The PlanetSKI Snow Report

14th December 2025

Last modified on December 20th, 2025

PlanetSKI reporters are out on the slopes of Europe & North America. UPDATED

Friday 19th December

We start in Canada where the resorts around Banff probably have the best conditions of any ski area in the world right now.

December records continue to be broken, though it is chilly at -10c.

PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, is in Sunshine Village.

James wasn’t the only one getting into the Xmas spirit in Sunshine Village.

Sunshine Village, Banff. Image © PlanetSKI

Up the mountain there was evidence of the huge amounts of snow that have fallen so far this winter.

Sunshine Village, Banff. Image © PlanetSKI

Back in the Alps…

PlanetSKI reader, Vanessa Fisher, is in Les Menuires in Les3Vallees in France with friends and family.

Les Menuires, France. Image © PlanetSKI

“It’s the last Friday before Christmas and Les Menuires definitely feels like there is an influx of locals up to the village for the festive few days ahead.

“Today’s weather started glorious with blue skies but there were signs of some weather over Mont Blanc in the distance.

“Locals say it won’t bring the much needed snow but thanks to the huge dump of a few weeks back, the piste bashers are doing an incredible job of moving snow to where it is needed.

It’s possible to ski all the way to Saint Martin de Belleville at 1450m , to Meribel Village at 1400m but we’ve yet to test the runs down to La Tania, another local friend said there is less snow on the Courchevel side.

“The run from the top of Saulire down to Meribel Village was fast and brilliant.”

Les Menuires, France. Image © PlanetSKI

“La Masse side of Les Menuires has been stunning in the morning sunshine, and sitting at La Loy restaurant in the sunshine just above Saint Martin, it felt like spring today.

“Once the sun goes down mid afternoon, the chill reminds you it is still early season.

“Most of the lifts are open with the few closed ones, scheduled to open this weekend.

“For anyone heading out to Les Menuires for Christmas or New Year, there is plenty of great piste skiing and lovely chalky firm snow off piste.

“I’m off to sing some carols in the church in Saint Martin this weekend, and maybe pray for some more snow!”

Les Menuires, France. Image © PlanetSKI

More to follow…

Thursday 18th December

We have an update on conditions from Steve Angus in Tignes/Val d’Isere:

Wednesday 17th December

There has been a fabulous start to winter in parts of Alberta in Canada.

PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, has spent the day in Lake Louise.

It is currently has the best snow conditions of anywhere in the world right now.

He was in Lake Louise for the opening day of skiing from Richardson’s Ridge.

The new area has added 200 acres of terrain.

Lake Louise has 200 acres of new terrain

Richardson’s Ridge opening day in Lake Louise. Image © PlanetSKI

Riding the Richardson’s Ridge Express. Image © PlanetSKI

And despite the abundance of natural snow the resort is taking the opportunity to turn on the guns:

More to follow…

Tuesday 16th December

More snow is falling in parts of the Alps.

“Notably the southern Italian Piemonte, where 15-30cm of snow has already fallen in Prato Nevoso and Limone Piemonte with more than 50cm possible by Wednesday morning,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk

“Some other parts of the southern French and western Italian Alps are seeing some useful snow from this storm including Isola 2000, Sestriere and the Monte Rosa region.

“The storm currently affecting the south-western Alps will move away tomorrow, with mostly dry (though not always sunny) weather expected in the Alps over the next few days,” Fraser added.

PlanetSKI reader Helen Gillespie is in St Anton in Austria for a few pre-Xmas turns.

Nothing quite beats flying into Innsbruck – the best alpine gateway in the Alps in the humble opinion of PlanetSKI.

Flying into Innsbruck. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

St Anton has not seen the huge autumn snowfalls that hit parts of France and Switzerland earlier.

It is obvious to see at lower levels.

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

BTW that’s the newly re-built Krazy Kanguruh apres ski bar in the background up the hill.

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

Then one takes the lift up the mountain and it’s a different story.

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

The higher slopes of St Anton are in pretty decent shape for mid-December – not spectacular, but good enough.

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

“We could do with more snow, but the sunshine is lovely too,” said Helen.

‘There is a high-pressure system sitting over the area so there is blue sky aplenty.

“Artificial snow is keeping things going to village level.

“Rendl is not open yet and Valluga seems also not to be open but whether runs are being ‘preserved’ for the Xmas crowds remains to be seen.”

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

“The resort is not crowded yet, with plenty of room on the pistes.”

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

All in all, it is wonderful to be back in the home of skiing,” added Helen.

St Anton, Austria. Image © PlanetSKI/Helen Gillespie.

And talking of historical alpine resorts PlanetSKI reporter, Felix Milns, is currently in Wengen & Grindelwald in Switzerland.

And the snow and skiing conditions?

More to follow..

Monday 15th December

It was a busy and great weekend for PlanetSKI with full reports on the excellent pre-Xmas conditions in the Alps from Jane Peel in Tignes and Simon Wilson in La Plagne.

See here for Jane’s full article:

A sneaky weekend in Tignes

Al fresco lunch in December in Tignes, France. Image © PlanetSKI

Not to mention our editor James Cove who started his 2-month Canadian ski trip in Lake Louise Canada.

See his full article lower from Sunday 15th December lower down this post.

Heading to Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Later we will be hearing from PlanetSKI’s Felix Milns in Wengen Switzerland and Helen Gillespie in St Anton Austria.

But first an overview from the alpine weather expert, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

Fraser is in the Aletsch Arena ski area in Switzerland.

Bettmeralp in the Swiss Aletsch Arena. Image c/o Weathertoski.co.uk.

“It was sunny this morning but with high cloud spreading in from the south this afternoon,” said Fraser on Monday.

“This cloud comes ahead of a disturbance that will bring snow to some south-western parts of the Alps tonight and tomorrow.”

“The best snow conditions in the Alps will soon be in the south-west, where conditions will improve dramatically over the next few days.

“The far south-western Italian ski resorts (Limone Piedmonte, Prato Nevoso) will see some very significant snowfall, with perhaps as much as 50-70cm by Wednesday morning.

“The far southern French Alps will also do well, with around 30-40cm possible during the same period.

“Other ski resorts that will see some useful snow include Sestriere and the Milky Way area, which may see 10-20cm, as might the Monte Rosa region, perhaps with more towards Alagna.

“The northern French Alps (e.g. Chamonix, Avoriaz), most of the Swiss Alps away from the far southern border regions, most of the Austrian Alps and the eastern Italian Alps will stay dry, although some veils of high clouds will obscure the sun at times.

“The weather in the Alps should improve on Wednesday and Thursday before a new disturbance approaches the south-west later this week.”

To keep up to date with accurate and current snow conditions in the Alps do check out weathertoski.co.uk

As mentioned, we will be updating shortly from our reporters in Wengen and St Anton.

Do check back….

Sunday 14th December

We hear about the current excellent early season conditions in the Alps from our reporters out on the slopes lower down this article, but first we turn our attentions to Canada.

PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, has made his first turns in Lake Louise in Alberta.

He’s at the start of a stay of around two months, visiting some of the finest resorts the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia have to offer.

It was a 6am start from Calgary where James is staying for a few days, and he hit the road to Banff.

Heading to Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Two of the town’s local resorts, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise, currently have pretty much the best snow in North America.

The resort has seen 30cm of snow in the last 48-hours, and 70cm over the past week.

It also has the most terrain open of anywhere in the country – 130 runs, 2 terrain parks and 12 lifts.

Lake Louise received a top up as the weekend began, so it was the obvious place to head to.

Heading to Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

The same thought had occurred to a few others.

Heading to Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Up the mountain the early start and traffic queue was but a distant memory.

As were the crowds.

Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

And here is some of that snow that James is talking about.

Lake Louise has a ‘front side’ which is mainly groomed terrain.

And a ‘back side’ where the best powder can be found.

New for this season is Richardson’s Ridge and it opens later this week on Wednesday 17th December.

There are 200 acres of new beginner & intermediate terrain.

There are five new green and blue runs, along with some wide & naturally gladed terrain.

Richardson's Ridge, Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Richardson’s Ridge is the latest in a series of projects seen in Lake Louise over the past 5 years, including the addition of the Summit Quad, West Bowl, Juniper Express and the new Pipestone Express.

“These are some of the biggest investments in our history, all designed to give more terrain, more adventure, and unforgettable skiing & riding,” said the resort.

It is served by this lift which is undergoing its final tests.

The next phase of development in the area involves opening up more terrain that would be for advanced skiers and snowboarders.

PlanetSKI is planning to be back on Wednesday for the opening of the area and to make some first turns.

Do check back…

Meanwhile, in the Alps PlanetSKI’s Simon Wilson reported from La Plagne yesterday (see below), and now he has crossed over to Les Arcs.

La Plagne on its opening weekend, Saturday 13th November. Image © PlanetSKI

“Over in Les Arcs it’s the same weather as La Plagne: blues skies and wall to wall sun,” said Simon.

“Temperatures a few degrees above freezing by day, a few below at night.

“Pistes in excellent condition above 2000 metres, loads of snow around in the big bowl above Arc 2000.

“Like La Plagne, the off piste suffered badly from the rain.

“Lower down it’s been cold enough to run the snow cannons and top up where we needed, so most of the resort is open.

“Aiguille Rouge not open to skiers today. Pedestrians only.

“One big improvement to the lift system here is an upgrade to Transarc.

“It’s now an eight-seater bubble with a brand new mid station.

“Much better!”

Here is Simon’s assessment of his weekend in Paradiski, and a look forward to the expected conditions at Xmas:

Further east in the Alps on Sunday is PlanetSKI’s Felix Milns, who is in Wengen in Switzerland:

Saturday 13th December

It’s another fabulous day across most of the Alps today.

Many resorts are starting their season this weekend and there are now well over 250 resorts open.

It will remain sunny and clear over the weekend.

The weather is forecast to be mainly settled for the next few days with no significant snow in the forecast.

More snow would be welcome as the big November storms are a memory, though they have meant many pistes have good coverage if not soft snow.

Some of the low level resorts are looking a bit threadbare especially after the recent rain.

PlanetSKI’s Simon Wilson is in La Plagne in France for its opening weekend.

Weather:

Excellent.
Wall to wall sunshine
Mild temperatures +2 max today after -2 overnight.

“Pistes generally in excellent condition after the huge dump in NW Alps at end of November,” said Simon.

“Above 2000m there is lovely soft piste snow, below 2000 a couple of crunchy spots, but you can ski right down in the trees towards the villages of Montchavin and Montalbert and the link to Les Arcs is open and in good condition.”

“Off piste suffered a lot after it rained right up to 2,300m here last weekend, but still some pockets of powder above that”.

The star of the show in terms of the lift system is the new two stage gondola linking Plagne Bellecote with Roche de Mio and bypassing Belle Plagne.

The station hopes this will significantly lighten the bottlenecks and long queues that have plagued Bellecote at the busiest times of year.

La Plagne announced late this week that that the gondola up to the Live 3000 area (formerly La Plagne’s small glacier before it melted away) would not be running for at least a few days because of “technical difficulties”.

That’s a minor disappointment for the opening weekend visitors.

But it means that area will certainly be in good shape for Christmas, as long as the lift reopens.

PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, is in Tignes.

“What a stunning December Saturday in Tignes,” said Jane.

“Clear blue skies & sunshine, no wind, perfect snow and mild enough for an al fresco lunch.”

Tignes, Saturday 13th November. Image © PlanetSKI

After a full day’s skiing, Jane filed this snow report from the top of the Toviere gondola.