International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Europe: Who, When, Where in 2018/2019?

[Goran M.]

It is Aosta again this year - why change the winning team ?
I will likely stay in La Thuile or Courmayeur, with day trips to Courmayeur/La Thuile, Cervinia/Zermatt and (I am looking forward to this) Monterosa. Couple of days at Chamonix and maybe Verbier (I've heard it is very expensive).
January 16-30
March 13-26

 

[Cheizz]

It is Aosta again this year - why change the winning team ?
I will likely stay in La Thuile or Courmayeur, with day trips to Courmayeur/La Thuile, Cervinia/Zermatt and (I am looking forward to this) Monterosa. Couple of days at Chamonix and maybe Verbier (I've heard it is very expensive).
January 16-30
March 13-26

When you go to Monterosa, check this trail map of all the off-piste routes in that area... (the marked groomed runs are not on this).

 

[Jacob]

When you go to Monterosa, check this trail map of all the off-piste routes in that area... (the marked groomed runs are not on this). View attachment 60905

And remember that, although the piste map makes everything look small, the amount of vertical is actually quite large. For example, the routes from the top of the lifts in Alagna will cover about 1700 m without any extra climbing after the top lift.

 

[Choucas]

It is Aosta again this year - why change the winning team ?
I will likely stay in La Thuile or Courmayeur, with day trips to Courmayeur/La Thuile, Cervinia/Zermatt and (I am looking forward to this) Monterosa. Couple of days at Chamonix and maybe Verbier (I've heard it is very expensive).
January 16-30
March 13-26

Where do you end up staying? In town to Courmayeur or La Thuile, or somewhere in between? I assume you rent a car for the week. Enjoy Monterosa. If you hit the snow and weather right, it is amazing.

 

[Goran M.]

Yes, we are renting the car in Geneva. There is a way to save money by renting the vehicle in French sector of Geneva airport. Downside is that car might not have Swiss vignette ($40 if driving on Swiss toll roads) and winter tires (all Swiss cars have winter tires) but the same class car is half the price even with the fee/supplement for winter tires.

Mont Blanc Tunnel to cross into Italy is $50 and last year I purchased 10 passage card for $150 and it is good for 2 years.

We have reserved airbnb in La Thuile for $1400, 200ft. from the slope, incredible bargain. Since we can cancel that reservation until January 14th, I am still thinking about finding something in Courmayeur but everything so far is much smaller and La Thuile just makes more sense. This will be my third time in Valle D'Aosta and there is so much to explore and ski . For a brief second I was thinking about going somewhere else and still might do that in March. Another thing that I am looking forward to is 2 new lifts at La Rosiere (just over the ridge from La Thuile) that opened up huge terrain on Mont Valaisan. They just opened on Dec. 15th

Since I have the MCP, we might (or might not) ski couple of days in Chamonix if for no other reason but to go have lunch at Les Vieilles Luges in Les Houches.

 

[Goran M.]

It looks like the Eastern Alps are getting it good this year ! Salzuburg, Styria, East Tyrol and Carinthia could get up to 160cm (in some regions) in next week or so !

Current weather models suggest extended period of dry weather for most of France and Italy. Long range models are very unpredictable but they are constantly showing grim picture for those area. Anybody out there to share first hand report ?

Still too early to start panicking but maybe time to start thinking contingency planning ?

 

[Bolder]

It looks like the Eastern Alps are getting it good this year ! Salzuburg, Styria, East Tyrol and Carinthia could get up to 160cm (in some regions) in next week or so !

Current weather models suggest extended period of dry weather for most of France and Italy. Long range models are very unpredictable but they are constantly showing grim picture for those area. Anybody out there to share first hand report ?

Still too early to start panicking but maybe time to start thinking contingency planning ?

Just got back from 9 days in St. Gervais / Megeve / Chamonix. Warm weather coupled with heavy rain to 2000 meters set off a nasty freeze / thaw cycle. Longer report to follow but takeaway is conditions are Not Good...need a big dump desperately.

 

[Goran M.]

It looks like some snow in the forecast for Aosta ...

However, all of a sudden (as per my traveling buddy's "request") Val D'Iser is coming into a picture ...

 

[Jacob]

Booked last minute to St Anton for next week. The current forecast is for significant snowfall this weekend, so it sounds like I’ll be having a typical day of low- or no-visibility powder skiing Sunday. Or as my brother and I now call it, Jake-effect snow, since I get so many of those days.

 

[Jacob]

Does anyone have info about Crans Montana?

I'm looking for a destination for my February trip (first week of the month, before most school holidays start). A return to Arosa or Sestriere is tempting, since I know where most of the fun terrain is in both areas. But, I also like the idea of going somewhere new.

 

[Goran M.]

Austria seems to be it this year ! Saalbach area as the epicenter of this "once in a century" (not really but it sounds good) snowstorm would give some folks a real pleasure of skiing deep powder in eastern Alps that is becoming less and less frequent. It could be that this turns into "once in 15 year" event. I hope this weather pattern reaches bit further to the west to St. Anton so you get to report another great outing of yours ! Looking forward to it .

BTW, as of now it looks like it might be too much snow in Saalbach , the amount of snow that is dangerous in short term (avalanche alert going to 5) and longer term (snow melts and spring brings rains to already high rivers, Danube in this case).

I hope everyone who is heading to Austria stays safe in the next few days !!!

 

[Jacob]

Well, it's currently snowing in Zurich enough that I can't see across the narrow part of the lake. The train ride to St Anton won't be as scenic as normal, but conditions should be good when I get there.

Anyone wanting to ski powder in the Alps should organize a meetup with me, as I seem to encounter a lot of these storms. You'll get bad visibility, and I can't guarantee that large parts of the mountain won't be closed due to the avalanche danger. But, I seem to bring on the snow.

 

[Ptrqc]

2 weeks in St-Anton-Stuben-Zürs-Lech end of February...

 

[AlpsSkidad]

We just returned from 16 days in Austria. We spent the first week in Serfaus and the second in Kuhtai. We had tons of snow, a few windy/really cold days. Austria is definitely this year's winner thus far for snow coverage.
Getting out of resort yesterday was a huge challenge with a ton of fresh snow, then Innsbruck airport shut down cancelling our flights. We ended up hopping a train to Munich and caught a late flight out from there.

 

[Bolder]

I posted our St. Gervais/Megeve trip in the reports section.

^^Austria/parts of Germany are getting buried right now, while it has barely snowed a flake in France and Italy for 3 weeks. As our c-in-c might tweet: Unfair!

 

[scott43]

^^Austria/parts of Germany are getting buried right now, while it has barely snowed a flake in France and Italy for 3 weeks. As our c-in-c might tweet: Unfair!

My brother actually shoveled off his roof. Which is very unusual since he's 20k away from the base of the mountains near Kitzbuhel.. Kitz area is getting crushed. Avalanche risk is high. Wish I could go last-minute still..damn kids!!

 

[Seldomski]

@Jacob and any other Anton Aficionados...

Any dining recommendations? I'll be in St Anton in ~3 weeks. PM me if you don't want to disclose to the world

We are staying within walking distance of the Nassereinbahn.

Interested to hear about on-mountain dining (lunch) as well as good evening spots. Planning on hitting Lech, Zurs, Stuben also... not sure we will make it to Warth.

 

[James]

Anyone wanting to ski powder in the Alps should organize a meetup with me, as I seem to encounter a lot of these storms. You'll get bad visibility, and I can't guarantee that large parts of the mountain won't be closed due to the avalanche danger. But, I seem to bring on the snow.

Well, can you plan a trip to Chamonix and Verbier end of Feb??
The cross country race from Italy on tv the other day had very little, well, no snow. You could see the snow making unit next to the trail.

 

[Goran M.]

It is getting fast from bad to worse in Austria !

Reports of villages being cut off and having to be evacuated by the military, almost daily multiple fatalities due to very deep snow and yet ... more to come !!!

And keep in mind that all of this is happening in a rather mellow part of eastern Alps that are not that high nor much of the terrain is above the tree line.

Again, stay safe and head the advice of local authorities !

Unfortunately, not just Austria is exposed to this extreme weather ... parts of the Balkans and Turkey as well are experiencing unusual harsh winter conditions !

Snow in Athens, Istanbul and some of the GREEK ISLANDS !!!

In the meantime - no measurable snow in French and Italian Alps since early December !?

 

[Cheizz]

Italy is on the south side of the Alpine Main Ridge. So snow getting pushed in from the North (like is happening now in Austria), wil not get into Italy. Clouds/systems will empty themselves onto the Alpine Main Ridge and dry air will warm up and rush into the southern part of the Ridge rapidly (so-called 'North Föhn).

Here an article in Dutch explaining. I think Googe Translate will do the rest for you: https://www.wintersport.nl/weblog/bericht/313889/alpenhoofdkam