It's weird. At the new hoose, I've had 3 cold spells that stuck in the mind, all of which turned things variably white and frosty oot. One was pretty full on, sustained, and with drifts well over a metre on my road.
This is way better that some winters I've experienced, yet I feel it's been a poor winter, and skiing conditions in Scotland have been crap to non-existent. Meanwhile, over in Norway, they've had more snow than they know what to do with, including in areas not so used to it.
Norwegian Glacier Resort Reports Lifts Buried by 10m (33’+) Of Snow - The Whiteroom
WWW.SNOW-FORECAST.COM
A glacier ski area which usually opens in spring and summer each year has reported it has had to play “find the ski lift” after winter snowfall buried parts of its drag lift...
The Alps started out really well pre-Christmas, but then had a hard time with resorts below 1600 m suffering until the past week or so, while the Pyrenees had a really hard time. Now both are getting more seasonal weather with snowfall.
As for me, I am off to Les Menuires in the 3 valleys tomorrow. OMG this is costing an arm and a leg now, but it's my first proper holiday in a year. Mrs SS and Mini Miss SS enjoyed trips to France a couple of times to stay with the French family while I did DIY on the new hoose.
Cannae wait. Forecast is for 28 cm of fresh at resort level (1850 m) over Sat/Sun, topping up what is a good base for the time of year. Then bluebird days. Sweet.
I read all these stories of 'alps screwed for skiing', but conditions now are better than trips I had many years ago.
Schladming, Austria 1988(?) with high School and really warm weather meant no option but op to the Dachstein Glacier. That was in January! And it wasn't like cold but lack of snow, because I remember thin cover melting over the week drastically, forcing a trip to the glacier at the end.
Then Badgastien 1994(?), again with the school, wasn't great. No skiing to valley level and really thin cover lower down. January again.
And early march trips to the Tarentaise Valley resorts in the 00's were often characterised by zero snow below 1600 m or so, and bartlett high sunshine.
My memory of stupid bumper snaw was actually recent in 2016 early march in La Plagne. Van burying levels, which i posted pics of here.
My memories of the highlands are similar. While I enjoyed the heydays of the 80's, I do remember mostly heather, with snaw between the fences, and that's what you see if you look up old pics / vids. It was not some white winter wonderland. Also that the 1990's saw both a decline in skiers, but also snaw reliability.
A very complex picture. Also an irony that if global warming causes Scottish cooling, folk from the Alps may come here to ski.
As for now, just one sleep to go!