The snow has arrived! Against all forecasts, this morning the first snowflakes fell in the Aosta Valley, whitening the valley’s ski resorts; as the hours went by, the snow also reached Piedmont, Lombardy and, in the evening, Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli too.
Already last night there was talk of likely snowfall in Italy, since our French cousins were announcing the arrival of a weather front during the night. In fact, a good 50/60 cm of fresh snow fell in the French resorts, completely changing the landscape, to the delight of skiers and snowboarders.
The snowfall has whitened the Aosta Valley, at different altitudes depending on the area. The snow came down as low as 1,000 m, but significant accumulations were recorded from 1,800 m upwards.
Then it was the turn of Piedmont with the Monterosa, which finally broke its fast (after the lift company had announced that it could not open the slopes), and of the Olympic slopes of the Via Lattea. A little later the snow also reached Bormio and Livigno. As the front moved east, all the border areas were hit by another snow front, with Plan de Corones, Alta Pusteria, Val Senales and other ski areas in South Tyrol. Friuli was also affected by the snowfall.
Missing out on this long-awaited snow were Veneto and the lower part of Trentino. During the day the clouds passed over the ski resorts without dropping a single flake.
It is too early to say whether this snow will allow the ski lifts to open; we will have to wait at least until tomorrow morning to take stock of the situation and see whether the ski areas manage to open a few new slopes for the Immaculate Conception long weekend. What is certain is that the arrival of the snow has brought back the good mood!
Val Senales, a lovely snowfall!
Cervinia, a whopping 35 cm of Fresh Snow!
To see all the photos of today’s snowfall click here: snowfall December 7, 2011
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