The Alps Snow Thread - Season 2014/2015

[johnholmes]

The course has had snow cover right into the finishing area and was pisted and treated a week or more ago, bare ground around it but as you say now covered and snowing into the afternoon. The downhill will be run tomorrow and the slalom today. Been done before but advance notice of at least 3 days has to be given as over 30,000 folk converge on the course from many parts of Europe.

this link again for the Lauberhorn, no fly past by the Swiss aerobatic team but a probability they may get a brief clear slot tomorrow.

http://www.lauberhorn.ch/en/?langId=2

more info on the FIS web site also

http://www.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/news-multimedia/

[carinthian]

Morning, nice top up overnight. Sunny and much colder today.

[BLAST FROM THE PAST]

Morning, nice top up overnight. Sunny and much colder today.10384292_10153092805048628_6711221036763877028_n.jpg66163_10153092656978628_3236898995626462747_n.jpg

Hi Carinth

That looks proper wintry and soooooo inviting.  General mood must be pretty upbeat now 

 

Happy holidays JH

 

BFTP

[J10]

Live Coverage of the Wengen Downhill now on BBC Red Button (Channel 601)

 

It is looks absolutely stunning. with clear blues skies. So envious of you John.

[carinthian]

Hi Carinth

That looks proper wintry and soooooo inviting.  General mood must be pretty upbeat now 

 

Happy holidays JH

 

BFTP

Those visitors arriving yesterday looked glum with the rain falling and the mountain shrouded in mist. What a change this morning, sunshine and snow, deep crisp and even. A good weeks ski-ing on the cards for most.

C

[Blessed Weather]

Oh my word!! When John spoke with Carinthian the other day he said he was "going to do the Lauberhorn run, at my own pace".

But he didn't let on he was actually taking part in this afternoon's race! I've just watched it (recorded) and there was John bombing down the course!  I've taken a couple of screen shots from the telly. It definitely says it's him.

 

[carinthian]

Oh my word!! When John spoke with Carinthian the other day he said he was "going to do the Lauberhorn run, at my own pace".

But he didn't let on he was actually taking part in this afternoon's race! I've just watched it (recorded) and there was John bombing down the course!  I've taken a couple of screen shots from the telly. It definitely says it's him.

 

Wengen downhill_a 18Jan15.jpg Wengen downhill_b 18Jan15.jpg

Great post Malcolm. I know he will frame that picture and let every one in the world know thats him in full flight ! Us younger ones are not in the same league lol.

[Blessed Weather]

Before John left for Wengen he asked if I would be kind enough to post some of his photos if he emailed them to me during the week. John has obviously arrived safely and I very pleased to post his first couple of photos, emailed to me this evening.

 

Wengen station after the downhill, with an estimated 2 - 3,000 people waiting to go down the 'hill'  

 

John's hotel with the Jungfrau in the background 

 

(John - hope you don't mind the bit of fun in my earlier post! Keep the photos coming during the week. Let us know what the skiing conditions are like when you get out on the slopes).

[Great Plum]

I have only been to Wengen and the Bernese Oberland in the summer (save a brief trip to Kandersteg one March) - it is a beautiful place - thank you for the photos!

[carinthian]

Guten Morgan vom Katschberg. Fantastic conditions. Picture of the blue run from the resort down to the main lift station.

C

[johnholmes]

What you do not believe that is me airborne, shame on you all. Overcast this morning, but no case arrived yet so not much I can do for now!

[Tom Jarvis]

Just want to know how the snow is looking for morzien in France as I'm heading off to there in two weeks time

Edited January 19, 2015 by Tom Jarvis

[Blessed Weather]

Congratulations on your 32,000th post John.   An amazing total! I've worked out that at my current rate of posting I'll be 210 years old when I get to that figure!

I hope your suitcase has caught up with you and you've had a great first day in Wengen.

 

Quick news snippet on the Scottish ski industry which is doing well from the current weather set-up:

 

Thousands flock to Scotland's ski slopes for 'fantastic' conditions

"Thousands flocked to Scotland's ski resorts over the weekend after freezing temperatures and dumploads of snow created excellent conditions.

The country's main resorts were “mobbed†by enthusiastic skiers and snowboarders, especially Glencoe....

The Cairngorm ski area welcomed nearly 4,000 people to the resort over the weekend, with perfect conditions reported on Sunday, while the Nevis Range, near Ben Nevis, had 3,000 people visit its ski area over the weekend."

 

Full article from Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Online http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/skiing-news/11354810/Thousands-flock-to-Scotlands-ski-slopes-for-fantastic-conditions.html

[Blessed Weather]

Just want to know how the snow is looking for morzien in France as I'm heading off to there in two weeks time

 

Looking pretty good at the moment Tom. The resort is reporting 40cm of fresh snow lately and this coming week is set to be another cold and snowy one with up to a further 15cm of snow. Depths there are 130cm on upper and 80cm on lower slopes (before this coming week).

 

Snow report from snow-forecast.com today:

Snow-forecast.com http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Morzine/6day/mid

 

As I'm sure you know from the Model Output thread, the models have been struggling to be consistent with any forecasts past 5 days of late, so trying to second guess exact conditions for 2 weeks time is somewhat difficult! However, an interesting Netweather Monthly Forecast issued by Ian today, suggesting a possible Scandi High for the first week of Feb. Will that mean low pressure over France?? http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=monthly;sess=

Edited January 19, 2015 by Blessed Weather

[J10]

In addition to Malcolm's comments above

 

the webcams is looking good for Morzine, but better than last Friday. (when it was mostly green)

 

http://www.morznet.com/webcams/town-valley

 

http://www.bergfex.com/morzine/webcams/c3222/

Edited January 19, 2015 by J10

[stuboy]

Yep, I'm mildly (mild isn't a good word to use!) optimistic now for Saturday when I head to Passo Tonale, the much needed snow has come and it looks like staying cold for a while at least!

[Tom Jarvis]

Thanks for the replies

[Blessed Weather]

Yep, I'm mildly (mild isn't a good word to use!) optimistic now for Saturday when I head to Passo Tonale, the much needed snow has come and it looks like staying cold for a while at least!

 

Fantastic conditions await you stuboy! According to the latest snow report from snow-forecast.com there are "great snow conditions throughout the area" with 80cm at town level and 400cm at the top. The next 5 days see up to another 19cms of snow and very low temps. With a bottom run at 1,885m it will take a very mild spell to mess things up and there's no sign of that in the forecasts up to mid next week. Have a great time!

 

Snow report from snow-forecast.com 

snow-forecast.com 6 day forecast http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Passo-Tonale/6day/mid

[stuboy]

Fantastic conditions await you stuboy! According to the latest snow report from snow-forecast.com there are "great snow conditions throughout the area" with 80cm at town level and 400cm at the top. The next 5 days see up to another 19cms of snow and very low temps. With a bottom run at 1,885m it will take a very mild spell to mess things up and there's no sign of that in the forecasts up to mid next week. Have a great time!

 

Snow report from snow-forecast.com  Passo Tonale snow report 19Jan15.jpg

snow-forecast.com 6 day forecast http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Passo-Tonale/6day/mid

Thanks! Yes I can't believe how it has turned around. Looking at the forecast for the week ahead it even says that around Saturday/Sunday the freezing point will be 0 metres! With temperature's getting very low. Not sure what the forecast is for next week but certainly a solid base has been laid now. Looking good for anyone heading over to the Alps in the next week to 10 days really.

 

I always think (just my personal opinion!) that heading out the end of Jan into Feb is always the best time and provides a decent chance of good conditions. We would go out later in Feb, but it's good to avoid half term, I love the clear slopes!

 

Thanks to you and J10 for all your updates, this is by far my favourite thread on Netweather, I love hearing about the snow and people's experiences during the winter! As well as the build up and anticipation of another season on the slopes!

Edited January 20, 2015 by stuboy

[johnholmes]

Actually skied a bit today, put the wd40 thatOON suggested, seemed to work for a bit. At last the piste bashers are on theLauberhorn, might make it a bit less icy.

Lot of fog keeps drifting up fro the valley, otherwise conditions would be great.

Edited January 20, 2015 by johnholmes

[Polar Maritime]

I find 3-in-1 works better on the knees John.. 

[Blessed Weather]

Interesting article on the wetter.at website about the use and cost of snow cannons in Austria. The Lech lift operator has a good whinge that local hotels and restaurants don't contribute anything whilst enjoying all the benefits of keeping the tourists coming. Some extracts:

 

Snow on slopes: With the weather is unfortunately increasingly rare.
The local ski resorts have invested in recent years hundreds of millions in the snow its slopes. Often the ski lift operators pay the bill. Lech am Arlberg they spent each year some 6 million euros for the snow to - about 20 percent of sales, said the biggest lift and ski lift operators in the region Lech.

But in his opinion should also mitzahlen (changed so that) hotel, catering and trade as more beneficiaries. "The resorts of Lech, Zürs spend about 300 to 400 million euros - but they pay nothing so far for the snow," Manhart criticized on ORF radio. The snow guns are a fail-safe for them.

There are 20,000 snow guns throughout Austria but it is regulated very differently in Austria, who will pay for it. Since 2000 were 1.3 billion euros in Austria has been invested in artificial snow.

 

Full article in Austrian: http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich-wetter/Kosten-fuer-Beschneiung-gehen-in-die-Millionen/173311431

[J10]

Interesting article on the wetter.at website about the use and cost of snow cannons in Austria. The Lech lift operator has a good whinge that local hotels and restaurants don't contribute anything whilst enjoying all the benefits of keeping the tourists coming. Some extracts:

 

Snow on slopes: With the weather is unfortunately increasingly rare.

The local ski resorts have invested in recent years hundreds of millions in the snow its slopes. Often the ski lift operators pay the bill. Lech am Arlberg they spent each year some 6 million euros for the snow to - about 20 percent of sales, said the biggest lift and ski lift operators in the region Lech.

But in his opinion should also mitzahlen (changed so that) hotel, catering and trade as more beneficiaries. "The resorts of Lech, Zürs spend about 300 to 400 million euros - but they pay nothing so far for the snow," Manhart criticized on ORF radio. The snow guns are a fail-safe for them.

There are 20,000 snow guns throughout Austria but it is regulated very differently in Austria, who will pay for it. Since 2000 were 1.3 billion euros in Austria has been invested in artificial snow.

 

Full article in Austrian: http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich-wetter/Kosten-fuer-Beschneiung-gehen-in-die-Millionen/173311431

 

One option could be they do what certain holiday resorts do, charge a city tax .e.g. Nice charges 1 euro per person per night.

 

So if the authorities were to impose something similar in Austria and across the Alps, this would raise revenue which could at least partially fund snow cannons.

 

Of course this may be controversial, and does anyone know how many people visit the Alps each winter skiing.

Edited January 21, 2015 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

It’s no good, I can’t hide my excitement! I’m off to Flaine very early tomorrow morning for a week’s skiing with my mates and the outlook for the coming week is very snowy! To the extent that I’ve dug out one of my summer tyres from the garage and been practicing putting on the snow chains in the dining room!

 

I think there’s a great 7 – 10 days of weather coming up for the Alps with the Euro trough established (and according to GFS and ECM likely to stay so over this period) with frequent frontal attacks from the NW bringing bands of snow every few days. Temps look set to stay below freezing most of the week, particularly for resorts in the eastern Alps. Exceptions might be lower French resorts as the western Alps will always be closer to warm sectors as fronts approach. Here’s a few 850 hPa charts from this evenings GFS 12z showing the frequency of snow-bearing fronts:

 

Sat 24th  

Tue 27th  

Thu 29th  
Fri 30th  

 

Recretos in the Strat thread made a very interesting post (#1318 Page 66) yesterday regarding the Euro trough:

 

“….the strat does seem to have the upper hand, and the first end net result of this dynamics is the deep trough over Europe, evident on both GFS and ECM.  And this situation is not some normal model calculation that lingers for a run or two before disappearing. This is largely stratosphere driven in the process, giving more security and weight to the situation with this trough….â€

 

The only possible downside for the coming week is the possibility that skiing might be impacted if snowfall gives white-out conditions, but hey, even that can be good fun as long as you don’t lose sight of the piste-side poles!

 

There’s wi-fi in the apartment so I hope to do a few posts with pics during the week.

[stuboy]

It’s no good, I can’t hide my excitement! I’m off to Flaine very early tomorrow morning for a week’s skiing with my mates and the outlook for the coming week is very snowy! To the extent that I’ve dug out one of my summer tyres from the garage and been practicing putting on the snow chains in the dining room!

 

I think there’s a great 7 – 10 days of weather coming up for the Alps with the Euro trough established (and according to GFS and ECM likely to stay so over this period) with frequent frontal attacks from the NW bringing bands of snow every few days. Temps look set to stay below freezing most of the week, particularly for resorts in the eastern Alps. Exceptions might be lower French resorts as the western Alps will always be closer to warm sectors as fronts approach. Here’s a few 850 hPa charts from this evenings GFS 12z showing the frequency of snow-bearing fronts:

 

Sat 24th GFS Sat 24Jan15 850.png  GFS Sat 24Jan15 Precip.png

Tue 27th GFS Tue 27Jan15 850.png  GFS Tue 27Jan15 Precip.png

Thu 29th GFS Thur 29Jan15 850.png  GFS Thur 29Jan15 Precip.png

Fri 30th GFS Fri 30Jan15 850.png  GFS Fri 30Jan15 Precip.png

 

Recretos in the Strat thread made a very interesting post (#1318 Page 66) yesterday regarding the Euro trough:

 

“….the strat does seem to have the upper hand, and the first end net result of this dynamics is the deep trough over Europe, evident on both GFS and ECM.  And this situation is not some normal model calculation that lingers for a run or two before disappearing. This is largely stratosphere driven in the process, giving more security and weight to the situation with this trough….â€

 

The only possible downside for the coming week is the possibility that skiing might be impacted if snowfall gives white-out conditions, but hey, even that can be good fun as long as you don’t lose sight of the piste-side poles!

 

There’s wi-fi in the apartment so I hope to do a few posts with pics during the week.

I feel your excitement too! I'm off early Saturday morning and can't believe the turnaround! In Passo Tonale it suggest snow flurries for the next week with heavier stuff Thurs/Fri. Never sure how accurate these forecasts are though!

Enjoy your trip and we'll compare notes (and maybe pictures!) in a week or so. Can't wait! Off to pack the thermals!