World Snow Wrap, January 29 – Japan Keeps Pumping, Dry January in the US, Snow on the Way for Canada and Europe

January 29th, 2022
A deep powder day on Nozawa Onsen early last week. If only…Photo: Shogo Kawano / 西條聡

Mountainwatch | Reggae Elliss

The past two weeks have been a mixed bag for Northern Hemisphere resorts, La Nina delivering plenty of snow to Japan while it has been a dry January for much of the US and Canada. Europe has had a sunny week but that will change soon. Read on for the details.

Japan

May as well start with the country getting the most snow and the only country we can’t get to at the moment. While fully vaccinated people can travel to Europe, the US and Canada, Japan’s borders are firmly shut to international visitors, hard to take as it is having a cracker of a season. Over the past week the resorts in Central Honshu fared pretty well, Myoko scoring another 96cms while Hakuba locked in 50cms. It was a little quieter up in Niseko and Furano with just 25cms, although our friends at Sea and Summit Media tell us the backcountry has been pretty good.

 

Making the effort in Hokkaido last weekend. Photo: Sea and Summit Media

After a few days of sunshine, a change has delivered snow across Hokkaido, Furano reporting 25cms this morning while our Niseko reporter is calling 20cms. There is also fresh snow today in Hakuba with 10cm overnight and more on the way. In his latest Japan forecast the Grasshopper is calling more snow over the next week, with 50cms for the central Honshu resorts while Niseko should see 20cm across the weekend.

USA

After the good snowfalls of December and early January it has been pretty slow in the Western US for most of January with sunshine, cold temps and the best conditions on piste. There were some light snowfalls in the Rockies mid-week with Colorado resorts receiving 5-12cms on Thursday while resorts in Utah and Wyoming only saw a 2cm dusting.  There are no big storms on the way for the Rockies although light snowfalls could drop 10-15cms  in Jackson Hole early next week while further south the Colorado resorts should see similar totals.

 

Thanks to a dry January conditions are hard-packed in California where it is all about the groomers. Palisades Tahoe on Jan 26. Photo: Kate Abraham

A dry spell in the Pacific northwest will end this weekend with a solid storm set to track in from the north this weekend with potential for 45cms over the next five days. After the record-breaking falls in California’s Sierra’s in December, January has been totally dry with hardpacked conditions off piste and the focus has been on the groomers and terrain parks. Unfortunately, the forecast is not looking good for the Sierras, with no snow expected in Mammoth or the Tahoe resorts during  first half of Feb.

Canada

There were some decent snowfalls across British Columbia around Jan 20-21, with mainly fine weather over the past week thanks to a slow-moving high-pressure system. The interior BC resorts did the best out of last week’s snow, Red Mountain and Whitewater picking up 10-15cms while Whistler Blackcomb just had a dusting. Things are about to change with a good storm expected in BC this weekend, Whistler Blackcomb in line for 30cms while Revelstoke and other interior resorts should see 30-40cms from Sunday through to Thursday.

 

A beautiful shot of Revelstoke last week. Photo: TJ Balon

It has been fine over the past week in Lake Louise and the Banff resorts, other than a dusting mid-week, the last snow was Jan 17-21 when 25cms fell. That set up a good week of skiing and the fine weather will continue into the weekend ahead of snow on Sunday with 15-20cm possible by Tuesday. However, it is going to get cold with day time max temps as low as -19 in the middle of the week.

Europe

After a lengthy period of sunshine there were welcome snowfalls across much of the European Alps over the past week, with 20-50cms in some regions. The Austrian resorts did quite well although wind hold was an issue before things eased for a good powder day last Sunday. Snowfalls were lighter in Switzerland, only in the 5-10cms range while the French and Italian Alps missed out.

 

Cruising in the sunshine in Val d’Isere this week, Nice backdrop: Photo: Val d’Isere.

The last few days have been mainly fine but the forecast is for another change this weekend with good snowfalls forecast for Austria’s Arlberg and Tirol regions, St Anton due for a metre from Sunday through to Thursday. The Swiss alps should also see some decent snow with 30-40cms forecast. Further south the French Alps are should see around 20-25cms early next week while in Italy, the Dolomites will finally see some snow, but only about 10cms in the forecast

Where We Would Like To Be This Week

St Anton. An awesome town and one of the world’s great resorts  with a huge amount of terrain and there is a metre of snow on the way. It could be as good as it gets.