Where's my snow!!

ditpoker

I'll get the ball rolling!! WHERE'S MY SNOW!? going to bulgaria next week, zero snow, zero , none, nada, zip! same in andorra as far as i know. anyone been to one of these no snow zones, how bad is it really?!

5starpool

I'm going to Bad Gastein in 10 days and there is *some* snow. Most of the runs seem to be open, however, from looking at the webcams in the resort and nearby areas there are dry patches, and the snow depth is not very high.

Every year I go there seems to be less and less snow, except for the week long blizzard that I had to go through in Val d'Isere 3 years ago which was practically impossible to ski in apart from the fact that there were only 10% of the lifts open due to winds.

It really is worrying.

mollser

Interesting this one, if you check out the snow report on Merinet.com they have plenty of snow there in Meribel, even if it is man made! They are getting really annoyed by the UK press saying that ski resorts are doomed!

It seems soms of the bigger resorts, the ones you pay more for, seem far better equipped to handle such a mild and unsnowy winter.

These newer resorts in Bulgaria etc, wouldn't be buying the properties there!:)

Imposter

The traditional ski countries are ok. All the runs mightn't be open and the snow mightn't be as deep as usual and it may be man made in parts but there'll be snow.

5star: there was huge amounts of snow here in Austria for the last 2 years.

Static M.e.

Friends of mine are in Pamporova at the moment, zero snow, they are begineers so it doesnt effect them THAT much but for Imtermidate's I think you will be disappointed.

I was in Bansko first week of January the snow conditions their are far from perfect but for intermidiates you at least have a 3-4 blues, 1 black and a decent red with Moguls even though some of which would be quite icy. On our second last day we had snow which opened up another 6 runs.

Hope it snows soon for everyone, Im off to Andorra in another three weeks

5starpool

Imposter wrote:

The traditional ski countries are ok. All the runs mightn't be open and the snow mightn't be as deep as usual and it may be man made in parts but there'll be snow.

5star: there was huge amounts of snow here in Austria for the last 2 years.

Unfortunately I was not in Austria the last 2 years Imposter, thi'll be my first trip and I'm lookinf forward to it. The upside is that heavy snow is forcasted for Friday at the resort, so hopefully it will keep going for the weekend.

I am not a fan of snow making machines as they tend to make parts of otherwise icy runs just over 'clumpy' to ski through. Icy runs are terrible, but I don't like patches of fresh snow machine snow either really.

redzerdrog

Was just home last night from 8 days skiing in the chamonix Valley. While i was there I didnt see it snow once in the town but the snow was fine on the slopes with about 90% of the slopes open and anything above 2000metres was fantastic snow.

sharingan

5starpool wrote:

I am not a fan of snow making machines as they tend to make parts of otherwise icy runs just over 'clumpy' to ski through. Icy runs are terrible, but I don't like patches of fresh snow machine snow either really.

When it is properly done its fine. (i.e. ploughed down). The main use of snow machines is just to add to the snow 'resevoir' on the pistes anyway and extend the season.

redzerdrog wrote:

Was just home last night from 8 days skiing in the chamonix Valley. While i was there I didnt see it snow once in the town but the snow was fine on the slopes with about 90% of the slopes open and anything above 2000metres was fantastic snow.

Aw yeah, Chamonix is teh sechs. My favourite trip ever was there. Its just so huge, each prime skiing area has its own character. Never got to see half the sights it had to offer.

Just back from Soll. Its been especially hard there. Temperatures are too warm so the snow is falling as rain and the snow cannons can't be operated. We got some skiing done as there had been a fresh snowfall ~20cm the first week of jan. But nothing since, and the snow has been disappearing fast in the warmer-than-ireland 10-degree heat.

Generally the high altitude resorts are faring okay. They are above the freezing spot, so the snow is falling as snow, and snow cannons can keep the pistes in good shape at least. Under-equipped resorts without snowmaking? Tough.

jank

Going to Austria Alpbach in almost 2 weeks.
Im keeping a regular eye on the weather.

not much snow there at the moment. But it looks like its going to snow a bit in the next week. Hopefully that will improve it and make it all that much whiter and better!!

http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/Austria/Alpbach_snow.html

redzerdrog

sharingan wrote:

Aw yeah, Chamonix is teh sechs. My favourite trip ever was there. Its just so huge, each prime skiing area has its own character. Never got to see half the sights it had to offer.
.

yeh it amazing so many resorts we even went thru the mont blanc tunnle and skied 2 resorts in italy, I have been there 3 time the past year with another trip booked in 3 weeks i think:D

5starpool

Snowing at the mo in Bad Gastein and more forecast for Sunday. Looking up. I'm going there next weekend.

LuckyLloyd

My skiing trip is fast approaching and it ain't snowing too much in Andorra. Boo to global warming.

Mr Magnolia

Heading to Sauze D' Oulx Sunday week, no snow yet. Though they've the artificial stuff, haven't a clue what this is like, though they'd the winter Olympics there last year so I'm hoping it's alright. The weather's to get cold so I'll be praying for cloud cover.
The hotel's great with plenty of amenities though, I was there 2yrs ago

sharingan

I have heard reports that up to 40cm of long overdue snow is due for the alps over the next week.

redzerdrog wrote:

yeh it amazing (chamonix) so many resorts we even went thru the mont blanc tunnle and skied 2 resorts in italy, I have been there 3 time the past year with another trip booked in 3 weeks i think:D

I presume Courmayeur was one? Thats a pretty nice spot. A lot of variety. For a 'serious' ski resort, we found the apres ski in Chamonix to be the best. That swedish bar near the train station takes the trophy. Apres ski so good, it would *nearly* tempt you off those slopes early. They like happy hour there, so much that they have 3 of them, back to back from 4:30 -> 7:30. Kick ass.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

My skiing trip is fast approaching and it ain't snowing too much in Andorra. Boo to global warming.

Don't worry Andorra is not like the alps. Nothing like an atlantic storm coming off the bay of biscay to drop a metre of snow in 2 days. I have heard of people getting trapped overnight in their airport -> resort shuttle bus.

Sparks400 wrote:

Heading to Sauze D' Oulx Sunday week, no snow yet. Though they've the artificial stuff, haven't a clue what this is like, though they'd the winter Olympics there last year so I'm hoping it's alright. The weather's to get cold so I'll be praying for cloud cover.
The hotel's great with plenty of amenities though, I was there 2yrs ago

Which hotel? We got burned twice in Sauze, with bad snow both years, but the runs are fantastic. Broke our hearts. Cold means snow cannons. never a bad thing.

Mr Magnolia

sharingan wrote:

Which hotel? We got burned twice in Sauze, with bad snow both years, but the runs are fantastic. Broke our hearts. Cold means snow cannons. never a bad thing.

Grande Hotel Besson. There's trips into France as well as nearby resorts so we should get a run somewhere.

jank

http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/Austria/Alpbach_snow.html

heres hoping for more snow!!:)

There should be an improvement in the snow in Europe in the coming week as theres a northerly blast hitting the area.
In fact it's going to dump a lot of snow on the scottish resorts too.

Meanwhile,I cant understand why more of ye don't go to Norway,they are practically guaranteed snow.

Here's one of the latest webcams!

redzerdrog

sharingan wrote:

I have heard reports that up to 40cm of long overdue snow is due for the alps over the next week.



I presume Courmayeur was one? Thats a pretty nice spot. A lot of variety. For a 'serious' ski resort, we found the apres ski in Chamonix to be the best. That swedish bar near the train station takes the trophy. Apres ski so good, it would *nearly* tempt you off those slopes early. They like happy hour there, so much that they have 3 of them, back to back from 4:30 -> 7:30. Kick ass.
.

yeh courmayeur was good it was last year i went there this year we went to la thuil which was just as good about 20min from Courmayeur.

the night life was class La garage nightclub open till 6 in the mornings at the weekends great craic and after the first slope ya hangover is gone:)

sharingan

redzerdrog wrote:

yeh courmayeur was good it was last year i went there this year we went to la thuil which was just as good about 20min from Courmayeur.

Yeah Courmayeur was fun that year all right. We were thinking of going there that year. But Chamonix was way better. We had most of courmayeur done in a day.

redzerdrog wrote:

the night life was class La garage nightclub open till 6 in the mornings at the weekends great craic and after the first slope ya hangover is gone:)

The year we went our group wasn't so keen on booze-ups after ~1AM (considering they started at 5PM) but after Soll this year our ski group swelled ranks to the tune of around 4+ more hardcore drinkers. Next year the group is going to be a bit of a monster.

And if your hangover is gone after one run, then it wasn't a proper hangover in the first place. The only proper cure for a ski trip hangover is to make Snow Angels while naked.

Looking into places for next year though, and I was thinking of France again. Has anyone been to Meribel/Trois Vallees? Whats the session like there, and how suitable is it for mixed groups & ski schools?

BigDragon

Zell am See/Austria from next Saturday and it seems ok but really like a nice snow soon.

redzerdrog

we just base ourselves in chamonix then drive to courmayour or la thuil for a day. wouldnt spend more than one day at the resorts thats why from chamonix there is so many options.

Going to Banff in Canada in march anyone ever been there?

Imposter

I've a week in Saalbach from next saturday and then if I get my arse in gear to organise accom a weekend in St. Johann/Aplendorf 2 weeks later

greine

Heading to Pamparova in 2 weeks time, first time skier (wannabe skier!), really want snow, even though I heard that it doesn't matter too much for beginners, but I also want to walk around in the snow with snow falling on my new wooly hat, so roll on the snow!

Alun

redzerdrog wrote:

Going to Banff in Canada in march anyone ever been there?

Yep, went there twice. You'll enjoy it certainly .. big wide, well-cared for pistes, cheap food and by European standards virtually empty, especially during the week. I've also been to the US (Breckenridge and Winter Park) a couple of times too, and it's the same story there. And, of course, bucket loads of fresh snow virtually guaranteed.

There are 3 resorts reachable from Banff .. Norquay (closest, but quite small), Sunshine Village (further away, but the best imo) and Lake Louise (furthest away). All are reachable by free (as long as you have a tri-area ski pass) buses from all the main hotels in Banff.

5starpool

greine wrote:

Heading to Pamparova in 2 weeks time, first time skier (wannabe skier!), really want snow, even though I heard that it doesn't matter too much for beginners, but I also want to walk around in the snow with snow falling on my new wooly hat, so roll on the snow!

It can be much harder to ski when it is snowing, even ignoring the winds that usually come with it. I have had a couple of nasty spills in the past when it has been snowing.

robinph

Just got back from Meribel-Mottaret in the 3 valleys last night and the snow was fine there. Admittedly it was a touch rubbish towards the bottom of some of the other lower resorts in the area, especially after there was a bit of rain falling at the base during the week. But that same rain was of course falling as loads of new snow for runs on the upper 2 thirds of the mountains where the better runs are anyway. Also, I guess due to all recent doom and gloom about the lack of snow, there was next to nobody about on the slopes and we didn't have to queue for a lift once during the whole week.

Dubhthamlacht

greine wrote:

Heading to Pamparova in 2 weeks time, first time skier (wannabe skier!), really want snow, even though I heard that it doesn't matter too much for beginners, but I also want to walk around in the snow with snow falling on my new wooly hat, so roll on the snow!

I've been to Pamporovo twice.

Pros
- it's a cheap and cherrful place
- instructors are good
- beautiful scenery
- if you're a beginner it's a okay place to start off on

cons
- slopes are not well kept.
- since there is only about 15 or so runs if the one big main chair lift breaks down chaos ensues.
- the resort has a seedy undertone. first year i was there, pimps and prostitues mingled freely in the bars. funny at first but really annoying later. cops cleaned it up a bit since but it's only a little better
- food in the hotels is not the best. service in the restaurants also no where near irish standards.
- if you're flying into that ****e airpot in plovdiv, it's a miserable place if the flight gets delayed

robinph

Dubhthamlacht wrote:

- if you're flying into that ****e airpot in plovdiv, it's a miserable place if the flight gets delayed

I had the same impression of Plovdiv myself, it's basically just a big shed with a couple of chairs in it. But since passing through Geneva at the weekend and seeing how badly it is possible to setup an airport I don't have such a bad impression of Plovdiv now and would rather fly though there than go anywhere near Geneva again.

sharingan

robinph wrote:

Just got back from Meribel-Mottaret in the 3 valleys last night and the snow was fine there. Admittedly it was a touch rubbish towards the bottom of some of the other lower resorts in the area, especially after there was a bit of rain falling at the base during the week. But that same rain was of course falling as loads of new snow for runs on the upper 2 thirds of the mountains where the better runs are anyway. Also, I guess due to all recent doom and gloom about the lack of snow, there was next to nobody about on the slopes and we didn't have to queue for a lift once during the whole week.

Apparently theres a lot of French resorts that are getting very annoyed at the whole doom&gloom attitude wrt the snow. Quite rightly too considering that the Trois Vallees has over a metre of it up the slopes.

Once your slopes are in or around the 2000m range the slopes are fine.

robinph

sharingan wrote:

Apparently theres a lot of French resorts that are getting very annoyed at the whole doom&gloom attitude wrt the snow. Quite rightly too considering that the Trois Vallees has over a metre of it up the slopes.

Once your slopes are in or around the 2000m range the slopes are fine.

I have never seen a ski resort so empty and can fully understand them being a bit annoyed with people not turning up even though they have plenty of snow. The only bits where the snow was thin was way down low where its not an issue really anyway. We had our room upgraded to a slightly larger one as well, which was handy seeing as we were trying to squeeze extra people into an apartment that had initially only been booked for two.

Now is a fantastic time to try and get last minute deals cheap.

sharingan

robinph wrote:

I have never seen a ski resort so empty and can fully understand them being a bit annoyed with people not turning up even though they have plenty of snow.

IIRC, all of the French resorts are quite high. All of their main runs are in the 2000m+ range. Whereas austria has a lot of resorts that never hit the 2K mark. French resorts seem to have picked up a label as beign too expensive and it hurts them - the locals only seem to book long weekends and half weeks, which is a trend that the local hotel owners would like to see the back of - they really need the foriegn holidaymakers as a cash injection. Its a shame that those holidaymakers have not recognised how dependable the french resorts are for snow. high altitude & high investment.

robinph wrote:

The only bits where the snow was thin was way down low where its not an issue really anyway.

Still they are the only places that even have open descents.

robinph wrote:

We had our room upgraded to a slightly larger one as well, which was handy seeing as we were trying to squeeze extra people into an apartment that had initially only been booked for two.

Sweet. Next month I share a 5 person apt. with the GF and 3 others ... its fair to say that we will either be best of friends or hate each others guts at the end of the trip.

robinph wrote:

Now is a fantastic time to try and get last minute deals cheap.

I am just shaking my head at the whole Meribel valley thing. Whats Brides les Bains like? After Sauze D'oulx I never wanted to be away from the main resort like that anymore, but the last minute deals are shocking.

robinph

sharingan wrote:

I am just shaking my head at the whole Meribel valley thing. Whats Brides les Bains like? After Sauze D'oulx I never wanted to be away from the main resort like that anymore, but the last minute deals are shocking.

I don't think that you can ski into Brides les Bains anyway as that is a long way further down the valley and has a gondola to get you up as far as Meribel, takes half an hour at least I think. There was zero snow down in Brides les Bains anyway though.

Meribel had enough snow on the runs into the resort but I only discovered that as I took a wrong turn on one of the runs when I was aiming for Mottaret where we were staying which is about another 400m higher again and was fine for the snow. The bigger trouble on the runs down in to Mottaret was more that after going around higher and having the whole piste to yourself is it then seemed awfully crowded at the bottom and more churned up as they never bothered grooming some of the pistes every day due to too many runs to cover. They apparently had a map in the ski school each morning showing the instructors which runs they had done the previous night though so if you were able to get a sneak at that you would be sorted.

mollser

sharingan wrote:

Looking into places for next year though, and I was thinking of France again. Has anyone been to Meribel/Trois Vallees? Whats the session like there, and how suitable is it for mixed groups & ski schools?

We're going back to Meribel this year in late february for the second time (most on the group for their third time). I can tell you that the Apres in Rond Pont is fantastic, live rock bands from 5-7 everynight followed by a bit of night time skiing down to the village where there's plenty of bars. Dicks Tea Bar stays open till 5 every night I think. These were only are favourites, there's plenty of others around.

Skiing is second to none, its the largest ski area in the world apparantly, takes in Courchavel, Val Thorens and a number of other resorts. Over 600km of pistes.

3 valley's lift pass is pricey at €215, but when you see the facilities you get for it it does actually seem like good value.

Ski schools are pretty decent. IMany are english speaking so theres no problem there.

Meribel caters very well for groups, much of the accomodation is chalet based as opposed to hotels, so its ideal for groups of 10+. Dinner 6 nights of the holiday will be included in your chalet, and generally as much free local wine as you can stomach. This saves a lot of money, and there's nothing like your own chalet to party away in!

Being in France, Meribel is pricey enough, but not a patch on Courchavel. About €6 for a beer, €3 for wine, food is reasonable enough. Courchavel is a different kettle, about €9 for a glass of coke! Great to ski in and ski out of though to have a look at how the most obnoxious of all live!

They are expecting big snowfalls this week. I doesn't seem to have snowed much, but over 80% of the runs are open all the same. Can't wait to go again!

sharingan

mollser wrote:

We're going back to Meribel this year in late february for the second time (most on the group for their third time). I can tell you that the Apres in Rond Pont is fantastic, live rock bands from 5-7 everynight followed by a bit of night time skiing down to the village where there's plenty of bars. Dicks Tea Bar stays open till 5 every night I think. These were only are favourites, there's plenty of others around.

2 hours of drinking followed by night time skiing back home ... this is all going to end in tears .... but its the kind of session our group goes for.

Are those spots in Mottaret or Meribel? Gettign to the spots is not the main concern, but from prior experience its best to have the late bar a simple walk back to your accomodation. Our lads are good drunken navigators, but we pick up more injuries on the trip back from late bars/clubs than we do on the slopes.

mollser wrote:

Skiing is second to none, its the largest ski area in the world apparantly, takes in Courchavel, Val Thorens and a number of other resorts. Over 600km of pistes.

Not quite, that honour goes to the Superski Dolomiti area in Italy at 1200km, but not all of those runs can be reached by skiing/lifts (i.e. not wholly interconnected)

mollser wrote:

3 valley's lift pass is pricey at €215, but when you see the facilities you get for it it does actually seem like good value.

No thats very good value.

mollser wrote:

Ski schools are pretty decent. IMany are english speaking so theres no problem there.

I want to avoid the situation the lads had this year - some 50yo mysogynistic bachelor who spent all his time trying to cop a feel of the girls (that part doesn't bother me) that he wouldn't bother teaching the lads, or even remember their names (that part does).

If you get there on a ski-school lift pass, what % of the mountain do you get to use?

mollser wrote:

Meribel caters very well for groups, much of the accomodation is chalet based as opposed to hotels, so its ideal for groups of 10+.

We are a big group, but are more in favour of self-catering + eating out.

mollser wrote:

Dinner 6 nights of the holiday will be included in your chalet, and generally as much free local wine as you can stomach. This saves a lot of money, and there's nothing like your own chalet to party away in!

The wine can wreck your head though ..... our group likes to drink in a place where theres a chance they can get some chicks (however remote).

mollser wrote:

Being in France, Meribel is pricey enough, but not a patch on Courchavel. About €6 for a beer, €3 for wine, food is reasonable enough. Courchavel is a different kettle, about €9 for a glass of coke! Great to ski in and ski out of though to have a look at how the most obnoxious of all live!

choke! I don't remember Chamonix being that unreasonable! That explains some of the user reviews ... I take the lads to a resort that pricey for booze, and you will find my corpse there when the snow melts ...

mollser wrote:

They are expecting big snowfalls this week. I doesn't seem to have snowed much, but over 80% of the runs are open all the same. Can't wait to go again!

Once you got freezing temps the snow will keep and can be topped up by snow cannons.

Anyway, ta for the advice.

jank

feck sake. Its been snowing (all be it lightly) over the last few days and the reports say that the depth of snow has gotten worse in Alpbach. it was 40 cm upper and 10 cm lower. Now its 35cm upper 3cm lower. WTF

There appears to be a big snowfall on saturday but like a lot of these reports these usually aren't the most accurate

How accurate are these reports.
What are the best ones to use?

sharingan

I don't know where they get their numbers, andI don't even know what they measure. They could be measuring off-piste snow depth (snowfall) or piste depth (cannons & piste scraping). While both numbers are valid to know, they should disclose which they mean, as technically piste depth can be gamed. They also don't necessarily measure them every day or using the same methods. Though I would trust the Austrians to be more accurate, on the whole they put more effort into piste preparation on average.

A better indicator of a resorts condition is the number of lifts open.

robinph

sharingan wrote:

A better indicator of a resorts condition is the number of lifts open.

Yep, I'd go along with the number of lifts that are open. If a lift is open then there is at least one way back down from the top of it and it's probably not a black.

mollser

"What glorious fresh snow! It dumped last night and we now have 35cm of the softest, lightest and loveliest new snow imaginable. The whole valley is white again, the trees are laden with snow, the pistes are perfect and the off-piste is fantastic. It is such a relief having great snow again after the soggy / icy conditions of the past few days. You don’t need me to go on about how good the snow is, instead here are a few pictures of this morning’s ski in the Méribel valley. The forecast is for very cold weather for the next few days so this snow should stay good for a while. Yippee!

Looking back at our archived snow reports I’m reminded that last season started out with pretty thin snow cover until January 17th when the snow started falling in earnest. It then turned into one of the best seasons for many years – let’s hope this season’s poor start will be forgotten and this too will be a great year. "

From merinet.com - if this doesn't get you in the mood... shame i'm still 4.5weeks away!

MadsL

To make fivestarpool happy...

Just got back from Bad Gastein, first week only managed five out of six days due to sod all snow - followed by rain!!! At least four of them were glorious sunshine - and the piste masher did a good job in keeping the pistes open.

Then, OMG! Massive dump of snow over three days. One day was powder up to my boots on the piste, and over my knees off-piste. Actually almost too much snow! I've forgotten how to do powder turns Forecast is for even more snow.

Schlossalm is better than Angertal generally - but all runs now seem to be open...you'll have perfect conditions I'd say. Also dont miss the AlpenTherme at Bad Hofgastein...fantastic multimillion euro pool/gym/sauna complex in true roll in the snow style...

"Ted! That woman was in the nip!"

5starpool

Yayyyy for Madsl.

sharingan

Them Today FM ski fans really lucked out didn't they.

5starpool

I'll let you know next week

jank

Alpbach expecting 5cm tomorrow.
At the start of the week this was about 20cm.

Those damm reports.

Getting kinda worried now. Only a week to go. Anybody know what the outlook is for austria next week?

Imposter

Well it snowed last night and it's been snowing most of this week. Not huge amounts of snow but enough! I'm busy packing the car for Saalbach so i'll report back next week too

Check out wetter.orf.at - then click on the schneelagen button and then find your resort. The numbers are for the amount of snow at the top, the botttom and in the town. It's updated every day.