Southern Hemisphere Weekly Roundup #247

Epic Snowfalls in Argentina and Chile Delay Ski Resort Openings

• Argentina and Chile are experiencing exceptional snowfall, with some areas accumulating over 4 meters (160") of snow, leading to delayed openings due to avalanche dangers and accessibility issues.
• In Australia, extremely cold temperatures have facilitated snowmaking efforts, enabling more terrain to open despite minimal natural snowfall.
• New Zealand ski resorts are gradually opening more terrain thanks to snowmaking and slope preparation, though natural snowfall has been limited.

WORLD OVERVIEW

South America continues to report the best snowfall news at the start of the southern hemisphere's 2024 season. Some resorts there have now received more than 4 meters (160") of snowfall ahead of the official season start date, making these the biggest snowfalls anywhere since the spectacular start to the 22-23 season in autumn 2022 on the Pacific coast further north in California. All the snow has caused practical issues, such as needing to clear access roads and dig out lifts, along with high avalanche danger in some areas. As a result, some centers that had planned to open are currently closed. Ironically, across the South Pacific in Australia and New Zealand, there is not enough snow to open, although thankfully, low temperatures—the lowest for 8 years in some parts—have allowed snowmakers to open at least a few slopes. Ten centers are expected to be open in the northern hemisphere this coming weekend, across seven countries on two continents—Europe and North America. Here, there's been extreme weather too, particularly in the Alps, where Zermatt was cut off for 24 hours over the weekend by severe storms, which also led to Tignes in France delaying their summer ski season opening planned for last weekend by a week.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRO

Argentina and Chile have continued to make headlines for snowfall news in the southern hemisphere, with many areas reporting a meter (40”) or more of additional snowfall over the past week. This brings the total pre-season snowfall to over 4 meters. Although most South American resorts had already opened early for the season, last weekend was supposed to mark the start of the "season proper" in the region. However, several resorts, including big names like Argentina's Las Lenas and Chile's Portillo, have been forced to delay because of the excessive snowfall. Issues like blocked access roads, buried lifts, and high avalanche danger have been common. Over in Australia and New Zealand, the problem is too little natural snowfall. Most centers are now open but with only 5-10% of their slopes available, entirely thanks to snowmaking. Finally, the season start continues to go well at Lesotho's Afriski ski area in southern Africa; this weekend will mark the end of the first month and thus the first third of their season.

AUSTRALIA REPORT

The Australian Alps recorded their coldest temperatures in six years (New South Wales) and eight years (Victoria) at the end of last week. Mount Hotham’s -8.3°C last Thursday was the lowest temperature recorded anywhere in Victoria since 2018, while -3.8°C in New South Wales was the lowest temperature there in six years. "It's been really cold here at Hotham, and we're maximizing those conditions to make a lot of snow and hopefully open up some more lifts and terrain shortly," says Luke Rickards, Senior Mountain Operations Manager at Hotham Skiing Company. He continued, "A little bit of natural snow is in the forecast, but it's really those cold, cold nights that we are aiming for here." So although it has been cold, it hasn’t been snowing very much. At Hotham and elsewhere, snowmakers have been operating around the clock, and as a result, more terrain has been opening. Hotham managed to open their Road Runner Quad Chair on Saturday, joining their Summit Quad. Falls Creek opened their Main Street and Towers Chairlift. Perisher, with about 20% of its slopes open, offers the most terrain, representing about 12km (7 miles) of slopes. Most other resorts are still running with only 5-10% of their terrain open so far.

AUSTRALIA FORECAST

Continuing cold and sunny weather with some light snowfall expected to end the week. Overnight lows down to -5°C and daytime highs of only +4 to +6°C will allow snowmaking efforts to continue and more terrain to open at some centers.

NEW ZEALAND REPORT

It has been colder but not very snowy in New Zealand over the past week, with Mt Hutt reporting one of the biggest accumulations of 12cm (5") on Sunday. However, conditions are gradually improving due to the hard work of snowmakers and slope prep teams, and more terrain is gradually opening. Currently, only 10-25% of slopes are open in areas that are already operational. Cardrona is posting the most terrain open in the country with about 10km of slopes, around a quarter of its total. Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are also open, each with a few kilometers/miles of slopes available so far. Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu on the North Island has a small amount of terrain open for beginners and snow fun activities in its Happy Valley area. There were no new openers last weekend, and most club fields without snowmaking remain closed. However, Treble Cone and Tūroa are due to open for their 2024 seasons this weekend.

NEW ZEALAND FORECAST

Mostly dry weather will continue, although it will remain cold, allowing snowmaking to continue. The weather will be a mixture of sunny and cloudy days, mostly in the -5 to +4°C range on ski slopes. There are signs of more unsettled weather and potentially light to moderate snowfall to end the week.

ARGENTINA REPORT

Argentina’s 2024 ‘season proper’ was due to begin last weekend, although several centers had already opened early due to the big pre-season snowfall. The snow kept falling, with meters more in some cases. This led Las Lenas, which posted over a meter (40”) of snowfall in 24 hours at the weekend and has now passed 6 meters (20 feet) of snowfall over the last two months, to delay its opening by a week due to extreme avalanche danger. Other resorts are open, although with limited terrain available as slopes are made safe. The country's largest resort, Catedral, has around 20km (13 miles) of slopes open so far, about a fifth of its total terrain. Chapelco has a similar amount and the deepest published snow depth so far, with many resorts not having published their depth data yet. In its case, the 23km (14 miles) of slopes represent about 60% of its full capacity.

ARGENTINA FORECAST

It has been drier in most areas since the weekend, and this is expected to continue through the start of next week at resorts like Las Lenas. However, further north, more prolonged snowfall over the latter half of this week is likely. Temperatures will be low, with overnight temperatures down to -15°C on higher slopes and daytime highs only around +5°C, some days not getting above freezing.

CHILE REPORT

Chile’s start to the 2024 season continues to be fairly incredible, with some resorts now claiming it’s their snowiest in three decades. Accumulations of more than 4 meters (13 feet+) have now been recorded at some resorts over the latter half of autumn, even before the 2024 season was due to begin last weekend. These totals are a good way towards the usual season average recorded at the end of the season. Most centers had already opened early for the season thanks to all the snowfall. However, Portillo had planned to switch to 7-day operations from its pre-opening Friday-Sunday ops, but meters more snowfall closed roads in and out of the resort, and they’ve delayed the full opening to next weekend due to excessive snow. It’s one of the resorts that has posted over 5m (198”) of snowfall already. The Tres Valles region, including Valle Nevado and La Parva, has the most terrain open in the country so far, about 40km (25 miles) of slopes and incredible free-riding at present.

CHILE FORECAST

The weather appears to be finally improving in northern Chile, with sunny skies dominating for the rest of the week, although temperatures will remain cold, typically in the -10 to +5°C range. Some resorts will enjoy subzero temperatures around the clock. Snowfall will continue further south, with some areas likely to see another meter of snowfall by the start of next week.

SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT

Lesotho’s Afriski has had a sunny week again, but temperatures have been dropping to good snowmaking levels of 4-8 degrees below freezing overnight, so its main slope, just over a mile long, is in good shape.

SOUTHERN AFRICA FORECAST

More sunshine is forecast, as is usually the case in southern Africa, but temperatures should continue to drop towards -5°C overnight at Afriski and be a little cooler than they have been in the afternoons, with highs around +8°C.