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Cairngorm ski area above Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands will have a third ski season without its key funicular railway lift providing access to its upper mountain and upper baser station facilities.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) chief executive Charlotte Wright has dashed hopes that the "best case scenario" presented last autumn that the funicular might be repaired in time for winter 20-21, saying that the Covid-19 crisis has delayed decision making on project.

The funicular was closed in Autumn 2018 due to safety concerns and last year experts said repairing the lift, which had cost £19.5m to construct in 2001 would cost around £12m, but that removing it would cost nearer £14m. Estimated repair costs are believed to have since risen to nearer £15m.

Planning permission for the repairs was given earlier in spring this year but the final go ahead by public body Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) which both own the land and (separately) run the ski lift company that was due to have taken place in May has now been set back to "later in the summer" and it appears that all options are now back on the table.

In a separate development, enquiries by the Scottish Government and Audit Scotland have cleared HIE in any wrong-doing in their appointment of Cairngorm's former operators, Natural Assets Investments Limited (NAIL) trading as Natural Retreats at the time. HIE were reported last autumn to be in the process of taking legal action against NAIL for what HIE say were NAIL's failure to live up to its commitments when awarded the operating contract.

The UK branch of Protect Our Winters (POW), the global movement of skiers and boarders to fight climate change, is urging skiers and boarders to join a virtual lobby, aimed at asking British MPs to take action for a better future.

The virtual lobby is being organised by a group called The Climate Coalition, a group of over 100 member organisations including POW.

"We are at a turning point. As we build back from the current health crisis, we can choose to tackle climate change and nature's decline, and rebuild a resilient economy that benefits everyone in society. Or we can let the moment for change pass us by, go back to old ways and wait for new crises to hit," a POW UK Statement reads, continuing,
"We need to tell politicians that #TheTimeIsNow to put a healthy, greener, fairer future at the heart of plans to rebuild a strong economy."

The virtual lobby is scheduled for next Tuesday, 30th June, with POW UK members encouraged to meet their local MPs online to talk about how the UK's recovery from Coronavirus can, and must, help to tackle climate change and nature's decline, creating jobs and protecting the most vulnerable in the UK and around the world.

Those who sign up in advance online on the Climate Coalition website will receive an email with the full participant guide.

Participants then need to email their MP to ask them to provide a videocall link so POW say it's important participants try to sign up and send the request asap this week.

Sign up here: http://www.theclimatecoalition.org/virtual-lobby/?SQF_ORGANISATION=winter

Australia's 2020 ski season has got underway today with two areas – Thredbo and Mt Baw Baw – opening. Perisher and Mt Buller are scheduled to join them on Wednesday with Falls Creek and Mt Hotham, which had also planned to open on the 24th, now delaying their opening to the 29th.

Most Australian ski areas usually open together on the first weekend of June, whether or not there's enough snow for skiing, to coincide with the Queens's Birthday long weekend. At the height of the pandemic that became increasingly unlikely as a target date and early July was slated instead, so opening in June now looks like a good result.

Of course there are full pandemic prevention measures in pace including limits on the number of people on the slopes, social distancing, face masks and increased hygiene measures. 'Fun' snow activities like tobogganing and snowballing are not allowed. Lift tickets must also be purchased in advance online with at least one area reporting its quota is sold out until September, unless the government decides more can be sold.

Snow cover is currently marginal with only limited terrain open, which is what's behind Mt Hotham's decision to delay their opening. After some big snowfalls in May there have been only light snowfalls in recent days although the weather is increasingly cold enough for snowmaking and more sow is forecast so resorts are hoping to open more terrain soon.

Australia is the third ski nation in the southern hemisphere where resorts have now opened for 2020. Resorts are already open in New Zealand and Lesotho although only one each, so Australia now has the most open.

More ski areas are due to open in New Zealand at the end of this week but so far there's no news on when ski areas in South America or South Africa may be able to open.

SkiStar, the company which runs most of Scandinavia's leading ski areas, taking 41% of the total market there, as well as running St Johann in Tirol in Austria, say that advanced bookings for next winter are actually up – if only by 1% - on the same time last year.

The company is taking that as a sign of optimism after it, like most ski operators, suffered a major financial hit when the coronavirus pandemic lockdown arrived from early March.

The company reported losses of SEK 413 million (€39m) in the last quarter which it said were entirely due to the early closure of their ski resorts.

In fact ski areas in Sweden were among the last in the world to close, on April 6, three weeks after ski areas in Norway and Austria.

"As always, health and safety is a priority for us, so the focus has been on our employees and guests, and we would like to emphasise just how much we value the excellent cooperation we have had with healthcare services and the authorities in the current situation," said CEO Stefan Sjöstrand, adding, "Ending the season earlier, combined with the travel bans in place in the countries where we operate, has meant that we have had to put considerable effort into reviewing our costs and planned investments."

Along with healthy booking numbers for next winter, Mr Sjöstrand noted that whilst its physical retail stores are closed, online sales have grown by 43 percent.

The famous resort of Riksgransen has re-opened for four days around Midsummer for its special annual celebration.

The resort, located 250km inside the Arctic Circle, has a ski season that begins in early March and stays open to late May. It than closes for 3-4 weeks before it's special annual re-opening, the highlight of which is skiing under the midnight sun into the summer solstice.

This year the resort has decided that in partnership with VisitSweden and Swedish Lapland they will be broadcasting their midnight skiing live on Midsummer Eve.

"If you want to join us for a ski trip during the midnight sun go to Visit Sweden's Facebook page www.facebook.com/VisitSweden at 24.00pm Sweden time on Midsummer Eve, June 19th," a resort spokesperson said.

Riksgransen is so far north that it has 24-hour daylight from early-May to August, but this year there were not any of its usual skiing sessions under the midnight sun in Maytime as doing so was not considered viable at the height of the pandemic.

Although the resort was one of just a handful to operate through the world's main pandemic lockdown, deciding it would do so due to a limited number of guests and having in-house medical facilities, it decided 'extras' like skiing under the midnight sun should be cancelled. Therefore the midsummer celebrations over the next few days are the one time this year they'll be possible.

Australia's 2020 ski season gets under way in less than a week, with most of the country's leading areas due to open on either Monday 22nd or Wednesday 24th June next week.

There appears to be a great deal of pent up demand for Aussies to get on the slopes – perhaps in part driven by the two week delay from the normal season start which should have been the first weekend of June; in part by a loosening of lockdown and in part by some great snowy images from pre-season snowfalls – particularly in May.

As with the small number of ski areas in Europe and North America that have re-opened after lockdowns have eased in various countries, there are to be a number of measures in place including the need to buy tickets online ahead of arriving at the slopes. There will be limits on the numbers of people on the slopes with a number of ski areas saying these will be half the normal limit, plus increased hygiene, the requirement to wear face masks and of course of social distancing – 1.5 metres in Australia.

As has been the case at a number of re-opened resorts in areas like Norway and the US, early signs are of a strong demand for tickets. Thredbo launched is online ticket sales last week and immediately suffered problems with its online ticket sales site as more than 20,000 people logged in to try to buy them. Other areas are going to launch online sales over the next few days, advising skiers not to panic and in some cases limiting the time window for which tickets are available so people don't try to buy for the whole season on day one of sales.

Australia will be the third southern hemisphere ski area to open for winter 2020 following Afriski in Lesotho and Mt Hutt in New Zealand. Ironically both have the opposite problem to most other ski areas that have re-opened. Following their governments' successful; suppression of the virus they have everything open and operating fairly normally, but are missing international skiers due to their closed borders. For Afriski there was a heavy commercial reliance on ski areas from South Africa and for some New Zealand areas, Australian skiers are a big market.

The other three southern hemisphere ski nations, Argentina, Chile and South Africa, remain in lockdown with no clarity on when or if they'll be able to open this winter as yet.

After months of planning and wondering how ski areas would operate, and at one point whether they would be able to operate at all, New Zealand's 2020 ski season has begun began today with near normality.

Following the country's successful suppression of the virus and its policy of closed borders, it moved to its lowest level of lockdown earlier this week, meaning no masks or social distancing are required.

So when Mt Hutt opened this morning, a week later than originally scheduled due to pandemic planning, operations were pretty much normal and very different to re-opened centres in Europe and north America where strict social distancing, mask wearing and limitations of numbers on the slopes are currently the norm.

"We are so stoked to be open! Winter 2020 is officially open for business. Weather won the day but it is so good to get some snow under the feet," a resort spokesperson said.

Prior to the easing of lockdown most New Zealand ski areas had announced delayed opening dates and often plans to open at weekends only outside peak times. It's unclear yet whether the easing of lockdown to near normal life will mean centres can open more. Some are heavily reliant on international visits to be viable operations and with borders closed, business will be down.

Italian glacier ski areas are due to begin re-opening to the public tomorrow (June 13th) with first Passo Stelvio and then (from the 20th) Cervinia.

Work is reported to be progressing on what is set to be the new world's biggest indoor snow centre under construction in Shanghai.

The project, first announced nearly two years ago in 2018 and then called Winastar China now appears to have been re-christened Montigo Resort Shanghai but remains on track to open in Beijing winter Olympics Year, 2022, according to Montigo Resorts.

The complex will feature 90,000 square metres of indoor snow – around three times the size of SkI Dubai and taking the current 'world's biggest by snow area' title from another Chinese indoor snow centre, the 72,600 sqm ski and snow park currently known as: SUNAC Snow World Eternal Star Ice & Snow (Formerly run by the Wanda Group) which opened in 2017.

The Shanghai project is a joint venture between the Singapore-based property developer KOP, Shanghai Lujiazui Development Company and Shanghai Harbour City Development Company, and will aim to attract 3.2 million visitors a year, predominantly focusing on the domestic tourism market. It will be run by Majid Al Futtaim Group who operate Ski Dubai, Ski Egypt and currently have several other indoor snow centres in the Middle East under construction.

Montigo Resort Shanghai will have three ski slopes, including one described as "Olympic-standard" and there'll be more than 25 on snow attractions too. The complex will also include four hotels, at least one of which will provide slopeside accommodation. Along with shops, bars, restaurants and cafes the complex will also feature a spa complex, concert hall and a water park.

"This is KOP's largest project so far, and we are excited to work alongside our strong local partners to push new boundaries and introduce new and innovative concepts to the Chinese market. The large-scale mixed development will also offer opportunities for KOP to build new income streams, many of which are recurring in nature, for our sustainable growth going forward," said Ong Chih Ching, executive chairman and executive director of KOP.

Although it appears it will have the largest indoor snow surface by area it is unclear whether Montigo Resort Shanghai will also have the longest indoor snow slope yet. Currently two centres in France and Germany claim indoor slopes of over 60 metres in length which have remained the longest even though several centres in China that have opened in the past few years have much bigger slope areas and multiple indoor slopes.

Another complex under construction in Dubai, Meydan One (pictured below), is going for the 'longest indoor slope' title but this is believed to have decreased from an originally claimed 1.2km indoor slope to around 700 metres now, although that would still be the world's longest if completed. The complex was originally announced in 2015 and was due to start opening this year. It is currently reported to be opening next year but it is unclear if the ski slope will be part of the initial launch.