July 24, 2008 – Recent forecasts have been predicting good to excellent snow conditions in the Southern hemisphere and the prospect of widespread new snowfalls for almost all resorts. Early last week, even most glacier resorts in the European Alps saw as much as 20 cm of fresh summer snow.

In South America, winter started early. In Chile, plenty of snow has already fallen in the Central Valley where the main ski resorts are located, including Valle Nevado, La Parva, Portillo, and El Colorado. Some more snow fell last week in these Santiago resorts and also on the Argentinean side of the border at Las Lenas. Cerro Catedral, too, received snow in the last ten days.

Competition activities in the Southern hemisphere are about to start in the next few weeks. Cerro Castor will host the first South American Cup (SAC) races from 8th August while the Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) will kick off at Mount Hotham (AUS) on 18th August. Many national teams are now starting to arrive in the Southern hemisphere for training. In Chile, for example, teams that have made arrangements for summer training include the Austrian men’s team, the Canadian men and ladies’ teams, the US Ski men and ladies teams, the Norwegian national team and the Spanish ladies team that are all planning to travel to Portillo for speed training. The Slovenian men and ladies’ teams and the French ladies team will be heading to La Parva meanwhile. More Southern hemisphere updates to follow in the next several weeks!