PlanetSKI Snow Report

30th January 2023

Last modified on February 10th, 2023

It’s clear skies & sunshine across the Alps and the weather is set to stay the same into next week. UPDATED

Update: Friday 10th February.

Thursday 9th February

The blue sky and cold temperatures continue across large parts of the Alps.

Sadly there is little fresh snow in the forecast but conditions on piste are generally good, though hard packed in places.

The cold temperatures are preserving conditions well as the main February holidays approach.

We will have a full update of conditions round the Alps shortly and what may be in store for the half-term holidays so do check back for that.

Chamonix, France.
Image © PlanetSKI

PlanetSKI’s reporter, Claire McAteer, has just arrived in Adelboden in Switzerland for a stay where she will be reporting on this lesser-known Swiss resort.

Here is a sky-line view from the top of the resort, but notice the snow that remains down on the valley floor at around 1,000m due to the cold temperatures.

And here are a few images taken today in Adelboden:

Adelboden, Switzerland.
Image © PlanetSKI

More to follow…

Tuesday 7th February

Here is the latest from our editor, James Cove, who is in Chamonix.

There remains good coverage in some of the major resorts in France of Les3Vallees, Paradiski, Espace Killy and others, though there are some icy patches.

The cold temperatures have preserved the snow.

Here are some more images from Chamonix:

Argentiere, Chamonix Valley, France.
Image © PlanetSKI

The snow in Austria has eased leaving up to 1m of fresh snow in some areas.

The Tirol is one of the regions that has seen the best snow.

However it came at a price with a number of avalanche fatalities in Austria, plus ones in Italy and Switzerland.

See this separate news article on PlanetSKI:

Eleven dead in Austria and Switzerland avalanches

The dig out has been continuing.

Seems like PlanetSKI reader, Pete Bocock, has his work cut out in the small Tirolean village of St. Ulrich am Pillersee.

Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Pete Bocock.

There has been some good snowfalls in the east of Switzerland, with resorts such as Davos and Klosters benefiting.

In western Switzerland it has been dry.

But there has been some recent snow.

PlanetSKI’s Claire McAteer has arrived today in Adelboden in central Switzerland.

Claire McAteer, Adelboden, Switzerland. Image © PlanetSKI

“There has been a dusting of snow in the last few days. Not alot, but every little helps,” said Claire.

“It was glorious to see the sun going down and lighting up the peaks as I arrived in resort.”

Adelboden, Switzerland. Image © PlanetSKI

Adelboden is a Swiss resort PlanetSKI hasn’t skied in for many years so we’re looking forward to seeing how it has changed.

If at all.

It is a traditional Swiss ski resort and we’re rather hoping it has remained the same.

Adelboden, Switzerland. Image © PlanetSKI

Do check back for Claire’s reports.

More to follow…

Sunday, February 5th

Another storm is battering parts of Austria with 1m already down in some places, topping up the snow depths.

Once the weather clears the February holiday period in many of the ski resorts in Austria should see some very good conditions.

However the heavy snow has led to an increased risk of avalanche – Level 4 in some places.

Eight people have died in Austria, and two more in Switzerland.

See this separate news article on PlanetSKI:

Ten dead in Austria and Switzerland avalanches

Heavy snow and high winds have disrupted transport and closed some ski lifts in Austria.

The glacier resort of Stubai in the Tirol was shut on Saturday.

In the province of Styria roads have been closed with reports of traffic jams 10km long.

It is a similar situation in the Tirol, Voralberg and other parts of Austria.

PlanetSKI is currently across the Alps, further west in France.

Here is a condition report from PlanetSKI editor, James Cove.

But as the day wore on the temperatures rose slightly to produce some of that grippy/chalky snow on the steep slopes of Argentiere.

Powder is great, but these conditions come second best and is a good test of skills.

More to follow…

Saturday February 4th.

Friday February 3rd:

The snow action is taking place in the east of the Alps, over in Austria.

Heavy snow is set to fall as we approach the weekend.

There has been some falling already and here was St Anton first thing on Thursday morning:

Up to 20cm has fallen in places and there is more in the forecast – much more.

Resorts could see up to 1m by the weekend.

Temperatures will remain cold in Austria and elsewhere in the Alps.

PlanetSKI’s chief reporter Jane Peel is in Avoriaz in France and has nipped over to Switzerland too.

No recent snow here but conditions are holding up well.

“In my snow report I mentioned there were some hardpacked slopes and that was more noticeable as the afternoon wore on,” Jane said.

“The runs with the heaviest traffic were the most shiny and that resulted in skiers and snowboarders scrubbing off even more of the surface snow as they slid down the slopes rather than edging on them.

“I’m definitely not going to complain though, with the weather we’ve had here today.”

Portes du Soleil. Image © PlanetSKI

“It has been cold in Les3Vallees in France today with the temperature well-below freezing,” said the PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, from Meribel.

Les3Vallees, France. Image © PlanetSKI

And here’s the view from the top of Mont Vallon (2,952m):

James is in resort to look at the preparations for the 2023 Alpine Ski World Championships.

Final Preparations for 2023 Alpine Ski Championships in Courchevel & Meribel

They start on Monday 6th and there is plenty of snow on the ground with cold temperatures forecast.

Just what the racers want.

2023 Alpine World Championships. Image © PlanetSKI

We will be updating you as the snow falls in Austria, so do check back.

Thursday, February 2nd

PlanetSKI has just arrived in Les3Vallees.

We will be updating later today on the conditions and looking ahead to the 2023 Alpine Ski World Championships that start on Monday in Meribel and Courchevel.

Les3Vallees, France. Image © PlanetSKI

In the meantime one of our regular readers, Steve Sparks, has been in Zermatt in Switzerland and has sent us a few images.

“Snow good, but firm lower down, wind troublesome on higher lifts, so getting across to Cervinia was difficult,” said Steve.

Zermatt, Switzerland. Image c/o Steve Sparkes

Zermatt, Switzerland. Image c/o Steve Sparks

Wednesday, February 1st

In many of the main French ski resorts and those of western Switzerland it is blue sky all the way with the temperatures remaining cold.

It is similar in Italy.

Over in Austria to the east there is some snow falling with more in the forecast.

PlanetSKI’s editor, James Cove, is in Les Arcs in France:

Some fresh snow would be welcome and there are icy patches in places on the piste, but overall they remain good as the busy month of February gets underway.

Meanwhile PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, arrived in Vaujany in the French Alps on Tuesday afternoon.

“Blue sky and sunshine here in the Isere region,” said Jane.

“On Wednesday morning we were greeted with low cloud in the village but we soon rose above it and had sunshine all the way.”

“We had a beautiful morning skinning on a mini ski tour and a full afternoon skiing on the slopes of the lift-linked ski domain of Vaujany, Oz and Alpe d’Huez.”

So what’s the snow like in that neck of the woods?

As always we get the latest overview of snow in the Alps from the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin, at weathertoski.co.uk.

“Further weather fronts will reach the northern Alps late on Wednesday, this time more potent and hanging around for longer although this storm has been downgraded somewhat since yesterday’s forecasts,” said Fraser on Tuesday.

“Between Wednesday evening and Friday morning, between 15-30cm could fall in many Austrian resorts, with less in the south.

“Some eastern Swiss resorts (e.g. Klosters) could also see a few centimetres of snow. The rain/snow limit will be around 600-800m.

On Sunday PlanetSKI was in Megeve and St Gervais in France.

There was good snow at resort level.

“There was plenty of snow in the village and the slopes were in good condition, but some fresh snow would now be very welcome in this part of the Alps,” said PlanetSKI’s editor, James Cove.

“However with blue ski overhead and fabulous views there was not much to grumble about,” added James.

James had come over from Chamonix, where he was on Saturday.

Sadly it seems the forecast snow that James mentioned will not be falling in the part of the Alps he is in.

It’s looking pretty darn good though.

More snow is set to come to the Alps this week in another weather front.

It is likely to be further east in Austria.

“This front can be expected to deliver 20-40cm in the northern and eastern Austrian Alps (e.g. Kaprun, Obertauern) between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night, with perhaps 5-15cm in the eastern Swiss Alps (e.g. Klosters) and a dusting in the north-eastern Swiss and far northern French Alps (e.g. Avoriaz),” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

“The southern half of the Alps (e.g. Risoul, Sestriere, Livigno, Cortina) will stay dry and bright but chilly throughout the week,” he added.

Here at PlanetSKI we will be updating this article later once we have made a few checks.

Meanwhile, over in the USA the snow continues to fall and record tumble:

Do check back across the next few days as we update this article…