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Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2016/17


J10

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As we move into November, our thoughts turn to Skiing and snow conditions over the Alps and Pyrenees.

This thread will primarily be focussed on the Alps, however you are more than welcome to discuss conditions further afield, such as Scandinavia, Scotland or even across the pond in USA and Canada.

Please get involved, and keep this one of the liveliest and friendliest forums on Net Weather.

A few discussion starters after last years mixed winter.

-      Will there be decent pre Christmas snows across the Alps.

-      Will altitude be pivotal to snow depths it was last  year

-      Are there any resorts that you would like featured this winter where are you going and when.

Please also add news and items of interest concerning the Alpine region.

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Posted
  • Location: Shoeburyness, SE Essex
  • Weather Preferences: Cool clear sunny weather all year.
  • Location: Shoeburyness, SE Essex

Well I will start off by saying it looks very positive to start the season.

More snow already than occurred before xmas last year.
Prospect as mentioned of 50 plus cm this weekend.

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Great to have the 2016/17 Alps thread up and running Julian. :)

So what will the coming season bring? I guess many of us have been reading about the very encouraging early pre-winter indicators and getting a little excited about the prospects (well I am anyway!!). Time will tell, but for now we at least look to have an encouraging start to November with extensive snowfall forecast for Monday 7th November for resorts above 1,500m, maybe slightly lower in the northern Alps. Let the webcam watching commence!

Charts for Mon 7th Nov 03.00:

GFS 850 hPa GFS 850 07Nov 03.00.png Precip GFS 850 Precip 07Nov 03.00.png

Freezing level GFS Alps Freezing Level 07Nov 03.00.png Precip  GFS Alps Precip 07Nov 03.00.png

 

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

On the Austrian weather service website wetter.at today is an article about the chances of a white Chritsmas in which they report:

"The US weather service NOAA expects (December) temperatures that are on average up to 2 degrees above the long-term values - especially in the east of Austria."

Deviation from long-term average in degrees Celsius; Graphic: NOAA: Temp Anomaly Dec 2016 Source NOAA.jpe

That's a rather disappointing 'take' and in contrast to Meteo France's view of the Nov - Jan period (especially as they show eastern Austria within the 'probability of colder' geographical area!).

Meteo France temp anom Nov - Jan: Temp Anom Nov Dec Jan Meteo France.jpg

 

Back in the reliable time frame, some good falls of snow being forecast on the snow-forecast.com website for many resorts from Saturday through to Monday with over 100 cm suggested for Les Deux Alpes, 65 cm for St Anton and 45 cm for Wengen. From a very quick check it appears the heaviest snowfalls will be in the western Alps, with much lighter falls further east where mild air hangs on the longest meaning early precipitation falls as rain.

Deux Alpes Les Deux Alpes 2 - 7 Nov 2016.jpg St Anton St Anton 2 - 7 Nov 2016.jpg

Wengen Wengen 2 - 7 Nov 2016.jpg

Edited by Blessed Weather
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Posted
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill
  • Weather Preferences: Cold and snowy or warm and dry
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill

Well it's started, webcams show snow down to the valley (thin and wet looking that low)  in my obsession this year, Serre Chevalier. With a colder outlook going forward than last year lets hope this weekend's falls will hang around to form the base for the ski season. 

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Posted
  • Location: Wallington, S London
  • Weather Preferences: hot sunny summers to ripen the veg and cold snowy winters of course
  • Location: Wallington, S London

Nice to see the snow thread back! We've booked Tignes for Christmas this year hoping to guarantee some snow. I've had my eye on the webcams there and good to wake up today and see the landscape has turned white! Early days but a promising start, almost as exciting as waking up to a covering here in South London:)

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Posted
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill
  • Weather Preferences: Cold and snowy or warm and dry
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill

Snow cannons were on in Serre Chevalier this morning, briefly at least.

serre2.png

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

Snow arrived on time last evening. Still snowing from the Polar front over much of the Alps. First picture now of the bottom of the piste in Katschberg and second from nearby Obertauren. Snow level dropping to below 1000m.

C

93.jpg

29.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Article about your neck of the woods on the Austrian wetter.at website today @carinthian. Impressive investment going on. Extracts:

Ski start: Starting pistol for snow cannons
Although the great snow on Carinthia's mountains and in the valleys is still waiting (for the season to start), the ski areas are well prepared. In just under a month, the ski season starts, and several million euros have been invested again this year.

The ski resort Turracher Höhe has invested 16 million euros between 2015 and 2017, now everything is hoping for snow. "The next days and weeks should be cold, then we hope to be able to start with the snowmaking," said Turrach spokeswoman Elke Basler on Sunday.
At the Nassfeld, it is investing 1.75 million this year. "Mainly investments were made in the expansion and expansion of snowmaking facilities," explains Nassfeld spokesperson Ingeborg Schnabl.
Weather
And the signs are good. "The next few days, the temperatures drop, and artificial snowmaking can begin. Even in the night it can snow up to 30 centimeters on Turrach and Nassfeld," said ZAMG weather expert Paul Rainer.

http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich-wetter/Ski-Auftakt-Startschuss-fuer-Schnee-Kanonen/257668826

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
11 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

Article about your neck of the woods on the Austrian wetter.at website today @carinthian. Impressive investment going on. Extracts:

Ski start: Starting pistol for snow cannons
Although the great snow on Carinthia's mountains and in the valleys is still waiting (for the season to start), the ski areas are well prepared. In just under a month, the ski season starts, and several million euros have been invested again this year.

The ski resort Turracher Höhe has invested 16 million euros between 2015 and 2017, now everything is hoping for snow. "The next days and weeks should be cold, then we hope to be able to start with the snowmaking," said Turrach spokeswoman Elke Basler on Sunday.
At the Nassfeld, it is investing 1.75 million this year. "Mainly investments were made in the expansion and expansion of snowmaking facilities," explains Nassfeld spokesperson Ingeborg Schnabl.
Weather
And the signs are good. "The next few days, the temperatures drop, and artificial snowmaking can begin. Even in the night it can snow up to 30 centimeters on Turrach and Nassfeld," said ZAMG weather expert Paul Rainer.

http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich-wetter/Ski-Auftakt-Startschuss-fuer-Schnee-Kanonen/257668826

Morning Malcolm, yes we have installed a few more snow cannons last week but our pistes are fairly well served. You will notice that the investment is in the higher resorts both Turrachter Hohe ( not far from here is based at 1900m ) and Nassfeld towards the Italian border . Sorry to say , many of the old traditional village resorts at 1000m and below are suffering through the run of mild winters. Last year I went to Alpbach in February, a picture box village , always had snow, but rarely holds it  nowat 1000m. Today we have plenty of powdery snow so piste workings start soon. Snow blowers may come into use if we hold the polar airmass by next weekend.

Cheers C

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

Now the new thread is up and running and snow is falling in the mountains , thoughts turn to winter pleasures. Just bought this sweater and thought of some of our other senior skiers on here, namely Malcolm and John Holmes.  Maybe Johns would better reading, "Never underestimate an miserable old man , who loves ski-ing  !! ... nice to see snow settling early this season, lets hope the polar cold holds in places for a while longer, all the better for the piste work due to start soon.

 C

14680739_1591422137829890_7484495200801473983_n.jpg

Edited by carinthian
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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Ha ha. I resemble that remark! And I quite like the idea of wearing a discount tag - although at our age you'd probably need to offer 75% off to attract any ladies in the apres-ski bars!! :laugh:

Moving rapidly back on topic and here's a lovely sight for early November - a covering of snow on the World famous Hahnenkamm run in Kitzbuhel with the snow cannons blasting.

Kitzbuhel Hahnenkamm Mon 07 Nov.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

Heres a picture from the Scandinavian Alps sent by my daughter yesterday evening . Main street Are in Sweden, their top resort.  Temp -11c. It gets so dark there , that the main ski seasons gets going in March and April !

 C

14971383_10157583702260062_2154323_n.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

Early season skiers enjoying the fantastic conditions on the Pitztal Glacier in Tyrol.

C

41.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
1 hour ago, Reefseeker said:

Yes, and the snow will continue to accumulate this week for slopes above 1,500m. :)

Euro4 accum charts today & Friday: Euro4 Snow Accum Wed 09 Nov 2016.gifEuro4 Snow Accum Wed 09 Nov to Fri 11 Nov 2016.gif

 

And with this sort of temp anomaly forecast from NCEP for the period up to 17th Nov, it hopefully suggests the snow will be sticking around (at least in the reliable)!

NCEP Temp Anomaly Forecast to 17 Nov.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

This morning on top of the Zehnerkarbahm station in Obertauren. All part of the 360 degree circuit ski-ing here, clockwise or anti clockwise, you end up in the place you started ! High base resort with all runs above 1800m so snow sure resort Nov- April. One of my favourite ski resorts but Apre not for the faint hearted !

 C

15032258_1318213261532004_5583545881157565658_n.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Surbiton and Bournemouth
  • Location: Surbiton and Bournemouth
On 09/11/2016 at 11:54, Blessed Weather said:

Yes, and the snow will continue to accumulate this week for slopes above 1,500m. :)

Euro4 accum charts today & Friday: Euro4 Snow Accum Wed 09 Nov 2016.gifEuro4 Snow Accum Wed 09 Nov to Fri 11 Nov 2016.gif

 

And with this sort of temp anomaly forecast from NCEP for the period up to 17th Nov, it hopefully suggests the snow will be sticking around (at least in the reliable)!

NCEP Temp Anomaly Forecast to 17 Nov.jpg

Well the above is certainly true of Les Arcs - it is still snowing 24 hours later:)

EDIT four hours after that.... yep.... still snowing... wow:)

 

Edited by Reefseeker
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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
4 hours ago, carinthian said:

This morning on top of the Zehnerkarbahm station in Obertauren. All part of the 360 degree circuit ski-ing here, clockwise or anti clockwise, you end up in the place you started ! High base resort with all runs above 1800m so snow sure resort Nov- April. One of my favourite ski resorts but Apre not for the faint hearted !

 C

15032258_1318213261532004_5583545881157565658_n.jpg

Winter wonderland picture above Obertauren in this mornings sunshine.

csm_IMG_1861_4ce3f16ed1.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
22 hours ago, Reefseeker said:

Well the above is certainly true of Les Arcs - it is still snowing 24 hours later:)

EDIT four hours after that.... yep.... still snowing... wow:)

 

It's an incredible spell of weather for many parts of the Alps. You posted on Weds that it had been snowing for 24 hours in Les Arcs - well here on Friday morning it's still snowing hard and is forecast to do so all day, finally stopping tonight. Over 72 hours of snowfall. :)

In this resort the temps this morning are 0C at 1,600m and -11C at 3,200m but these fall this afternoon to -4C and -15C.

This morning's webcam shot from Arc 1950 village is terrific with buildings covered in snow and deep drifts. :cold:

Arc 1950 Fri 11 Nov 2016.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK
  • Weather Preferences: Northeasterly Blizzard and sub zero temperatures.
  • Location: Ski Amade / Pongau Region. Sometimes UK

Love this shot of the magical Matterhorn this morning. Love to go there one day.

 C

91.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Sun, Snow and Storms
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl
On 11/9/2016 at 10:04, Reefseeker said:

Snowing at Les Arcs http://en.lesarcs.com/livecam-vagere.html

Edit: four hours later, it is still coming down heavily on the webcam:)

What a beautiful view from this webcam this morning. Clear continental air and a total knee high snow cover.

Terrific.

MIA

Edited by Midlands Ice Age
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