Most of the Pacific North West, thats places like Whistler, are starting the season with around 2meters of snow. That’s a great start for the Vancouver area considering that all eyes will be turned on that part of the world in less than 2 months for the Olympics.

In fact, just a little bit south over the American boarder in Washington state, Mount Baker was reporting on its website:

"We have the deepest opening base in the history of Mt. Baker"

Another amazing record to report about North America took place in Colorado, and this time it's man made. Copper Mountain has managed to build a full size "superpipe" half pipe before the end of November! Now this might not seem that incredible since you may have seen halfpipes dotted all over the Alps, but it is truly a feat. Consider this: most European resorts struggle to have a decent looking half pipe by mid January, their excuse? A good halfpipe need millions of cubic meters of snow to make.

What about closer to home? Historically the Pyrenees are famous for having an earlier start over the Alps in terms of snowfall. This year will probably be an exception though. The first resort in the French Pyrenees will open on the 4th of December, not too bad considering...

As for the Alps, it depends on who you ask. Yes of course there has been a huge dump (its no Mt Baker though), but then that always happens right? The important thing now is how warm it gets between now and Christmas week. The weather at the moment seems to be warming up, but in my opinion it's still too early to say how good the conditions will be at Christmas.