Late conditions look all white
GREETINGS from Saalbach in Austria’s Salzburgerland region. I’m here to learn all about the resort’s preparations for the Audi FIS World Cup finals in midMarch and also to look ahead to next February’s World Championships.
Amazingly, work has already begun on preparing the downhill course at Zwolferkogel for racing between March 16-24, when thousands of ski fans will arrive to cheer on downhill racers and celebrate in Saalbach’s après bars.
Luckily for me, it snowed last week, with half a metre of new snow at the top of the mountain so I’ll be hitting the slopes for a tour of the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Fieberbrunn and Leogang (above), then over to Zell Am See/ Kaprun, which is included in the Alpine Card lift pass.
The arrival of fresh snow is very welcome after a dry January and February. ‘Winter is back,’ resorts have announced — although I’m not sure it’s quite the ‘snowcopalypse’ or ‘snowmagedden’ that some enthusiasts claimed.
The winter started in fine style late last November with great snowfall throughout the Alps. High-altitude Tignes got 4m of snow at the top of the glacier, which meant the area was set up for the entire winter — ‘unless a catastrophe happens’, as one ski patroller told me.
Thankfully, there hasn’t been a catastrophe. Resort staff work incredibly hard and creatively to maintain piste conditions. I’ve managed to ski in Ischgl (Austria), Leukerbad (Switzerland) and Mont Tremblant (Quebec, Canada) but my hopes for an epic season from start to finish haven’t quite materialised. It’s simply not that straightforward these days.
Often, what we’re seeing in the Alps after fresh snow are high temperatures and rain, neither of which have a good effect on the white stuff. Temperatures are erratic, jumping up and down.
It feels as though the ski season is topsy turvy and we’re starting to see pressure build on higher altitude resorts as skiers flock to them. This looks likely to increase in the coming years and will probably result in some resorts capping daily skier numbers.
But it’s important to remember that even if we’re sometimes seeing green pastures or scant snow below 1,000m, that’s not always the case — Andorra is expecting snow down to 1,000m as I write. Either way, it’s still business as usual up in the mountains, where almost every piste I’ve skied this winter has been in decent condition. Millions of skiers continue to enjoy the slopes in Europe — with gusto!
Now that the snow is back, it’s the perfect time to book a spring or Easter trip. March and April are great times to ski, with longer days, a more laidback vibe in resorts and cheaper package prices. You can have gloriously sunny days but also powder in April, the so-called ‘secret season’.
If you’re tempted, Irish tour operators have some good March offers. Travel Solutions (travel-solutions.
co.uk) is offering three-night breaks to Bulgaria for €599 including full two-day ski pack, halfboard accommodation and flights from Dublin. Night skiing in Borovets means you can maximise your time on the slopes.
Directski (directski.com) has a week in the three-star pension Edelweiss in Zell Am See on a B&B basis for €545 per person from March 23, including a €50 online booking discount, while Topflight
(topflight.ie) is offering seven nights B&B at the four-star Hotel Garni Ferienhof in Mayrhofen for €791 per person.
Crystal Holidays (crystalski.ie) has seven nights self-catering at the three-star Wiesenheim apartments in Selva Val Gardena in the Italian Dolomites for €329 per person sharing from March 9 and seven nights from March 16 at Les Fermes de Samoens in the gorgeous French village of Samoens for €419 per person.
Crystal also has some March family offers in Arinsal, Andorra — for example, €1,129 for two adults and one child on a half-board basis at the hotel Xalet Besoli.
The latest snow should see Alpine resorts comfortably reaching the end of the season but keep an eye on expert sites like snow-forecast.
com and weathertoski.co.uk to see where the best snow is and where new snow is expected.