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
Elevation of the ski area’s centre point, taken from a digital elevation model. It is not the base-to-summit range.
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 | Rain | 0 | 6 to 8 | 20 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Rain | 0 | 7 to 9 | 28 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Rain | 0 | 6 to 9 | 26 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Rain | 0 | 1 to 7 | 9 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Drizzle | 0 | 1 to 5 | 10 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Rain | 0 | 3 to 6 | 15 |
| Mon 16 Nov | Showers | 0 | −1 to 5 | 20 |
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
Le Somport is a ski area in France, at about 1,681 m. Its mapped area is about 2.6 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 358 cm of snowfall a season, 262nd (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 39th in France. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2017/18 (579 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2022/23 (230 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 105 cm.
The nearest city of any size is Pamplona, about 91 km away in a straight line.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Somport | 0.0 km | 358 cmsame grid cell | 262 |
| Estación de esquí de Candanchú | 1.6 km | 358 cmsame grid cell | 262 |
| Estación Invernal de Astún | 3.8 km | 358 cmsame grid cell | 262 |
| Estación de Esquí Aramón Formigal | 11.0 km | 406 cm | 166 |
| Artouste | 17.0 km | 388 cm | 194 |
The most snow falls in January. March brings 78% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in France (77%). In amount, March brings 82 cm, more than the median of 55 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 358 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2022/23 with 230 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 579 cm (2.5 times as much). For 26% of the 244 ski areas in France the leanest winter was 2016/17; here it was a different one.
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
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