TravelMole brings you the freshest snow report

The most important element of a winter sports holiday is the snow because you can’t ski or board without it, right? So TravelMole has teamed up with Fraser Wilkin, who is an authority on Alpine meteorology, to bring you the latest weather report from the Alps every Wednesday throughout the season.

With Fraser’s help, we’ll keep you updated on which resorts have the best snow conditions so you’ll be able to point your clients in the right direction. You can get even more information on weather conditions on Fraser’s brand new website, www.weathertoski.co.uk, a definitive guide to weather and snowfall in the Alps.  

The site provides unbiased and regularly updated snow and weather information for skiers and boarders. All information is personally researched and written and includes a running commentary on conditions in the Alps, updated on a daily basis.

Weathertoski.co.uk also rates the snow reliability of over 200 resorts in Europe and North America and lists the top 10 ski resorts based on a number of different criteria, including top 10 snow-sure resorts, top 10 powder destinations and top 10 snow-sure nursery slopes.

You can follow Fraser on www.facebook.com/weathertoski and on Twitter @weathertoski

Here’s this week’s snow report:

Summary

The Alps have seen several big storms in recent weeks and, at high altitude, the snow has started to pile up. Lower down, however, any snow has not lasted long – entirely normal for the time of year when most skiing is still on the glaciers. At altitude, the weather is glorious this week with plenty of sunshine and freezing levels above 3000m! Looking further ahead, a little more cloud is possible next week, but a return to winter is not on the cards anytime soon. 

Austria

Austria has the greatest variety of skiing in Europe right now. Leading the way is Sölden where 16 lifts serve 76km of piste – not all of which are confined to the glacier. There was fresh snow last weekend and up top the base is 87cm deep. Two other decent options are Stubai and Hintertux, both of which offer about 60km of runs and have over 1 metre of snow on the glacier. You can also ski on the glaciers at Mölltal, Pitztal, Kaunertal (pictured) and Kitzsteinhorn, as well as on three entirely non-glacial runs in Schladming.

Shot from Kaunertal glacier webcam, thanks to www.kaunertaler-gletscher.at shows fabulous conditions on the Austrian glaciers this week.

France

There is excellent skiing on the Grand Motte glacier above Tignes where the snow is 60cm deep and 7 lifts are in operation.  As of last weekend, it is also possible to ski down to resort (Val Claret) via the long Double M piste. The next resort scheduled to open in France is Val Thorens on 24 November.

Italy

Skiing options are still limited in the Italian Alps but high up the conditions are great. The glacier above Val Senales has 90cm of snow and is running 8 lifts. Cervinia is another option but, despite plenty of new snow, much of the action is still confined to the Swiss side above Zermatt. On the Italian side, you can only ski from Plateau Rosa to Laghi Cime Bianche, but the runs to the mid-station at Plan Maison are expected to open this weekend.

Switzerland

The best skiing in Switzerland right now is on the glaciers above Zermatt (7 runs – 150cm of snow) and Saas-Fee (8 runs- 175cm of snow). There are more limited slopes available at Glacier 3000 (near Les Diablerets), Diavolezza (near St Moritz) and, on weekends only, in Laax and Verbier.  Engelberg is closed for maintenance until 17 November.

Rest of Europe

A number of resorts are now open in Scandinavia.  Some of the best skiing is to be found in Hemsedal ( Norway) which has 13 pistes open and a base 50cm deep.  In Finland there are several options including Levi and Ruka (10 runs – 20cm of snow) and Sweden’s premier resort, Åre, celebrated its earliest ever opening on Saturday, albeit with only one main lift open.

Canada

The Banff/Lake Louise area opened in style last weekend with upper level snow depths of around 75cm and near perfect pistes. The webcam shot (left) from www.skibanff.com shows it’s a great start for Sunshine Village, Banff.

USA

Many resorts in the western US were looking a bit threadbare last week. However, the landscape has now been transformed by a major winter storm called "Brutus" that dumped over 50" (127cm) in Snowbird (Utah) where they expect to open their first lifts before the weekend. California also did well and half a dozen lifts are already running in Mammoth.  In Colorado, Breckenridge has joined a growing list of options but, generally speaking, the skiing is still limited for the time being despite some fresh snow.

By Linsey McNeill