Issued: 28 July 2021 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European Roundup North American Roundup Asia Roundup Southern Hemisphere WORLD OVERVIEW Australia is making world snow headlines for a second week with the ongoing storm totals now past 1.5 metres (five feet) for some ski areas and there’s still more in the forecast. Frustratingly, most major cities and the whole state of Victoria, where the ski areas have seen the heaviest falls of all, have spent another week locked down to try to stop Delta variant outbreaks. The good news, as we go to publish though, is that the Victoria lockdown has just ended and resorts say they are re-opening from Wednesday. Elsewhere, some New Zealand ski areas have posted reports of epic

Several ski areas in the Australian state of Victoria have now reported more than 135cm (4.5 feet) of snowfall accumulating in the 10 days since the state went into its fifth lockdown and they were ordered to close.  The state’s government is hoping to stop small outbreaks of the Delta variant there. Ironically the snow started falling just as the lockdown was declared, with the resorts previously only able to open limited terrain to first six weeks of the season as there had not been much snowfall up to that point. The initial lockdown was announced to last Tuesday but has now been extended top next Tuesday and may be extended again. Ski areas in Victoria say they will reopen

Last Updated 26 July 2021 at 19.30 GMT (Updates so far since commenced on 5 May 2020: 817 ) The web's most comprehensive guide of ski resorts opening around the world during the pandemic. An estimated 80+ Ski Areas Are Currently Open Worldwide in at least 10 Countries on 6 Continents including: Africa: Lesotho Europe: Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland. North America: USA. Oceania: Australia, New Zealand South America: Argentina, Chile Browse by country: North America: Canada USA Europe: Andorra Austria Bulgaria Czech Republic Finland France Germany Italy Norway Poland Scotland Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Asia: China Japan NEW: The lockdown in Victoria, Australia, ends July 27th meaning, it is believed, ski areas can re-open. (26 July)NEW: The TransTasman quarantine -free travel bubble between Australia and new Zealand has been closed for at least 8 weeks by New Zealand due to Delta virus cases in Australia, ruling out much of the rest of the ski season. (26 July)NEW: Portillo in Chile to stay closed to at least August 14th as country delays re-opening

Two of Norway’s three summer ski areas have closed early for the season, with the third about to do the same, as the country’s glaciers are hit by prolonged warm weather, melting the snow cover fast to expose the ice below. One centre reported their snow cover had gone, “...at record speed”, another that the snow had gone, “…much faster than we thought possible.” Ice exposed on the ski run at Galdhøpiggen Sommerskisenter The three centres usually open in May as the rest of Scandinavia’s ski areas close and aim to stay open to late summer or autumn in a good year.  Last year one of the centres reported snow lying over 15 metres (50 feet) deep and took a

In an escalation of moves by regional governments in the states of Australia to so outbreaks of the Delta variant of COVID 19, The Victorian Government has declared a state-wide five-day lockdown from 11:59pm Thursday 15 July until midnight on Tuesday 20 July. This means that lifts at the state’s ski resorts which include Falls Creek and Mt Hotham will stop spinning for five days from tonight. “We know that this is devastating news for our guests, employees, and local communities, and we want you to know that we share this sadness with you, and that we’ll ensure to be ready to welcome you back when the lockdown has lifted. The safety of our guests, staff and community is, and