Although it has appeared in 'outlooks' of a few forecasts over the past 10 days or so, it is now two weeks since ski areas in central Europe received a meaningful fall of snow. Ski-ing remains good on many of the higher runs in higher resorts, thanks to cool temperatures and dry air, but many lower slopes have become skied out and those without snow making equipment are starting to look a bit sorry for themselves, especially at busy junctions on runs to resort level.
Austria, which started out with poorer conditions on lower slopes could do with some serious snowfall now if the lower mountain is to see out a reasonable season.
Even Italy which has had good snow high up since well before Christmas may not be lacking in snow depth, but the base is becoming compacted. In many other areas too it is becoming icy and polished first thing in the day, and sugary or Spring-like on slopes exposed to prolonged sunshine which has been relentless.
Andorra, however, has had some 10cm of new snow in the past week and although still lacking in the snow depths of some of the higher French, Swiss and Italian resorts, still has some good ski-ing on offer.
Eastern Europe's Balkans has had more new snow too, and the resorts of Pamporovo, Vitosha and Borovets - popular with budget-conscious beginners and early intermediates - has some reasonable ski-ing on fresh snow. Norway and Sweden have also seen new snow and in are in fair shape.
In particular, the Colorado resorts were starting to suffer from the lack of a recent snowfall, and Vail and Aspen were starting to appear tired until last Tuesday when new snowfall means it has been ski-ing on a powdery surface for most of the week. In Wyoming, Jackson Hole has still got some of the best conditions around.
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