J2Ski Snow Report - October 17th 2024
J2Ski Snow Report - October 17th 2024
Published : 17-Oct-2024 07:12
Pitztaler Glacier, Austria, last weekend (one of 7 Austrian ski areas now open)...
Eleven ski areas now open in the Alps, including 7 in Austria, whilst just 3 resorts remain open in the southern hemisphere.
The Snow Headlines - October 17th
- Seven Austrian glacier centres now open.
- Just three ski areas still open for 2024 in the southern hemisphere.
- First measurable snow falls in New York State, US. Snow forecast in the Rockies.
- More snowfall on Scottish hills.
- Snowfall in the Pyrenees.
- Snowboarder spotted on the slopes of Vermont.
Snow forecast for parts of North America, and a little in Europe and Japan.
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World Overview
Conditions continue to look good on high slopes in the Alps where 11 centres are now open, more than half of them in Austria. There's been more snowfall above 2,000m and additional ski areas have opened over the past week. There are also several resorts now open in Scandinavia.
There's also been more snowfall in northerly parts of the US and in Canada this past week too, although there remains nowhere open yet and not enough snowfall or consistent cold temperatures for much snowmaking yet. That said the weekend's forecast is looking increasingly promising.
The southern hemisphere's 2024 season is virtually over, with just three centres, in Chile and New Zealand still open and at least one of them closing this coming weekend.
Europe
It continues to be a decent early autumn in the Alps, on the whole, up high. The snow has kept falling and more centres have been opening, whilst those already open have been adding more terrain.
Austria really dominates the small numbers open to date, with 7 of the 11 centres open in the Alps; which is half of all those open in the northern hemisphere too.
Carinthia's Molltal glacier was the latest to open, with a couple of miles of slopes available initially, last weekend.
Solden, the Stubai glacier and Hintertux are posting the most open terrain so far, more than 20km each; with the Kitzsteinhorn, Kaunertal and Pitztal glaciers as well as Switzerland's Saas Fee and Zermatt reporting closer to 10km.
You can also ski at Italy's Passo Stelvio and Val Senales already with access from Cervinia up to Zermatt's glacier area due to reopen at the end of next week.
After the snowfall at the weekend and at the end of last week, it has been a mostly sunny week for most, with temperatures at about 2,500m in the -5 to +5C range, still reaching +15 to +20C in Alpine valleys in the afternoons.
Thursday saw snowfall in the Pyrenees, for many areas the second of the autumn, but a heavier covering this time than September's dusting.
In Scandinavia, we continue to have three centres open, with Levi and Ruka in Finland and Scandinavia's highest slopes at the Galdhopiggen Summerski area in Norway into their final month of their 2024 run.
The two Finnish centres continue to rely on their 2km or so of snow saved from last winter to create fresh pistes this autumn, but it has been cold enough for fresh snowmaking too and Ruka also reported a natural snowfall at the end of last week.
North America
There continue to be teasing signs of winter in North America, but no significant cold weather or snowfall as yet; so far there remains nowhere open. Things can change quickly though.
There was weekend snowfall on high slopes in Vermont and New York State in the northeast, whilst the Pacific Northwest has also had cold and snowy weather.
There's also been colder weather in the Midwest, with more forecast for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The snow in the Northeast has kept coming through this week with some resorts in New York State and Vermont claiming snowfall totals of over a foot and images of a snowboarder riding the fresh cover at Jay Peak appeared on Thursday, having hiked up.
In the Rockies, the warm, dry conditions that have dominated October so far have begun to break down a little with snow arriving in the north. Lower temperatures on high slopes in Colorado overnight may help snowmakers to be more productive than they've been able to be to date.
The most optimistic interpretation of the forecast suggests more than a foot of snowfall in parts of Colorado and Utah by the end of the weekend, with more snow still further north in Montana and Wyoming but it could fall more as rain than snow if you go for the less optimistic forecast.
The first scheduled openings are in Banff, Canada, in a fortnight's time, if they hit that target date and nowhere else gets there sooner.
As ski area openings come thick and fast in North America in November, ski areas are hoping for consistent cold temperatures to arrive as soon as possible now.
Southern Hemisphere
Three more centres have now closed in the southern hemisphere, leaving just three planning to open this coming weekend.
Chile's Valle Nevado is still operating at the end of its two-week season extension to Sunday.
In New Zealand, all of the remaining South Island centres closed last Sunday but on the North Island Whakapapa and Turoa on Mt Ruapehu have kept going, with limited terrain open, and Turoa plans to go at least one more long weekend, Friday to Sunday, after this coming one.
As to the weather it has been and will continue to be largely warm and dry in Chile. In New Zealand, it's been a more mixed week, as usual, with some snow showers and windy days with temperatures in the -4 to +8C range. It's been more consistently sunny over the last few days.
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