Morning Snowfiends!

I couldn’t resist sharing a few photos from the lastest storm in the Alps – which turned out to be more generous than expected.

The focus of the action was along the high ridge that separates Italy and Switzerland, near the resorts of Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Cervinia: and this morning Cervinia is reporting a whopping 110cm of new snow on its upper slopes. Zermatt reckons it has “about a metre”, up high as well.

That was in line with expectations. What’s been such a pleasant surprise is how widespread the snow was beyond that core area. It’s been a tad cooler than expected too, so it’s settled at lower elevations.

Here, for example, is the middle of Tignes in France this morning.

Pictured, below, is the hamlet of Findeln, above Zermatt this morning.

And this is Saas Fee.

All three of these resorts have their own glaciers and are offering skiing – although there may be delays reopening after the storm because of the avalanche risk.

Up high in Austria there’s been snow too. Pictured below is the Stubai glacier, just south of Innsbruck, which reports 60cm of fresh snow this morning.

And pictured below is the Hohe Mut Alm above Obergurgl, which is reporting up to 74cm on its slopes this morning. Obergurgl is usually the first resort without a glacier to open for the winter, and is due to spin its lifts for the first time on November 13. The signs are that it will get off to a decent start.

There’s a little more of the white stuff left in the storm today as well, which is hanging around over Austria and south-eastern Switzerland. Below is today’s snow forecast for the Alps.

Looking beyond that, it is going to warm up again tomorrow, and the freezing point will be somewhere between 2500m and 2800m by Sunday. That’s typical of this time of year. Two steps forward, one step back…

Tempted by the thought of a pre-Christmas ski trip? Then check out our guide to the best resorts for early-season skiing.

Meanwhile in North America…

Three resorts out west are due to open tomorrow. In Colorado, both Copper and Keystone were helped along the path to opening day by snow and a drop in temperature at the beginning of the week. Here’s how Keystone looked yesterday.

Meanwhile, up in Banff National Park in Canada, Lake Louise gets going for the winter tomorrow as well. Pictured below is how the resort was looking as darkness fell last night.