 Poster: A snowHead
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Where would snow-space Salzburg sit within this shift in pattern? Seem to have been a bit bereft on new snow of late. Heading there mid March. Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| phillip33 wrote: |
https://www.wetterzentrale.de/en/ens_image.php?geoid=45336&var=201
Half term Transfer day could be interesting- |
I am actually planning to drive down from Courchevel first thing Friday morning. I’m in the Belvedere area which seems to get forgotten about when it comes to ploughing and gritting.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| rogg wrote: |
| Astontech wrote: |
Growing signs on a change in position of the jet stream from around 7-10 days from now, possibility shifting the alps into more of a NW/N flow.
Finally bringing an end to the SW flow and constant hammering of the SW Alps/Pyrenees. |
Boo. |
Would this be good news for East Austria Salzburg way? Seems to have missed pretty much any decent dumps this season…
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There was been about half a meter of snow in Slovenia in the past 2/3 days, much needed.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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A bit early to say but looks more favourable for the Eastern alps in 10+ days time. Will have to see how it develops
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| Drifter210 wrote: |
| rogg wrote: |
| Astontech wrote: |
Growing signs on a change in position of the jet stream from around 7-10 days from now, possibility shifting the alps into more of a NW/N flow.
Finally bringing an end to the SW flow and constant hammering of the SW Alps/Pyrenees. |
Boo. |
Would this be good news for East Austria Salzburg way? Seems to have missed pretty much any decent dumps this season… |
Whilst there haven’t been any major dumps, there have been some reasonable ones. There’s not much in the way of off-piste (indeed, many areas look quite brown!) but the continuous cold weather (about 6/7 weeks now) has kept most of the resort pistes in pretty good condition from what I’ve seen in Salzburgerland and Upper Austria. For sure, some pistes are a bit hard packed in places but overall things are okay.
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Yep - I'm watching that with interest - as things stand we're due to be driving up the Bellville valley c0700hrs on the 14th, could be fairly fruity.
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It'll all be sorted nicely by the time I head to Austria (Niederau) on March 7.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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yes the potential for some heavy snow/rain form mid next week is being flagged especially for Tarentaise, from weds for several days
on the busiest weekend of the year it could be less than pretty.
personally we are driving down on Friday and over night in Montmelian, which was as close as we could to resort
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Polo
Where are you ? Your Snowheads need you !
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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LOL phillip33
i think he can only confirm what we are all beginning to see is a possibility...............in that the busiest transfer day could coincide with some problems
how bad will largely depend on how low the snow, assuming forecast bares out, falls to.
hopefully it wont be snowmagedeon of NY 2014..........15 hours from Chambery was not nice
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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NW Alps set to get absolutely buried over the next 10 days or so.
Looking like there will be widely 1m+ above 1500m.
Anyone out next week, lots of fresh snow for the second half of the week and anyone out the week after that should be skiing on a very good base.
I head home tomorrow after a good Jan with pistes in good condition but I must admit I am pretty envious of anybody out there during mid feb.
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Crikey, looks unsettled in the west from the 11th February. Still time to change.
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You know it makes sense.
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Remarkable winter. A fantastically snowy Oct/Nov, followed by a long drought but thankfully not too warm, now in the middle of decent dumps on and off that seem to go on forever … the Dolomites transformed last 14 days with more to come.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Finally Wepowder's top 50 resorts (with most snowfall forecasted for the next 6 days) shows multiple flags with resorts across the Alps to receive considerable snow, rather than just France and Italy as it has been most of the times I checked.
Looks like widespread snowfall coming up today and next week, though their latest article focuses mainly on the southeast and southwest: https://wepowder.com/en/weblog/2026/02/05/a-lot-of-snow-for-the-southeastern-alps
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Poster: A snowHead
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A snowy Feb is well overdue after a long run of dry Febs
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Gustavo the Gaper wrote: |
Finally Wepowder's top 50 resorts (with most snowfall forecasted for the next 6 days) shows multiple flags with resorts across the Alps to receive considerable snow, rather than just France and Italy as it has been most of the times I checked.
Looks like widespread snowfall coming up today and next week, though their latest article focuses mainly on the southeast and southwest: https://wepowder.com/en/weblog/2026/02/05/a-lot-of-snow-for-the-southeastern-alps |
I would take this with a pinch of salt as with wepowder its the narrative forecast that matters, it regularly disagrees with the numbers their model generates, and they are mentioning warmth next week
But hopefully not. Have to say this season is turning into a vintage one for parts of the Alps at least (South Western in particular) and certainly the Pyrenees
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@8611, Yeah absolutely, the numbers on their home page often forecast over a metre of snow for the coming week (which we know for a fact hasn't been the case most of the time). But at least now the article and the numbers show some prospects for both the Western and Eastern Alps.
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@Jäger yeah I’m sure pistes are generally fine, keen to get somewhere with some decent off piste though! Hoping by end Feb there’ll be something other than just piste runs! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@8611, Good points. The narrative is calling for warmer temps and rain, even at elevation above 1500m. I’m flying into Milan on Tues. and trying to find a good home base in the western alps. Now I’m not sure where to go!
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@beaskro, I've done a lot out of Milan. What are your priorities? A lot of options in Aosta. Can also go North to places like Madesmio and East to Madonna. Not sure which of those have best forecast yet. Piedemont a bit further but possible if it was worth it.
You can get through a few tunnels to France and Switzerland
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@stefoy4me, Funnily enough, I spent the night of 27 Dec 14 in Montmelian. I pulled out of the traffic at about 2pm having chatted to a transfer driver stuck between Bourg and Moutiers. I checked into an empty hotel, had a two hour siesta, and woke up to find people fighting in reception over the last rooms 
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We are staying in montmelisn next Friday at The Belvedere. Could need an early start to get ahead of the hordes as I fancy it will be chaos on the roads.
Those flying in could get double whammy especially if chambery/grenoble/lyon/Geneva are weather affected
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Drifter210 wrote: |
| @Jäger yeah I’m sure pistes are generally fine, keen to get somewhere with some decent off piste though! Hoping by end Feb there’ll be something other than just piste runs! |
My next trip is to Saalbach on Friday. Webcams there keep showing blue sky and a mix of snow and brown on the ground ie terrible for off-piste. The main point of the trip is for my son and his girlfriend to get some piste turns in but I am hoping for a little off-piste myself. There is decent precip forecast to arrive later this week. Not as much as the Western Alps…..I am keeping my fingers crossed. May be too little/too late for me but perhaps may be better for you if you are not going for another week.
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Finally the West is getting a proper reset! Fill yer boots
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Switzerland and Austria are on the bad side of the alps this year... sad.
going to Laax on the 7th March but maybe we should think of alternatives.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@orchardk, not flying til 28th so there’s time, although part of me thinks now do we just book somewhere else, we’ve only committed to flights which were cheap. Seems a shame when the rest of the alps seems to be having a stellar season
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| 8611 wrote: |
@beaskro, I've done a lot out of Milan. What are your priorities? A lot of options in Aosta. Can also go North to places like Madesmio and East to Madonna. Not sure which of those have best forecast yet. Piedemont a bit further but possible if it was worth it.
You can get through a few tunnels to France and Switzerland |
Just chasing the best snow conditions within a reasonable distance of Milan (3-4 hours max). I'm comfortable on expert terrain, but my off piste experience has all been in North America. I'm cautious of European off piste looking at the snowpack and avalanche bulletings (I will be renting avalanche kit though). Any suggestions?
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You know it makes sense.
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@beaskro, are you hiring a guide?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@kitenski, most likely, yes! Hoping to find a small group to make it more affordable.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Best off-piste near Milan: Monterosa (Alagna/Gressoney), Courmayeur, Chamonix, Zermatt, Andermatt.
I would strongly recommend a guide for off-piste in the alps, especially if you are not familiar with the terrain. I have not checked this statistically but I suspect avalanche incidents are more common in the alps because much more skiing is above the tree line.
Some larger guide offices offer group off-piste - they form groups - I heard the Chamonix guide office does this, and I think Andermatt and Engelberg, though it may not be everyday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@orchardk, Thank you for this. Yes, I definitely would like to hire a guide and I'll reach out to these offices. the forecast is showing a potential of over a meter of snow, so most likely high avalanche danger.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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*in the west alps that is. Monterosa looks amazing, but appears will miss the heavy snowfall.
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Amazing that we are looking at almost mid Feb before the first heavy wet spell in the NW villages.....for me it has been a season to remember already, although hopefully I'll forget that when next year is even better.
I don't think there has been any significant rain at 1200m, nearly all snow, it's quite possible the big late november layer is still there to low levels. Also been rare to have so many regular top ups of say 5-15cm again to low levels. Outside the dry spell in Dec. The southerly pattern has been so resolute, gotta be one of the lowest Arctic Oscillation years I've ever seen, hitting a low of -4.5 end of Jan....ie strong high pressure blocking to the far north which forces the jet south.
While it's good now, and am not aware of the stats, but I imagine many places in the northern alps are still below average depth at this stage. But it does look like some kind of change underway mid month. Not been thru the charts like normal but northern blocking finally clears west to greenland allowing a brief northerly flow....after what could be described as a month long undercut.....unprecedented in my relatively short time viewing the colourful pressure pixels.
ECM today vs day 5
 
So yeah as others are saying, it's going to be huge as atlantic lows clear further east. AIFS again has the highest 1500m temps, GFS lowest, but either way wednesday forget it, thursday afternoon is when the drop in temps to 0 looks most likely. If GFS is right.....and it has been good this season I think with FL.....then it drops a bit earlier. All roads lead to a pretty cold snow filled weekend.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@polo,
Welcome back Polo ( Noza ) - aka Vonn of the Weather forecasters
I have booked La Tania for the 22nd March - to good a deal on a Chalet to let go - then comes the inevitable
The Freezeline goes above my chosen resort !!!
But i know , plenty of time between now and then , but it makes me giggle.
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Things seem to have firmed up on the events of this week.
Somewhere high in the NW may get a couple of meters, maybe Chamonix, Tignes, Les Arc, Val T?
Widely 1m above 2000m.
Northern ridge of Austria looks set to join the party finally also.
The one caveat is that there could be rain to pretty high levels on Tues/Wed but Thursday it should be snow down to 1200m-ish and the heaviest precipitation.
And the best thing… everywhere in the alps should pick up something, even 5cm.
Enjoy it everyone!
PS… happy to see you back polo! Hope you enjoyed the last week or two 
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@polo where did you end up visiting on your road trip?
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Just as well the Olympics are in the sheltered east !
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