Mt Hutt Delays Again as Storm Looms Over New Zealand’s Southern Alps

• Australia Set for Snowy Opening Weekend with Up to 50 cm (20”) Expected
• Cerro Castor Gets Dumped On as Argentina’s Resorts Eye June Openings
• Chilean Ski Season Tease: No Open Slopes Yet, But Snow Coming Soon
• Afriski Claims Season Start, But Mystery Shrouds Conditions in Lesotho

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRO

By the meteorological measure of the seasons, it's the start of winter, and the Southern Hemisphere's snow fun season is underway — even if we don’t quite have anywhere open for skiing yet. That should change this coming weekend, though, with ski areas in Australia and Chile. New Zealand’s Mt Hutt has now pushed its planned early opening back a second week, to its originally scheduled opening date on the 13th. By "snow fun season", we’re talking about sledging on small snow areas produced by all-weather snowmaking machines that can operate in above-freezing temperatures. Australia’s small Corin Forest ski area has been offering that for some weeks, and New Zealand’s Whakapapa joined them on Friday. In terms of the ski season proper starting this Saturday, nowhere is reporting huge pre-season snow depths yet, but there have been some snowfalls, and snowmaking guns have been firing as temperatures drop.

AUSTRALIA REPORT

Australia’s 2025 ski season is due to get underway this weekend, which includes a bank holiday next Monday, May 9th, to celebrate the birthday of King Charles III. Almost all of the country’s ski areas are due to start their seasons, with only Selwyn Resort and Charlotte Pass not expected to open for another few weeks. Charlotte Pass, or nearby, has also seen ski tourers getting early turns in near ‘Snowy Bridge’ on the Kosciuszko Road towards Seaman’s Hut. Two resorts — Corin Forest and Mt Buller — both have all-weather snowmaking systems, so they are guaranteed to offer some skiing regardless of the weather. Corin Forest has already been offering snow play sessions, and Mt Buller says it has stockpiled more than 10,000 cubic metres of snow with its five machines. There has been some light overnight snowfall at the start of the week, typically 5–10 cm (2–4”) over the Sunday–Tuesday period, with overnight lows down to -6°C. Snowmaking systems have been running whenever possible. Snow was still falling on Wednesday morning, and snowmaking systems were operating in every temperature window to build a base by the weekend. Unfortunately, daytime highs have still been reaching around +8°C, so there is still some thawing of the thin snow cover.

AUSTRALIA FORECAST

It’s currently looking promising for a snowy start to the season, with the current mostly sunny daytime weather expected to end by Friday, and heavy snowfall beginning on Saturday — just as the resorts open. We're still a little way off from certainty, but current models suggest 10–15 cm (4–6”) of accumulation daily, so 30–50 cm (12–20”) totals by early next week are possible. Temperatures will also be markedly lower, dropping as far as -8°C overnight and, crucially, not rising much above freezing during the day.

NEW ZEALAND REPORT

New Zealand’s 2025 season is underway — sort of — not with Mt Hutt opening a fortnight early as had been hoped, but with Whakapapa on the North Island opening its Happy Valley terrain for snow play, as usual, at the start of June. In fact, it did so last Friday, May 30th. Mt Hutt, which had originally hoped to open a fortnight early on the 31st (last Saturday) due to big early snowfalls at the start of May, then postponed to this coming weekend after the snow had largely melted. It has now reverted to its original opening date — the weekend after next. The resort states this further delay is due to heavy weather forecast for this coming weekend, making it less than ideal for opening, despite some fresh snowfall this week. This official main season start date — Saturday, June 14th — will also see Coronet Peak, Cardrona, and The Remarkables open, as long planned. All of these resorts have reported some low temperatures and fresh snowfall over the past week.

NEW ZEALAND FORECAST

There's a much more wintry picture for the remainder of the week and into the weekend, with temperatures consistently below freezing at all mountain levels, dipping into double digits below zero overnight.

ARGENTINA REPORT

Argentina’s ski resorts have had another fairly good pre-season week, with low overnight temperatures and more snow showers reported. The world’s southernmost ski area, Cerro Castor near Tierra del Fuego, was one of those posting photos of a decent snowfall over the weekend. Few areas have confirmed exact opening dates, with some waiting on conditions, but it appears most should open by the end of the month. South America’s largest ski resort, Cerro Catedral near Bariloche, looks likely to start spinning lifts the weekend after next.

ARGENTINA FORECAST

It’s a mostly sunny outlook for the week ahead, with overnight lows dipping slightly below freezing, but daytime highs rising above +10°C — not ideal for snow preservation. Conditions are looking much colder and more unsettled in the far south, with temperatures only a few degrees above freezing and light snow showers again expected at Cerro Castor.

CHILE REPORT

As we begin June, no ski areas are currently open in Chile, and no confirmed opening dates are set, other than Portillo’s scheduled start on June 21st. Based on past seasons, several areas — including La Parva, Antillanca, El Colorado/Farellones, and Corralco — could potentially open this coming weekend, but nothing is certain yet. Nevados de Chillán and Valle Nevado are looking more likely for the 14th. This week has seen largely sunny weather with mountain temperatures ranging from -6°C to +8°C.

CHILE FORECAST

There’s no major change in the forecast, with temperatures ranging from -8°C to +8°C and the freezing level hovering between 2,000 and 3,000 metres in the Andes. No significant snowfall is currently forecast before the weekend.

LESOTHO REPORT

Afriski in Lesotho has officially begun its 2025 ski season, but with no snow reporting and no webcams, it’s difficult to know what, if anything, is open. The resort reported a 23 cm snowfall in mid-April, but there haven’t been many snowfalls since — just a few centimetres here and there. Temperatures have recently dipped a few degrees below freezing, so some snowmaking may have been possible. The centre says it is open for skiing and snowboarding. South Africa’s Tiffindell ski area remains closed and up for sale, so it seems unlikely it will operate this winter.

LESOTHO FORECAST

There’s not much change expected, with mostly dry, sunny weather continuing. Overnight lows should remain below freezing, with daytime highs between +4°C and +8°C.