Val Thorens Snow Report: 2nd December 2011

The problem has been autumn weather described by the French meteorological office as “exceptionally warm, extremely dry and remarkably sunny”. It has been one of the warmest autumns since 1900 with temperatures 2-3C above average. The limited snow we have had, fell on unfrozen ground and melted almost immediately. And the unusual warmth has meant resorts have scarcely been able to use their ‘cultured’ snow-making facilities.

While the Southern Alps have received enough snow to start opening a few pistes, the Northern Alps are almost all still closed or have managed to open only a handful of runs. Here in the 3 Valleys, Val Thorens (the highest resort in France), postponed its November opening; Courchevel and Méribel have just announced their opening has been put back from this weekend until 10 December.

If you are wondering whether to cancel your plans for Christmas on skis and book a beach holiday instead, take heart from the experts who remain remarkably cheerful and optimistic.

Fabrice Mielzarek, Director of Méribel Tourist Office, said today: “It is not a catastrophe! There are still two weeks until the holidays start on 17 December and the weather forecast is for a wave of cold and snow at the beginning of next week. In recent years we have got used to seeing early snowfalls but if we look back further, we see that the snow often fell only just before the holidays began. Méribel is fortunate to have a ski area which can be covered with cultured snow and as soon as the cold arrives we will start making it. We are doing everything possible so that we can to open the 3 Valleys on 10 December.”

Meribel’s lift companies, Alpina and S3V, are also in bullish mood. They stated today: “We are on a war footing! Our teams are ready to create perfect ski runs. Méribel is one of the European ski resorts best equipped with snowmaking capacity. With the forecast cold weather, less than one week is needed to cover over half of our ski area with snow and offer quality skiing for the opening on 10 December.”

We are indeed fortunate that the 3 Valleys has invested massively in artificial snow-making. More than 2000 snow cannons cover a third of the entire ski area. Méribel alone has more than 720 snow cannons, covering half of the valley’s pistes. And it is true these modern snow cannons are capable of pushing out enough snow to cover a piste in a matter of days. Thanks to its high situation and slightly colder temperatures, Val Thorens has already managed to open 18 of its 80 pistes with artificial snow.

How do snow cannons work? Pressurised air and pressurised, chilled water are sent to the cannons via a network of underground pipes. The sudden drop in air pressure reduces the temperature at the nozzle of the cannon to around -100C, enough to freeze the water droplets instantly. Providing the ambient temperature is sufficiently low (between 0 and -4C depending on the humidity) the cannons can run day and night. In some parts of the world, chemicals are added to the water to help prevent the snow from melting, but this is not the case in the 3 Valleys, where no additives are used.

There is, of course, a considerable cost involved in running the cannons. The electricity required is enormous, which adds to the cost of our lift passes. The amount of water available is limited by how much can be contained in the specially-built reservoirs. Use too much water now, and there will be less to use later in the season. The lift companies are generally unwilling to give figures for how many cubic metres of snow they produce in a season.

Fortunately, only relatively little snow is required to open a piste. In Méribel, with its grassy terrain, just 20cm depth is needed. Higher resorts, with rockier terrain, require much more. Each summer, Méribel’s lift companies re-profile certain pistes, removing rocks and crushing stones to make them as smooth as possible and thus reducing the amount of snow required them make them skiable.

The lack of snow last winter proved just how essential snow cannons have become to modern ski resorts. With them, Méribel was able to stay open until the end of April this year, despite almost no snowfalls since January. It‘s all a far cry from 25 years ago when ski patrollers used to drag excess snow in avalanche couloirs down to the lower pistes on tarpaulins.