Easter Melt Down?
Easter Melt Down?
Published : 27-Mar-2012 04:30
Skiers and boarders heading to Europe and North America have been advised to hold their nerves as record high temperature has led to a rapid thaw at many resorts with hundreds closing prematurely for the season. …that's as long as they've followed the pundits advice and booked a stay at a high altitude ski area.
In Europe almost half of the ski areas in the Alps are believed to have closed, but almost all have ski slopes below 2000m which have suffered particularly from the high temperatures and what precipitation there has been often falling as rain rather than snow in recent weeks. This and the tendency of many casual skiers to opt for early cycling or golf means that battling to keep slopes open doesn't make economic sense for them either.
However above 2000m temperatures have largely stayed around or below zero, there have been fresh dustings of snow and many
resorts still have snow lying over 2m (seven feet) deep still from the huge snowfalls of December and January, so the warm weather is having a more limited impact and the vast majority of internationally well known resorts are fully open and plan to remain so to late April or early May.
Across the Atlantic it's ales happy picture on the East coast of Canada and the USA where record high temperatures in the 80s Farenheit or upper 20s Centigrade have and a fairly catastrophic impact on snow cover at the end of a fairly lacklustre season for reliable snow. So around 90% of ski hills have closed early, with only some of the big name international destinations soldiering on with limited terrain open. Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Loon, Waterville Valley, Jay Peak, Stowe, Sugarbush and Killington are the survivors and even hope to make fresh snow if a promised temperature drop occurs.
Fresh snow earlier this month and lots of it in California has dramatically improved the prospect for their end of season and two resorts – Heavenly and Northstar – have today announced plans to extend their season and open for the last two weekends of April to make the most of it.
Further north resorts in Alberta and BC in Canada have had the most consistent snowfall all winter and in most cases are already running well above seasonal averages. Marmot Basin, Sunshine, Lake Louise and Whistler all plan to be open in to May as scheduled.
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