Banff Sunshine Village, Canada, open for summer skiing from Saturday 20th June
Australia's ski season has started albeit with warm, wet weather and limited Southern Hemisphere terrain, while Northern Hemisphere glacier and summer ski areas continue to operate.
The Snow Headlines - June 18th
- Ski season in the Andes gets underway in Argentina with fresh snowfall.
- Tignes opens for 2026 summer ski season this weekend.
- Aussie ski areas close days after season start following mild weather and rain.
- Rare Canadian summer ski season set to start at Sunshine.
- Chile's 2026 season starts this weekend.
- Riksgränsen's 2026 season ending after solstice ski.
- New Zealand's 26 season start delayed again with warm temps after snow.
- Norway's Stryn Glacier ends 2026 opening after 19 day season.
A little snow forecast for New Zealand and South America.
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World Overview
The southern hemisphere's 2026 season start is proving rather lacklustre in most areas. There have been delayed openings and some centres that had opened with limited snow have been forced to close again, with nowhere managing to open more than a kilometre of runs so far.
Warm, sometimes wet weather has led Australian resorts to close again. New Zealand's already delayed season start this weekend has been postponed a second time after a promising week of snowmaking-friendly temperatures and some natural snowfall, followed by an upcoming warm, wet and windy weekend. Southern Africa's Afriski in Lesotho has opened, as has the first South American resort, with more set to follow this weekend, hopefully with more extensive terrain than has opened elsewhere so far.
In the northern hemisphere, all but one Scandinavian centre will be closed as of next week as Riksgränsen ends its season after midsummer snowsports.
Tignes is set to open for summer skiing this weekend and across the Atlantic, Banff's Sunshine is also readying to reopen for a 16 day summer ski session from Saturday.
Southern Hemisphere
Australia
Australian ski areas are enduring what some headlines already describe as 'the worst ever start to the season'. The news is not good, with mild temperatures and spells of rain impacting the thin cover achieved during a cold and snowy first week of the month. Some centres including Falls Creek and Mount Hotham have been forced to close again by current conditions. Others, including Thredbo and Mount Buller (which have all-weather snowmaking machines) and Perisher have maintained a few hundred metres of snow cover. There is no significant change in the forecast, with temperatures hopefully just cold enough for snowmaking to return overnight next week.
New Zealand
The past week has brought promising natural snowfall and snowmaker-friendly low overnight temperatures. Mount Hutt, Cardrona and The Remarkables, which had delayed their season starts last weekend, are about ready to open. However, the coming weekend is due to see a sudden temperature spike with gales and rain, leading Cardrona and Mount Hutt to delay again. The Remarkables has yet to publish its position.
The small snow area with terrain park features maintained by a new all-weather snowmaking machine at Coronet Peak remains open.
Argentina
Argentina's ski season began this week, with Cerro Bayo the first to open in South America, offering only a short initial strip of terrain. The wider season is set to start this weekend after fresh snowfall and sustained cold brought winter conditions back to the Andes.
Bariloche plans to open after last week's first Patagonian snowfall of 2026, whilst Chapelco reported around 30 centimetres/12 inches of new upper-mountain snow with more since.
Cold weather persists, with upper-mountain temperatures of −10 to −4 °C/14 to 25 °F at Catedral, Chapelco and Cerro Bayo, and −12 to −6 °C/10 to 21 °F at higher Andean areas such as Las Leñas. Light snow showers may add a few centimetres/1 to 2 inches mid-week, with bases staying below freezing.
Chile
Chile's ski season opens this weekend with far better conditions than a week ago. A 10–20 centimetre/4–8 inch snowfall late last week was followed by heavier weekend snow and early-week storms, leaving close to a metre/3 feet on some upper slopes. Valle Nevado reported 25 centimetres/10 inches from the first wave, whilst Portillo picked up 45 centimetres/18 inches on Tuesday.
Most Chilean resorts plan to open, though the extent of terrain remains uncertain.
Chile should stay cold through the coming week, with summit temperatures of −10 to −3 °C/14 to 27 °F and bases 0–7 °C/32–45 °F. Mostly dry weather should prevail, but brief flurries are possible, especially at higher elevations.
Southern Africa
Southern Africa's ski season began last Friday as Afriski opened for 2026. After early-week snowfall, the pattern turned dry and sunny, with overnight lows near −5 °C/23 °F and daytime temperatures barely above freezing, allowing steady snowmaking. Afriski aims to create a mile long run, though it is unclear if the full slope is open yet.
The cold early-winter pattern continues over the coming week, with summit temperatures from −13 to +5 °C/9 to 41 °F and persistent overnight freezes. Most days stay bright, with only a slight chance of light flurries on higher ridges.
Northern Hemisphere
Europe
Three French resorts should be open for summer skiing this weekend, with Tignes joining Les 2 Alpes and Val d'Isère for a month of Grande Motte operations.
June has delivered fresh snow and low freezing levels, giving good conditions across The Alps. Hintertux still offers the most terrain at 25 kilometres/16 miles, whilst Passo Stelvio and the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise above Zermatt and Cervinia also remain open.
In Scandinavia, Galdhøpiggen still reports all slopes open, but Stryn has closed after a short 19-day season. Riksgränsen ends its 2026 season this weekend amid limited snow and a key lift closure.
A warm, settled Alpine pattern dominates, whilst Scandinavia stays cooler and more unsettled.
Canada
Sunshine Village is reopening for a fortnight of summer skiing from 20th June to 5th July after reporting its second snowiest ever winter with 1025 centimetres/404 inches of snowfall. The Canadian Rockies had a very snowy winter in contrast to the US Rockies to the south. The resort expects to run one chairlift, the Strawberry Express, and several ski runs.
United States
Timberline's Palmer Snowfield on Mount Hood remains the key U.S. summer-ski option.
Copper Mountain's hike-to terrain park runs Thursday to Sunday for the public, with campers using it earlier in the week, though wind has caused some temporary closures. Beartooth Basin has reopened after lift repairs and the Beartooth Highway's weather-related closure.
A cooler pattern moves into western North America, with Timberline seeing overnight lows well below freezing and daytime highs in the high teens Celsius. Beartooth stays colder, Copper stays mild and dry, and Sunshine Banff remains cool with occasional light snow.