INTRODUCTION Unlike the UK, there wasn't a huge amount of fresh snowfall across the European resorts over the weekend or on Monday 6th January. Instead, the majority of resorts in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland were blessed with fantastic blue skies, creating fantastic visibility; a refreshing change to recent times where low cloud cover and snowfalls created white-outs in many locations.
AUSTRIA On Monday 6th February, the majority of our featured Austrian resorts were enjoying a clear, bluebird day. This pleasant dry spell follows the notable fresh snowfall that was received last Thursday 2nd February. As a result, some piste depths have been slightly reduced, like in the Arlberg region at Lech and Zurs where the depths have gone from 180/395cm on Friday 3rd February to 155/360cm on Monday 6th. However, thanks to the very cold temperatures, piste conditions remain excellent although it is now more difficult to find untracked powder off-piste. The bitterly cold temperatures continue to remain throughout the country and high altitude resorts such as Pitztal (166/354cm) reported a temperature of -20C on Monday.
FRANCE Our featured French resorts in the Alps enjoyed another pleasantly clear day on Monday 6th February. Over the weekend Ski Club Leaders reported bitterly cold temperatures. On Monday the temperature has risen slightly making it somewhat more bearable, with resorts such as Flaine (90/345cm) shifting from a freezing -25C to an almost pleasant -15C. The great news is these cold temperatures have helped to preserve the quality of the pistes, making conditions largely excellent across the country. It was sunny too in Vars (100/180cm) on Monday which was great for spectators to enjoy the last day of the ThirtyTwo European Tour at the resort. Les Deux Alpes (90/300cm) also enjoyed sunny skies on Monday, however the winds have picked up since the weekend so the number of open lifts was reduced to 40. The great news is that a handful of French Pyrenean resorts received healthy amounts of fresh snowfall on Monday. Bareges/La Mongie (140/200cm) enjoyed a 40cm dump of the white stuff. Even better, Font Romeu (60/95cm) received 45cm in time for the lifts opening on Monday, meaning a fantastic powder day on Monday at these locations.
SWITZERLAND Our featured Swiss resorts were largely blessed with beautiful blue skies on Monday 6th February, making visibility fantastic. This was a nice change to recent weeks were low lying cloud and snowfall limited visibility.A small number of Swiss resorts received a dusting of new snow over the weekend including Saas Fee (80/343cm). Here, the Ski Club Leader reported excellent slope conditions as a result of the temperatures being -24C on Sunday 5th February. However, the sunshine made skiing pleasant on Monday when temperatures increased to around -15C. Also, all 21 lifts were operating so skiers and boarders could easily access a huge amount of this fantastic terrain.
ITALY As with the majority of other European locations, it was a fine and sunny day on Monday 6th January for most of our featured Italian resorts. At opposite sides of Italy, Courmayeur (75/180cm) and Selva Gardena (50/60cm) typified these excellent conditions on Monday and both of these resorts had all of their lifts running. A light 10cm dusting of snow occurred on Saturday 4th February at Arabba (42/58cm) and Cavalese (95/100cm). Like neighboring resorts, Monday brought beautiful clear skies and cold temperatures which created fantastic riding conditions in unrivalled visibility.
ANDORRA The weather was severe over the weekend in Andorra, with strong winds and snowfall forcing many areas to close for the day on Saturday 4th February. All of the resorts were open for snowsports on Monday 6th February though although it was snowing. The wintry weather meant that the visibility was not perfect, but despite this the skiing was excellent due to the fresh snow underfoot.Around 25cm of new snow was reported in the Grandvalira and Vallnord ski areas Monday morning, so this gives you an idea of how good the skiing was. With a mid-mountain temperature of around -10C expected to remain for the next few days, the riding will be great once the sun breaks through, as it is forecast to, on Tuesday 7th February.
NORWAY/SWEDEN 12cm of fresh snow fell at Voss (130/330cm) in time for the lifts opening on Monday 6th February. Snow conditions are excellent thanks to the recent cold weather and the fresh snow is providing great skiing both on and off piste. The temperature has risen since last week when it was extremely cold and this brought the snowfall, but colder weather is expected to return by the middle of this week Salen (50/73cm) in Sweden reported a couple of centimetres of fresh snow on Monday. The snow has brought a brief respite from the cold weather but it's expected to return later this week.
GERMANY Although there has not been any significant snowfall at our featured German resorts over the weekend, the low temperature is helping to maintain the excellent packed and groomed skiing conditions on piste. This low temperature is forecast to ease over the coming days and should drop to single figures by the end of this week. However, a cold snap is expected at the start of next week, getting below -20C in some places Berchtesgaden (90/110cm) did receive a dusting of snow on Sunday 5th February, but on Monday the weather was predominantly sunny at this resort and across the country providing great visibility to enjoy the snow cover.
BULGARIA Monday 6th February was a snowy day in Bulgarian although the wintry conditions did greatly reduce the visibility at our three featured resorts; Bansko (140/185cm), Borovets (200/240cm) and Pamporovo (220/240cm). Pamporovo is the only resort of these three to report any increase in base depth since last week though.The snowy conditions are expected to last for most of this week and into next week, although there may be some sunny spells in the middle of this week. Of these resorts, Pamporovo is expecting the greatest amount of new snow this week with 16cm expected on Tuesday 7th February alone.
SCOTLAND On the whole there's good skiing in Scotland at the moment. Recent cold weather also brought fresh snow with it and while it wasn't loads it has created good ski conditions on the open runs. In the east of Scotland, The Lecht (20/30cm) had lots of runs open on Monday 6th February served by six lifts. Off-piste skiing is still very limited with lots of heather showing through but the quality of the snow on the open runs is good. It's a similar story at Glencoe (30/50cm). They've got more snow than resorts in the east so cover is better. Off-piste skiing is good high up but the cold weather means the snow is quite firm and hard packed, so take care.
USA There's great skiing on offer in America at the moment. Fresh snow fell in Colorado over the weekend with up to 20cm in some areas. The Ski Club Leader at Vail (84cm) spoke of great skiing over the weekend with all runs in excellent condition. There are some harder packed parts lower down and on busier slopes but, aside from that, the skiing is great. It has gone cold again in Alaska, where Alyeska (152/320cm) is. They've got plenty of snow thanks to around 80cm falling late last week. They've already received nearly 14 metres of snow so far this season.
CANADA There was no new snow in Canada over the weekend but reasonably mild conditions, by their standards, mean the snow is great to ski on. There were sunny skies at Sun Peaks (119/152cm) over the weekend. The Ski Club Leader said the mountain was in great shape on Saturday with some hidden powder stashes still available. All the runs are in fine condition thanks to the grooming efforts of the resort combined with the good weather. It's a similar story at Banff (143/172cm). The whole area is open and offers excellent skiing. There's plenty of snow across all three areas and with temperatures of around -3C the snow is nice and soft, making it fun to ski.
EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Cloudy skies bringing light snow flurries are expected to loiter over some Austrian resorts on Tuesday 7th February. Wednesday 8th should be a relatively clear day and Thursday 9th should be when some light snow falls. Hintertux, for instance, could receive 6cm on Thursday which will freshen up the pistes nicely. French and Italian resorts are expecting to be mostly sunny with some cloud until Thursday. Light snowfall could occur across Italy, where resorts like Passo Tonale may receive 5cm. However, French resorts are expecting an even lighter dusting than this. Switzerland should also be mostly sunny and cloudy until Friday 10th February when snow flurries may form, lightly dusting the slopes.
NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Dry and sunny weather is expected in Canada for most of the week ahead. There could be a few light flurries of snow in some places but nothing significant. It should be a fairly sunny week in Whistler with the possibility of snow on Thursday afternoon. It's a similar story in America where a sunny week is expected before some areas are due to receive snow over the weekend. 10cm could fall at many resorts in Colorado next weekend but this is uncertain at the moment.this is uncertain at the moment.
