January in Europe?

In general (???) has January been good for snow the last few seasons?

Have to be in Europe late December, and am deciding whether to extend for the month of January to ski.

I'd say it is when it all starts for real.
We get snow earlier, and Jan is usually a fine month.
But, maybe not the best month.

Went on a 2 week trip, got nailed with snow in Interlaken and Kitzbuhl mid-January last year. It was the first good storm for kitzbuhl...the windy areas had some rocks and grass.

really it depends where in europe you are talking about. you need to narrow your scope down a bit. austria can be very different from switzerland to south france. one can be on, the others off.

in switz, january seems to have been a bit dry for the last several seasons with a minor dump happening once every two weeks or totally dry. it can be bitter cold and it could also be warm and springy. but very few people on the mountain, which is quite nice. if you are into touring, there is always that option when the snow is poor. and the touring here is pretty spectacular.

January... I think it's tough to generalize... it will be cold, that's a near certainty. Will it snow? Luck of the draw. I think it's no worse or better than Feb/Mar/Apr.

Keep in mind the best touring is glaciated and in January it's pretty certain not to yet have enough crevasse coverage yet. Anything off the Aiguille du Midi won't yet be really doable on a mass scale.

Spring (Mar/Apr) is probably the best season just because you're more assured of a good base... some Januarys are pretty bare.

All in all, probably worth it! The last two seasons I've gotten several amazing powder days just after the new year...

this year we had a lot of snow in december (France) until mid jan..and next nothing :( but there was enough to ski anyway
on the 15th of feb a lot of snow came(it's still snowing now..even if it's not the same quality of snow as in jan or feb you can continue to ski)
generally it's a good time in Europe, but if I were you I woulf go in feb :)


i can show u pics if you tell me how to do it:rolleyes: