First snows in the south

8th May 2010, by Chris Gill

Lovely Andean snow: Portillo, Chile May 2010 [Ski Portillo]

Resorts in the southern hemisphere have reported their first signs of winter, with snowfalls in Chile and Australia.

In Australia, snow dusted the mountains in New South Wales and in parts of Victoria. The ground is still a bit too warm in early May for it to last, and much of it melted quickly. But there was snow at Thredbo about five weeks before the season is due to start there. The weather centre has forecast more snow for the ski resort over the weekend. Mount Buller in Victoria also reported a few centimetres as temperatures dipped below zero.

In Chile, there was a lovely photograph posted by Ski Portillo; the first taste of winter there too. And Valle Nevado reported a good 10-15cm on its mountains, which is several weeks earlier than usual. The resort is gearing up for quite a lot of investment over the next few years – up to US$ 40 million to be spent on resort improvements. Skiing starts there from 11 June.

• chile
• portillo
• australia
• valle nevado

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