INTRODUCTION Spring has sprung once again in Europe. Mild and sunny weather, combined with plenty of existing snow, makes for some classic spring skiing at the moment right across the Alps.
AUSTRIA There is some excellent skiing in Austria at the moment, following lots of heavy snow on Tuesday 16th March at most areas of the country. Between 40cm and 50cm of fresh snow fell at Kitzbuhel (40/130cm) over the course of Monday and Tuesday, which gave plenty of powder both on and off the pistes. The Ski Club rep in Kitzbuhel said many of the upper slopes still had plenty of untracked powder on Wednesday. Milder temperatures are now making the lower slopes softer, but on the whole conditions are superb. Equally good conditions can be found at Lech (115/180cm) where loads of snow fell on Tuesday. As Lech is higher than Kitzbuhel the snow is in good condition right down to base level, of approximately 1400m. All the links over to St Anton (70/250cm) and Zurs (115/180cm) are open, giving a massive area of excellent snow.
FRANCE Great spring skiing can be found at most French resorts at the moment. The sun has been shining all week and the temperature is mild, providing lovely skiing conditions. Some of the best conditions are up at Tignes (120/188cm) and Val d'Isere (120/188cm). The high altitude means it is colder and so the snow is in great condition. Even lower down where the snow is softer it is still great to ski on. Skiing off piste you may not be able to find much in the way of soft snow but it is there if you know where to look. The same is true at Les Arcs (90/203cm). The snow is in good condition up high but soft at mid mountain and slushy down at resort level. However this doesn't mean the skiing is bad, as the soft snow is more forgiving than on the upper slopes. The Ski Club rep in Les Arcs said that they enjoyed a great day in the warm sunshine on Wednesday 17th March, on very well prepared pistes.
SWITZERLAND There are excellent conditions in the Davos (55/161cm) and Klosters (30/161cm) area at the moment. The Ski Club reps in both resorts report excellent conditions on the upper and lower slopes with powder off piste, thanks to the fresh snow that fell earlier in the week. It hasn't snowed for a while in the Pontresina (80/200cm) are but excellent piste preparation means there is some good skiing. As is the case across the Swiss resorts at the moment, the lower slopes are soft or slushy in places and further up they are more hard packed.Some great powder can still be found on the upper slopes at Flims/Laax (30/200cm) as they received 25cm of fresh snow on Tuesday 16th March. The powder is fairly heavy on the lower slopes because of the warmth but piste skiing down low is still good. For the powder, head up high.
ITALY Courmayeur (210/310cm) offers some excellent skiing at the moment, with over three metres of snow on the upper slopes and two metres on the lower ones. It is mild and sunny there at the moment so the snow is fairly soft, but the sheer amount of it means there is good skiing both on and off piste. It's slightly colder up at Livigno (100/117cm) due to its altitude. Although the base depth isn't nearly as deep at Courmayeur, there is plenty of fun skiing available. The lower, more sun exposed slopes can soften up in the afternoon, but up high and on the north facing slopes there is good, packed snow. All 31 of their lifts are open so there is plenty of terrain available.Cervinia's (70/180cm) pistes are great too. The Ski Club rep said the upper pistes are in superb condition, with the lower ones being a little soft. You can ski from up at the Plateau Rosa glacier right down to Valtournenche. Off-piste snow is fairly windblown and hard so only recommended for more advanced skiers.
ANDORRA Mild weather, sunny skies and plenty of snow makes for some great spring skiing. The temperature was around 5°C at all four of our featured Andorran resorts on Thursday 18th March, meaning the lower slopes were quite soft. This is to be expected at this time of year though and still makes for some fun skiing.The Ski Club rep in Soldeu (90/130cm) said the upper slopes are in excellent condition, with the sun softening the lower ones as the day goes on. Very sunny skies are great for getting a suntan, but remember the sun lotion.
NORWAY/SWEDEN Voss (55/95cm) has received the greatest amount of fresh snow of any of our featured Norwegian and Swedish resorts this week. 22cm of snow has fallen since Monday 15th March, and the riding is superb as a result. 20cm of this snow arrived on Wednesday 17th March, providing excellent riding for visitors at the end of this week. The snow on the lower slopes was reportedly heavy on Thursday though as the temperature had increased to around 2C at the base. It was below freezing at the top though, so the snow was in better condition up there.The Norwegian resorts of Lillehammer (55/95cm), Oppdal (70/90cm) and Trysil (55/101cm) have also received some snow this week, but this has only been a dusting.In Sweden, Åre (80/95cm) also offered excellent riding on Thursday following 13cm of new snow landing through Wednesday night. Sälen (70/80cm) had a light dusting of snow fall but not enough to dramatically change the riding conditions.The mild weather is expected to continue over the weekend so you can expect the best riding to be up on the higher slopes. The temperature is then forecast to drop again next week. Cloudy weather should accompany the mild weather this weekend with the chance of some sunshine at the start of next week. As the temperature drops snow could fall, with around 10-15cm of snow possible in Norway by the end of next week and a few centimetres more than this likely in Sweden.
GERMANY Spring weather has suddenly moved in at the German resorts, after lots of heavy snow earlier this week. It was 8°C at Feldberg (100/120cm) on Thursday and there was plenty of soft snow around, some if which got slushy in the afternoon. Reit im Winkl (45/70cm) has similar conditions too. There is plenty of snow around to last the thaw and the mild weather means that you do not need to wear nearly as many layers.
BULGARIA Colder weather in Bulgaria means the pistes are generally in good condition, if a little patchy low down. Skiing is possible from the top to bottom of our three featured Andorran resorts though which is good for this time of year. The deepest base is still at Bansko (215/235cm). The upper slopes are best as the lower ones are a little patchy and slushy in places. It's much colder up at 2600m as well so the snow is drier and faster.
SCOTLAND Spring snow conditions dominate at the five Scottish resorts. The best snow conditions exist on the upper slopes where the snow is not so weather affected, but strong winds on Thursday meant that many of the upper lifts could not operate. The snow cover off the groomed runs is now quite patchy in places, so do take care Cairngorm (70/140cm) was completely closed for snowsports on Thursday, 18th March, because of the wind Glenshee (20/60cm) had 12 lifts operating out of a possible 21, and the cloudy skies brought wet weather that also affected the snow cover. This weekend it is possible to demo next season's skis at Glenshee, so if you are thinking of getting new skis this is a great opportunity to see which ones will suit you.The good news is that the temperature is expected to start to drop again this weekend, with the chance of further snowfall as we head into next week. The greatest amount of snow is expected in the east, where around 15cm of new snow could fall by Friday 26th March. In the west not as much snow is forecast, but 5-8cm of snow could arrive which would help the snow cover.
USA The east coast of America is still being affected by thawing conditions, with very mild weather having been dominant for the past week. It's 7°C at Sunday River (114cm) so the snow is slushy all over the mountain. This makes for some good skiing though and the park is a good place to be with the soft snow, as it is more forgiving. Typical spring conditions can also be found at Jackson Hole (125/170cm) where it is fairly hard in the morning but softens up after lunch. All the area is open and conditions are very good for the time of year. Lower down, off piste skiing is likely to include dodging patches of grass but further up the cover is more thorough Utah still offers excellent conditions, following heavy snow over last weekend. Some of this powder still remains but on the whole it is tracked out. Piste conditions are excellent though meaning lots of great skiing. More snow is forecast for the end of this week in Utah as well.
CANADA More snow has fallen at Whistler (326cm). A further 12cm fell on Wednesday 17th March, meaning they received over a metre of fresh snow since Wednesday 10th March. Nearly 13 metres of snow has fallen so far this season. The best conditions can be found further up the mountain, as is often the case, but great spring snow awaits those who ski the lower slopes too.Another few centimetres fell at Revelstoke (211cm) on Wednesday. As with Whistler, it is warm low down but head above about 1300m and the snow is in fairly good condition. 32 of their 52 runs were open on Wednesday, 17th March, and most of the closed ones are very low down. Unfortunately it's not so good on the east coast where it is very warm, especially the south eastern resort of Blue Mountain (70cm). This means you won't find any powder but you will find a good covering of slushy snow, which can be just as fun. As it is very soft, it is the perfect snow to practise your manoeuvres in the park.
EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Mild weather is expected in the Alps this weekend but it should get colder again next week. Many resorts are expecting rain up to around 2400m on Sunday but snow above this. 4cm of snow is expected up high at Avoriaz on Sunday night, 21st March. Monday should be slightly colder with light snow at village level before cooling down again on Tuesday. Similar weather is expected in Austria, where the freezing level should rise up to about 2900m at most places on Saturday. Monday should bring some rain with it before colder weather moves in on Tuesday 23rd with light snow possible. It should be slightly colder in Switzerland and Italy. The freezing level shouldn't rise above 2400m at Andermatt in Switzerland and it should snow on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, amounting to around 10cm. It is mild in Scandinavia at the moment but the temperature is forecast to drop down to as low as -10C next week. Fresh snow is forecast to land at all of our featured Norwegian and Swedish resorts but the end of next week, Friday 26th March. The colder weather in Scandinavia is expected to make its way over to Scotland too. 6cm of fresh snow is expected at Cairngorm on Tuesday, with the freezing level falling back to around 500m by the end of next week.
NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The very mild weather on the east coast should come to a brief end on Tuesday 23rd March. However, heavy rain is expected on Monday 22nd with temperatures of 8°C. By Tuesday though 21cm of snow should have fallen and a temperature of -5°C should improve things. It should stay reasonably cold in Colorado and there will be a few snowy days too. 20cm of fresh powder is expected at Keystone on Friday 19th March and it will be cold too, -9°C is the expected high. The weekend should be cold and sunny, with that weather trend continuing into next week as well.Thursday, Friday and Saturday are expected to be sunny up at Whistler in Canada. Light snow and colder weather is expected from Sunday 21st March, bringing around 30cm of snow with it next week.
