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Snow News last updated: 23 November 2009

Click on a country to see the latest snow conditions:

Austria

Nine of our featured Austrian resorts are open for snowsports this week.

Most of these are glacier resorts that open for skiing over the summer but Obergurgl (26/43cm) and Obertauern (25/45cm) - which do not open for skiing over the summer - are open too.

Good skiing is offered at all of the open resorts but cover on the lower slopes is a little thin due to the recent mild weather.

17 lifts are running at Obergurgl which is excellent for the time of year. Only five are running at Obertauern but there is a good variety of terrain on offer.

62km of pistes are available at Hintertux (0/170cm) currently. A light dusting of snow at the end of last week helped keep conditions fresh and as a result the skiing is still very good.

A temperature of -3C on the glacier means the snow is in great condition. It is possible to ski down to 2100m so there is a good amount of skiing available.

France

Light snow fell at some of the higher French resorts this weekend.

Tignes (15/50cm) and Val Thorens (35/65cm) received a few centimetres of snow on Sunday night, which helped to improve their open pistes.

You can ski back down to Val Claret at Tignes using the Double M pistes. Tignes has nine lifts open while Val Thorens has only five lifts available.

Other French resorts that are scheduled to open next weekend include Val d’Isere, Les Deux Alpes and Serre Chevalier.

Tignes should also be able to open more of its winter ski area this coming weekend.

Switzerland

Following three weeks of maintenance on restaurants and cable cars, Engelberg (0/45cm) has now opened for the winter season.

The skiing is limited to the Titlis Glacier at the moment and three lifts are running up there, four including the main cable car from the village.

It is also possible to ski in the Davos (0/46cm) area this week. Two lifts opened on the Parsenn Mountain over the weekend but they are closed during the week.

This area will reopen for the winter season daily on 27th November.

The lifts on the Jakobshorn are open every day. Weekend operations at Verbier (0/30cm) still provide some fun skiing.

Mild weather recently has reduced the snow cover but the snow cannons have been running overnight.

Verbier should have its official season opening on Saturday 5th December.

Italy

Following the brief opening of one lift on the non-glacier ski area at Passo Tonale (0/130cm), that lift has now been closed.

It is only possible to ski up on the Presena Glacier where two lifts are running this week. However, great sunny weather and good snow make for enjoyable skiing, even if the ski area is a little limited.

Another lift opened at Cervinia (0/60cm) over the weekend. The resort now has four lifts running on the Plateau Rosa glacier.

It hasn’t snowed for a while so the pistes are quite hard at the moment.

The same can be said for Val Senales (20/50cm) where the 50cm of snow at the top is generally very hard packed. This could soften up in the afternoon however with sunshine and milder temperatures expected for most of this week.

Eight lifts are running, giving access to a range of different pistes.

Andorra

The Grandvalira ski area, which includes Soldeu (0/20cm) and Pas de la Casa (0/30cm), was open over the weekend of 14th/15th November.

The area was scheduled to open daily from 21st November on a limited number of slopes and the full winter area would open from 28th November. However, recent mild weather has caused the snow depths to reduce considerably and it now looks unlikely that the area will open again before 28th November.

If the temperature does not drop to allow snowmaking, or if no natural snow falls it may not be possible to open the slopes until after this date.

Arcalis (0/40cm) and Pal/Arinsal (0/20cm) are also not scheduled to open for the winter season until 28th November but again this will be dependent on the snow conditions.

The good news for the Andorran resorts is that the temperature is forecast to drop to around freezing at 1500m by Friday, but no significant snowfall is expected.

Norway / Sweden

Hemsedal (61/78cm) records the deepest snow base of our reported Norwegian resorts. They reported 13cm of fresh snow on the ground on Monday morning, which is great news for visitors this week and more snow is forecast.

Geilo (30/45cm) has the second deepest snow base, closely followed by Trysil (25/35cm) and Oppdal (25/35cm), although Oppdal is currently closed for snowsports during the week.

In Sweden it is now possible to ski at Åre (10cm). 10cm of new snow fell on Sunday, which has really improved the snow conditions although more snow would be gratefully received.

There is only one lift open at the start of this week providing access to two slopes in the Duved area.

At Sälen (3cm) it is possible to ski in the Lindvallen and Tandådalen areas this week. There are four lifts and three slopes open at Lindvallen and three lifts and two slopes available at Tandådalen.

More snow is expected to fall at our featured Scandinavian resorts this week. The heaviest snowfall is expected at Geilo, Hemsedal, Oppdal and Voss in Norway along with Åre in Sweden, where 10 to 20cm of new snow is forecast to fall by Sunday.

Germany

Garmisch (0/105cm) offers eight pistes on the Zugspitze glacier ski area, providing great riding thanks to the deep snow base and well groomed ski slopes.

Changeable weather is forecast this week which could deliver a light dusting of fresh snow, but this will not be enough to dramatically change the conditions.

All of our other featured German resorts are currently closed for snowsports.

Bulgaria

All of our featured Bulgarian resorts are yet to open for the winter season.

Scotland

All of the Scottish resorts we report on are yet to open for the season.

USA

Fresh snow has been falling in Colorado and the temperature has dropped considerably. Up to around 10cm of snow fell on some resorts over the weekend.

Vail (46cm) has now opened for the winter season. Three lifts were opened on Friday giving access to three open runs. Light snow fell over the weekend which gave a nice fresh layer of snow to ski on the runs.

Park City (61cm) in Utah also opened this weekend. Two lifts were opened on Saturday with several runs accessible from each lift. It’s best to stick to the trails as snow cover away from the groomed runs is fairly thin.

Unfortunately it is still very warm on the east coast. The only resorts to have offered skiing so far this season are Killington (20cm) and Sunday River (15/30cm).

There is currently not enough snow for them to be able to offer daily skiing, which is why they are limiting it to the weekend.

As soon as the temperature drops the snow cannons will be fired up again and this should hopefully allow them to open runs during the week.

Canada

A lot of snow has fallen on almost all of our featured resorts in Western Canada recently. Pacific storms moved over bringing more than three metres of snow in a week.

The most snow fell on Whistler (235cm) where they have recorded the snowiest November since records began.

To date 523cm of snow has fallen since 1st November and with more snow forecast this total is likely to rise further.

The snowstorm has slowed down now but it is still snowing and is expected to do so for most of the week.

Sun Peaks (73/98cm) has also been receiving lots of snow. 56cm of snow has fallen since Monday of last week which has allowed the resort to open all but two lifts.

66 of 122 trails are open for skiing so there is plenty of variety.

European Weather Outlook

The French Alps are expecting a small snowstorm on Monday night which could bring between 10 and 15cm of snow to the slopes above 2000m. Unfortunately heights below that are likely to see rain fall.

The good news is that it shouldn’t be as mild as it was last week. The freezing level should hover around 2200m for most of this week in France.

Light snow is also expected in most of Austria, although not as much snow will fall here as in France. Zurs is expecting the most snow in Austria, with 11cm expected to fall by next weekend.

It should be generally colder than it has been recently but Wednesday will see a brief warm spell before getting cold again on Thursday.

Friday should see 7cm of fresh snow even at low levels in the Arlberg area. The rest of Austria is expecting much the same weather, with slightly less snow.

20cm of snow is expected at Verbier in Switzerland this week. Around 10cm of this should fall on Monday night into Tuesday morning as far down as 2100m. Unfortunately, heavy rain will fall in the village.

Up in Scandinavia snow is also expected. Geilo in Norway should receive around 21cm of snow this week on the upper slopes. Rain could fall on the lower slopes on Tuesday but then it should turn colder bringing more snow.

Light snow is also expected all week in Åre, amounting to around 13cm by Saturday.

North American Weather Outlook

Generally dry weather is expected across the whole of the USA this week. Light snow could fall on most of our featured resorts in Colorado later in the week.

It should stay cold through the week in Colorado allowing resorts to make snow most of the time, especially overnight.

Up in Oregon it is expected to get warmer this week. Temperatures of 6C at the bottom and 2C at the top are likely during the day.

However, it should still be below freezing at night, which will allow the snow cannons to operate and help to keep the snow in good condition.

10cm of snow and a sharp drop in temperature is then expected on Thursday night.

Warm weather is also expected for Alta and Snowbird in Utah. The middle of the week is when it will be the warmest but night time temperatures will still be cold, perhaps down to around -16C at the beginning of the week.

Light snowfall and cold weather should then return next weekend.

The mild weather looks set to stay for the whole of this week on the east coast. 10C can be expected at base level at Attitash Bear Peak with rain on Friday and Saturday. Even at the summit 8C is expected.

Western Canada should see some milder weather on Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures possibly creeping above freezing at base level.

This isn’t really warm enough to cause much damage to the snow but might make it a bit soft around the villages.

Despite the warm weather, Whistler is still expecting a further 71cm of snow to fall at the top at an altitude of 2284m.

The brief warm spell on Wednesday and Thursday could deliver rain to mid mountain level but the snow depth is excellent so it shouldn’t affect the snow cover too much.

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