The PlanetSKI Snow Report
7th April 2026
Last modified on April 16th, 2026
Snow and rain have been falling in the Alps as another spring storm passes. We also update from Canada. UPDATED
Tuesday 14th April
There has been some decent snow at altitude in parts of the Alps, plus heavy rain lower down.
It led to increased avalanche risk in places, as we reported yesterday.
The weather is stabilising today with just a few flurries of rain and snow around, and it will become drier as the week progresses.
The skiing remains good for the time of year on the high-altitude slopes, especially the north facing ones, but the rain has damaged some of the lower slopes.
Cervinia in Italy and Zermatt in Switzerland saw some of the best of the recent snow.
The French high-altitude resorts are still offering some good spring skiing including Tignes and Val Thorens.
Spring skiing in Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI
Both resorts offer skiing and snowboarding until the first weekend of May.
Another wave of resorts close this weekend including Les Menuires in Les3Vallees.
Les Menuires, France. Image c/o Vanessa Fisher.
Monday 13th April
The forecast snow and rain is now falling in parts of the Alps.
This has led to an increased risk of avalanche and caution is urged for those heading off piste.
It is already a very poor winter for avalanche fatalities as we have reported on PlanetSKI:
On Monday further snow above 2,500m and rain lower down raised the risk to Level 4 (high) in the Tirol in Austria.
Avalanche risk in the Tirol, Austria, on Monday 13th April.
The province’s avalanche warning service is urging extreme caution for ski tourers and anyone heading off secured pistes.
The warning service said the main reasons were the increasingly waterlogged snowpack and incoming precipitation.
The greatest danger is in southern North Tirol and northern East Tirol.
Rainwater is penetrating into the snowpack and that is weakening coarse-grained weak layers that had formed earlier in the winter.
That increased the chance of wet snow avalanches releasing.
Matthias Walcher from the avalanche warning service said spontaneous avalanches were especially likely on steep west-, north- and east-facing slopes between 2,200 and 2,500 metres.
The Tirol’s safety councillor, Astrid Mair, said the avalanche situation was dangerous and stressed that terrain steeper than 30 degrees should be avoided.
In Switzerland it is Level Three (considerable) across large areas of the Swiss Alps.
Avalanche risk in Swiss Alps, on Monday 13th April. Image c/o SLF.
The SLF highlighted Upper Valais as a particular hotspot.
It warns that both wet and dry avalanches are expected amid ongoing precipitation and poor overnight refreezing.
The warning covers a region that includes some of Switzerland’s most iconic high-alpine terrain and ski areas, such as Zermatt, Saas-Fee and the Aletsch Arena.
The Swiss and Austrian authorities are urging off piste skiers & snowboarders to exercise restraint, avoid steep terrain and be aware that avalanche paths may extend into unexpected areas.
Cooler temperatures are forecast for Tuesday night, which sould help the snowpack refreeze and become more stable.
More to follow…
Sunday 12th April
We turn our attentions away from the Alps in Europe and over to the Rockies in Canada.
PlanetSKI was based in Canada for 2-months earlier this winter.
Now our reporting team of Marie Taylor and Alex Cove is back.
Winter continues in Lake Louise, near Banff, in Alberta.
Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
“Absolutely nobody around today it was great,” said PlanetSKI’s Alex Cove who is in the resort this weekend.
“We arrived to about 3cm fresh snow overnight and clouds.”
View this post on Instagram
Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
“Most of the day was spent skiing in the trees so we could see, but when the clouds lifted a little we went up Summit to the top of the ski area and there was some really nice spring snow.”
Lake Louise, Canada. Image © PlanetSKI
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Winter ain’t over in Canada for a long while with skiing at nearby Sunshine Village going into May.
Alex and Marie will be reporting from Sunshine Village for PlanetSKI later this month…
Saturday 11th April
Whisper is quietly but there may be some late season snow on the way at altitude in the Alps.
It could fall early next week in the western Alps.
After warm temperatures this week, with 20c recorded in some of the alpine valleys, the temperatures are dropping.
One forecast we have seen says there could by 25cm in some resorts in France early next week.
Many high altitude resorts including Val Thorens, Val d’Isere, Tignes and others remain open.
There are similar snow forecasts for Italy with rain on the lower slopes under 2,000m.
More than half of Italian resorts remain open, although many closed after Easter.
The best bet in Italy is the high-altitude skiing on offer in Cervinia with its link to the Swiss resort of Zermatt.
Switzerland too is forecast to see some snow.
Austria may see some too, but only at altitude with the freezing level at over 2,000m.
Obergurgl, Ischgl and Stubai remain some of the best current skiing options in Austria.
The forecast should become clearer over the weekend.
We’ll keep you posted…
Zermatt, Switzerland. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Thursday 9th April
The spring weather continues in the Alps with warm temperatures, and the snow melting at lower altitudes.
Higher up there remains some good piste conditions especially on the north facing slopes, but you have to chose the time of day well as the freeze/thaw continues.
“After a slight dip in temperatures on Friday, with some showers likely in the eastern Alps, Saturday will again be very warm,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk on Thursday.
“After this there will be a more decisive cool down in the Alps, first in the west on Sunday, then further east late on Monday, and on Tuesday.
“There is also some snow in the forecast, mostly in the western and south-western Alps to start with (late on Sunday, and on Monday), then probably favouring Austria by Tuesday.”
Keep an eye on weathertski.co.uk. for the latest
Many resorts have spring events going on, with some excellent weather.
Here’s Zermatt Unplugged this week:
Zermatt Unplugged. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Zermatt Unplugged. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Zermatt Unplugged. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Tignes is also set to host a series of events in April:
And talking of Tignes, here’s the very latest on the weather in Tignes/Val d’Isere from PlanetSKI’s Steve Angus:
View this post on Instagram
More to follow…
Tuesday 7th April:
The warm conditions continue in the Alps with Spring conditions across the ski resorts that remain open.
High pressure is sitting over the Alps with the freezing level at over 3,000m.
It is icy first thing and generally the best skiing can be found on north facing slopes.
Though if you time it right, as the ice turns to softer snow, there is some excellent ‘spring snow’ to be found.
Spring skiing in Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI
The warm spell is coming to an end with colder conditions later in the week.
The weather will be unsettled over the weekend with some snow forecast in the southern Alps.
If you are planning a final ski trip, and there is still four weeks of the season left in some resorts, then head high.
Zermatt, Switzerland, this week. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Spring skiing in Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI
There remains ‘considerable’ risk of avalanche in parts of the Alps as the day progresses.
Here’s the current situation in Switzerland for Wednesday:
Image c/o Swiss Institute for Snow & Avalanche Research.
There were eight further avalanche deaths in Europe over the Easter weekend as we have reported:
Easter Update:
Easter Monday sees high pressure dominating the weather across the Alps.
No fresh snow, but plenty of sunshine with warm temperatures.
After the generally good snowfall over the last couple of weeks in the Alps that means one thing – excellent spring conditions.
Les Menuires, France. Image c/o Vanessa Fisher.
“There is therefore a very healthy late season base in most high resorts, with good cover to relatively low altitudes in some northern areas too,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk
“As for snow quality, any un-tracked powder is becoming harder to find, you will need a good local guide to seek out the remaining stashes on high north-facing slopes.”
Some of the best late-season resort options according to weathertoski are:
Austria
- Ischgl
- Obergurgl
France:
- Val Thorens
- Val d’Isère
- Tignes
- La Plagne
- Les2Alpes
PlanetSKI has just been in one of them:
Plus the neighbouring resort of Les Menuires:
Spring skiing in Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI
Les Menuires, France. Image © PlanetSKI
PlanetSKI has also been out in Gausta in Norway over Easter:
Gausta, Norway. Image © PlanetSKI
Italy
- Cervinia
One of our readers, Helen Gillespie, is currently there.
Cervinia, Italy. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Cervinia, Italy. Image c/o Helen Gillespie/PlanetSKI.
Switzerland
- Zermatt
- Verbier
However there is considerable avalanche danger in places as the warm temperatures affect the snowpack in the afternoon.
Here’s the situation in Switzerland today.
Image c/o Swiss Institute for Snow & Avalanche Research.
And the ski resort in Europe that claims the deepest snow according to weathertoski?
Arcalis in Andorra with 4m up top.
Who’d have thought it?
There remains some excellent late-season conditions in the mountains of Europe after a great season.
April remains one of PlanetSKI’s favourite times to be in the Alps and we’re planning to be back out later in April.
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