Europe 23/24

[ChrisC]

That's when we all start at Val d'Isere. All the inquiries/comments about Gstaad, Glacier 3000, Verbier, Grimentz/Zinal etc., those are your options after Val d'Isere? Hopefully we can give you eyewitness reviews of some of those.

Yes. Doing a quick weekend in Chamonix (2 days) after Val d'Isere. We will likely ski Brevent-Flegere and possibly the Vallee Blanche. If there is bad weather - we will ski the trees/tree-lined slopes of Courmayeur and/or Megeve. I am not a fan of Les Houches.

Then I am on my own. I will likely go to Verbier next and stay in Le Chable (Verbier is Europe's most expensive ski town). Then everything is weather dependent, but I want to ski and stay in Grimentz-Zinal (2 days - possibly St. Luc), Arolla, and Gstaad/Glacier 3000. I am not opposed to a detour up to Murren. It has epic off-piste lines that are easily accessible.

But the priorities are Verbier, Zinal/Grimentz and possibly Murren. Gstaad the storm day backup plan.

Murren Freeride
(from left to right: Totenkopf, Blumental, Tschingelchrachen)

Murren Freeride Guide on FATMAP Link

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Totenkopf (Schlithorn summit)

 

[Tony Crocker]

Based in Le Chable, Sion or Sierre, Gryon/Villars is no more than an hour's drive for a bad weather day. While in Val d'Isere we hope to have some reviews among the places ChrisC mentions. At this point we are committed to the Jungfrau for Jan. 19-22 and will have to keep our fingers crossed on the weather.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Thursday 11 January 2024 – Cold and mostly sunny in the Alps today…

This relatively quiet period of weather will continue over the next few days but will begin to break down over the weekend and more especially early next week, with the arrival of some weather fronts from the north. These new fronts are likely to bring a bit of snow to low altitudes across some northern regions, but no more than that at this stage.

In the meantime, snow conditions remain good across most of the Alps, thanks to last weekend’s snow and the ensuing cold and more stable weather. The deepest snow and best off-piste opportunities are still to be found at altitude and in the northern Alps.

Snow depths remain on the modest side lower down and more generally in the southern Alps, though there is still lots of excellent piste-skiing here as well.

 

[Tony Crocker]

WePowder projects "Interesting days with an air mass boundary next week." There is an unwelcome possibility of weather with a high rain/snow line starting Wednesday. But there's lots of uncertainty in that forecast 6-7 days out that OpenSnow and Fraser are not even discussing yet.

OpenSnow deterministic projections show rain/snow line jumping from under 3,000 feet Tuesday to over 6,000 feet Wednesday/Thursday.

 

[ChrisC]

These new fronts are likely to bring a bit of snow to low altitudes across some northern regions, but no more than that at this stage.

All for that - it's been a rough season for resorts below 1500m after such a promising start.

WePowder projects "Interesting days with an air mass boundary next week." There is an unwelcome possibility of weather with a high rain/snow line starting Wednesday. But there's lots of uncertainty in that forecast 6-7 days out that OpenSnow and Fraser are not even discussing yet.

OpenSnow deterministic projections show rain/snow line jumping from under 3,000 feet Tuesday to over 6,000 feet Wednesday/Thursday.

I'm all for colder air and lower snowfall, but...

Warmer, more changeable and turbulent​

Tuesday will still be calm, but from Wednesday the battle of the air masses will begin. This is because a depression is approaching from the Atlantic and heading towards the European continent. The south and east sides of the depression bring very mild air to Europe, but it collides with the rather heavy cold air reservoir. This tough cold air will not be easily expelled, creating a very sharp air mass boundary. At that border, precipitation can be very heavy. To the north as snow and to the south mainly as rain.​

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Currently, this boundary is calculated quite far north of the Alps, preventing major precipitation, but in previous runs it was sometimes calculated further south. In that case, a lot of precipitation could fall in the Western Alps, but with the high risk that the snowline would also be very high. I will try to explain the situation using the images​

And the OpenSnow model runs have a 2000m rain/snow line built in: Megeve vs. Chamonix, 5 vs. 50 inches

 

[ChrisC]

Gryon/Villars is no more than an hour's drive for a bad weather day

I am a little unimpressed operationally with these resorts (Gryon/Villars/Les Diablerets/Glacier3000) so far.

• There has been no attempt to make snow for a valley run at Villars or Gryon. Weird.
• Glacier 3000 has a very erratic record for openings and recovery.
  • It was closed almost 50% of the previous week.
  • And despite a lot of snow, they are taking an incredibly long period of time to re-open lifts/pistes.
• Still major core areas at Glacier 3000 closed.

I am likely to skip them and go to the Gstaad Areas:

1. Gstaad-Saanen-Rougemont sector
2. Zweisimmen-Saanenmöser-Schönried sector

Lots of closed valley pistes (only Les Diablerets has one open). The skiable vertical is about 300m/1000 ft. Looks interesting, but definitely underachieving. Hey - it's skiing during a storm/whiteout.

Glacier 3000 - Finally opening its glacier after many days of stable weather. Still cannot groom a path off of it.

Gstaad has managed to progressively open terrain and has nearly 1000m/3000ft vertical at both sectors:

• Gstaad-Saanen-Rougemont sector
• Zweisimmen-Saanenmöser-Schönried sector

It is worth an extra 30 minutes past Villars/Gryon/Les Diablerets.

 

[Sbooker]

You’re on the ground in Europe today Tony?

 

[Sbooker]

@ChrisC
Spring like temps for our arrival.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Spring like temps for our arrival.

Fraser at Weather To Ski took note that Tony hadn't brought that up! He said: "If it’s high pressure and warm uppers (850hpa temp), it won’t matter at this time of year. However, we have a risk of rain depending on the trajectory of the jet stream."

I'll add his report when he posts it.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Monday 15 January 2024 – Fresh snow for some northern parts of the Alps

It’s mostly cloudy this morning across the northwestern Alps with snow showers here and there and a rain/snow limit ranging from about 1000m in the French Alps to 400m in the eastern Swiss and far western Austrian Alps.

Light snow today in Val d’Isère where storm totals could reach 15cm by the end of the day


This storm started late yesterday, and by tonight will have delivered snowfall totals of 5-15cm across the northwestern Alps, with the heaviest snow having fallen in the French Savoie (e.g. Val d’Isère). By contrast, the southern and eastern Alps are drier today, with the best of the sunshine across the south-east (e.g. Dolomites).

Mostly blue skies and lots of sunshine in the Dolomites today. This is the Alpe di Siusi


After a mostly dry and fine day tomorrow, the next storm will reach the western Alps on Tuesday night and continue to influence the weather until Thursday.

This storm will be more active and more complex, with the potential for a lot of snow at altitude but also some rain to 2000m or higher for a time on Wednesday, especially in the northwestern Alps. We will bring you more details on this storm tomorrow.

 

[Sbooker]

Extended forecast is for high pressure to dominate apparently. Looks like I’ll be skiing corn in January.
Or hoping to find some anyway.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Extended forecast is for high pressure to dominate apparently.

I don't see that. It's been overcast since Sunday, warm storm still expected Wed/Thurs, mostly clear over the weekend, then more unsettled weather next week. That's all modeling, so the next week part is always speculative.

Knowing Wed/Thu will be down days, that's when I'll catch up on TRs.

 

[Sbooker]

^^^
Yeah. Who knows that far out but the Euro model is suggesting warm. GFS not so much.

 

[ChrisC]

No more warm weather for the Alps!

It's very good above 2000m/6500ft.

Just need to stay higher. So it's Zinal, Verbier….. Gstaad looks out.

I think Courmayeur and Monterosa are high enough.

Val d’Isere/Tinges look good.

Might just follow the Rhone up to Zermatt or SaaS Fee. I also think Crans-Montana is very good.

 

[Sbooker]

No more warm weather for the Alps!

It's very good above 2000m/6500ft.

Just need to stay higher. So it's Zinal, Verbier….. Gstaad looks out.

I think Courmayeur and Monterosa are high enough.

Val d’Isere/Tinges look good.

Might just follow the Rhone up to Zermatt or SaaS Fee. I also think Crans-Montana is very good.

Might be mainly cruising around on groomers with nice views and table service lunches for our first few days by the looks. Not the end of the world. Hopefully some powder skiing later in the trip.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I also think Crans-Montana is very good.

My prejudices about south facing were reinforced. Groomers at Verbier and most of Grimentz were nice packed powder. There were definitely more firm spots at Crans Montana and Aletsch. And you may not want to go to Crans Montana while the long Kandahar run down from the glacier is closed. That is due to crevasses forming in the deep mid-December snowpack after the warm storms later than month.

It's very good above 2000m/6500ft.

Just need to stay higher.

Sbooker should heed this advice. Aosta is probably OK, the Maurienne not so much. The upper Rhone should still be good. WePowder mentions that Via Lattea/Serre Chevalier might do OK with a higher rain/snow line.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Wednesday 17 January 2024 – Rain and snow in the Alps!

A storm is currently in progress across the western Alps, with a warm front having arrived last night introducing an increasingly mild southwesterly airflow. Later tomorrow a cold front will send temperatures tumbling again, but by this point there will have been a lot of rain at lower altitudes, at least in the northwestern Alps.

Snow turning to rain early this morning in Tignes


The rain/snow limit will reach 2200-2600m today across some western regions (e.g. French Alps) but will remain lower for longer in the more sheltered internal valleys (e.g. Swiss Valais). Precipitation intensity will tend to fade for a time during the middle of the day before intensifying this evening, with the snowline descending to 1700-1900m overnight. The eastern Alps (e.g. most of Austria, Dolomites) will be less affected by this storm today but will see some precipitation tonight with a rain/snow limit more in the region of 1600-1900m.

Tomorrow (Thursday), the focus for the heaviest precipitation will tend to move back towards the northwestern Alps with a rain/snow limit initially around 1500-1800m but dropping during the day to reach 400m or so by evening. The milder air will hang on for longest in the southeastern Alps, although any precipitation here will become patchier and lighter.

All in all, it’s clearly a very complex situation in the Alps over the next 48 hours. Above 2500m, we can expect storm totals of well over 50cm across some parts of the Alps by the end of Thursday, especially in the French Alps. However, it will also be the French (and western Swiss) Alps that will see the most rain damage lower down. Further east, there will be less snow albeit with a slightly lower rain/snow limit.

Friday will be a calmer day all round but cold, and it will then start to turn warmer again over the weekend, and especially into next week.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Groomers at Verbier and most of Grimentz were nice packed powder. There were definitely more firm spots at Crans Montana and Aletsch.

You've already skied all four of those resorts? Did you rent a magic carpet?

 

[Tony Crocker]

4 days, 3 1/4 resorts, but not at the speed of prior Euro trips. All are within an hour's drive of Sierre, though we moved to Le Chable for the day at Verbier and today's down day.

 

[Sbooker]

Sbooker should heed this advice. Aosta is probably OK, the Maurienne not so much. The upper Rhone should still be good. WePowder mentions that Via Lattea/Serre Chevalier might do OK with a higher rain/snow line.

I think we might go check out Les Duex Alps, Alpe d’Huez and Serre Chevalier. There’s zero chance I’m skiing powder before we get to Aosta at least. I’m a part time casual cyclist so have some interest in that part of the world.
It’s a bit of a hike to get to the two high resorts if we stay in Briancon but then again the roads should be great. And I’m keen to see the Briancon fortified old town. Maybe Le Bourg d’Oisans might be a better village to stay in. We’ll see.