Glencoe ski area in Scotland has announced it is to run its now traditional Midsummer ski this coming Saturday 19th June. The ski centre usually runs its lifts as close as it can to the longest day each summer – which is particularly long in the Highlands of Scotland – for an hour or so to allow determined skiers to access the remaining snow patches on the slopes. Some recent Midsummer skis have been cancelled due to pandemic restrictions or too little snow but this year it is back on, all being well. “The longest snow patch left is on the Spring Run at between 250 and 300m long. The longest patch in the Main Basin is now only 120

Norway’s Stryn glacier summerski area will end its very short 2021 season this Sunday by staging the Norwegian 2021 Monoski Championships. The resort only opened for its 2021 season less than a month ago, on May 27th, but says that recent strong winds and rain have so severely impacted its snow cover it will be forced to close much earlier than expected for the season. “The snow disappears at record speed,” confirmed a ski area spokesperson. In fact the bad weather has led to it closing from Monday to Wednesday this week, but it hopes to open from Thursday through to Sunday and there’s good weather forecast for the weekend. Stryn To bring a bit of cheer for the early

Issued: 16 June 2021 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European Roundup North American Roundup Asia Roundup Southern Hemisphere WORLD OVERVIEW Afriski opens for business More ski areas have been opening for the 2021 season this past week in the Southern Hemisphere with Afriski the first in Africa to do so. More resorts have opened in Australia and New Zealand too although the news isn’t all good. Whilst Australian areas had one of their best starts in years, thanks to a huge snowfall just before the weekend, things warmed up in New Zealand after the big fall there to end May and Cardrona actually put their opening date back a week. For South America, it remains uncertain with some resorts delaying opening due

Four companies which between them run many of North America’s leading ski resorts have agreed a joint ‘Climate Collaborative Charter’ in which they agree common priorities in the battle against climate change. The Alterra Mountain Company, Boyne Resorts, POWDR and Vail Resorts are reported to have spent two years compiling the Charter which they describe as the ski industry’s first unified effort to combat climate change with shared commitments around sustainability and advocacy. All four ski industry leaders have agreed to operate their respective resorts with sustainability at the forefront and use their collective voice to advocate for effective public policy on climate action in order to leave a positive legacy for future generations of skiers, snowboarders and outdoor enthusiasts.

There have been huge snowfalls for most of Australia’s ski resorts ahead of the main  season start on Saturday, although not everywhere has benefitted. The biggest accumulations, of up to 60cm (2 feet), were reported by ski areas in New South Wales with Perisher, which has already opened a week early, and Charlotte Pass posting the biggest numbers. The heavy snowfall came after a week of low temperatures in which ski areas had already been able to build a snowmaking base to runs, so this combination of machine made snow with lots of natural snow on top has created unusually great conditions for opening weekend. Australian areas traditionally almost all open over the Queen’s Birthday long-weekend in the country and