Exceptional snow !
There’s always snow in Aillons-Margeriaz!
Scientifically, altitude isn’t the most important factor affecting snow coverage in a ski resort. The geographical location compared to atmospheric circulation bringing snow plays a more important role than altitude.
Altitude is only an average reference at the scale of the entire Alpine arc.
Margeriaz: the best natural snow in France
How to explain that we can ski here when there’s only 10 or 20 cm of snow elsewhere in the Savoie or Haute-Savoie, including the well-known ski resorts at the same or even higher altitude?
Margeriaz has always had a great deal of snow: French weather forecast national statistics put the Bauges as having the best snow cover in France at 1500 m and at 1800 m altitude in January, February and March!
Why?
Due to the special geographical location of Margeriaz, prevailing winds bring precipitation (from the West and North-West), so that the clouds dump the first snowflakes in quantity on the slopes. So it’s not just luck that so much snow falls!
Margeriaz: the resort where the snow stays white all winter long
And why does the snow stay white all winter long?
The snow falls on karst soil which is very porous. Even when it rains for several days (which happens in the resorts when there is a thaw) the water goes through the snowcover into the calcium subsoil. The snowpack is never grey (waterlogged), nor icy and retains less solar energy: the snow stays whiter for longer!
