 Poster: A snowHead
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The early season in the Northern Hemisphere remains mixed.
North America has above-average conditions. Europe is below-average. Asia is average.
Here is a summary of global snow conditions, from West to East...
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Canada: West Canada has excellent snow. Lake Louise is roughly 85% open. Very cold in parts: some Snowheads reporting windchill below -50c. East Canada is still suffering mild temps and wet snow.
USA: The Midwest has amazing coverage. Snow has poured down, from Montana to Texas. Alta in Utah is 90% open. A World Cup ski race in Beaver Creek, Colorado, was canceled, due to 3ft of freshies. California, in the West, remains poor. Mammoth is running 10%, mostly on manmade. Conditions in the East are the worst for many years. Killington and Stowe closed temporarily on Sat, due to rain and warm temps.
Scotland: A promising early dump has largely melted. It rained some this week. No lifts operational for skiing at present.
Scandinavia: A good pre-season in Norway, Finland and Sweden has deteriorated rapidly. They pressingly require new snow. I was in Sweden this week and it was more like Summer. Lillehammer in Norway has 8% of its tows fired up.
Andorra: Very little snow. No major resorts open. Worst start for a few years.
Spain: Limited snow. No major resorts open, either in the south or north.
Mediterranean: Resorts in Portugal, Corsica and Cyprus are closed. Unlikely to open much before Jan.
France: Coverage is very poor. The Times of London reports France had its warmest Autumn since 1950. Temps have been way above-average. Val Thorens has just 3 skiable runs. ValTho suspended day-pass sales over the weekend. Val d'Isere abandoned its scheduled Downhill race. Tignes is only 5% open. Rumors of £99 vacations to Les 2 Alpes during Dec are popping up on the Web.
Switzerland: Conditions are mostly bad. Temps remain high. It was 8c in Zermatt (1600m) at midday today. Saas Fee is running a creditable 20%.
Italy: Patchy cover. A few glacier stations running, but little else. Cervinia is about 5% open up top.
Germany: Limited snow. Garmisch is roughly 10% operational, mostly on the glacier.
Austria: Big snow a few weeks ago has been replaced by high temps. The Times of London says it was the warmest Nov for Austria since records began in 1775. It was 12c in Saalbach (1000m) at midday today. St Anton failed to open this week as scheduled. Soelden has the most terrain, with 25% open. Obergurgl is partially running on artificial neige.
CE Europe: Limited snow across Poland, Czech Rep, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Turkey. Temps are high. No major stations are believed to be operating.
North Africa & Middle East: Few stations, in places such as Lebanon and Morocco, are likely to be open much before the end of Dec.
India: The first major snowfalls have only just hit the north of the country. No major resorts known to be operating yet. Gulmarg, the number one station, has enough snow to fire up the lifts, but a workers' strike has delayed the opening.
China: The first major snowfalls have only just fallen. No big stations known to be open yet.
South Korea: The season has not yet kicked off. Snow has fallen, but no top resorts, such as Yongpyong and Phoenix Park, are believed to be operational yet. High 1, the number three resort, plans to start up on Dec 8.
Japan: A growing number of skitowns are ready for business. Welovesnow reports that Kugura was one of the first to open in the North. Kiroro Snow World in Hokkaido, which traditionally runs from Nov to May, already has a claimed 170cm up top.
FORECAST: The 10-day weather forecasts indicate perhaps more of the same. Healthy temps and snowfalls across Midwest North America. Cooling down slightly in Eastern USA. Above-average temps, modest snow and perhaps rain across much of the Alps. Asia looks to be cold and snowy, particularly Japan.
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Please remember, this summary is a helicopter view. I have almost certainly missed something. Feel free to fill in the gaps.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 2-12-06 13:49; edited 4 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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From kerekip on another thread, the Austrian situation is this
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Wagrain (Ski Amade) announced to open this Saturday. Only 4 lifts and upper slopes.
As summary, the following resorts open this week-end:
- all the glaciers
- Obertauern
- Ischgl
- Reiteralm
- Hauser Kaibling
- Flachau
- Zauchensee
- Wagrain/Grafenberg
- Schafberg/Gargellen
- Hochjoch
- Obergurgl/Hochgurgl
- Kühtai
- Tauplitz
Note: the non-glacier resorts do not open all the pistes. (Teilbetrieb)
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Also, in terms of biggest ski area in Austria, Soelden has 31.8 km open, whereas Hintertux has 43 km open.
Not sure about Ischgl, that may even have more.
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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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Whitegold,
As a matter of interest has China got any big stations?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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T_Bar -- China has dozens of micro-resorts. Huaibei, near the capital, Beijing, is one example. There has been a building boom fueling their expansion in recent years. Skiing, like most things in China, is a fast-growing industry.
Yabuli and Harbin Erlongshan in the Northeast are among the largest macro-resorts. They offer a reasonable amount of advanced terrain. I am sure it will not be long before one or two Chinese stations pop up in the brochures of mainstream UK tour operators over the next few years.
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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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| Quote: |
CE Europe: Limited snow across Poland, Czech Rep, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Turkey. Temps are high. No major stations are believed to be operating.
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On November 11, Slovakia opened two resorts in the High Tatras. This has been the earliest season start ever in Slovakia. A constant temperature around 10C has ruined the slopes, so both resort had to suspend their operation. Currently, no resorts are operating in CE Europe.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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On Greek mountains the temperatures are finally starting to drop and approach 0 or go below this week. There is hardly any snow currently even above 2,000 metres. None of the stations are operational.
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Thanks Whitegold - very useful - keep 'em coming.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
T_Bar -- China has dozens of micro-resorts. Huaibei, near the capital, Beijing, is one example. There has been a building boom fueling their expansion in recent years. Skiing, like most things in China, is a fast-growing industry.
Yabuli and Harbin Erlongshan in the Northeast are among the largest macro-resorts. They offer a reasonable amount of advanced terrain. I am sure it will not be long before one or two Chinese stations pop up in the brochures of mainstream UK tour operators over the next few years. |
There was an article in the Economist about them, quite critical. To summarize:
1. if someone does something in China that appears to make money you will immediately get hundreds of imitators until the market gets over saturated and collapses
2. although the region is cold there is not enough snow for the resorts to run without snowmaking
3. there isn't enough water for snowmaking due to the resorts being largely in desert regions
4. it is all a total disaster a la Chinese.
as a caveat the Economist has got it wrong recently over Iraq (domino effect of democratising the middle east), Enron (the new lightweight economic miracle) and Marconi (shaking off the dead head of lord Weinstock).
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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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kerekip, jo reggelt! Hova jarsz sielni? En remelhetoleg Ausztriaba megyek par napra Januarban, ha van eleg ho--talan tudunk talalkozni? 
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My hovercraft is full of eels.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sorry! Must sound like gobbledegook if you don't speak Hungarian! 
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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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Montana is very poor at the moment. Storms are missing the key ares.
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FAQ
