As ski resorts across the American West deal with snow emergencies, Europe is dealing with another season of ultra-dry and warm conditions.
Early season storms in November raised false hopes across the Alps, but December was a complete dud produced the least snow in Switzerland since record-keeping began more than 100 years ago. This is thanks to an area of high pressure has been sitting across Europe for several weeks.
Currently, the best conditions are on the southwestern side of the Alps. The higher resorts in western Italy, such as Cervinia, Sestriere and the Monte Rosa region have significant snow, largely above 1,800 metres.
Similar conditions also extend across the border into France with good conditions at Val D’Isere, Tignes and Isola 2000. – aljazeera.com
The regions that have invested heavily in snowmaking are reaping the benefits. The Ski Welt of Austria, which includes Soll and Ellmau, has more than 150 runs open, and the Dolomiti Superski area, which includes Val Gardena and Alta Badia, has almost 1,000 kilometres of pistes open.