The Updated PlanetSKI Snow Report

17th February 2026

Last modified on February 22nd, 2026

The sun is out in the Alps as the wild weather of last week passes. Plus we hear from the Highlands in Scotland and the powder of Georgia. UPDATED

Sunday 22nd February

First we hear from Mike ‘the snow’ Richards who has been powder skiing in Bakhmaro in Georgia.

In the Alps the weather has calmed down and warmed up after the huge recent storms pass.

There is plenty of sunshine across the Alps and some excellent February conditions.

The mild weather is set to continue this week with no significant snow in the forecast.

It is a similar situation in Scotland.

“The cold snap has finally ended,” said PlanetSKI’s Scotland reporter, Rod Frazer.

“We have a return to warmer south-westerly weather systems bringing much milder temperatures to the Highlands, which means we have some great spring snow conditions to enjoy.”

“These big swings in temperature are the norm for a Highland winter.”

Glenshee, Scotland. Image c/o Dianne & Rod Frazer

“On the upside, there has been such a build up of snow over the last month, specially on Cairngorm, that despite the current thaw conditions should be good for the foreseeable.

“Here’s hoping we have a return to cold temps in the not too distant future to ensure we have great skiing into Easter.”

Glenshee, Scotland. Image c/o Dianne & Rod Frazer

More to follow…

Saturday 21st February

The final storm of the latest cycle in the Alps has passed with the snowfall easing off in many places.

It has been full-on winter weather this half-term week with few, if any, relaxing lunches on the terrace of a mountain restaurant in the sun.

In the north west Alps it has snowed pretty much all week leaving as much as 2m of fresh snow in places.

“Many high French ski resorts including Alpe d’Huez, Tignes, La Rosière, Chamonix, Flaine and Avoriaz have seen at least 1.5m and, in some cases, almost certainly over 2m of snow at altitude in the last week,” said our resident snow expert, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

Some of the heaviest snow has been in Tignes in France where 2m has fallen.

“I had to clear the balcony twice on Thursday at the height of the latest storm,” said PlanetSKI reader, David Morgan, to us.

David’s balcony, Tignes. Image c/o David Morgan.

“Over two metres of snow fell in Tignes during one the busiest weeks (94.2% occupancy) of the season.

“High avalanche risk limited lift opening and restricted skiing, but despite the weather being less than kind, youngsters enjoyed playing in the snow.

“Next week French holidays continue – start of Paris fortnight – traffic delays expected.

“More settled and sunny weather expected with better conditions for skiing,” added David.

Tignes, France, Image c/o David Morgan.

Once again people are urged to be extra cautious in the dangerous avalanche conditions, but it appears the warnings are falling on some deaf ears as the deaths and injuries in the Alps continue.

Around 100 people have died in avalanches so far this winter, which is well above the seasonal average for the time of year.

See the full details here: Yet more avalanche deaths in the Alps

The temperatures are forecast to warm up over the weekend and next week should be excellent as the sun makes a welcome appearance.

In the USA heavy snow is finally falling in parts of western USA.

It is a welcome sight after one of the worst winters in recent memory.

Many are hoping the second half of winter will be nothing like the first half.

Southern California is seeing the snow.

As too is Colorado.

Utah has also seen fresh snow.

The resort of Brian Head in southern Utah picked up 58cm in the last 24 hours and 86cm in the last 48 hours.

The resort claims 1.37m of new snow this week.

100% of the resort’s terrain is open with a 1.57m base.

The heavy falls in the USA have brought tragic consequences, with eight back country skiers perishing in an avalanche in California.

One person is missing presumed dead.

Six people were rescued.

Eight back country skiers die in US avalanche

More to follow…

Friday 20th February

And still it is snowing in the Alps.

Heavily in places.

The latest, and final, storm of this cycle is hitting most of the Alps and delivering significant quantities of snow.

It is set to fade out on Saturday and next week should see things much calmer and warmer.

There should be some fantastic snow conditions in many ski resorts.

“Some ski resorts will see considerably more, especially in the west, with storm totals of 50cm+ between last night and Friday morning in parts of the French Alps.

“Totals could possibly even reach 70cm+ at altitude in the higher ski resorts close to Grenoble and the Écrins area, such as Alpe d’Huez.

“During this time the rain/snow limit will sit roughly between 800m and 1200m.”

Off piste is continuing to be extremely dangerous with a high number of avalanche deaths.

Extreme caution is urged.

See here for the latest:

More deaths in avalanches in the Alps

Over in Canada cold weather has returned with a vengeance in the resorts of Alberta and snow is falling.

Here is the community notice board in the Arc’teryx shop in downtown Calgary on 17th street.

Snow condtions in Alberta, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

As we said the temperatures have dropped.

Calgary, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Sadly, PlanetSKI is unable to enjoy the fresh snow as we are now heading back to Europe after more than two months in Alberta and British Columbia.

PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, is searching for his final random internet cafe in order to upload and update the web site/social media channels before the long flight home.

James Cove, Calgary, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

“It has been the most fantastic trip in perhaps my favourite ski country in the world,” said James.

“Canada has it all, both on and off the slopes.

“It is a shame it has drawn to an end, but given the currentl conditions in the Alps it looks like it’s going to be a cracking second half of the season in Europe.

“I’m looking forward to visiting some of my favourite ski areas, and meeting up with friends.

“The Pyrenees and the Scottish Highlands have seen record amounts of snow so far this winter and I’m hoping to visit both ranges before the winter is over.”

” ‘Au revoir’ Canada. Merci beaucoup.”

Rolling Blog:

Resort Reviews

PlanetSKI has had a 5-person gear/equipment testing team in Canada and we’ve been putting dozens of items through their paces.

Skis, helmets, goggles, ski touring poles, heated gloves, heated socks, ski jackets, ski pants, underlayers, shoes, ice crampons and even a monocular.

Plus a secret weapon to keep warm when the temperature drops to -30c.

Only the best have made it through to the final article and we’ll be posting in a three-part review starting next week.

Do look out for that if gear is your thing…

Thursday 19th February

Snowmaggedon continues in the Alps.

Another huge storm continues to batter large parts of the Alps.

It started snowing in the western Alps on Wednesday and the storm has moved eastwards with most areas in the Alps receiving some snow.

Anther half meter has fallen in parts of the French Alps with the southern area seeing the most snowfall.

It’s all been rahter good in Tignes/Val d’Isere from where PlanetSKI’s Steve Angus sent this video report:

“Over the weekend and into next week, the weather in the Alps will turn more spring-like but a return to stormier weather is likely by the end of the month,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.

For the pistes that are open there are generally superb conditions across many resorts.

The avalanche risk remains ‘High’ in some places so extreme caution is needed off piste.

Three Britons have died in the last week in France as the annual toll so far this winter in Europe climbs to more than 80.

Another British skier died in avalanche in France

One PlanetSKI reader has sent us this image of an avalanche that has damaged the Chatelet chairlift in Les3Vallees in France.

We assume the image was taken by the piste patrol as the area is closed due to the heavy snow.

It is understood the avalanche was a controlled one set of by the piste patrol as they make the slopes safe.

Meribel France. Image c/o Meribel ski patrol.

Les3Vallees, France. Image c/o Les3Vallees ski patrol.

The lift will be closed for the rest of the season and repaired over the summer.

The Châtelet is a six-person high speed detachabel chairlift that takes skiers from the base station at 2,052m to the top of the ski area at 2,411m.

Skiers will now need to use the Plattières gondola from Mottaret instead.

Elsewhere in the mountains, and off the beaten track in the east, is PlanetSKI’s Mike ‘The Snow’ Richards.

He is in the powder of Georgia.

And then it started to snow – BIG time!

More to follow…

Wednesday 18th February

The snow just keeps on coming in The Alps.

It’s great to see and it will be excellent once the storms pass and the ski areas can fully open.

The resort with the biggest snow depths is Alpe d’Huez in the southern French Alps – with 2.3m on the lower slopes and 4m in the upper ones.

As it always it has come at a price with a worrying number of people being killed off piste in avalanches.

See here for PlanetSKI’s full and detailed post on the very latest.

More avalanche fatalities in the Alps as risk rises to Level 5 in some places

Resorts seeing the most include Val d’Isère, Tignes, Flaine & Avoriaz in France.

Courmayeur & Cervinia in Italy.

While is Switzerland Verbier & Morgins have done well.

This is the scene at resort level in Tignes.

This is what is going on at the top of the ski area as the piste patrol make the slopes safe.

The storm then moved to eastern Switzerland and western Austria where up to half a metre has fallen in places.

And there’s more to come.

“After a relative reprieve on Wednesday, a new active storm will reach the Alps late in the day and continue to affect the weather through Thursday,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

“This storm will have a more unusual track, making it hard to predict exactly where will see the heaviest snow.

“For now, though, it is very likely to be the French Alps that will come out on top, especially close to the western edge in resorts like La Clusaz, Alpe d’Huez, and the Vercors region (e.g. Villard-de-Lans) where 40-60cm is possible.”

Elsewhere in the mountains PlanetSKI reporter, Simon Wilson, is in Jasná ski resort in the Low Tatras mountains in Slovakia.

“-8c first thing this morning going up to -2c,” said Simon.

“There’s some light cloud and the odd snow shower, but the visibility is decent.

“The pistes are in excellent shape thanks to lots of snow making in what has been a cold but not particularly snowy winter so far in this part of Europe.

“The off piste looks thin lower down, but decent up above the tree line.”

Jasna, Slovakia. Image © PlanetSKI/Simon Wilson.

“It’s my first time here and very impressed with super modern lift system and generally well thought-out resort.

“The only downside is that it’s school holiday season in Slovakia and Poland so the slopes were very busy by mid morning, and there have been some 20 minute+ lift queues to deal with.”

Jasna, Slovakia. Image © PlanetSKI/Simon Wilson.

PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, was in Jasna a few years back.

See her report if you want to know more about the resort:

PlanetSKI goes East

More to follow…

Tuesday 17th February

Today we start a new rolling weekly snow report as our reporters around the mountains keep us up-to-date.

Our last PlanetSKI Snow Report ran from Tuesday 10th February through to Monday 16th February, and gives some context as current conditions are always shaped by what has preceded.

We are updating from Sunshine Village in Canada today, but first the situation in the Alps.

Large amounts of snow has been falling across Switzerland & parts of the French and Italian Alps in yet another storm.

Check out these snow depths in France:

The first thing to report is the high risk of avalanche in many places where the fresh snow has fallen.

There have been further fatalities off piste in the last few days: three in France, two in Italy and one in Switzerland, as we have reported in this separate PlanetSKI news article:

High avalanche risk in the Alps as more snow falls

Avalanche in Davos.Image c/o Graubunden Cantonal Police.

In terms of the huge levels of snowfall here’s our resident snow guru, Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk:

“Storm totals between Sunday evening and Tuesday lunchtime are likely to be greatest in the northern French Alps (e.g. Tignes, La Rosière, Chamonix), the far north-western Italian Alps (e.g. La Thuile, Courmayeur) and the northern and western Swiss Alps (e.g. Glacier 3000, Portes du Soleil, Engelberg) .

“Above 1,500m there should be close to 1m of fresh snow, with even more in places.

“On the whole, the further east and south-east you are in the Alps, the less potent this storm will be.

“That said, many Austrian resorts (e.g. Saalbach, Kitzbühel) will see a moderate fall of snow, but some southern resorts, especially towards the south-east (e.g. Dolomites) will largely miss out this time around.

In Switzerland there has been a break in the weather today before more snow falls later in the week.

Here’s a post from PlanetSKI reader, ‘Valais Dude’:

Much of Switzerland is on a Level 4 alert on Tuesday 17th February.

Avalanche warning for Switzerland for Tuesday 17th February. Image c/o Swiss Avalanches Institute.

It is all very different in the resorts around Banff in Canada.

Where PlanetSKI is.

Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Regular readers will know that PlanetSKI has been in Canada for the past couple of months, but our time is coming to an end.

We have a full report from Sunshine Village near Banff in Canada where it has been another great day, with some snow finally in the forecast.

“It was a bright, sunny and crisp morning with the temperature at -10c in the base of the resort and -15c at the top,” said PlanetSKI’s James Cove.

“There are plenty of moguls around indicating the lack of recent snow, but they are great to ski on if that is your cup of tea,” added James.

“Mogul skiing in Europe is a dying art as the strategy of resorts is generally to smash them all out with a piste basher overnight to create more space for intermediate skiers.”

PlanetSKI has been based near Banff with its three ski areas since the first half of December.

Lake Louise has seen 6.37m of snow so far this season.
Sunshine Village has seen 5.49m.
Mt Norquay has seen 2.08m.

PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, updates us on conditions from Sunshine Village and addresses the eternal question for this part of the ski world:

“Which of the Banff ski resorts is bettter, Lake Louise or Sunshine Village?”

Here is a closer look at Delirium Dive – serious stuff:

Delirium Dive, Sunshine Village, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI

Check out an earlier report from James and the team as they tackled the advanced terrain of Sunshine Village:

Delirium Dive
Wild West
South Side Chutes

See the report here: PlanetSKI hits the steeps of Sunshine Village

In the video James also mentioned the views, and here’s the video he took earlier in the morning:

As the day drew to a close the weather suddenly changed as the forecast snow arrived early.

Bring. It. On.

Later this week will be hearing from our reporter, Mike ‘The Snow’ Richards, who is skiing powder in Georgia.

Do check back…

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