It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Winter
28th November 2024
Snow is falling, the temperature is dropping, resorts are opening and it’s December this weekend. Here we go folks! NEW
In the Alps this week there has been a bit more snow across many northern parts, with heaviest in Switzerland and Austria.
PlanetSKI was in Gurgl in Austria earlier this week for our first turns of the season.
Gurgl. Image c/o PlanetSKI
It was warm at the start of the week with the freezing level up to 3,000m or so.
Not anymore and the snow guns are doing their stuff.
Gurgl, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI
Austria has more than a dozen ski areas – the most of any alpine country.
This weekend around half a dozen join including Ischgl.
More resorts in France are opening this weekend after Tignes and Val Thorens fired up their lifts last weekend.
This weekend Les 2Alpes, Alpe d’Huez and the Grand Montets in Chamonix are among the resorts kicking off their season.
In Italy around half a dozen ski areas are open but one, Bormio, has announced a delay to proceedings.
It was due to open on 30th November, but there is not enough snow.
It has snowed but the resort says, “the accumulation wasn’t substantial enough due to low temperatures and strong winds.”
In Switzerland Verbier, Zermatt, Sass-Fee, Engleberg, St Moritz, Adelboden and Glacier 3000 are among those open.
It is looking good in Scandinavia, with more resorts opening this weekend.
Norefjell and Geilo in Norway are set to get their ski seasons underway.
See here for a related PlanetSKI articles as we look at the growth of skiing by the British in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
In the Pyrenees there has been some snow but not in large amounts with the freezing level at around 2,000m.
Baqueira Beret in Spain and the Grandvalira area in Andorra are hoping to open shortly.
“All in all it is a solid start to the ski season in the Alps with fresh snow and now generally cold temperatures,” said the PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, who has been in the Austrian Alps.
“Nothing can quite beat seeing conditions with one’s own eyes and talking to trusted people out in the mountains rather than relying on social media posts and often inaccurate reports – both positive and negative.
“It is of course far too early to tell what the winter will be like but with December about to start there is cause for some early season optimism.”
James Cove in the Autrian Alps this week. Image © PlanetSKI
Over in North America winter has started superbly in many areas with resorts opening for the Thanksgiving Weekend in the USA.
Heavy snow continues to fall across many of the ski states and we have a full article on conditions on PlanetSKI:
The alpine weather expert Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk will be updating later on Friday so do look out for his reports on the current situation, and the all-important forecast.
Do check back for daily PlanetSKI updates as the winter season of 24/25 gets underway and we add more images and videos…
Gurgl, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI
