Skiers in the high-altitude resorts of Austria have been enjoying fresh snow and coolish temperatures this week. The snow has fallen intermittently, but whenever the skies have cleared, conditions have been excellent.
The Tirol’s avalanche-assessment service reports 15-30cm of snow in many areas over the last three days, with a little more than that in the Zillertal, near Innsbruck.
Here’s how it looked on the slopes beneath the Hintertux glacier this morning.
This was the scene above Obergurgl earlier today.
And this was the scene above the Stubai glacier.
As I write this, it’s still snowing on the Kitzsteinhorn, above Zell am See.
By contrast it’s been dry in Switzerland and the western Alps, and the sun’s been out. As a result, the deep snow that fell at the weekend in the south-western Alps has been going through a daily cycle of melting and refreezing. After a glorious morning of powder skiing on Monday, spring-skiing tactics have been essential once again.
Nevertheless, there are still very healthy amounts of snow at the top of the south-western resorts. Here’s how it’s looking on the Bellevarde above Val d’Isere this afternoon, where there’s 190cm of snow on-piste at 3000m.
Cervinia is another high-altitude resort that’s in good shape at the moment, thanks to 30-35cm of snow on Sunday. Pictured below is the scene, mid-mountain, this afternoon. There over two metres of cover on the highest pistes here.
Of course, at this time of year, the high-altitude resorts are where you should be skiing – and many lower resorts have already closed or are winding down their operations. With more brilliant sunshine expected over the weekend, thoughts are turning to the summer: although some mid-range forecasts are suggesting a cold snap could bite the eastern Alps over the Easter weekend.
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