The New PlanetSKI Snow Report
Tuesday 17th February
Today we start a new rolling weekly snow report as our reporters around the mountains keep us up-to-date.
Our last PlanetSKI Snow Report ran from Tuesday 10th February through to Monday 16th February, and gives some context as current conditions are always shaped by what has preceded.
We are updating from Sunshine Village in Canada today, but first the situation in the Alps.
Large amounts of snow has been falling across Switzerland & parts of the French and Italian Alps in yet another storm.
The first thing to report is the high risk of avalanche in many places where the fresh snow has fallen.
There have been further fatalities off piste in the last few days, two in Italy and one in Switzerland, as we have reported in this separate PlanetSKI news article:
Avalanche in Davos.Image c/o Graubunden Cantonal Police.
In terms of the snowfall here’s our resident snow guru, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk:
“Storm totals between Sunday evening and Tuesday lunchtime are likely to be greatest in the northern French Alps (e.g. Tignes, La Rosière, Chamonix), the far north-western Italian Alps (e.g. La Thuile, Courmayeur) and the northern and western Swiss Alps (e.g. Glacier 3000, Portes du Soleil, Engelberg) .
“Above 1,500m there should be close to 1m of fresh snow, with even more in places.
“On the whole, the further east and south-east you are in the Alps, the less potent this storm will be.
“That said, many Austrian resorts (e.g. Saalbach, Kitzbühel) will see a moderate fall of snow, but some southern resorts, especially towards the south-east (e.g. Dolomites) will largely miss out this time around.
At least until Thursday.”
Much of Switzerland is on a Level 4 alert on Tuesday 17th February.
Avalanche warning for Switzerland for Tuesday 17th February. Image c/o Swiss Avalanches Institute.
In Switzerland an avalanche de-railed a train injuring five people.
The accident happened near the village of Goppenstein in southern Switzerland.
The regional commuter train was on its way from Spiez to Brig when it derailed.
“According to initial findings, an avalanche may have crossed the tracks shortly before the train passed,” police stated.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
It is all very different in the resorts around Banff in Canada.
Where PlanetSKI is.
Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Regular readers will know that PlanetSKI has been in Canada for the past couple of months, but our time is coming to an end.
We have a full report from Sunshine Village near Banff in Canada where it has been another great day, with some snow finally in the forecast.
Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
“There are plenty of moguls around indicating the lack of recent snow, but they are great to ski on if that is your cup of tea,” added James.
“Mogul skiing in Europe is a dying art as the strategy of resorts is generally to smash them all out with a piste basher overnight to create more space for intermediate skiers.”
Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
PlanetSKI has been based near Banff with its three ski areas since the first half of December.
- Lake Louise has seen 6.37m of snow so far this season.
- Sunshine Village has seen 5.49m.
- Mt Norquay has seen 2.08m.
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Delirium Dive, Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Peering into Delirium Dive, Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
Peering down Delirium Dive, Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
- Delirium Dive
- Wild West
- South Side Chutes
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Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
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