We have had around 2 metres of snowfall during the week. The snow was so heavy that ski lifts have been stopped, the local train has been finishing at Chamonix ski resort and not going up to Le Tour. Roads were closed and snow warnings released.

Compare this to two seasons ago, with the unbelievably warm February weather, mud appearing on the pistes, and reports that climate change would mean the end of skiing in the European Alps. Indeed the report from 2005 warned that global warming would make snowboarding far too costly for many snowboarders, with one-third of skiing resorts becoming insolvent and the receding of alpine glaciers. Experts assert that it is nearly impossible to assign these seasonal variations in the weather to the effects of climate change.

We may have the deepest recession in 30 yrs, and the pound has dropped to new levels against the euro, but the skiing is exceptional, and the last bookings highlight that boarders are enthusiastic to enjoy the superior conditions. This season is probably the greatest in seven winter seasons, and many skiers are saying that it is the nicest ski snowboarding conditions in ten yrs.

Nonetheless recall that this amount of snow means raised risks of avalanche.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 7:49 pm and is filed under A Life Of Leisure, Life Of Sports, Life Of Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.