The last couple of weeks have seen temperatures in resort rise well above freezing, and many days of glorious sunshine. Indeed on several occasion I have been able to wander about in town in just a t-shirt. Consequently, as March begins, many uncharacteristic barren patches have started to appear both in town and to the side of the piste. Places in town, previously covered in snow, are now rather less picturesque barren patches of pavement and rock.

One unfortunate side effect of all of this is that the snow on piste, especially lower down the mountain, starts to melt and become extremely slushy. This makes skiing, especially at pace a very different proposition. It makes putting short sharp turns in much quicker, especially as the snow becomes much heavier and stickier. On top of this large moguls start to appear on piste, as the slush is moulded around peoples turns on piste. These conditions combine to make skiing significantly more dangerous than usual, as many people start to struggle with the unusual and unexpected consequences of this warm weather.

Much of the off piste skiing has also suffered dramatically from the lack of snow. Many places are now un-skiable as large patches of rocks and earth have started to appear. Other places which previously had waist deep powder, and sometimes deeper, have become dangerous icy mogul fields. This has made skiing off piste not only a more risky proposition but also a less enjoyable one. Where previously deep powder broke your fall there is nothing there, and although the skiing is still challenging it no longer has the same exhilarating feeling.

The effects of the warm weather, and an unusually snow shy winter can be felt throughout resort. The end of season sales in many of the ski and snowboard shops have started earlier then usual. Prices on this season’s skis and snowboards, as well as jackets and salopettes, have already been slashed by as much as 30 or 40 percent in many places and are set to drop further over the coming weeks. The resort itself has also been noticeably more quiet, although perhaps this is expected as we leave behind the two busiest weeks of the season (half term).

A feeling of doom and gloom has started to surround the town. Many people have started to predict and early end to the season. Luckily, it is projected to dump with much needed snow later in March. Indeed well over a foot of snow is forecast for this weekend. This should go some way to solving this problem, at least in the short term, and should make for much better skiing later in March.