Snow Conditions

France is home to some truly remarkable skiing, with resorts such as Val Thorens so confident in their conditions they have a ‘snow guarantee’, challenging people to find a European resort with better conditions. The Paradiski ski area is a snow sure region with lifts going as high as 3,225m, connecting a number of Europe’s best ski resorts, such as Les Arcs, La Plagne, and Peisey-Vallandry.

Switzerland enjoys consistently strong snow records thanks to the number of high-altitude ski resorts in the country, which boast some of Europe’s biggest glaciers. In fact, Switzerland has the most peaks in Europe over 4,000m, so snow is all but guaranteed in many resorts over the season.

The dry snow that Norway experiences means the skiing is unique for Europe, far closer resembling the conditions of North America. Many areas are so confident of their snow quality, that they guarantee your lift pass and will refund you if conditions aren’t up to standard. The Nordic season is long, starting in November and lasting until late April.

Great storms roll in from the Pacific and can dump metres of snow in one night across western resorts such as Heavenly and Palisades Tahoe, before moving east, over the high deserts of Nevada and Arizona, just in time to throw a blanket of fluffy powder over the Rockies, with Utah claiming to have the ‘Greatest Snow on Earth’. Ski resorts such as Winter Park get an average of 350 inches of snowfall each year.