Ski areas in at least 15 countries on four continents are open into May with a number reporting fresh snowfall to end April.
About 150 ski areas are still open in the northern hemisphere and, very unusually, one ski area has opened in South America nearly two months before the 2022 season is due to begin there, after a big early autumn snowstorm.
In Europe ski areas are open in a dozen countries this weekend with around 40 ski areas open in the Alps in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
More than half of these will be ending their seasons at the end of the ski day on Sunday May 1st or Monday May 2nd. It’s the final weekend of 21-22 for ski areas including Adelboden (below), Andermatt, Cervinia, Chamonix, Cortina, Ischgl, Les 2 Alpes, Obertauern, Val d’Isere, Verbier and Germany’s Zuspitze.
You can also still ski this weekend at resorts in Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey. Further north ski areas remain open in Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Ski areas in Portugal and Spain had hoped to open this weekend but cancelled their plans to do so at the last minute.
Several dozen ski areas are still open across North America although this weekend is the final one at centres including Marmot Basin (Jasper), Solitude in Utah (pictured top) and Vail.
Japan has the most ski areas still open of any one country, thanks to its spring skiing season which typically lasts into the first week of May. Niseko and Nozawa Onsen are among the areas still open.
