Snow Report, July 7

It may have been calm and sunny on the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes first thing this morning (pictured above). But it’s not stayed that way. Check out our snow forecast page to see how, er, unsettled the weather is going to be in the Alps this week.

And this snow forecasting map for Wednesday July 9 will give you an idea of how chilly it’s going to be at altitude…

French forecaster Meteo Chamonix reckons that tomorrow it will snowing down to 2100m in the French Alps, and maybe down to 1900m on Wednesday morning. Needless to say, conditions will be tough for those on summer glacier-skiing courses, such as those run by Snoworks: but whenever the skies clear there’ll be July powder to play on.

The weekend just gone has been a busy one in Les Deux Alpes, by the way. Pictured, below, is some of the action from the Crankworx mountain bike festival.

And this was the scene at the Kumi-Yama freestyle fest up on the glacier…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet…

They’ve just had a fabulous week in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, playing in two metres of snow dumped by two separate late-June storms. The forecast is promising more snow this week, too: although it will be very windy for a time, which is bound to affect the running of the lifts.

Here’s a little taste of the skiing last week in Perisher, where the resort reports 129cm of settled snow on the upper slopes.

There was also some fresh snow last week in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, which helped with the (delayed) openings of both Treble Cone and The Remarkables.

Below is a short and tasty video shot on opening day in Treble Cone, by All Us in Winterland. “Waaaaay more snow than we were expecting!” they said.

And pictured below is how it was looking in The Remarkables earlier today. Currently there’s 35cm bedded down on the lower trails, and up to 90cm in places at the top of the mountain.

New Zealand is still waiting for a really powerful storm to beef up its off-piste skiing; and it will have to wait a while longer yet, as the weather is likely to turn warm in the second half of this week, with some rain on the slopes expected.

Finally – this was the scene in Valle Nevado in the Andes yesterday. There was around 15cm of snow in the middle of last week, and a 2cm top-up at the weekend too. So far, 227cm of snow has fallen this winter, and around 30cm is bedded down on the lower pistes.

	France: you can currently ski on the glaciers above above Val d’Isere, Tignes and Les Deux Alpes. This week the weather at glacier level is likely to be…snowy. Conditions may be tough for a while, but the skiing surface will be gorgeous once the skies clear.
	Switzerland: as in the French Alps, Switzerland’s weather will be unsettled this week – with the snow at altitude. Currently, above Zermatt, stormy weather has closed the summer-skiing area.
	Austria: the Stubai Glacier has now closed to skiers for the summer, but you can still ski on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier near Kaprun, and the Hintertux glacier east of Innsbruck, as well as the Molltaler glaicer near Flattach. On the Kitzsteinhorn the cover is up to 190cm deep.
	Italy: the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale is currently closed. However, you can currently access glacier skiing on the Swiss-Italian border from Cervinia, when conditions allow.
	Andorra: Andorra’s ski resorts are now closed.
	Western USA: The Rocky Mountain ski season is officially over! Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, has finally closed for the season. But let’s not forget that in in late September they’ll be cranking up the snow cannons again if conditions are right. If you want to ski now, head to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon.
	Western Canada: the Horstman above Whistler is now open to skiers and boarders for the short summer season – which runs until July 27.