Southern Hemisphere Weekly Roundup #250

• Southern Hemisphere Ski Regions Expect Significant Snowfall This Week
• South America Boasts Deepest Snowfall and Largest Open Terrain in the World
• Australia's Ski Areas Anticipate Major Snow Accumulations After Dry Start
• New Zealand Ski Resorts See Mixed Conditions with Some Fully Open
• Argentina's Chapelco Reports Deepest Snow in the World Amid Changing Weather
• Chile's Tres Valles Offers Most Open Terrain Globally, Snowfall Expected

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRODUCTION

The sunny weather dominating conditions right across the southern hemisphere's ski regions is beginning to break down with fronts moving into South America, Australia and New Zealand ski regions in recent days. All regions are set to see snow through the remainder of this week, and some, including centres in Australia and Argentina, have already seen some light snowfalls. There's still a big difference in snow conditions in different regions. At one extreme, ski areas in South America are posting the world's deepest snowfall and have the largest areas of terrain open in the world at present. By contrast, Australian areas continue to struggle to open terrain, with bases of machine-made snow at only 30-50cm and most areas still having less than half their runs open so far. However, it is snowing there this week, with some centres posting more than 25cm (10”) so far this week and 50cm (20”) expected to be reached by the weekend, which could be a bit of a game changer. New Zealand ski areas are somewhere down the middle on snow depths, and it’s here, as well as in Argentina and Chile, that several areas are now reporting 100% of their terrain open.

AUSTRALIA REPORT

After more than a fortnight of dry weather with plenty of sunshine, conditions started to change at the weekend for Australia's ski areas., with a major blast of wintery weather moving up from the south. It's still bringing snowfall as we complete this week's report, and it's good news, of course, after the rather dry start to the season so far, which has left all areas struggling to open much terrain beyond areas with snowmaking coverage. Perisher (15/235cm / 6/14") has the most piste kilometres available, about 24km (15 miles) of slopes representing around a third of its terrain. Australia’s largest resort also has terrain open in all four of its sectors. Falls Creek (20/37cm / 8/15”) has managed to get the highest percentage of its terrain open, about 40%, and has just a few kilometres less skiing than Perisher available so far. It reported 1ocm (4”) of snowfall in the first 24 hours of the storm with more of the way. "If you've been feeling the cold, it's nice and chilly here at Falls Creek. It's a high of -3 degrees today, so rug up and get out here on the slopes," said Betony Pitcher, Falls Creek Field Marketing Manager. "We've had freezing cold temperatures with this polar blast, and it's been snowing all day and all night, and there's plenty of fun here at Falls Creek." Thredbo (25/50cm / 10/20") has only a quarter of its terrain open but is the first Aussie resort to reach a half-metre (20") snow depth this winter.

AUSTRALIA FORECAST

It looks like snow accumulations over the next few days could be in the 20-50cm (8-20”), hopefully allowing centres to open more terrain later this week.  The cold, wintery conditions should also continue through to the weekend, with light snowfall forecast for the remainder of the week.  Overnight lows could get down as far as -10C on high slopes (-5C in the resort), and it will be colder even in the afternoons at low altitudes, only getting four or five degrees above freezing.

NEW ZEALAND REPORT

New Zealand’s ski centres have seen predominantly sunny weather again this week, but things have begun changing, with more clouds and light snowfall reported over the past few days. Temperatures have dropped a degree or two below freezing most nights and reached +5/6 by the afternoons. Base depths at most areas are now enough for them to open more than half of their terrain, and a few centres, including Treble Cone (20/60cm / 8/24”), are now 100% open. “We're feeling rather spoilt here today as we're looking at yet another gorgeous, clear, calm, bluebird day up the mountain. It won't last forever - we'll likely see a change in the weather next week,” a Treble Cone spokesperson said on Sunday, adding, “Although things are a bit warmer, the low humidity has kept that snow in fantastic skiing condition.” However, it is a mixed picture with several smaller centres, including Temple Basin, which can still not be opened due to inadequate snow cover. Cardrona (50/70cm / 20/28") is posting the most terrain open in the country, with 28km (17 miles) of runs representing 70% of its runs.  Mt Hutt (40/73cm / 16/29") is now just a few kilometres behind on 25km (16 miles). On the North Island, Mt Ruapehu’s now separately run ski centres have slightly varied fortunes. Tūroa (45/65cm / 18/26") now has half its runs open, but Whakapapa (22.23cm / 9/9") is still struggling with thin cover and is unable to open much terrain so far.

NEW ZEALAND FORECAST

Not a great deal of change is forecast for the remainder of this week, sunshine, the odd cloudy spell and the chance of light snow showers at times, but nothing significant is expected. Overnight lows of -3 or -4C should allow snowmaking systems to fire up, just about where they exist.

ARGENTINA REPORT

The sunny weather dominating conditions in Argentina since late June has continued in most areas for another week. Still, there are signs of changes afoot, with clouds beginning to build and some early light snowfalls, which are signs of things to come later this week. Overnight lows have been getting down to double digits, sub-zero Celcius, with clear skies and high single figures in the afternoons on the other side. Cerro Catedral (40/140cm / 16/56”) near Bariloche continues to post the most open terrain in the world with almost 100 miles (63km) of slopes available – more than double its nearest competitors, at least in terms of single resort ski areas (Chile’s Tres Valles multi-resort area has about the same open at present). Chapelco (122/337cm / 49/135”) continues to post the deepest snow in the country/South America/Southern Hemisphere on its higher slopes after the huge snowfalls of May and June and with the deep snow cover now thinning on Alpine glaciers, it actually has the deepest snow in the world. Las Leñas (120/290cm / 48/116”) deserves mention, too, as it currently has more than 90% of its terrain open and is posting some of its best snow conditions in many years. It's one of the claimants to have the largest ski area in the southern hemisphere, but much of that is often unavailable as there's too little snow to run key higher lifts to access the vast freeride area. That’s definitely not the case this year.

ARGENTINA FORECAST

A front will create increasingly wintery conditions over the latter half of the week, with many Argentinian areas set to see 20-50cm (8-20") accumulations lasting 2-3 days. Temperatures will typically be in the -8 to +6C range throughout the 24-hour daily cycle.

CHILE REPORT

Sunny skies have continued across Chile for a third week, but there are signs of things starting to change as little, with more cloudy spells interrupting the clear blue skies and the first indications fresh snowfall is on the way. For the past week, though, it has been very like the two previous, which is getting very cold under clear skies at night, with afternoon highs up towards +8 or +9C at the base of the slopes. Freezing point in the Andes moving between 1500 and 3500m. After all, the pre-season snowfall conditions continue to be excellent, and several areas are 100% open, the rest, mostly at 80-90%, so a very positive picture with the snow still lying deep, too. Portillo (145/.200cm / 58/80") is one of the centres where every lift turns and every run is open. The most open terrain, though, is the Tres Valles, shared between Valle Nevado (65/145cm / 34/58"), La Parva (90/145cm / 36/58") and El Colorado (60/135cm / 24/54"), which between them have more than 112km (70 miles) of slopes available – the most in the world at present. Nevados de Chillán (150/250cm / 60/100") to the south currently reports the deepest snow in the country and is more than 95% open.

CHILE FORECAST

Snowfall is expected over the remainder of this week, heaviest at more southerly centres, where 20-40cm (8-16") accumulations are expected to accumulate over several days, lighter further north. Temperatures are still very cold overnight, getting down below -109C on some high slopes some evenings. Daytime highs at around +4 to +6C.

SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT

Afriski (15/15cm / 6/6”) in Lesotho continues to maintain its full, mile-long main slope and also has a nursery slope and terrain park area available. It’s currently the only ski area open in southern Africa, with South Africa’s Tiffindell closed and up for sale. The past week has seen the usual predominantly sunny conditions, with temperatures mostly in the +1 to +10C range throughout the 24-hour cycle.

SOUTHERN AFRICA FORECAST

Sunny conditions are continuing, but they are a little cooler. Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing overnight in the latter half of this week.