World Snow Wrap Up Vol. 9, 27 December – Happy Snow Year
Picture perfect Mammoth on 24 December. Image:: Mammoth
Stormwatch:
The snowfall heros
We need to mention New York, which at the time of writing was in virtual shut down thanks to 60cm of snow. And by shut down we mean no traffic on the streets, airports closed… similar to the story out of London last week really. But for somewhere like Mammoth or Whistler, 60cm of fresh snow is just what happens before breakfast…
- Whistler – with 186cm in the Christmas week… again
- Arabba – The Italian resort had 120cm last week
- Brig – A lesser known Swiss resort close to Zermatt, but with a 270cm snow total for the week we should make an effort to get to know it
The snow forecast heros:
The forecasts are, finally, a little lighter this week. Europe will be bathed in sunshine and no where is expecting anything outlandish
- 66cm for Hakuba, good to see it getting on the list
- Heavenly with 54cm
- Park City, with 32cm, Utah has been running third in the snow stakes for a while so… go PC
Last week’s highlights:
With most of the competitions breaking for Christmas, the real highlights were all the storms-in-inappropriate-places. London, Frankfurt, Paris and now New York. The ensuing chaos has made for some amusement for those of us not stuck in an airport somewhere.
Highlights this week:
- * 27 – 29 December 2010 ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP, Bormio, Italy. Men’s downhill
- * 28 – 29 December 2010 ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP Semmering, Austria. Women’s slalom and GS
- * 2 January 2011 ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP, Muechen, Germany. Men’s and women’s parallel slalom
- * 2 – 8 January 2011 O’NEILL EVOLUTION, Davos, Switzerland. slopestyle and halfpipe. TTR World Tour 6Star
A bluebird day to back up all the pow, Mammoth 24 December. Image:: Mammoth
If we could pick anywhere this week, we’d be: Arabba in the Dolomites, for the snow and the authentic Italian festive season experience.
Colorado
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 43.18cm at Aspen Mountain in the last 7 days and 99.06cm at Aspen Highlands
7 Day forecast: 17cm forecast in the next 7 days for Aspen Mountain
Current snow depth: 96.52cm at Aspen Mountain, 167.64cm at Aspen Highlands
Current conditions: packed powder
As 2010 comes to a close the Aspen season is just starting to gain momentum. All four resorts are just about 100% open now and the town is at its sparkling holiday best, can anyone say NYE at Sky Bar? Yes please.
Snowmass Village looking very festive. Image:: Jeremy Swanson/Aspen Snowmass
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 43.18cm in the past 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 11cm for the coming week
Current snow depth: 142.24cm
Current Conditions: packed powder
The wrapping paper’s been scattered, the tinsel’s looking a little crushed and the Christmas ham’s been reduced to a pile of scraps but the snow is fresh and the party at Breckenridge continues.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: no snow in the past 48 hours
7 Day forecast: about 13 forecast in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 139.7cm at mid mountain
Current conditions: packed powder
Welcome blue skies over Ski Town USA these couple of days have made for a perfect opportunity to enjoy some Christmas powder. The coming week will bring some more overcast weather, but not much in the way of snow.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 27.94cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 11cm
Current snow depth: 99.06cm
Current conditions: packed powder
Sunny skies trimmed about 10cm off the base depth at Vail this past week but after so long under a cloud, even if it was a snow cloud, some sunshine was very welcome. Sadly there won’t be too much sun this coming week with overcast skies until the weekend.
And Colorado generally…
Aspen was in a snow-vortex this past three days, the rest of the state only saw a light snow dusting and it will be a similar story this week coming up, only a few flakes through the week and some sunshine on the weekend. Not that lack of snow is a problem in Colorado at the moment. Wolf Creek, with a snow base of 226cm, is one of the most snow covered resorts in the world and most of the resorts in the state have well over a metre in their base.
Snorkels needed in Steamboat. Image:: Steamboat
Utah
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: no snow in the past 3 days
7 Day forecast: 28cm in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 210.82cm
Current conditions: powder
A rather generous pre-Christmas storm almost doubled the snow base at Park City and the resort now has eight bowls open and two terrain parks up and running.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 2.5cm over the weekend
7 Day forecast: about 26cm in the next week
Current snow depth: 246.38cm at mid mountain
Current conditions: packed powder
Snowbird’s received a grand total of 604cm of snow since November, that’s rather a lot… which is why the riding is just so uber fabulous there right now!
And Utah generally…
Santa sent Utah some pre-Christmas snow and the state is just snow-buried right now. Alta has a 269cm snow base, there’s 226cm at Solitude and 208cm at The Canyons. They’re looking down the barrel of another week of snow as well, Champagne powder all round really.
Jono Greene in Snowbird, 21 December. Image:: Snowbird
California
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 81.28cm in the last week
7 Day forecast: 48cm forecast for the week
Current snow depth: 228cm
Current conditions: powder, packed powder, man made and machine groomed
Snow, snow, snow. Another 80cm ish, 10cm or so of which fell on the weekend, and Heavenly just keeps getting more… heavenly. The weather is a little iffy at the moment and winds are effecting lift operations, but there’s plenty of pow to be found regardless.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 20cm on Sunday
7 Day forecast: 40cm forecast
Current snow depth: 518.16cm at the summit
Current conditions: fresh powder, packed powder and machine groomed
No, there are no words. Somehow the Mammoth crew managed to dig out a new terrain park from all that snow and everyone’s getting some pow turns before the big NYE celebrations. Mammoth is still probably the best place to be right now!
And California/Tahoe generally…
About 20cm to 30cm of snow for the state of California in the past three days, though with 91cm since Friday, Mt Baldy is considerably above the average. We know California is good, we’ve known for weeks, the latest 30cm, like the 40cm or snow that’s coming next week, is only sweet icing on what is already a very tasty cake
Mammoth on 24 December. Image:: Mammoth
And the rest of the USA…
A pretty solid storm is playing havoc with the East Coast right now – New York is in some kind of snow lockdown – unfortunately New York is flat so only the cross country contingent can find that useful and the snow didn’t really spread across to the East Coast snow resorts. Fortunately snow did fall across most of the country at some point last week with Washington State and the Mid West reaping some of the benefits, along with California, Colorado and Utah of course. It’s a pretty safe bet that riding anywhere in the USA will be good right now, add parity to that and there’s really NO reason not to get on the next plane…
Japan
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: about 35cm over the weekend
7 Day forecast: 58cm
Current snow depth: 240cm at the summit
Current conditions: japan powder!
Ok, winter has begun at Niseko, the snow base has doubled in the last week and the powder isn’t letting up any time soon.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 60cm over the weekend
7 Day forecast: about 62cm for the week
Current snow depth: 185cm at the summit
Current conditions: early season powder
After a slow start, Hakuba is warming up by cooling down and the resort is now pretty much open. More snow is coming, Hakuba is now in action!
And Japan generally…
Winter has come to Japan, both island experienced snowy Christmases and the resorts are spinning the lifts. Furano had 70cm on Sunday and Myoko received 80cm.
British Columbia
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 29cm this week
7 Day forecast: about 12cm in the next 7 days
Current snow depth: 126cm
Current conditions: packed powder and machine groomed
Big White is steadily opening all their back bowls and expert terrain, thanks to steady, if not heavy, snow last week. There’ll be some snow flurries early this week, then three days of sunshine, making it the sunniest stretch the resort has seen for a while.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 8cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: a16cm for the week
Current snow depth: 126cm
Current conditions: packed powder
Not so much snow in Fernie this week and the snowbase has dropped nearly 10cm. Still, most of the resort is open and conditions are glorious, thanks to all that November and December snow.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 11cm over the weekend
7 Day forecast: about 9cm for the week
Current snow depth: 133cm
Current conditions: fresh powder and machine groomed
Freshies at Silver Star over the weekend added a nice 20cm to the snow base and make the infamous back bowls the place to test out the thigh muscles.
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 37.7cm last week
7 Day forecast: about 5cm for the week
Current snow depth: 100.6cm
Current conditions: powder
Sun Peaks has cracked the 1m snow base mark at the summit with some lovely frehsies on the Christmas weekend. Not too much snow on the horizon but temperatures will keep cold so that powder will stay dry and fluffy!
Snow covered Whistler. Image:: Whistler
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 217cm in the last week
7 Day forecast: 17cm coming up
Current snow depth: 256cm
Current conditions: Powder
Again, Whistler is inside its own personal snow dome, where the snow just seems to be going round and round. 217cm for the week would usually make us jump up and down with excitement – if parts of the USA hadn’t seen considerably more (uhum… Mammoth). However the resort just may see some days of sunshine in the middle of the week, which for all those living there is probably the exciting news.
And BC Generally…
Up to about 30cm of snow fell across BC over the weekend with Mt Washington and Revelstoke scoring the brunt of it. Weather across the state will be cloudy with some nice snow deposits until the middle of the week, then hopefully some sunshine after all those dark skies.
Alberta
OPEN
Recent Snowfalls: 4cm in the last 7 days
7 Day forecast: about 10cm for the coming week
Current snow depth: 78cm
Lake Louise lost a few centimetres from the snow depth this week as the sun shone over the resort. This next week looks set to be nice and chilly however, so that base should firm up ready to receive the next big snow-dump.
And Alberta generally…
Not too much snow for Alberta this week, though an overcast cold week to come should set the state up for some more flakes in the new year.
Going Global
France
Recent snowfalls: A tasty 83cm of snow for Le Cotamines this week and around 30cm generally for the Mont Blanc region. Chamonix, Morzine and Chatel were all given snow for Christmas.
Forecast snow: It’s going to be a generally sunny week right across France for the new year. In the Northern Alps there may be a snow dusting on Wednesday but the Southern Alps and Miribel are not expecting any snow right through until next weekend
Snow conditions: Powder generally
Top pick: Les Contamines, it’s the 83cm of snow that fell there over the weekend…
Switzerland
Recent snowfalls: Brig is winning the race in Switzerland, with 170cm over the weekend. Zermatt and Andermatt acquired 40cm and most of the country had some snow.
Forecast snowfalls: It’s mainly sunshine on the forecast for Switzerland this week, perhaps a light snowfall across the Alps on Tuesday then temperatures around the 0 mark with some nice sunny skies to follow.
Snow conditions: Fresh snow!
Top pick: Andermatt – fresh snow and plenty of back country
Austria
Recent snowfalls: Between 20cm and 40cm across Austria, with all regions receiving some snow last week.
Forecast snowfalls: Again, perhaps some snow in the Alberg in the middle of the week, but generally some sunshine for Austria to celebrate the arrival of 2011
Snow conditions: powder and packed powder
Top pick: Lech Zuers, about 10cm of fresh snow and a picture perfect holiday vibe
Italy
Recent snowfalls: Arabba saw a very nice 120cm over the last week, which was the story generally for the Dolomiates. Further west, Bormio received 50cm and Livingo 30cm
Forecast snowfalls: Although the weather should be overcast this week, there won’t be much snow in the cloud cover, just some chilly temperatures, hovering around minus 10 degrees Celcius in Bormio
Snow conditions: fresh pow all round for Italy
Top pick: Arabba again, thank you for the 120cm for Christmas!
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.
