Snow Report, October 15

It’s snowing in the Alps! And according to today’s Welove2ski snow forecast parts of Austria, Italy and Switzerland could see over a half a metre of the white stuff before the storm is over. Here is this week’s snow report:

In places, the snow is settling down at resort level, too – as you’ll see from this webcam shot at the Rond-Point in Meribel this morning.

Meanwhile at Engelberg in Switzerland, there was 14cm of fresh snow on the slopes first thing this morning, according to the snow report. Judging by this webcam shot of the Stand ski hut, there’s now significantly more than that. The resort will decide tomorrow if the glacier will open for autumn skiing next weekend.

Here’s a quick selection of webcam shots from elsewhere in the Alps.

It’s great to see the snow falling in such quantity over the region again – the first decent autumn storm we’ve seen in the Alps since the first half of September. But I’m afraid the cold snap is not going to last. Warmer air is expected to blow in tomorrow, and the snowline will go scurrying back uphill. What’s more, an area of high pressure over eastern Europe is expected to settle in and dominate the weather for several days, blocking the advance of any more storms and keeping temperatures toasty for the time of year. Looks as though we’ll have to wait until November for a more sustained shift towards cold weather.

Meanwhile, up in Scandinavia there’s been snow too. Up in Are, Sweden there was snow last weekend, and again this morning. Generally, the autumn there has so far been cooler than last year’s – and that trend is likely to continue for several days. However it looks as though the warm weather could reach it by the end of the week.

And what of the race to open in Colorado? Well, there’s been a lot of snow made in the last ten days in both Loveland and Arapahoe Basin – and there was fresh snow over the weekend too: though not in large enough quantities to accelerate the process of getting the first trails open. Yesterday, Arapahoe Basin confirmed that it wasn’t going to open today: “Close, but not quite there yet” was how the COO Alan Henceroth put it.

	France: There’s 15cm of fresh snow on the glacier above Tignes and four pistes are open. The snow should improve skiing there considerably. Meanwhile, the glacier above Les Deux Alpes will open briefly from October 27 to November 4 – and again for the winter season on December 1.
	Switzerland: The glaciers above both Saas-Fee and Zermatt are open for skiing – weather allowing. The lifts are however not running because of the high winds and heavy snow. Currently, at Saas-Fee the cover is 127cm deep. The glacier at Engelberg has postponed its opening day again – it may open at the weekend if enough snow falls in the current storm.
	Austria: On the Hintertux glacier 31km of skiing is on offer, and the cover is 65cm deep. You can also ski on the Molltal, Pitztal and Stubai glaciers. The Kitzsteinhorn glacier is reopening for autumn skiing on October 16.
	Italy: Glacier skiing above Val Senales will decide on October 16 if it can open this coming weekend.
	Andorra: Andorra’s ski areas are closed.
	Western USA: All the mainstream resorts in the US are currently closed for skiing. However, little Wild Mountain in Minnesota stole a march on everyone and opened early on October 7. Meanwhile, Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon opened for the autumn on October 12 – with limited cover.
	Western Canada: All the mainstream ski resorts in Canada are currently closed.