It’s Summertime!

And the weather is fine: for this…

And this…

And a backdrop of this…

But also plenty of this…

And this…

And this…

Two Alpine glaciers opened to the skiing public on Saturday: one above Les Deux Alpes and the other above Tignes. They join a growing number of glacier ski areas already open – including the Pisaillas glacier above Val d’Isere, and the Hintertux, Kitzsteinhorn, and Stubai glaciers in Austria. On the Austrian glaciers, the lifts have been running right through the spring and early summer.

You can also ski above Zermatt, in Switzerland: and from next weekend, on June 28, you’ll also be able to ski the same slopes from Cervinia too.

So the short but very sweet summer-skiing season is well and truly upon us. It’s a potent mix of intensive training up on the snow each morning; followed by afternoons mucking about lower down the mountain – in dazzling landscapes of verdant green. Admittedly, you do get the odd apocalyptic downpour too. But for the most part, it’s a beautiful time of year to be in the Alps, and if you’re tempted, check out the programmes of the British ski schools which are busy up there – including Snoworks in Tignes, and the Warren Smith Ski Academy in Cervinia.

Weatherwise, this week is likely to be characterised by sunny mornings and stormy evenings, so get your skiing in early if you’re there…

By the way, this weekend in Les Deux Alpes also saw mountain-biking fest the Free Raid Classic. Check out this rather lovely video of Sunday’s action…

Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere…

The southern hemisphere’s ski season is now underway, and until today, South America was the clear winner when it came to conditions. Thanks to several big pre-season dumps, resorts there have opened early, and Valle Nevado, close to Santiago, reports over two metres of snow so far. Here’s how the slopes were looking on Friday.

However, south-eastern Australia is going to grab some of the limelight this week, thanks to a much-anticipated storm which settled over the Snowy Mountains today.

Pictured below is how it was looking at Perisher today.

And this was the scene at Thredbo.

The change in the weather hasn’t come a moment too soon, as it’s been a mild and mostly snowless season so far.

Finally, in New Zealand, they’re still waiting for the first big storm of winter. After a promising pre-season, Mother Nature has been pretty sparing with the white stuff, and piste-skiing is the order of the day in the resorts that went for an early opening, such as Coronet Peak and Mount Hutt. On Friday Cardrona, near Wanaka, joined their ranks, and has posted a sweet video of its opening day.

	France: you can now ski on the glaciers above above Val d’Isere, Tignes and Les Deux Alpes, although you’ll need to be up extra early if you want a safe ride this week. As the day unfolds, there’s a distinct chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures are fairly mild, with the freezing point today up at 3600m.
	Switzerland: Switzerland’s weather will also be characterised by afternoon thunderstorms this week. On the Kleine Matterhorn above Zermatt the temperature won’t rise much above freezing today, and eight pistes are open to skiers.
	Austria: on the glaciers, there’s excellent cover thanks to the mid-May snow, and maybe some of the thunderstorms expected this week will bring a a little more. Currently, on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier near Kaprun, the cover is 220cm deep. On the Stubai glacier south of Innsbruck, the snow is 200cm deep.
	Italy: the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale is currently closed. However, from June 28 you’ll be able to access glacier skiing from Cervinia.
	Andorra: Andorra’s ski resorts are now closed.
	Western USA: The Rocky Mountain ski season is officially over! Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, has finally closed for the season. But let’s not forget that in in late September they’ll be cranking up the snow cannons again if conditions are right. If you want to ski now, you’re best heading to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon.
	Western Canada: the Horstman aboveWhistler is now open to skiers and boarders for the short summer season – which runs until July 27.