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A chilly week in Val Thorens with great snow conditions

More low temperatures and maybe more snow on its way

featured in Snow report Author Gemma Hunt, Val Thorens Reporter Updated

This week has been the first time this season it has really felt like winter - well apart from all the snow that fell in January that is! Temperatures have been really low and I have been caught out a few times by heading out without the usual winter accessories.

Despite a forecast showing mainly cloud cover, we have in fact had a lot more sun than was expected which has helped to take some of the chill off and warm those cheeks. On Wednesday it was a low visibility cloudy day in the lower resort of St Martin de Bellevile, however further up the valley Les Menuires and Val Thorens were above the sea of clouds enjoying bluebird skies. These kind of days are always a real treat, especially if you have ventured out expecting a bad visibility day only to find yourself out of the cloud on the chairlift and into skiing paradise.

A chilly week in Val Thorens with great snow conditions

Low temperatures have kept the pistes really well preserved and whilst slopes are busier than they have been, it is still not overly busy. The increase in ski school groups is noticeable though and will jump up considerably next week too with the start of both the French and UK holidays. It is probably advisable to avoid heading down to the base of each resort around midday during February as this is when ski schools re-group for pickup - you will likely follow many a ski snake of little ones on their descent which is not particularly great if you are a beginner yourself. Similarly in the morning, either make sure you are there before 9am to get in the queue for first lifts, or have a slower start and come around 10am once all the ski schools have left. There is nothing worse than dashing out ready for a ski day only to use your eager ski legs to then stand in a queue for 30 minutes!

A chilly week in Val Thorens with great snow conditions

Today (Friday) in the Three Valleys we have clear skies and temperatures between -8 and -10 C. On Saturday, temperatures are dropping a bit further to between -8 and -11 and we are seeing that snowflake symbol again, with a forecast of light snow in the early hours between 5am-8am. If you are heading home tomorrow maybe add a little extra time to de-ice or de-snow your car, although the roads should be clear unless the estimate of 2cm is way off the mark.

Whilst we have not had any fresh snow for the past week or so, the snow clearers are still busy at work. Once the roads are all ticked off they then start on clearing snow away from parking areas, especially important with this peak holiday period coming up. It is refreshing to see trucks of snow leaving resort rather than arriving as happened last year!

A chilly week in Val Thorens with great snow conditions

Next week the forecast is looking pretty similar to this week, with sun and cloud cover, and it looks like it is getting even colder with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday promising temperatures of up to -16 C, so do not forget to add those extra layers. After Wednesday there does seem to be the prediction of another dump of snow of around 10-20cm, although forecasts this far in advance can be off the mark, so we will just wait and see.

A chilly week in Val Thorens with great snow conditions

The snow depth has not altered since our last report, with 270cm at 3200m and 225cm lower down at 2300m. At the moment the pistes are really well groomed and you might not actually notice the amazing snow depth whilst skiing, other than some hidden piste markers and the impressive rooftop snow hats. Despite the record snow levels this season it has been interesting to see that the piste team are taking advantage of the low temperatures to still get the snow canons up and running. This is all boding well for a good season right up to the end of April which is something we have really missed out on in previous seasons. End of season dates have been extended this season for Les Menuires and St Martin who are closing on 27 April 2018 and 21 April 2018 respectively. Val Thorens will be open until 8 May 2018. There are plenty of ski weeks left though before we even start to think of closing and with conditions as they are, it is definitely a season to make the most of!

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Map of the surrounding area