Summer Snow Reports - update Monday 26 July

80cm of snow up on the Plateau Rosa glacier at Cervinia (80cm) ensures most of the runs are complete and in good condition. The glacier is fairly flat so most of the skiing is very easy but the snow is in good condition for the middle of summer.

Val Senales (240cm) has a great snow base and offers good skiing as a result. The weather should be warm and sunny for most of the coming ten days.

The Blackcomb Glacier at Whistler has now closed for the summer ski season. They will reopen again in November for the start of the winter season.

The conditions remain relatively unchanged at Timberline (150cm) in America with good skiing available on the Palmer Snowfield. Summer riding dominates with the snow firming up overnight, providing packed snow first thing in the morning. The piste conditions then soften as the morning warms up and the snow can get quite wet and heavy towards the end of the morning’s ski session. Sunny weather is forecast all week.

Strong winds are affecting all three of our featured Argentinean resorts. Gusts of up to 80mph mean the lift operation at Cerro Catedral (10/150cm) was quite hit and miss on Wednesday 28th July. There was some light snow falling at the time but it wouldn’t have made any impact on the snow conditions due to the wind. The best of the snow is actually lower down, where it’s slightly more sheltered.

Snow conditions across Australia have deteriorated somewhat with the mild temperatures and rain that are affecting the country at the moment.

The slopes, especially low down, are a bit soft and wet due to a cloudy and drizzly day on Thursday 29th July. Perisher (36cm) has plenty of terrain open but the low cloud and poor visibility made for a pretty miserable ski day. The snow isn’t great either due to the drizzle

This warm and wet weather should give way to colder and snowier weather by Saturday 31st August. Mt Hotham is expecting up to 35cm of fresh snow to fall by the end of next week, which is great news.

New Zealand has some of the best snow in the world at the moment. Plenty of snow, cold weather and sunshine make for the ideal combination and that’s what you can find at many resorts.

The deepest base in the country is at Mt Lyford (230cm). They received a whopping 60cm of fresh snow last week and this means the snow is in great condition now too. 10cm also fell on Tuesday 27th July to help keep it superb. Skiing on and off piste is awesome and the weather is nearly perfect to match. It should remain this way for the weekend too.

Cardrona (90cm) has pretty good snow as well. Their base depth isn’t as deep as Mt Lyford’s but this doesn’t mean the skiing is any worse. It’s best to stick on piste as there are quite a few rocks still showing through off piste. The well groomed runs are a joy to ski.

The snow on the north island is very similar to that of the south island. Turoa (135cm) has a good base depth now thanks to quite a snowy July. -3°C was the temperature at mid mountain on Thursday 29th July so there shouldn’t be much melting.