Another update from Mike. And it seems that someone borrowed the keys to one of the trucks up the mountain and rolled it on Savoleyres. All the way down Savoleyres apparently – a front flip that lasted about 300m…

It might not be powder snow but the cannons have done their work up at Lac des Vaux, and added to the snow that fell way back in October. And you know what? It looks pretty promising.

Mike was up there today and as ever played a blinder by taking photos whilst messing about on the piste machines.

And with Verbier opening this weekend (well, the bit of Verbier that is Lac des Vaux) it’s looking good. Better than expected, actually.

Now, crucially, you won’t catching me claiming it’s about to dump here or making vague projections about when the snow comes back. But I can say that when it does, the ground will be nice and cold and it should all settle rather nicely.

So think happy thoughts people.

Yes, it’s the perfect temperature for this time of year – bang on zero outside. But those weather fronts that usually make life in the UK horrible, don’t seem to be interested in the long trek across France.

Still, it’s cold, so TeleVerbier, who haven’t had the snow cannons on so far have fired them up this week and it looks like they’re really cranking it out, covering bits of the mountain with spaceship-sized sheets of snow.

Anyway, so that you don’t lose hope here are some nice pictures of those very webcams.

And to click  here if you want to see the video (which is rather good) of them in action plus some very dodgy jazz (which is rather strange and out of place).

Meanwhile, as they say, don’t panic. It’s still early.

Yes, finally starting to feel like winter. And despite the sun this morning the temperatures have definitely plunged. So much in fact they’ve had the snow cannons on up at Lac de Vaux for (we think) the first time this winter. I say winter, but it’s really only been Autumn so far…

To see if they’re on or off (they switch them off when the sun gets on them) you can check the webcams here. The Mont Fort webcam is particularly splendid.

But the really good news today is that the Norwegians say snow next week. And I trust the  mighty yr.no – almost as much as Kent does.

Anyway, this is what they say. You’ll notice there are lots of subzero temperatures, but if you can exepnd the energy scrolling down to the bottom, you’ll get cheered up.

Now, everyone, please cross your fingers and think happy thoughts…