The World’s Spring Ski Centres in Good Shape for 2022

The half-dozen ski areas in Asia, Europe and North America which only open in spring are mostly in good shape for their 2022 ski seasons.

Riksgränsen (pictured below), the “world’s spring skiing capital” is due to open this weekend for its 2022 season which famously incorporates skiing under the midnight sun in May and usually a re-opening in late-June for Midsummer. It reports plenty of snowy lying. It’s also believed to be the only ski area in the world to have operated throughout the pandemic.

However, the three Norwegian glacier centres of Fonna (pictured top earlier this month), Stryn (pictured below last week) and Galdhøpiggen are the ones posting images of lift towers almost completely buried by snow.  They usually open from May and spend the next few months digging out access roads and digging out ski lifts.

In Japan, the Gassan ski area also has a huge amount of snow lying. Open from April to July it should benefit from Japan’s ski areas posting the biggest accumulated snow totals of the 21-22 season to date, with some reporting more than 12 metres (40 feet) of snowfall so far.

Other spring-openers, usually in May, include Italy’s Passo Stelvio and Beartooth Basin on the Wyoming/Montana border in the US which opens when the interstate that accesses it is dug out in late spring each year.