The PlanetSKI Snow Report

26th February 2025

Last modified on March 5th, 2025

There are mixed conditions in the Alps, with heavy snow easing off in Japan. UPDATED

Update:

PlanetSKI reader, Adrian Lamb, is currently in Tignes in France.

“Great pistes in Tignes., with some off piste available on north facing slopes.” said Adrian.

Tignes, France. Image c/o Adrian Lamb.

” The weather was marginally warmer today 1C at 2,400m in Tignes.

“Not a cloud in the sky and very light winds.

“C’est beau!”

Tignes, France. Image c/o Adrian Lamb.

Wednesday March 5th

High pressure is dominating the weather in the Alps this week and is set to continue.

The temperatures are seeing a welcome fall.

“There is still plenty of good skiing on offer across the Alps, especially on-piste, helped this week by the predominantly fine weather,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

“Snow depths remain generally below par though, especially at lower altitudes, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t still some enjoyable skiing on offer if you stick to the groomers.

“The Alps are starting to see spring-snow conditions, meaning very hard pistes first thing in morning followed by a softening of the snow as the day wears on, firstly on slopes facing south-east, then south, then finally south-west/west.

“With the low humidity and moderate temperatures, many north-facing slopes will stay reasonably firm for much of the day.”

PlanetSKI reporter Jack Johnson has been continuing to enjoy recent conditions in the Portes du Soleil.

Image c/o Jack Johnson

The weather will start to turn more unsettled with some snow to some south-western regions, though nothing really worth talking about.

A warm Foehn wind is set to affect conditions in the northern Alps.

More to follow…

Monday March 3rd

We start today’s snow report from Japan as the weather is looking like it’s starting to change with March underway.

PlanetSKI’s James Cove is currently in the resort of Mount Racey, between Sapporo and Furano on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Mount Racey, Japan. Image c/o PlanetSKI.

There remains plenty of evidence of the season’s abundant snowfall in Japan.

Hokkaido, Japan. Image c/o PlanetSKI.

But some of the lower slopes are now getting slushy in places.

Kamui, Japan. Image c/o PlanetSKI.

With the sun finally out.

Kamui, Japan. Image c/o PlanetSKI.

In the Alps we have a few more images from PlanetSKI reader, Jack Johnson, from the Portes du Soleil in France.

Jack says that the low altitude conditions are, er, thin.

The Portes du Soleil, France. Image c/o Jack Johnson.

But at altitude the slopes are in great condition for early March with some fabulous blue sky overhead.

The Portes du Soleil, France. Image c/o Jack Johnson.

The moguls are in good shape on the Swiss Wall.

The Portes du Soleil, France. Image c/o Jack Johnson.

With long queues at some of the busy connecting lifts.

The Portes du Soleil, France. Image c/o Jack Johnson.

More to follow…

Saturday 1st March

There is mixed weather in the Alps with some sunshine and a limited amount of fresh snow in many places.

“The best conditions, if only temporarily, are in some eastern parts of the Alps where the most recent snow has fallen,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk on Friday 28th February

“There is also some enjoyable skiing on offer across many other parts of the Alps, helped by the improved weather, though the fact remains that snow depths are largely below par for the time of year, and considerably so at lower altitudes.”

PlanetSKI reader, Jack Johnson, is in Morzine in the French Alps.

“There was some welcome fresh snow as we arrived, but it’s been warm here with temperatures above the freezing level,” said Jack.

Morzine, France. Image c/o Jack Johnson.

Further north in Europe it’s been good in Scandinavia in the past few days with up to half a metre of fresh snow in places.

Geilo in Norway saw 20cm of fresh snow earlier in the week.

The weather in Scandinavia is set to stay cold though there in no significant snow in the forecast.

More to follow…

Thursday 27th February

We look at the latest snow conditions in Japan as PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, moves inland on the northern island of Hokkaido.

And here some of those views James was talking about in the video.

Feast your eyes on the inland mountains of Hokkaido.

Furano, Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI

Japan has the biggest snow depths of any ski area in the world at the moment.

The Tengendari Kogen area in the Yamagata Prefecture has passed the 7m mark with a depth of 710cm this winter.

It says it plans to stay open to May 6th this year.

However, it is set to warm up with higher temperatures and sun in the forecast.

There is snow forecast, but it is in smaller quantities than the past month or so that PlanetSKI has been in Japan.

The Hakuba Valley, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI

Meanwhile back in the Alps there has also been some snow but more is needed, especially at lower altitudes.

The good news is the temperatures will remain on the cool side until early next week at least.

“This new storm has improved snow conditions across much of the Alps, although any benefit lower down will only be temporary and it doesn’t change the overall situation, namely that snow depths are largely below average for the time of year, and seriously so at low altitudes,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

Wednesday 26th February

Snow is falling again in the Alps after a dry and mild spell.

“On Tuesday the heaviest of any snow fell in the north-western Alps (e.g. Chamonix, Avoriaz) where 10-20cm of snow is likely above 1800m,” said the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin, from weathertoski.co.uk.

“More generally across the western Alps there will be around 5-10cm of snow, but little (if any) in the far south.”

“On Wednesday itself any showers will be mostly confined to the eastern Alps (e.g. Austria, Dolomites) where between 5-15cm of new snow is expected above 1500m or so, and perhaps a bit more in places, especially in the extreme south-east,” added Fraser.

“Snow conditions right now are generally quite poor lower down, but better at altitude where new snow will freshen things up over the next couple of days.”

Sunday 23rd February

We start today in Japan which continues to see huge amounts of snow.

PlanetSKI’s James Cove has been deep in the powder for the past few weeks and now the sun has made an appearance to top things off.

He is in the resort of Kiroro on the island of Hokkaido that is one of many in Japan on the Indy Pass.

See here for more on the Indy Pass.

Several Japanese ski areas have passed the 6m base depth mark.

Yamagata’s Tengendai Kogen reports the most of any Japanese resort with 6.4m so far this winter.

“After a quieter few days over the weekend, we’re back to full-on snowfall for the coming week, with many areas likely to see 10-30 cm of snowfall daily and weekly totals of more than a metre in places,” added James.

“It looks like some Japanese resorts could potentially pass the 7m base depth mark by this time next week.”

Here are a few images from Kiroro:

Kiroro. Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI

In the resort of Geto Kogen a ski guide from the USA was killed in an avalanche after the recent snow.

He had been in Japan guiding groups over the past three weeks.

Other members of the group alerted the authorities and his body was found after a four hour search.

An investigation has been launched.

PlanetSKI is now moving deeper into Hokkaido shortly.

We will be basing ourselves in the resort of Furano as we visit several resorts in the area: Furano itself, plus Tomamu, Kamui and the wonderfully-named Mount Racey.

Hokkaido ski areas. Image c/o Hokkaido tourist office.

Do check back…

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