WORLD SNOW Forecasts and Reports – Issue 1, 1 Nov.
Snowmaking firing up at Lake Louise. Image:: Lake Louise
Each Monday Mountainwatch.com will be stoking your snow obsession with a quick whip round the world to see where and when it’s going to be snowing. Being as yet still pre-season for most of the world, this first edition of the Northern Outlook is running at less than full capacity, however it’ll give you a taste of what’s to come.
Stormwatch
The hero snowfalls:
With only patchy snow reporting from around the globe this early in the 2010/2011 season it’s hard to determine where the biggest snowfalls have been happening. According to us, here are the snow standouts from the past week
- Jackson Hole with 63cm in the past 72 hours
- Loveland with 7.62cm in the past 24 hours
- Steamboat and Colorado in general with approximately 60cm in the past week
- Val Gardena, Italy and the Dolomites area with a reported 60cm on 25 October
The hero snow forecasts:
Again, with little snow data coming through from around the world it’s a little tricky to determine where the big falls are going to be in the coming days. What we do know though…
- Whistler is expecting 65cm in the next 7 days. With 50cm of that in the next 48 hours
- Early opener Lake Louise is expecting 14cm in the next 7 days with one dump on Tuesday and another on Saturday
Highlights this week:
1. The Snowboard Word Cup halfpipe in Saas Fee, Switzerland, 3 – 4 November
2. Lake Louise opening 5 November
Highlights from last week:
1. Superstorms across Colorado, including Steamboat, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail
2. The Relentless Freeze Festival at Battersea Power Station in London, with Marco Grilc taking out the first FIS World Cup Big Air for 2010/2011.
If we could pick anywhere this week, we’d be: Lake Louise. Lifts opening, snow on the forecast and snowmaking going at full strength – why not! You can find us at the Chateau Lake Louise (we wish).
Resort Wrap
Expected Opening: 25 November – Aspen Mountain and Snowmass. 11 December – Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.
Recent Snowfalls: 33cm in the past 7 days
7 Day forecast: 6cm forecast in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 27.97cm (top of Aspen Mountain)
With over a foot of snow in recent days and more to come Aspen is looking good for its late November opening. Just two days after the lifts start turning Aspen Mountain will play host to the 2010 Winternational Audi FIS Alpine World Cup. It’s a girls’ only race weekend in the slalom and GS disciplines and it includes the Bud Light concert series at the base of Aspen Mountain.
The without pause it’ll be straight into a round of NorAm GS races (men and women), also on Aspen Mountain.
All in all a big opening weekend.
Expected Opening: 12 November
Recent Snowfalls: Approximately 60cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: About 1.5cm forecast
Current snow depth: not yet measured
Breckenridge reaped the benefits of the same storm that dumped about 60cm of snow at Steamboat and Vail, and with Breckenridge scheduled to open in under two weeks, the opportunity to enjoy it is not far away! On 11 November Breckenridge staff will station themselves in local cafes to give away free coffees in Breckenridge collectors mugs.
Expected Opening: 24 November
Recent Snowfalls: Approximately 60cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: 5cm forecast in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 48cm at mid mountain
Ski Town USA is celebrating a white Halloween as these words are written. As long time resident Don St Pierre said in his recent Steamboat reflection, Halloween marks the shift from summer to winter and with a 2ft storm on October 25 winter has come to the party early. Steamboat’s opening day is known as Scholarship Day as all ticket sale proceeds are donated to the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Scholarship Fund.
Expected Opening: 19 November
Recent Snowfalls: about 33cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: about 4cm in the next week
Current snow depth: no measurements taken yet
The snow has already blessed Vail, with at least 30cm last week. The resort will bring in the new season with a big breakfast feast of burritos, hot chocolates and giveaways, plus a concert at the base of the gondola.
Top of Vail Mountain October 26th from satchele Burns on Vimeo.
Expected Opening: 20 November.
Recent Snowfalls: approximately 53cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: no snow forecast for the next 7 days
Current snow depth: not yet measured
With a solid half a metre of snow in recent days Park City is gearing up for winter. They’ve done their snow dance, and it brought them a serious snow dump, so the resort staff are quietly confident opening day will be epic.
Expected Opening: 20 November
Recent Snowfalls: 86.36cm so far this winter
7 Day forecast: No snow forecast
Current snowdepth: 73.66cm at mid mountain
After an excellent 3ft start to the pre-season Snowbird is expecting warmer temperatures and a few rainy days this week, however the clouds will clear in the middle of the week and who knows what will happen between now and 20 November.
Thirsty riders should enjoy Snowbird’s opening week. Although no events are planned, the weekly Martini Mondays, Whisky Wednesdays and Thirsty Thursdays happy hours will make for a jolly week at Snowbird.
Expected Opening: 19 November.
Recent Snowfalls: A dusting of snow in the past week
7 Day forecast: no significant snow forecast
Current snow depth: not yet measured
Snowmaking: Heavenly fired up the snow guns five days before schedule, on October 26, with a solid 12 hour stint on the first night.
Heavenly is working hard to ensure everything is perfect for 19 November, with an epic snowmaking effort going on.
Expected Opening: 11 November
Recent Snowfalls: 10 – 15cm in early October
7 Day forecast: snow flurries forecast for Tuesday
Current snow depth: trace
Snowmaking: Snowmaking has been underway for several days, with snowmaking activity on Wall and Broadway runs
Would Mammoth open any other way than with a bang? The opening week is jam-packed. The Big Winter Kick Off celebrations will include concerts, kids activities and a general carnivale feel. Mammoth’s new magazine Unbound will be Launched at Hyde on 12 November and Mammoth’s latest snowboarding movie, Another Day in Paradise will premiere on 13 November.
Expected Opening: 4 December.
Recent Snowfalls: a dusting late last week
7 Day forecast: 10cm forecast for the next 7 days
Current snow depth: nothing significant as yet
The Hakuba resorts are tentatively scheduled to open at the beginning of December, but good snowfalls will prompt an early opening, which means if you’ve got not much planned and can make last minute plans you’d do worse than a quick trip to Japan before Christmas!
Expected Opening: 28 November.
Recent Snowfalls: between 10 and 30cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: 10cm in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: approximately 25cm above mid mountain
It’s blizzarding right now in Niseko! The town is switching off summer and preparing for winter, with some locals already hitting the slopes for a pre-season run on two.
Expected Opening: 4 December
Recent Snowfalls: 30cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: 4cm
Current snow depth: 18cm
It’s been snowing at Big White all week, so things are looking good for opening on 4 December. In that first week of the season Big White will celebrate the holiday season with the Big White Light Up on 10 December – Christmas lights galore – and then get festive with the Big Reds at Big White wine festival on 11 December.
Expected Opening: 4 December.
Recent Snowfalls: 40cm of snow on 25 – 26 October
7 Day forecast: a dusting of snow is expected over the next few days
Current snow depth: not yet measured
They haven’t started measuring the snow depth yet, but judging by their Opening Day Facebook page, Fernie is excited about season 2010/2011. Last year the resort opened to massive amounts of fresh powder and fingers are crossed for the same blessings this year.
Expected Opening: 26 November. (Nordic trails 6 November).
Recent Snowfalls: 22cm in the past 7 days
7 Day forecast: a few flurries are forecast this week
Current snow depth: 17cm
Silverstar claims to have some of the most reliable early conditions anywhere – if they’re not able to operate even one lift because of a lack of snow you can change your accommodation booking to another date!
Sun Peaks
Expected Opening: 20 November.
Recent Snowfalls: 43.4cm in the past 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 1cm forecast for the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 30cm at mid mountain
After the solid snow dump of last week, Sun Peaks should be in for a few sunny days at the beginning of November as it prepares for the Opening Day. With La Nina promising a wetter, colder than average winter, the resort is looking good for an epic season.
>Expected Opening: 25 November.
Recent Snowfalls: Around 40cm in the past week
7 Day forecast: 65cm forecast for the next 7 days
Current snow depth: not yet measured
Whistler will put its Olympic bobsleigh track to good use on Opening Day when the first stop of the the FIBT Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup comes to town. Of course, with this year a La Nina year, the Opening Day freshies may make it difficult to leave the slopes to go trackside at the Bobsleigh centre. Either way, a good week is promised.
Oct. 27 Skiing on Blackcomb Mountain from Whistler Blackcomb on Vimeo.
Expected Opening: 5 November
Recent Snowfalls: nothing of note
7 Day forecast: 13cm
Current snow depth: not measured as yet
Snowmaking: Snowmaking began on 17 October and has laid a good coverage across many area of the resort
Lake Louise will get into the winter vibe with the Premiere of TGR’s Light the Wick in Banff on November 4, the day before lifts start spinning. In fact the second week of November will be jammed packed with snow movies in Banff.
Going Global
France
Recent snowfalls: No significant snowfalls in the French Alps in the last little while
Forecast snowfalls: forecasts suggesting rain in the region
Snow conditions: n/a
Switzerland
Recent snowfalls: Saas Fee received 20cm of snow on the weekend. Several of the smaller Swiss resorts have had dustings, but no major snow storms to report.
Forecast snowfalls: Monday and Tuesday are looking good for snow in the Swiss Alps with Saas Fee, Zermatt, Verbier and the other major resorts expecting light to moderate snowfalls
Snow conditions: early season
Austria
Recent snowfalls: Kitzbuhel received 30cm last week and the Glaciers are mostly sporting a fresh powder cover thanks to snowfalls at the end of October.
Forecast snowfalls: As with Switzerland, Monday and Tuesday are going to be overcast with a good chance of snow.
Snow conditions: Fresh powder at the glacier resorts
Italy
Recent snowfalls: Val Gardena in the Dolomites received 60cm of snow last week and the smaller resorts are all showing recent snowfalls.
Forecast snowfalls: Nothing major snow wise on the forecast, though rain is likely in the next few days
Snow conditions: n/a
Hakuba forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Lake Louise forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Heavenly forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Big White forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Whistler forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Vail forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Steamboat forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Fernie forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Snowbird forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Niseko forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Aspen Mountain forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Sun Peaks forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Park City forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Breckenridge forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Silver Star forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Mammoth forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
