First of June snow report...

It's that time of year again when our attention switches away from the Alps of Europe to the snowy peaks of the southern hemisphere...

Piste bashers busy at the Remarkables, NZ (Image: NZSki)

New Zealand has recorded a good start with the Southern Alps getting a good covering of snow ahead of opening of most resorts over the next couple of weeks.Despite this good start some predictions suggest that this winter could be below average down in NZ due to the 'La Nina' weather effect which usually brings warmer and wetter conditions set to come into play.

Snow making at Mount Hotham, Aus (Image: Hotham)

Things are a little more tense in Australia with opening day on the horizon. On the whole they have received a light dusting of snow in addition to that created from snow-making. Similarly to New Zealand, they are also expected to have a wetter and warmer winter season in Aus but there is also the chance that they could get some big dumps of snow with plenty of weather coming through.

Forecast for La Parva (Chile) at mid-mountain (Image: snow-forecast.com)

Snow is also beginning falling across the Central Andes of South America with some Chilean resorts predicted to receive huge amounts of snowfall over the next few days. The resort of Valle Nevado in chile is expect to receive somewhere in the region of 2.5 metres of fresh snow at the the top of the mountain. We can't wait to see the pictures if this materialises! 





Meanwhile in the European Alps we are still recovering from an exceptional winter with snow falls well into May! This means that authorities are busy clearing snow from the high mountain rods such as as Col d'Iseran, which you can usually take from Val d'Isere over into Italy during the summer. At the moment it's covered in snow and impassable, but those concerned are working hard to get the road ready for summer.

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15/16 Winter Catch-Up

Well, what can we say about the Winter of 2015/16…

Excellent staff.  Epic snow. Great guests. An amazing season enjoyed by all!

After mother nature once again took a bit of a lie in during the early months of November and December, we were left wondering if this season would ever get going.

First staff ski day - Col de L’Iseran  (23/12/2015)

Final staff ski day - Bottom of Genepi piste (27/04/16)

The fireworks of New Year seemed to be the wakeup call for mother nature, and she duly provided us with a much needed delivery of the white stuff with seemingly continuous dumps of 10cms or more throughout January.
That set the tone for the rest of winter, and from then on there was no shortage of snow.
By the start of January the staff had settled into their roles nicely and we were receiving glowing reviews from guests. January disappeared in a flash amongst the excitement and enjoyment of fresh snow and before we could say ‘school holidays’ it was February Half Term Week.

Staff ski day- hiking the Toviere ridge

Staff ski day- bubbles in the Sache valley

After half-term we managed to get together as a team once again. We enjoyed excellent conditions despite poor visibility, we even treated ourselves to some well earned bubbles on the hill and some melted cheese at the bottom in Les Brevieres!

Last staff day out of winter 2016 - 27th April - The TCC from Ultimate Snowsports on Vimeo.

We cruised through the remainder of February and into March, continuing to enjoy fantastic conditions.
The final staff ski day was arguably one of the best days of the season. It was the 27th April, and we had received about a foot of fresh snow in resort and almost 30 cm's of fresh cold powder above mid-station. We had a week of unseasonably cold weather which resulted in an amazing end of season conditions.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to our staff and all of our guests that come to enjoy the winter with us, here’s to more of the same next season!

Last Supper

First Supper

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Tignes Winter 2015/2016 teaser...

After a dump of snow on the mountain tops ion Monday we are beginning to get a little excited for winter!

And we aren't the only ones... Tignes has released this video to get us even more stoked for the start of the season. And with less than two months until the opening of the Espace Killy on the 28th November, why not get excited!



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The cold makes a comeback...

Cold temperatures have finally made a comeback after a scorching summer (by glacial standards) up on the Grande Motte in Tignes.

It well documented that glaciers in Europe have been hit hard by above average temperatures and heatwaves on the continent during the summer.

Many consider the start of September to mark the beginning of Autumn and most notably the end of Summer!

And it seems like mother nature has also subscribed to this in bringing cold temperatures over the Alps.

Here's the forecast for the next 6 days in Tignes, which shows freezing temperatures dipping as low as 2400m on Saturday night.

courtesy of www.snow-forecast.com

Temperatures have also dropped in North America. Whistler Blackcomb (BC, Canada) among other resorts received a dusting of snow on the upper mountain which lead to some Americans and Canadians getting a little too excited on social media. The saying of 'snow in September you will never remember' couldn't be more relevant, but then I suppose what is the harm in dreaming!

For those still in search of a summer snow fix then the southern hemisphere still remains the best bet after what has on the whole been a bumper season.

Whistler gets a dusting of snow up high (Environment Canada)

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Dumping down in South America!

Portillo (Chile) got 25 inches in 24 hours- dude where's my car?

Snow is continuing to fall in South America after over 200cm in some places last week!
Chile and Argentina were inundated with snow last week, weather men said that it may this may have been the largest storm to hit central Chile in the past 5 years.
This good for central Chile which has suffered from many droughts over the last few years.

Originally, central Chile had 19-feet of snow forecast in 4 days last week!

View from the Nubes chairlift at Catedral ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina.

It was reported that a spectacular day of powder skiing was to be had on Monday at  Catedral ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina.

Of course this amount of snow help's to fill in rocky features, creating new airs and hits all over the mountain, and it's always to nice to have that extra cushioning on any landing especially when it goes wrong! Although it has to be said putting ski's back on in deep powder and even finding skis can be an extreme challenge. On these occasions it's useful to have a powder trace on your skis to help locate them when they have nose dived into deep snow.
How often do we see people having this problem in the Alps! 

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