Why W17/18 had the best snow conditions in 30 years

It’s fair to say there was some apprehension in the air during the build-up to the 2017/18 ski season. With a run of three warm winters behind them, many resorts, and skiers, were worried that another year of poor snowfall was on its way. And, with a scorching hot summer in 2017, even the highest snowsure glaciers in Europe were in trouble.

Happily, we needn’t have worried. The snow began falling on the high altitude slopes as early as September. And it really didn’t stop…

Following a healthy start to the season and great Christmas coverage, January saw things amp up considerably. Many resorts, especially those in the western Alps, reported record dumps of snow. Engelberg, Switzerland, reported the deepest base worldwide, reaching a staggering depth of 740cm on its Titlis Glacier by April.

While resorts looked like the very epitome of magical winter wonderlands, there was undoubtedly some logistical challenges involved with such huge snowfalls. Transfers were disrupted, avalanche risk reached a maximum rating of five in some resorts, and skiers holidaying in the most dramatically affected resorts had to shelter inside rather than hitting the slopes during the heaviest snow.

Nonetheless, a long season lasting well into spring (even summer in some resorts) and fantastic powder conditions, once slopes re-opened, meant most of us gave winter 2017/18 a huge thumbs up.

While temperatures were not unusually low over the winter months in Europe, it’s thought rising temperatures in the North Atlantic seas created more moisture to evaporate into the air. And that moisture fell as snow once it hit the cold westerly winds of the winter.

While we loved, loved, loved all that snow, if the last few winters tell us anything it’s that climate change is leading to more unpredictable weather, swinging from one extreme to another. You can join others in the snowsports community to take positive action on climate change at Protect Our Winters UK.

We checked out the snow reports from Ski Club GB to find out which resorts experienced the highest snowfall in 2017/18:

• Sauze d’Oulx: During its snowiest week in January, this beautiful high-altitude Italian resort saw a whopping total weekly snowfall of 1530cm.

• Tignes and Val d’Isére: These mighty neighbours saw some of the highest snowfall in the French Alps – 1220 and 960cm respectively during peak weeks – across their 300km ski area. In fact, Val d’Isere opened for summer skiing for the first time ever thanks to all that snow.

• Zermatt: this stylish Swiss resort was hit hard by the snow, receiving a huge total snowfall of 1120cm during its snowiest week.

• Cervinia: Italy’s highest ski resort had consistently great snow coverage, with 710cm during its heaviest week and a long season lasting well into summer on its 3883m Piccolo Cervino glacier.

• Val Thorens: as the highest ski resort in Europe, it’s no wonder this lively snowsure resort saw amazing snowfall – its top weekly total was 620cm.

• Sestriere: during its snowiest week, this relaxed Italian resort in the huge Milky Way ski area saw a total weekly snowfall of 600cm.

After such a snowy winter in 2017/18, can we possibly hope for a repeat this winter?

It’s all eyes on the weather reports. There’s talk about the El Niño weather phenomenon causing warmer sea surface temperatures and a milder autumn and winter than usual this year. And, as we saw last season, snowfall is all about the amount of moisture in the air – and a mild, rainy autumn could result in plenty of that. Experts rate the chances of an El Niño year at around 70%.

The truth is, short of doing a snow dance, which is always worth a try, it’s hard to say for sure at this stage.

What we do know is that the snow has started to fall in European areas above 2,000m and glacier skiing in high-altitude resorts like Tignes and Les Deux Alpes is already up and running. Some ingenious resorts have even started snow farming – where they stockpile snow from the previous year and keep it for the next season. It’s rumoured Courcheval have an impressive 15,000 cubic metres all ready to start the base for 2018/19.

Give yourself the best chance of a snowy winter holiday, whatever the conditions, this season by choosing a high-altitude resort with great snowmaking facilities, plenty of north-facing slopes and, ideally, a glacier.

Failing that, it’s back to the snow dance.