14th February 2025
Last modified on February 26th, 2025
Further snow is falling at altitude in the Alps, with heavy snow in parts of Japan and the USA. UPDATED
Tuesday 25th February
Snow is falling again in the Alps after a dry and mild spell.
“On Tuesday the heaviest of any snow will fall in the north-western Alps (e.g. Chamonix, Avoriaz) where 10-20cm of snow is likely above 1800m,” said the alpine weather exert, Fraser Wilkin, from weathertoski.co.uk.
“More generally across the western Alps there will be around 5-10cm of snow, but little (if any) in the far south.”
“On Wednesday itself any showers will be mostly confined to the eastern Alps (e.g. Austria, Dolomites) where between 5-15cm of new snow is expected above 1500m or so, and perhaps a bit more in places, especially in the extreme south-east,” added Fraser.
“Snow conditions right now are generally quite poor lower down, but better at altitude where new snow will freshen things up over the next couple of days.”
More to follow…
Sunday 23rd February
We start today in Japan which continues to see huge amounts of snow.
PlanetSKI’s James Cove has been deep in the powder for the past few weeks and now the sun has made an appearance to top things off.
He is in the resort of Kiroro on the island of Hokkaido that is one of many in Japan on the Indy Pass.
See here for more on the Indy Pass.
Several Japanese ski areas have passed the 6m base depth mark.
Yamagata’s Tengendai Kogen reports the most of any Japanese resort with 6.4m so far this winter.
“After a quieter few days over the weekend, we’re back to full-on snowfall for the coming week, with many areas likely to see 10-30 cm of snowfall daily and weekly totals of more than a metre in places,” added James.
“It looks like some Japanese resorts could potentially pass the 7m base depth mark by this time next week.”
Here are a few images from Kiroro:
Kiroro. Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Kiroro. Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Kiroro. Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Kiroro. Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
In the resort of Geto Kogen a ski guide from the USA was killed in an avalanche after the recent snow.
He had been in Japan guiding groups over the past three weeks.
Other members of the group alerted the authorities and his body was found after a four hour search.
An investigation has been launched.
PlanetSKI is now moving deeper into Hokkaido shortly.
We will be basing ourselves in the resort of Furano as we visit several resorts in the area: Furano itself, plus Tomamu, Kamui and the wonderfully-named Mount Racey.
Hokkaido ski areas. Image c/o Hokkaido tourist office.
Do check back…
Friday 21st February
Video report fromPlanetSKI’s Simon Wilson who has been in the Paradiski area in France this half-term week.
Thursday 20th February
There has been plenty of sunshine across the Alps for the main UK half-term week.
Thursday sees more in the way of cloud across some northern parts of the Alps, with even the odd shower/flurry (1700m) here and there, although most places will remain dry and bright.
“Given the fine weather, most holiday-makers will be happy with snow conditions in the Alps this half term, despite the obvious weaknesses in many lower areas,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“The main problem is that snow depths are way below par at low altitudes across the board.
“This isn’t a huge issue for now, at least for on-piste skiers, but will become more problematic as we move into spring, unless there is heavy snow.
“At altitude, conditions are much more “normal” for the time of year, although snow depths are still below par across most of the southern Alps.
“The deepest snow is at altitude in the northern French Alps at resort such as La Rosière, Flaine, Avoriaz, Chamonix.”
PlanetSKI reader, Valais Dude, has posted from Switzerland on social media.
The weather’s getting warmer now and the lower slopes into places like @Veysonnazsuisse a bit slushy in the afternoon- some days of spring type skiing ahead in the 4 valleys, let’s hope colder weather returns soon pic.twitter.com/jsvOaTFcIv
— Valais Dude (@ValaisDude) February 19, 2025
PlanetSKI reporter, Simon Wilson, is in La Plagne in France and he reports big crowds on the pistes at key times of the day.
There have been some epic queues building up at the usual bottlenecks in Plagne Centre and Bellecôte from about 3pm onwards.
La Plagne, France. Image © PlanetSKI
“Fortunately the pistes are still in excellent condition, especially higher up,” said Simon.
“We skied right down to Montalbert, one of La Plagnes outlying mountain villages, at 1350 metres today and the pistes were absolutely fine, thanks to judicious prepping with artificial snow to create a good base earlier in the season.
La Plagne, France. Image © PlanetSKI
“The ‘secret’ to having maximum fun at this time of year in La Plagne is to arrange the day to maximise skiing between midday and 2pm when the pistes and lift queues magically clear as morning ski schools end and many half-term families head back to their self-catering apartments for lunch.”
La Plagne, France. Image © PlanetSKI
Wednesday 19th February
We start today with an update from Japan where PlanetSKI’s editor, James Cove, is.
He is on the north island of Hokkaido and staying in the city of Sapporo.
Heavy snow was falling at 8am as he set off for Niseko.
After a change of plan due to the heavy snow he ended up in the city’s local ski mountain – Sapporo Teine.
But not before a visit to a shinto shrine.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
See here for more:
The road to Sapporo Teine was snowy, but passable on the way up.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
While on the mountain it was chucking it down – again.
Time for a snow report:
And at the end of the day many of the vehicles in the car park needed to be cleaned of the day’s snow.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
And the snow ploughs too.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
In Hokkaido at the moment it just keeps on snowing
Elsewhere in Japan it has not been so good with rain falling in the Hakuba Valley on the main island of Honchu a few days ago as the temperatures warmed up.
In the next few days James going to make another attempt to reach Niseko and report back on the current snow conditions.
Rather surprisingly he has never skied there, but has visited in the summer months
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Monday 17th February
As we pass the midway point of February there has been some more snow in the Alps and now warm temperatures and sunshine are back in many places as the half-term week continues.
According to Meteo France overall snow coverage remains within seasonal norms at mid and high altitudes in the Alps and Pyrenees, but the situation is far less favorable at lower altitudes.
“Absolutely gorgeous weather on Sunday, blue skies all day, warm in the afternoon and loads of excellent snow on the pistes,” said PlanetSKI reporter, Simon Wilson, from the high altitude resort of La Plagne in France.
“Given all that some very busy spots at the peak times of day of course.
“But if you know where and when to go then the resort is in excellent shape and the forecast for the UK half term week is for lots of sun and mild temps.”
La Plagne, France. Image © PlanetSKI
La Plagne, France. Image © PlanetSKI
The slopes are busy across many resorts during the half-term break.
London teachers Lucy and Emily messaged their travel agent SNO Ski Holidays today, to say half-term skiing conditions are terrific in St Anton this week.
Lucy and Emily in St Anton, Austria.
“The recent big snowfall, followed by bluebird sunny skiing this week, has created the perfect combination of snow and sunshine for the February half term,” said CEO of SNO, Richard Sinclair.
He advised people to get organised quickly if planning to ski in the next school holidays.
“Clients who missed this terrific half-term skiing are now busy booking their family trips in the Easter school holiday, so the main Easter week is already 85% sold.”
Check back here at PlanetSKI for our upcoming feature on the Easter ski holiday market and forecasted snow conditions.
This year Easter runs from Friday 4 April 2025 to Monday 21 April 2025.
Overall though snow conditions in the Alps remain rather mixed.
“Generally good at altitude but highly variable lower down due to the mild, and for many, cloudy weather over recent days, which has prevented a solid overnight refreeze,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk
“Indeed, snow depths at lower altitudes are extremely modest for mid-February across most of the Alps, just as they were this time last year.”
It is a different story in Japan where PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, is.
On Sunday 16th February he was in the resort of Kiroro near Sapporo on the north island of Hokkaido.
Not a powder day, but huge amounts of snow on the slopes nonetheless.
And here are some images of the snow on the way to the resort that James mentioned in his video report.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
The first resort he visited in Hokkaido, on Saturday 15th, was Sapporo Teine.
Check out these images of the snow in Sapporo Teine.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
See here for PlanetSKI’s first full report from Hokkaido:
Like in the Hakuba Valley where he was skiing earlier, it just keeps on snowing.
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Hokkaido, Japan. Image © PlanetSKI
Meanwhile, in the USA there are similar amounts to Japan.
Here’s the scene in Colorado:
More to follow…
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