The snowstorm, which for most began on Tuesday afternoon, has brought at least a foot (30cm) of snowfall to ski areas right across the Alps, but some in Austria and Switzerland have reported as much as 2.1 metres (seven feet) of snow accumulated.

It has led dozens of ski areas to close in the countries that have not closed their slopes anyway due to COVID 19.Many resorts had to temporarily cease operations as the storm also brought in strong winds, before it eased on Friday.

Snow conditions across the Alps are generally excellent right now, although publicly accessible lift-served skiing is still only possible in Switzerland and Austria. Both ski touring and cross-country skiing are possible in all Alpine countries though note that the risk of avalanche is currently very high and has reached 4 on the scale to 5 in many areas across the northern half of the Alps. 

Even though most people cannot travel to the open ski resorts in Austria and Switzerland, for those with an optimistic outlook, the snow could be seen as good news for base-building later in the season, when we just might be able to travel.

Reporting from TheSnowHunter.com
FIS news
19 January 2021

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