Southern Hemisphere Weekly Roundup #263

Last Chance to Hit the Slopes: Southern Hemisphere Ski Resorts' Final Days

• Most Southern Hemisphere ski resorts are closed. Only a few centers in Chile and New Zealand remain open, with some closing at the end of this week.
• Conditions vary across regions. Chile's Valle Nevado has extended its season, while New Zealand's North Island resorts have had below-average snowfall but are currently in good condition.
• Chile has been experiencing warmer temperatures, while New Zealand has had snow showers and gales. Both regions are expected to have dry and sunny conditions for the rest of the week.

Overview

The Southern Hemisphere’s 2024 ski season is in its final throes now, with more of the half dozen centers that remained open in Chile and New Zealand closing at the end of Sunday. However, several centers are continuing for at least this week.

In Chile, Valle Nevado (30/135cm / 12/54”) is into the second week of its fortnight extension to the 20th, and in New Zealand, although the season appears to be over on the South Island, the North Island’s Whakapapa (0/35cm / 0/14”) and Turoa on Mt. Ruapehu are still open. Turoa (15/120cm / 6/48” - currently operating Fridays to Sundays) plans to keep going through to the final weekend of the month, which will be just over a month from meteorological summertime.

It has been a tough season on the North Island, with snowfall well below average, but the centers currently have about the deepest snow and most terrain open they’ve had all winter. In the Chilean Andes, daytime highs have been reaching double figures, with resort-level temperatures remaining above freezing overnight, although it's still getting subzero in the small hours on high slopes. That remains the picture for the rest of the week too.

New Zealand’s ski areas have seen continuing snow showers and also some gales shutting things down at times. Overnight lows at still-open centers continue to dip four or five degrees below freezing, with daytime highs in the +4°C to +8°C range. But there has also been plenty of sunshine, and the remainder of this week is forecast to be dry with plenty of sunshine. Among the weekend closures were Cardrona (40/120cm / 16/48”), which wound up its winter on Sunday with a biking on snow event, among other fun celebrations. There was a similar mood at The Remarkables, which staged a double denim day and season-end pond-skimming, with Mt. Hutt (65/165cm / 26/66”) also closing on Sunday.

Over in the Andes, the only other center still open on weekends, Chile’s Antillanca (50/110cm / 20/44”), also called it a day on its 2024 season on Sunday. Having opened for its season nearly a month early in mid-May following the huge spring snowfalls, it completed a nearly five-month season, one of its longest ever.