18.12.13

Snow Report 18 December 2013 - Europe

Greetings from 3 Vallees in the French Alps, where they like to remind you that this is the biggest linked ski area in the world.

I tell you what - it is indeed flippin' huge. On our first day we tried to go from one end to the other and almost missed the last gondola home!

This incredible run of dry, sunny days continues for the French and Italian Alps. It's now 18 days since the last snowfall.

Sunny days are lovely and all that, but we need the white stuff to fall from the sky fairly regularly!

If you're going to ski this early in the season, then Val Thorens is a safe bet with the village at 2300m altitude. Snowmaking and some clever piste management/grooming has kept things fresh on the upper slopes ... even up until today.

Around the rest of 3 Vallees there has been some fine skiing up high especially in Les Menuires (what an incredible place this would be after a dump with its endless rolling off-piste) and the Mottaret part of Meribel.

No off-piste is available with the sun-affected snow. Lower slopes are either closed or very patchy. To be expected this early in the season.

Some pictures from around 3 Vallees today and yesterday are in this post.

Snow is in the forecast for the 19th and 20th December and should extend across the French and Italian Alps down to about 1000m. About 20-50cms is possible over the next few days. Bring it on!

No comments:

Post a Comment