2022 Season Underway in Southern Hemisphere
The 2022 ski season has got underway in the southern hemisphere with Perisher in New South Wales, Australia’s largest resort, believed to have been the first to open, at noon on Friday 3rd June.
Perisher was opening eight days ahead of schedule after a huge pre-season snowstorm and cold weather for snowmaking gave Australian mountains a dream start to the 2022 season.
The small snow fun area with beginner slopes and sledging runs at Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu in new Zealand had been due to open a few hours earlier, but in the end it was decided to keep the area closed today due to bad weather.
Afriski in Lesotho, Southern Africa, was also due to open today and is believed to have done so.
Three other Australian resorts, Mt Buller, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham, announced they’d open a week early too and are expected to open as planned on Saturday 4th, June.
The openings of centres in Africa and Australia means ski lifts are currently operating on five continents.
Ski areas in the southern hemisphere are hoping for their first fairly normal seasons since 2019 with, hopefully, no lockdowns an international arrivals possible once more.
