Snow Predictions Winter 2019

What can we expect this winter?

So you’ve booked your annual trip to the snow and before you know it, the weather conditions for a region that at any other time of year would be completely insignificant, suddenly become an obsession. Daily checks of online snow reports, logging in to mountain webcams and feverishly browsing comments on resort forums... the intensity builds as you approach your departure date. Recognise this? Yep, we’ve all been there!

So, how’s this winter shaping up? Can the snow possibly be as epic as last season? Or will it be more cannon crud than deep powder days?

After reading up on a selection of winter reports here’s a round up of our findings for 2018/19.

- Overall, most forecasts seem to agree we can expect a similar winter to last year. Sweet!

- Depending on El Niño’s influence, January in the Alps could be an extremely cold month.

- Again, if El Niño comes out to play, it would bring more humid conditions across Europe throughout the winter, and while this may mean some warmer temperatures, these conditions can often bring on the best snowfalls.

- Some resorts have already seen the first snow of the season. It snowed above 1800m in Les Portes du Soleil just recently and last week, Tignes glacier enjoyed some good dustings. Not that this means anything longer term but any snow at this time of year gets us excited.

- And... if you read the Daily Mail, they’re announcing “THIS COULD BE THE COLDEST WINTER IN 100 YEARS” (for the 4th year running) and that we’re all going back to the Ice Age.

But let’s talk about more serious issues for a minute. Climate change is threatening our winters and the sports we love. According to The Telegraph, scientific studies say that in the Alps there may be 70% less snow by 2099 and that the ski season could start up to a month later and finish up to three months earlier, with the snow line ascending by 1000m. Alpine glacier surfaces have shrunk by half in the last 100 hundred years with a strong acceleration of the melting processes since the 1980s. In fact, the well known Mer de Glace in Chamonix Valley is now melting at a rate of around 40 metres a year and has lost 80m in depth over the last 20 years alone.

It’s an important reminder to all snow lovers to make the right choices in our everyday lives to protect not only the mountains but the environment as a whole. As outdoor people, we’re particularly conscious of being an environmentally friendly brand and we’re phasing in measures to ensure we do our bit, more on this in an upcoming blog post!

When it comes to the seasonal forecasts, we know not to read too much into them. But it can’t hurt to do a little snow dance and hope for another winter of shredding waist deep powder!