More ski areas closed at April 30th or May 1st leaving only around 20 open (fairly evenly divided between Europe and North America) as we move in to May, but ski centres in the Alps that have stayed open have been rewarded by more fresh snow in the first 24 hours of the month.
Ski areas that closed at the weekend enjoyed the benefits of several days of heavy snowfall at the end of last week before most were rewarded with blue skies and perfect conditions at the weekend.
However on Monday May 1st it was a return to snow at Tignes – which is open for one more week, and Italy's Presena glacier (pictured above this morning), which reported 20-30cm of snow in the first 24 hours of the month respectively.
The Presena glacier (pictured above this morning) is opening through May for the first time in three years. Prior to that the centre opened high-altitude black-graded runs in its glacier in to June each year, but the past two springs this did not happen due to the construction of new lifts and a restaurant.
The glacier will be open to June 4th for skiing and boarding and will be the only centre open in Italy for much of May. Val Senales is currently open but will close on Sunday and Passo Stelvio will open on the last Saturday of the month for its summer ski season. When Tignes closes next weekend there'll be no open ski areas in France until summer skiing begins at Tignes, les 2 Alpes and Val d'Isere in mid-June.