Snow has arrived in Coronet Peak five weeks before it's due to open, and snow is also falling in parts of the North Island. A promising start for New Zealand's winter season!

Word from the lifties today is that 5-6inches of fresh have fallen up top since yesterday!

The snow is slushy and dark patches are starting to show on the lower pistes. Spring has definately begun, but if you go higher up, there is still some amazing skiing! We even had some fresh powder the other day!

There´ll be a lot of rain on Wednesday (snow above 2000m), but the rest of the week should be nice and sunny. After the weekend it might turn to rain again.

Some nice riding to be had today with fresh in the Ptarmigan bowl, started snowing again about 1pm this afternoon and was still snowing when I left at 4!

Snowing down to 700m at the moment!

The mountain closed yesterday, even though conditions were still pretty good up high.  Oh well i can sunbathe now.

Well, the temperatures are finally becoming ´springlike`. With as a result beautifull warm sunny days, but also slushy slopes and the occasional rain. Which we´ll get a lot of in the next few day unfortunately.. Tomorrow morning should still be nice, but in the afternoon it starts raining. This will continue all of Monday, and perhaps the following days...

The season draws to a close but the conditions are great. Snow is forecast but i assume that will be of the wet brand.

Warm conditions and rain showers over the past couple of days have pretty much killed off the lower slopes but there is still skiing to the unicular mid-station. Its also possible to ski to the bottom using off piste and the fiacail poma uptrack. Good news though, forecast wintry showers for Sunday and snow down to 600m for Monday!!!!

We're not quite done out in Utah, check out this video of babes, base-jumping, bikinis, bbqs and big amounts of sunshine!

Pleased to report that winter is far from over here in Belle Plagne, it's been snowing on and off for over 36 hours and it is fair to say that some of it was a bit sloppy, but there is still  about 35 centimetres of fresh outside, we are expecting the temperature to warm up and the sun to show itself from tomorrow onwards!Wow what a fantastic end to the season this is I have never skied in such good snow this late in april on this continent.

VICTORIA'S ski resorts are preparing for a bumper season, with long-range forecasters suggesting winter could deliver the biggest snow falls in almost a decade.   Wangaratta-based forecaster John Moore said he expected another snow fall in the next couple of weeks before a big dump of up to 50cm at the end of May. "The year looks like returning to a more normal season than we have seen for the last couple of years," he said. "There will be just a couple of light snow falls early to mid-June then a heavy dump toward the end of June. It should be an average July and above average August for snowfalls."

Just when we thought it was summer last weekend with 20 degree weather on the slopes, ,we were hit with 20cm of snow mid week at Lake Louise, and an epic dump at Sunshine Village Friday with over 50cm falling from about 5am –noon.
With barely anyone on the mountain on Friday there was plenty of untracked runs at the end of the day, and many more fresh tracks to be had today -Saturday, as the mountain got another 20cm of fresh snow overnight.
Sunshine Village, is open until the third weekend in May, and it looks like the snow will last way past June at this point!

 

Wet! rain/snow to a high level so we all wait to see what the snow is like up top. The conditions are still good and you can ski to resort.

Awesome snow in Tignes
30cm of fresh snow during the week with a further 15 cm yesterday. Resort runs still very good. Winter powder conditions up high, the black run from the Grand Motte fantastic as is the Laisse run. Off piste along the Double M run down the valley towards Val Claret is fantastic. The freeride park in Tignes had 40cm fresh snow allowing us to make our own tracks everywhere. For those of you speaking french, think Hiver more than Printemps BigDog.

Val d'Isere runs are great too
La Face, Olympique and the Stade Olympique runs having a solid base of grippy snow with a fresh layer on top. No ice to be seen anywhere. OK, some of the lower runs get a bit heavy in the afternoon (ice cream snow) if the sun is shining but still perfectly skiable. Even the Santons blue run down to Val was open and skiable so that tells you how much snow there is. La Fornet is fantastic from the top at the glacier all the way down the black run down to La Fornet village via the black mogul run past the Signal restaurant down to the big cabin. The black non ski board runs 3000 and Signal in perfect condition.
Tom

Cairngorm has some of the best snow in years. A dump 2 weeks ago and prolonged cold temperatures has made the whole hill skiable. The bottom runs have lost some snow over the last few days but you can still ski to the bottom if you pick your way down. The whitelady is full width and can be acessed from the start of the M2 via the east wall. The cas is also snow laden and you can ski right across to the old fiacal run as well as the fiacal ridge poma. The Ptarmigan has one of the biggest jumps ever built in Scotland and a fun park with kickers, rails and a jump trail that was built yesterday. Access to the hill via the fiacal ridge poma or the train which is not doing mid station stops as you can get right down to the bottom. The M1 is also excellent, and on the cieste side of the hill the gully, anoach and west wall are all skiable. Gully 1 and Gully 2 on the east wall have also been open. The snow over the last few days has been very hard in the morning softening quickly in the afternoon, and the runs have been well groomed overnight. Cairngorm are preparing for May day skiling! Both carparks have been operational the last week, with a free shuttle bus runing between the cieste and cas car parks. Despite the number of people on the hill there is so much snow queues haven't been bad at all as so much is open 5- 10 mins max, and at many points in the day you hop straight on. Whats more its been sunny the last few days- sun cream is a must. If you gave up on Scottish skiing years ago this is the year to come back- you don't know what you are missing!

It´s almost at the end of April. but it doesn´t yet feel like spring. We have occasional sunny periods where it does get quite warm, but overall we have quite a bit of snow, sometimes rain when the temperatures are too mild. For the next 2 days we will still have these cloudy, snowy days, but from Wednesday on it seems like spring is finally getting it´s way with warm sunny days. (be prepared for slush!).

Ok, can it stop now i want sunshine and goggle marks,not 2 days of snow.  Thursday night around 30cm fell on the mountain, and last night at least another 30cms.  More is forecast as well.  Is heavy going off piste fat skis and fish tails are the order of the day.  The pistes that were bashed today were lush.

The resort closed 6 days ago but that hasn't stopped everyone from mobbing Berthoud Pass, a mere 10-15 minute drive from town.  The top parking lot is at about 11,400ft, and a hike of anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours will take you to some very sweet spots.  Warm temps have arrived, and there is no reason to get up early, wait for the snow to turn over a bit and get some of that famous Colorado corn.

Awesome skiing on Cairngorm at the moment cant believe we are still skiing top top bottom in April. Even got some fresh tracks yesterday!

Oh my god!!!!! conditions are SO good up on Cairngorm just now! Better than they were in Meribel! I will post report and photos when I get home, gotta get a few more runs in! I just got fresh tracks on what is normally a boulderfield! absolutely amazing, I cant believe its this good in Scotland in April!!!!
Just thought I'd share that! WOW!
Jamie Gunn (just back from Meribel!)

The conditions are amazing with great piste snow and masses of off piste to ski. The run to town is still very pleasant although it is probably best to lift from Furi. Small snow flurries are still expected!!

What a fantastic day! This is not spring skiing, nice chill to the air and fresh snow everywhere on and particularly north facing slopes off piste. Inversens and Crozats are still supurb as are the small 'chutes' off the Bozalet ridge on the south side. The forecast is snow and clouds with some sunny bits for the next few days, probably a bit of rain thrown in for good measure below 2000m. Saturday morning looks good. Wonder what next week will bring!!!

From Nick at NickSki: "One of the best powder days of the season on Tuesday. At least a foot of fab powder above 1800 and a good few inches in La Tania. Poor visibility in the morning and heavy snow so the tree runs were great as always. Started to clear about 1pm and the Grand Couloir was as good as I have ever skied it, just masses of powder". (Nick has skied every day this season).

 

Today is going to be a beautifull sunny day, but enjoy it, because from tomorrow on we´ll have plenty of snowshowers again. In the weekend we might see a bit of sun again, but Monday we´re gonna have to deal with rain..

It seems that winter has come back!  After a few awesome sunny days it is snowing again and snow is forecast all week.  It's not going to dump but flurry all week.  The Big Air and Orage Masters have taken place for the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.  The If Ullr was a Girl Competition is in full swing with the Big Mountain and Halfpipe contests completed and the Nikita Jib Jam scheduled tomorrow.  They will crown the winner later on in the week.  The superpipe contest will begin on Thursday with qualifications for skiers and Friday with qualifications for snowboarders. 

After 2 weeks in the 3 valleys, experiencing pretty much every type of weatherr the mountain could give us, I'm back in Hemsedal. We've had a bit of a melt over the past 2 weeks and the roads are now clear.

The pis are still in excellent condition with the off piste still skiable but there's been no powder for 10 days. there's just over 2 weeks of the season left and I don't think we'll be having problems with lack of snow.

Phil

A blue sky day with a slight breeze, all the runs are open with some of the best conditions seen in years. Snow showers are expected tomorrow, and the snow looks set to hold for a while yet.

Friday it rained persistently down low but above 1800m it was snow.  Saturday it was a lovely sunny day, but very windy, as was yesterday.  This morning it snowed again with around 15cm up top, and it even snowed at 1300m.  This soon melted however.  The wind is pretty strong and chilly, when will spring hit?

The whole of next week should see more snowshowers, with maybe Wednesday as one of the clearest days. The snow is heaviest in the nights.

Here we go again....winter's back!! What a wierd testing end of season, Just been skiing for an hour or so in fresh new snow, it's cold too, couldn't see much, visability was on and off.....didn't see many people either come to that!!! This coffee is welcome and thanks to my new friend who is letting me use his laptop to post this report!! Looking forward to sunshine tomorrow...if we are lucky, all this murk is depressing.

Rain turned to snow yesterday afternoon around 4pm, there has probably been a couple of inches overnight but is hard to say how much has actually fallen from the damage done by the rain

Damn it's sick out there!  2+ feet in 48 hours, still snowing right now, let me repeat...it's sick!!  115" base on top, all hucks are good, we're taking full advantage.  Bummer closing day is on Sunday, but whateva, Berthoud Pass will stay good through April into May.  I gotta rest, tomorrow will be another big day.

The snow falls but its wet and windy. Piates seem good if not sticky.

The torrential rain has now turned to snow at resort level  - it's dumping once again.... Am I ever gonna get a long, long April lunch in the sun....

 

It's been raining all day here, but there's more snow forecast for next week...

What a topsy turvy season. We had no snow in January and boiling temperatures and now its April its dumping down with snow and cold! Was looking forward to the last couple of weeks of improving my goggle tan to impress the friends at home, instead we've had some of the best off-piste all season and its been snowing for the last four days. And its set to continue..... Madness!!

Chucking down with rain in Meribel, streets running like rivers with snowmelt!

Very odd snow conditions as its been snowing/raining on and off for a couple of days.  The freeze level is around 2000m but its horizontal snow and a whiteout.  Lower the snow goes from unbelievably sticky to faster slush, but at that level its raining.  Shame its a low resort really.

We have had and are expecting more wet snow which is always better than nothing. The Pistes and off piste are still good and town can be skied to from all areas.

Two days ago we had almost the perfect Alpine Day but the snow was wierd, sticky, sloppy and icey and it was very cold' really felt like Late January early Feb!! The weather has now changed, a South Westerly regime has brought warm air and rain at 2000m/2250, some snow and dank grey skies......pretty yukky! This weekend could be back to winter with colder air, hope we see the sunshine soon. Anyway, there is still lots of snow left for a great end of season! 

A strange day in Val d'Isere.  I've seen blue sky, the sun, been in a snowstorm and had to hold the gazebo down to stop the wind blowing it away!  Overall though, good enough to run today's Scott Dunn Skier/Boarder X and good conditions on piste for anyone out on holiday.  There is snow here for a few more weeks yet....

Cloudy and raining here in Meribel at the moment, freezng level around 2300m and set to stay high til the weekend.

Report below for Cairngorm, Scotland

Light snow for today and tomorrow, but as the temperatures become milder, we might get some nasty spells of rain after Wednesday. All the fresh snow will be washed away! :-(

We've had more snow and more is expected all week.  There is a low pressure coming up from Vancouver Island which is good news.  The snow is still great and the parks are also in great shape.  The Telus Festival is in town next week so should be some great competitions with the Big Air, Superpipe and If Ullr Was a Girl Comp.

Another 5cm down to below resort level last night with a bit more further up freshening things up nicely. Further snow is due throughout the week and the pistes starting to quieten down considerably (off the mountain things are busy though with the Altitude Festival and La Tania Charity Day on Wednesday). A blue bird this morning and the mountains look stunning...

 

Still some great skiing to be had - especially at altitude.

And some more fresh snow forecast for midweek.

Despite the great end to the season Brusson has closed for the winter.

And Savolyeres is due to shut on the 12th.  Time to make some final laps of Vallon D'Arby! 

 

Warm days but the pistes have held up well and only really slushy below Furi. Snow is on the way!

We have had some great sunny bluebird days after some snow so it has been great riding.  No new snow for a few days now but there is more forecast for this coming week.  The Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival starts on 11th April and attracts some of the best athletes, artists, musicians from around the world.  It's going to be awesome!

Blue skies, sunshine and a chill to the air, Is this really April? The snow was 'crunchy' first thing and softened up about 1130ish. Conditions are still superb and not too many people! Some snow is forecast for Saturday night and weather is said to be changeable next week!!! Things are so  unpredictable at the moment anything could happen, just need to make the most of the pockets of sunshine and the fresh snow when it falls.

No new snow, just lots of wind and sunshine, not boiling yet but the lower slopes are getting pretty slushy, with the upper slopes either icy or nicey.

The winter just doesn't want to end! It snowed a nice few cms at village level yesterday. Sun's out today, so superb conditions on the mountain.

 

 

March certainly went out like a lion, and April came in the same.  It's been sick!  30" (75cm) in 7 days.  The resort is great, Berthoud Pass is off the chain.  Closing day of the resort on 13/4/08 :(

It´s not yet spring here in val d´Isere. This week we have a mix of light snow, clouds and sometimes quite strong winds. Every now and then the sun will pop out though, so bring both sunglasses, goggles, warm clothes and sunscreen! Ater Monday the temperatures will become quite mild, with rain as a result...

Further snow showers with some up and down temperatures - so conditions varying across the ski area but still masses of skiing and boarding to be done with only a handful of closed lower runs. Starting to feel like Spring now after an exceptionally cold and snowy March, the La Tania resort run still has excellent cover for the time of year and should be fine until the end of the season as usual.

 

5cm of snow today, some wind but nothing serious so when the visibility gets here it will be a great day.

Dumping big flakes here in Mottaret, still laid up with my compressed vertebrae so unable to take advantage of it! Torture!

We had a lovely big dump of snow on Monday so conditions yesterday were beautiful. Its snowing again today but very windy although all the lifts are open. Still very busy in resort, and with the snow condtitions many of the hotels have re-opened bookings, so looks set to be a busy end to the season.

The last week has brought small snow flurries on the higher pistes. Slushy lower down but the main ski areas are amazing.

Tignes continues until the 11th May.  We currently have 142cm depth of snow at resort level and 240cm at the top of the mountain.

Its been threatening and forecast to snow for the last few days and today, the first day in 2 weeks ive been either able or inclined to go out its a whiteout.  been snowing since this morning and shows no signs of letting up.  Even as low as 1350m, although its a bit slushy down there.  Must have had 20cm at least.

Wow, what a great few days, we have had sunshine and fresh snow on rotation and some fantastic skiing on and guided off piste!! On saturday morning we woke to a few centimetres of fresh light snow and  skied for almost 3 hours making first tracks on empty slopes!! Then we visited the telemark festival at Champagny....  and it all went rapidly downhill from there!!! It's snowing lightly again now 5 to 15 cm expected today and is very 'socked in', but the promise of sunshine tomorrow will bring back those lovely spring skiing conditions. The outlook for the week is still mixed sunshine and flurries, the temperatures are still in the freeze and thaw bracket so everything is looking good for the week.

Lightly snowing here in Mottaret, forecst to continue for the next couple of days

After a couple of nice days, we might get a few centimeters of snow on Monday. The rest of the week should be nice enough, with mild temperatures and sunny spells. The occasional cloud and snowshower after Wednesday.

One of the best weeks of the season so far. Tuesday was a write off with the worst winds I've seen here in two seasons, but another dump of snow yesterday soon topped up the piste and left some gorgeous fresh powder off piste for today. Amazing conditions for the time of year, I've always loved March!!

It's been a very cold week with clear skies from Sunday. Tempures have been as low as -18 without the wind chill but the snow has been excellent.

Woke up to about 10 cms of fresh snow today and it continued to snow day.

Forecast is for clear skies over the next few days but I'll be down in Meribel until April 13th.

Phil

We´re getting a bit of everything these days. A bit of sun, usually in the morning, then clouds and some snow, mostly in the afternoons. Saturday and Sunday should be mostly sunny, but Sunday night and Monday we´re getting a couple more centimeters of snow. Tuesday and Wednesday mostly sunny again, with maybe some clouds.

The snow came big and fun was had by all. The weather is generally a case of poor visibility. When the sun comes out the snow conditions will be supreme.

A nice snowy Easter here in Bansko but not an easter egg in sight. More fresh snow has topped up the slopes nicely and the tree runs are looking good. It's still coming down so hopefully the sun won't come out too soon!

It's a bit busier this week but if you avoid ski school times, the queues are pretty small and there are not too many people on the slopes. The off piste is pretty untracked due to it being mostly beginners in resort this week.
Victoria Tennant

A unusually murky day up in Ogden as the clouds covered the sky, bathing the resort in a nasty flat light. This was combined with temperatures that never really rose and made the snow on the upper runs very hard and fast - no edges = no bueno. As always the lack of visitors to the resort meant that most runs took a good while to be churned up and become the good slushy Utah spring snow but nonetheless if you made laps off the Needles Gondola you weren't going to be dissappointed, few people and good coverage made for some average skiing & riding.

What a week! On-off snowfall for 5 days straight. The Engelberg powder-junkies have smiling faces and burning legs. Timing the blue-sky windows proved tricky, but early-risers were amply rewarded.

The mornings a bit overcast at the moment but set to brighten up later. It's like skiing on velvet out there. PARADISKI......yes it is!!!

Another 15cm of fresh this morning plus some blue sky around too. A great day ended up at The Rond Point in Meribel to watch Fourplay but they didn't turn up - The Feeling did instead, amazing... It's gonna be a massive gig on Thursday.

 

A little more snow fell late last night, around 5-10cm.  It was pretty windy today though and very cold, so good conditions for the snow, not for the smokers outside the bar.

It doesn't feel like true spring just yet - windy, very windy.  But sunny, snow is very good, great coverage, terrain park is sweet.

More snow today, more fresh powder in the morning...

Still snowing here, a couple of inches yesterday and it seems to be snowing a bit heavier today and is a complete whiteout

Snowing in London on the earliest Easter for 94 years.  And I happened to be doing a triathlon...!

6pm Sunday night and it's started snowing once more. Forecast is for -14C tonight! A few locals rode down to Bozel today - way down below the resort and a bit thin at the bottom but skiable.

 

More fresh snow has fallen this week bringing our late season snowfall to date to over 2 meters at altitude 3200! Virtually the entire mountain is covered with a 30cm of Powder. With the late snowfall over the southern French Alps this March, it has left our mountain carpeted with 100 to 150 cm of snow. The Chancel and the Vallon are both well covered with no rocks showing through.

Lots of snow!! Yesterday and last night I´m sure we had at least half a meter! Today on the slopes it was like riding powder offpiste (with people toppling over everywhere :-) )

The next few days we should get even more snow, with Monday and Wednesday the heaviest days.

It started at lunch time yesterday and snowed for around 12 hours solid, today bluebird so a lot of smiley, sun burned faces came to rub it in at work.  Around 50cm of snow fell and its soft and fluffy.  Meant to snow more as well.

The pisteurs have had their work cut out! Knee deep powder could be found on piste today and just off the sides of the pistes it was waist deep! Lovely blue skies for a while but..... its snowing again!!!!!!!!

Woke this morning to suprisingly sunny morning! Must be atleast 60 cms off piste.....!! The snow is quite heavy up to 2500m. All the higher lifts, (both Nords, Carrella, Upper Belle Plagne Bubble, Biolley) were closed this morning with lots of avalanche blowing taking place...risk currently at 4 to 5, when it is safe to venture off-piste up there, will definately need a snorkel!!!!  The pistes that are open are in supurb condition with loose powder. Un-pisted  runs through the trees were great and untracked....well it is Saturday!! More light snow forecast, once again, down to 500m over the next 48 hours which is great news for Montalbert and Montchavin/Les Coches. Bon Ski. 

Winter has definitely returned to Meribel. After a week of cold weather preceded by two weeks of unseasonably warm weather, winter has returned with a vengeance. During the yesterday (21/3) we have had over 50 cms of beautiful fresh snow and the powder is as light as I have ever seen it.

That can only be described as an epic day!  2-4ft of fresh powder all day.  Did I say it was epic?

It's been a great week with sun and blue skies until yesterday, when it started snowing again. It continued through to this afternoon, giving us about 50cm of fresh powder off piste this morning. This made for a great days skiing, if a little busy due to the bank holiday. The forecast is for a cold, clear weekend with some more snow on Monday.

 Phil

A bit cold and blustery today, doesn't feel much like spring skiing.

Regardless, the tourists are out in full force and have taken the town over, being spring break and all.

Berthoud Pass is hit or miss:  whereas north facing slopes on low elevations can be quite nice, and other aspects and higher up can be a bit crusty.

23 days left in the season, it goes too fast.

It started snowing last night, has been bucketing down all day and shows no sign of stopping. Conditions on-piste are like off-piste as the bashers just can't keep up. And the off-piste is beautiful. From the looks of the forecase there is lots more to come as well.

Puking it down again!!!! At least 8 inches has fallen since I came in to work this morning and no sign o stopping!!!

The snow if falling thick and fast.  We have at least two foot in Argentiere and it’s here to stay for a couple of days!!