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Cervinia...How Risky?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I plan on skiing for a week starting around Dec 14/15th and it will be one of my two skiing trips to the alps this winter. Cervinia looks great since it has so much snow, and has lots of easy blues and reds. However looking at the outlook thread it looks to be stormy that week, and I don't want to be stuck in my hotel all week.

So my question is, should I still consider going to Cervinia? Should I wait a couple days before and see if the outlook is cloudy or sunny? Or should I just opt somewhere low with some trees such as Livigno or the dolomites?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
We did Cervinia on the 3rd week of Dec last year. We had a day of whiteout on day three and then amazing conditions for the rest of the week?


Being high you should be OK for snow cover, wind and whiteouts are in the hands of the almighty, wherever you choose to go. Madeye-Smiley
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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?
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.

Just book it and go.
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The weather seems likely to change quite dramatically next weekend (assuming you read German one example among many https://www.wetteronline.de/wetterticker/modellgefluester-kommt-der-winter-201812021579356). If so there could be well night perfect conditions from the 14th onwards in the Austrian Alps and should be no problem finding accommodation that week. Cervina has been great for early season conditions, the snow wont go away but other places might be better in two weeks time.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Morris at wepowder https://wepowder.com/en/forum/topic/261368 is suggesting a föhn south of the main alpine ridge, which makes sense if the weather turns to a northerly direction over the alps. As always you need to wait to see how accurate these predictions are, which, of course, can be rather frustrating if you are trying to book a holiday.
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Whitegold wrote:
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.

Just book it and go.

So there's little likelihood of white out multiple days in a row or more days than bluebird?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
munich_irish wrote:
The weather seems likely to change quite dramatically next weekend (assuming you read German one example among many https://www.wetteronline.de/wetterticker/modellgefluester-kommt-der-winter-201812021579356). If so there could be well night perfect conditions from the 14th onwards in the Austrian Alps and should be no problem finding accommodation that week. Cervina has been great for early season conditions, the snow wont go away but other places might be better in two weeks time.


Snow is a critical factor, however I really would like to go to Cervinia sometime, I haven't ever been to that corner of the Alps. However I am keeping my options open with Hochgurgl/Soelden the second likely contender. Do you think there'll be enough snow to open up the vast majority of Saalbach or Lech by then?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
südtirolistdeutsch wrote:
Whitegold wrote:
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.

Just book it and go.

So there's little likelihood of white out multiple days in a row or more days than bluebird?


December in the Northern Hemisphere is always the worst month for weather.

Cold, dark and miserable, due to shorter daylight hours.

Wherever you go in Dec, there is a risk of more bad days than good.

If you want a likelihood of perfect 80% sun and 20% snowfall, best to go at the end of Feb or early Mar.
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@südtirolistdeutsch, reading the current set of tea leaves would suggest that Lech might be good and SH not so good. The suggestion is heavy snowfall (higher up) in the Arlberg but not so much further east. Have a look next weekend. I have only been to Zermatt in the summer and always fancied skiing there but never had the opportunity.
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Have been to Cervinia a few times in Nov/Dec. Only one day closed due to high winds, but it happens. Rest of time you should have amazing quiet pistes and great grub.

Weather forecast that far ahead unreliable. Go for it.
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Quote:

Do you think there'll be enough snow to open up the vast majority of Saalbach

@südtirolistdeutsch, Judging by the web cams and the long-range forecasts on Bergfex and MeteoBlue, I think there are good grounds for optimism. There are certainly plenty of upbeat comments hitting Facebook. Even in the notoriously poor early season of 2016/17, Saalbach had at least 150km and all links open by early December - the snow-making capacity is amazing. However the degree of certainty obviously improves with each passing day, so how long can you hold off committing yourself? I'll be in Saalbach on 10th December, so hoping those forecasts come to fruition - hopefully nice empty pistes with fresh snow Madeye-Smiley

My recollection of Cervinia from a couple of visits is that the skiing is somewhat unexciting, unless you go over to Zermatt - which as you know and others have noted is dependent on the weather. There are some iffy reviews on "On the Snow", particularly on the point of the connection to Zermatt being closed and not having enough time to get there and back. I can understand your concerns about the possibility of stormy weather in such a high, treeless resort.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
No point being in Cervina if the weather is poor you won’t ski very much . I’d wait till the week before making your mind up , if it was this weekend coming up the weather won’t be great but I’m not sure
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Rob Mackley wrote:
No point being in Cervina if the weather is poor you won’t ski very much . I’d wait till the week before making your mind up , if it was this weekend coming up the weather won’t be great but I’m not sure
that you would find much tree skiing elsewhere that’s open , however after this weekend comings snow and increased openings the choice will be greater the weekend your going if the weather is due to be poor again .
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Ischgl is high, has a bunch of pistes open with artificial snow to low down, fresh snow forecast for this weekend, and more tree skiing than Obergurgl/etc. Would be a good choice I think, but honestly, just wait til a few days before to decide.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Whitegold wrote:
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.

Just book it and go.



We where there over last New Year and the whole place was closed for 3 days.

I know we had an extreme amount of snow but we also had high winds that closed ALL the lifts.

Personally I would never go there early season.

I would look elsewhere or leave it right up to the last minute.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Gyro wrote:
Whitegold wrote:
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.

Just book it and go.



We where there over last New Year and the whole place was closed for 3 days.

I know we had an extreme amount of snow but we also had high winds that closed ALL the lifts.

Personally I would never go there early season.

I would look elsewhere or leave it right up to the last minute.


Still a very rare event for multiday closure.

Cervinia (2000m) registers 6 days a month on average in Dec and Jan when the wind-speed exceeds 10mph.

Compare that with Tignes (1800m), for example, which averages 15 days a month over 10mph in that timeframe.

Not to mention snowfall.

Cervinia gets on average -30% less snowfall per year than Tignes, a (very) popular early-season resort.

Based on hard facts over decades -- not just one trip -- Cervinia is very rarely snowy or blowy enough to close down for days.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@südtirolistdeutsch, the greater risk is probably the closure of the link to Zermatt. Cervinia centre is beautiful and (to me) feels more Tirolean than Italian. If you can, avoid Cielto Alto as it is an horrendous trek back post après. Not the most snowfall but as mentioned the altitude means snow sure (icy as hell on occasion as snow blows away) and the Matterhorn cable car is something like the 4th highest in the world lots of queues but beats the hell out of (seemingly) the world’s longest (and coldest) t-bar which also drags you back from Swiss side.
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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?
@südtirolistdeutsch, the greater risk is probably the closure of the link to Zermatt. Cervinia centre is beautiful and (to me) feels more Tirolean than Italian. If you can, avoid Cielto Alto as it is an horrendous trek back post après. Not the most snowfall but as mentioned the altitude means snow sure (icy as hell on occasion as snow blows away) and the Matterhorn cable car is something like the 4th highest in the world lots of queues but beats the hell out of (seemingly) the world’s longest (and coldest) t-bar which also drags you back from Swiss side.
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Snowsartre wrote:
@südtirolistdeutsch, the greater risk is probably the closure of the link to Zermatt. Cervinia centre is beautiful and (to me) feels more Tirolean than Italian. If you can, avoid Cielto Alto as it is an horrendous trek back post après. Not the most snowfall but as mentioned the altitude means snow sure (icy as hell on occasion as snow blows away) and the Matterhorn cable car is something like the 4th highest in the world lots of queues but beats the hell out of (seemingly) the world’s longest (and coldest) t-bar which also drags you back from Swiss side.


Too early to tell as the holiday crowd are not here yet. But hopefully the new lift should put an end to that. It is certainly an impressive piece of engineering.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
südtirolistdeutsch wrote:
I plan on skiing for a week starting around Dec 14/15th and it will be one of my two skiing trips to the alps this winter. Cervinia looks great since it has so much snow, and has lots of easy blues and reds. However looking at the outlook thread it looks to be stormy that week, and I don't want to be stuck in my hotel all week.

So my question is, should I still consider going to Cervinia? Should I wait a couple days before and see if the outlook is cloudy or sunny? Or should I just opt somewhere low with some trees such as Livigno or the dolomites?


Can’t help you with how stormy it will be that far out. But the conditions really are superb. This was from the Warren Smith Academy today:

snow conditions
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Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.


Indeed, but it does and did happen.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Very rare for any European resort to shut for more than a day.


Indeed, but it does and did happen.
snow report



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