WORLD SNOW ROUNDUP #297
Issued: 27th June 2023
By Patrick “Snowhunter” Thorne
World Overview
Australia has been posting some of the most positive snow news of the last week with Selwyn Resort the last of the country’s major ski areas to open for the 2023 season and a week of cold weather, snowfall, snowmaking and sometimes blizzard conditions resulting in a lot more terrain opening.
A less positive season start in New Zealand where one resort has closed again after rain damaged its thin snow cover and others have delayed planned openings that should have happened last weekend, but several have managed to open at least some limited terrain.
South America’s 2023 season is gradually gathering pace with some big-name ski areas like Valle Nevado due to opening this weekend, and the world’s most southerly ski area, Cerro Castor, already open. But like New Zealand, the news isn’t all good with Las Lenas closing again after less than a week open while it awaits better conditions.
In the northern hemisphere, the period of snowy weather in western North America and Scandinavia appears to be over for now with plenty of sunshine and warm weather reported. About a dozen ski areas are still open in Asia, Europe and North America as we head into July with the three US resorts still open and gearing up for 4th of July celebrations.
Southern Hemisphere
AUSTRALIA REPORT
Australia’s 2023 ski season continues to pick up pace with more snowfall and cold weather, at times accompanied by gale-force winds bringing blizzard conditions. The country’s largest resort, Perisher (30/60cm / 12/24”), was able to open all four resort areas – Mount Perisher, Blue Cow, Guthega and Smiggin Holes from Friday. There were 20 lifts available to ride from Friday, nearly half of the total available and by far the largest number in the southern hemisphere (and the whole world) at present. “Mother Nature continues to deliver the goods, and the Mountain Operations team on the ground have been working hard with snowmaking day and night,” said Maddi Ventura, Field Marketing Manager at Perisher. “Each day seems to be better than the next here.” It’s a similar story with other centres opening more and more terrain. Falls Creek (70/85cm / 28/34”) opened its Scott’s terrain as more of the mountain progressively opens for 2023. It’s posting the deepest snow in the southern hemisphere so far this season. Mt Buller (35/65cm / 14/26″) is also running more and more of its lifts, first adding Skyline, Koflers and Summit to the mix, following intensive snowmaking and heavy snowfalls this week. The other big news was Selwyn ski area opening last Friday for the first time since 2019, having been rebuilt following a major bush fire destroying lifts and base buildings in early 2020. Thredbo (20/30cm / 8/12”) and Mt Hotham (55/65cm / 22/26”) are also open.
AUSTRALIA FORECAST
The wintry weather is expected to continue for the remainder of this week with temperatures in the range of -5 to +2C and light to moderate snow showers forecast daily.
NEW ZEALAND REPORT
It has not been the best of starts to New Zealand’s 2023 ski season, unfortunately. Mt Hutt, which had been the first ski area to open in the southern hemisphere just over a fortnight ago, closed again last week after heavy rain severely impacted the thin snow cover. Then Treble Cone announced it was delaying its planned opening at the weekend for the same reasons of mild temperatures and no snow. The problems go beyond weather at Mt Ruapehu (Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas), currently in liquidation after a rescue plan failed to get the backing of creditors at a meeting late last week, so it’s a battle against the clock now to save the centres. But there are some New Zealand ski areas with a little terrain open each. Cardrona (15/20cm / 6/8”) reports its beginner area open and Coronet Peak (5/25cm / 2/10”) and The Remarkables (10/30cm / 4/12”) both managed to actually add open terrain to the small amounts each initially opened with after the heroic efforts of their snowmakers and grooming crews. But nowhere yet has more than a few miles (3-4km) of slopes open. Coronet Peak added its M1 terrain served by the Coronet Express and The Remarkables first opened Curvey Basin and then Sugar Bowl, noting that early season conditions mean it is currently only suitable to advanced riders.
NEW ZEALAND FORECAST
It is, hopefully, set to be cooler for the next week, with temperatures getting well below freezing at night and only in the low single figures in the daytime, so hopefully things should now begin to improve. There’s a mixture of clear skies with spells of rain, sleet and snow forecast.
ARGENTINA REPORT
There’s mixed news from Argentina with more ski centres opening for their 2023 seasons at the weekend, but one of the country’s best-loved ski areas, Las Leñas (20/20cm / 8/8″) forced to close temporarily due to inadequate snow cover after being one of the first in the country to open. It’s doubly ironic as the resort had a huge pre-season snowfall last month leaving the snow lying deep up high, but lower slopes are suffering. There has been some fresh snowfall on higher slopes in the last few days however. Onto more positive news though and the world’s most southerly ski area Cerro Castor (30/50cm / 12/20″) opened for its season last Friday, although with just 3km (2 miles) of trails open initially. The continent’s largest ski area, Cerro Catedra near Bariloche had been expected to open but has so far delayed doing so. A number of other Argentinian ski areas are open though including Cerro Bayo (0/30cm / 0/12″), although all have fairly limited terrain available for the season start. Conditions have been a real mix of sunshine and snowy spells with temperatures ranging from -9 to +9C through the 24-hour cycle so it’s really a case of the more southerly and higher altitude the better the snow conditions right now.
ARGENTINA FORECAST
The varied weather is set to continue although with more dry and frequently sunny weather than snow falling. Overnight lows are down to -10C on higher runs and for many areas daytime highs not getting much above freezing so it is really a case of building bases so the season can really get moving now.
CHILE REPORT
There have been some good snowfalls for Chile over the last week and more ski areas were due to start their seasons at the weekend, but so far not all that were expected to open, have opened. Portillo (35/35cm / 14/14”) posted 38cm (15”) of snowfall going into last weekend. It did not, however, open as expected and has instead joined the list of the majority of Chilean ski areas that are on hold. La Parva (20/55cm / 8/22”) continues to post that it is open, with about 16km (10 miles) of slopes reported open, but some local reports say otherwise. Valle Nevado has however confirmed it plans to open for its 2023 ski season his coming Friday, 30th June..
CHILE FORECAST
Fairly cold weather and getting to -7 or -8C at night so snowmakers will be able to fire up where they exist but predominantly dry conditions are not great news elsewhere. It is looking more promising further south with resorts like Nevados de Chillan expecting to see lots of snowfall this week ahead of opening.
SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT
Afriski in Lesotho continues to make snow but not for skiing or snowboarding, the talk instead of snow for sledging in June and for tubing in July. The issue the centre reports it has is an uncertain electricity supply which prevents it from snowmaking enough to be able to build ski slopes of any length nor be sure that lifts will be able to operate. In South Africa there remains no sign of Tiffindell ski area, which was last open in 2019, reopening its ski slopes, it appears to have gone out of business.
SOUTHERN AFRICA FORECAST
Cold weather with some natural snowfall is expected for the latter half of this week after an otherwise mostly sunny latter half of June. Overnight lows down towards -10C would be great for snowmaking given power too.
Europe
EUROPE INTRO
The Apls are seeing the full summer heat and temperatures getting back above freezing day and night on glaciers, leading to a thawing snowpack. Fortunately most of the half-dozen ski areas currently open – half of them in France – have enough snow lying to not be under any great threat of being forced to close down yet. Some ski areas not currently open for snow sports, including Germany’s Zugspitze glacier, have been boasting of the cool air it can offer to pedestrians wishing to escape the city/valley heat. There’s not a lot of change from a week ago in terms of terrain open. Cervinia in Italy has opened its lift connection to the (already open) Matterhorn Glacier Paradise above Zermatt just over the border and Les 2 Alpes in France plans to end its 2023 spring-summer ski season this coming weekend. Further north two smaller glacier ski areas remain open in Norway, although it’s warm here too.
AUSTRIA REPORT
Austria’s tear round Hintertux Glacier (0/265 cm / 0/104”) remains the only ski area open in the country, although with one of the largest ski areas open in Europe, around 20km (13 miles) of slopes. It has been a mostly sunny week with temperatures on the glacier in the -3 to +7C range – so classic freeze/thaw conditions.
AUSTRIA FORECAST
Temperatures are rising although expected to remain close to freezing overnight on the glacier. Showers are forecast for the latter half of the week but these may be rain rather than snow.
SWITZERLAND REPORT
Europe’s highest slopes above Zermatt (0/200cm / 0/80”) on the Klein Matterhorn remain the only ones currently open in Switzerland. They have been closed for periods this past week too by strong winds and low visibility. But most of the time there are around 12km (7.5 miles) of slopes open. Saas Fee is due to open for its 2023-24 ski season in just over a fortnight’s time in mid-July. Other than the period of bad weather it has been mostly sunny with temperatures in the -4 to + 2C range up at 3,900m at the top of the slopes.
SWITZERLAND FORECAST
A more changeable weather picture for the latter half of this week with temperatures on the slope staying cold (more like +20C down at resort level) and snow showers expected daily up high.
FRANCE REPORT
This is thought to be the final week of summer 2023 when all three French summer ski areas, Tignes (0/270cm / 0/108”), Val d’Isere (0/270cm / 0/108”) and les 2 Alpes (0/100cm / 0/40”) areas all open. Les 2 Alpes is due to end its two-month ski season this weekend while Val d’Isere will continue its for the first week of June, for Tignes, which only opened at the start of last week, their season should continue three weeks into June. It reports one of the biggest summer ski areas open in Europe at present with around 20km (13 miles) of slopes open. It has been warm though with temperatures in the high single figures under sunny skies 3,000m up on glaciers in the afternoons and not really getting down below freezing overnight either.
FRANCE FORECAST
Continuing sunny midweek but with temperatures expected to drop back below freezing overnight coming to the weekend with the chance of light snow showers on glaciers.
ITALY REPORT
The lifts up from Cervinia (0/200cm / 0/80″) to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise above Zermatt on the Swiss side of the border re-opened at the weekend after almost two months of closure, so Italy-based skiers can once again hit Swiss slopes. They had actually been closed by poor weather conditions and strong winds the day before re-opening. The new Alpine Crossing with the final piece of the puzzle, the cable car from the giant gondola from the Italian side of the border up to the Klein Matterhorn, is due to start operating next weekend after decades of planning and years of construction. Passo Stelvio (5/110cm / 2/44″) is the other Italian ski operation open at present, this one is entirely in Italy but a smaller area with about 8km (5 miles) of slopes served by half-a-dozen lifts. The past few days have seen temperatures in the -6 to +6C range on the glaciers with largely sunny weather.
ITALY FORECAST
Continuing mostly clear and sunny in the Italian Alps with warming temperatures likely to impact the snow cover further and best conditions in the early morning of course.
SCANDINAVIA REPORT
The Folgefonn (Fonna) (150/200cm / 60/80”) and Galdhopiggen (140/400cm / 56/160”) ski areas remain open in Norway for summer skiing and boarding with a lot of national teams visiting for off-season training. It has been mostly dry and fairly mild (+5-15C since the weekend meaning conditions are, as usual for late spring/early summer, at their best early in the day. Galkdhopiggen’s base remains the deepest posted in the world at present.
SCANDINAVIA FORECAST
Overnight lows on higher slopes getting down towards freezing but more commonly in the +3 to +8C range. Not getting below freezing at the base of the slopes and into double figures in the afternoons. The full gamut of weather is on the cards with rain, sleet and snow all possible and on the cards over the next few days.
USA REPORT
Things have warmed back up a lot in northwestern North America after the snowfall a week ago. It’s been a largely sunny week with temperatures in the high 40s to low 80s in the west.
Three ski areas remain open and building up to 4th of July celebrations next week. They’re Mammoth Mountain (68/128” / 170/320cm) and The Palisades (0/132” / 0/330cm) in California and the Palmer snowfield above Timberline (29/65” / 50/162cm) in Oregon. The Palisades has finally just overtaken Mammoth for the continent’s deepest reported snowpack, but unlike the other two areas it has announced a closing date, after the 4th of July celebrations. The Palisades also appears to have slightly more terrain open than Mammoth now, but it’s a close thing, with about 15 miles of slopes open a piece, among the largest areas in the world at present.
Besides the public ski areas, three centres are currently offering private on-snow camps, with the main focus on terrain parks. Two of these are in Canada, up on the Blackcomb Glacier above Whistler, and over the coming weekend, at Mont Saint Sauveur in Quebec. The other is at Copper Mountain in Colorado run by the Woodward facility there. For all of these, you need to be signed up for a camp in order to access the snow, there are no regular lift tickets.
Alternatively, if you just want to slide on snow, Heavenly ski area is currently offering tubing on some of its remaining snow from the bumper 22-23 winter.
USA FORECAST
It’s a mostly sunny forecast now for the week ahead with plenty mostly full-on sun from dawn to dusk and temperatures remaining mostly in the 40s to 70s Fahrenheit range, although it will still drop down to the high 30dsd/low 40s on the highest slopes overnight, so thawing should pick up again but not so fast up high.
Asia
JAPAN REPORT
Japan’s Gassan (25/75cm / 10/30”) remains the sole place left open in Asia with lift-serviced skiing. It is open from early April for as long as the snow lasts – usually into July. This year, having not started the season with a particularly huge snowpack by its standards (around 4 metres rather than 8) the snow has been melting fast and making it to July looked questionable but it currently seems like it should just about make it. Down to 3km (less than two miles) of the highest terrain is open now though and the fast thaw continues under the warm summer weather.
JAPAN FORECAST
Following a largely sunny week there’s rain on the way with showers forecast. Temperatures are typically +10 to +25C but cooler on high slopes where the remaining snow is.
