Snow Report 23 December 2016 - Europe & Japan

Snow at last for the European Alps. Just in time for Christmas skiing. In Japan, all of the big ski resorts have opened now.

Happo One 22.12.16 - happo-one.

JAPAN

Another good fall of snow for the weekend (20-50cm), before sunny skies arrived and some bluebird days.

Some warm and wet conditions descended on Honshu Tuesday, which is not really what we wanted after the promising start to the season.

Some of the weekend's snow has been lost and it has got very wet again across Honshu and Hokkaido this evening. The good news is that it should turn to snow tomorrow though and get colder once more.

Conditions at my featured Japanese ski resorts:

Akakura Kanko 22.12.16 - akr-ski.com

Yuzawa (Kagura) - Kagura is OPEN, other ski resorts in Yuzawa area are now open

Niseko (Grand Hirafu) - OPEN - 2m at top, 80cm at base

Nozawa Onsen - OPEN - 95cm top (Yamabiko), 55cm at base,

Hakuba (Happo One) - OPEN - 65cm at top (Usagidaira), 0cm at bottom

Zao Onsen - OPEN - 50cm at top, 20cm at base

Myoko Kogen - OPEN - 60cm (Akakan)

FRANCE

A cold and snowy start to the week, favouring the southernmost ski stations like Isola 2000 (30cm) and Val d'Allos (15cm) and the Massif Central with lesser amounts around Mont Blanc.

Isola 2000 20.12.16 - Isola 2000 Facebook

The weather cleared Wednesday and is set to continue mild and sunny into the weekend in the Alps.

Conditions at my featured French ski stations are:

Val Thorens - OPEN - 60cm@2300m, 30/30 lifts, 67/85 pistes

Val d'Isere - OPEN - 30cm@1850m, 70/77 lifts, 137/167 pistes

Chamonix (Grands Montets) - OPEN - 29cm@1972m

Isola 2000 - OPEN - 60cm@2000m, 30 pistes

Serre Chevalier - OPEN - 90cm@2100m, 47/62 lifts, 57/81 pistes

Les Arcs - OPEN - 10cm@1600m, 41 lifts, 70 pistes

Val d'Allos - OPEN - 30cm@1800m, 16/28 lifts, 21/63 pistes

Grand Tourmalet -  OPEN - 30cm@1800m, 16/30 lifts, 15/61 pistes

ITALY

A snowy start to the week for Italy as well, but only really favouring the western ski resorts, especially Limone Piemonte.

Limone Piemonte 21.12.16 - Limone Piemonte Facebook

Snow is fairly patchy below 2000m across Italy, so head to the higher ski areas.

Conditions at my featured Italian ski stations:

Madonna di Campiglio - OPEN - 40cm@2250m, 0cm@1500m, 15/19 lifts, 25 runs

Madesimo - OPEN - 20cm@1550m, 50cm@3000m, 8/13 lifts, 14/36 runs

Monterosa - OPEN - 10/150cm, 22/45 lifts, 37/93 runs

Val Gardena - OPEN - 183/207 lifts open across Dolomiti Superski