Dec. 23, 2024
It’s all a far cry from recent Christmas periods in the Alps when unreliable early-season snow garnered extensive news coverage of closed low-attitude ski resorts.
There have been epic dumps of snow across the French Alps, with Les 3 Vallées having some of the deepest snow depths in the Alps. Val Thorens, Courchevel and Méribel have all received great snowfalls over the last few days, including today. The skies are set to clear for the rest of the week, with sunny conditions to showcase the white peaks. Chamonix has some of the best snow in France right now, with the Brévent ski sector enjoying 160cm of snow at the peak and snow right down to the town.
It has been a great December for the Austrian Alps, with the glacier ski areas receiving some fantastic snow depths, including the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers of Sölden and the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier above Kaprun. The Arlberg resorts of St Anton and Lech Zürs have had consistently good conditions with some great powder in the last few days. Snow will give way to blue skies over the next day.
Crans-Montana is topping the snow charts right now in Switzerland with some 180cm of snow, while Zermatt has half a metre of snow down in the village and roofs deep in fresh snow.
Whilst the current snow bonanza will be enjoyed mainly by the leisure market, the snow base is already set for a fantastic January corporate ski trip period. On a broader level, the great conditions should see the coffers of the ski resorts and suppliers swell. Top-quality hotels in the Alps require significant cashflows, so the conditions are very welcome.