SNOW REPORT

Resorts in France boast the world’s deepest snow right now – but great Christmas skiing is to be had elsewhere in the Alps, says Patrick Thorne

The peak Christmas and New Year ski holiday weeks lie ahead – and the good news is that conditions on the slopes are some of the best that resorts in the Alps have seen in many years.

It has been a largely sunny week, though snowfall is now returning. The best snow depths are up at 3m deep on high-altitude slopes – depths that weren’t reached until March last season – and Europe’s biggest ski areas now have as much as 90 per cent of their slopes open.

Unfortunately, conditions remain challenging in the Pyrenees – where it remains too warm and dry. Andorra’s Grandvalira region – which covers Pas de la Casa and Soldeu – has roughly a third of its ski area open this week. Baqueira Beret in Spain has managed to operate 120km of slopes.

There are similar issues in Scotland, with only small areas of snow open so far, mostly created with snow-making machines. Temperatures in the Highlands have been above 10C this week, though the weather is now cooling and snow is in the forecast. Glenshee had planned to open on Wednesday, but was defeated by warm, wet, windy weather. Cairngorm Mountain and the Lecht have only nursery slopes open this weekend.

Across the North Sea in Scandinavia, the weather is reliably cold and snowy, though there have not been any big falls this season so far. In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria’s season started last weekend with big snowfalls for Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets, where the slopes are now fully open.

FRANCE

French ski areas are posting very healthy snow depths above 2,000m, with some big jumps of plus-50cm reported by resorts including Flaine, La Rosière and Alpe d’Huez. Much of the new snow arrived in heavy storms at the end of last week. Les 3 Vallées now has nearly 500km of slopes open – the most in the world – and Flaine’s 3m base is also the deepest in the world.

The forecast

After a sunny week, the skies are now clouding over and increasingly heavy snowfall is forecast into the coming weekend, before skies clear again from Christmas Eve onwards.

AUSTRIA

The great start to the 23/24 season in Austria continues with a dozen ski areas already reporting snow depths reaching 3m on higher slopes. These conditions already surpass the totals from last winter. It was a warm and sunny start to the week, but temperatures have since dropped and the snowfall has returned for most areas. St Anton has some of the country’s deepest snow and the Arlberg region, which it shares with Lech, has the most terrain open right now (235km).

The forecast

There will be increasing precipitation through the weekend. The snowline looks set to sit at around 1,300m – with wet snow above this and heaviest on Saturday. Sunshine will return from Christmas Day.

ITALY

Italy’s resorts have seen little fresh snowfall this week, with temperatures fluctuating around the freezing level and plenty of sunshine. Cervinia’s shared cross-border ski area with Switzerland’s Zermatt is posting the most terrain open – more than 220km – and some of the country’s deepest snow at 2m. Val Gardena in the Dolomites has the most open terrain in Italy (170km).

The forecast

Snowfall is expected across Italy on Friday and Saturday, with some areas seeing as much as 30cm before the sunshine returns for Christmas.

SWITZERLAND

It has been a largely uneventful week for weather on the Swiss ski slopes, with plenty of sunshine after the last snowfall a week ago. It is set to turn more wintry again in the coming days. Most ski resorts in Switzerland are ramping up to full operation from this weekend – Verbier’s 4 Vallées ski area is already 90 per cent open and Laax, Gstaad and Saas-Fee are sharing the top spot for deepest snow in the country at 260cm.

The forecast

It will be a snowy weekend with potentially some of the biggest snowfalls in Europe arriving in Switzerland – 40 to 80cm by Monday up high. Sunshine is returning next week.