Snow Report 26 February 2015 - Europe & Japan

School holidays are coming to an end. Its nearly March, which means its almost springtime in the mountains. Milder, longer, sunny days beckon, hopefully punctuated by dumps of fresh snow!

JAPAN

Happo One 25.02.15 [Source: Happo FB page]

Talking of spring it has been spring-like already in Japan with a mild, sunny spell hitting recently. Makes for a change!

The weekend was mainly fine everywhere in the Japanese mountains - clear, blue skies. No snow though (except for 15cm at Zao Onsen). There was even a run of a week without snow in Niseko, which is very unusual for this time of year.

Normal business is always resumed, however. After some unwelcome rain across the Japanese resorts into Monday, snow arrived for Niseko into Tuesday.

While other areas remained cloudy through this week, some snow is forecast to arrive tonight after a little rain, Unfortunately there is the suggestion of a return to more rain on the weekend. Lets hope that doesn't eventuate.

Happo One: 290cm@1400m, 170cm@850m
Nozawa Onsen: 415cm@1650m and 190cm@650m
Akakura Kanko: 415cm
Gala Yuzawa: 440cm
Dynaland: 250cm
Zao Onsen: 220/145cm
Niseko Grand Hirafu: 410/160cm

Val d'Isere 25.02.15 [Source: Val d'Isere FB page]

FRANCE

School holidays are coming to an end and the slopes will be fairly empty in the coming weeks, with some of the best conditions of the season!

There was some snow at the weekend in the French Alps (about 10cm in the north - Val d'Isere, Les Arcs, more further south - Isola got a nice dump).

Another dump arrived on Monday and into Tuesday in the French Alps. Serre Chevalier scored 35cm, while Chamonix and Val Thorens reported 25cm. Les Arcs got 13cm.

After some fine days to enjoy the freshened slopes, the snow should return tonight, locally heavy, setting up a nice weekend.

Isola 2000: 200/150cm

Monte Rosa 24.02.15 [Source: Monterosa Ski FB page]

Serre Chevalier: 190cm@2800m/50cm@1400m
Les Arcs: 158cm@3200m, 93cm@1600m
Val Thorens: 190cm@3200m, 110cm@2300m
Val d'Isere: 167cm@2500m, 95cm@1850m
Chamonix: 210cm@3275m, 90cm@1800m

ITALY

The weekend saw snowfalls in the Italian Alps, including at Madonna di Campiglio (50cm), and Val Gardena (10cm). A top-up for Val Gardena arrived on Tuesday (20cm).

Not a lot of snow in current forecasts for Italian resorts, but maybe a bit more more chance for those in the Aosta valley.

Monte Rosa (Gressoney-la-Trinite): 255/105cm
Madesimo: 480/250/200cm
Madonna di Campiglio: 220cm@2250m, 90cm@1500m
Val Gardena: 110cm@2500m, 15cm@1400m