After what was a promising start to the season the entire Alps has suffered a long, dry spell, but yesterday’s dump – the first of any real consequence this year – has seen the mountains looking as they should in winter, all white and rather lovely.
In fact today has seen much of the Alps bathed in bright winter sunshine for what has probably been the best day of the season so far; our man in Les Arcs, Alf Alderson, reports shin deep powder and clear blue skies.
Resorts right across the Alps are reporting between 15-60cm of fresh snow in the latest dump, and there’s more on the way – check out our free seven-day forecast to see just how much.
So could it be that the weather patterns have at last changed and the low pressure systems that have up until now been unable to drift across the Alps are about to do their thing as they did so well last winter?
Who knows for sure but it’s looking promising for the next week or so at least.
The recent snowfall has topped up pistes right down to lower levels and the further snow will add much needed centimetres, especially to lower slopes.
Likewise off-piste conditions have improved although more snow is still needed. “There are still plenty of rocks waiting to snatch at your skis,” says Alf Alderson, “so care is needed when heading off-piste”.
And of course the avalanche danger is still very high, so if you do head out into the backcountry we would strongly advise that you only do so with a guide.
