Tiffindell, South Africa, where 60cm of snow this weekend left the resort snowed in - please check their Facebook page for latest updates before travelling...
This Month's Snow Headlines
- Big July snowfalls on open glacier slopes in the Alps; now looking good for August.
- Large snowfalls in Chile take some snow depths past 2m mark for first time in 2016.
- Fonna ski area in Norway continues to claim world's deepest snow base at 7m.
- July snow on high peaks in North America, including the one ski area open in August.
- Powder reported on three continents for the start of August.
It was a very snowy end to July, not just in the Southern Hemisphere but also in the Alps and Rockies - setting things up very nicely for August snowsports worldwide. In fact it's really one of the best Augusts on record for some countries; notably South Africa, Lesotho and Australia.
In the Northern Hemisphere, base depths are healthy on most glaciers thanks to good snowfalls last winter topped up with the July snow. In total, there are a dozen areas open in countries including Austria (3), France (2), Italy (2), Norway (2), Switzerland (2) and USA (1) with several areas (Molltal glacier, Saas Fee) recently re-opening for August.
There's powder snow reported pretty much across the southern hemisphere's ski fields as we enter August, a very different picture from a month ago when areas in Argentina, Chile and New Zealand were struggling to open/stay open due to a thaw. Now all of those areas, plus Australia and Southern Africa have seen big late-July snowfalls and are looking good with bases reaching the 2m mark in the Andes.
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NORTHERN HEMISPHERE (for South, please see below)
Europe
Austria
Three of Austria's eight glacier ski areas are open in August – the other five are prepping for the big autumn re-opening in late September! The Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun only closed at the end of July, but it is replaced by the re-opening Molltral glacier which will now stay open through to May 7th, 2017! The year-round Dachstein and Hintertux glaciers are the other two options. All three have had fresh snow in July. The Hintertux glacier has the biggest area open with 12km of runs and a base of 1-2m.
France
France is back to a choice of two summer ski destinations during August with Val d'Isere having ended its 2016 summer opening. Tignes, which was formerly open year round and remains the ski area what is open for the longest period in total each year in France (being open for two months in the Autumn when no other French area is) has a 130cm base and is open through August. Les 2 Alpes glacier ski area peaks at 3,600 metres and has 17 lifts operating in the summer serving 11 runs and a terrain park. It has a 160m base and summer skiing in Les 2 Alpes in 2016 is from 7am to 12.30pm every day to the 27th of August.
Italy
With Val Senales no longer opening through the summer, Passo Stelvio and Cervinia are the two Italian options for August skiing. British-run snow camps are currently underway at Cervinia, run by the Warren Smith Ski Academy who report conditions there are excellent with some fresh snow cover. Passo Stelvio also looks to be in good shape.
Switzerland
Switzerland is back up to a choice of two ski resorts with Saas Fee re-opening its glacier in the latter half of July. It joins neighbouring Zermatt, which with Hintertux is one of two resorts that tries to open for snowsports every day of the year. Saas Fee also has one of the world's longest ski seasons, open now right through to next spring 2017. Both ski areas have their terrain parks open and claim to have over 2m of snow depth on their glaciers, so are looking good for August, often the hottest month of the year. Both had some fresh snow in July too. Zermatt has Europe's highest slopes and in August offers cross-border skiing with Cervinia in Italy.
Scandinavia
Two Scandinavian areas remain open as we enter August, boasting the deepest snowbases in the world. Both in Norway; the Fonna (7m base) and the Galdhoppigen (Norway's highest) summer ski areas are both in good shape. The Stryn glacier closed last month.
North America
There were some big snowfalls above 2,000m on the Cascades and northern Rockies in the US in the latter half of July. Jackson Hole posted pictures of sunflowers buried in snow. Only one ski area is now open in North America (and did get fresh snow in July); Timberline on Mt Hood in Oregon is open through August with several runs and a terrain park to enjoy.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Australia
Conditions are looking excellent across Australia with a good fall of fresh snow in the final week of July continuing a largely snowy six weeks since mid-June. Perisher reported 75cm (two-and-a-half feet) of fresh snow in 72 hours in the last days of July and is now one of four resorts to boast a snow depth around the metre mark – a very healthy depth for Australian ski areas. Mt Hotham and Thredbo are also up there and Falls Creek was actually the first Aussie resort to reach the magic metre back on July 26th.
New Zealand
It has been a very challenging ski season in New Zealand so far. The country is mid-way through its warmest year on record and a few weeks ago ski areas that had opened were closing due to unseasonably warm weather and those due to open were delaying doing so, or opening just a run or two at a stretch. Thankfully centres are now posting "winter is finally here" stories on social media. Temperatures have dipped and there's been lots of fresh snowfall in the last week. Although some centres still have thin bases the majority are looking much better and four areas (Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Treble Cone and Ruapehu) have reported their base depths have passed the metre mark, so things are definitely looking more 'normal' for New Zealand as we enter August.
Argentina
After a snowy pre-season in early June it got warm and dry in Argentina, and even the country's biggest resort, Catedral, was unable to open. Things are looking much better now after a snowy few weeks. It's powder across the country and Las Lenas now has a 1.6m base. Other areas are looking less impressive for snow depth but are still getting regular snowfalls now and bases are building fast.
Chile
It has been a snowy few weeks in Chile after a warm spell shut down some areas from late June to early July. The past few weeks have seen a return to low temperatures and plenty of fresh snow, particularly at Portillo in the north which is one of two areas (the other Valle Nevado) to now claim more than a 2m base – the first resorts in the southern hemisphere to do so in 2016. So things are looking good for the rest of the season here with a still snowy start to August and more than a metre of snow in the last week.
Southern Africa
It has been a good season in southern Africa so far with several good snowy periods, most recently in the last week of July when both Tiffindell in South Africa and Afriski in Lesotho saw healthy natural snowfall and temperatures low enough for snowmaking on top. So both are fully open.
Do check road conditions before travelling, however, as snow has been causing issues accessing the African resorts this last week!
August is normally the last full month of the Southern African 2016 season and this year should go the distance.