The snow forecast to fall tomorrow at La Parva, Chile...
The 2026 southern hemisphere ski season finally has momentum, with New Zealand reporting the deepest snow bases and The Andes expecting a huge storm. In the northern hemisphere, summer skiing is winding down as mid-July heat persists.
The Snow Headlines - July 16th
- Improving conditions on Aussie slopes after four-day storm brings fresh snow.
- New Zealand ski areas see up to 115 cm/45 inches of fresh snowfall and some near full operations.
- Snowfall in the Andes improves conditions with huge falls forecast.
- Tignes, last summer ski area still open in France, closes summer ski season early.
- Last US lift-served ski area still operating 25-26 season expected to end season on Sunday.
- Saas-Fee expected to be first northern hemisphere area to open for 26-27 season this Saturday.
Rather a lot of snow forecast for South America.
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World Overview
There's a shift at last in the 2026 southern hemisphere season... and an impressive storm in the forecast for the Andes.
After lagging behind for over a month, several New Zealand ski areas now report both the deepest snow bases and the most terrain open worldwide. Mount Hutt and others overtook Austria's Hintertux last Friday, ending an unusually long period in which a northern hemisphere glacier led global terrain totals despite +20 °C Alpine temperatures.
The delay in the usual June handover was caused by a lack of major snowfall across southern regions; some are still struggling, but New Zealand has seen substantial snow over the past two weeks. Australia has finally recorded one of its biggest snowfalls in months, and the Andes have seen some improvement.
In the northern hemisphere, mid-July heat continues. Around six summer ski areas remain open, with the last lift-served centres open in France and the USA due to close Sunday. In Switzerland, Saas-Fee is expected to be the first to start its 26–27 season. Tignes closed a few days early as the resort said the heat had made the glacier unsafe for skiing.
Southern Hemisphere
Australia
There's been a steady improvement in snow depths and terrain open at Australian resorts after a week of cold temperatures for snowmaking and natural snowfall that brought approximately 25 cm/10 inches of fresh cover. Bases are still thin (25–50 cm/10–20 inches) and terrain open is typically 5–15% of full areas, so there's still a good way to go to reach full operations.
Falls Creek now has 11 of its 16 lifts spinning with the addition of Ruined Castle chairlift, expanding its intermediate terrain offerings. 'It's a beautiful sunny day here at Falls Creek and great to see everyone out and about,' said Riley Wittber from Falls Creek's Lift Experience Team on Thursday. 'Due to the snowfall last week and the amazing work of our snowmaking team we've been able to open Ruined Castle today.'
The week ahead is looking dry and probably too warm for much snowmaking, with temperatures in the 0–15 °C range.
New Zealand
New Zealand's ski fields have seen very wintry weather over the past 10 days, with multiple storms delivering up to 1.5 m/59 inches of snowfall on higher terrain in recent weeks. Last weekend's multi-day event brought around 1.2 m/47 inches to several areas, forcing resorts to dig out before reopening.
Mount Hutt has led the surge, reaching 75/125 cm/30–49 inches bases after a 1 m/39 inches dump and briefly overtaking Europe's summer glacier operations for deepest cover.
Some club fields also topped a metre/39 inches, although lower elevations saw wetter snow and most commercial centres remain one-third to two-thirds open.
Strong winds and high-altitude rain have caused occasional disruptions despite the overall snowy pattern. The week ahead is looking largely dry with sunshine, although light to moderate snowfalls are expected at the weekend.
Argentina
Most of Argentina's ski areas are now open, although bases remain thin and terrain limited, mirroring conditions in Australia and Chile.
Las Leñas (20/45 cm/8–18 inches) was the last major resort to start its season, opening at the weekend with just over 10% of terrain available after a month-long delay. Cerro Bayo (0/25 cm/0–10 inches) currently offers the most skiing in the country at around 40% open.
As we publish this week's report, heavy snowfall is expected across Patagonia, with potentially 25–50 cm/10–20 inches possible each day in ski areas including Catedral, Chapelco and La Hoya, while southerly Cerro Castor stays extremely cold but drier.
Chile
Chile's ski season remains stalled, with half the country's areas still closed and most others operating only 5–10% of terrain on very thin cover.
However, things are hopefully changing dramatically as we publish this week's report, with (very) heavy snowfall forecast over the coming week – potentially up to 3 metres/10 feet, or more, over the next 10 days, which would completely transform things.
So far accumulations have been modest, in the single figures centimetres, but it could and should change quickly.
For now Portillo (25/45 cm/10–18 inches) is currently the strongest performer, with about 20% of its slopes open. It has reported 13 cm/5 inches of snowfall in the past 24 hours, the most for some weeks.
If the storm turns out anything like the current forecast, there will be a lot of digging out to do and we would expect access roads to be closed at times - but it's likely to set up many ski areas for the season.
Southern Africa
Little change this week at Lesotho's Afriski, where the 1 km/0.5 miles main run is thought to be nearing (or at) full operation on a 10–15 cm/4–6 inches base. Conditions have stayed dry and mostly sunny, with daytime temperatures at times climbing well into positive double figures. Overnight lows, however, continue to plunge to around –6 °C, providing just enough freeze for periodic snowmaking top-ups and helping maintain the limited early-season cover.
Northern Hemisphere
There's not been much change in the weather - which is hot in most parts of the Alps and Western US - but this coming weekend should see several big changes to what's open and what's not in Europe and North America.
Currently there are seven areas open for summer skiing and riding, but the last with lift-accessed skiing in North America, the Palmer snowfield above Timberline on Mount Hood in Oregon, is expected to close a month earlier than usual this summer, this Sunday 19th July, due to poor snowfall last winter limiting snow accumulation to work with through the warmer months.
That will mean only the hike-to terrain park at Copper Mountain is still open (Thursday to Sundays) as of next week.
In the Alps, it's all change too, with the last glacier summer ski area still open in France, in Tignes, closing a few days earlier than planned, on Thursday rather than this weekend. However, Switzerland's Saas-Fee says it will open for its 26-27 season, despite the freezing point in the Alps being mostly above 4,000 m/13,123 feet and its highest glacier slopes.
The three other centres still open in the Alps are Austria's Hintertux, Zermatt's Matterhorn glacier paradise (also accessible from Cervinia) and Italy's Passo Stelvio. All have been battling warm temperatures again this week.
Hintertux is open about its snow depth, which was over 3 m/10 feet a few months ago, 1.5 m/5 feet a few weeks ago and has now dropped below 50 cm/20 inches. It plans to shut down for a few months from some point this month but hasn't announced when yet.
Up in Scandinavia, the region's highest slopes at the Galdhopiggen summer ski area are also open. Warm and sunny here too, which may lead to its usual few months of midsummer closure kicking off soon.