The 24-25 ski season is underway at Finland’s leading resorts of Levi (pictured) and Ruka.
Both centres use vast volumes of snow they stockpile under covers through the summer then spread back out on the slopes when temperatures cool in the Autumn.
Both centres create several kilometres of slopes on an otherwise snowless landscape, however they’re often then covered by natural snowfall soon after the new runs are created, that happened within days of opening last year.
Both Levi and Ruka stage opening festivals this weekend with parties and new-season gear testing.
Finland joins Austria – where six centres will be open this weekend – as well as Italy and Switzerland in offering ski centres open for winter 24-25 already. We’re now back to double figures in the northern hemisphere for the first time since last May with 12 ski areas due to be open this weekend.
The 2024 ski season is winding down in the southern hemisphere with a similar number of ski areas still open there, mostly in Chile or New Zealand, but almost all closing at the end of this weekend or next,
