Snow Report 21 January 2016 - Europe & Japan

The unpredictability of the weather is what makes skiing and riding so interesting! The skill of being able to adapt to different conditions is a good arrow to have in your quiver. However, when the wind blows so hard that the lifts close there's not much to do except seek protected runs, or spend the day in a hot spring!

Niseko Grand Hirafu - www.grand-hirafu.jp/

JAPAN

It was partly fine on the weekend for much of Honshu with some areas getting some sun which is nice if you were out on the slopes.

Snow arrived late on Sunday and it snowed heavily in some areas but lightly in others!

This was due to an easterly system favouring snow closer to the Pacific side of the Japanese Alps. It even snowed in Tokyo. The weather was a bit wild though, with the storm closing lots of lifts earlier this week.

The system spun around changing the winds and eventually every ski area benefited.

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - 120cm@base. It finally stopped snowing at Niseko on Sunday after weeks of continuous snow, allowing visitors to see the mountain for once and enjoy a sunny day! A windy week has seen lifts close, but the snow has returned again so conditions will be good once the wind dies down.

Zao Onsen - 95cm@base (954m), 130cm up high (1387m). A cloudy cold weekend at Zao. Thats pretty typical for this time of year! Heavy snow arrived on Sunday and continued into Monday adding more than half a metre to the snow depths. The whole mountain is open and the skiing is great.

Naeba/Kagura - Snow on Sunday but a lot lighter than expected. Tuesday was fine and sunny in the Yuzawa area but the snow arrived on Wednesday with around 30cm falling into Thursday morning.

Happo 19.01.15 - Happo One Facebook

Shiga Kogen - Up to 30cm of snow at Shiga Kogen into Monday morning and similar into Tuesday morning. Doubled the snow depths from this storm and more snow into today. A massive dump of close to a metre at the Shiga Kogen ski areas.

Nozawa Onsen - 65cm@base (660m), 135cm at Yamabiko (1615m). Nozawa Onsen had just some light snow into Monday and a few flakes on Tuesday but things started getting going later in the week and a nice dump has got the official resort snow depths up by about 30cm.

Myokokogen (Akakan) - 145cm. A small top-up into Monday and nothing much into Tuesday, but like Nozawa Onsen, the Japan Sea facing resorts scored midweek with a dump close to 50cm.

Hakuba (Happo One) - 55cm@Base, 165cm at Usagadaira. Happo reported 15cm overnight into Monday and snow continuing on Monday. Another 20cm into Wednesday morning. Lifts were affected by the wind early in the week.

Dynaland - 120cm, double the snowdepth of last week for Gifu's biggest ski area.

The coming days: Snow looks like continuing all over with a cold blast to hit western Honshu on the weekend.

Chamonix Brevent 21.01.15 - chamonix.com

FRANCE

Lots of sun on the weekend at most French Alpine ski stations.

The natural snowline is now below 1,000m in the Northern Alps with 20-45cm on shady north-facing slopes, and 18-36cm on sunny south-facing slopes at 1,000m. That is significantly below village level for most ski resorts. In the Southern Alps, the snowline is a little higher.

Into this week, not much new snow fell since Tuesday.

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 150cm@1972m. Chamonix reported 13cm new snow at Flegere on Sunday. Last snow was 19th January and pretty much all lifts and runs open now.

Val d'Isere 102cm@1850m, 144 of 154 pistes and 72 of 79 lifts operating.

Val Thorens 21.01.15 - Val Thorens Facebook

Les Arcs 105cm@1600m, 99/109 pistes open.

Val Thorens 140cm@2300m, ALL lifts and runs open at Val Thorens today.

Serre Chevalier 100cm@2100m, 67/81 pistes open.

Isola 2000 45cm@2000m, opened more pistes at the weekend and now has 24 pistes operating.

It looks like staying fine through the weekend with warm temperatures. Time to enjoy the snow and sun and wait for the next dump.

ITALY

A sunny weekend but winds restricted the fun at some ski resorts. The fine weather continued into this week.

Madesimo 21.01.15 - www.skiareavalchiavenna.it/

Monte Rosa now has 56 of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas. Strong winds played havoc with lifts on the weekend, and having experienced getting stuck in the wrong valley at Monte Rosa I feel for any people struggling with the conditions there!

Madesimo 22/33 pistes open.Such better conditions there now.

Madonna di Campiglio (10cm@1500m) now has 53/57 lifts open.

Val Gardena 20cm@1500m reported 15cm on the 11th January and that was the last time it snowed there.

Sunny and warm days to come and the ski resorts will be hoping for a change to the weather to get a dump and open the rest of the lifts and runs for February.

Snow Report 14 January 2016 - Europe & Japan

By mid-January generally all the lifts and pistes are open in both Japan and Europe's major resorts. Not the case this year I'm afraid. Its certainly an odd one, a slow starter more precisely. And unusual for both Japan and Europe to be hit.

JAPAN

A snowy weekend all over Japan but the snow was lighter than originally expected. Niseko, Zao Onsen and Myokokogen did best, with the other resorts lucky if they got a couple of days of light snowfalls.

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - 140cm@base. Regular and consistent snowfall at Niseko, between 10 and 20cm each night for the past week. Great skiing to be had right now!

Happo One 13.01.16 - Happo Facebook

Zao Onsen - 40cm@base (954m), 85cm up high (1387m). Another snowy weekend at Zao Onsen ski resort with around 10cm each day and light snow continuing on and off this week. most of the resort is open now including the Omori area.

Naeba/Kagura - A little light snow on and off at Naeba with conditions best up high at linked Kagura.

Shiga Kogen - The resorts are all open but there's not a huge amount of snow at Shiga Kogen.

Nozawa Onsen - 20cm@base (660m), 100cm at Yamabiko (1615m). Nozawa Onsen has missed out on the weekend snow at some other areas racking up only 5-10cm. Hitting only the one-metre mark at Yamabiko in mid-January is unheard of!

Myokokogen (Akakan) - 120cm. Steady top-ups over the last week but nothing massive. Another 30cm to the snow depth at Akakan, compared to this time last week, is welcome.

Hakuba (Happo One) - 10cm@Base, 100cm at Usagadaira. Another poor week for Hakuba with little additional snow reported. Skiing is good up high however.

Dynaland - 60cm.

Some snow tonight all over, continuing regular falls on Hokkaido, and perhaps something big and white coming after the weekend!

Les Arcs 13.01.16 - Les Acrs Facebook

FRANCE

A wild, windy and wet weekend brought snow at high altitudes and rain at lower altitudes. The stormy weather also brought strong winds that closed lifts.

Into this week, the snow level lowered and it has been snowing on and off all week in the Northern Alps. Lets see how the snow depths have improved:

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 154cm@1972m, up a whopping 77cm on this time last week.

Val d'Isere 110cm@1850m, up 46cm on last week,

Les Arcs 108cm@1600m, up 43cm on last week, 85/109 pistes open.

Val Thorens 160cm@2300m, up 65cm from last week,

Serre Chevalier 13.01.16 - Serre Che Facebook

Serre Chevalier 120cm@2100m, up 82cm, 44/81 pistes open. Finally some joy for Serre Che.

Isola 2000 40cm@2000m, now 16 pistes open double last week.

It looks like even more snow for the Northern Alps in the next few days down to low levels. Its going to be cold! Clearing at the weekend for some fun skiing.

ITALY

Some snow but unfortunately not as much as in France. Italy has not done so well from the recent storm - its often favoured by different weather systems than those that bring snow to Switzerland and the Northern Alps.

Val Gardena 13.01.16 - Val Gardena Facebook

Monte Rosa now has 42 of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas but the snowdepth is nothing to shout about with only about 20cm in the valley.

Madesimo 15/33 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio (10cm@1500m) received 45cm from the storm, mostly above 1600m. 42/57 lifts now open.

Val Gardena 20cm@1500m reported 15cm on the 11th January.

Once again, the western ski resorts like Monte Rosa and Cervinia will get snow in the coming days, but looks sunny and fine in the Dolomites.

Snow Report 7 January 2016 - Europe & Japan

January is my favourite month of the year to ski in the Northern Hemisphere. Empty slopes for the most part (a few exceptions in each continent, I've heard), friendly on-mountain staff, a solid snowdepth, and a good chance of the odd dump. February means holidays in both Japan and Europe and then things get busier again.

Nozawa Onsen 06.01.16 - Nozawa Onsen Facebook

Snow finally arrived in France and Italy over the weekend with up to half a metre falling in the Northern French Alps and somewhat less elsewhere.

New Year's Day brought snow to Japan, but since then its been a bit dicey. Definitely a slower start to the season by Japan's high powder standards.

JAPAN

Ski areas received a nice top-up on New Year's Day, between 10 and 30cm. It has continued to snow on and off in Hokkaido, but on Honshu the week started really warm and then nothing has really happened since. Snow depths are at one of the lowest I can remember for the first week of January. Still ... bet you're not complaining if you're out there enjoying the rides down the mountain!

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - 120cm@base. Regular snowfalls this week is building the base nicely.

Happo One 06.01.16 - Happo One Facebook

Zao Onsen - 20cm@base (954m), 70cm up high (1387m). The cover is not that deep and skiing is still not available at Omori area.

Naeba/Kagura - 20cm around new year is only the second decent fall for Naeba this season.

Shiga Kogen - little snow in the past week but the skies are beginning to open up today. Modest snow depths for this time of year although Shiga Kogen never really gets the huge falls they get nearer the Sea of Japan.

Nozawa Onsen - 20cm@base (660m), 95cm at Yamabiko (1615m). Nothing to speak of falling from the sky in the past week and its still looking pretty patchy at the bottom.

Myokokogen (Akakan) - 90cm. Snow has returned to Mt Myoko and its various ski areas after a quiet few days since new year.

Chamonix 06.01.16 - Chamonix Facebook

Hakuba (Happo One) - 10cm@Base, 65cm at Usagadaira. Finally some snow this morning after a barren week.

Dynaland - 60cm.

There should be snow on and off now through the weekend so it looks like things will look much better (and even whiter and deeper) by this time next week!

FRANCE

The snowfalls have arrived bringing reasonable falls to the Northern resorts, but quite a lot less in the Southern Alps and Pyrenees.

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 67cm@1972m, a huge improvement for the Chamonix valley which did very well from the new year storm.

Val d'Isere 06.01.16 - Val d'Isere Facebook

Val d'Isere 64cm@1850m, 113/166 pistes open. Its clear that Val d'Isere and Espace Killy have been the place to be with ok skiing even through the lean snow period in December and now conditions are even better.

Les Arcs 65cm@1600m, 72/109 pistes open. A great boost with a good fall at 1600m opening another 20 or so pistes.

Val Thorens 95cm@2300m, 67/81 pistes open. not far off all runs being open at Val Thorens now.

Serre Chevalier 38cm@2100m, 20/81 pistes open. Didn't get as much as the Northern Alps and could do with a couple more dumps to really open up the massive terrain at Serre Che.

Isola 2000 35cm@2000m, still only 8 pistes open. After the massive snowfalls in previous years we can only wait for a change to the weather patterns that favour the south.

Monte Rosa 06.01.16 - Monterosa Facebook

It looks like lots of snow in the coming days in the French Alps, but the snow level will be quite high at times with the southerlies. Rain down below 1600m perhaps. Stay high in the coming days because the best snow will be above 2000m.

ITALY

Some snow in this recent new year storm for Northern Italy has opened more lifts and runs.

Still a way to go though so lets hope for lots from the following January storms.

Monte Rosa now has 30 of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas and eveything is looking very white after the recent snowfalls favoured this beautiful Italian ski resort.

Madesimo 13/33 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio 03.01.16 - funivie.campiglio.it

Madonna di Campiglio (5cm@1500m) now has 50 slopes open compared to 22 last week before the storm. Looking so much better there. Expect more lifts to open through the week.

Val Gardena 20cm@1500m. Doesn't sound like much but the Dolomites have hundreds of kms of skiing on offer.

There is snow coming for Italy in the coming storms as well.

The Aosta valley ski area close to the Monte Bianco massif and Monte Rosa will do well throughout the whole period.

Madonna di Campiglio looks like getting good falls through the weekend, and Val Gardena and the other Dolomiti ski areas look like getting a little top-up. Lets hope its more than that!

Snow Report 31 December 2015 - Europe & Japan

Nozawa Onsen 28.12.15 - Nozawa Onsen Facebook

Here we are at the end of another year yet right at the start of a new ski season for Europe and Japan. Is the snow arriving later each year?

While some European high altitude ski resorts with good snowmaking facilities have done OK, the season has not really got started yet for the smaller stations.

In Japan, meanwhile, the first decent dump of winter opened most of the resorts in time for the busy new year break.

JAPAN

The snowfalls began on Christmas Day and continued on for a few days delivering some nice white powder presents to those on the slopes over the holidays.

Niseko and Myokokogen did the best with snow continuing through the week with about 20cm each day. Elsewhere was more varied with Hakuba not quite getting 20cm total from the storm.

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - 115cm@base. Has been scoring big with 20cm each day until a nice clear day yesterday to enjoy the views.

Gala Yuzawa 28.12.15 - Gala Facebook

Zao Onsen - 25cm@base (954m), 70cm up high (1387m). Skiing is now available at most of the resort except for the lowest areas (like the fun Omori area).

Naeba/Kagura - 20cm around Christmas and a further 30cm yesterday has opened up lots of Naeba after the slow start. Yuzawa Town ski resorts are also starting to open more slopes, including Gala Yuzawa.

Shiga Kogen - snow on and off for the past week has transformed the vast Shiga Kogen areas, and now all the resorts are open and most slopes skiable.

Nozawa Onsen - 50cm@base (660m), 90cm at Yamabiko (1615m). Good snowfalls on and off for the past week means most of Nozawa Onsen's lifts are now running.

Dynaland 28.12.15 - Dynaland Facebook

Myokokogen (Akakan) - 90cm. Lots of snow in the past week means most of the terrain is now open.

Hakuba (Happo One) - 10cm@Base, 70cm at Usagadaira.

Dynaland - 70cm. Snow in the past week has opened more lifts at this Gifu ski area.

The coming few days look a bit mixed with sunny spells, some snow showers and possibly some rain if it stays mild.

FRANCE

More sunny mild weather in the French Alps and no snow to speak of except that coming out of the snowguns at night. Resort snow depths haven't changed from last week.

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 25cm@1972m, 4/16 pistes open

Val d'Isere 29.12.15 - Val d'Isere Facebook

Val d'Isere 29cm@1850m, 101/166 pistes open

Les Arcs 12cm@1600m, 53/109 pistes open

Val Thorens 45cm@2300m, 57/81 pistes open

Serre Chevalier 30cm@2100m, 13/81 pistes open

Isola 2000 30cm@2000m, 8 pistes open

A substantial snowfall is forecast for the Northern and Southern Alps over the weekend, continuing into next week. It looks set up for some great skiing in France from the middle of next week.

ITALY

Its a wonder there is skiing at all in Italy, but these days the snowmaking is incredible. Thankfully there will be some natural snow in the new year and here's hoping for a cracking January. From experience its a great time to be on the slopes in the Italian Alps.

Monterosa 29.12.15 - Monte Rosa Facebook

Monte Rosa now has 24 of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas

Madesimo 6/33 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio (0cm@1500m) has 22 slopes open.

Val Gardena 0cm@1500m.

There is snow from the weekend in the next storm. How much will fall, only time will tell. Certainly the northern and western ski areas like Monterosa and Cervinia will do better than the Dolomites, but everywhere should get a good fall in the next week, enough to lay down some good natural snow cover.

Snow Report 24 December 2015 - Europe & Japan

While I sadly don't have a Northern Hemisphere ski trip planned this season, its still great to keep an eye on how the resorts are looking. I'll bet those of you planning your trips are suitably excited and I wish you all a great ski or ride in the coming months, wherever you choose to travel!

Niseko Grand Hirafu 24.12.15 - niseko.ne.jp/

JAPAN

The healthy snowfalls at the end of last week petered out over the weekend, and by Monday it became a little wet at village level. Some snow up high, but nothing to write home about.

Not the best start to the season, but hold your horses because that all looks like changing pretty quickly.

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - 60cm@base, 180cm@1000m

Zao Onsen - 15cm@base (954m), 50cm up high (1387m), with skiing now available at Diamond Valley and Uwanodai areas in addition to Chuo and Utopia. These are some of the main areas across the upper slopes and make for quite a bit of terrain.

Naeba/Kagura - no natural snow, 35cm on snowmaking runs at Naeba, but most of nearby Kagura is open. Many of the Yuzawa resorts are still to open.

Nozawa Onsen 24.12.15 - nozawaski.com

Shiga Kogen - limited skiing on a number of runs across the vast area. There is no snow at the snow monkey onsen nearby!

Nozawa Onsen - 0cm@base (660m), 40cm at Yamabiko (1615m). Skiing is limited to the upper slopes at Nozawa Onsen.

Myokokogen - no snow, only a couple of lifts open at Akakura Onsen ski resort, other resorts not yet open.

Hakuba (Happo One) - 0cm@Base, 50cm at Usagadaira, skiing limited to Usagadaira and upper Panorama.

Dynaland - limited natural snow

The coming weekend looks good for a dump. It should start snowing on Friday, lowering to sea level later in the weekend and getting pretty heavy. A classic Japow dump! All the ski resorts should be able to open for the new year.

Meribel 23.12.15 - les3vallees.com

FRANCE

More sunny weather. No snow. The natural snow levels begin high up at 2000-2500m in the Northern Alps with any resort snow below those levels due to snowmaking.

Still its remarkable to see how may pistes the major ski stations can open without natural snow:

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 25cm@1972m, only a few pistes open

Val d'Isere 29cm@1850m, 99/166 pistes open

Serre Chevalier 23.12.15 - www.serre-chevalier.com/

Les Arcs 12cm@1600m, 53/109 pistes open

Val Thorens 45cm@2300m, 55/81 pistes open

Serre Chevalier 30cm@2100m, 11/81 pistes open

Isola 2000 30cm@2000m, 8 pistes open

When will the next snow be? Not in the next few days thats pretty certain but maybe (hopefully) in the new year.

Monterosa Ski 21.12.15 - Monterosa Facebook

ITALY

The skiing in Italy is fairly limited and resorts with massive snowmaking infrastructure will be the go for the timebeing.

Monte Rosa now has 12 of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas

Madesimo 5 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio has 13 lifts operating

Val Gardena is now linked to the rest of Dolomiti Superski by the Sella Ronda in both directions. Amazing!

Snow Report 17 December 2015 - Europe & Japan

With the holiday season approaching, ski resorts in Europe and Japan are grooming their pistes and guest houses are decorating their rooms ready to welcome guests for a snowy, white Christmas and New Year holiday.

Nozawa Onsen 17.12.15 - Nozawa Onsen webcam

JAPAN

We had a mixed bag of weather across mainland Japan over the past week with some sunny days, some rain and some flakes of snow.

It was a fine start to the week, becoming cloudy and wet on Tuesday and Wednesday. Snow has arrived overnight into Thursday morning on both Honshu and Hokkaido.

Niseko - 45cm bottom/145cm top.

Zao Onsen - 5cm@Base, 25cm up high, with skiing limited to the Chuo and Utopia areas only

Naeba/Kagura - no snow

Happo One 16.12.15 - Happo One Facebook

Shiga Kogen - limited skiing on a number of runs across the vast area

Nozawa Onsen - 0cm@Base, 15cm at Yamabiko, the resort is not open yet

Myokokogen - no snow, no resorts open yet

Hakuba - Happo One - 0cm@Base, 40cm at Usagadaira

Dynaland - limited natural snow

Snow is expected to continue to fall into the weekend in Hokkaido, and on and off in Honshu.

FRANCE

Sunny fine days continued until Tuesday when it became almost two weeks without snow for most ski resorts. The good start at the beginning of the month has not been followed through.

Chamonix Balme 16.12.15 - Chamonix.com

Unfortunately only a dusting fell again earlier this week and the snow was limited to the higher slopes in the Northern Alps.

Chamonix (Grands Montets) 25cm@1972m, 3/16 pistes open

Val d'Isere 32cm@1850m, 71/166 pistes open

Les Arcs 47/109 pistes open

Val Thorens 50cm@2300m, 46/81 pistes open

Serre Chevalier 30cm@2100m

Isola 2000 30cm@2000m

The coming days look like being sunny and warm with no sign of much snow on the immediate horizon.

Val Gardena 16.12.15 - Valgardena.it

ITALY

Most of the skiing in Italy is now thanks to fantastic efforts of snowmaking.

Monte Rosa has only four of 95 slopes open across its seven ski areas

Madesimo 5 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio has 12 lifts operating

Val Gardena in the Dolomites has incredibly managed to open many pistes with snowmaking despite a complete lack of natural snow.

Snow Report 10 December 2015 - Europe & Japan

Hi everybody! There were mostly sunny, fine and mild conditions across the Northern Alps through the weekend with more ski stations looking to open for the season.

Snow fell nicely in Japan since my report last week, especially in Hokkaido. Conditions are pretty okay for so early in the season, depending on your resort of choice.

JAPAN

The good news ...

Hakuba received another 20cm at the end of last week and there is fairly good cover on the upper slopes. Other Hakuba resorts in addition to Happo One have opened limited areas during the past week.

Happo One 08.12.15 - Happo One Facebook

Almost half a metre of snow fell at Zao Onsen in Yamagata Prefecture late last week, allowing quite a few lifts to open on the upper parts of this big Yamagata ski area.

Around 10-15cm each day fell on the mountains in Hokkaido until Tuesday. A substantial part of the terrain at the various Niseko resorts is now open, but not all quite yet.

The not so great news ...

Shiga Kogen in Nagano Prefecture opened more ski lifts through the past week, but things are still fairly limited as far as terrain goes.

Skiing is very limited (read "grassy") at Naeba, which is due to open this weekend. Only nearby Kagura has runs available at the highest point of the linked ski areas.

Still no snow at the base of Nozawa Onsen with only a little cover higher up.

The rest of the week looks a bit wet on the mainland with a mix of snow and rain on Hokkaido.

Val d'Isere 09.12.15 - Val d'Isere Facebook

FRANCE

A sunny weekend and run of mild, clear days ended Tuesday with just a little bit of snow for the Northern French Alps - 5cm at Chamonix, 2-3cm at Val Thorens and Val d'Isere.

Conditions are good on the upper slopes at the higher resorts, but skiing back to village is still limited and southern resorts have very little snow.

Chamonix (Grands Montets) opened on the weekend but lifts and pistes are limited right now.
Val d'Isere (59cm@3000m, 30cm@1800m) has 43/78 lifts open.

Les Arcs will open on 12th December.

Val Thorens (75cm@3200m, 55cm@2300m) is a safe bet this time of year.
Other Trois Vallees resorts like Meribel opened on the weekend.

Serre Chevalier will open on 12th December.
Isola 2000 opened on 5th December but there has been far less snow in the south. 5 pistes are open thanks to snowmaking with 30cm snowdepth on the open runs.

The sun and clear weather is expected to continue through the weekend.

Madonna di Campiglio 07.12.15 - Camiglio Funivie Facebook

ITALY

It had been some time since there were any snowfalls in Italy and unfortunately the mountains are not so white.

However, its early days and the snow will arrive

Madesimo has 3 lifts and 3 pistes open.

Madonna di Campiglio is now open every day and the resort has done a great job to get lots of runs open.

Parts of Val Gardena opened last weekend with up to 30cm snowdepth.