It’s unreal how good the conditions in the Alps are at the moment. I had first chair at 650 meters on Sunday morning and the snow was at least hip-deep between 1000 and 1700 meters. The snow was loose, deep and cold. We rode endless treeruns without hitting anything and it’s only mid December.
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According to one of the locals, he had never seen it that good in 39 years in the middle of December. I had to squeeze myself three times just to believe how good it was. There’s a new storm coming in today and I expect that you can ride great snow for at least 48-72 hours. The temperature will rise a bit after that, but according to the models we can expect a new storm before Christmas. In this forecast:
- New storm for the northern Alps
- Incoming high pressure and rising temperatures in the west
- Another dump before Christmas
New storm for the northern Alps
^### Northern and southern French Alps?
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A storm called Andreas is sending a new front to the Alps from the northwest today. This storm will bring 10-25, locally 50 cm of fresh snow to the northwest of the Alps. Most snow falls in the west of Switzerland and the north of the French Alps. The east of Switzerland, the Austrian Vorarlberg and the rest of the northern French Alps can expect around 10-25 cm of fresh snow. No precipitation in the rest of the Alps, so Monday is a powder day.
Incoming high pressure and rising temperatures in the west
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High pressure is trying to take over from Wednesday. Nevertheless, a new front will reach the north of Austria on Wednesday. This front will result in snowfall deep in the valleys, but because the incoming air is warmer, the snow line will rise. Especially below 1000-1400 meters the snow will become a bit wet. The big question for now is where exactly the snow line will end up on Thursday. More about that later this week. But assume that Thursday and Friday in the northern Alps won’t be as good as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Another dump before Christmas
There’s another dump in the forecast with low temperatures before Christmas. It’s too early for details. More about that tomorrow. In short: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be powder days. Take it easy on Thursday and Friday and fresh snow for the northern Alps after that.
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Stay stoked,
Morris
Replies
Thanks for the update!
I decided to take the day off tomorrow (Tuesday) to enjoy these amazing December conditions. I’m looking for somewhere 1 - 2 hours drive from Geneva. Any recommendations? I hear it may be a bit windy tomorrow, so maybe somewhere a little less exposed. Brusons (Verbier)? Or maybe Champery in the Portes du Soleil?
Villars??
Champery or Chatel is amazing right now. We’re only 1.5 hours from Geneva and have access to the whole of the PDS.
Starts with a D? Hehe
Any recommendations for treeruns around or near MagicPass resorts (Wallis/Valais)?
UPDATE - In the end I chose to go to Brevent/Flegere in Chamonix. Conditions were unbelievable - sunny, cold, lots of snow, few people, and the piste from Flegere to the valley was open. You don’t see that very often these days.