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J2Ski Snow Report 1st August 2021
The sun sets on a snowy weekend at Hotham Alpine Resort, Australia Heavy snow in Australia... if you can get there. The mountains are waiting for us... be patient, stay safe and follow your local advice and rules on travel. The Snow Headlines - 1st August - Incredible snowfall to end July in Australia, but few can get to the slopes. - Open areas in Europe in single figures as Scandinavian centres close early. - Dry winter for much of the Andes keeps some ski areas closed for lack of snow. - 20-21 ski season has ended in Asia – no lift-served ski areas open. - Saas-Fee the latest ski area to start its 21-22 ski season. - Las Lenas in Argentina and Tiffindell in South Africa may not open for a second season. - Portillo in Chile will not open this season. August is traditionally the height of the southern hemisphere's ski season and in the north a time of summer skiing and anticipation of autumn's pre-season snowfalls up high. 2021 is looking much better than 2020 in terms of what's open in the southern hemisphere, although there are 'bumps in the road' due to the continuing pandemic, and for some areas a fairly snowless winter to date still. For some ski areas in Europe and North America extreme heat in July has also taken its toll on snow cover. In the southern hemisphere, unusually, the biggest July snowfalls have been reported in Australia, where totals for the final fortnight of the month have gone well past the metre mark. However it has been a frustrating situation as ski areas in Victoria were closed until July 28th by a new pandemic lockdown, and major cities in other states have closed too, so whilst resorts are now open, few people can travel to them. Things are improving in New Zealand though the problem there was more the "warmest ever June." There have been some good snowfalls in recent weeks but it is still a rather patchy picture. The Andes have had a predominantly dry July with most areas open but struggling to open much terrain, and some still not open at all due to lack of snow cover. A few are still closed due in part to concerns that they will cost more to run than they'll bring in in pass sales due to ongoing covid restrictions. Elsewhere Lesotho's Afriski remains open, but Tiffindell over the border in South Africa remains shuttered for its second season. As there are only four weeks in a 'normal' Southern African ski season, it's not looking promising. In the northern hemisphere the last ski area open in Asia, Japan's Gassan, ended its 2021 season last month and only one centre remains open in North America, despite very high July temperatures; Timberline in Oregon. In Europe several more centres have ended their 2021 summer ski seasons (earlier than usual in the case of several Scandinavian areas), but eight glaciers remain operational in the alps as we start August. 
Snow inbound for Australia...
The Alps There are eight glacier ski areas in the Alps open as we enter August, although two of these, Austria's Molltal and Tignes in France, have scheduled Sunday 1st August as their closing day for skiing, so we're already down to just half-a-dozen. With Val d'Isere closing their glacier skiing earlier in July it leaves Les 2 Alpes, due to stay open all month conditions permitting, the only French summer ski option for most of the month. The summer ski season in the Alps has been mostly a story of hot sunny days and fast thawing of what had been quite healthy 3-4 metre snow depths, now down to nearer a metre left at most centres. There was some fresh snowfall during a cold spell in mid-July, but the bigger picture has been that of the fast mid-summer thaw. In Switzerland Saas-Fee has opened for its 21-22 season, joining year-round Zermatt. Cross-border access to the slopes above Zermatt has resumed from Cervinia in Italy and Italy's other open summer ski area at Passo Stelvio has the official safety certification it lacked for its lifts at the start of last month, so is now open to all. In Austria, the Kitzsteinhorn closed for summer skiing on the last full weekend of July but the year-round Hintertux remains open. The Molltal is supposed to stay open through summer but said a few days ago on July 28th that poor snow conditions mean it must temporarily close, as it has done for the past few years now, usually re-opening in mid-September. Two of Norway's three summer ski areas – Fonna and Galdhøpiggen – should also be open in August but both have closed for the season early, in the latter half of July, blaming rain, hot weather and strong winds for melting away the snow cover on the glacier ice in record time. North America The only ski area still open in North America is the Palmer snowfield on Mount Hood, at the Timberline ski area in Oregon. This has been hit by very high temperatures and almost a month of sunshine but has managed to stay open so far and aims to do so through to the start of September, this year seen as a particularly important summer season with main US snowsports athletes reported to be training there ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Another terrain park is maintained to the first few weeks of July at Copper in Oregon but is only open for private training sessions. Southern Hemisphere Argentina Argentina's ski areas can open this winter, unlike for much of last year, but unfortunately it hasn't been great for snowfall, so far, and the southern part of the country, in particular, has had a warm, dry July (the middle month of winter). Some areas have absolutely no snow at all, and it has been too warm for snowmaking. The best known of these is Las Lenas which announced early in the pandemic it would not open in 2020 but had been gearing up for a full season this year. Most areas do have at least some terrain open though. The largest, Cerro Catedral near Bariloche, initially opened just beginner terrain for much of July but now has limited runs possible on the upper mountain for better skiers. It still has the most terrain open in the country at present with 20km of runs, and no centre is posting a base depth of greater than 45cm (18 inches) as we start the month. Unfortunately, forecasting models are not yet predicting much of a change to the dry conditions as we enter August either. Australia As mentioned in our introduction Australia has had a remarkable period for snowfall in the final fortnight of July with some ski areas posting around 1.5 metres (five feet) of snowfall, completely transforming what had been a fairly snowless first half of the season. This should be (and indeed is) great news but not without a down side alas as the dreaded Delta variant continues to cause difficulties and ski resorts in Victoria, including Falls Creek, Hotham and Mt Buller, were closed in the state's fifth lockdown until the end of last month, just as the snow dumped down. They are open at present though, with strict restrictions in place. State borders are closed too and some cities including the largest, Sydney, are in lockdown, meaning although ski areas can open in New South Wales, the slopes have been quiet as few people can get to them. But for what it's worth Aussie ski areas start August with the best conditions in the world, most major resorts with more than a metre of fresh snow lying, almost all terrain open and fairly empty slopes. Chile A similar story to Argentina, although with slightly better snow stats on the Pacific side of the Andes to the Atlantic one. It's not a lot better though – the deepest reported base as we enter August and reach the midway point in the season is 70cm, and the most runs open 25km (16 miles). Valle Nevado has the most terrain open and will be pleased that it has at least got some open, unlike last winter when the Pandemic kept it closed. Big-name resort Portillo remains closed though, as it too was last year. It published several hoped-for opening dates over the past few months and most recently extended the date back to August 14th from the previous July 31st but on the 29th it confirmed it won't be opening at all for a second successive winter. There's not been much snow here either but the bigger issue at Portillo is the closure of international borders. There had been a hope that fully vaccinated foreigners might be allowed in from August 1st as the country is in the world top 10 for numbers vaccinated itself, but alas that optimistic hope has been thwarted for the time being at least and Portillo has decided to end the uncertainty for its customers. New Zealand After the record warm weather in New Zealand in June meant a very lacklustre start to the season there, things have picked up a good deal although it is, overall, not yet a 'memorable' season. There have been some decent snowfalls followed by 'bluebird days' that have seen slopes packed at some centres, but equally, there have been closures for rain and wind at times, and some centres are still struggling to open much terrain. The 'Transtasman quarantine-free travel bubble' with Australia has also been open/closed and is now closed for August and probably most of September due to the Delta variant cases in Australia. Mount Hutt, with over two metres of snow lying on its upper slopes, has both the deepest base in the country and with 32km (20 miles) of runs open the most terrain as we start August. But much of that 2.3 metres dates back to a huge pre-season snowfall and it is nice to see other ski areas like Coronet Peak and Mt Dobson reaching a metre base on their upper slopes after the very thin cover there was a month ago. Southern Africa There have been several periods of snowfall in South Africa over the past month but alas there's been no sign of life at the country's only commercial ski area, Tiffindell. It's the second winter in a row it has not operated. Lesotho's Afriski looks to have had a better winter than 2020 as at least South African skiers have been able to visit this winter. The 2021 season here is due to run to the last weekend of August and at present, the centre is fully open thanks to snowmaking with the full main slope complete and terrain park also open. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st July 2021
You can ski until 9pm at Coronet Peak, New Zealand, this weekend... 50 ski areas are open, on 6 continents... The mountains are waiting for us... be patient, stay safe and follow your local advice and rules on travel. The Snow Headlines - 1st July - Some summer ski centres in Europe and US close earlier than planned due to heat. - Southern Hemisphere 2021 ski season underway in Australia and New Zealand. - Ski areas open on six continents. - Probably no 4th of July resort openings in the US this year. - Cross-border travel between Cervinia and Zermatt to access glacier resumes. - Some resorts in New Zealand say they can't open as they can't find staff as border closed. - Whistler Blackcomb glacier summer skiing cancelled for a second year. - Lockdown in Australian cities hurts both Aussie and NZ ski areas. At the start of July, about 50 ski areas are open, in a dozen or so countries, on six continents. That's fewer than usual for this time of year, but much better than 12 months ago. Hopefully, we'll have over 100 open by the end of the month, on four or five continents. After all the complications of last winter in the northern hemisphere and the fact that most ski areas in the southern hemisphere were closed for the start of the 2020 winter there, this July is looking a lot more 'normal'. Challenges remain, of course, and the current big headache for ski areas in Australia and New Zealand, besides not very much snow yet, is lockdowns in big Australian cities during the peak school holiday period, right now, leading to mass ski holiday cancellations. That aside, the resorts we'd expect to be open in The Alps, Norway, North America and Japan are, pretty much, the ones that are open. In the southern hemisphere it's uncertain as to what will happen, particularly in the Andes, although many resorts are open already, or about to open. 
Snow inbound for Austria and Chile...
The Alps After lots of ski areas opened unexpectedly in late April, May and even June as lockdowns eased at the big ski nations in the Alps, we're pretty much back to the normal suspects open for July. Austria In Austria, there's the Hintertux, Kitzsteinhorn and Molltal glaciers for example - all due to be open all month except the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun which currently is set to close on the last Sunday of the month. Hintertux is still reporting a 4m+ base, very good for the start of July and likely to see it through the summer, fingers crossed. France In France the three ski areas of Les 2 Alpes, Val d'Isere and Tignes are all open, again as they normally would be and again two staying open all month, all being well although Val d'Isere is due to close on the second Sunday of the month. Italy and Switzerland Italy's Cervinia and Switzerland's Zermatt share access to the glacier slopes of the Klein Matterhorn and fortunately cross-border leisure travel was allowed to resume last month. A second Swiss option, Zermatt's neighbour Saas-Fee, is due to open for its nine-month 21-22 ski season on 16th July. A second Italian option, Passo Stelvio, should open soon, pending permission from Rome to re-open following maintenance. As to the weather, well Alpine nations saw temperatures reach 30C in some cases down in cities and warm enough higher up but most of the glacier areas still report fairly healthy bases – as mentioned up to 4 metres deep on some Austrian slopes. Northern Europe Two of Norway's three summer glacier areas, Fonna and Galdhoppigen, remain open, with a few kilometres of slopes open each. Fonna reports a 3-4 metre base still too and both should stay open all month. The third, Stryn, closed early after only a three-week 2021 ski season blaming wind and rain for destroying the snowpack. North America The ski areas in California and Colorado that occasionally stay open into July haven't made it this year and so far there's no sign of anywhere re-opening, as they sometimes do, for special 4th of July skiing and boarding. Something might still be announced at short notice but as the main weather news is historic high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and wider region, it seems very unlikely. The continent's one summer ski only centre, Beartooth Basin on the Montana/Wyoming state line also closed mid-June after only a 3 week season in 2021, so that leaves us with just Timberline ski area open through July, all being well, with the Palmer permanent snowfield on Mt Hood in Oregon. There are a few other options, but they're mostly for private use. The Woodward freestyle training camp in Colorado, for example, has access to a terrain park created from what snow remains at Copper Mountain. Whistler Blackcomb's glacier is closed for a second summer, this time due to a lockdown in the region caused by a surge of the Brazilian variant of the virus. So there's nowhere currently open in Canada. Asia July marks the end of the three-month season at Japan's sole summer ski area, Gassan, the only ski area open in the country with snow (there are a couple of long dry slopes at resorts like Kagura and Nozawa Onsen). Gassan started off with the snow lying 10 metres deep when it opened in early April for its 2021 run, and that's now down to just a metre left on higher slopes with temperatures in the 20s Celsius. So the snow looks set to be gone within a week or two now. Southern Hemisphere The 2021 ski season is underway in the southern hemisphere and if not quite back to pre-pandemic normal, is so far looking a lot better than last year in terms of restrictions and closures. Some centres even have slightly more snow than a year ago, although most are hoping for a lot more in July after a "challenging" start to winter in Australia, New Zealand and the South American Andes. Australia Australia's season has so far had a much more promising start than 2020. There were some decent snowstorms at the start of the month and although the cover is not yet great and rain spoilt cover about a week ago, it has snowed again since and more terrain is opening up. Indeed most resorts have more terrain open than they did to start July last year. More importantly perhaps, so far all centres have been able to open. It's a nervous time though with local lockdowns in Australian cities. Many holiday bookings are reported to have been cancelled at ski resorts in both Australia and New Zealand during this peak school holiday period as a result. Chile June wasn't the best of months in the Andes in terms of both snowfall and the virus spreading again either, but after a nervous few weeks with lots of "get excited about the winter starting very soon!" messages from resorts but with no dates given and nowhere actually opening, the first areas in Chile opened in the final few days of June. First up was Corralco on Monday, then El Colorado and Valle Nevado on Tuesday this week. Nevados de Chillan should open today (July 1st) and La Parva July 5th however Portillo doesn't plan to open until at least the 17th. Argentina For Argentina, the first 10 days of July looks set to see almost all of the country's ski areas open. There was also a moderate snowfall to end June bringing 20-40cm of cover to the Andes. Resorts that have confirmed an opening date include the world's most southerly major resort, Cerro castor down towards Tierra de Fuego from this Friday, 2nd July. The continent's largest area, Catedral near Bariloche is reported to be targeting this Thursday, July 1st, but that's yet to be confirmed (with hours to go). If it does it would be the first in the country to open. Another major resort, Las Lenas, which didn't open at all last winter says it will open July 9th as do Chapelco, Cerro Bayo and Caviahue, but la Hoya is also going with July 2nd. All in all, it's now starting to look more like a 'normal' winter than 2020, hopefully, at least in terms of what is open, although of course pandemic operating restrictions remain in place and international borders also remain closed. This latter issue is a major factor for resorts like Portillo which will find it hard to break even with these restrictions in place. New Zealand It has been a very interesting start to the 2021 season in New Zealand too. Here a huge snowstorm at the end of May (as we reported in our report a month ago – and still the biggest event of the southern hemisphere's winter 2021 start!) left the snow lying over two metres deep on upper slopes at Mt Hutt. This then set records for its opening weekend, on schedule, in the first half of June and remains by far the deepest snow stat of any southern hemisphere ski centre to date this winter. Since then though all of the country's other ski areas have struggled to open much terrain. Whilst Mt Hutt still has snow lying over two metres deep up high, other areas like Cardrona, Treble Cone and Coronet Peak all delayed opening then had just a few easy trails open initially with thin cover. To add to the opening issues, some smaller centres, notably Ohau, say they can't get enough staff to open due to the country's border closures. So it's a problematic start to the season but the weather has been improving and centres are continuing to open for the 2021 season and to open more terrain once they do. New Zealand also continues to have the big plus of almost no pandemic operating restrictions due to their successful suppression of the disease to date, but it's a nervous time with all the variant outbreaks in neighbouring Australia. This is also impacting business badly for New Zealand ski areas which are reporting mass cancellations from Aussies who had booked to ski in New Zealand for the first time in two years but have been thwarted by the new local lockdowns. Africa There have been several snowstorms in Southern Africa, but there's still no sign of life at Tiffindell ski area in South Africa which was closed last year due to pandemic restrictions. Afriski, over the border in Lesotho, did open for 2021 last month and this winter (unlike last) South Africans can cross the border into the mountain kingdom to ski provided they're in possession of a recent negative result virus test. |
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Ski Solutions have got a few (well, a handful... ok, 3 :lol: ) options; see our Ski packages to Verbier.
Worth giving them a call to see if they've got anything else in the pipeline. |
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So, can any J2Skiers get there? Would be pretty epic to ski and mountain bike on the same day...
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st June 2021
Making snow in Thredbo, Australia... Northern hemisphere extends in places, southern soon to start (hopefully)... The mountains are waiting for us... be patient, stay safe and follow your local advice and rules on travel. The Snow Headlines - 1st June - Ski season has restarted in France and Italy. - Southern Hemisphere's 2021 season start imminent with more optimism than 2020. - 'Hospitality' restarts in Austria; half a dozen glacier areas are open. - Zermatt and Cervinia both open but border line across ski slopes closed to mid-June. - Australia hopes to start season on 4th June in NSW, but Victoria in lockdown to 3rd. - US areas close earlier than expected due to warm temperatures. - Riksgransen won't open for midsummer skiing due to warm temperatures. - Skiing in Slovenia in to June. Last June saw the northern hemisphere's ski areas start to re-open after the first lockdown, whilst most of the southern hemisphere (with New Zealand the main exception) failed to start their 2020 ski seasons at all as the pandemic raged there. Happily, this June looks much more promising. Most exciting, and an unknown when we wrote our last report a month ago, the French and Italian governments finally confirmed ski areas could re-open from 22nd May and two resorts, La Clusaz in France and the Presena Glacier in Italy opened for the 22nd/23rd weekend only, just because they could. La Clusaz offered 1000 free tickets which were claimed instantly on release, crashing their booking system. Since then more areas have opened in both countries for summer skiing through June, detailed below. Things have also improved in Austria, with hospitality businesses allowed to reopen, and more glaciers open there than normal for this point in the year. Glacier areas have also opened in Norway and Switzerland has more choice than usual too to start the month. Ski resorts also stayed open until the end of May in Slovakia (Jasna and Tatranska Lomnica) and Slovenia (Kanin and Krvavec) after being allowed to re-open in April. Kanin keeps extending its season and at the last update said it was staying open to (at least) June 6th. The old pre-pandemic perennial issue of summer snow thaw in the northern hemisphere and early season cover in the summer may perhaps be a bigger issue for some this June than the pandemic restrictions. In the southern hemisphere, most of the signs so far are positive with some nice, if not yet massive, pre-season snowfalls and cold temperatures for snow-making. In the north, the Alps saw cold and unseasonably snowy weather in late May. But the US has been hot, leading some ski areas (that often open into June) like Squaw Valley closing early, in mid-May and up in Scandinavia there'll be no re-opening for midsummer skiing at Riksgransen for the same reason. In Asia, Japan's sole summer ski area of Gassan has opened and still has six metres (20 feet) of snow lying to start June, which has dropped fast from the 10 metres it had six weeks ago. Hopefully, enough snow will survive through to its usual season end in Mid-July. All in all though, at the time of writing, in terms of pandemic restrictions, early season conditions in the southern hemisphere and snow depths on European glaciers - June 2021 is looking much more promising than June 2020. For many skiers who want to ski this month, it is less of an issue of what's open as 'can I get there?' The world is opening up but it remains a very complex and confused picture as to where it's possible to travel to; if you can leave your own country and are you allowed into the one you want to travel to? Do you need to have been vaccinated? Can you get insurance? ...and how much testing and quarantine may be required? Then what's the additional cost of all that? Hopefully, things will start to become clearer and move in the right direction, through June. 
See where it's going to snow...
The Alps It is a much brighter picture in Alpine nations than it has been all year with all four major nations allowing glacier ski areas to operate for the first time since late October. The re-opening of ski areas in France and Italy, as well as additional ski areas in Austria, occurred in late May just as the region was enjoying an unusual week of snowfall, right down to resort level. Austria Austria has the most centres open – seven glacier areas and even one non-glacier centre – as we enter June. Several of these keep extending their seasons so it is unclear how long they might last through the month, but at the present time, Kaunertal, Pitztal and Stubai are due to end their seasons on the first Sunday of this month (the 6th). The other four – the Dachstein, Molltal, Kitzsteinhorn and Hintertux glaciers should stay open all month. Three of the centres – Dachstein, Kauntertal and Molltal have just reopened in the past few weeks since hospitality was allowed to resume in Austria making operations (potentially) financially viable. The surprise 'non-glacier' eighth area re-opening was the Wildkogel, which says it will have 2km of slopes open at its highest point over the coming weekend, as it did for the last weekend of May. Its unclear if it might try for another weekend after that. France In France Les 2 Alpes opened for the last weekend of May and Val d'Isere is due to join it for a four-week summer ski season on June 12th. A week later Tignes, the only area that had already started its 20-21 ski season when resorts were closed by the government there six months ago, will reopen. Italy In Italy Passo Stelvio and Cervinia, the two ski areas that were open when the last shut down began, have re-opened, and a third area, Madesimo, has skiing up high for the first two weekends in June. Passo Stelvio is open to ski tourers but has actually delayed opening its lifts for a fortnight to June 12th as the lockdown has put them behind on maintenance work. The 12th/13th should also mark the re-opening of the Swiss/Italian border to leisure travel meaning skiers will once again be able to ski across, as they're not currently allowed to. Switzerland In Switzerland, Zermatt is coming up to celebrating a year since it re-opened after the first (and so far only) Swiss lockdown on June 6th, 2020. That's the same day that Crans Montana, which extended its season by six weeks into June, is due to close. They're the only two Swiss areas open as we start June. Northern Europe Scandinavia is settling into summer ski mode with Riksgransen, "the spring skiing capital of the world" now closed for 2021 – it has said it won't re-open for skiing over midsummer this year as temperatures have been too warm. So it is the three Norwegian glacier areas that are now all open, the Fonna, Gladhoppigen and Stryn glaciers, all of which opened through May and should remain open through June. They all say snow conditions are good and the Fonna glacier probably has the deepest snow base of an open centre in the world at present at 6-7 metres (20-23 feet). North America There was a fairly rapid shut down of most North American ski areas in mid-May as temperatures rose after a dryer than average winter. Squaw Valley, Snowbird and Killington were among the areas that closed earlier than expected in the middle of the month. The final weekend of May actually brought fresh snow causing road closures in Washington State in the Northeast and even in Vermont on the East Coast, but it was too little too late for those areas. Whistler is also missing its second-successive summer ski season on its Blackcomb glacier with a spike of the Brazil-variant of the virus shutting down the resort over the past few months. So as of the start of June, three US areas are open. Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, one of the world's highest, is currently setting June 6th as its closing date but there's a chance it may extend (although recent remarks from the centre's operators suggest it won't!). Timberline in Oregon, which has a permanent snowfield, on Mt Hood aims to stay open to early September. It started well with 4 metres of snow lying mid-May but that dropped at a rapid rate to 3 metres so hopefully, the rate of thaw will slow a little. The Beartooth Basin summer ski area on the Montana/Wyoming border opened at the end of May, after having delayed opened a few days to Saturday 29th due to too much snow needing to be cleared from the access highway, and should stay open through June. Southern Hemisphere We are on the cusp of the start of the 2021 ski season in the southern hemisphere and, touch wood, it is currently looking promising for most areas opening in June. Snow cover is the usual area of concern of course but in Australia, the Andes, New Zealand and the mountains of southern Africa all major ski centres have been reporting pre-season May snowfalls and cool weather allowing snow-making systems to fire up. That can change of course but at least the autumn build-up has been promising. In 2020 the pandemic was the bigger issue, closing almost all ski areas until August, except in New Zealand and in Australia's New South Wales, but this year (again with the caveat that things can change equally quickly), all areas appear to be lining up to open in June or early July. Africa The exception so far is South Africa's sole resort of Tiffindell. Here things are looking very quiet with no new posts on website or social media for a year and reports of no one answering phones or responding to email enquiries. The owners are reported to be considering whether to open. Afriski, over the border in Lesotho, is all geared up to operate and celebrating a re-opened border with South Africa, from where most of its skiers arrive. New Zealand New Zealand's ski areas are also in upbeat mode after a snowy end to May there. Happy Valley, part of Whakapapa's ski area on Mt Ruapehu in the North Island, the country's largest ski area, could be among the first in the southern hemisphere to open, on Saturday, 5th June. It uses an all-weather snow-making system to bolster cover or make sure there is some snow if mother nature doesn't play ball. But the area is mostly for 'snow fun' and beginners rather than having any long runs. Skiers will have to wait another six days until Mount Hutt on the South Island is due to open. It reported 40cm of "rain affected snowfall" on May 31st. Most of the rest of the country's other ski centres will open in the following days and weeks. With the opening of leisure travel links to Australia expected to bolster skier numbers in NZ this season and the virus still (at time of writing) suppressed allowing for fairly normal operations and behaviour, the mood is currently good in NZ. Australia Elsewhere in the southern hemisphere, Australia's ski season appears to be on track for its start, officially, for most of the country's ski areas, the second Saturday of the month, June 12th. Last winter was something of a mess with the virus still a new thing and some areas ending up only managing to open for a couple of days all winter, although several including the largest, Perisher, in New South Wales, opened all season after a later-than-usual start. Perisher has just announced (on May 31st) that it will open just over a week earlier than planned, on Friday June 4th, probably the first in the southern hemisphere to do so. This year there's been some good May snowfalls and cold weather for snowmaking in the last week of May so things appear promising. One area reported 40cm of snow lying, a good early-season depth there. The only potential 'hiccup' in the opening plans is a one-week fire-break lockdown in Victoria after cases of the Indian variant of the virus were found there. Starting on the last Thursday of May it is currently due to run to the 3rd of June – just a week before the planned opening weekend. Businesses are reporting advance bookings at very high levels so there's nervousness there could be an extension. South America The ski areas of Argentina and Chile in the South American Andes also appear optimistic that a 2021 season will happen there, starting this month, the first June skiing for two years. Last winter just a handful of ski areas in both countries were able to open for the final weeks of the season in August and September whilst some big-name resorts like Portillo, Las Lenas and Valle Nevado didn't open at all. Ski areas here normally open from mid-June, if snow conditions and pandemic restrictions allow, fingers crossed. Currently pre-season snow cover looks good with most areas posting pictures of white slopes with the snow apparently 30-60cm deep at some already. |
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As confirmed by our own visitor stats, there's a growing interest in Canada from British skiers suffering from a lack of skiing this last winter and continuing questions over travel to European destinations.
The following Press Release is from Mabey Ski. Canada interest spikes with skiers looking for a trip of a lifetime Mabey Ski launches winter 2021/22 programme with unforgettable bucket list ski adventures in Canada & beyond 
After successfully running a winter season with few restrictions, adventure ski specialist Mabey Ski (www.mabeyski.com) is excited to announce its 2021/22 bucket list adventures in Canada and beyond. British owned and operated Mabey Ski offers trips to skiers and snowboarders looking for a unique, once-in-a-lifetime ski adventure, after a winter without skiing. With many skiers desperate to plan their trips for 2021/22 and budgets potentially higher than normal due to a winter of no skiing for Brits, Canada is being earmarked as a top destination for next winter. Research from the Mountain Trade Network* shows that Canada is currently the number one dream destination for British skiers, and enquiries and bookings for next winter are already looking promising. Mabey Ski, specialises in winter experiences beyond the norm, offering bucket list trips in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, and the Italian Dolomites. Think never-been-skied mountain faces, larger-than-life local ski guides, mountaintop wine tasting, heli-skiing under the midnight sun, and backcountry clinics for skiers and snowboarders looking to escape the crowds for the first time. NEW bucket list trips for Winter 2021-22 include the chance to ski first descents on the remote Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, heli-ski from your private catamaran whilst it cruises up the fjords of Bella Coola in British Columbia, and ski into a volcano's crater as part of a unique cultural trip to Japan. "Last year we asked our community what was important to them, and spent the past season researching, creating, and testing new adventures that will not only excite advanced skiers looking for their next challenge, but also encourage intermediate skiers to try something new," says Mabey Ski founder, Nickie Mabey. "While a lucky few may have got a few turns in, most Brits missed out on the 2020/21 ski season due to the pandemic. After months of lockdown, it appears that British skiers are looking for more than just a 'typical' ski holiday – they want to escape the crowds, they're looking for unusual experiences and an adventure that will make them forget there was ever a toilet roll shortage." She continues: "Whether it's unwinding in a mountainside hot spring, toasting a glass over a handmade 'snow bar' or fishing for Arctic char in a fjord lake, we know that the time guests spend off their skis is just as important as their time on them. That's why we're excited to launch our most unforgettable ski adventures yet. We spend time getting to know our guests to ensure each experience is tailored to them, whether they're joining a hosted trip or embarking on a new adventure designed specifically for them." 
Picture courtesy of Bella Coola Heli Sports Highlights of Mabey Ski Winter 2021/22 Winter Programme: · First descent heli-skiing in the Canadian Arctic · Catamaran-based heli-skiing in Bella Coola, Canada · Skiing a Japanese volcano crater · Introduction to ski touring – in the true Canadian backcountry · Overnight remote basecamp adventure– the ultimate Canadian backcountry celebration 
All of Mabey Ski's unforgettable ski adventures can be found on their newly launched website www.mabeyski.com. |
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Encouraging early snow and high demand for accommodation are leading several New Zealand ski fields to consider opening earlier than planned.
Coronet Peak (Queenstown) is thinking about opening a week early on the 12th June. 
Mount Hutt looking snowy... Currently planned opening dates, snow permitting (which is looking good right now), are :- - Mount Hutt - 11th June - Cardrona - 12th June - Coronet Peak is scheduled for the 19 June (maybe 12th!) - The Remarkables - 26th June - Mount Dobson - 2nd July - Whakapapa and Turoa - 3rd July |
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Light in the dark... La Clusaz WILL open this winter - for 2 days!
Started by User in Ski News, 2 Replies |
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Us too! |
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