Perisher, Australia, now open for winter 2026.
Southern Hemisphere ski season begins with weather-related delays and limited terrain in some regions, while summer skiing continues in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, aided by recent snowfall and extended glacier operations.
The Snow Headlines - June 11th
- Australian 2026 ski season underway with thin cover and limited terrain.
- Major snowstorm hits the Andes but unclear if anywhere will open this weekend.
- New Zealand resorts announce delayed season starts until more snowfall.
- Val d'Isère opens for summer ski season.
- 2026 season set to start in Southern Africa's Lesotho this weekend.
Snow forecast for Europe (again), Australia, New Zealand and South America.
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World Overview
The southern hemisphere's 2026 season is getting underway at a growing number of ski areas, but mild, dry conditions over the past month are affecting leading ski regions of Australia, New Zealand, the Andes and Southern Africa, causing some to delay whilst others are open but with very limited terrain skiable so far.
New Zealand's ski areas that had planned to open this weekend have delayed a week with colder, snowier weather forecast.
In the Andes it has finally turned very wintry with bitter cold and heavy snowfall, but it is unclear if that has arrived in time for resorts to open this weekend. Southern Africa's Afriski in Lesotho plans to start its 2026 season from this Friday. Most Australian resorts do have some terrain open but not much.
In the northern hemisphere, around a dozen areas are open in Japan, the US, the Alps and Scandinavia. The Alps and northerly US mountains have reported some decent snowfalls over the past week, even if it is now meteorological summertime. Val d'Isère has opened for a five-week 2026 summer ski season.
Southern Hemisphere
Australia
Most Australian ski areas opened for their 2026 seasons at the weekend. Up to 35 cm/14 inches of snowfall was recorded last week coupled with snowmaking-friendly subzero temperatures across most resort areas. That meant most opened with some, if not a lot of terrain open so far. This week has been mostly dry but cold enough for further overnight snowmaking.
The largest resort, Perisher, opened their Front Valley conveyor carpet lift on Saturday and then the area's V8 chairlift on Sunday. 'The sky was clear and sunny, the resort is blanketed in white, and we loved welcoming guests back for the first day of the 2026 snow season,' said Emily Smith, the resort's Brand and Experience Senior Manager on Sunday, adding, 'The snow guns were able to run for around 8 hours last night topping up the natural snow we've had during the week and it was a really special start.'
Falls Creek started their season with the Mouse Trap carpet and at Hotham the Summit Trainer Carpet was running initially, again with a chairlift running since Sunday. 'It's great to see skiers and boarders back on the slopes up at Hotham!' said Alex Pankiw, Hotham Brand + Experience Manager on Saturday, adding, 'We're looking forward to another ripper snow season.' Moving forward, the snowy weather has cleared and strong winds last week have now settled, but temperatures remain good for snowmaking.
New Zealand
New Zealand's 2026 ski season proper will not begin this weekend as planned, with all three major centres confirming delays. Early autumn snowfalls in late April briefly allowed one club field to operate, but May turned unusually dry and mild, with some regions recording their driest month on record.
Mount Hutt and Cardrona announced on Tuesday that they would postpone their planned 12th June openings, while The Remarkables held off until Thursday before confirming it also cannot start as hoped. Cardrona and The Remarkables have pushed their launches back by a week, but Mount Hutt has not set a new date, saying it will reopen 'once winter arrives.'
Colder weather is finally forecast from next week, with lower temperatures expected to support snowmaking and bring some natural snowfall. Two areas, Whakapapa and Coronet Peak, have already used all-weather snowmaking systems to offer small tubing and beginner zones since late May.
Argentina
It looks like it is at least another week until ski areas in Argentina kick off their 2026 ski seasons. After a fairly dry and often mild start to meteorological winter, things are now moving in the right direction with temperatures dropping to double digits below freezing and 10–20 cm/4–8 inches snowfall accumulations with much more in the forecast.
Chile
There is some uncertainty as to what might open in Chile from this weekend. It looks like the first resorts may not open for 2026 for another week, with Portillo confirming the 21st. However, some, including Valle Nevado, had been expected to open from this weekend. It has, until recently, been mostly mild and dry, making it difficult for them to create an adequate pre-season base and the expectation is delay. The past 24 hours has seen a big change with a multi-day storm blowing in, Valle Nevado reporting 25 cm/10 inches of snowfall in the first 24 hours and much more coming, so perhaps something may open after all. We will know on Saturday.
Southern Africa
Afriski in Lesotho appears to have been fielding calls from excited skiers and boarders since cold weather and snow moved into the region at the start of the month. Before that it had not been cold enough for them to build a base, so they could not take advantage of it and have been working to catch up since. The centre says it currently hopes to open for 2026 from this Friday, 12th June, conditions permitting.
Northern Hemisphere
The Alps
The Alps saw more snowfall at altitude (above about 1,900 m/6,230 feet) at the weekend with totals of up to 20 cm/8 inches of summer snow reported. There has been more snowfall at altitude over the past week too.
A second French ski area began summer glacier ski operations on Saturday with Val d'Isère, which originally planned a three-week window, now aiming to run glacier skiing on the Pisaillas until 12 July, conditions allowing. Skiing and riding is on terrain between 2,725 m and 3,197 m (8,940 feet and 10,505 feet) and the six runs open are split between race teams training and public access. The Moraine, Montet and Combe du Géant lifts are open and accessed via the Cascade and Montets lifts.
Les 2 Alpes remains open as the other French choice.
In Austria, Hintertux has the deepest reported base (3 m/10 feet) and most terrain (about 25 km/16 miles of slopes) still open at present. You can also ski at Italy's Passo Stelvio and the Zermatt/Cervinia-accessed Matterhorn Glacier Paradise area, home to Europe's highest ski lift at up to 3,899 m/12,790 feet, which is only open in summer.
Scandinavia
Norway's Galdhopiggen and Stryn glaciers remain fully open, although bad weather has caused occasional slope closures. In northern Sweden, Riksgransen has two more long-weekend openings planned (this one and next), but its base is down to only about 20 cm/8 inches and its upper lift has broken down. Guests can use the lower lift free of charge but have to hike to access a thin strip of snow marked out by spray marker.
North America
US slopes in the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest have seen some of their snowiest weather and stormy conditions of the past month. With Mammoth now closed, Timberline in Oregon is the only resort fully open, although it has been forced to close several days over the past week due to stormy conditions.
The Beartooth Basin summer ski area on the Wyoming/Montana state line has also been trying to operate but was hit first by a lift malfunction, causing it to close with a planned reopening from Friday. Now the new snow has blocked the Beartooth highway that accesses it.
The other option currently available is a hike-to terrain park for freestylers open Thursdays to Sundays at Colorado's Copper Mountain.
There is nowhere open in Canada at present, but Sunshine near Banff will reopen for a fortnight of summer skiing at the end of next week and has reported over 30 cm/12 inches of fresh snowfall over the past week.