing and be about low enough for snow-making but daytime highs may wipe out the snow made.
Southern Hemisphere
The 2023 ski season in the southern hemisphere is all but over now with all but three ski areas now closed. All ski areas in Australia closed in September (although another dusting of snowfall was reported there last week) and all in southern Africa in August so that’s it until winter 2024. All ski areas in the Andes had also expected to have been closed by last weekend, but Catedral (0/80cm / 0/32”) made the unexpected announcement of a further week’s extension last week to the 22nd of October.
Most centres have now closed in New Zealand too with Cardrona and Mt Hutt among the latest to end their seasons last weekend. Mt Hutt actually closed two days earlier than expected, blaming the deteriorating conditions. Cardrona was rewarded for sticking to its Sunday closing plan though with a good snowfall on the Saturday for final-day freshies. Two centres remain open though, both on the North Island and both on Mt Ruapehu. Whakapapa ski areas is expected to stay open until Sunday, Turoa, some reports say, for a few days into next week, making it expected to be the last in the southern hemisphere to close for the 2023 season.
Asia
JAPAN REPORT
The small Yeti ski area is the main centre for early-season skiing in Japan. Located in the shadow of Mt Fuji it uses an all-weather snow-making system to be first in the country to open a run, often on top of a green grassy slope initially, to claim first in the country to open each season for more than two and a half decades now. Of Japan’s better-known, bigger ski areas, most have now seen their first white caps although it will be late November or early December before the majority aim to open.
JAPAN FORECAST
Changable conditions with some overnight subzero temperatures and the chance of snow, but then +10C and rain within 24 hours afterwards. So still autumnal and some way off sustainable winter conditions for snow sports.
