A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →
Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15
We do not show a snow depth here. The weather model we use reports snow lying on the ground — it knows nothing about grooming or snowmaking, and it is not the base depth a ski area publishes. In Japan we can check our figures against 234 weather stations. Outside Japan there is nothing to check them against, so we do not print a number we have not verified. Snow report on the official site ↗
| Date | Weather | Snow (cm) | Low / high (°C) | Wind (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 10 Nov | Showers | 0 | 5 to 9 | 7 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Showers | 0 | 5 to 10 | 5 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Rain | 0 | 5 to 8 | 10 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Rain | 0 | 3 to 6 | 8 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Fog | 0 | 2 to 9 | 10 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 3 to 9 | 14 |
| Mon 16 Nov | Snow | 4 | 1 to 7 | 15 |
The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure
Domaine Nordique Peisey-Vallandry, in France, runs from 1,199 m at the base to 3,205 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 4.1 km across, with 838 marked runs and 163 lifts (about 402 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 427 cm of snowfall a season, 137th (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 7th in France. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2017/18 (792 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2016/17 (294 cm). March still brings 101 cm on average, close to January, its snowiest month.
The nearest city of any size is Turin, about 85 km away in a straight line.
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The figures are for the whole of “Paradiski”, which the map draws as one ski area.
55% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east; plenty of the terrain faces the sun as well, so the lean is modest.
See past trail maps on Skimap.org ↗
Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paradiski | 3.2 km | 410 cm | 161 |
| Les Arcs / Peisey-Vallandry | 5.6 km | 403 cm | 168 |
| La Plagne | 7.3 km | 427 cmsame grid cell | 137 |
| Domaine Nordique - Vallon de Champagny le Haut | 8.5 km | 392 cm | 190 |
| Sainte-Foy Tarentaise | 11.0 km | 436 cm | 125 |
The most snow falls in January. March brings 80% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in France (77%). In amount, March brings 101 cm, more than the median of 55 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 427 cm, and 8 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2016/17 with 294 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 792 cm (2.7 times as much).
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗
Japan vs elsewhere · 28 Aug 2026
A Black Run in Colorado and a Black Run in Austria Are Not the Same Thing. The Maps Prove It.Across 2,888 ski areas: 39% of American runs are graded advanced or harder, and 9% of Austrian ones. Nobody thinks Austria is four times gentler. The grades are measuring different things.
Japan vs elsewhere · 28 Aug 2026
How Big Are Japan's Ski Areas? Smaller Than the Alps, Snowier per Kilometre