Many of the major ski areas in Argentina and Chile are opening this weekend after fresh snowfall.
Ski areas in Patagonia reported some big pre-season snowfalls a month ago in May, but since then there had not been much fresh snow until the past few days and most of the continent's areas had remained closed while those of Australia and New Zealand bean opening over the past fortnight.
South America's largest ski area, Cerro Catedral near Bariloche in Argentina, as well as the world's most southerly, Carro Castor, down in the Tierra del Fuego region, are among those opening this weekend.
However another of Argentina's biggest resorts, Las Leñas, which opened for what is its 40th season last week and was one of those reporting over a metre of snowfall in the big May storm, has closed again while awaiting fresh snowfall.
In Chile, one of the continent's best known ski areas, Portillo, is among the resorts opening. It reported nearly half-a-metre of snowfall in 36 hours on Friday/Saturday to set it up well for opening weekend.