J2Ski Snow Report - October 31st 2024
J2Ski Snow Report - October 31st 2024
Published : 31-Oct-2024 06:25
Making snow at Arapahoe Basin, USA, opening soon...
Snow in the forecast for Scandinavia and parts of North America, as the number of northern hemisphere ski areas open reaches 25.
The Snow Headlines - October 31st
- Snowfall for Europe's southernmost resort, and for Portugal's only ski centre.
- Temperatures drop and snowmaking systems run across North America.
- Alpine Skiing World Cup 24-25 tour underway.
- Canada's ski season due to start this weekend.
- The last European summer ski area still open for 2024 to close this weekend.
- Southern hemisphere's 2024 season over.
We're up to about 25 ski areas now open in Asia, Europe and North America (by this weekend) with the southern hemisphere's 2024 season finally over.
Snow forecast for Scandinavia and North America.
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World Overview
We're up to about 25 ski areas now open in Asia, Europe and North America this weekend with the southern hemisphere's 2024 season finally over.
Operations are mostly thanks to glaciers, all weather snow-making machines or snow farming techniques with last winter's snow reused. At this point, only one centre is solely reliant on freshly fallen natural snow.
In terms of weather, North America and Scandinavia are currently looking the most wintery with the Alps seeing warm, sunny weather this week.
Elsewhere in Europe there was a good snowfall across the Iberian peninsular at the weekend, with snow reported at Europe's most southerly ski area, Spain's Sierra Nevada, as well as the most westerly on the mainland, Portugal's Serra de Estrella. It's also been colder with some snowfall in Scotland and Scandinavia.
In North America there's been some snowfall but perhaps more importantly temperatures have dropped, and snow-making systems fired up from coast to coast. So far, nowhere has joined first-to-open Colorado's Wolf Creek, but more may do so this weekend. The only area officially hoping to is Banff's Mount Norquay which tentatively plans to start Canada's 24-25 season on Saturday.
The southern hemisphere's season ended a few days earlier than expected last week the last two areas still operating, Turoa and Whakapapa ski areas on New Zealand's North Island abandoned plans to offer skiing at the weekend with rain and warm weather thawing the snow cover on Mount Ruapehu, where they're both located.
Europe
Austria
Austria continues to have the most ski centres open in the world at present and also the centres which, individually, have the most terrain available.
Sölden successfully hosted the opening of the 24-25 Alpine skiing World Cup tour with GS races at the weekend attracting record crowds of nearly 20,000. They saw some fresh snowfall up on the glacier but with the freezing point moving between 3000 and 4000m there was rain too. Sölden has the most terrain open anywhere in the world at present at over 30km.
Since last weekend though it has been dry, sunny and rather warm and that remains the forecast into next week.
The six other glacier areas open are Hintertux, the Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn, Molltal, Pitzal and Stubai.
France
The French Alps have currently got the same warm, dry, sunny conditions as the rest of the Alps and that's expected to continue through into next week.
No French ski areas are currently open with the first three planning to open in three weeks time; on the 22nd or 23rd November. They are Chamonix, Tignes and Val Thorens.
Italy
There's little change on the situation in Italy a week ago with just two centres currently open.
Unless there's a season extension, Passo Stelvio is expected to close on Sunday to end their 2024 summer ski season which began back in May.
The main change is that access to Zermatt's glacier, which now has an expanded 24km of slopes open, has reopened. There are also a few kilometres of slopes available on the glacier at Val Senales.
Italy has seen the same dry, warm and sunny weather this week as others in the Alps.
Switzerland
Switzerland saw two more ski areas open last weekend taking their tally to five, second only to Austria.
Engelberg is one of the latest to open, with its Titlis glacier skiable once more, and Adelboden has opened a small area, using snow farming to build a run from snow saved from last winter.
They join already-open Saas-Fee, St Moritz (Diavolezza Glacier) and Zermatt.
Like the rest of the Alps it's been a warm and sunny week here after a little weekend snowfall. A sixth Swiss centre, Murren, says they'll open this Saturday thanks to snow farming.
Scandinavia
Temperatures in Sweden and Finland have finally dipped below freezing and snowmaking has started at resorts like Levi and Ruka.
The only centre open in Norway, the Galdhopiggen summer ski centre - with Scandinavia's highest slopes - has had more wintery weather for longer, but is due to end its six-month 2024 run this weekend.
North America
Canada
Canada has had cold weather and more snowfall since the weekend, and snow-making machines have begun operations from coast-to-coast, with Cypress Mountain and Whistler on the Pacific Coast making snow just as Tremblant and other Quebec resorts closer to the Atlantic have snow production underway too.
Around Banff though its more natural snow that's relied on. Local ski hill Mount Norquay had aimed to be the first in the country to open this weekend, getting its Cascade Chair spinning, but it announced on Wednesday that's now been delayed a week to when others including Lake Louise and Sunshine as well as Jasper's Marmot Basin were planning to open anyway too (although at the time of writing their website still says "tentatively" opening 2nd November... so who knows?
So far the cold and snowy weather, with more forecast, is playing ball.
USA
The US saw some snowfall in the west at the start of this week with excitement in the Rockies and at West Coast ski areas from California to Washington state.
It has since turned drier and sunnier again but crucially temperatures have dropped to well below freezing in the mountains and so snow-making systems have fired up and in some areas are working around the clock.
That's not just in the West either, as East Coast resorts like Sunday River in Maine have also got snow-making underway and did even open for a special pass holders day on Halloween, although has now closed again.
As we publish this week's report it remains only Wolf Creek open but it seems likely other Colorado resorts, particularly the likes or Arapahoe Basin and Keystone, may well be joining them in the next few days, as temperatures are forecast to stay very cold with more snowfall on the way.
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