Aussie Ski Areas Open Most Terrain In World
Aussie Ski Areas Open Most Terrain In World
Published : 01-Aug-2026 09:47
Some fresh snowfall and low temperatures for snowmaking over the past week has enabled some Aussie areas to now open so much terrain that they can claim the most open anywhere in the world at present.
Perisher is now reporting an upper base of nearly 90cm (3 feet) and almost 70% of its terrain open which, due to its larger size, equates to more runs available than centres in South America and New Zealand which are closer to fully open.
Other Aussie ski areas have also seen a jump in terrain open in the past few days after a very touch first half of the 2026 season with few snowfalls and July temperatures averaging 12 degrees higher than average. Thredbo and Falls Creek are also now around 70% open, Hotham about 50% although some other centres are still struggling to open much terrain at all.
Portillo in Chile is posting the deepest snow in the world right now at 2.3 metres but, frustratingly, after being unable to open as planned in June due to too little snowfall then, it has had almost 6 metres (20 feet) of snow in the past fortnight and has been cut off from the outside world for almost three weeks and unable to open.
In the northern hemisphere just two glacier ski areas are currently open, Saas-Fee and Italy's Passo Stelvio, after usual European August-openers Hintertux announced it was switching to a 10-month September-July season and Zermatt was forced to announce a temporary closure of its summer ski slopes due to heat and other weather factors. America's Timberline has also closed early after a poor 25-26 winter for snolwfall left it with limited reserves.
Join the conversation : Discuss this in the J2Ski Forum
This news item has been viewed 79 times.
Also on J2Ski :- Zermatt Snow Forecast Ski Hotels Ski Hire Ski Holidays