 Poster: A snowHead
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@lazyskier, The temperature up at Klein Matterhorn is below minus 20 at the moment and the winds are above 50 km/h. You really wouldn’t want to be up there to do the crossing between the two countries. Looks really cold the rest of this week so they might keep it closed. That is no indication one way or the other as to whether it will be open when you are out. The majority of the time it is open but closures are more likely at this time of year than, say, March.
The new lift being closed for maintenance doesn’t change anything for skiers. It only opened for walkers this summer and when it opens on 22 December that will be the first time it has ever been open for skiers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Finding it really hard to identify how much of Cervinia is actually formally “open” but not operating because of winds,as opposed to just not open.
Arriving this Thursday afternoon and hoping plenty is open for a cheeky birthday weekend ski trip!
I’m assuming the link toZermatt will be shut but hoping plenty open?
Also should we book restaurants on slope and (more likely) evenings? Any recommendations gratefully received!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Doccam, Pretty much everything you’d expect to be open in Italy at this time of year was open today. All main lifts were running with the exception of the lifts from Plan Maison up to Laghi Cime Bianche and on to Testa Grigia. That meant that it was not possible to cross from Valtournenche to Cervinia or vice versa. That Plan Maison to Laghi Cime Bianche lift is very vulnerable to winds so that might have been the reason. But that area has been late opening as they have been dismantling the World Cup infrastructure.
Although almost all lifts are open there are only one or two pistes running from each lift.
And there is only one run down into town in Cervinia open (none in Valtournenche).
You might be a little too pessimistic on the Zermatt link. Although it is staying cold, it is not as bitterly cold as it has been and the winds are abating a bit. So fingers crossed. I am mainly walking and cross country skiing this week but I probably will be skiing Wednesday and I would like to pop over to Italy
One thing you should know is that next weekend the Tour del Apli will be taking place at Plan Maison. There will be gazebos selling loads of ski products. Shouldn’t interfere with your skiing but it might be busy around there.
Have a great time.
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@JohnMo brilliant thanks for the info- even better if the link is open but that’s very encouraging.
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some retail therapy at Plan Maison as well! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Johnmo Thanks for the response. 
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Bit of a niche one - in fact it might only be me who is excited. For the first time since I have been coming here they have opened the cross country skiing (langlauf) course on the same weekend as the main piste opening. They usually struggle to get it open for Xmas. Last year’s poor snow season meant they didn’t get it opened at all. This is the top (easy) section at Täsch. It gets harder as you head on down to Randa (and harder still coming back up).
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@Doccam, The temperatures rose a little and the winds dropped so the link between Switzerland and Italy opened late morning today. I went up to Klein Matterhorn to check it out. I was very well wrapped up but by the time I reached the border I was painfully cold. Fortunately while it is still cold tomorrow it should be quite a bit better than today.
At present the Theodulpass is not open, nor is the top part of the Ventina (the piste from the border at Testa Grigia down to Cime Laghi Bianche). So the only way to get between Switzerland and Italy is the big cable car from/to Cime Laghi Bianche and Testa Grigia.
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@Johnmo thanks for the update. We’ve never skied Zermatt so fingers crossed.
Have got some proper thermals for birthday so should be fine!
Can’t believe we are off in just a few hours for the start of our ski season- and by all accounts the best early season since I was a lad and early December was pretty much a given!
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| Doccam wrote: |
@Johnmo thanks for the update. We’ve never skied Zermatt so fingers crossed.
Have got some proper thermals for birthday so should be fine!
Can’t believe we are off in just a few hours for the start of our ski season- and by all accounts the best early season since I was a lad and early December was pretty much a given! |
Absolutely. I have been coming here for about 13 years now (and a partial resident for 10) and I can’t remember better early December snow than this.
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I was planning to go to Cervinia on Sunday for a short ski break (2 days) but it seems like there will be torrential rain up to 2800 m both days I would be there. I might just cancel it. I'm afraid lifts will be closed. Anyone has more info on the local weather forecast?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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if the December snow is so good, how come so little is open ?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Koleoptero wrote: |
| I was planning to go to Cervinia on Sunday for a short ski break (2 days) but it seems like there will be torrential rain up to 2800 m both days I would be there. I might just cancel it. I'm afraid lifts will be closed. Anyone has more info on the local weather forecast? |
You have been really unlucky. I could quibble with your description of torrential rain up to 2800m but it doesn’t matter. On Monday in particular it looks like rain creeping up into the main skiing area at the warmest part of the day. Even when it is not raining it will be horrible wet snow that will be unpleasant as it is coming down and unpleasant to ski through. Monday is not going to be a good ski day at all. Tuesday might be a little better but still pretty bad. Always a personal choice but I would cancel.
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| JohnMo wrote: |
| Koleoptero wrote: |
| I was planning to go to Cervinia on Sunday for a short ski break (2 days) but it seems like there will be torrential rain up to 2800 m both days I would be there. I might just cancel it. I'm afraid lifts will be closed. Anyone has more info on the local weather forecast? |
You have been really unlucky. I could quibble with your description of torrential rain up to 2800m but it doesn’t matter. On Monday in particular it looks like rain creeping up into the main skiing area at the warmest part of the day. Even when it is not raining it will be horrible wet snow that will be unpleasant as it is coming down and unpleasant to ski through. Monday is not going to be a good ski day at all. Tuesday might be a little better but still pretty bad. Always a personal choice but I would cancel. |
Thanks. I've been unlucky last season as well. I was in Chamonix last Christmas when rain just washed away most of the snow. Then 2 days of rain and all lifts closed in Kitzbuhel in January.
I might try going east. Maybe Livigno or somewhere in the dolomites.
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You know it makes sense.
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| flagship wrote: |
| if the December snow is so good, how come so little is open ? |
Not a huge number of skiers at this time of year, particularly midweek, so doesn't make sense for most resorts to have a lot open. Won't get busy until Christmas week.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| flagship wrote: |
| if the December snow is so good, how come so little is open ? |
I am not sure what you are comparing it with. There is a load open. In Zermatt every lift except the Kumme and Hirli lifts is open. The only oddity is the piste section between Breitboden and Gant not being open. There are pistes open from the top of every lift. In Cervinia every lift is open and has pistes open from them (except the small Cielalto lift). The oddity is the top of the Ventina. Valtournenche is open from Sallette upwards but is not linked up to Cervinia at present. For the first week of opening that is really good. Anyone who came out skiing this week will have had a great time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks....I'm comparing to Dec 21, when runs to Patrullarve were open, and runs on to cervo, run to furi from riffleberg, black furgg to furi, breitboden to eja and gant - it was the same couple weeks pre christmas. Am arriving Saturday, so hopeful they open these things up.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Things generally get opened up as December progresses. The home runs (eg the one down to Cervo) often don’t get opened up until Xmas week. They are doing a lot of work on the pistes this week and have been having the snow cannons blasting away on the lower slopes (it has never got close to zero all week so good for that). We need to see what damage the warm wet front coming through Monday/Tuesday does but fingers crossed.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| inthecold wrote: |
@twoodwar, oh I see, that's good to know – I thought specialist insurance was required. I get Aviva insurance through Barclays, which has these exclusions:
• Bobsleigh, cresta, luge, skeleton
• Freestyle skiing or snowboarding
• Off-piste skiing (unless accompanied by a qualified guide at all times in areas the resort management consider to be safe)
• Heli-skiing
• Glacier skiing
• Ski flying, jumping, stunting, or surfing
• Ski racing or training
• Ski mountaineering
I guess the Swiss itineraries would fall under "areas the resort management consider to be safe"?
Bizarre how glacier skiing is excluded without exception. I need some new insurance |
Another policy with wording drafted by non-skiers:-
"Off-piste skiing (unless accompanied by a qualified guide at all times in areas the resort management consider to be safe)"
In reality, how could that ever be assessed- given that there is always an avalanche rating for off piste?
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Some good news on lifts and pistes from the Swiss side as of tomorrow.
The Patrullarve lift is opening and the red piste down from Sunnegga to it is opening.
The section of piste from Breitboden down to Gant which they weirdly didn’t open previously, is opening. I walked across that on snowshoes today. It is in absolutely superb condition.
A home run is opening in the first week of December! The run from Furi down to Zermatt. OK not the most exciting of skiing but if you ski down from Schwarzsee to Furi on your way home (as I did yesterday) it is a lot nicer to stay on your skis than have to get a lift. I wonder if the Hennu Stall bar alongside that run will be able to open. Would be great if they could.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@JohnMo, great updates, thanks. We’re not there till Feb, but great to see it’s off to a good start.
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And so the end is …. here? Probably not but “interesting” few days ahead.
There has been a lot of angst on the weather thread about the warm wet front coming through. The north west Alps in France in particular could end up getting a fair bit of rain. Zermatt’s position further east and in particular its height give grounds for optimism that the front could be net beneficial rather than a negative.
Today’s storm looks good and should be all snow - following a surprisingly snowy Friday which topped up everything nicely (although made the walk to the train station in Britain-suitable footwear tricky).
The big worry is what Monday and to a lesser extent Tuesday bring. There is a large amount of precipitation and at least for part of the day and for some way up it will be rain. The town could get several hours of rain and so there could be some reduction in snow cover. Irrelevant for skiing but a bit of a pity as the town has been looking really pretty However on the various projections I can’t see it being rain for very long (if at all) above lower lift stations at the top of the home runs. Above that it should be snow - and a lot of it. At lower levels it will be wet snow and not pleasant to ski in. But it will add to the base and so overall good for the season. Fingers crossed.
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@JohnMo, just posted on Weather outlook thread. The near 10 degrees around the 17th to the 20th is only 3 degrees or so on the same GFS run for Crans Montana just over the Rhone valley at a slightly lower altitude. Not sure if you or anyone else would have a view on why? Im no meteorologist so I'd love to know.
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6 degrees c in town today - the two inches that fell overnight is now puddles in the road. Obviously a lot was cleared by snow plough first thing. Bright sunshine. Don’t think rain will do any harm up top. And hardly see it ruining town. The trees, winter walks, rooftops, gardens all look wonderful.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Zermatt forecast showing a max of 2 degrees today, with snow sleet and rain. Cameras showing great snow cover in town. To be honest except in the immediate aftermath of snow, all roads in Zermatt are cleared very efficiently very quickly. Allskiable slopes will be getting more snow today.
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Well, this morning in town we have persistent precipitation, rain then snow then rain, it changes each time I look out of the window.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Looking at webcams - a few out today. Anyone been out today? How are the lower slopes holding up to the rain?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| @JohnMo, just posted on Weather outlook thread. The near 10 degrees around the 17th to the 20th is only 3 degrees or so on the same GFS run for Crans Montana just over the Rhone valley at a slightly lower altitude. Not sure if you or anyone else would have a view on why? Im no meteorologist so I'd love to know. |
I realise you posted this on Saturday but the ensemble mean on GFS is showing consistent highs under 5 degrees for Zermatt for next week’s few days of high temperatures. That is similar to what we are just coming to the end of (and even then the recorded temperatures were a couple of degrees below what the GFS mean had been showing). Next week has no precipitation forecast (at present) so those sort of temperatures are not going to harm the base.
I also am no meteorologist but I can attempt to repeat what the guide I go touring with tells me. He is based in Nendaz (part of the Verbier 4 Valleys) area and was previously based in Zermatt. He tends to take us anywhere along the Rhône Valley (north or south side) where he feels the snow has been best.
Crans Montana, north side of the Rhöne Valley can have very different weather to Zermatt. The difference is more marked than, for example, Verbier and Zermatt (south side of the Rhöne Valley). A large part of that is the weather shadow cast by Mont Blanc. When the weather is coming from the west (as it often does – and is almost exclusively doing so at present) Mont Blanc will deflect it north and south away from Verbier and Zermatt. If it is snow, good news for Crans Montana. If it is warm air, not such good news for CM. If the weather is coming from the south, Cervinia gets dumped on and hopefully the system will make it over the Alpine Ridge and Zermatt will get a decent share. Verbier will get some but it would need to be some storm for Crans Montana to get a decent dump. When it is coming from the east, Zermatt and Crans Montana get equal dibs and Verbier gets what makes it across. Less relevant at this time of year but also Crans Montana is entirely south facing so gets a lot of melt as the season heads for spring.
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Appreciate the reply@JohnMo,
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@rungsp, as a Zermatt regular, it’s acknowledged that it’s snowfall is not the greatest. However it’s also acknowledged that it is one of the most snowsure resorts in the alps, primarily due to altitude, and the fact most slopes are north facing, ditto Verbier? They hold on to snow, but they are not Warth for example.My main point was the temperature difference, for the same altitude and 20km apart resorts.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looks like the home run down from Patrullarve down to the village is open. Good news for the bars along that route - in particular Cervo at the end which does a cracking apres trade.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Confirm home run open and in excellent shape ( no traffic yet).
Snow off back of Rothon is lovely, like wise all gornegrat runs.
They were preparing red tuftern run from parallarve expect open by Saturday.
Kumme lift might take longer sadly.
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| flagship wrote: |
Confirm home run open and in excellent shape ( no traffic yet).
Snow off back of Rothon is lovely, like wise all gornegrat runs.
They were preparing red tuftern run from parallarve expect open by Saturday.
Kumme lift might take longer sadly. |
Good to hear. Everything looks tickety boo on the webcams. Per the lift schedule Kumme would open on 16 December at the earliest. Following the building of the new gondola (after the old chair was taken out by an avalanche) they now have snow making down on those runs. In the old days they sometimes didn’t get those runs open all the way down until after Xmas (even though the snow on the top part was usually superb). In any case they are still fairly quiet early season as, even in a resort that is generally north facing, they are completely north facing and can be real cold.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Top of the Ventina from the border at Testa Grigia down to Laghi Cime Bianche now open. Not sure when that happened but it was late compared to usual. Certainly not because of lack of snow. I hope this is not going to be an annual thing because of the World Cup race infrastructure.
Means you can now ski into Italy from Zermatt rather than take a lift. Much nicer. Doing Klein Matterhorn down to Breuil Cervinia in one go is my favourite on piste run.
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Hi-- We're a family of four coming next week to Cervinia for the first time. 2 very strong skiiers. Red/black, and 2 strong intermediates Blue/Red. With all the new lifts that have come on line the last couple years, what are the options for skiing from Cervinia to Zermatt. iI've seen routes suggested, but they're all several years old, and it looks like there have been some new lifts added.
We're staying at White Angel Hotel, which is near the Plan Maison lifts.
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Let others comment on lift but stayed at white angel this time 2 years ago and perfect location on side of a red run. Food v nice and good shuttle back and for town though we tended to walk down in evening and get lift back - due to teenagers moaning. enjoy
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@jbsouth, the only significant new lift is that from Klein Matterhorn to Testa Grigia at the border( highest point of Italian skiing). You can therefore get a lift down from Klein Matterhorn if you so wish. The only lifts that have gone are the T bar option up to Testa Grigia. Latest piste maps online will be fine. Swiss reds harder than Italian reds on average, for info.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The link back to zermatt from top of bontardini lift is open and simple.
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| jbsouth wrote: |
Hi-- We're a family of four coming next week to Cervinia for the first time. 2 very strong skiiers. Red/black, and 2 strong intermediates Blue/Red. With all the new lifts that have come on line the last couple years, what are the options for skiing from Cervinia to Zermatt. iI've seen routes suggested, but they're all several years old, and it looks like there have been some new lifts added.
We're staying at White Angel Hotel, which is near the Plan Maison lifts. |
The new lifts haven’t changed the overall position significantly. There are only two entry points.
One is the Theodulpass at the top of the third chair lift coming up from Plan Maison. That collapsed last year and they worked on it during the summer. That used to be a tricky little route for nervous intermediates. I have not been through it since the work but @flagship commented on it above – it sounds like it might be easier now. The route back into Italy through the Theodulpass has always been easier.
The other is at Testa Grigia. You have to get the gondola up to Laghi Cime Bianche and then the big cable car up to Testa Grigia. There is a proposal to build a lift direct from Plan Maison to Testa Grigia, which would be great. But I have no idea of the timescale for that.
Once you are into Switzerland the two entry points quickly converge and you find yourself skiing down to Trockener Steg or bearing left and heading down to Furgg. I guess you could take the new lift from Testa Grigia up to Klein Matterhorn but doesn’t make much sense as you will be skiing down from there to get back into Italy.
Most Italian visitors ski around this area (although it is dark this time of year – lovely later) – including the lifts up to Schwarzsee and the black run down from Furgg to Furi. There are good reds and good itineraries and it means you don’t need to worry about the return.
The next stage would be to ski down to Furi (either red round the back of Shwarzsee or Furgg-Furi black). From Furi take the Riffelberg Express up to Riffelberg and the chair lift up to Gifthittli just below Gornegrat. The ski area here is great for families but perhaps not a destination ski area for more serious skiers. Once off the Gifthittli chair you should instead turn right and ski down to Gant then take the big cable car up to Hohtälli. There are some great red and black runs around here and some excellent itineraries.
If you really want to cover the whole area from Gant you can get the chairlift up to Blauherd which puts you on the Rothorn/Sunnegga area. This is a mixture of family runs and some decent reds with the best black in the area and some great itineraries.
Depending on how far you want to explore you do need to work out your timing and make sure you can ski/lift back to Testa Grigia/Theodulpass in time to return to Italy. For example if you wanted to do Rothorn/Sunnegga you should head straight there and assess what you think your return time will be based on how long it took you to get over there.
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