Global Weekly Snow Roundup #330

• The Andes remain deeply snow-covered, with Chile now topping 4m of snow.
• Warm weather has reduced open terrain to just 5–35% at remaining resorts.
• Up to 50cm of fresh snow has improved conditions, with Cardrona extending its season.
• Summer skiing remains limited, but preparations for the 2026–27 season are underway.

World Overview

Springtime is here now in the Southern Hemisphere, and as usual this season there's a wide variety of conditions across the four main skiing nations south of the equator. In the Andes, reports remain deeply buried and fully open, the world's deepest reported cover now topping 4m (160") for the first time this winter at a resort in Chile.

Things remain more challenging for Australia’s difficult 2026 ski season. Here, overnight freezes have enabled fresh snowmaking on upper slopes, but warm afternoons near +10°C have cut skiable terrain to 5–35% of runs in still-open areas. Thredbo reports the deepest cover at 90cm up top whilst Perisher has seen notable base loss but still offers about 30% of terrain.

Across in New Zealand, ski fields received up to 50cm of new snow before last weekend, improving cover but creating operational challenges due to wind, rain and landslips. Treble Cone reopened on Sunday after several days closed, reporting its best conditions of the season, and Cardrona has announced its season will now continue past mid-October. The 2026 season has now definitely ended at Lesotho’s Afriski, the only remaining lift-accessed outdoor skiing on the African continent.

It's the start of (meteorological) autumn in the northern hemisphere, and dry, sunny weather has dominated the Alps, with freezing levels fluctuating between 3,500–4,500 m. Glaciers are seeing overnight freeze–thaw cycles again, and daytime temperatures at 3,000 m remain moderate. Groomers have been spotted working on Zermatt’s highest slopes. Light overnight snow has dusted several glaciers, but not enough for the currently temporarily closed summer ski centres to reopen. Italian resort Livigno created a 1 km cross‑country track using stored winter snow for its 44th Gara da li Contrada, held despite +20 °C highs. 

Copper Mountain’s hike‑to park is still operating, and Colorado resorts plan to begin snowmaking soon. Skiing continues at over 150 indoor snow centres and the hundreds of artificial surface dry slopes worldwide whilst anticipation starts to build for the start of the 26-27 season in the northern hemisphere as well as snowmaking getting underway later this month.