Despite it being one of the busiest weeks of the year in the Alps, many resorts have minimal lift queues and excellent snow conditions to go with it.
Fresh snow fell in the western half of the Alps on Wednesday and in many resorts the snow continued on Thursday too. The southern areas of the French Alps received the greatest amount of this fresh snow. Serre Chevalier received around 30cm of snow over Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February.
The snow hasn’t yet arrived in Austria but it is heading their way. Ski Club reps in Austrian resorts report excellent conditions, particularly at Obergurgl where the pistes are being well maintained.
Nevis Range in Scotland reported up to 40cm of fresh snow on Wednesday 17th February. This is excellent news for Scottish skiing, which is experiencing its best season in many years.
Snow continues to fall in Colorado. The good news is that it is due to get even heavier. Earlier in the week Breckenridge received 30cm of fresh powder which made for one of their best powder days of the season so far.
Skiing in Canada is also good at the moment. Despite reports of a lack of snow at the Winter Olympic areas, Whistler has over three metres of snow and with around 90cm falling since Thursday 11th February there is plenty of powder to be found.
AUSTRIA
There have been some excellent conditions all over Austria this week, which is good as it is one of the busiest times of the season at the moment. The sun has been shining all week so far while the coming weekend is promising some fresh snow.
FRANCE
There is lots of great skiing on offer in France at the moment. Half term week means many resorts are very busy but these queues can be avoided in most cases, if you know where to go.
SWITZERLAND
After a sunny week in Switzerland the snow was starting to fall in some places on Thursday morning, although at most of our featured resorts it was just cloudy.
ITALY
Some areas of Italy received decent snowfall on Wednesday. More than 20cm of snow fell in some areas, especially in the west of the country towards France.
ANDORRA
All of the Ski Club featured Andorran resorts received fresh snow on Wednesday 17th February. It only amounted to around 5cm but was enough to give the pistes a great improvement and freshen up areas off piste.
NORWAY & SWEDEN
It was snowing in parts of Norway on Thursday 18th February with Geilo (60/105cm) reporting around 5cm of new snow on the ground in time for the lifts open on Thursday. Both of the Ski Club featured resorts received snow on Thursday 18th February. The most fell at Sälen (70cm), where around 5cm was reported over the course of the day. 83 of their 85 lifts have been running all week and should do this weekend too. It is a relatively large ski area by Swedish standards and the snow conditions are excellent, so it couldn’t be much better.
GERMANY
Feldberg (140/160cm) received a light dusting of snow on Wednesday 17th February, but only a centimetre or two. Generally cold weather is keeping the snow in good condition although some of the lower slopes are now getting a bit soft. Fresh snow is forecast over the weekend which is good news.
BULGARIA
The temperature has risen considerably in Bulgaria recently and to above freezing in most of the Ski Club featured resorts.
SCOTLAND
Following heavy snowfall earlier this week, Scotland once again has some superb skiing to offer.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, definitely head up to Scotland for skiing as the conditions this season are some of the best they have had in years.
USA
There has been no significant snow in the USA this week. Colorado received the most snowfall of the country with around 15cm falling between Sunday 14th February and Thursday 18th February.
CANADA
With all the press coverage about the rain at Whistler (301cm) you might expect their skiing is bad. It is in fact the complete opposite, with plenty of fresh powder on the upper slopes and temperatures around -9°C. Over three metres of snow covers the mountain so the off-piste skiing is every bit as good as it is on piste. All the alpine bowls are full of powder, thanks to 86cm of fresh snow since Friday 12th February. Lower down the slopes are a bit hard but still offer great skiing, especially for carving turns.
Information provided courtesy of the Ski Cub of Great Britain.
For more detailed snow reports and forecasts for countries and resorts visit the Ski Club of Great Britain Snow Overview.
