Mount Buller, Australia, got a little snow ahead of opening this weekend.
The southern hemisphere ski season is just about underway, with a little fresh in Australia, while the north has around a dozen resorts still operating.
The Snow Headlines - June 4th
- Southern Hemisphere's ski season underway in New Zealand with all-weather snowmaking.
- Italy's Passo Stelvio starts 2026 summer ski season, gets fresh snowfall.
- Australia sees fresh snowfall ahead of 2026 season start this coming weekend.
- Canada's Sunshine ski area near Banff gets 25 cm/10 inches of snowfall ahead of summer ski reopening.
Snow forecast for Europe (still), Australia and South America.
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World Overview
Meteorological winter has begun in the southern hemisphere, although early-season conditions remain mixed. After substantial snowfall in early May, most regions south of the equator have seen a much drier spell, with only intermittent cold snaps suitable for snowmaking at higher elevations.
Australia has been the notable exception this week, recording fresh natural snowfall across several resorts as it readies for its 2026 season start this weekend.
The 2026 ski season is already underway in New Zealand, where the first areas opened last weekend, albeit with very limited terrain covered by all-weather snowmaking machines.
The initial openings in the Andes, along with Africa's sole ski area, are expected shortly.
As it is winter south of the equator, the northern hemisphere has entered meteorological summer. Around a dozen ski areas remain open, a combination of late-season holdouts from late 2025 and glacier resorts beginning their 2026 summer operations. Snow has even fallen at some North American centres this week, whilst high Alpine glaciers in Europe have also seen fresh cover after a hot spell.
Japan's Gassan continues its summer season with rapidly diminishing terrain as lower-elevation snow retreats – it is hard to see it remaining open into July as it usually aims to this year.
Globally, around 15 ski areas are currently open across 10 countries on four continents. With more southern hemisphere openings imminent, that total should rise back into the 20s this weekend, potentially spanning up to a dozen countries.
Southern Hemisphere
Australia
Australia is set to launch its 2026 southern hemisphere ski season from the coming long weekend, centred on the King's Birthday bank holiday Monday in New South Wales and Victoria.
Exactly how much early-season terrain can open remains uncertain, but Thredbo, Corin Forest and Mount Buller have boosted their chances with all-weather snowmaking, with Buller operating the world's largest fleet.
Conditions are promising, with a light snowfall last Sunday and lows near –5°C. After a brief warm spell, colder air has returned, bringing rain, sleet and snow showers and allowing snowmaking to continue. The falls have been increasingly heavy, the latest adding up to 25 cm/10 inches to some bases on Thursday.
Resorts hope to have the first full runs to open in the southern hemisphere from Saturday if conditions permit.
A sharper wintry change to the weather is forecast, with freezing levels dropping, summit temperatures down to –7°C and light snow likely across higher slopes, particularly in New South Wales.
New Zealand
New Zealand's 2026 ski season made a tentative start at the weekend, with Coronet Peak on the South Island and Whakapapa on Mount Ruapehu offering limited late-May operations. Both relied on all-weather snowmaking, with Coronet Peak providing a small ski and snowboard area and Whakapapa beginning with tubing only.
The first full openings are due in just over a week, as Mount Hutt, Cardrona and The Remarkables prepare to spin their initial lifts.
Recent days have brought rain, sleet and occasional snow, but temperatures have struggled to stay below freezing, restricting early base-building. A colder southerly pattern should arrive from Thursday, dropping summit temperatures to –6°C to –8°C and bringing light snow to higher terrain.
Argentina
The ski season has not started in Argentina yet and it is likely to be a week or two more until it does.
The past week has seen mostly cold, dry conditions across Argentina's ski regions, with temperatures varying by latitude and elevation.
Over the coming week high-Andean resorts such as Las Leñas, Los Penitentes and Vallecitos see mountain temperatures of –3 to +7 °C, while bases sit near 0–11 °C. Cerro Castor remains the coldest, with –8 to –2 °C up high and –3 to 3 °C at base. Northern Patagonia areas, including Catedral, Chapelco and Cerro Bayo, stay milder. It should get colder still into the weekend, with –5 to –8 °C on upper slopes, light snow flurries at altitude and continued sub-zero nights for snowmaking.
Chile
Chile's 2026 ski season is also yet to begin, with the first scheduled openings still more than a week away, although an early start remains possible.
Conditions stay mild to cool and mostly dry through Wednesday. Central-Andes resorts such as Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado and Portillo see summit temperatures of –3 to +8 °C, whilst southern areas like Chillán, Corralco and Villarrica reach 8–14 °C on upper slopes. A sharper Andean chill arrives later, dropping upper-mountain temperatures to –6 to –10 °C, bringing occasional light snow and repeated sub-zero nights for early-season snowmaking.
Southern Africa
Lesotho's Afriski, often among the first southern-hemisphere resorts to open, has yet to announce an official start date, though recent weather has been mostly dry and sunny with daytime highs still in double figures. Overnight temperatures on higher slopes have dropped well below freezing and the resort announced snowmaking has started on Tuesday this week, posting video of the cannons firing. From Thursday, a colder early-winter pattern develops, with lows of –12 to –9 °C, highs of –2 to +2 °C, variable cloud and a slight chance of flurries.
Northern Hemisphere
Europe
Although Austria's Molltal Glacier ended its season last weekend, leaving the Hintertux now the only centre open there, we are still on four Alpine glaciers open as Italy's Stelvio Glacier, located above the 2026 Olympic host town of Bormio, opened its 2026 summer ski season, reporting a base of up to two metres and fresh snowfall over the past few days.
Alpine summit temperatures have ranged from –6 to +2 °C, with mostly dry weather but with occasional fresh snow on the highest glaciers. Freezing levels near 3,000–3,400 m/9,843–11,155 feet are producing firm morning surfaces softening later.
Hintertux currently offers the most terrain, with around 25 km/16 miles open, whilst Cervinia–Zermatt has about 16 km/10 miles. Les 2 Alpes has reduced public terrain to prioritise race training, and Val d'Isère opens this weekend for a short three-week summer season.
In Scandinavia, Stryn, Galdhøpiggen and Riksgränsen continue to operate under cool, mostly dry late-spring conditions, with mixed rain-snow showers and temperatures varying sharply by elevation.
North America
Four U.S. ski areas will offer outdoor sliding this weekend, up from three a week ago thanks to one summer opening and one late-season extension. We may be back down to three from Monday.
Colorado's Copper Mountain begins its summer hike-to terrain park on Friday, expanding to a four-day schedule this year with Thursday sessions added from 11 June. The Hike Park operates 10 am–5 pm with rails, tubes and boxes, running as long as snow lasts.
California's Mammoth Mountain, which has repeatedly extended its season, remains open with around a quarter of its terrain available from 7 am to 1 pm for this weekend at least and may extend yet again. The resort reports more than 1.5 m/5 feet of May snowfall plus additional weekend snow.
Beartooth Basin on the Wyoming–Montana border continues its summer season, also seeing fresh snow in recent days. Timberline's Palmer Snowfield on Mount Hood remains open as well. On the East Coast, Mount Washington recorded about 6 inches of new snow earlier this week.
Canada currently has no open areas, though Sunshine Village near Banff, set to reopen for summer skiing later this month, reported roughly 25 cm/10 inches of weekend snowfall. Otherwise, conditions across open U.S. centres have been mostly sunny, with freezing overnight lows on upper slopes and daytime highs in the mid-teens to low 20s Celsius.