(Treble Cone, New Zealand)
It’s September, when the most desperate for the new ski season to begin can begin to get excited!
OK we’ve already had fresh snowfall on high glaciers in the Alps and the season is winding down in the southern hemisphere.
Closer to home the first ‘ski openings’ on glaciers will take place in just a few weeks with half a dozen resorts in Austria and Italy scheduled to open by the end of the month – if there’s enough snow.
Austria
The long hot summer has had a toll on glacier snow depths but two of Austria’s eight glaciers are currently open at Hintertux and Molltal and the other six will begin opening on September 18th, starting with Pitztal, through to early October. But a good dump of September snow would help make that happen.
France
Les 2 Alpes was the last of France’s three summer opening glaciers to close on the last weekend of August. No French area is scheduled to open in September, but Tignes should in early October.
Italy
Passo Stelvio remains fully open but Cervinia (above) will close for a month or so in early September. However Val Senales is scheduled to open by late September taking Italy’s open tally back up to two.
Switzerland
Saas Fee (pictured) and Zermatt will remain open through September and right through the autumn. Both report reasonable snow depths considering all the sunshine, there are about 10 miles of piste currently open at year-round Zermatt.
Norway
The only other European nation currently offering snow sports is Norway where the Galdhoppigen and Folgefonn (above) ski centres are both open and still claiming the deepest snow depths in the world thanks to the huge snowfalls of last winter and spring. It’s still up to 5m deep.
North America
The Timberline snow fields on Mt Hood in Oregon had to close early because of the thaw there but is usually closed in September anyway. No other lift-served terrain is open on the North American continent but snow making may begin by the end of the month on high slopes in the Rockies, as it does some years when temperatures drop low enough.
Southern Hemisphere
Africa
The two ski areas in Lesotho and South Africa both closed at the end of August after a pretty good winter season with several natural snowfalls.
Australia
It’s the last month of the 2015 ski season for most Australian ski areas (a few will keep open in to September) and conditions have been largely good through the winter. The last week of August saw more significant snowfalls, with areas reporting up to 30cm in 24 hours so bases are generally around the metre mark or deeper for September. Perisher (above) received 45cm this last week.
New Zealand
It’s been one of the best seasons in years in New Zealand and it has kept snowing there too. September is looking like another good month with some resorts reporting snow depths of more than 3m/10 feet – the deepest in the southern hemisphere and the deepest fresh snow in the world. Mt Hutt above.
Argentina
South American slopes are in good shape too after the poor start to the winter back in June and early July, regular snowfall since means most Argentinian areas have at least 1.5m of snow now so look good for the remaining weeks of the season – most will close at the end of September. Catedral pictured above.
Chile
Like Argentina, Chile has had a great season after its slow start, with several huge snowfalls in July and August plus regular top ups besides. It’s looking good for the remainder of the season here too, with if anything deeper snow than in Argentina. Portillo pictured above.
