The Alps: Warm Weather with No Significant Snow
1st January 2023
Last modified on January 3rd, 2023
There remains no snow worth talking about in the forecast as 2023 gets underway. In places in the Alps the freezing level is up to 3,000m but there are still some decent conditions around. UPDATED
It is not a ‘Happy New Year’ for some in the ski resorts of Europe.
More snow is urgently needed, especially in some of the main resorts in France and western Switzerland – there is currently little sign of it coming soon.
In France Les Gets has just 2 lifts running out of 47 – the Chavannes gondola lift and the Vieux-Chêne draglift. The Chavannes magic carpet remains open.
The link to neigbouring Morzine is closed.
Morzine has 6 out of 21.
Megeve 29 out of 84.
La Clusaz has 18 out of 49.
In Flaine it is 11 out of 24, while in Gstaad in Switzerland it is 21 out of 47.
On PlanetSKI we have been reporting on the conditions in parts of the Alps over the Xmas period, though there has certainly been some decent skiing at altitude in places.
It is better over in Austria and Italy.
- Rain and warm temperatures hit low altitude ski resorts
- Heavy snow and rain affects the Alps in the run up to Xmas
- Harsh weather hits the Alps with powder snow at altitude but rain lower down
In Switzerland the warmest New Year’s Day was recorded in some places since records began.
It was 15.5°C in the ski resort of Adelboden.
Switzerland recorded its highest-ever January temperatures on the north side of the Alps.
It was 20.2 C in the town of Delemont that is the capital of the north-western Jura mountain region.
MeteoSwiss said January heat records fell at several monitoring stations on the north side of the Alps mountain range, due to warm winds from the southwest.
“For the first time, 20 C in January on the north side of the Alps!” it tweeted.
It is going to get slightly chillier in the middle of this week, but still way above normal temperatures for the first week of January.
Many of the low level resorts in the north-west Alps are suffering with the piste patrol doing their best to maintain what snow they have.
“Resort authorities have done an amazing job at keeping some runs open in these areas but the relentlessly warm weather is limiting what they are able to do, and some resorts are now hanging on by the skin of their teeth, including Les Gets where only two runs remain open,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk
“Other lesser-known low resorts in the Savoie and Haute-Savoie have already closed, as have most in the Jura, the Vosges and the Massif Central.
“Higher resorts in the north-western Alps (such as Val d’Isère, Tignes, Val Thorens, Les Arcs and La Plagne) are still offering plenty of skiing, though the lack of snow lower down will inevitably be putting pressure on the higher runs,” Fraser added.
Val Thorens, France. Image © PlanetSKI
Fraser is currently in Serre Chevalier in the southern French Alps.
“There is still excellent cover at all levels despite the recent mild temperatures, thanks to this corner of the Alps getting a lot of snow a few weeks back,” said Fraser in an update.
“Other nearby resorts in France that are in pretty good shape right now include Montgenèvre and Puy St Vincent.”
Some of the best conditions remain in the southern Alps including the Dolomites in Italy and conditions are more than acceptable in some of the Austrian resorts.
Obergurgl is a case in point.
One PlanetSKI reader, Antonia Simpson, is in the little-known French resort of Ceillac ed Queyras in the Hautes-Alpes department in south-eastern France.
“Hard packed but all runs open with good skiing yesterday in the small French resort of Ceillac en Queyras,” said Antonia.
Image c/o Antonia Simpson
It is a similar picture in the French Pyrenees, with 10 out 30 resorts closed and those remaining open struggling.
Ax 3 Domaines closed on Saturday after only being operational for three weeks this winter.
Two other resorts closed their ski areas just before Christmas – Mourtis and La Pierre Saint-Martin.
The longer-range forecasts predict there could be a change in the weather in the Alps early next week, but it is far too early to be confident.
Here at PlanetSKI we’ll keep you posted and do keep an eye on weathertoski.co.uk that tends to be fairly accurate on conditions in the Alps.
It has not been a good winter so far, except for a short period before Xmas.
PlanetSKI was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time.
We were in Les Arcs and then Les3Vallees as snow fell.
Les Arcs, France. Image © PlanetSKI
This winter year, seven of eight early-season World Cup skiing events were cancelled as we reported at the time.
It followed a very warm summer.
Temperatures in the Alps are rising at twice the global average and long-term worries for the snowsports industry are continuing.
The high-altitude resorts will be secure for the time-being, but worries grow for the low-altitude ski areas.
Long-term predictions paint a picture of greater precipitation in the winter months but with rising temperatures much of this will fall as rain.
High altitude areas could see more snow.
Val Thorens, France. Image © PlanetSKI
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