Cold Temperatures And Heavy Snow Across Alps & North America

www.Skiinfo.co.uk reports that the Alps and both Eastern and Western sides of North America have again all reported heavy snow in the past seven days over New Year, building on last week’s accumulations. [caption id="attachment_649" align="alignright" width="300"] Flaine 6 January 2010[/caption] Snow depths are building in France with Flaine now at 2.7m (9 feet) on upper slopes, La Clusaz on 2.5m (8.3 feet) and Orcieres on 2.1m (7 feet).  The French Alps have also seen some of the heaviest falls of the past week with St Gervais reporting accumulations of 90cm (three feet) and the Paradiski region of La Plagne,

Les Arcs and Peisey Vallandry 70cm (2.3 feet).  Most other areas have reported at least a foot of new snow. As a result of the new snow, the snow depth has already almost doubled since the end of 2009 at many French resorts. In Austria, Kitzbühel received fresh powder on Saturday. Christoph Hirnschall of Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel told me: “The 20 cm of new snow on Saturday helped the winter’s atmosphere very much as they added a layer of natural snow to the already well-prepared slopes.” Kitzbühel  had up to 45 cm of artificial snow on their mountain slopes before. Now the snow depths reach 65 cm on upper and 30 cm on lower slopes with 51 lifts in operation.

In North America the storm on the East Coast has continued to dump large quantities of snow creating great conditions in the region famous for its snowmaking.  Up to 50cm (20 inches) more snow has fallen with the biggest resort – Killington in Vermont – it’s base has passed a metre (3.3 feet) on upper runs and has great off-piste skiing. [caption id="attachment_650" align="alignright" width="315"] 04/01/09- Tres Annetts on Bernie's Bowl. Riders: Matt, Jeff and Cande Annetts.[/caption] Conditions are also continuing to improve in most western US resorts. A series of Rocky Mountain storms slammed into the Tetons this weekend dropping 30 inches (75cm) of new snow since Friday at Jackson Hole in Wyoming, allowing for even more acreage to open across the mountain. Skiers and riders took full advantage of the largest continuous vertical drop in the country via newly opened terrain including Cheyenne Bowl, Bernie’s Bowl and Riverton Bowl. “The snowfall is continuing and soft snow and deep tracks are the norm in Jackson Hole this week, but beyond the powder skiing, there is reported to be a lot of great cruising with virtually all the groomed runs open, posting outstanding conditions.” said the resort’s Zahan Billimoria. It’s been a similar picture to the north where resorts in Alberta and British Columbia have some of the best snow bases in the world following nearly two months of mostly great conditions.  Most are reporting 1.5-2.4m (5-9 feet) bases and several inches of fresh snow in recent days.   Conditions are also continuing to improve on the East Coast with resorts in Quebec also reporting fresh snow. www.Skiinfo.co.uk is the largest provider of ski resort snow reports across Europe, with snow information from more than 2,000 ski areas in Europe and North America updated several times a day.