Portillo and Valle Nevado relishing the conditions

Skiing on European glaciers is quite limited at the moment. Two areas are open in Austria, two in Switzerland, one in Italy and none in France. Many Australian resorts received fresh snow which gave them powder skiing on the upper slopes. Thredbo benefitted from around 10cm of fresh snow. Stormy weather has taken over New Zealand again.

Snow cannons also being used to improve the open runs

Skiing on European glaciers is quite limited at the moment. Two areas are open in Austria, two in Switzerland, one in Italy and none in France. Spring still dominates in Australia although they did enjoy some fresh snow earlier this week. It also went colder overnight allowing them to run the snow cannons a little and improve the open runs.

New Zealand currently enjoying good conditions

Winter made a sudden, although brief, return to Austria last weekend. Saturday was hot and sunny and then Sunday was cold and snowy in many resorts. On the Hintertux Glacier it snowed down to around 1800m, well below the summer ski area.

Turoa in New Zealand has nearly a three metre base

The hot weather in Europe currently is really taking its toll on the glaciers. It’s been in double digits even at 3,000m so snow is melting and glacier ice is showing through at all of our European glacial resorts. Les Deux Alpes and Cervinia are scheduled to end their summer ski seasons this weekend. Down in Australia it’s been quite warm recently so snow conditions aren’t as good as they were a few weeks ago.

Snowfall averages show that April is better than February

A study by the UK’s leading tour operator Crystal, in partnership with the country’s biggest non-profit snowsports membership organisation, The Ski Club of Great Britain, has revealed that snow conditions in April are often better than in February, at least in terms of snow depth.

It’s particularly good news in 2011 as Easter Sunday is late this year, on the 24 April 2011, with three bank holidays (Easter Monday, Royal Wedding Friday and May Day Monday) in the following 8 days, along with another weekend, it means the season will stretch in to May in terms of abundant days off work to enjoy it.

“Perhaps the most attractive element of late season skiing is the weather. As spring approaches it is much sunnier, with longer daylight hours and longer lift opening times giving holidaymakers the chance to enjoy the BBQs and drinking that takes place on the sun terraces of slope-side cafes and bars.” Said a statement from Crystal and The Ski Club.

“It is also much cheaper to go skiing in the spring. Late season is low season, so lift passes and accommodation cost considerably less. What’s more, it is also quieter. Skiing and snowboarding in late season means fewer people on the slopes, and less chance of lift queues.”

“When deciding where to go, the key elements to look out for are of course altitude (high — ideally with glacier) or latitude (northern) and a reputation for lots of snow (machine made or natural). A combination of any two of these factors normally ensures skiing success. The higher the altitude of the ski area, the colder it is, and therefore the longer the snow lasts, so ideally, skiers should aim for resorts that have skiing at 2,000 metres or above.” the statement advises.

The Ski Club of Great Britain has historical snow records for the last 17 seasons. Using this data, the Ski Club and Crystal Ski have compiled a list of the best resorts for late season skiing.

The data shows average historical snow depths from mid April compared to mid February based on the last 17 years on upper and lower slopes. Also shown is the average total fresh snow fall during the month of April (based on data from the last 5 years).

The Espace Killy: Tignes/Val d’Isère offers some of the most extensive skiing and snowboarding in Europe including the Grand Motte glacier. In the second week of April there’s typically 226cm on upper slopes, 108cm on lower slopes and 66cm of new snow falls through the month. This is better than the second week of February when upper slopes have 171cm, lower 104cm.

It’s a similar picture at Val Thorens, Europe’s highest ski resort making it snow sure throughout the season and at Paradiski: La Plagne/Les Arcs which offers a wide variety of skiing for all abilities with ski in ski out convenience.
In Austria, St Anton, firmly established as one of Europe’s top resorts with great skiing and après-ski, has a average 361cm on upper slopes in mid-April compared to 267cm in mid-February and receives an average 51cm of fresh snowfall in April.

Again it’s a similar story at Obergurgl, Ischgl and on Europe’s highest slopes, open year round, at Zermatt in Switzerland and its neighbour Saas Fee. The study found Zermatt averaged the best April snowfall of 99m.

Across the Atlantic most North American ski areas close by mid-April even if they have a huge snow base, but Lake Louise /Banff/Sunshine are open to May and in mid-April have an average upper slope base of 183cm compared to 155cm in mi-February at Mammoth and Lake Tahoe the mid-April average on upper slopes is 364cm (it my be higher this winter as it’s currently around 6 metres/20 feet), in mi-February it’s usually 301cm at the top. The area typically receives 81cm of fresh snow each April.