Snow Report

The Wrong Kind of Snow? | Snow Report

Levi race course, covered in snow, a crowd on the snow-street in foreground

The snow continues to fall across the N Hemisphere with more countries getting in on the act.

 

The first snow has fallen at resorts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and further east in Japan where between 50-75cm fell this past weekend.

Unfortunately, both days of the Men’s Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening World Cup Downhill race were cancelled due to too much snow, low visibility, and high winds.

Organisers are keeping everything crossed that this coming weekend’s Women’s races will go ahead.

a ski hill in the early days of getting covered up with snow
Kvravec, Slovenia Facebook image

It was all systems go at Levi in Finland for the Women’s World Cup Slalom where Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her record breaking 7th win in Levi, putting her top of the Overall World Cup rankings.

This past weekend saw Mammoth and Vail in the US and Sunshine in Canada open their doors for the season, and Copper Mountain opens today, making it the 6th resort open in Colorado.

We’ll be posting twice weekly snow reports on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the 2023/24 Winter season, so bookmark us or better yet subscribe to get the latest snow news and our tips for where the snow will be.

If you’re out in resort drop us a line via our social media channels to share your ‘on the snow’ experiences and photos.

a skier on an empty piste, carving on a blue-sky day
Hintertux Facebook image

WHAT’S OPEN NOW TO SKI?

There’s been plenty of fresh snow falling across the Alps the past 3-4 days with superb skiing on offer at the Austrian and Swiss glacier resorts.

Hintertux (10/21 lifts; 37/60km piste; 0-100cm base), Kaunertal (3/7 lifts; 15/55km piste; 85-160cm base), Kitzsteinhorn (3/3 lifts; 40-45cm base), Molltaler (4/9 lifts; 10/36km piste; 0-70cm base), Pitztal (6/7 lifts; 12/41km piste; 5-100cm base), Solden (12/31 lifts; 37/143km piste; 5-135cm base), Stubai (13/26 lifts; 37/68km piste; 10-80cm) in Austria.

Glacier 3000 (4/5 lifts; 5/7 slopes; 0-100cm base), Saas Fee (8/23 lifts; 11/100km; 0-150cm base), Zermatt (8/51 lifts; 18/332km piste; 0-200cm base) in Switzerland.

the glacier of Saas Fee is pictured
Saas Fee Facebook image

The Nordic resorts continue to open up more terrain thanks to snowmaking and natural snowfall.

Levi (6/26 lifts; 5/38.5km piste; 10-26cm base), Ruka (8/22 lifts; 5/19km piste; 20-30cm base) in Finland.

Kvitfjell (2/14 lifts; 2/39km piste; 15-50cm base) in Norway.

Kabdalis (2/4 lifts; 5/9km piste; 35-90cm base) in Sweden.

Across the pond, snowmaking has kept conditions on piste in great shape.

UNITED STATES

Mammoth (4/25 lifts; 6/90km piste; 10-15cm base) in California.

Arapahoe Basin (1/9 lifts; 2/105km piste; 10-45cm base), Copper (10-45cm base), Eldora (2/12 lifts; 5-51cm base), Keystone (6/22 lifts; 5/132km piste; 45-45cm base), Vail (2/33 lifts; 45-45cm base) and Winter Park (6/22 lifts; 3/132km piste; 45-45cm base) in Colorado.

Solitude (6/9 lifts; 5 pistes; 17-40cm base) in Utah.

Killington (2/22 lifts; 4/118km piste; 30-30cm base) in Vermont.

CANADA

Mt Norquay (2/6 lifts; 1/16km piste; 40-46cm base) and Lake Louise (4/11 lifts; 7/139km piste; 29-29cm base) in Alberta, Sommet-Saint-Sauveur (1/8 lift; 1/38km piste; 10-20cm base) in Quebec.

a snowy scene, cloudy, over a lift base station

SNOW FORECAST FOR THE NEXT 3-4 DAYS

The freezing level is set to fluctuate across some parts of the Northern Hemisphere in the coming days.

The Alps will see the freezing level rise to between 2,500 – 3,000m bringing snow to the glaciers but rain at village level.

There’s a similar story in Japan with the freezing level rising to 2,000m.

The Nordic countries will see consistent below freezing temperatures and clear skies in the coming days, with a storm system forecast for the end of the week.

The US and Canada will see mostly sunny skies with little to no precipitation over the next 3-4 days.

Levi race course, covered in snow, a crowd on the snow-street in foreground
World Cup races in Levi | Elias Koli image

About the author

Mike Richards

Welsh valleys boy born & bred, Mike now lives between Cardiff and Niseko in Hokkaido, Japan where he's a pro ski instructor. Mike came to skiing later in life at 27, with his first ski season spent as a Chalet Host in Ellmau, Austria in 1993. He's skied every year since, notching up 100+ ski areas across 21 countries and five continents, including his home hill in Brecon Beacons National Park. His personal motto - "If it's snowing, I'm going..."

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