How to Find the Snow. A Brief Guide For the European Alps
Alpine Snow Climate: Getting Started
Finding the desired snow conditions in the Alps is not as straigthforward as you may think. The requirements for the ‘perfect’ freeride day are indeed quite high. It takes a combination of fresh snow, which should be of certain quality (i.e. ‘dry’) and quantity. To make matters even more complicated there should be calm winds and sunshine. The combination of all these aforementioned prerequisites is by no means the default weather regime in the Alps and it takes some skills to be in the right place at the right time.
Especially first-time visitors or skiers who have only limited knowledge about the snow climate of the Alps may end up with poor conditions due to some bad decisions. However those decisions can be easily avoided by a few basic steps.
The good thing first: You do not have to be a meteorology geek, applying just a few principles will improve your decision-making process significantly. Of course, studying this brief guide is one of them. And here is how to use this guide: first, I give an overview about the general climate regimes in the Alps and some fundamental patterns which influence the snow quantity and quality. Secondly, I give a step-by-step introduction of how to chose specific regions for specific periods of the Alpine ski season. Please be aware that this guide is aimed at the layman. So if you have background knowledge concerning some general patterns of high-mountain climates you may skip some of the paragraphs below.
Basic Patterns of the Alpine Snow Climate
As for every high-mountain climate some fundamental patterns and relationship are to be found in the Alps whose knowledge and correct assessment are critical for an appropriate decision making. These patterns are:
Due to their location in the middle of the European continent and their relative distance to the oceans the Alps receive precipitation from various directions. The image below gives an overview of the basic storm patterns which usually deliver snow on the one hand or stable (and cold) sunny weather on the other hand.
Winter storm pattern in the Alps
Basically there are just two types of regions in the Alps as seen from the perspective of the powder hungry skier: Regions which receive orographic (or relief) precipitation and inner-alpine dry regions. The former usually receive annual precipitation in the range from 1000-2000mm whereas the latter receive only about 600-700mm precipitation. Of course, the elevation of said regions plays an important role wether the precipitation comes as snow or as rain.
Thus, looking for regions receiving orographic precipitation and which happen to be high ‘enough’ is the best approach for finding the ultimate locations. Of course, we need a definition of ‘high enough’. This varies considerable within the Alps. As a rule of thumb this would be about 1500m in the Western Alps (France, Switzerland, Italy) and about 1000m in the Eastern Alps (and somewhat lower in the easternmost parts of Austria and in Slovenia).
The identification of inner-alpine dry regions is relatively easy. Each region within the Alps surrounded by high mountain massifs is relatively dry and receives only a fraction of the precipitation compared to the fringes. The large inner-alpine valleys like the Susa and Aosta Valley (Western Italy), Rhone Valley (Switzerland), the Inn Valley (Austria) and the Adige Valley (Northern Italy) all are quite dry. The driest regions are those valleys which lead from these big valleys into the high mountain massifs (i.e. Mattertal, Engadin, Oetztal, Vinschgau). In some of these valleys you will find wine yards as high as 1000m! Not a promising prerequisite for deep powder.
Finding the ‘perfect’ location. A step-by-step approach
Long term planning and short-term decision making: Of course, skiers living outside of the Alps do have to do some planning beforehand. Researching travel routes, accomodation options, selecting interesting skiing possibilities, yet even surveying the snow and avalanche situation in targeted regions are all part of the planning process prior to starting the trip. However, this planning process should be flexible and the final decision should be left open until the last moment possible. With some regional and seasonal (e.g. during Christmas/New Year) exceptions pre-booking is not a preriquisite, especially if you are flexible enough concerning the quality of your accomocation and you do not restrict yourself to ski-in/ski-out options.
Determining regional and seasonal filters: The locational choices depend heavily on the season of the trip. Especially early winter (November/December and sometimes even January) can be particularly tricky. The best approach for this time period is to restrict the locations to those which receive particular intensive orographic precipitation. Inner-alpine dry regions should be strict no-go areas for this time period. These regions (which in principle offer some very fine skiing) are perfect only later in the winter, especially for spring skiing. Then chances are higher that a good snow base has been accumulated even in these alpine ‘deserts’.
Defining alternative locations: Flexibility is the key. Defining alternative regions in a different climate ’sub-regime’ with a different exposure to the snow-delivering storms allows for short-term adjustments. Here it is, where the knowledge of the broad pattern of the storm regimes comes in handy.
An example: If your primary destination is in a region which receives the snow from the northwest you should search for an alternative region (secondary destination) which receives the snow from a different direction. The main ridge of the Alps (called ‘Alpenhauptkamm’) usually defines the border of the effects of the storms. If there is no new snow or ‘bad’ weather (i.e. Foehn) in the North, chances are good that the situation will be completely different in the South of the Alpine main ridge. Luckily, the distances to be crossed don’t have to be wide.
Following the snow: The principle of Follow the snow is the obvious strategy. Transport infrastructures in the Alps are good enough that this strategy can be applied even by using public transport (though with somewhat more hassle). Especially Switzerland is best suited to be explored by public transport under the principle of snow chasing. Distances between ski resorts are relatively short and crossing the main ridge of the Alps is easily done by train and there are enough resorts which belong to different ’snow climates’ to benefit from the various storm pattern.
