No skiing at Scottish resort -- too much snow

Skiers found the slopes at a Scottish resort closed on Friday, not because the snow was sparse, but rather there was too much of it, the resort's managers said.

Cairngorm Mountain in northeast Scotland more often deals with a lack of snow but this year it is grappling with a different problem -- 185 centimetres (73 inches) of snow since Christmas in the worst bout of winter weather since the 1970s.

Resort staff toiled all day Thursday to clear snow, but they arrived back Friday to find their hard work was in vain after strong winds blew snow across access roads, creating 15 foot (4.6 metre) high drifts.

"We have come in this morning and it feels like groundhog day -- all our work yesterday has been filled in again," said Colin Matthew, the head of ski patrol.

"The mountain and all facilities, access roads and car parks will be closed today to allow digging out after major drifting during the storm," he said.

The resort's snow ploughs cannot even get through the drifting and it has had to hire special heavy diggers, said resort spokesman Colin Kirkwood, adding it could be Monday before the resort reopens.

But despite the temporary closure, Kirkwood said this year's harsh conditions had provided a welcome boost for business at Cairngorm, which faced controversy in recent years after a funicular railway ran well over budget.

"We're about 300 percent up on the point we were at at the same point last year," he said.

Cairngorm, Britain's sixth highest mountain, is one of the main resorts in Britain's small ski industry north of the Scottish border, with 10 lifts and 30 kilometres (19 miles) of ski runs.

Most of Britain has seen substantial snowfalls over the last month, in the country's severest winter for decades, although warmer temperatures in the last few days have melted much of the snow and ice further south.

Snow forecast good news for Colorado ski areas as holiday nears

Much of the Western Slope is under a winter weather advisory for 24 hours as another round of snow moves into Colorado, according to the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction.

A trough of low pressure could leave behind up to 7 inches of new snow on much of the northern and central mountains. Higher elevations could see up to 8 inches, according to forecasters. The advisory started at midnight. Skiers will feast on a smorgasbord of newly opened slopes for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Monarch Mountain, Crested Butte and Steamboat open Wednesday. Thursday is the season opening for Aspen Mountain, Snowmass and Telluride. Purgatory at Durango Mountain opens Friday, according to Colorado Ski Country USA. Snow showers but no significant accumulation are expected along the Front Range today.

Ski Season Begins Early

Early snow fall, colder temperatures and perhaps a sprinkle of P.R. have led ski resorts in North America, Europe and elsewhere to open early.

Loveland Ski Area, a small family-oriented resort about 50 miles west of Denver, opened on Oct. 7, about the same time that Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, about 45 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, welcomed skiers. They were followed closely by Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Boreal Mountain Resort on Lake Tahoe.

Even the Mammoth Mountain Si Area in California, which wasn’t scheduled to open until mid November, got dumped on last week and opened lifts, according to the L.A Examiner.

Similar snow reports are coming from the Alps, the Indian Himalayas and the Japanese Alps, according to the online Ski Magazine, First Tracks. Saas Fee and Zermatt got plenty of snow and are already open, as are with Cervinia, Val Senales and Passo Stelvio in Italy.

One more time?

With fresh snow still falling in the Alps and the Easter holidays falling late this year, there's still plenty of late winter skiing to be had.

Easter is a flexible holiday, changing date every year regardless of the weather, and for many people it signals the end of the ski season. However there is often there is good snow still to be found at this time of year. Al Morgan, Information Manager at the Ski Club thinks this is definitely the year to make the most of the excellent snow conditions. "Skiing in March and April offers long days for skiing, sunny terraces for leisurely lunches and less people than the busy periods. Get out there if you can!”

April can produce some of the best conditions of the winter with good snowfalls, long days, uncrowded slopes and reduced prices. One of the most popular Ski Freshtracks holidays is the May Bank Holiday blast in Tignes that attracts a committed band of skiers, and they've still got loads of on and off-piste holidays, including ski touring, on offer between now and the first May Bank Holiday. Remember that the snow isn't necessarily like it is mid-winter. For the best conditions, aim for one of the high resorts, and lower slopes can get slushy by the end of the afternoon after a day in the spring sunshine so head out early.

Resorts open until 26th April include: Flaine, Les Arcs, Avoriaz, Meribel, La Thuile, Bormio, Davos, Wengen, Zermatt, St Anton and Lech.

Resorts open until 3rd May include: Val d’Isère, Val Thorens, Are, Pas de la Casa, Soldeu, Ischgl, Obertauern, Obergurgl, Solden, Andermatt, St Moritz, Cervinia and Hemsedal.

Getting heavy in Heavenly

The Californian resorts in the Tahoe area have been battered this week by the biggest winter storm this season, which has brought huge amounts of snow and some high winds.

In Heavenly and Squaw Valley, they received a colossal 200cm of snow on Sunday night when the storm began. 91cm alone fell on Tuesday night at Heavenly and that was on top of the 85cm that fell the previous night! It continued to snow all day Wednesday but the skies have cleared to reveal a landscape covered in nearly eight feet of new snow. Despite this they are only reporting four lifts closed, so the powder hounds should be out in force this weekend.

In California, Mammoth has also been getting dumped on, with their most recent reported snowfall being 61cm on Tuesday night. It has supposed to continue snowing all through Wednesday and Wednesday night and their upper base of nearly five metres is way above average for the time of year. This season so far is one of their best in a long time, with over ten metres of snow having fallen so far.

Winter returns to the Alps

Looks like it's not spring just yet. The recent warm and sunny weather in Europe is expected to come to an abrupt end this week, as another winter storm is expected to hit France, Switzerland and Italy bringing lots of snow and much colder weather with it.

In France, Argentiere is expected to receive the most snow of the French resorts in the next five days. 60cm of snow is forecast to fall on the upper slopes and the temperatures will probably be fairly mild in the first half of the week with freezing levels around 1500m, so rain could fall on the lower slopes and in the towns. However on Thursday the snow is expected to start falling even harder and the temperature should drop, meaning fresh snow to all levels.

The same is true for Switzerland during the coming week. The resorts are forecast slightly more snow than France, with Verbier expecting 68cm of snow this week, and 50cm of this should fall on Wednesday and Thursday alone! The same heavy snow is forecast in Zermatt with 31cm of snow expected to fall on Wednesday followed by a further 20cm on Thursday. The combined five day total is a whopping 66cm!

And whilst the rest of Europe is catching up with the two weeks of snow that Austria has been enjoying, some Austrian resorts are still staying ahead with more snow of their own to come. Zell am Zille is also expecting lots of snow, with 48cm expected to fall in the next five days. As with France and Switzerland, this could fall as rain on the lower slopes in the first half of the week but significantly colder weather is expected by Thursday. And in Obergurgl, the snow was still falling on Monday and neighbouring Solden also received 5cm of fresh snow. So Austria is still ahead of the game!

Holidaymakers pile onto the pistes

Ski weekend breaks are snowballing in popularity thanks to excellent conditions on European slopes, it was revealed today.

Flights for weekend trips from the UK to airports close to French, Swiss and Italian ski areas increased by more than 16% last month compared with January 2008, figures from low-fare airline easyJet showed.

Snowfalls at European ski resorts this season are thought to have been the best for many years.

EasyJet's UK general manager Paul Simmons said: "Early last year, as the credit crunch began, we noticed that ski weekends became popular even though the snowfall wasn't as good.

"This year we've really seen a jump in weekend flights with people wanting to hit the slopes quickly and cheaply."

He went on: "Airports like Innsbruck, Grenoble and Geneva are proving particularly popular for ski weekends. They have a short flight time from most UK airports and some of Europe's best ski resorts within an hour's drive, so people don't have to waste time on airport transfers.

"You can set off from the UK and be on the piste in one of Europe's top ski resorts like Chamonix and Flaine (in France) in under four hours, making them perfect for those who want to get a quick 'ski-fix' for a weekend."

Heavy snowfalls in Pyrenees bury ski lift

Cauterets ski area in the French Pyrenees has been digging out its ski lifts after recent heavy snowfalls, and the Andorran resorts have also benefitted from last week's heavy snow.

The ski area of Cauterets has reported receiving more than five feet (160cm) of snow between 11th and 12th February and a further 280cm over the following 7 days! The resort is currently reporting an impressive snow depth of 450cms on the upper slopes at 2415m.

Conditions are generally pretty good in the French Pyrenees and Andorra at the moment following the heavy snow last week. The sun is out but the pistes are remaining firm and are perfect for those wanting to fine tune their technique, with the greatest piste depth in Andorra to be found in the Vallnord resort of Arcalis (270cm on upper slopes).

The Pyrenees, which contains about 60 ski areas in France, Spain and Andorra, has had a particularly memorable winter with big snowfalls through the season. It’s good news for the region which has seen a slight drop in the numbers of British visitors over the last three seasons (from 7% in 05/06 to 4% in 07/08) but with this bumper snow figures should be back on the rise.

Austria gets dumped on

Austria is enjoying the best of the snowfall this week, and the resorts we report on are in excellent shape as temperatures remain comfortably cold. Many resorts are expecting further snowfall this week with up to 50cm expected in some places. Wunderbar!

Most of the country is benefitting from the storm, which is set to last into this week bringing a further 50cms in places. Obertauern is in superb condition following 30cm of fresh snow falling on Sunday.The cold temperatures mixed with sunny spells this week are providing good visibility, so it's a great week to make the most of the resort's powder! The same snowstorm that dumped heavy snowfalls on Obertauern also boosted the conditions at Zauchensee which is very close by. The base depth in the whole resort is up to a metre, as is the base at Waidring in the Steinplatte area. 30cm of new snow fell there on Sunday increasing the base depth on the upper slopes by 50cm.

Kaprun's base on the upper slopes has increased significantly to 258cm, partly due to the fresh snow that has fallen this weekend but also due to improved depth measurements.

Heavy snow forecast for half term skiers

Ski resorts across Europe and North America are expecting heavy snowfalls ahead of next week's half term holiday. Forecasters are predicting up to half a metre of snow in many resorts across France, Austria and Switzerland and almost a metre in some US resorts.

In France, which last season attracted almost half of Britons 1.4 million skiers, the popular Les Trois Vallèes (Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens) is expecting 23cm of snow, while the Espace Killy (Tignes and Val d'Isère) has 16cm forecast. However, it is the lesser known resorts of the Portes du Soleil ski area (Morzine and Avoriaz) which will see the heaviest snowfalls in France, with around 45cm expected. In the popular family resort of Obergurgl, in Austria, forecasters are predicting 36cm, while in Arosa, in Switzerland, 45cm of snow is expected. In North America, the US resort of Mammoth is expecting up to a metre of snow, while in Whistler, Canada, 29cm is set to fall.

Thousands of British families will be heading for the slopes this weekend, with France, Canada and Austria being among the most popular destinations. February half-term is traditionally one of the busiest, and most expensive, weeks in the ski season calendar. Last year, Telegraph Travel reported that the price of a family ski holiday for this February half-term had risen by almost 65 per cent due to the half term falling on the same date for all British schools as well as coinciding with school holidays in many European countries.

However, families that do not make it to the Alps, or have opted to avoid the crowds and expense of foreign ski resorts can opt for one of Scotland's five ski resorts, which are currently experiencing some of the best conditions in more than a decade. Scotland's resorts already have a good snow base and are expecting up to 10cm to fall during the next few days. Last weekend around 15,000 skiers took to Scotland's slopes. A spokesman for Visit Scotland advised families heading to Scottish slopes to pre-book their lift passes and equipment in advance through their chosen resort. A spokesman for the Ski Club of Great Britain warned that temperatures across European resorts will be extremely low during the start of half term and that skiers should wrap up warm to feel comfortable on the slopes.

Icy temperatures plunge to -18C

Temperatures in parts of the Highlands have plunged as low as -18C overnight as much of Scotland had its coldest night of the winter.

Aviemore recorded the coldest February temperature since 1986 (-18C), Altnaharra in the Highlands was down to -15C and Aberdeen was -12C. The Met Office warned of freezing temperatures leading to the risk of widespread ice on untreated roads. Temperatures in Glasgow and Edinburgh were about -1C despite snow falls. There was more snow over much of southern and central Scotland overnight.

The freezing conditions provided a boost for Scotland's ski centres over the weekend. Skiers flocked to the slopes to make the most of the weather. At Glenshee Ski Centre the car park was full by 1000 GMT, with 1,500 cars parked. However, some people were reporting that their cars were getting stuck in the snow and Grampian Police was forced to close the snow gates on the incoming roads in an attempt to persuade new arrivals to go elsewhere. The centre's website said that conditions were "nearly perfect". At Nevis Range ski centre near Fort William there were about 800 people already on the slopes by 1030 GMT.

Isola 2000 cut off by avalanches

Hundreds of people were said to be trapped by heavy snowfall in the British-built ski resort over the weekend, after three avalanches blocked the winding mountain road leading up to resort. There were no reports of injuries, but the French army and police officers had to be called in as well as an emergency team to work round-the-clock to try and clear a path to Isola 2000. According to the Isola 2000 website, the road between Isola Village and Isola 2000 has now re-opened. The resort has experienced heavy snowfall throughout the season, contributing to a huge current snowbase of 3m! The resort had around 30cm of fresh snow last week, and were expecting another 30-50cm over the weekend.

British skiers make the most of the snow

More than six million people are reported to have taken the day off work yesterday, and more than 3,000 schools were shut due to the heavy snowfall. It was weather that many people have not seen for 18 years, and as a result many railway stations, bus stops or roads were closed or impassable. Many people headed instead for the nearest park or field instead to throw a few snowballs.

One North London skier told how she and some friends headed up to Primrose Hill yesterday with their skis, via the London Underground. "The reaction from everyone on the tube was pretty much as you'd expect, the odd raised eyebrow and I'm not sure everyone appreciated the safety factor of checking the tube map out on the way home to make sure we knew where we'd gone." "We bumped into some seasoned long-skis-with-rear-entry-boots chaps on the top of Primrose Hill, then bumped into some guys from our season and were able to hijack their kicker. We were mildly perturbed by the grassy nature of the run-up and the even-more-grassy landing, but we acquired an audience at the top cheering each descent and started feeling like celebrities. We then skied off down to the pub for a spot of après where we were unceremoniously refused Jaeger-bombs, Chartreuse and Genepy, so settled for pints of Amstel instead".

Heavy snow hits the UK

South-east England experienced the heaviest snowfall for 18 years yesterday, and major airports were closed, motorways slowed to a standstill and many train services were cancelled as a result of the extreme weather. In London, commuters struggled to get to work after buses were suspended and many parts of the Underground stood down due to the dangerous conditions. Despite snow ploughs working to clear tracks, rail services in and out of the South East of England were mainly cancelled or severely disrupted. On the roads thousands of gritters were out but there was gridlock reported on many major routes including the M25.

The North Downs and Pennines bore the brunt of the blizzards with at least 10 inches reported in many places. However the snow extended across much of the country with four inches of snow being commonly found. In Scotland, heavy snowfall shut dozens of schools and caused difficult driving conditions and flight cancellations. Airports in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen have cancelled more than 60 flights due to the extreme conditions south of the border. The heavy snowfall hasn't hit all the Scottish resorts as yet, but Cairngorm and Glenshee have had some light dustings and all the resorts are expecting more snow during the coming week.

The Met Office has issued an extreme weather warning for England, Wales and eastern Scotland, and more snow was forecast for today.

Heavy snow returns to Europe's ski resorts

Storms are set to bring heavy snowfall to European ski resorts this week after a two week sunny spell.

More than a metre of snow is forecast for the French resorts of Les Deux Alpes, Alpe d'Huez, La Plagne, Les Arcs and Meribel, and the Swiss resort of Verbier. Lech and Obergurgl, in Austria, are expecting more than half a metre of snow, while the Italian resorts of Cervinia and La Thuile are expecting almost a metre. Many other European ski resorts are expecting between 25 and 50cm.

"This new snow has come at the perfect time," said a spokesman for the Ski Club of Great Britain. "It's been cold and sunny over the past few weeks, which was starting to affect conditions on south facing slopes," he added.

Snow has already begun to fall in some resorts, the French resorts of Val d'Isère and Tignes received 20cm of snow on Sunday and have a further 75cm forecast. In the Italian resort of Courmayeur, 15cm fell on Monday and a further metre of snow is forecast to fall before the weekend.

"These are some of the best conditions that I've ever skied in Courmayeur," said Jonny Baird, a mountain guide in the Courmayeur and Chamonix area. "There is powder everywhere and it's thigh-deep in places."

This latest heavy snowfall will top up Europe's pistes ahead of the February half-term. However, many resorts already have an excellent base layer after heavy snowfalls in November and December, which saw the best start to a winter ski season in Europe since 1974.

In Britain, heavy snow in western Scotland over the past week has enabled Nevis Range to open for the first time this season and the resort is expecting a further 16cm of snow by the weekend. Glencoe, also in western Scotland, has 18cm forecast this week and is expected to open on Wednesday.

All Scottish ski areas open for first time this season

All five Scottish ski centres will be open by Wednesday this week, as heavy snow in Western Scotland allowed the two remaining centres yet to open for 2008-9 – Glencoe and Nevis Range – to open for the first time.

Glencoe plans to open this Wednesday at 10am, a spokesman commented, “Heavy snow over the last couple of days has improved the overall situation on the mountain. All runs are now complete although some are narrow in places.”

A spokesperson for Nevis Range to the north commented, “We are open for skiing! Fresh snow at all levels and most main runs complete but unconsolidated. Pisting is in progress and more runs will open as the week progresses.”

There has been less fresh snow in the East where the other three centres are located, and have been operating intermittently since back on Halloween 2008. However all three remaining centres there (Cairngorm, Glenshee and The Lecht) are open with limited terrain.

Ski death provokes helmet debate

The death of a woman in a highly publicised skiing collision has shaken holidaymakers and sparked debate about safety on the piste.

There has been plenty of early snow in the Alps and the ski season is in full swing. But in Kitzbuehel, the news of a fatal skiing accident has overshadowed the usual frivolous atmosphere at this time of year. People in Germany and Austria have been shocked by the recent ski accident involving a senior German politician, Dieter Althaus, and it has triggered a debate about wearing helmets.

In the accident, which happened on New Year's Day, a Slovak woman was killed and Mr Althaus, the governor of the eastern German state of Thuringia, was seriously injured when they collided while skiing. Mr Althaus, 50, was flown by helicopter to hospital in Schwarzach and he was placed in an artificially-induced coma. According to surgeons, he suffered injuries to the skull and brain. Neurologists said it was likely that the helmet that he was wearing saved his life.

Beata Christandl, a 41-year-old mother-of-four, was not wearing a helmet. She died on the way to hospital after suffering from multiple skull injuries. The accident happened at a junction of two pistes in the Riesneralm ski resort in Austria.

According to reports in the German media Mr Althaus was skiing on a red, intermediate, slope which crosses an easier slope, on which Beata Christandl was travelling. One investigator said both skiers were travelling at around 50km/h (30 mph).

Josef Schmid, a spokesman for the Austrian skiing federation, urged all those on the slopes to err on the side of caution. "We recommend that all skiers should wear helmets, it's not just young children, adults also need protection," Mr Schmid said.

"With the new carving skis, people tend to ski faster these days and they overestimate their own abilities. The slopes are very busy and it's much safer for everyone if you wear a helmet," he said. Politicians and leading figures in sport have called for the wearing of helmets to be made compulsory for skiers and snowboarders in Germany and Austria. In Italy, it is compulsory for all children under the age of 14 to wear a helmet on the ski slopes. And the idea has support from among skiing's elite." A helmet would help to reduce the severity of injuries," said Hilde Gerg, the 33-year-old German Olympic slalom champion, who has now retired from professional skiing, in an interview with Bunte magazine.

Over at our main website www.skiwear4less.com we have a great selection of adults and childrens ski helmets for you to choose from. So be sure to purchase one for your next ski trip, to ensure you and your family stay safe.

More snow on the way

The high pressure which has dominated weather in the Alps for the past few weeks, is set to make way for snowier and milder weather in parts of Switzerland, Italy and Austria early next week.

We've been waiting a little while for another good dump of fresh stuff, and whilst the consistently cold weather has kept the snow in good shape, powder hounds will be pleased to see what the weather has in store over the next few days.

It looks like Switzerland will receive the lion's share of this weather front, with Verbier expecting a whopping 44cm of fresh snow in the next five days, St Moritz 50cm and Zermatt 38cm!

French resorts will also get a look in, with Les Deux Alpes expecting 20cm of snow on Sunday night which should help to boost the already good conditions, and a further 18cm of snow is forecast for Monday.

In Tignes, conditions are still very good thanks to the cold weather and lovely sunshine this week but a top up of 14cm is forecast for Sunday, which should get heavier on Monday night.

Parts of Austria already had some snow this week, with the Piztal area receiving 15cm of snow and powder conditions can already be found across the whole resort. Whilst the weekend is forecast to be largely sunny, clouds will be gathering again by Tuesday when a further 13cm is expected, and Bad Gastein further East should also see 22cm fall by Tuesday.

In Italy, Selva Gardena received 8cm of fresh snow during the middle of the week, and a heavier band of snow is expected to move over the area on Monday night, bringing with it up to 20cm of fresh snow.

Back in the UK, snow fell across most of the Scottish ski resorts this week and the forecast is for temperatures to fall across Scotland over the weekend and more snow to fall from Friday onwards. Glencoe has 25cm of snow forecast and all of the other resorts are expecting at least 10cm.

So it looks like it might be time to put the sunglasses and sunscreen away for the time being, and get those goggles and fat skis back out by the front door.

Heavy snow falls on Canadian ski areas

A number of ski holiday resorts in the province of Alberta, Canada have seen heavy snow over the past few days.

Travel Alberta reported that more than half a metre of fresh snow has fallen over the past three days in the ski areas of Mt Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village in Banff national park.

Skiers and snowboarders are now taking advantage of fresh powder covering almost 8,000 acres of terrain.

People taking holidays in the area this month will have the chance to attend the Ice Magic festival on the shores of Lake Louise from January 23rd to 25th, which includes a 34-hour ice-sculpting competition.

Other popular activities in the Banff national park and Lake Louise region include spa trips and wildlife tracking, with deer, elk, cougars, moose and even grizzly bears roaming free through the park''s protected forests.

Calgary and Edmonton, two of the biggest cities in Alberta, can be reached by taking flights with airlines including KLM and United Airlines.

Huge snowfalls in North America

After a lacklustre pre-Christmas start to the season, resorts in western North America have been reporting increasingly spectacular snowfall over the past few weeks, particularly in the northern US states and in British Columbia, Canada.

The snow has caused practical operational problems in some cases and avalanches in others with about a dozen deaths across the region.

At Whitefish in Montana, the resort reports it received more than five feet of new snow between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. As a result total snowfall to date is now approaching last season’s record numbers. “We got off to a bit of a slow start, snow-wise,” said Donnie Clapp, spokesman for the resort. “We certainly didn’t expect to have this much snow by early January when we opened.”

In Utah, Snowbird Ski Resort crossed over the 200inch (five metre) season-to-date snowfall total mark this week thanks to 29 inches (73cm) of new snow that has fallen over a three day period. “Nine feet of snow fell in December, and January is already proving to be another significant and productive snowfall month,” said Snowbird President Bob Bonar. “The mountain is in mid-winter form and skiers are raving about the conditions.”

The weekend storm brought Snowbird’s season-to-date snowfall total to 207 inches and the mid-mountain base to 86 inches. The Little Cottonwood Canyon resort averages an annual snowfall of 500 inches, providing the longest ski and snowboard season in Utah. Last season Snowbird received 611 inches and remained open until June 22nd.

It’s a similar picture north of the border with Fernie reporting more than a metre (40 inches) of new snow in the past week and stating accumulations were building in feet rather than centimetres! Good news indeed.