World Snow Wrap Up Vol. 14, 31 January – The Calm Before the (Next) Storm
The snowboard superpipe prelims in Aspen. Image:: Jeremy Swanson/Aspen Snowmass
Stormwatch:
The snowfall heros
California, Japan and Italy did us proud again last week, it’s looking like we can generally rely on them to deliver the pow. And Whistler of course.
- Niseko, Japan – with 150cm last week
- Mammoth, California – 40cm on the weekend
- Fernie, British Columbia – 37cm. Honourable mention to BC as a whole, which was nicely snowy
The snow forecast heros:
After a week’s reprieve the snow is coming back. Colorado should see some great storm action by the end of the week and it’ll hit Utah a couple of days later
- Around 30cm and growing for Colorado
- Utah with 20cm or thereabouts for the end of the week
- Niseko, Japan, with 43cm
Last week’s event highlights:
- If anything besides Winter X 15 was taking place last week we didn’t notice. Winter sport’s premier showcase again exploded across Aspen with four days of mmayhem in which some really very talented athletes did some really very incredible things. Torstein Horgmo’s triple cork – the first in competition, Kelly Clark’s 1080, a women’s snowboarding first, Shaun White’s record setting fourth in a row superpipe win, with a score of 97.33, equalling the record he set last year for the highest score ever awarded in X Games superpipe.
Event highlights this week:
- 30 January – 5 February 2011 FREESTYLE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – moguls, slopestyle, skier x, aerials, halfpipe, dual moguls. Deer Valley, Park City, Utah, USA
- 1 – 6 February 2011 BURTON CANADIAN OPEN, Calgary, Canada. Join riders from around the world in competing in world class halfpipe and slopestyle courses and for a $50,000 cash purse. TTR World Tour 5Star
- 3 – 7 February 2011 Bigmountain Hochfügen in Hochfügen Austria – Ski + Snowboard Freeride World Tour Qualifier 4Star
- 4 – 5 February 2011 ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP, Arber-Zwiesel, Germany. Women’s slalom and GS
- 4 – 5 February 2011 BILLABONG AIR&STYLE, Innsbruck, Austria
- 5 – 6 February 2011 ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP, Hinterstoder, Austria. Men’s GS an super G
- 7 – 9 February 2011 SNOWBOARD WORLD CUP – parallel GS and snowboard X. Yongpyong, Korea
- 8 – 13 February 2011 ASPEN/SNOWMASS OPEN, Snowmass, Colorado. Superpipe and slopstyle competition for skiers and snowboarders. AFP Silver
- 8 – 13 February 2011 NESCAFE CHAMPS LYSIN, Leysin, Switzerland
If we could pick anywhere this week, we’d be: Road trippin’ across the USA. Starting in California with all that new fresh, popping into Colorado as it snows and finishing up in Utah as the storm comes in.
In the X Games superpipe. Image:: Jeremy Swanson/Aspen Snowmass
Colorado
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 10.16cm at Aspen Mountain in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: 30cm forecast in the next 7 days for Aspen Mountain
Current snow depth: 106.68cm at Aspen Mountain, 172.72cm at Highlands
Current conditions: packed powder
A helpful snowfall is on the way to shroud the debris of Winter X 15 in a new coat of pristine white. After all the excitement, Aspen will no doubt be taking a breather this week.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 10.16cm in the past 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 29cm for the coming week
Current snow depth: 200.66cm
Current Conditions: packed powder
The forecast for Wednesday in Breckenridge – fine, with little wind and minus 31 to minus 17 degrees Celsius. Yes, a high of minus 17 and a low of minus 31. With clear skies. Cold.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: no new in the last 48 hours
7 Day forecast: about 9cm forecast in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 165.1cm at mid mountain
Current conditions: packed powder
It’s not going to be too warm at Steamboat this week either. Lows in the vicinity of minus 27 degrees Celsius for Wednesday and Thursday.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 7.62cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: 29cm
Current snow depth: 137.16cm
Current conditions: packed powder
Like the rest of Colorado, Vail will be cold this week. On the plus side there shouldn’t be much wind and Wednesday should be clear.
And Colorado generally…
What a change from last weekend. Colorado didn’t see any new snow this weekend, though there was a small snowfall on Friday; Winter Park received about 10cm which was great for X Games in Aspen but played a little havoc with the base depths at most of the resorts. There should be another light snowfall hitting the state on Monday and Tuesday which will bless most of the resorts with 5cm – 10cm of snow.
Utah
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: no new snow in the last three days
7 Day forecast: 26cm on the forecast
Current snow depth: 210cm
It’s been a while since Park City saw a really good snowfall, though light flakes and cold days have kept things pretty fresh on the surfaces. This week there’ll be a few days of sunshine between cloudy skies.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: nothing in the past few days
7 Day forecast: 21cm
Current snow depth: 271cm at mid mountain
Current conditions: packed powder
Last week: some snow flurries, some sunshine. This week: some snow flurries, some sunshine…
And Utah generally…
Not going to lie, it hasn’t been Utah’s best week. But in a season this good, there has to be some not so stellar times. The good news is things are looking up for the week coming, the snow totals are rising all the time as the front shows itself to be pretty significant.
Mammoth 31 January. Image:: Mammoth
California
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 15.24cm in the last week
7 Day forecast: nothing but sunshine for Heavenly this week
Current snow depth: 228cm at the summit
Current conditions: packed powder, man made and machine groomed
There were some snow sprinkles through the middle of the week which helped Heavenly retain it’s really rather impressive snow depth but this week is going to be positively balmy. It should reach plus 10 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Lovely weather for a goggle tan.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 40.64 in the last 24 hours
7 Day forecast: only blue skies
Current snow depth: 457cm at the summit
Current conditions: powder and packed powder
A helpful snow dump just yesterday brought some fresh pow to Mammoth. After the astounding pre-Christmas storms there has been a bit of a dry spell, and with sunshine on the cards again this week the next big storm is not yet on the horizon.
And California/Tahoe generally…
California had a snowy weekend with up to 50cm of freshies on Saturday and Sunday, making it the snowiest state in the USA. However it’s back to clear skies for the foreseeable future for most of the state. The Tahoe resorts – Sierra, Northstar and Squaw – still have excellent snow cover though the warms days coming up may play havoc with the quality.
And the rest of the USA…
New York State, Washington State, Michigan, Montana, snow fell right across the USA on the weekend. Not the OMG snowfalls we saw last year, but respectable storms in the vicinity of 50cm. It’ll be a mixed bag for the coming week. What looked yesterday like 10cm – 15cm in most areas is now more like 30cm. Hopefully this is the next OMG snowfall.
Japan
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: about 150cm this past week
7 day forecast: 43cm
Current snow depth: 430cm at the Grand Hirafu summit
Current conditions: powder
Beautiful snow on the weekend, following a couple of days of sunshine – yep, actual sunshine! which would have been a welcome relief for those feeling like they were living in a snow dome. This week will see more snow, but unfortunately there’s a strong possibility of rain in the middle of the week.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: about 90cm this week
7 Day forecast: 15cm for the week
Current snow depth: 340cm at the summit
Current conditions: powder and packed powder
It’s going to be warmer than we might like in Hakuba this week, up to around plus 5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So although there’s a lot of precipitation around, some of that is going to fall as rain.
And Japan generally…
There was snow across the whole country which, coupled with some low temperatures, made for some excellent dry pow. Unfortunately temperatures will rise this week and there may be some rain.
Pretty Whistler. Image:: Whister
British Columbia
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 21cm this week
7 Day forecast: about 8cm this week
Current snow depth: 201cm
Current conditions: powder, packed powder and machine groomed
Big White has cracked the 2m snow base! With some lovely fresh pow days it was a great final week of school holidays in Big White. Now things will quieten down in the Aussie home-away-from-home.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 37cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 8cm for the week
Current snow depth: 234cm
Current conditions: powder and packed powder
Another great week at Fernie. Of all the North American resorts, Fernie has been one of the most consistent this year, with good weekly snowfalls interspersed with days of lovely sunshine, plenty of cool, crisp weather and little wind. For a place famous for its big mountain skiing, this is ideal!
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 15.0cm last week
7 Day forecast: 3cm and a little rain
Current snow depth: 181cm
Current conditions: packed powder and machine groomed
Again, a little rain on the forecast along with some blue skies. Last week’s mix of snow and rain hasn’t canceled the parade though now the school holidays are over Canada’s ‘Mollymook on the snow’ can recoup.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 16.2cm last week
7 Day forecast: 1cm for the week
Current snow depth: 153cm
Current conditions: packed powder
Sunshine is on the cards for this week at Sun Peaks, which will be a welcome change from the drizzle of last week.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 22cm in the last week
7 Day forecast: 15cm coming up
Current snow depth: 235cm
Current conditions: packed powder
A whopping 824cm of snow has graced Whistler’s so far this season, considering it’s still January (just) that’s pretty impressive. Though it’s easy to get caught up in the snow totals and overlook the fact Whistler’s village is only about 650m above sea level and what falls as snow at the top quite often falls as rain at the bottom. But hey, who cares, stay high – there’s plenty of elevation, no need to come down to the rain.
And BC Generally…
It snowed in BC this weekend. About 40cm, or perhaps a little less, depending on where you were. It’s not as cold there as it is down south in Colorado but conditions are really quite good. Revelstoke is blowing everyone away with it’s lots of pow on big mountains shtick and the lesser known resorts like Mt Baldy and Apex are doing well.
There’s incredible snow at the Whistler summit. Image:: Patrick Hui/Whistler
Alberta
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 35cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: 3cm for the coming week
Current snow depth: 169cm
Current conditions: powder and packed powder
An amazing weekend in Lake Louise, leading into a few days of sunshine before the snow clouds return. It’s going to be cold though, minus 27 degrees Celsius on Tuesday…
Going Global
France
Recent snowfalls: Snow fell lightly across France last week. Auron in the south east received the most, 30cm, with plenty of resorts welcoming a nice 10cm top up
Forecast snowfalls: Again there’s not much but blue skies on the forecast charts. An overcast Monday should yield a dusting at Alpe d’Huez and the surrounds, but France is really in need of a dump
Current conditions: More spring like than January like
Top pick: Chamonix or Alpe d’Huez
Switzerland
Recent snowfalls: 45cm at San Bernadino and 40cm at Airolo were the higher measurements from a week of consistent, though not heavy, snowfalls in Switzerland that saw most of the country receive a fresh dusting
Forecast snowfalls: Doesn’t seem to be much on the horizon, again
Snow conditions: The snow base is holding up ok, but like France, Switzerland needs some new snow, soon.
Top pick: San Bernadino
Austria
Recent snowfalls: In the interests of fairness Mother Nature seems to have dished out 10cm for every Austrian resort over the week. Kitzbuhel was one of the lucky ones, with 25cm
Forecast snowfalls: Blue skies, blue skies and blue skies coming up, again, for the Austrian Alps
Snow conditions: The glaciers are holding up nicely, it’s not so great lower down.
Top pick: Kitzbuhel
Italy
Recent snowfalls: 80cm at Ala di Stura makes Italy, again, the snowiest of the Alps nations last week. While Austria’s resorts averaged 10cm of fresh, Italy’s average is more like 30cm
Forecast snowfalls: Monday should be overcast, but the snow clouds don’t have much in them. Then sunshine for the week
Snow conditions: powder mostly
Top pick: Sestriere
