30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Snow Report

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps

France and Switzerland have had the lion's share, but the Arlberg in Austria has done well, too. At last, winter seems to be underway...
30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Val Thorens, in the Three Valleys, this morning. Photo: Val Thorens/Facebook

Feast your eyes on the white stuff, Snowfiends. Mother Nature has at last got her act together and sent us snow.

I’m Le Praz in Courchevel today – courtesy of upmarket chalet specialist Alp Leisure – and even at 1300m we had 30cm of snow overnight, on top of the 10-15cm that fell here on Saturday. Higher up, across the north-western Alps, there’s more like 40cm, and in places maybe half a metre. The mountains here are echoing to the sound of avalanche blasting and in many resorts lifts have been on hold, thanks to an avalanche risk of 4/5 – which pretty much rules out off-piste skiing for the moment (sadly, there was a fatal avalanche accident above Chamonix yesterday).

Here’s how it was looking in Le Praz earlier this morning…

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: Welove2ski.com

Not bad, huh? There’s still a way to go before the snowpack gets to where it should be at this time of year. On steeper pistes, the new snow will no doubt be scraped away today to reveal the icy underlayer from last week, and the rockier off-piste runs will still throw up a few nasty surprises (in fact, more snow will be needed before some are skiable). But all the same, this is a vast improvement – and there’s more to come.
 

 
In fact, our snow forecast is predicting snow for the next five days. Admittedly, it’s going to get warmer again at the end of the week, and there will be rain in the lower resorts. But the mid-range weather models look promising for next week, and we could see another significant bout of snow (though it’s too soon to be certain).

Here’s our snow forecast for Wednesday, January 6.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Welove2ski’s snow forecast for January 6.

And this is the forecast for January 8 – when temperatures will be milder than today.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
The snow forecast for the Alps, January 8.

As you’ll notice from all our weather maps, it’s the resorts of France and Switzerland that will get the lion’s share of snow this week. However, it has fallen in Italy and Austria too. In Austria, the Arlberg resorts did well from the snow overnight, and should get several top-ups over the course of the week.

Here, for example, is how it’s looking in Nasserein in St Anton this morning, with snow down to the valley floor.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: stantonamarlberg.com

And here’s how it is in Lech.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: annamarialech.at

It’s snowing too in Ischgl – and in fact settling right down to village level. Thanks to its state-of-the-art snowmaking system Ischgl offered decent skiing right through the snow drought. But all the same, the softer, grippier natural cover will be very welcome.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: ischgl.com

There’s been snow too in the Dolomites – although it’s been much lighter than in the northwestern Alps. This is the Passo san Pellegrino, above the lovely town of Moena.

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: fassa.com

Meanwhile, here are few shots from the land of plenty, starting with Serre Chevalier

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: Serre Chevalier/Facebook

Pictured below is Val d’Isere, courtesy of Val specialists YSE

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: yseski.co.uk

And this is Verbier

30-40cm of Fresh Snow in the Western Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: Verbier/Facebook

Fingers crossed winter has finally got its mojo back – but still, if you’re planning a trip in the near future, I’d aim high in case there are any more nasty thaws.

I’ll be back with a full snow report on Thursday.

About the author

Sean Newsom

As well as founding Welove2ski in June 2007, Sean has written about skiing and snowboarding in the British press for 28 years. For the last 20 of them, he’s also been the ski travel editor at The Sunday Times.

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