With a number of resorts boasting early snowfalls and lifts starting up across
Europe and North America before we've even welcomed December, it’s seems to
be a promising start to the season.
Verbier, Switzerland, and Chamonix, France, are among the resorts opening
selected lifts unexpectedly this month, albeit just for weekends, though
Chamonix has also brought its full opening forward a fortnight to December
7. Courchevel, France, is offering a free day on the slopes this Saturday
thanks to early snow, ahead of the Trois Vallées full opening on December 7.
In North America, Aspen followed
Whistler in bringing opening day forward by nearly two weeks to last
weekend (November 16). Park City, Utah, is to open this weekend and its next
door neighbour, Canyons, to follow on November 29.
After
a record-smashing season for snow in Europe last season, such early
flurries are right to excite skiers and snowboarders. However, it was not so
long ago the region struggled for the white stuff.
In 2011 Europe experienced an unusually warm autumn, forcing many resorts to
push back opening dates, before December brought a series of of powerful
storms, delivering massive dumps to much of the north-west Alps. In 2012 in
the Alps snow began to fall early and by late November most high resorts had
a solid foundation – then another series of storms in December brought yet
more snow.
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