A few weeks ago I blogged on the unseasonally warm weather that was gripping the resort. I talked rather hopefully of the forecast snow for the middle of March, which was set to come and cover up many of the barren patches that had started to appear to the side of the piste. This promised snow came last week on Monday and Tuesday (although there was not as much snow as previously hoped), and resulted in one of the best powder days of the season. However the promise that came with this snow has quickly disappeared. The last week in resort has been by far the warmest of the season. Glorious sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high teens led to me putting on shorts and flip-flops for the first time today, and sunbathing rather than skiing is quickly becoming an activity of choice.

The weather has been so warm that the freezing level has risen to above 3000m. This is significantly higher than the highest point in resort; the top of the Schindlergratbahn is just over 2800m. As a result all the runs in the resort are quickly starting to turn to slush, although it goes without saying that the runs at the top of the resort are significantly better than those towards the bottom.

Another thing worth bearing in mind when skiing on piste in these conditions is that, if your ability allows, you should stick mainly to the red and if possible the black runs in resort. These tend to be the less skied runs, as many people stick to the wider, easier blue runs in resort. Consequently these runs are far less slushy and mogully and much more enjoyable to ski down.

The warm weather and lack of snow has also, rather perversely, brought with it an increased risk of avalanches. Indeed Monday saw St Anton’s ‘happy valley’ (two blue and red runs coming back into resort) closed in the afternoon as a result of an avalanche that had fallen into the valley, although luckily nobody was injured.

Temperatures in resort are set to fall later on this week, and although the likelihood of further good snow in resort is not high, there should still be enough around to make skiing conditions fairly pleasant. Even if this does not happen, people with a skiing holiday to Austria booked need not despair, as there are a number of Glaciers in the country which can usually support skiing all year round. These include the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier near to the resorts of Kaprun and Zell am See (see earlier blog), the Stubai Glacier (famous for its challenging glacial slopes) as well as the area between Innsbruck and Salzburg that includes the Ötztaler Alps. All of these areas are sure of good quality skiing, even when temperatures in the nearby valleys are soaring.