Snow News last updated: 03 December 2009

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Lots of snow fell in Austria at the beginning of the week, particularly in the west. Ischgl (10/70cm) received around 20cm of fresh snow on the upper slopes on Tuesday. The conditions were a bit icy and hard before, but the fresh snow transformed the skiing making it a lot better. 26 lifts are running in Ischgl's Silvretta ski area.

Snow also fell at St Anton (10/50cm). Following this snowfall, they managed to open some of their lifts and slopes on Thursday 3rd December. Three lifts were opened on Thursday but more are expected to open on Friday 4th. The snowfall on Tuesday means the open pistes are in good condition.

Many more resorts plan to open on Friday 4th and December 5th. These resorts include Fiss/Serfaus, Soll, Ellmau, Westendorf and Lech/Zurs.

This coming weekend will see the opening of many more French resorts. Notably Meribel (20/45cm) and Courchevel (25/45cm) in the Three Valleys are opening on Saturday.

Val Thorens (45/85cm) is already open and offers great skiing, so a link over into Meribel and Courchevel will expand the area hugely. The region received lots of snow at the beginning of the week and with low temperatures the snow cannons have also been running.

Another resort planning to open this weekend is Alpe d'Huez (12/70cm). As with the Three Valleys, snow fell at the beginning of the week which means the pistes should be in good condition for when they open on Saturday. Snow cover on the lower slopes is a little thin, especially off piste, so it will be best to stick to the top where most of the snow is.

Over in the Espace Killy ski area, Val d'Isere (40/80cm) and Tignes (30/80cm) offer some great skiing. There is good snow cover everywhere but the higher you go the better. It is still advised to stick to the pistes as it isn't deep enough to cover the off-piste hazards just yet.

37 lifts are open in the whole Espace Killy area and the link between Val d'Isere and Tignes is also open, providing easy ski access between the two.

Many Swiss resorts benefited from lots of snow that fell on Monday and Tuesday earlier this week.

The base depths at Saas Fee (75/153cm) more than doubled since Thursday last week, so as you might expect there is some great skiing available. Some lifts took a while to open due to the avalanche control work but there are now six lifts open at the resort, offering good skiing on the fresh snow. Pockets of powder can still be found off piste too, but the base isn't yet deep enough for great skiing everywhere away from the prepared slopes.

Arosa (40/70cm) recently opened. The resort was scheduled to open last weekend but was forced to postpone this due to a lack of snow. A snowstorm brought over a metre of snow to the resort, allowing them to open on Wednesday.

They have opened seven lifts in the area and the pistes are all in excellent condition.

Mürren (70/100cm), Grindelwald (50/109cm) and Wengen (55/80cm) are all scheduled to open this weekend. Snow cover on the slopes is generally excellent so they should be able to open a good amount of terrain on Saturday.

This weekend should be the opening weekend for the Milky Way ski area. Sauze d'Oulx (40/50cm), Sestriere (40/50cm) and Bardonecchia (40/50cm) all plan to open this Saturday, 5th November. They have received the same pre-season snowfalls as the French Alps, so it should be a good opening weekend for these resorts. The snow is best on the upper slopes.

Madonna di Campiglio (40/105cm) opened for the season on Thursday 3rd December. Three lifts were opened on Thursday morning and following nearly a metre of fresh snow last weekend there is some great skiing available. It is possible to ski on ten pistes, ranging from blue to red in difficulty. More terrain is expected to open as the weekend gets underway.

All our featured Andorran resorts are planning to open this weekend on Saturday 5th December. Heavy snowfall on Tuesday at all four resorts dumped between 20cm and 30cm onto the area and with piste preparation taking place this week it should be a good opening weekend.

3cm fell on Thursday at Soldeu (15/40cm) and around 20cm of snow fell on Tuesday. This helped greatly improve their snow cover although it is still a little thin on the lower slopes. The groomers have been out in force, ensuring that all skiable pistes can be opened.

It was very cold in Norway this week. Temperatures down to -20°C made for some pretty cold skiing but it also means the snow is in excellent condition.

Lots of fresh snow fell in Hemsedal (65/94cm) last week and this boosted the base on the upper slopes to nearly one metre, which is excellent for the time of year.

Six out of a possible 24 lifts are running at Hemsedal this week but more are expected to open for this coming weekend.

Of the two Swedish resorts we report on the most skiing available is at Sälen (11/18cm). The resort currently has ten lifts running and despite the shallow snow depths there is some great skiing on offer. Cold weather and a good snow making system mean the runs are in good condition at both Sälen and Åre (15/30cm).

Only one lift is open at Åre so skiing is limited at the moment but more lifts and trails could open this coming weekend.

The only German resort we report on to be open this week is Garmisch (0/120cm). Seven lifts are open on the Zugspitze Mountain and with the fresh snow that fell at the beginning of the week there is some great skiing on offer. More of the Garmisch area is scheduled to open on Friday 18th December.

Our other featured German resorts are yet to open for snowsports.

All of the Bulgarian resorts we report on are yet to open for the season.

There has been no lift served skiing available in Scotland since last weekend. Cairngorm (10/15cm) managed to open two lifts last weekend, 28th-29th November. Most of the snow has stayed on the ground over the week as it has been cold so they may be able to open for skiing again this weekend. Light snow is forecast over the weekend at the highest points of the mountains in Scotland.

All other Scottish resorts are yet to open for the season.

It is still uncertain as to which resorts on the east coast will be able to make an opening this weekend.

Stowe (40/76cm) was planning to open on Friday 4th December but have now moved that to Saturday 5th, conditions permitting. Unfortunately rain on Thursday could have affected their plans so it remains to be seen whether or not they will be able to open.

Between 2cm and 8cm fell on most resorts in Colorado on Wednesday and lots more is forecast this weekend. Vail (46cm) received 3cm of fresh snow on Wednesday which will have freshened up the pistes. Six lifts are running at the resort but this is expected to increase from this weekend. A snowstorm heading for Colorado over the weekend will improve conditions further. It will be very cold however, around -20°C at the summit during the day.

Resorts in Utah are still awaiting more snow. Most are open but a lot of their snow cover is manmade, even at Alta (51cm) and Snowbird (61cm), which are usually famed for their huge amounts of powder. As with Colorado, expect some very cold weather over the weekend and into next week.

Kicking Horse (50/150cm) and Fernie (102cm) are both planning to open daily this weekend, Saturday 5th December. Fernie opened for last weekend due to the excellent pre-season snowfall but remains closed during the week.

It is very cold in many Canadian resorts, especially those inland in the west of the country. The temperature at the base of Sun Peaks (94/115cm) was -18°C on Wednesday. Nine of 11 lifts are running at Sun Peaks and a vast majority of their terrain is open. There is excellent skiing on offer for this early in the season.

The Rockies resort of Banff (78/112cm) received some good snowfall over the week. There is great snow cover at Sunshine Village and at Lake Louise there was over 20cm of snow this week. Most of the terrain is now open and Delirium Dive at Sunshine Village could also open this weekend. More cold weather is on the way.

Weather in Europe this weekend and next will tend to vary as time goes on. The French Alps are expecting snow on and off in the next five days with temperatures varying from mild to cold.

Avoriaz in the Portes du Soleil ski area should see 18cm of new snow fall on the higher slopes by Tuesday. Unfortunately a warm spell of weather on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday could bring rain to anywhere below about 2000m. The freezing level will rise to nearly 3000m on Monday.

The same weather can be expected in Austria. It shouldn't be quite as warm as further west, but it could bring rain to the lower resorts on Monday and Tuesday. St Anton, Lech and Zurs should receive around 20cm of snow by Tuesday. Lech and Zurs should both open over the weekend so the fresh snow will make for some great early season skiing. Sunday and Monday will bring light rain to resort level but above 1600m it should fall as snow.

21cm of snow was expected for Bardonecchia in Italy on Thursday, followed by 6cm on Friday. The resort opens on Saturday, along with most of the Milky Way ski area, so the fresh snow should give a great weekends skiing.

Scandinavia is the best place to go in Europe for fresh snow at the moment. Hemsedal in Norway should see around 20cm of snow fall by Tuesday and low temperatures mean the snow should be great powder. Expect near constant light snow for the next five days and a temperature of -7°C at the summit.

Another winter storm is heading for Colorado this weekend. It is currently very cold there at the moment and this snowstorm should make it even colder. Temperatures of -29°C at night can be expected. All resorts should see around 25cm of powder fall over the weekend and the very low temperatures mean it should be fantastic powder.

Timberline will be sunny but extremely cold. No new snow is expected but it should be sunny until next week. The cold weather will keep the snow in great condition.

Over on the east coast the weather outlook is a mixed bag. Heavy rain on Thursday and temperatures of 13°C could impact the chances of the resorts opening. This spell of mild weather isn't expected to last past Friday when colder weather will take over. This cold weather could allow them to run the snow cannons on the upper slopes.

The cold weather in America is coming down from the north, so you can expect it to be equally as cold this weekend in Canada. Jasper in Alberta could see temperatures as low as -35°C and a windchill nearer -50°C. This is likely to affect lift operations for the resort if it does get that cold. It should also snow lightly, which combined with the cold weather will keep their pistes in excellent condition.

Eastern Canada should receive a massive snow boost at the end of this week. Mont Sainte Anne, which plans to open on Saturday, could receive around 20cm of fresh snow. Then the weather there will turn colder.

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