The Calm After the Storms
It has been a ferocious five days of weather in some parts of the Alps as multiple storms have hit.
Rain at low levels and snow higher up, with the freezing level down to around 1,200m at times.
Tignes in France has probably seen the most snow with well over 1m.
This is what it looked like in Tignes as the storm delivered.
Snow in Tignes, France. Photo credit Meteo Expert Savoie.
See here for a recently posted article about the season ahead in Tignes
Nearby Val Thorens has also done well with the sun now out as the storms have passed.
PlanetSKI will be in Val Thorens as the resort opens at the end of November, so fingers cross some of the snow remains at the top of the resort at 3,200m.
We reported on the 5 days of snow in this PlanetSKI article:
Resorts in Austria also saw the fresh snow and there are several glacier areas in Austria that are open.
Here’s Stubai near Innsbruck that received 30cm of fresh snow and is set to open more runs:
Glacier ski areas currently open in the Alps:
- Austria: Pitztal, Hintertux, Stubai, Soelden, Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn & Molltal.
- Italy: Passo Stelvio, Cervinia & Val Senalis.
- Switzerland: Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Titlis Glacier (Engleberg) & Diavolezza Glacier (St Moritz).
Davos in Switzerland has opened some cross-country trails and its fellow Swiss resort of Adelboden followed suit last weekend.
There are several areas open in Scandinavia, including Levi and Ruka in Finland.
So, what does all the fresh snow mean for the coming winter?
Not much really according to the alpine snow expert Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“As for what it means for the coming ski season, it is still not much unfortunately,” said Fraser.
“Were another big storm cycle to follow this, there would be a good chance that a firm base would be consolidated at altitude in some ski resorts.
“However, the weather is set to turn much milder from Tuesday onwards.
“Snow is likely to remain for some time at higher altitudes in those resorts fortunate enough to have received big dumps over the last few days (e.g. Tignes), but any low-lying snow will quickly melt.
“This will be exacerbated by the Foehn, which will make an appearance in the central/northern Alps mid-week.
In short, this storm is great news for the glacier ski areas and could still be of considerable benefit to some higher resorts as they approach the main part of the season in a month or so time.
“For the vast majority of resorts, however, it won’t make any material difference.”
However it has been great to see the snow and get us skiers and snowboarders in the mood for winter.
We will be updating this article on the recent snow across the Alps once the numbers have been crunched, and bringing you more images and videos of the first big storm of the approaching winter.
Do check back…
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