Morzine gets about five metres of snow a season and Val Thorens about six and a half. That sounds similar. But Morzine's village is at 1,000 m and Val Thorens's at 2,300 m, and that difference decides whether you ski to your door in March or ride a gondola down over grass. Snow reliability is mostly geography: how high the skiing is, which way it faces, and what the resort can do when the sky doesn't deliver. Snowfall comes fourth or fifth. This is how the finder turns those facts into one number, and what that number says about each resort.
The six things that decide it
- Altitude of the skiing (half of the score). Not the village: the share of pistes above 2,000 m, the top lift, and the height where most of the lifts start and finish. Above about 2,000 m a base survives a warm fortnight; below 1,500 m it may not. Mayrhofen's village is at 630 m but its skiing is at 1,600 to 2,500 m, which is why the finder looks at three heights rather than one.
- Aspect. North-facing slopes keep snow for weeks longer in spring and stay cold through the day. South-facing ones (Alpe d'Huez, Cervinia) are sunny and soften by lunchtime; fine in January, slushy by April unless they are very high.
- A glacier. Lift-served glacier skiing (Tignes, Val Thorens, Sölden, Les Deux Alpes, Passo Tonale, Cervinia, Zermatt) means something is open in early December and late April whatever the winter did. Mayrhofen gets half credit for the Hintertux glacier on its pass.
- Snowmaking. The low Austrian resorts stay open in a lean year on snowmaking alone: Söll and Mayrhofen cover around 90% of their pistes. It can't make a powder day, and it only works when it is cold enough, but it is the reason a 700 m resort can promise a January week.
- Snowfall. It counts, under altitude. The Arlberg (St Anton) and the Grand Massif (Flaine) sit where the weather arrives first and are snowier than their altitude suggests.
- The week. The finder takes off a penalty for early and late weeks that grows with distance from mid-winter and is biggest for low villages: nothing in January and February, half strength at Christmas, nearly full in the first week of December and the last of April. A glacier halves it.
Scores of 75 and over read as "very likely good cover", 50 to 74 "usually fine, watch the lower runs", under 50 "a gamble this week". The score describes history and geography. It is not a forecast of the coming winter, and no resort can promise snow.
All 33 resorts, scored for three weeks
| Resort | Village to top lift | Pistes above 2,000 m | Aspect | Snowmaking | Snowfall | 5 Dec | 16 Jan | 10 Apr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val Thorens | 2,300–3,230 m | 99% | Mixed, glacier | 45% | 650 cm | 97 | 100 · Very likely | 100 · Very likely |
| Tignes | 2,100–3,456 m | 95% | Mixed, glacier | 30% | 600 cm | 93 | 100 · Very likely | 96 · Very likely |
| Val d'Isère | 1,850–3,456 m | 85% | North, glacier | 40% | 600 cm | 95 | 100 · Very likely | 98 · Very likely |
| Zermatt | 1,620–3,883 m | 90% | Mixed, glacier | 70% | 400 cm | 79 | 98 · Very likely | 83 · Very likely |
| Passo Tonale | 1,880–3,000 m | 70% | North, glacier | 75% | 450 cm | 83 | 97 · Very likely | 86 · Very likely |
| Cervinia | 2,050–3,480 m | 100% | South, glacier | 70% | 450 cm | 85 | 96 · Very likely | 87 · Very likely |
| Sölden | 1,368–3,340 m | 70% | Mixed, glacier | 75% | 450 cm | 76 | 95 · Very likely | 80 · Very likely |
| Les Deux Alpes | 1,650–3,600 m | 70% | Mixed, glacier | 30% | 450 cm | 71 | 90 · Very likely | 75 · Very likely |
| St Anton | 1,304–2,811 m | 45% | Mixed | 60% | 700 cm | 60 | 89 · Very likely | 66 · Usually fine |
| La Plagne | 1,970–3,250 m | 55% | Mixed, glacier | 35% | 500 cm | 71 | 86 · Very likely | 74 · Usually fine |
| Ischgl | 1,377–2,872 m | 75% | Mixed | 85% | 450 cm | 57 | 86 · Very likely | 64 · Usually fine |
| Flaine | 1,600–2,500 m | 35% | North | 25% | 700 cm | 57 | 85 · Very likely | 63 · Usually fine |
| Courchevel | 1,850–2,738 m | 55% | North | 60% | 500 cm | 65 | 85 · Very likely | 69 · Usually fine |
| Les Menuires | 1,850–2,850 m | 70% | Mixed | 50% | 550 cm | 66 | 85 · Very likely | 70 · Usually fine |
| Chamonix | 1,035–3,275 m | 45% | Mixed, glacier | 30% | 500 cm | 60 | 82 · Very likely | 65 · Usually fine |
| Les Arcs | 1,800–3,226 m | 60% | Mixed | 35% | 500 cm | 61 | 80 · Very likely | 65 · Usually fine |
| Alpe d'Huez | 1,860–3,330 m | 60% | South, glacier | 40% | 450 cm | 65 | 80 · Very likely | 69 · Usually fine |
| Verbier | 1,500–3,330 m | 60% | South, glacier | 40% | 450 cm | 61 | 80 · Very likely | 65 · Usually fine |
| Bardonecchia | 1,312–2,800 m | 40% | North | 70% | 400 cm | 47 | 75 · Very likely | 53 · Usually fine |
| Méribel | 1,450–2,952 m | 50% | Mixed | 45% | 450 cm | 45 | 73 · Usually fine | 51 · Usually fine |
| Livigno | 1,816–2,798 m | 70% | Mixed | 70% | 300 cm | 53 | 73 · Usually fine | 58 · Usually fine |
| Soldeu | 1,800–2,640 m | 70% | Mixed | 60% | 350 cm | 53 | 73 · Usually fine | 57 · Usually fine |
| Bansko | 990–2,600 m | 50% | North | 90% | 300 cm | 37 | 73 · Usually fine | 45 · A gamble |
| Avoriaz | 1,800–2,466 m | 25% | Mixed | 35% | 600 cm | 51 | 71 · Usually fine | 56 · Usually fine |
| Selva Val Gardena | 1,563–2,518 m | 45% | Mixed | 95% | 300 cm | 42 | 70 · Usually fine | 48 · A gamble |
| Mayrhofen | 630–2,500 m | 20% | Mixed | 90% | 400 cm | 32 | 68 · Usually fine | 40 · A gamble |
| Sauze d'Oulx | 1,510–2,823 m | 50% | Mixed | 60% | 350 cm | 39 | 68 · Usually fine | 46 · A gamble |
| Morzine | 1,000–2,466 m | 20% | Mixed | 30% | 500 cm | 23 | 59 · Usually fine | 31 · A gamble |
| Alpbach | 1,000–2,025 m | 1% | North | 75% | 350 cm | 20 | 56 · Usually fine | 28 · A gamble |
| Saalbach | 1,003–2,096 m | 3% | Mixed | 95% | 350 cm | 18 | 54 · Usually fine | 26 · A gamble |
| Les Gets | 1,170–2,002 m | 2% | Mixed | 45% | 450 cm | 15 | 51 · Usually fine | 23 · A gamble |
| Kitzbühel | 800–2,000 m | 0% | Mixed | 90% | 350 cm | 12 | 48 · A gamble | 20 · A gamble |
| Söll | 700–1,957 m | 0% | Mixed | 90% | 300 cm | 10 | 46 · A gamble | 18 · A gamble |
Snow confidence out of 100 for three Saturdays, from the finder's rules: altitude first, then aspect, glacier, snowmaking, snowfall and the week. Scores of 75 and over read as 'very likely good cover', 50 to 74 'usually fine, watch the lower runs', under 50 'a gamble this week'. History and geography, not a forecast.
What the table shows
- The top three are the Tarentaise trio. Val Thorens, Tignes and Val d'Isère score 100 in January and stay in the high 90s in April. Nothing else in the Alps sold by UK operators combines their altitude, their snowfall and a glacier.
- Passo Tonale beats St Anton. St Anton gets more snow than anywhere on the list, and in January it scores 89. But its skiing starts at 1,300 m and less than half of it is above 2,000 m, so by April it is "usually fine" while Tonale, a north-facing pass with a glacier, is still at 86. Snowfall is a January virtue; altitude is an April one.
- Cervinia is the south-facing exception. Every piste is above 2,000 m, so the sun softens the snow without removing it. The finder docks it six points for aspect and it still scores 96.
- The low Austrians run on snowmaking. Söll, Alpbach and Mayrhofen score 46 to 68 in January despite villages at 630 to 1,000 m, because 75 to 90% of their pistes are covered by cannons. Early December and April are another matter: Söll is at 10 and 18.
- Morzine is the snowfall trap. Five metres a season, and a village at 1,000 m with only 30% snowmaking: 59 in January, 31 in April. The Portes du Soleil skiing is higher than the town, but the run home is not.
- Flaine shows what aspect does. A north-facing bowl at 1,600 m with heavy snowfall scores 85 in January, ahead of Les Arcs at 1,800 m.
What the score can't tell you
This winter. The score is built from altitude, aspect and averages; it knows nothing about the season that is actually happening. Two weeks before you travel, check three things: the resort's own snow report (depth at the base and the summit, and how many lifts are open), a snow forecast site for the week ahead, and the operator's advice if conditions are poor. If you are booking months ahead, the score is the best guide you have; if you are booking a fortnight ahead, the report is.
Nor does it know about wind, which closes high lifts in January in a way it never closes low ones, or about crowds, which turn a thin base into a mogul field by Thursday in half term. A "very likely" score is not a promise of good skiing, only of something to ski on.
See the score for your week. The finder computes snow confidence for the Saturday you pick, and weights it more heavily in shoulder weeks, so an April search leans towards the resorts in the top half of this table.
Open the finderCommon questions
What is the most snow-sure ski resort in Europe?
Of the 33 the finder covers, Val Thorens: the highest village in the Alps at 2,300 m, 99% of its pistes above 2,000 m, a glacier and about 650 cm of snow a season. Tignes and Val d'Isère are a point or two behind in April, and Zermatt has the highest lifts of all.
Does more snowfall mean more reliable snow?
No. Snowfall is one input among six, and the least important for late-season weeks. A low resort with heavy snowfall (Morzine) is less reliable in March than a high resort with less (Cervinia). Altitude and aspect decide whether the snow that falls is still there.
Is snowmaking as good as real snow?
For getting down the mountain, yes; for the feel underfoot, no. Machine-made snow is dense and holds up well in traffic, which is why the low Austrian resorts can run a January week on it. It needs cold nights to make, so it cannot rescue a warm April.
When is the snow best?
For depth and quality together, late January to early March. For powder, January. For sunny spring snow on a deep base, late March in a high resort. For guaranteed cover with the fewest lifts open, early December and late April on the glaciers.