Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2019/20

[SnowSalah]

4 minutes ago, swfc said:

Yes very festive.great for central Europe or ski resorts

That is great news ( I hope ) going to Bulgaria over Christmas and the ski lifts still havnt opened... 

[Duane S.]

 

3 hours ago, s4lancia said:

This could change should the ridging high edge further west and could then keep things cooler and a tad more unsettled. Nothing severe, just seasonable.

And if it does (OK not the formhorse on the charts as a whole, but IMO is quite possible given current synoptics), I wouldn't be surpsised to see it turning a lot colder and further snowfall for the following weekend when we are leaving (hopefully with an amazing week of skiing under our belts! )

 

Ha ha. The 18z heard me

What a run that is for both the U.K. and parts of the Alps!  

We can all but hope

[Blessed Weather]

8 hours ago, SnowSalah said:

That is great news ( I hope ) going to Bulgaria over Christmas and the ski lifts still havnt opened... 

Welcome to Netweather. I don't know which resort in Bulgaria you are have in mind, but looking at Borovets it's clear to see the shortage of snow at the moment. But with a base in place on the pistes and maybe up to 20cms of new snowfall (mid mountain) and low temps from Sunday evening on, I'd be very hopeful that the Bulgarian resorts will be able to start up early next week. Hope you have a great time.

Webcam 21st Dec:

Link: https://www.bulgaria-hotels.com/en/borovets_webcam.html

Forecast for the coming week:

Link: https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Borovets/6day/mid

[carinthian]

Heavy wet snow this morning. Freezing level around 1800m. Not good ski-ing condition, rain and snow mixed with poor visibility and strong wind.

C

[seaside 60]

16 hours ago, s4lancia said:

 

In the years I've been 'micro monitoring' the weather before going off to the Alps over Christmas, this year has been, by far, the trickiest to get a firm handle on!

I will be in Les Gets, NW Alps and that I have to say I am very pleased that the GFS / GEFS looks to have nailed it earlier than the Euros. Some of those ECM charts a week back for this weekend were rather unpalletable to put it politely!

(ps, I don't know why I typed '1600M' for where I'm staying, more like 1300M unfortunately!)

Anyway, I am feeling reasonably confident for the following now...

A solid dumping over the next 48 hours+. Just about OK at my resort level (for most of the time at least). There's Avoriaz if not anyway.

Thereafter possibly turning back into rain for a further 12 hours(ish) to follow on early next week. Shame, but as long as it doesn't hammer down for a couple of days the snow (that hopefully fell beforehand) should hold up reasonably well.

Thereafter looks to be drying up. A bit of a warm up looks likely over Xmas itself, and sunny(ish) / with very little PPN. Although This could change should the ridging high edge further west and could then keep things cooler and a tad more unsettled. Nothing severe, just seasonable.

And if it does (OK not the formhorse on the charts as a whole, but IMO is quite possible given current synoptics), I wouldn't be surpsised to see it turning a lot colder and further snowfall for the following weekend when we are leaving (hopefully with an amazing week of skiing under our belts! )

 

Les Gets is a lovely resort if a little low at times esp the other valley, not sure but the village may only be 1150m.
The Mont Cherie is used to be quite with some lovely easy off piste through the trees. 
We been there several times, a fair while ago now.
You do have the back up of Avoraiz but used to be a queuers paradise lol.
No doubt it has changed a lot since we went.
You sound like a good skier, think you have been several times, there used to be some lovely totally off piste to the right of the highest ski lift, if I remember correctly.

Have a lovely time there.

 

[SnowSalah]

5 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Welcome to Netweather. I don't know which resort in Bulgaria you are have in mind, but looking at Borovets it's clear to see the shortage of snow at the moment. But with a base in place on the pistes and maybe up to 20cms of new snowfall (mid mountain) and low temps from Sunday evening on, I'd be very hopeful that the Bulgarian resorts will be able to start up early next week. Hope you have a great time.

Webcam 21st Dec:

Link: https://www.bulgaria-hotels.com/en/borovets_webcam.html

Forecast for the coming week:

Link: https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Borovets/6day/mid

Thanks! It is Borovets.. fingers crossed they get opened soon. A week today until we go! 
 

update: they are beginning to open on Sunday with snowfall expected to start accumulating from then

Edited December 21, 2019 by SnowSalah

[Blessed Weather]

French Alps getting a good dump of snow this Sunday morning. The skiing/boarding won't be pleasant though, as the webcam views of the pistes show white-out conditions. 

Les Arc 1950  Les 2 Alpes

 

[Tim Bland]

Christmas / new year skiers pray for Aperge 

[Blessed Weather]

11 hours ago, Tim Bland said:

Christmas / new year skiers pray for Aperge 

Unfortunately only at height Tim. The 850hPa temps (approx 1,500m) are rather disappointing over the Alps.

Yesterday I posted some webcam grabs for the French Alps and forecasts suggested the snowfall should spread east into Austria overnight into Monday with lowering temps. Unfortunately from this morning's webcams it looks like the overnight temps didn't lower sufficiently for many low altitude resorts with the snowline at about 800m. For the time being these resorts looking reliant on artificial snow to get back to the bottom station. The advice will be to go straight to the top and stay high!

St Johan 687m:  Leogang 840m:

 

[Ravelin]

Having arrived in Schladming Austria (750m or so) today I can confirm that at valley level it's been raining on and off since we get here mid afternoon, and still is now, at 10pm. Lower slopes looking very much like the photos above. Higher slopes hidden from view but webcams suggest heavy snow at top. Will hopefully get up tomorrow for a bit, but not rushing after a loooong, very wet drive down through Europe. Looks like skiing top half of mountain and downloading on gondola will be the sensible option. 

[carinthian]

Fancy a black run to start the day ?. How about this monster in Obertauern.

C

[carinthian]

Perfect day ski-ing in Katschberg.

C

[Blessed Weather]

My daughter lives in Whitehorse in the Yukon and went skiing on Mt. Sima yesterday. Looks like she enjoyed great weather, great skiing conditions, empty pistes and the icing on the cake, a stunning view too. This morning the resort is reporting -9C and drifting snow. Shame there's no webcam there.

[johnholmes]

I have no idea how reliable this is but it is pretty mind boggling the data it shows from various weather output centres!

This is for Lauterbrunnen in the valley between Wengen and Murren.

I'd be very interested in any ski/winter sports fans opinions for their favourite areas?

The link

Windy as forecasted

WWW.WINDY.COM

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Wind map and weather forecast

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

That appears to be quite some site John. If you zoom out you can clearly see the resorts that the data is available for and whilst it's a limited number, the info for each resort featured is indeed pretty impressive with a choice of 5 models to switch between including ECM, GFS, AROME, ICON and Swiss company Meteoblue. According to Wiki the company (Windy.com) is Czech and was founded in 2014. How good their application is at representing each model's data is the big question. I looked at their GFS output for St Anton in Austria with the Snow-forecast.com website for mid-mountain at 2,058m (they also use GFS data) and there is a good similarity, e.g. temp and snowfall profile. Definitely a site to keep an eye on and see how it performs. 

St Anton: Windy:  Snowforecast:

Snow-forecast link: https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/St-Anton/6day/mid

[johnholmes]

Yes worth watching especially as able to directly compare EC with GFS. Not yet convinced that there are as many forecast points as it suggests in the Jungfrau region and the EC/GFS output has differing grid lengths but they appear to be shown for the same location. It could be me of course with my eyesight!

[carinthian]

Fantastic days ski-ing on the Obertauren snow bowl. Clockwise runs got the sunshine all day.

C

[johnholmes]

This link should show you the area of the start for the Lauberhorn downhill. Already it has been cordoned off as they prepare the course. Not the best of conditions lower down but no doubt IF they keep a freeze/thaw set up, not certain by any means, the full race will be run.

bergfex - Webcam Kleine Scheidegg - Lauberhorn - Jungfrau Ski Region Grindelwald - Wengen - Cam Panorama-Blick vom Lauberhorn. - Livecam

WWW.BERGFEX.COM

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Jungfrau Ski Region Grindelwald - Wengen : Bernese Oberland - Ski resort - Jungfraujoch - Livecam - Webcam - - Ski area - Switzerland - Cam - Panorama-Blick vom Lauberhorn. - Kleine Scheidegg -...

Some information on the race and the problems the weather has caused, this year is the 90 th anniversary of this race.

The Lauberhorn is ready for the anniversary

The International Ski Federation FIS gives her go to the International Lauberhorn Races in Wengen. The organisers are looking forward to exciting World Cup and European Cup races.

FIS Race Director Hannes Trinkl today, Friday (January 3, 2020) carried out the obligatory checks in Wengen. It went off positively. The preparations for the 90th International Lauberhorn Races are on track.
This is primarily due to the great work of the piste crew. The weather at the end of last year put them to the test. Several foehn storms swept over the Lauberhorn with some gusts of wind over 200 kilometres per hour. No sooner had snow fallen than a storm blew it away again. In addition, the temperatures rose with the foehn. The relatively few cold nights had to be used optimally for technical snow production. "We are used to working with nature," emphasises OC President Urs Näpflin. "This winter it has already demanded a great deal of us. We certainly wouldn't mind stable, beautiful, cool weather for the next two weeks".

Two European Cup downhill runs
In the remaining days until the races, the infrastructure of the Lauberhorn Races will be given the finishing touches it deserves. The downhill course must be ready for racing as early as next Wednesday up to the Wasserstation. Then the first of two training sessions for the two European Cup downhill runs will start.
On Friday, January 10th and Saturday, January 11th, fixed World Cup starting places for the coming season are at stake. These will be given to the best European Cup riders of the winter. "In addition, it is an absolute highlight for the European Cup riders when they are allowed to race on such legendary tracks as the one on the Lauberhorn", explains Urs Näpflin. So there is a lot at stake even one week before the World Cup races in Wengen.

Legends honour anniversary
On the occasion of the 90th International Lauberhorn Races, the organizers have invited all Lauberhorn winners and all Swiss podiumists in World Cup history. Urs Näpflin is delighted: "It will be a real reunion with big names. We will be able to welcome numerous national and international former ski stars in Wengen".
The illustrious guest list includes names of Swiss ski heroes such as Cuche, Défago, Giovanoli, Kernen, Russi, Tresch, von Grünigen and many more. These are joined by international Lauberhorn winners. Among others, Henri Duvillard, course record holder Christian Ghedina, World Cup record winner Ivica Kostelic, Daron Rhalves, Markus Wasmeier and the legendary Karl Schranz have registered in Wengen.
As this is only an excerpt of the list of legends, it is already certain: The 90th International Lauberhorn Races in Wengen will certainly become legendary.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Edited January 7, 2020 by johnholmes
additional information

[carinthian]

Super morning in Katschberg. Snow bowl ready for the first skiers of the day.

C

[Blessed Weather]

To put it mildly, a disappointing set-up for producing decent snowfall across the Alps. A fairly flat pattern with high pressure fluctuating over Europe and Low pressure systems crossing over or to the north of the UK. Trailing fronts from these systems do try and move towards the Alps, but of 5 attempts I've counted on the latest GFS 10 day output, only 2 have any success with the others fizzling out before reaching the mountains. The slightly good news is that the first successful attempt of colder air and precipitation actually reaching the Alps is this coming Friday 10th Jan.

The bad news is that the precipitation amounts are expected to be very small and the 850hPa temps (approx 1,500m) not particularly cold around 0C, so only the higher resorts/pistes likely to get any benefit. I've used the GFS charts for France to illustrate this (the first chart is a blank marked to show each country - with apologies to Austria as only the Tyrol is shown):

The cumulative precip, shown below in mm rainfall up to Sat 11th, confirms the disappointing amount expected over the Alps:

I'm sure the piste teams are doing their usual excellent job of keeping slopes in good shape for skiing/boarding, but a more favourable synoptic set-up and some decent falls of snow - particularly to lower levels - would be welcomed I'm sure.

 

[Blessed Weather]

Did anyone else see the interesting piece on this evening's BBC One Show about the snow making machine installed at the Scottish ski resort of Glenshee to help protect against recent poor seasons and lack of the natural stuff? I captured some pics including an old one from the archives and also found some more info in the Scottish Daily Record: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/new-snow-machine-glenshee-means-20671414

 

[Sceptical]

1 hour ago, Blessed Weather said:

Did anyone else see the interesting piece on this evening's BBC One Show about the snow making machine installed at the Scottish ski resort of Glenshee to help protect against recent poor seasons and lack of the natural stuff? I captured some pics including an old one from the archives and also found some more info in the Scottish Daily Record: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/new-snow-machine-glenshee-means-20671414

 

Glenshee invested £1 million in the snowfactory which is sited beside the Cairnwell cafe. Snow sports are currently suspended until Saturday - recent mild temperatures most probably. 

Snowsports have been limted to a couple of beginners areas for almost all of the season.  The Lecht and Cairngorm also have similar factorys on site and have been able to offer limted snowsports. Currently, snowsports are suspended although that may have changed.

Forecast for the Scottish ski centres is for snow over the next week or so.

 

[johnholmes]

Just a note re the Lauberhorn downhill due this Saturday. The area has had almost no snow for quite some time. Ironically the Swiss Met forecaster is for a fair bit Friday and Saturday. It would be ironic if the race gets cancelled because of snow!

Link 

MeteoSwiss

WWW.METEOSWISS.ADMIN.CH

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Acting on behalf of the Federal Government, MeteoSwiss provides various weather and climate services for the protection and benefit of Switzerland.

Just type in 3823 Wengen

The Lauberhorn program is confirmed

The organisers of the International Lauberhorn Races in Wengen have decided to schedule the first downhill training definitely on Tuesday, 14 January 2020. This confirms the programme of the 90th edition.

The first Team Captains Meeting will take place on Monday, 13 January 2020 at 8.00 pm.

Webcams Jungfrau Ski Region Grindelwald - Wengen - BERGFEX - Webcam Jungfrau Ski Region Grindelwald - Wengen - Cams

WWW.BERGFEX.COM

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Jungfrau Ski Region Grindelwald - Wengen : Jungfraujoch - Cams - Ski area - Webcams - Bernese Oberland - Switzerland - - Webcam - Ski resort - Weather camera - Livecam - Live pictures

 

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by johnholmes
add info

[Big Dave]

Anybody skiing I’m or around Niederau, Austria - would love to hear some first hand snow reports.  Taking the kids there in Feb half term to learn to ski. 

[matty40s]

On 08/01/2020 at 23:16, Sceptical said:

.  The Lecht and Cairngorm also have similar factorys on site and have been able to offer limted snowsports.

 

Unfortunately,  The Cairngorm one didnt work for most of last season, along with the funicular, and no action has been taken to improve uplift to the top during the Summer so no doubt Aviemore will have a dire season again.

The decision making and ineptitude of the management there over the last 20 years is unbelievable.

Edited January 13, 2020 by matty40s