© Giles Towler
Blue skies and fresh snow in Morzine
The sun came out in Morzine today and conditions are perfect all over the mountain
At the start of the week, things had looked a bit grey in town with rain falling at resort level. However, anyone heading up the mountain was rewarded with fresh snow falling at the top of the Pleney and higher. By Tuesday, the freezing level had dropped significantly and snow was falling in town. This continued for most of the day and, whilst visibility was not great on the mountain, the snow was excellent.
Things changed completely by Wednesday morning with blue skies, warmer temperatures and plenty of fresh snow. It was a perfect day on the mountain. It felt like spring, due to the incredible weather, but with the kind of snow conditions that Morzine was lucky enough to have in December.
With the school holidays over the mountain is quite quiet, so anyone who has been fortunate enough to come out this week will have enjoyed an exceptional day today.
Due to the temperature over the past couple of days, the fresh snow at lower altitudes is slightly heavy and slow although still good. The best conditions are to be found at the highest altitudes, and Arare and Fornet were the only areas where there were really any queues. The wait was well worth it though, with over 30cm of fresh snow to enjoy. In Fornet, taking the drag lift instead of the chairlifts was a good way to bypass the queues.
There was not any significant wind during the recent storms, meaning that the higher slopes held their snow. By mid-morning the more easily accessible areas of Fornet looked tracked out but the area is so large that it was always possible to find some fresh snow. Quieter areas such as Nyon and Mt Chery will still have fresh snow, although it might not last long as everyone takes advantage of the incredible conditions at the moment. It is important to take care, however, as the avalanche risk is at 4/5 higher up the mountain and 3/5 lower down. There’s still plenty of off-piste to enjoy but caution is certainly advisable.
On-piste conditions couldn’t be better. At the start of the week, the snow on piste was quite slushy but the fresh snow has meant an end to the spring-like conditions and a return to perfectly groomed, snow-covered slopes.
Even now, in the middle of March, the winter shows no sign of coming to an end. More heavy snowfall is forecast for the coming days, particularly tomorrow (Thursday). The temperature is set to drop in time for the fresh snow, although there is a chance that there will be rain in Morzine. Often, when it rains in Morzine, it is still worth making the effort to get up the mountain as there is usually snow higher up. It’s a good idea to get amongst the trees of Super Morzine, Lindarets, Pleney and Les Gets when the weather is bad. The slightly improved visibility in these areas gives skiers the best opportunity to enjoy the fresh snow.
At the moment, it looks as though the weather will clear up early next week, although the temperature looks set to get even lower when the skies clear, meaning that all the fresh snow that is on the way will not go anywhere. Judging by the current forecast next week could be even better than this week! The fresh snowfall has topped up the snow at lower levels, where the snow depth is still around 2m, and vastly improved things higher up, with snow depths of over 4m.
The entire ski area is currently open, and the next clear day could be an ideal opportunity to ski the full Portes du Soleil circuit and enjoy the amazing on-piste conditions.
The only concern at the moment is that, with no sign of the snow ending, will people be riding their bikes over snow when the resort reopens for summer?!
