Perisher
About a dozen well-known ski areas in Argentina, Chile and New Zealand have announced delayed openings for their winter 2011 due primarily to warm weather leading to inadequate natural snowfall and preventing snowmaking equipment from working at full throttle.
A fresh earthquake in New Zealand, strong Australian dollar and an eruption close to South America's largest ski resort haven't helped much either, nor has the financial collapse of South Africa's only ski area, Tiffindell, which awaits being auctioned off.
It is not all bad news however. Southern Africa's other ski area of Afriski in Lesotho has opened a kilometre long piste – one of its longest to date – on a 50cm base and roads to it which were blocked by snow last week have re-opened. In Australia too resorts opened on schedule or early, earlier this month. Although the snow there is not deep, it does not need to be for them to operate and more snow is forecast.
In New Zealand Treble Cone and the north island resort of Turoa are the latest to join the likes of Mt Hutt, Coronet Peak and the Remarkables in delaying their opening, probably in to July now. The mild June follows the country's warmest ever May.
The delayed openings in South America are less comprehensive. Portillo in Chile for example, has announced it will open after receiving 60cm of snow to date, but that the available terrain will be very limited. Valle Nevado however has delayed opening to July 1st so far.
In Argentina a volcanic ash cloud is threatening the continent's largest resort, Catedral by Bariloche, but it is again lack of snow that has led it to delay its planned opening this weekend, it hopes by only a week. Las Lenas remains unsure as to whether it will open this weekend as planned or not – it's expecting substantial snowfalls.