(Above: library picture(!) from Verbier)
After an almost completely dry December, serious snow is finally being forecast by weathermen for the first week of the New Year in the Alps and Pyrenees, beginning on New Years Day.
Forecasts are, of course, just forecasts, but forecasts InTheSnow have seen for the totals expected in the first five days of January include more than a metre of snow for the Chamonix Valley and around three feet (90cm) for Verbier, hopefully dramatically improving conditions, if they prove correct.
Most other areas in the Western Alps (France, Switzerland and NW Italy) are expected to receive 60-75cm (24 – 30 inches) and a foot (30cm) of snow is forecast for Andorra.
As always the better conditions are expected on higher slopes.
The forecasts, so far, are less promising for the Eastern Alps and Dolomites with only small snowfalls forecast in Austria where some areas (Notably resorts like Mayrhofen currently with a 0-20cm base) are only forecast to get a few inches, and in North Eastern Italy, which had almost no snow so far this season, there’s still no snow forecast.
The FIS has just cancelled World Cup races planned for St Anton in early January.
“Due to abnormally warm temperatures and the lack of snow, the World Cup downhill and super-G races scheduled for 9th and 10th January have unfortunately been cancelled, despite enormous efforts from the St. Anton mountain management and the organising committee. The snow conditions in the ski resort are good for recreational skiing but don’t allow for a perfect preparation of World Cup races,” the FIS statement reads.
Forecasts tend to change daily, and throughout the day, as the weather event gets nearer.