Issued: 21 July 2021 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European RoundupNorth American RoundupAsia RoundupSouthern Hemisphere WORLD OVERVIEW We’re in mid-summer, or mid-winter, depending on which side of the world you’re on. Snow has been falling on most ski slopes in the Southern Hemisphere this past week and most resorts are open now in Australia, New Zealand, South America and southern Africa. Although a few remain closed, including a few famous names like Portillo and Las Lenas; the latter due to there being no snow at all there at present after some promising pre-season dumps.In terms of snowfall around the world this past week, it has been a much snowier week than previously in July 2021 so far. There were some decent accumulations…

Two of Norway’s three summer ski areas have closed early for the season, with the third about to do the same, as the country’s glaciers are hit by prolonged warm weather, melting the snow cover fast to expose the ice below. One centre reported their snow cover had gone, “...at record speed”, another that the snow had gone, “…much faster than we thought possible.” Ice exposed on the ski run at Galdhøpiggen Sommerskisenter The three centres usually open in May as the rest of Scandinavia’s ski areas close and aim to stay open to late summer or autumn in a good year.  Last year one of the centres reported snow lying over 15 metres (50 feet) deep and took a…

Issued: 14 July 2021 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European RoundupNorth American RoundupAsia RoundupSouthern Hemisphere WORLD OVERVIEW There’s been little fresh snow to report anywhere in the world this past week. But it’s a slowly improving picture for most areas in the Southern Hemisphere with cold temperatures allowing consistent snowmaking after some snowfall in New Zealand, at last. More terrain opened up at ski areas in Australia and more centres opened in the Andes, where there’s been some fresh snowfall too, just no big dumps as yet. In the Northern Hemisphere, there remains just over a dozen centres open in seven countries on three continents but high temperatures continue to impact snow cover and the best conditions are early in the morning.…

A new device, the Super Sledge, is aiming to hit the fastest speed ever recorded for a device without any engines powering it. But the Norwegian team behind the project, which aims to hit speeds of 300 km/h(186 mph) with their sledge, has one problem, they need to find a pilot. Not just anyone can apply either. Although height and weight requirement are fairly flexible as the sledge will be designed around the pilot, whoever gets the job must be pretty fit, with excellent physical and mental health to be able to tolerate both pressure it required during training, but also keep focus during the actual record attempt as well as withstand the g-force involved. He or she will also…