I somewhat expected this might be ChrisC's response when I posted Fraser's response to my questions yesterday.
Jackson is almost all HS lifts now, Targhee has a new mountain and Sun Valley added new glades from Seattle Ridge - and all are well-covered. Also, I have a local family friend for a day at Teton Pass.
We're looking at it differently. Liz has some knee issues and is unlikely to be venturing off piste unless conditions are primo. If it gets worse she'll be requesting some non-skiing tourism like we did last spring. Nice and Monaco are an easy day's drive from our likely ski destinations. And if we go down there we'll probably hit Isola 2000 and Auron on the way.
I was into some more pisted skiing at perhaps Gstaad, Crans-Montana, and a lesser extent Portes du Soliel and Flaine, but there is too much terrain washed out/under 2000m. Zinal/Grimentz was looking OK and possibly might recover.
Likely focus on either 1. Southern Alpes (Serre Chevalier/Puy St Vincent/Les 2 Alpes/Alpe d'Huez) or 2. Val d'Isere/Tignes plus Ste. Foy/Las Arcs. Bourg St. Marice has a lot of options. (Most 3 Vallees options want you for the week.)
Give things another 10 days.
On a positive note: WePowder is more confident about impending storm and issued a
Powder Alert. Clipped the more interesting parts.
Where to go?
As mentioned, this weekend is actually just a bit too early for powder. Sunday will see some snow higher up in the Western Alps, but accummulation by late afternoon is still limited. Monday already has significantly more options with around 20 centimetres fresh in and around the French Northern Alps, but Tuesday looks to be the best day with serious amounts in the French Northern Alps and the rest of the north-western Alps. Small sidenote: note that there is not a solid base everywhere. We see in the north-west Alps, for example, big differences between below and above 2000 metres. In the Northern Alps, snow cover is quite thin in many places even to higher altitudes.
For the southern Alps, the Julian Alps will clearly be the winner in terms of snow accumulation, with Sella Nevea - Kanin being a good option, for example. At the moment almost everything is open there and a fine base. The only open question is when they will open after the snowfall. Tuesday with the sun out could be a dream day in this corner. But also nearby areas like Nassfeld with a good base or Lombardy is with about 20 to 30 centimetres seem like great options at the moment.
Extra update over the weekend
Due to the exciting weather situation next week, there will be an extra update over the weekend.
Courmayeur above whatever its rain line was will surely have its modest number of pistes trashed in short order. That's why I suggested ChrisC relocate. So now he can pull the plug completely and not be on the hook for lodging costs there?
The Italians spend most of their time on the sundecks of Courmayeur. Over New Years in 2015, there were not too many liftlines or slope congestion. It's kinda like a Cortina for the Milan/Turin crowd - get up late, ake a few runs, start with long lunch and drinks, then get down the mountain early to change into designer wear to promenade at sunset/apres-ski.
This trip got locked in back on June 18th for a heli deposit and lodging for $250. Then I had a heli balance due in mid-December of $500 or so. There are other guys that want to do heli, so I might be able to sell my spot for cost (3 runs at 3-5k vertical). The heli operation has other areas nearby so we might follow the snow (La Thuile, others). Both the Toula Glacier off the cable car and the heli terrain are above 2000m, so they might be OK by Feb 1st.
Also, this is as much a social outing too. Just 4 days - and La Thuile is about 30 minutes away.
I just did not envision the vast majority of the Alps being sub-par.
