The PlanetSKI Snow Report
21st January 2024
Last modified on January 27th, 2024
The weather is settled across the Alps after a dusting of snow in places. The situation remains disappointing in the Pyrenees but there is still some decent piste skiing to be had. UPDATED
Saturday 27th January
The latest video snow report comes from PlanetSKI’s Jane Peel who is in the Austrian Alps:
Here are some of the wispy clouds among the blue skies Jane spoke of.
Gasteinertal, Austria. Saturday. Image © PlanetSKI
Friday 26th January
Stable weather continues across the Alps with just the odd dusting of snow here and there.
Sunny weather returns at the weekend and is set to continue into next week.
PlanetSKI’s Jane Peel is currently in Austria and has just travelled from Schaldming to Bad Gastein.
Bad Gastein, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI
“It’s nice to see a little sunshine peeking through the clouds. It was in limited supply in Schladming over the last couple of days,” Jane says.
“The forecast for the weekend here is largely dry with extended sunny spells.”
Jane was at the Schladming Night Slalom on Wednesday where rain fell, but it didn’t dampen proceedings too much.
Austrian fans in the rain at the 2024 Schladming night slalom. Image © PlanetSKI
“Broadly speaking there is still a lot of snow at altitude in the northern Alps but very meagre snow cover at lower altitudes,” said the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“Snow depths are generally more modest in the southern Alps, but with more consistent on-piste snow quality thanks to having less volatility in its weather of late.”
In the Pyrenees there is still no sign of any fresh snow and warm temperatures prevail.
Pal/Arinsal, Andorra. Image © PlanetSKI
Arcalis, Andorra. Image © PlanetSKI
Wednesday 24th January
The PlanetSKI Snow report today comes from Jane Peel in Schladming in the Styria region of Austria.
As Jane mentions, this report was filed before she headed off to the famous World Cup Schladming night slalom this evening.
It did rain but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the big crowds.
Tuesday 23rd January
PlanetSKI’s Jane Peel has just arrived in Schladming in Austria where she’ll be slopeside for the World Cup night slalom on Wednesday night.
“Sadly, the weather’s not looking promising,” Jane says. “The forecast is for heavy rain during the race and I am told it rained pretty hard earlier today.
“It’s definitely on the mild side too. Fingers crossed it’s not as bad as predicted.”
The Planai World Cup slope in Schladming as seen from the road in from Salzburg. Image © PlanetSKI
Preparations under way on Planai race course ahead of the men’s GS night race on Tuesday. Image © PlanetSKI
Monday 22nd January
It is a generally mild start to the week in the Alps with some snow/rain falling in the northern areas.
“By tomorrow morning we can expect 2-10cm above 1,800m across much of the northern Alps, with as much as 15-20cm at altitude in parts of the northern French Alps (e.g. Flaine, La Rosière),” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk on Monday.
Overall the snow remains good at altitude in the northern Alps, but less so in the southern half of the Alps.
“Most southern Alpine resorts (e.g. Selva, Monte Rosa, Sestriere) are well below par in terms of snow depths, although the less volatile and (crucially) less humid climate of the southern Alps has often made for more consistent skiing conditions in recent days and weeks, at least on-piste,” added Fraser.
PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, is heading to Austria on Tuesday and will be reporting from Schladming and Bad Gastein.
It’s looking good in parts of Austria.
❄️⛷️Powder Paradise in Motion! 🤩 #stantonamarlberg#inTirol #arlberg #powderskiing #skiresort pic.twitter.com/HeAnWpUNa8
— St. Anton am Arlberg (@StantonReview) January 22, 2024
Sadly it’s not so good in the Pyrenees.
PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, has been in the Pyrenees for the past few weeks and was due to be heading to Baqueira Beret in Spain later this week for a round of the Freeride World Tour.
A lack of snow off piste means the event has been cancelled.
“The FWT is disappointed to announce that the first event of the season – the Baqueira Beret Pro – has been canceled due to snow conditions,” said the organisers in a statement.
“Despite recent snowfalls and good conditions on-piste, there is insufficient snowpack off-piste to safely conduct a freeride competition.
“Conditions in the backcountry will likely deteriorate further, given the warm weather forecast in the coming week, with no precipitation expected.”
James has been in Andorra this month.
Pal/Arinsal, Andorra. Image © PlanetSKI
Pal/Arinsal, Andorra. Image © PlanetSKI
He is now heading out of the Pyrenees, but don’t feel any sympathy for James.
Next week he’s off to ski in Turkey, so look out for his reports on the snow conditions and much else besides.
More to follow…
Saturday 20th January
We start with a question.
Where is the best ski resort in the Alps that is closest to an international airport?
There is only one choice in our view – Axamer Lizum in the Tirol in Austria.
It is a 20-minute drive away from Innsbruck airport.
It’s there down the in the valley.
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
Why are we asking the question?
One of our regular readers, Holger Gassler, has just sent us some images of his day there this week.
He lives in Innsbruck.
Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
And here are a few more images from Axamer Lizum:
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
Xamer Lizum, Tirol, Austria. Image c/o Holger Gassler.
We’ll shortly have a fully updated snow report shortly on conditions in the Alps, the Pyrenees & Scandinavia.
Plus North America.
Here’s a look at last week’s rolling report:
More to follow…
