The PlanetSKI Snow Report
10th March 2024
Last modified on March 17th, 2024
Sunday 17th March
Our video report comes from PlanetSKI’s James Cove who is in Austria.
As James mentioned, over in La Plagne in France is our reporter Simon Wilson.
“There is still plenty of snow at resort level in Belle Plagne,” said Simon.
Belle Plagne, France. Image c/o Simon Wilson.
“There is plenty of good piste skiing at 1,800m and above.
“Spring snow on north facing pistes, but it is slushy during the morning on more south facing slopes.
“The off-piste and ungroomed black pistes are challenging as snow has melted and refrozen.
“My first experience of the new Glaciers bubble from Roche de Mio up to 3,ooom which is a huge improvement over the old lift and significantly faster.
Roche de Mio lift, La Plagne. Image c/o Simon Wilson.
“Also I should add that pistes are empty, no lift queues at all,” added Simon.
“I know that was an issue in La Plagne just a week ago but it seems like the school holiday crowds are well and truly gone with just a few Dutch student groups around.”
More to follow…
Saturday 16th March
It has been another snowy night in Tignes.
Tignes, France. Image © PlanetSKI
“4am in Tignes and it looks like it could be a great day on the mountain,” said PlanetSKI’s Jane Peel.
“About 20cm of snow has fallen overnight at 2100m. Shame PlanetSKI is leaving town.”
Friday 15th March
PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, is in the Tirol in Austria.
PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, is in Tignes in France.
“Warm, spring temperatures in Tignes with decent but soft snow all the way down to 1,550 metres on Friday morning,” said Jane.
Tignes, France. Image © PlanetSKI
Tignes, France. Image © PlanetSKI
Tignes, France. Image © PlanetSKI
More to follow…
Thursday 14th March
Here’s the latest from our good friends over at weathertoski.co.uk:
“It’s a mostly fine and mild day across the Alps today, with plenty of sunshine but also some areas of cloud drifting around, notably in Austria.
“Friday will remain fine and mostly sunny across the southern Alps, though thickening cloud will bring showers to the northern Alps later in the day.
“These will linger overnight, delivering a few centimetres of new snow above about 1800-2000m in places (e.g. Avoriaz, Engelberg, St Anton).
“Weather fronts will continue to brush the northern Alps between Sunday and Tuesday (especially on Monday), however, these will only bring fresh snow above about 2000m and in relatively modest quantities.”
Innsbruck Ski + City, Axamer Lizum. Image © PlanetSKI
There were more blue skies and sunshine across Tignes and Val d’Isere in France today.
“A beautiful day to be on the slopes,” said PlanetSKI’s, Jane Peel.
Val d’Isere, France, Thursday. Image © PlanetSKI
It has been none too shabby further east across the mountains in the Dolomites in Italy either.
Though it has been a bit cloudy.
The Dolomites, Italy. Image c/o Vanessa Fisher.
More to follow…
Wednesday 13th March
PlanetSKI’s James Cove has just arrived in Innsbruck in the Austrian Tirol for an extended stay: 4-weeks to be precise.
So, what’s the snow like?
See here for an updated report from James on the start of his Innsbruck visit:
Innsbruck Ski + City, Axamer Lizum. Image © PlanetSKI
Innsbruck Ski + City, Axamer Lizum. Image © PlanetSKI
Innsbruck Ski + City, Axamer Lizum. Image © PlanetSKI
As well as skiing in as many resorts as possible in the Austrian Alps, he plans to drop into the Dolomites in Italy which are not far away over the Brenner Pass.
PlanetSKI reader, Vanessa Fisher, is currently there.
“We skied the whole Val Gardena valley in the Dolomites from Plan de Gralba, via Selva, to Seceda, Col Raiser and the afternoon back above Plan de Gralba section,” said Vanessa.
“The 10km La Longia was great fun down to Ortisei, but half way down there was a clear distinction to the softer, man- made snow but there was still full cover all the way down.”
The Dolomites, Italy. Image c/o Vanessa Fisher.
“A cold wind in the afternoon kept temperatures low and there were little pockets of fresh snow above Passo Sella 2,200m+ from the fresh snow which fell last Sunday.
“Some low cloud first thing lifted as the day went on to give the incredible panoramas that the Dolomites are renown for,” added Vanessa.
The Dolomites, Italy. Image c/o Vanessa Fisher.
Jane Peel is still in Tignes, skiing there and in neighbouring Val d’Isere.
“What a day – the first one this week when it’s been blue skies and sunshine all day long,” Jane said.
Val d’Isere, France, Wednesday. Image © PlanetSKI
“It definitely feels like spring is here though. It was warm today and even up on the Pisaillas glacier in the Val d’Isere ski area at around 3200 metres around lunchtime, it was not cold.
“The snow up there and pretty much on all the high slopes remains in good condition and skiing well.
“The lower slopes have a real springlike, soft quality and, particularly at the end of a long day, can be tough on tired legs.
“All in all, though, it’s still great skiing here.”
Val d’Isere, France, Wednesday. Image © PlanetSKI
Tuesday 12th March
The latest PlanetSKI video report comes from just above Tignes 2100 in the French Alps.
World Cup freestyle events coming to Tignes this week. Image © PlanetSKI
And here’s that stadium for the World Cup Ski Big Air later this week that Jane mentions in her report.
Big Air venue in Tignes Val Claret, Tuesday. Image © PlanetSKI
Below was Jane’s run of the day.
Half way down the Face de Bellevarde black run into Val d’Isere, Tuesday. Image © PlanetSKI
“The Face de Bellevarde black run into Val d’Isere can be great or an endurance, depending on the conditions,” Jane says.
“We lucked out today. We hit it at around 1.15-1.30pm when most people were having lunch and pretty much had the whole run, top to bottom to ourselves.
“Better still, the snow was perfect, apart from the odd shiny patch.”
View from the Borsat lift, Val d’Isere, Tuesday. Image © PlanetSKI
Monday 11th March
It’s looking good in the French Alps as the latest storm passes.
Here’s Tignes at 8am this morning:
Tignes, France, Monday. Image © PlanetSKI
“I was surprised to see such clear blue skies, not to mention views of the distant mountains first thing this morning as the forecast had suggested it would be cloudy pretty much all day,” said PlanetSKI’s Jane Peel, who’s in the resort.
“It was particularly welcome after a very dull day here yesterday.
“It turned out to be a brilliant day on the mountain.
“The sunshine and just a few wispy clouds lasted until past 1pm when more clouds came in and the light went a little flat with occasional sunny spells appearing.
Tignes, France, Monday. Image © PlanetSKI
“The snow was excellent on piste and also on the small sections of off piste just off the marked runs that we ventured onto, especially below the Vanoise chairlift below the Grande Motte glacier.
“We headed over to Grand Pre, Laisinant and Fornet in Val d’Isere before returning to Tignes as light snow began to fall at altitude.
Tignes, France, Monday. Image © PlanetSKI
Val d’Isere, France, Monday. Image © PlanetSKI
“The temperatures fluctuated. It started off below freezing but the mercury rose well above that during the course of the day with the Solaise gondola at the bottom of Val d’Isere (1850m) showing 12 degrees at around 3pm.”
Val d’Isere, France, Monday. Image © PlanetSKI
La Plagne:
La Plagne, France. Image c/o Ed Delderfield.
Here’s the latest from weathertoski.co.uk:
“The big snow story is once again in the southern Alps, where 50-100cm of snow has fallen over the weekend (with more in places) in some south-western areas, including Isola 2000, the Milky Way and the Monte Rosa region.
“Some more northern French resorts close to the Italian border, such as Val Cenis and Val d’Isère, also saw significant snow, as did parts of southern Switzerland, including Zermatt, Saas-Fee and the Aletsch Arena.
“In general, the further north-east you are, the less snow you would have seen from this latest storm cycle, with little if any snow at all in many Austrian resorts.”
Skiing conditions in Austria remain good at altitude.
PlanetSKI’s James Cove was in Zell am See and Kaprun in Salzburgerland over the weekend:
Zell am See/Kaprun,Austria. Image © PlanetSKI
Zell am See/Kaprun. Image © PlanetSKI
“Snow conditions remain very mixed across the Alps, with incredible skiing on offer in some areas, notably in the south-western Alps (e.g. Monte Rosa, Sestriere, Isola 2000),” continued weathertoski.co.uk.
“However, many low areas continue to struggle further north and east.”
There remains a ‘high’ risk on avalanche in places.
Here’s the situation in Switzerland:
Image c/o Swiss Avalanche Institute
5 ski tourers died near Zermatt in Switzerland over the weekend with 1 person still missing.
More to follow…
Sunday 10th March
Today’s PlanetSKI Snow report is from Jane Peel in the Tignes/Val d’Isere ski area in the French Alps.
Snowing in Tignes early on Sunday morning. Image © PlanetSKI
Tignes 2100 snowfront on Sunday morning. Image © PlanetSKI
La Daille, Val d’Isere, Sunday 10th March 2024. Image © PlanetSKI
Bellevarde, Val d’Isere Sunday. Image © PlanetSKI
“And, of course, the weather decided to clear a little once I’d given up for the day,” Jane said.
Tignes, France. Sunday afternoon. Image © PlanetSKI
PlanetSKI reader Oonagh Griffith is in the Madonna di Campiglio ski area of the Italian Dolomites where she is hoping to enjoy some fresh snow at altitude on Monday.
“We decided to give skiing a miss today as there is rather a lot of weather about,” she said.
“It has been raining heavily and non-stop all day here in Carisolo village (beside Pinzolo), altitude approximately 770 metres.
“Skiing is only possible down to around 1500m due to lack of snow at lower altitudes.”
This photo was taken from the village on Friday.
Carisolo, Italy. Friday 8th March 2024. Image c/o Oonagh Griffith
“Judging by the trees we can see as the clouds drift by it has definitely been snowing heavily higher up this morning,” Oonagh added.
“The front is due to pass through by around teatime, which should give the pisteurs time to assess and prepare the slopes for tomorrow.
“Judging by the Met Office app, tomorrow should be cloudy and the rest of the week is expected to be sunny – and hopefully not too warm.”
And a bit later, the rain in Carisolo turned to snow.
Carisolo, Italy, Sunday 10th March 2024. Image c/o Oonagh Griffith
“Considering there was continuous heavy rain from at least 7am, I am surprised to see the snow lying on the ground,” Oonagh said.
“I’m looking forward to skiing on all the fresh snow tomorrow!”
