 Poster: A snowHead
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As my guide for 20 odd tears said to me the other day unless we get a big storm soon you’ll be going mountain biking in April not skiing
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No wonder he was upset.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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...I think I have more than 20 odd tears for what we are seeing in the hill these days...
...not least the deaths of many of the beautiful Scots Pines which are on the alpage above us....just suffering from the heat and lack of moisture....and they have been there for thousands of years...
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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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just suffering from the heat and lack of moisture..
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Lozza1uk wrote: |
| There’s a still a chance to limit warming to less than 2 degrees (most scientists seem to think 1.5 is unreasonable now, but 1.8 possible with effort). |
French govt planning is for a one meter rise in sea level and 4C temperature rise by 2100.
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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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Would seem that over the Pond things are not that great everywhere too.
https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/two-american-ski-resorts-already-closing-for-season/article_4ef36c94-b2f2-11ed-97d4-7336c72fba09.html
While Coloradans have at least a couple months of ski season left, some slopesport destinations around the country are already throwing in the towel.
Tennessee's Ober Mountain and Indiana's Paoli Peaks each announced that Wednesday, February 22 would be their last day of skiing and snowboarding this season. Both spots noted that warm weather was a key factor in being unable to maintain an adaquate snow base.
The Paoli Peaks website, last updated on February 16, puts the season total at just 13 inches and their base at six inches. Meanwhile, the last undated update on the Ober Mountain website put their base at 10 to 20 inches.
According to OnTheSnow, Paoli Peaks typically gets 25 inches of snowfall each year and Ober Mountain gets 18. Due to low snowfall numbers, each resort makes snow to help cover runs, a process which is heavily reliant on ideal weather conditions being present. During warmer years, snowmaking is a challenge.
For the sake of comparison, Steamboat Resort reports a 72-inch base and 344 inches so far this season.
Generally, closing dates for Ober Mountain and Paoli Peaks fall in the first or second week of March.
While resorts in parts of the Midwest and the Smoky Mountain Region might be hurting for snow, Colorado resorts are doing just fine. With snowpack above the 30-year to-date median in most of the state, expect a normal or longer-than-normal season this spring in the Centennial State.
OH wrote (back in Sept 2022) a very well-researched snow-forecast for the season (does it every season) and think she was right again... ( he hates to admit  )
https://www.stylealtitude.com/snow-forecast-winter-ski-season-2022-2023.html
Whenever there's a La Niña or El Niño around for winter, there's always a flurry of snow forecasters, ready to give the thumbs up or down for skiing. The effect of either is quite defined for North America but definitely debatable for Europe.
Actually, if we're using La Nina as an influencer for snow in Europe, then we only have to look back at the past two winters, both below average and both under the influence of the La Nina weather patterns. So it figures that this winter will be ditto.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Lozza1uk wrote: |
| There’s a still a chance to limit warming to less than 2 degrees (most scientists seem to think 1.5 is unreasonable now, but 1.8 possible with effort). |
French govt planning is for a one meter rise in sea level and 4C temperature rise by 2100. |
These two figures aren't necessarily inconsistent with one another, land masses have experienced greater temperature increases than the sea and that would be expected to continue and many places are described as warming at twice the global average, because most of the places that we are interested in are land not sea and therefore a global increase of 2 degrees could correspond to a 4 degree temperature rise in France
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Several weeks ago I posted on this thread , unusual because I’m always positive and hopeful , that because of very low mid to high mountain base depths if we didn’t get some decent snow in March even some of the mid mountain areas weren’t going to make it into April. Well after the two recent storms , I know some low level areas haven’t entirely benefited , it looks like it’s going to be ok. Perhaps my fears and pessimism was premature .
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I remember a trip to Sauze, for us, which was around 1999/2000... That was a bad holiday. The bottom of the slopes was mud by the end of the week. It just got more and more bare. We did do a day trip to Val Thorens, which was great, but tiring, as it was only my 3rd ever ski trip!! We vowed to never go that low again and had some great holidays in the French Alps after that, La Plagne + La Tania spring to mind.
It is starting to feel like we're going to have to go further afield, ie North America or possibly Japan or Sweden....
To be fair we lucked out last season, first week of Easter there was a week of snow just before we went 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I see some people are answering the thread title according to their experience of when they arrived in a particular resort for a week or two and then left. Others are looking at overall results in snow depth across 3-4 months. Explains some discrepancies/disagreements.
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@Orange200, +1
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I’m setting out on trip number 6 this weekend coming & have to say it’s not been a bad year for me , sure some pistes have been closed due to thin snow but the ones that were open were in great condition & the lack of snow means there was great sunshine skiing.
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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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Also I find that some people are very reluctant to admit they've had a crap holiday or that their fave resort served up miserable conditions. That's a good, positive, failing but it can make objective analysis difficult!
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Pretty good indication of the snowfall this season in La Plagne
- and its snowing all day today...
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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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My friend has been skiing and boarding in the Ski Amade area since January 6th this year. Not had a day off since then.
He reckons he had days and days of some of the best quality powder he's ever seen in Europe in that region this year.
I was in Flachau last week and barely saw any brown runs, closed runs or stones on the pistes.
'The Alps' is a bloody big area to lump into one!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| Pretty good indication of the snowfall this season in La Plagne - and its snowing all day today... |
Glad to hear it.
Let's take a look at the web cams right now: https://en.la-plagne.com/discover/ski-area/webcams
These two (the worst two) look more like what the folk I met from Europe last week were complaining about:
It doesn't take much to cover that brown/ green stuff, but doing so won't make the off piste viable anytime soon.
I'm sorry about that, but it is what it is.
North America is a bloody big area to lump into one, but ski resorts there are having 40-year record snowfall.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| eps wrote: |
It is starting to feel like we're going to have to go further afield, ie North America or possibly Japan or Sweden....
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That's bound to solve the problem 
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Just posted a fun fact on the Tignes thread, the official snow depths for today were at 2100m 150cm, on the Grand Motte 399cm. The average for the end of the 2nd week in March over the last 22 years are 135cm at 2100m and 218cm on the Grand Motte - draw your own conclusions - but its not all doom and gloom in the French Alps.
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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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| Pyramus wrote: |
| pam w wrote: |
| Also I find that some people are very reluctant to admit they've had a crap holiday or that their fave resort served up miserable conditions. That's a good, positive, failing but it can make objective analysis difficult! |
Yes I agree with this. That isn't to say you can't still have a fun holiday in rubbish snow conditions. The reality is this season is still going down as the worst overall in the Alps for a very very long time in terms of snowfall, even if some people are looking at the glass as half full 
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Can't disagree with any of this, and it is definitely a bad season. But some people may just have just picked the right resort at the right time at the right height, and will only be commenting on what they skiied or saw. We skiied in La Plagne in January, the week after it dumped, and hence we didn't really see any difference from any other year.
Again - those skiing in Belle Plagne this week might have a very different view from those skiing 10 days ago.
Today
6th March
It's not that they aren't telling the truth. But if 5 of 100 thought the conditions were good, compared to 50 out of a 100 in a normal year - then you can probably ascertain that it hasn't been as good as a normal year.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 15-03-23 18:06; edited 1 time in total
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@chocksaway, Altitude has been especially important this year in NW alps.
I guess that's the scary thing for the PDS & GM resorts etc where they've had lots of days this year of heavy rain, not so much a lack of precipitation but a significant rise in the freezing level.
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Those who managed to ski *today* probably erased in a few downhill any bad experience they had earlier in the season. Sadly I was just looking at webcams stuck at a desk.
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| phil_w wrote: |
North America is a bloody big area to lump into one, but ski resorts there are having 40-year record snowfall. |
To be clear, ski resorts in California are having a record snowfall year (or rather were - I think it's raining there too now), ski resorts just further up the coast in Canada most definitely are not. As you say, it's big place.
That said, I was skiing pow in Whistler for the last few days, so can't complain! 
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