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So is it still possible to ski anywhere?
Sunday May 30, 2010 - Email this article to a friend
Yes. In Europe a few places are running, more glacier resorts open shortly and some ski areas in America are even re-opening. Cairngorm was open this weekend too. The southern hemisphere is gearing up for winter. Here's the PlanetSKI round-up of conditions round the world.
It's still possible to ski at around 25 ski areas in at least ten countries - the USA, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Japan, Scotland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Some resorts in North America are actually re-opening as there has been so much snow. Jackson Hole is running its main lift this weekend. It was shut back in April.
Squaw Valley is also starting up its lifts again.
Mammoth, Snowbird, Alta, Heavenly, Alyeska, Donner and others are still open. Locals say it is the best late season in a generation.
See this story with a video in it from California.
There are 7 glacier resorts currently open in The Alps.
9 national teams are currently up on the glaciers in Austria and skiing continues in shorts and T-shirts in Scotland at Cairngorm.
Hundreds turned out last weekend as we reported here.
Scotland in May!
And below is what it looks like in the terrain park for this weekend, 29th and 30th.
Ready for weekend action
Lesotho in southern Africa hopes to open next week.
Just in time for The World Cup - so if you are going and want to ski as well then take a look at this PlanetSKI story here.
For a detailed round up see the full details below. It has been compiled with some help of our friends over at Skiinfo.com
AUSTRIA: The country continues to have the most choice of glacier ski slopes open. The Dachstein Glacier opens on Saturday, taking the tota to five.
It has a 2.9m base and has revamped the Horsefeathers Superpark with the addition of a new 3-boxes-line. Riders can slide down as many as four rails in a line, which should make all the down rail and double kinked - lovers happy.
On top of the two renowned rails, an 11m down rail and a 14m double kinked rail, two new additions are already under construction at the park.
Dachstein joins the Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun, the near-year-round open Tux glacier and the Stubai glacier near Innsbruck which are all open.
The Kaunertal glacier is also open and has up to 1.45m of snow on it.
National teams from Austria, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Lichtenstein and even Brazil have been training there in recent weeks.
SCOTLAND: In the north of Europe it was the hottest weekend of the year so far in the UK and at CairnGorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands temperatures at the top reached 20c on Saturday.
This though didn't stop people turning out for a sport of skiing and snowboarding.
Over 200 skiers/snowboarders and 500 spectators headed up the mountain where the sledge park, snow cross terrain park and Ptarmigan Ski Tow are still providing a little bit of "winter" fun.
It is set to become one of the longest seasons on record.
For our report on last weekend, that was put up on the web site at the time, then see here.
Not your average Scottish skiing
Photos courtsey of the Cairngorm web site. Photographer; Peter Jolly.
This week has seen a dramatic drop in temperature however, back down to single figures once again as the wind has come in from the north.
The resort is open again this Bank holiday weekend and hopes to be able to offer skiing and snowboarding next weekend too.
There were quite a few people out enjoying the conditions, even if it was somewhat windy, on Saturday 29th May.
See the video below for what it currently looks like.
Meanwhile, here are the latest views of the Cairngorms on one of the first spring guided walks (17th May).
"The beginning of the week saw a return to cooler temperatures which helps keep the snowpack in a reasonable condition an, with careful management we hope that we can keep the skiing going for at least the English Holiday weekend at the end of May," says, Colin Matthew, the resort's Operations Manager.
SWEDEN: Elsewhere in Northern Europe there's still someskiing at Riksgransen in the Swedish Arctic where it's currently the brief 'ski-under-the-midnight-sun' period.
It is very patchy though with warm temperatures and rain washing away the snow.
PlanetSKI reporter, Gabriella Le Breton, reports for us from Riksgransen in this story.
She tells us about the conditions, the area and what it is like to go heliiskiing under the midnight sun.
Heli-skiing inside the Arctic Circle
NORWAY: There's some skiing and snowboarding at the glacier areas of Folgefonn and Galdhoppigen in Norway and on the slopes of Ruka in Finland.
SWITZERLAND: Zermatt is still open and Europe's highest lifts are operational for the summer.
The two T Bars up to 3899m in Zermatt don't usually run in winter.
There's still skiing and boarding at the top of the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz.
ITALY: In Italy the summit runs on the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale are still open.
They'll be joined by a second Italian glacier ski choice, Passo Stelvio, which opens for its annual summer ski season on the 29th.
FRANCE: There are no ski areas open in France at present.
Tignes, Val d'Isere and Les 2 Alpes, will re-open in June for summer skiing.
However there is some great ski touring at the moment. Some of the best is around Chamonix.
"There are lots of people touring from Emosson dam, heading to Col de la Terasse, Col des Corbeaux and Col de Fenestral. The advantage is you can drive up to 2,000m and then put your skins on straight away," says an email we have received from Claire Burnet from the resort.
"It's nice gentle touring with a 650m elevation to the Col de laTerasse and some lovely spring snow for the descent. The secret is to start early, 7am, and not to spend too long picnicking. That way you still get the descent snow on the way down!!"
Tour to Col de la Terasse
Pretty good conditions for May
USA: Snowbird in Utah has announced it aims to stay open for skiing and riding on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) for another month through to June 20, conditions and weather permitting.
See further details in this separate story on PlanetSKI.
The extension would mark 199 days of skiing and riding for the 2009/10 season, two days short of Snowbird's record 2004/05 season when the resort stayed open for 201 days until July 4.
As of May 20th, Snowbird's mid-mountain base stands at 117 inches with forecasts calling for flurries throughout the weekend.
It's the third year in a row that Snowbird has surpassed its annual average in snowfall.
Other US resorts still open include Mammoth Mountain in California that has announced it will aim to stay open to July 4th.
Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is also open and had a few inches of fresh snow this week. It plans to stay open in to June.
Timberline Mountain in Oregon is open year round except for a few weeks maintenance closure each September.
CANADA: North of the border the ski season has ended in Canada with Sunshine ski area near Banff the last to close on Monday.
It followed Whistler Blackcomb's season ending on Sunday.
The British Columbian resort celebrated its second snowiest winter ever and will re-open for glacier skiing in a few weeks time.
Slush cup brings things to a close
In the southern hemisphere there are increasingly good signs for the coming winter.
One of the first hoping to open is Afriski in Lesotho where temperatures are forecast to be in the range of -7 to +2C over the week up to its official opening date, next Tuesday, June 1st.
It's a promising sign for the start of the 2010 season.
Afriski; with some help from the snow cannons
AUSTRALIA: Recent cold temperatures have allowed Perisher ski resort to fire up it snow canons.
The country's biggest resort, located in New South Wales, has more than 150 snow guns covering the resort's key runs.
There has also been a little bit of the fresh stuff as the web cam image below shows.
It's starting Down Under - Perisher, Wednesday May 26th
The resort is due to open on June 12th.
NEW ZEALAND: Coronet Peak has seen 5cm of snow falling. Not much but it is a start and more is set to follow according to local forecasters.
The Remarkables has also received around 10-15 cm of good wet snow, which will see the snow base begin to form.
Coronet Peak is well on track for its scheduled opening on Saturday 5th June and The Remarkables on 19th June.
We have just heard that Mt Hutt has had 15cm of new snow and more is due in by the weekend. The resort is due to open on June 12th.
It curently has a minimum temperature of -2c in the day and -5c during the night. Things are loooking good!
Below is a phot of the Coronet Peak Snowpsort School displaying its new uniform for the winter.
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