All three of the main southern hemisphere ski areas are expecting snow this week. For the most part, however, we’re talking snow showers rather than big dumps.
First in line for the white stuff are New Zealand’s ski resorts. Thanks to winds from the west or north, temperatures are fairly mild for the time of year: but at altitude it will be cold enough for repeated dustings for snow between now and Saturday.
At The Remarkables, for example, they’re expecting snow showers on a daily basis, accompanied by rising winds and rain on the resort’s approach road. After a good start to winter, the snow is currently 90-120cm deep across the resort’s pistes, which is very respectable for NZ in mid-July.
The last decent snowfall here was on July 11, when 10cm fell – on top of about 15cm on July 9. Here’s how the resort looked once the skies had cleared.
Treble Cone, a little further south, currently has 95-130cm of settled snow across its trails. Mount Hutt near Christchurch has 44-91cm.
In the Snowy Mountains of Australia they’re hoping for 20cm of fresh snow by the end of the week. The last decent top-up was on the weekend of July 7-8, and since then it’s mostly been mild and sunny during the day, with the snow refreezing overnight.
Here’s how it looked in Perisher earlier today. Here the settled cover is up to 95cm deep on the slopes, and today there’s been the odd snow flurry.
In the ski resorts of the central Andes a little more snow is expected on Wednesday – the first since the half-metre of snow that fell at the beginning of July. Currently, in Valle Nevado, the snow is 60-100cm deep.
Meanwhile, in the Alps…
Pictured above was the scene in Val d’Isere as they watched France win the World Cup yesterday. Looks like a much better place to be than Moscow…
So far, it’s been a summer of sunshine and showers in the Alps, with the odd cloudless interlude. It’s been warm, but not as scorching as recent years.
This week will be no exception, with thundery downpours a distinct possibility in the afternoons. Wednesday and Thursday the weather is likely to see more stable weather, before changeable conditions return on Friday.
For more on the “off-season” sports in the mountains, check out our guide to summer in the Alps.
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